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carried, besides his great heavy Spear, is expressly described as a brazen lance, improperly rendered 66 target." ."a Iron, steel, and other metals, were afterwards employed in pointing and decorating the Spears.

We know little about the construction of the Hebrew Spears; and, in so simple an instrument, nothing very peculiar is to be expected, as we find the same forms, with little variation, in nations the most remote from each other. Like other nations, the Hebrews seem to have had two kinds of Spears, one a missile, to be discharged at the foe, and the other for giving thrusts. It would seem, however, that the same weapon was often made to serve both purposes on occasion, as it certainly did with Homer's heroes. They begin their combats with throwing their Spears at each other; then each endeavours to recover the Spear he has thrown, and falls to close onset. It is evident that, in this case, a person who could not recover his own Spear, would, in most instances, be able to secure that which had been thrown by the other; and, as, no doubt, every one preferred his own weapon, there was, perhaps, an understanding between the combatants, that each should be allowed to recover his own, if both had been ineffectually thrown. It is else difficult to understand how it happens that the heroes so long retain possession of the same favourite Spear, which they are continually throwing away. Some of the heroes came into action, however, like Goliath, with two Spears, one carried behind the buckler, and the other in the right hand.

a 1 Sam. xvii. 6.

Probably, one was a lance, intended to be thrown in the first instance, and the other a Spear for closer action; or, it is possible, that the one was merely intended as a provision against the loss of the other. So far as the Spear and javelin were distinct, the former seems to have no determined size any more than the latter. We read of them as long and short among different people, or individuals. Great length in the Spear was, however, usually affected. Of Hector, it is said:

"Eleven cubits length

Of massy Spear he bore, its brazen point
Star-bright, and collared with a ring of gold,"

This was a moderate length of Spear, compared with the sarissa of the Macedonians, which is stated, by different ancient authors, to have been of the scarcely credible length of sixteen cubits, that is, about eight yards. That some of the Hebrew Spears were of great length (perhaps the length was a token of dignity) will be inferred from the fact, that Joshua's Spear, when he held it up, served as a signal to the ambuscade in the affair of Ai. The Romans reduced their Spears to a more moderate length. Those used in the time of the Emperors were generally between six and seven feet long, including the point. But we incline to think that perhaps the most probable representation of the Hebrew Spear, is that still retained by the Arabs, and which serves both for thrusting, and for throwing to a short distance. It is about twelve feet long, with a pointed head of iron or steel. It is often quite plain ;

b Josh. viii. 18-26.

but sometimes it has two balls or tufts of black ostrich feathers, as large as fists, placed at a short distance from each other towards the top; the upper ball being fringed with short white ostrich feathers. These ornaments give the weapon a rather elegant appearance It is only thrown by an Arab to a short distance, and when he is sure of his aim generally at a horseman whom he is pursuing, and cannot overtake. To strike with the lance, he poises it for a time over his head, and then thrusts it forward, or else holds and shakes it at the height of the saddle. A pursued Arab continually thrusts his lance backwards to prevent the approach of the pursuer's mare, and sometimes kills either the pursuer, or his mare, by dexterously throwing the point of his lance behind. It will be observed that the weapon has at the lower extremity an iron spike, which alone is often sufficient for these purposes. The Hebrew Spears were furnished in the same manner, and applied to exactly the same uses. Abner was pursued by the swiftfooted Asahel, who would not be persuaded to desist. "He refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the Spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the Spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died." This spike at the lower end is intended for the purpose of sticking the Spear into the ground, when the warrior is at rest. This is a common custom in the East: and it was usual among the Hebrews. When Saul pursued David into the wilderness of Ziph, he is described as asleep in his encampment, with his "Spear stuck in the ground at his bolster."d

c 2 Sam. ii. 23.

d 1 Sam, xxvi. 7.

This also was the custom among Homer's warriors, whose Spears were similarly furnished for the same purpose. Thus, when Nestor and Ulysses go in the night to Diomede :

"Him sleeping armed before his tent, they found

Amidst his sleeping followers; with their shields
Beneath their heads they lay; and at the side
Of each, stood planted in the soil his Spear
On its inverted end; their polished heads

All glittered like Jove's lightning from afar."

The Arabs have also a shorter kind of lance, which we may properly call the javelin, perhaps answering to that of the Hebrews, and which can be hurled to a considerable distance. This, among them, is chiefly used by those who act on foot. The ancient darts and javelins were too various for us to describe particularly. We are perhaps best acquainted with those of the Romans, which may be fairly taken as types of the rest. One of them was a light kind of dart, about three feet long, and not more than an inch thick, with a point four inches long. It was a sort of hand arrow. The point was made to taper to so fine an end, that it bent at its first stroke, so as to prevent the enemy from throwing it back again. These weapons were used by the light armed troops, who carried several of them in the left hand, with which they held the buckler, leaving the right hand free, either to throw the darts, or use the sword. Something of this sort, but probably less delicate, may have been the "darts." Of this kind seem to have been the darts (shebatim) of which Joab took three in his hand, and struck them through the heart of Absalom, as he hung on the tree. Besides these slender darts,

e 2 Sam. xviii. 14.

the Romans had other javelins longer, and stronger, and heavier. The two principal sorts were between four and five feet long; and the metal was carried half way down the haft, which in one sort of javelin was square, and in another round. These weapons were discharged at the enemy in commencing an action; but if there were no time, or distance for this, the soldiers threw their missiles to the ground, and assailed the foe sword in hand. There are many allusions in the Greek and Latin poets, and some in Scripture to poising of the javelin, its whistling motion through the air, and the clash of the adverse missiles striking against each other. So Virgil

"Poised in his lifted arm, his lance he threw ;

The winged weapon, whistling in the wind,
Came driving on, nor missed the mark designed."

And again

"Thick storms of steel from either army fly,

And clouds of clashing darts obscure the sky."

The ancient javelins were not always discharged entirely by the hand, the projection being in some instances assisted by a strap girt around the middle. There was also in use a sort of harpoon, that is, a dart, to the head of which was fastened a long strap, which the warrior retained when he discharged the dart, in order to draw it back again.—KITTO.

Scripture Ellustration.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, "Stretch out the Spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it

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