Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
GOAD. Jud 3:31. This was a rod or pole about 8 feet long, armed at the larger end with a piece of iron, with which the plough-share was freed from clods and earth, and at the smaller with a sharp spike, by which the oxen were urged on in their labor. In the hands of a powerful man like Shamgar, Jud 3:31, it would be a formidable instrument. The goad is used to this day in Palestine.