the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Bible Encyclopedias
Bow
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or The bow as a weapon in war and the chase was familiar to the Hebrews from patriarchal times (Genesis 21:20, 27:3, 48:22). Jonathan and Jehu were expert archers (2 Samuel 1:22; 2 Kings 9:24); the tribe of Benjamin was renowned for its sons' skill with the bow (1 Chronicles 8:40, 12:2); and David, after the battle of Gilboa, sought to encourage archery practise in Judah (2 Samuel 1:18). The impulse thus given seems to have taken root, so that 250 years later the prophet Hosea speaks of the bow as representing Israel's military power (ch. 1:5).
From the figures extant in Assyrian monuments it appears that the usual tactics with the bow were to overwhelm the enemy with repeated showers of arrows, and then close in with sword and spear upon the harassed ranks. In Psalms 120:4 there is a reference to the practise of affixing burning material to the arrow-head, no doubt for setting fire to a besieged town. For further details and Hebrew terms in connection with Archery, see ARMY
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Bow'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/b/bow.html. 1901.
