The javelins, named clmancth and kedon, may have had distinct forms; from the context, where chaneth first occurs, it appears to have been a species of dart carried by light troops (I Sam. xiii:22). while the kcdon, which was heavier, was most likely a kind of pilum. In most nations of antiquity the infantry, not bearing a spear, old English phrase, 'scot-free.' But for this : et of Saul, David might have been viewed as a rebel.
(4) Bow and Arrow. But the chief offensi•re weapon in Egypt, and. from the nature of the country. it may be inferred in Palestine also, was the war-bow. kcshtoth, and kcsketlf, the arrows being denominated hhitzent, hhitz. The bow be came in the course of time very strong and tall. was made of brass, of wood backed with horn, or of horn entirely, and even of ivory. The horned bows of the cavalry. shaped like those of the Chinese, occur on monuments of antiquity.
(5) The Sling. The last missile instrument to be mentioned is the sling, kala (Job xli:28), an improvement upon the simple act of throwing stones. It was the favorite weapon of the Benjam nes, a small tribe, not making a great mass in an order of battle, but well composed for light troops. They could also boast of using the sling equally well with the left hand as with the right. The sling was made of plaited thongs, somewhat broad in the middle, to lodge the stone or leaden missile, and was twirled two or three times round before the stone was allowed to take flight. Stones could not he cast above 400 feet, but leaden bullets could be thrown as far as Goo feet. The force as well as precision of aim which might be attained in the use of this instrument was remarkably shown in the case of David, and several nations of antiquity boasted of great skill in the practice of the sling.
2. DefensiVe Arms. The most ancient defen sive piece was the shield, buckler, roundel or target, composed of a great variety of materials, very different in form and size, and therefore in all nations bearing a variety of names.
(1) Shield. The Hebrews used the word :soma, for a great shield, defense, protection (Gen. xv:t; Ps. xlvii :9; Prov. xxx which is commonly found in connection with spear, and was the shelter of heavily-armed infantry; magin, a buckler, or smaller shield, which, from a similar juxtaposition with sword. bow and arrows, ap
pears to have been the defense of the other armed infantry and of chiefs, and sohairah, parma, a roundel, which may have been appropriated to archers and clingers, and there were shelatim and shrill, synon•aous with tnagin, only different in ornament. In the more advanced areas of civili zation shields were made of light wood not liable to split, covered with bull hide or two or more thicknesses and bordered with metal ; the lighter kinds were made of wicker-work or osier, sim ilarly, but less solidly covered, or of double ox hide cut into a round form. There were others of a single hide, extremely thick from having been boiled: their surface presented an appear ance of many folds, like round waves up and down, which might yield, but could rarely be penetrated.
We may infer that at first the Hebrews bor rowed the forms in use in Egypt, and that their common shields were a kind of parallelogram, broadest and arched at the top and cut square beneath. bordered with metal, the surface being covered with rawhide with the hair on. The lighter shields may have been soaked in oil and dried in the shade to make them hard; no doubt, hippopotamus, rhinoceros and elephant skin shields were brought from Ethiopia and purchased in the Phoenician markets, but small, round hand bucklers of whaleskin, still used by Arabian swordsmen, came from the Erythrzean Sea. Dur ing the Assyrian and Persian supremacy the He brews may have used the square, oblong and round shields of these nations, and may have sub sequently copied those of Greece and Rome. The princes of Israel had shields of precious metals; all were managed by a wooden or leathern handle, and often slung by a thong over the neck. With the larger kinds a testudo could be formed by pressing the ranks close together, and while the outside men kept their shields before and on the flanks, those within raised theirs above the head and thus produced a kind of surface, sometimes as close and fitted together as a pantile roof, and capable of resisting the pressure even of a body of men marching upon it.