BOUNTIFULNESS (boun'ti-ful-ngs). Several words in the original are so translated: Heb. 21%4 lobe, good, Prov. xxii:9); sho'ah, rich, Is.
xxxii:5; eaw-mal', Ps. xiii:6; Gr. eavyta, yoo-log-ee'ah, good speech or blessing, 2 Cor.
ix :5, 6. In general it denotes liberality in the bestowment of gifts, favors, kindness (1 Kings x:15; Is. xxxii :5 ; Ps. cxvi :7).
BOW (135), (Heb. keh'sheth, bow).
The bow is frequently mentioned symbolically in Scripture. In Ps. vii :12 it implies victory, signifying judgments laid up in store against of fenders. It is sometimes used to denote lying and falsehood (Ps. lxiv :4 ; cxx :4 ; Jer. ix :3), probably from the many circumstances which tend to render a bow inoperative, especially in unskillful hands. Hence also 'a deceitful bow' (Ps. lxxviii :57; Hos. vii :16) ; with which com pare Virgil's 'Perfidus ensis frangitur' (The treacherous sword is broken).
The bow also signifies any kind of arms. The bow and spear are the most frequently mentioned because the ancients used these most (Ps. xliv : 6; xlvi :9 ; Zech. x :4 ; Josh. xxiv :12).
In Habak. iii:9 'thy bow was made bare' means that it was drawn out of its case. The Orientals used to carry their bows in a case hung on their girdles.
In 2 Sam. i:18 the Authorized Version has 'Also he (David) bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow.' Here,' says Pro fessor Robinson (Addit. to Calmet), 'the words "the use of are not in the Hebrew, and convey a sense entirely false to the English reader. It should be "teach them the bow," i. e., the song of the bow, from the mention of this weapon in verse 22. (See ARMS, ARMOR.)