Pen; Stylus
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
—ancient writing instruments varied with the material. An iron stylus could incise stone or metal (Job 19:24; Jer. 17:1), while a pointed implement wrote on wax tablets and a cut reed pen carried ink on papyrus or parchment. The “scribe’s knife” that King Jehoiakim used to cut Jeremiah’s scroll was likely a tool for trimming reed pens and preparing writing materials (Jer. 36:23). Judges 5:14 probably refers to a commander’s or muster-master’s staff rather than an ordinary writing pen, so the source’s treatment of that verse as writing equipment is uncertain.