(Ezek. 4:2; 21:22), a military engine, consisting of a long beam of wood hung upon a frame, for making breaches in walls. The end of it which was brought against the wall was shaped like a ram’s head.
Battering-Ram
What does a besieged city look like from the outside? Ezekiel is told to draw it. He is to “lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it,” and to “set battering rams against it round about” (Ezekiel 4:2). The prophet’s picture is for Jerusalem. Later, the king of Babylon is shown at a crossroads, choosing a road to “appoint battering rams” against the city (Ezekiel 21:22). Joab’s men at Abel “battered the wall” in David’s day (2 Samuel 20:15). Ezekiel 4 is the clearest scene.
3 verses
2 Samuel
2 Samuel 20:15
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel 4:2
And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Ezekiel 21:22
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
Matthew George Easton, 1897
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
William Smith, 1884
(Ezekiel 4:2; 21:22) a large beam with a head of iron which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and balanced so as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. In attacking the walls of a fort or city, the first step appears to have been to form an inclined plane or bank of earth, comp. (Ezekiel 4:2) "cast a mount against it," by which the besiegers could bring their battering-rams and other engines to the foot of the walls. "The battering-rams," says Mr. Layard "were of several kinds. Some were joined to movable towers which held warriors and armed men. The whole then formed one great temporary building, the top of which is represented in sculptures as on a level with the walls, and even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs the battering-ram is without wheels: it was then perhaps constructed upon the spot and was not intended to be moved."