the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Buckler (2)
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or stands in the authorized version as the representative of the following Heb. words:
1. מגֵן, magen' (protecting), a smaller and more portable shield (2 Samuel 22:31; 1 Chronicles 5:18; Job 15:26; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:30; Proverbs 2:7; Song of Solomon 4:4; Jeremiah 46:3; elsewhere
"shield").
2. סֹחֵרָה, socherah' (from its surrounding the person), occurs but once figuratively Psalms 91:4).
3. צִנָּה, tsinnah' (a covering), a large shield protecting the whole body (" buckler," Psalms 35:2; Ezekiel 23:24; Ezekiel 26:8; Ezekiel 38:4; Ezekiel 39:9; elsewhere "shield" or "target;" the ἀσπίς of Sirach 27:5).
4. רֹמִח, ro'mach (from its piercing), a lance or spear (as it is often rendered, improperly "buckler" in 1 Chronicles 12:8). (See ARMOR).
The buckler or shield was a principal piece of protective armor with ancient warriors, being worn in connection both with the spear and the bow (2 Chronicles 14:8; 2 Chronicles 17:17; Jeremiah 6:23). Of the above names for this implement, the socherah, according to Jahn, designates the targe or round form (see Gesenius, Thes. p. 947). Two others of these terms (combined in Ezekiel 39:9; Jeremiah 46:3) appear to denote respectively the small (nagen) and the large (tsinnah) kind, the latter screening the entire person (Virg. Es. 2:227; Tyrtiei Carm. 2, 23 sq.), as is evident from 1 Kings 10:16-17; 2 Chronicles 9:16. The Mishna (Chelim, 24, 1) names three species of shield, the large (הכפו תריס ), the middle, used in discipline, and the small (דיצת הערביים ). The larger kind probably protected even the head (Josephus, Ant. 6, 5, 1; comp. Diod. Sic. v. 30). In like manner, among the Greeks and Romans a small shield was called θυρεός (σάκος in Homer), scutum, and a large one ἀσπίς, clypeus (comp. Josephus, War, 3, 5, 5). It is uncertain, however, whether the Heb. shields were of the same form; we only know that the later Jews in the time of the Romans carried oval shields (see Jahn, Archaeol. II, 2, pl. 11, 6, 8; those of the Egyptians being rounded only at the top, Wilkinson, 1, 298 sq.). The word שֶׁלֶט, she'let, which the old translators give very variously, designates probably the shield, and indeed those used on state occasions (Jeremiah 51:11; Ezekiel 27:11; Song of Solomon 4:4), rather than quiver. The (larger) shields were generally of wood (comp. Pliny, 16:77; Virg. En. 7, 632), and covered with thick leather (especially hippopotamus hide, Pliny, 8:39; but the skins of other pachydermatous animals are still employed in Africa; see Ruppell, Arab. p. 34; Pallme, Beschreib. von Kordofan, p. 42) or metal. Leather shields (Iliad, v. 452; 12:425) consisted either of simple undressed ox (or elephant) hide (Herod. 7:91; Strabo, 17, p. 820, 828), or of several thicknesses of leather, sometimes also embossed with metal (Iliad, 7, 219 sq.; 12:294 sq.); hence those captured from foes might be burnt
(Ezekiel 39:9). The leather of shields required oiling (2 Samuel 1:21; Isaiah 21:5; comp. "laeves clypei," Virg. AEn. 7, 626), so that they should not injure by moisture; hence they gleamed in the distance; sometimes they were even smeared with blood (Nahum 2:4 [?]), so as to present a frightful appearance. Copper ("brazen") shields were, as it appears (1 Samuel 17:6; 1 Kings 14:27); also in use (comp.
χαλκασπίδες for heavy-armed troops, in Polyb. 4:69, 4; v. 91, 7); as even gold ones in the equipment of the general (1 Maccabees 6:39), i.e. probably studded with gold; although those named in 1 Kings 10:16 sq.; 1 Kings 14:26, as shields of parade (comp. the silver shields of Pliny, 8:82), borne before the king in festive processions (1 Kings 14:28), may well have been of massive metal (comp. the golden shields of the Carthaginians, Pliny, 35:3; on the overlaying of shields [with gold, ivory, etc.], see Athen. 12:534; among the Romans every shield was inscribed with the soldier's name, Veget. Milit. 2, 18). The same custom appears also in the gold shields sent as gifts of honor to Rome (1 Maccabees 14:24; 1 Maccabees 15:18; comp. 1 Maccabees 6:2; Josephus, Ant. 14, 8, 5; Sueton. Calig. 16). During a march the soldiers carried their shields (covered with a leather case, σάγμα
or ἔλυτρον, involuera, as a protection from dust, Isaiah 20:6; comp. the Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 574; Plutarch, Lucull. 26; Caesar, Bell. Gall. 2, 21; Cicero, Nat. Deer. 2, 14) hanging on their shoulder (Iliad, 16, 803); but in the camp by a strap on the left arm (Iliad, 16, 802; Virg. AEn. 2:671 sq.; Pliny, 33:4; AElian, Var. Hist.; 11, 9; hence the phrase ἐπ᾿ ἀσπίδα, Xenoph. Cyrop. 7, 5, 6; Arrian, Alex. 1, 6,12, means on the shield side, or left, comp. Anab. 4, 3, 26). See generally Ortlob, De seutis et clypeis Hebr. (Lips. 1718); Caryophilus, De clypeis vett. (Lugd. Bat. 1751); Spanheim, ad Julian, p. 241; Jahn, Archaol. II, 2:401 sq.; on the Homeric shield, Kopke, Kriegswes. der Griech. p. 108 sq. The decoration of the Jewish palaces (1 Kings 10:16; 1 Kings 14:26; Song of Solomon 4:4; comp. Philo, Opp. 2, 591) and Temple (1 Maccabees 4:57; 1 Maccabees 6:2; comp. Strabo, 13:600; Arrian, Alex. 6, 9, 6; Pliny, 35:3) with golden shields was a peculiar practice. In the Temple at Jerusalem the shields of David were suspended as mementos (2 Kings 10:10); see Rexrath, De clypeis in loco sacro suspensis (Lips. 1737). The suspension of the shields of Tyre in Ezekiel 27:10-11, is a military allusion, by way of ostentation, to the ensigns of foreign nations displayed as allies (see Henderson, Comment. in loc.). (See SHIELD).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Buckler (2)'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/b/buckler-2.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
