Suzanne Rogers<\/b><\/p>\n
Today soldiers use guns, tanks, missiles, and airplanes. What did King David use when his armies went to war? Mostly rocks. That\u2019s right, rocks kept in a little pouch made of wool or leather. It was a far cry from the advanced weapons we have now. While David was a shepherd boy, he killed Goliath with a smooth stone from the brook (1 Sm 17:40). Later his soldiers used stones, too. These slingstones were especially shaped for war.<\/p>\n
Slingstones from ABR\u2019s excavation at<\/b><\/p>\n
Slingstones were made out of a hard rock called flint. When the flint was broken, the ancient Israelites could sharpen knives and other cutting tools from the flint, but when it was a whole piece, it could be chipped down into a round stone ball. Soldiers would try to make all the balls the same size (about the size of a billiard ball) so they would all go about the same distance.<\/p>\n
To sling the stone, slingers used a little square piece of woven wool or leather with two leather straps attached to each end of the square. Then they took one of the strings and tied it to their fingers and grabbed the other string between their thumb and index finger. They would let the square hang, and it would make a little pouch to put the slingstone in. Next they would swing the slingstone underhand by the strings, like a softball pitcher. They didn\u2019t have to swing it around many times; once or twice was enough. Finally when it came around to the bottom, they let go of the string, and the slingstone went flying!<\/p>\n
Biblical slingers were excellent at hitting their targets, almost as good as the archers. Judges 20:16 says there were seven hundred left-handed men chosen, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. Can you imagine aiming for a hair on top of your friend\u2019s head over a distance of at least two football fields! Even today there are young boys who are very accurate with slings. Ancient soldiers could make their sling stone go as fast as an archer\u2019s arrow, up to 60 miles per hour. That\u2019s how fast your car goes on the highway!<\/p>\n
Slingstones were a very valuable weapon for the Israelite armies, and they were not the only army to use slingstones. The Romans decided that flint sling stones were not good enough. So they made better ones. Wanting something stronger than flint, they made theirs out of metal. If you have ever made Jello jigglers, that is kind of the way the Romans made their slingstones. They took a mold that was shaped in little ovals with points on the ends and poured lead into it. The little slingstones were only 2 inches long. Although they were such a small size, they weighed as much as the big flint slingslones. The slingers would sling these lead \u201cmissiles\u201d the same way they did the flint slingstones. The missiles could be slung as far as 440 yards. That is almost four and a half football fields long! Whether you got hit by flint or lead, it hurt a lot and might kill you!<\/p>\n
You may think that no one uses slings anymore. Not so. Even today in Israel they are still using slings, but it is not like Biblical times when the army was using them. If you watch the news, you will see young Palestinian boys using slings and slingstones against the Israeli army. So even today rocks are still flying!<\/p>\n
Bible And Spade 14:4 (Fall 2001)<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Suzanne Rogers Today soldiers use guns, tanks, missiles, and airplanes. What did King David use when his armies went to war? Mostly rocks. That\u2019s right, rocks kept in a little pouch made of wool or leather. It was a far cry from the advanced weapons we have now. While David was a shepherd boy, he … Continue reading “FOR
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