Bow

A bow is a curved weapon that shoots arrows. In biblical times, bows were used for hunting and warfare.

Early bows were made from one piece of dried and prepared wood. However, no single type of wood was light, strong, and flexible enough to make the best bow.

Over time, people began to combine different materials. These included wood, animal horn, tendons, sinew, and glue. A tendon is a strong tissue that joins muscle to bone. Sinew is dried animal tendon used as a strong cord.

These bows were called composite bows because they were made from several materials. They were light, strong, and flexible. Their curved shape gave arrows greater distance and power.

Bowstrings were made from plant fibers, natural cord, animal hide, or the intestines of oxen or camels.

A person often needed great strength to put a string on a bow. The archer sometimes held the bow with one foot while bending it into place (2 Kings 13:16; compare 2 Samuel 22:35; Jeremiah 51:3). For this reason, archers were sometimes called “bow treaders,” meaning people who stepped on a bow to bend it.

The shape of arrowheads changed as soldiers began to use stronger armor. During the Late Bronze Age, arrowheads were usually made of bronze. They were thick in the middle and narrowed to a sharp point. This shape helped them go through the armor used at that time.

Arrow shafts were usually made from reeds. Reeds were strong but also flexible.

See also Archer, Archery; Armor and Weapons.