Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
•The Sling is first mentioned in (Judges 20:16) This simple weapon, with which David killed the
giant Philistine, was the natural attendant of a shepherd. Later in the monarchy, slingers formed
part of the regular army. (2 Kings 3:25)
•The BATTLE AXE, (Jeremiah 51:20) a powerful weapon of whose exact form we have no
knowledge. II. Armor.—
•The Breastplate, enumerated in the description of the arms of Goliath, a “coat of mail,” literally
a “breastplate of scales.” (1 Samuel 17:5) This word has furnished one of the names of Mount
Hermon. See (3:9)
•The Habergeon is mentioned but twice—in reference to the gown of the high priest. (Exodus
28:32; 39:28) It was probably a quilted shirt or doublet.
•The Helmet is referred to in (1 Samuel 17:5; 2 Chronicles 26:14; Ezekiel 27:10)
•(Greaves) or defences for the feet, made of brass, are named in (1 Samuel 17:6) only.
•Two kinds of Shield are distinguishable. A. The large shield; encompassing, (Psalms 6:12) the
whole person. When not in actual conflict it was carried before the warrior. (1 Samuel 17:7,41)
b. Of smaller dimensions was the buckler or target, probably for use in hand-to-hand fight. (1
Kings 10:16; 2 Chronicles 9:15,16)
Army
I. Jewish ARMY.—Every man above 20 years of age was a soldier, (Numbers 1:3) each tribe
formed a regiment, with its own banner and its own leader (Numbers 2:2; 10:14) their positions in
the camp or on the march were accurately fixed, Numb. 2; the whole army started and stopped at
a given signal, (Numbers 10:5,6) thus they came up out of Egypt ready for the fight. (Exodus 13:18)
On the approach of an enemy a conscription was made from the general body, under the direction
of a muster-master, (20:5; 2 Kings 25:19) by whom also the officers were appointed. (20:9) The
army had then divided into thousands and hundreds under their respective captains, (Numbers
31:14) and still further into families. (Numbers 2:34; 2 Chronicles 25:5; 26:12) With the king arose
the custom of maintaining a body-guard, which formed the nucleus of a standing army, and David’s
band of 600, (1 Samuel 23:13; 25:13) he retained after he became king, and added the Cherethites
and Pelethites. (2 Samuel 15:18; 20:7) David further organized a national militia, divided into
twelve regiments under their respective officers, each of which was called out for one month in the
year. (1 Chronicles 27:1) ... It does not appear that the system established by David was maintained
by the kings of Judah; but in Israel the proximity of the hostile kingdom of Syria necessitated the
maintenance of a standing army. The maintenance and equipment of the soldiers at the public
expense dated from the establishment of a standing army. It is doubtful whether the soldier ever
received pay even under the kings. II. Roman Empire ARMY.—The Roman army was divided into
legions, the number of which varied considerably (from 3000 to 6000), each under six tribuni
(“chief captains,”) (Acts 21:31) who commanded by turns. The legion was subdivided into ten
cohorts (“band,”) (Acts 10:1) the cohort into three maniples, and the maniple into two centuries,
containing originally 100 men, as the name implies, but subsequently from 50 to 100 men, according
to the strength of the legion. There were thus 60 centuries in a legion, each under the command of
a centurion. (Acts 10:1,22; Matthew 8:5; 27:54) In addition to the legionary cohorts, independent
cohorts of volunteers served under the Roman standards. One of these cohorts was named the
Italian, (Acts 10:1) as consisting of volunteers from Italy. The headquarters of the Roman forces
in Judea were at Caesarea.
Arnan
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William Smith