"And David took hold of the sackcloth, and took a stone from thence, and cast it; and he smote the Philistine in the forehead, and the stone digged in his forehead, and he fell on his face. (1 Sam. 17:49) This famous feat, one of the most dramatic events in the Bible, shows the harness. With a stone, the young David defeated the giant Goliath, the mighty master of the Philistines.
The outcome of this famous battle was not due to superiority or skill with weapons, but to Jehovah God, who supported young David. Before the meeting, David said: “I am coming to you in the army of Jehovah. . . You laughed. . . And this whole church will know that neither the sword nor the spear will save Jehovah, for Jehovah is the battlefield. Surely God held the stone of David's sling and gave it unusual strength. He dug into Goliath's forehead and found the giant. David then "killed" him with the same Goliath sword.
Although David had God's help in this conflict, the band really played a role. Why was it so effective? What is a scarf and how is it used?
The sling was a competitive sport among the early settlers in southern Africa. Selenium was also used for small game animals in the Transvaal and Rhodesia. It was a simple and easy weapon to make. The central section (or "knot hole" [1 Sam. 25:29]) consisted of a piece of leather that was about 23 centimeters long and 7.5 to 3.5 centimeters long and 23 centimeters wide in the middle. , glued at both ends. Leather strips are attached to each end of the middle part. Or you can cut the whole ribbon from the same piece of leather.
How was a sling used? A right-handed person wrapped the end of one of the handles around a finger on his right hand or tied it around his right wrist and inserted the handle into the palm. The end of the second strip would be bent and held with the same hand.
The harness would place a stone in the center of the harness. He held the stone in his outstretched left hand. Then he released his left hand and turned right counterclockwise. When the sling reached her level, she swung it horizontally forward, even counterclockwise, in a full circle over her head. At the right moment, he dropped the trap and threw the stone forward. Some harnesses usually do not swing over the head but simply release with a steady downward movement of the arm.
Great strength and range
With the thrower's arm length and belts that give speed, the stone can be thrown with enormous force. In fact, a stone thrown in this way can pass through a car door. But it takes a lot of practice and perfect timing to use the sling properly.
Smooth rocks are commonly used as rockets. David chose this boy when he met Goliath. (1 Sam. 17:40) Stones about 6.3 centimeters in diameter are best. However, the leaves can vary in size.
Given that it is such a simple weapon with ready-made ammunition, it is no wonder that the harness continued to be used from a very early age. The Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Vol. 25, p. 242) states: “The sling as a weapon is probably the oldest form of equipment known to mankind that gave the human body more power and reach. Arm of a rocket launcher. . ""
For example, in an October 1973 issue of Scientific American, the author stated: “I asked young people in eastern Turkey to throw ordinary stones at me. In five of the eleven attempts, the stones exceeded 200 meters, and the first three hits were between 230 and 240 meters [755 and 787 feet]. None of the boys seemed to be a skilled sniper; At least no one had a sling at that time. In addition, the rockets were randomly selected pebbles, rather than carefully modeled rock, clay or lead rockets fired with hose shots during Greek and Roman times. Based on Xenophon's comment alone, it is likely that a lead rocket fired from a slingshot could reach a distance of more than 400 meters.”
Because the noose was a weapon of such reach and power, it was used in warfare by the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others. The founders also occupied a place in the armies of Israel and Judah. In the case of a company of seven hundred left-handed Benjaminites, the Bible says, "Each of them was a row of stones the width of a hair and could not be lost." According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the complexities of the Jewish armies fought against Rome until the first century of our common age.
Today, of course, humans have infinitely more powerful and devastating missiles. But how heartwarming it is to know that under the reign of the Prince of Peace all weapons, be they slingshots or military missiles, will soon be a thing of the past, and the inhabitants of the earth will never learn. no more war!
Sling was an effective weapon!