Paul the Poke

No one in it is weary or stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps; nor is the belt at its waist undone, nor its sandal strap broken.

The armed forces being discussed are well rested. The troops are physically trained and fit. The soldiers are coordinated, physically the best of the best.  In today’s vernacular, they are athletically trained. They are not lacking sleep and they are not drowsy or sluggish.

This foreign army has good clothing and they are organized.

Have you ever tried to run in a sandal with the thong broken? It will slow you down. The soldiers have good shoes and can run at peak performance. The thong of a sandal was to secure the foot to the shoe. In Isaiah 20:2, Isaiah walked around barefoot and naked to foreshadow the poverty that was coming to Egypt and Cush as judgment. Shoes indicated wealth to some degree.

Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; the hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

This group is well armed and supplied. A bent bow is loaded with an arrow. There is an arrow loaded and ready to be shot. All of the bows are bent. All of the soldiers are ready to shoot and inflict damage.

Back in the time of Isaiah, bows were made with a flexible wood. The bow was approximately five feet in length. The string of the bow was dried sheep’s gut. The Assyrians perfected the bow when they laminated the wood or made the bow of horn. This allowed for greater resistance and allowed for increased velocity of the arrow. This of course inflicted more penetrating damage. The construction of these types of bows was more expensive.  Israel eventually developed bows made of steel and bronze. The countries which had more money had better equipment for fighting war (sounds familiar).

The arrows were carried in quivers and draped over the shoulder. Arrows were likely made of reeds and tipped with flint points or wood tipped with metal. They were approximately thirty inches long and winged with three rows of feathers. The weapon tip was poisoned or on fire.

The armed forces attack with speed as evidenced with the horse and chariot. The horse drawn chariot was the premier fighting piece of equipment. It was the modern day equivalent to the nuclear bomb. Up to three people would ride in a chariot: an archer, shield bearer, and driver. Archers were highly skilled specialists in the army. Archers were transported by chariot. The Assyrians placed large wooden shields for the protection of their archers.

Military information provided by Manners and Customs of Bible Times, Ralph Gower and Unger’s Bible Dictionary.

This entry was posted on September 29, 2012 at 8:53 PM and is filed under Isaiah with tags Bible warfare, bow and arrow, chariots, isaiah 5, Israel, Prophecy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.