Arrow

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Used by the Jews both in hunting and in war; sometimes merely a sharpened reed, sometimes feathered, barbed, and even poisoned, Job 6:4 . The bow was of various forms and materials, and many could be used only by the strongest men, Psalm 18:34 . Arrows were used to convey fire to an enemy's house, and for divination, Ezekiel 21:21 . The word is applied symbolically to children, Psalm 127:4,5; to the lightning, Psalm 18:14 Habakkuk 3:11; to sudden calamities, Job 6:4 Psalm 38:2 91:5 Ezekiel 5:15; and to the deceitful and bitter words of an evil tongue, Psalm 64:3 120:4 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

This word is not unfrequently used in Scripture to denote divine judgments, and terrors in the soul from the arrow of the Lord. (See Zechariah 9:14; Job 6:4; Psalms 38:7; Hebrews 4:12)

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ARROW . See Armour, and Magic Divination, etc.

King James Dictionary

AR'ROW, n.

1. A missive weapon of offense, straight, slender, pointed and barbed, to be shot with a bow.

2. In scripture, the arrows of God are the apprehensions of his wrath, which pierce and pain the conscience. Job 6 . Psalms 38 . In a like figurative manner, arrows represent the judgments of God, as thunder, lightning, tempests and famine. 2 Samuel 22 .

Ezekiel 5 . Habakkuk 3 . The word is used also for slanderous words and malicious purposes of evil men. Psalms 11 . Proverbs 25 . Jeremiah 9 . Psalms 64 .

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

See ARMS . Divination with arrows was a method of presaging future events, practised by the ancients. Ezekiel 21:21 , informs us, that Nebuchadnezzar, putting himself at the head of his armies, to march against Zedekiah, king of the Jews, and against the king of the Ammonites, stood at the parting of two ways, to mingle his arrows together in a quiver, in order to divine from thence which way he should march. Jerom, Theodoret, and the modern commentators after them, believe that this prince took several arrows, and upon each of them wrote the name of the king, town, or province, which he was to attack; for example, upon one, Jerusalem; upon another, Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites; and upon another, Egypt, &c. After having put these into a quiver, he shook them together, and then drew them out; and the arrow which was drawn was thought to declare the will of the gods to attack first that city, province, or kingdom, with whose name it was inscribed.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

Deuteronomy 32:23 (b) These arrows may be GOD's terrible judgment which He sent upon the people because of their idolatry and rebellion. (See also Numbers 24:8; Zechariah 9:14).

2 Kings 13:17 (a) Here the arrow represents the power, wisdom and love of GOD in finding a certain and sure way of delivering the people of GOD from their enemies.

Job 6:4 (b) The misfortunes which GOD permitted to come upon Job are described as arrows.

Psalm 11:2 (a) Here the arrow represents wicked devices and evil words which the wicked use against the righteous. (See also Psalm 91:5; Proverbs 25:18).

Psalm 64:7 (b) The calamity which GOD Himself will bring suddenly and swiftly upon His enemies is described as "arrows."

Psalm 127:4 (a) These arrows represent the children of great men who, under the training of the parents, became alert, skillful and educated men, who may be used abundantly in GOD's great business.

Jeremiah 9:8 (a) The tongue that speaks deceitfully and makes evil statements about another is described as a sharp arrow that wounds and hurts.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ar´ō . See Archery; Armor .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

This word is frequently used as the symbol of calamities or diseases inflicted by God ( Job 6:4; Job 34:6; Psalms 38:2; Deuteronomy 32:23; comp. Ezekiel 5:16; Zechariah 9:14). Lightnings are, by a very fine figure, described as the arrows of God ( Psalms 18:14; Psalms 144:6; Habakkuk 3:11; comp. Wisdom of Solomon 5:21; 2 Samuel 22:15). 'Arrow' is occasionally used to denote some sudden or inevitable danger; as in Psalms 91:5 :—'The arrow that flieth by day.' It is also figurative of anything injurious, as a deceitful tongue ( Psalms 129:4; Jeremiah 9:7); a bitter word ( Psalms 64:3); a false testimony ( Proverbs 25:18). The arrow is, however, not always symbolical of evil. In Psalms 127:4-5, well-conditioned children are compared to 'arrows in the hands of a mighty man;' i.e. instruments of power and action. The arrow is also used in a good sense to denote the efficient and irresistible energy of the word of God in the hands of the Messiah ( Psalms 45:5; Isaiah 49:2).

There are several words thus rendered in the English Bible, namely properly חֵו ֹ (chets, from its sharpness), of frequent occurrence (rendered "dart" in Proverbs 7:23; "wound," i.e. of an arrow, Job 34:6; "staff" by an error of transcription for עֵוֹ, the haft of a spear, 1 Samuel 17:7), with its derivatives חֵצִי (chetsi', 1 Samuel 20:36-38; 2 Kings 9:24) and חָצִוֹ (chatats', Psalms 77:17; elsewhere "gravel"); poetically רֶשֶׁ (re'sheph, Psalm 76:31, lightning, as it is elsewhere rendered), and בֶּןאּקֶשֶׁה (ben-ke'sheth, i.e. son of a bow, Job 41:28). Among the Hebrews arrows were probably at first made of reed, as common among the Egyptians; subsequently they were made from some light sort of wood, and tipped with an iron point. Whether they were ever dipped in poison is not clear from Job 6:4; Deuteronomy 32:24. They were often composed, in part at least, of the shrub רֹתֶם, ro'them, "juniper," which, being discharged from the bow while on fire, kindled upon the baggage or armament of the enemy ( Psalms 120:4; Job 30:4). Hence arrows are sometimes put tropically for lightnings ( Deuteronomy 32:23; Deuteronomy 32:42; Psalms 7:13; Zechariah 9:14). Arrows were used in war as well as in hunting ( Genesis 27:3; Genesis 47:22). (See Archer). They were kept in a case called a quiver (q.v.), which was slung over the shoulder in such a position that the soldier could draw them out when needed ( Psalms 91:5; Psalms 120:4). (See Bow). They were also used in divination ( Ezekiel 21:21). (See Divination) . The arrows of the ancient Egyptians varied from 22 to 34 inches in length; some were of wood, others of reed; frequently tipped with a metal head, and winged with three feathers, glued longitudinally, and at equal distances, upon the other end of the shaft, as on modern arrows. Sometimes, instead of the metal head, a piece of hard wood was inserted into the reed, which terminated in a long tapering point; but these were of too light and powerless a nature to be employed in war, and could only have been intended for the chase; in others, the place of the metal was supplied by a small piece of flint or other sharp stone, secured by a firm black paste; and although used occasionally-in battle, they appear from the sculptures to have belonged more particularly to the huntsman; while the arrows of archers are generally represented with bronze heads, some barbed, others triangular, and many with three or four projecting blades, placed at right angles and meeting in a common point (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. i, 356). The ancient Assyrians appear also to have used arrows made of reeds, which were kept in a quiver slung over the back. The barbs were of iron and copper, several of which have been discovered among the ruins (Layard, Nineveh, ii, 263). (See Armor).