Bow, The
- An instrument of war.
Genesis 48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Isaiah 7:24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
- Sometimes used in hunting.
Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
- For shooting arrows.
1 Chronicles 12:2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin.
(see marg.) - Called the battle bow.
Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Zechariah 10:4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
- THOSE WHO USED, CALLED
- Bowmen.
Jeremiah 4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
- Archers.
1 Samuel 31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
Jeremiah 51:3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
- Usually of steel.
2 Samuel 22:35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Job 20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
- Held in the left hand.
Ezekiel 39:3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
- Drawn with full force.
2 Kings 9:24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
- The Jews taught to use.
2 Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
- USED EXPERTLY BY
- Lydians.
Jeremiah 46:9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
- Elamites.
Jeremiah 49:35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
- Philistines.
1 Samuel 31:2-3 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
- Sons of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh.
1 Chronicles 5:18 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.
- Benjamites.
1 Chronicles 12:2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin.
2 Chronicles 14:8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
- Given as a token of friendship.
1 Samuel 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
- Often furnished by the state.
2 Chronicles 26:14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
- Of the vanquished, broken and burned.
Psalm 37:15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
Ezekiel 39:9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
- ILLUSTRATIVE
- Of strength and power.
Job 29:20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
- Of the tongue of the wicked.
Psalm 11:2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
Jeremiah 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
- (When deceitful,) of the hypocrite.
Psalm 78:57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
Hosea 7:16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- (When broken,) of the overthrow of power.
1 Samuel 2:4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
Jeremiah 49:35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
Hosea 1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
Hosea 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
⇒See BOW in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
⇒See Bow in McClintock and Strong.