Bible Encyclopedias
Archer

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(קִשָּׁת, kashshath', a bowman, Genesis 21:20; בִּעִלאּחִצּים, baal- chitstsim', arrow-man, Genesis 49:23; אנֵוֹשׁ בִּקֶּשֶׁת, enosh' bakke'sheth, bowman, 1 Samuel 31:3; מוֹרֶה בִּקֶּשֶׁת moreh' bakke'sheth, shooter with the bow, 1 Chronicles 10:3; דּוֹרֵךְ קֶּשֶׁת, one bending the bow, Jeremiah 51:3; comp. Isaiah 21:17; Isaiah 23:3; but simply קֶּשֶׁת , ke'sheth, a bow, in Isaiah 22:3; comp. Psalms 78:57; while in Job 16:13, the word is רִב, 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 Genesis 21:20, Ishmael is spoken of as an archer, and again in Genesis 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).

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