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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Archer
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( ÷ִùָּׁú , kashshath', a bowman, Gen_21:20; áִּòִìàּçִöּéí , baal- chitstsim', arrow-man, Gen_49:23; àðֵåֹùׁ áִּ÷ֶּùֶׁú , enosh' bakke'sheth, bowman, 1Sa_31:3; îåֹøֶä áִּ÷ֶּùֶׁú moreh' bakke'sheth, shooter with the bow, 1Ch_10:3; ãּåֹøֵêְ ÷ֶּùֶׁú , one bending the bow, Jer_51:3; comp. Isa_21:17; Isa_23:3; but simply ÷ֶּùֶׁú , ke'sheth, a bow, in Isa_22:3; comp. Psa_78:57; while in Job_16:13, the word is øִá , rab, great, prob. a host). From the frequent appearance of combatants armed with bows and arrows on the Egyptian monuments (see Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt. 1, 337, 354, 405) and Babylonish sculptures (see Layard's Nineveh, 2, 261), we may conclude that this art is of very high antiquity (see Jahn's Archaol. § 278). In Gen_21:20, Ishmael is spoken of as an archer, and again in Gen_27:3, but with reference to hunting rather than to war; and this appears to have been long the case with the Israelites, though the neighboring nations employed it for military purposes. SEE ARMOR.
Saul, we read (1Sa_31:3), was wounded by the Philistine archers, and it has been conjectured that it was the unskillfulness of the Israelites with this weapon which led David, while lamenting the death of the king and his sons, to give directions for “teaching the children of Judah the use of the bow” (2Sa_1:18). SEE BOW. If such were the case, his efforts were successful, for, after this period, from its frequent mention in the Holy Scriptures, archery would appear to have been considered as of great importance, so much so that “breaking the bow” is a phrase often employed by the sacred writers for taking away one's power (Hos_1:5; Jer_49:35), while “strengthening the bow” was a symbol of the increase of influence (Gen_49:24). The Persians were famous among the ancients for their archers (Isa_13:18; Jer_49:35; Jer_1:1-19). SEE BOWMAN.