Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
HAM'MER, the English translation of four different Hebrew words. " Jael's hammer, Jud 4:21, was properly a mallet, such as the Bedouin use at the present day to drive the wooden tent-pins into the ground. The "battle-axe," Jer 51:20, and the "maul," Prov 25:18, were species of hammers used for warlike purposes. The tool probably resembled that of the present day. The word "hammer" is also used symbolically for mighty force. Jer 23:29; Jer 50:23.