Spear

The spear of antiquity was a near relation of the sword. The primitive knife might be littcd with a short h.andle and become a sword Ijr(i|ier, or be mounted on a pole and become a spear ; hence possibly the doubt whether the pop.<f>ala (see SwoRD) waa a sword or a spear. |||«V^^ BRONZR SI'KAR-nilAD FBOli TBUL E1.-1IK8Y (LAI:BIBD). (liy kind permission of the PEF). The spear-hcad was of flint or bronze (see the illustrations in Bliss, Monnd of mnny Cities, pp.

36, 37) or of iron (1 S 17': Bliss, pp. 106, 107). Egyptian spears (perhaps only for hunting and lishing) have been found made of wood throughout. Dili'erent kinds of spears were : — 1. The javelin (|\T3 kldOn) : RV of Jos 8'»- "-« ( A V ' spear ') ; 1 S 17« (AV 'Urget'): v.« (AV 'shield'); Jer 6-' (EV ' spear ') ; .W- (A V ' lance ') ; Joli 39^ ( AV ' shield ') ; 41 Jiiail (KV . iiie rushing of the javelin ' ; AV ' the shaking of a spear '). This weapon was for ertsfinrj. In the Heb.

Sirach (46-') /cidOu preserves the refer- ence to Jos 8'", which is lost in the Or. ^on<pala (EV ' sword '). 610 SPEAEMEN SPICE 2. The lance (n-h romah, cf. Arab, ntinh), perliaps a lighter weapon than the spear proper. In 1 Iv lS'-«"roma/i. is tr" in AV 'lancets' (' lancers in the earlier editions). See, further, Driver's note on Jl 3'". 3. The spear (proper)— once a tr. of i:s kayin (2 S 21'« where H. P.

Smith accejjts the emendation V3\s' kobhd 'helmet'); generally, however, the rende'rinn- of n-jn hanith. This (heavy) spear was used probably in close array, when an army was drawn up shield touching sliield, and with spears at the charge to repel a threatened attack. * roiu this array champions advanced to issue their challenges (1 S IT'^'- «), and back to it upon occasion they retreated. In Ps 35- » the Psalmist seems to think of himself as such a champion defeated and retiring.

The hanttk was used by Saul (IS 22'=) as a ' sceptre ' (b3? shebhct, the shepherd s staff). • The cutting up of the spear (Ps 46») is a sign of the end of wa?. The two parts of .t'je spear were the 'staff' or butt (yj. '<? 'wood,' 1 s 1'' f '-;•;.;,", ,^ 0119 • or rn hez ' arrow ' or ' shaft,' 1 S 17' KcthM) and 'the 'head' (nanS lahebheth or 2^ lahahh 'flame,' Job 39-»). , ,, ,n34r*i, ^,,w I In NT 'spear' represents Xi-zXI (Jn 19" [the on y occurrence]: Vulg. lancca). In Jr.

19=» F tieW (Notes on the Translation of the A T, pp. lOo-l'.*' points out that iaaiir-f irepie.^.'res corresponds with the Trepi^fis K^\6.^f of Mt 27«; accordingly, re- vivin" an old conjecture, he suggests mtv ^repi- eivT^Z ' putting [a sponge] upon a spear (^,T<ros_ pilum); certainly 'a sponge upon hyssop is a diflacult phrase to explain. ^ W. Emery Barnes.