David’s sling and stones— Were they toys or serious weapons?

[joi]

I suspect the slings would have been preserved in the same manner as the scrolls found in that region.

Their area is rather dry most of the time.

My dad was pretty proficient with a sling and I can tell you it was no toy. He was still pretty good with it when my son was young, so the skill stayed with him.

[ayin jade]

I have a slingshot from guatamala. It is nicely carved in the shape of a squirrel (which is why I have it lol) and was used by locals to kill animals that raided their farms and for food.

[nebula]

I have a slingshot from guatamala. It is nicely carved in the shape of a squirrel (which is why I have it lol) and was used by locals to kill animals that raided their farms and for food.

I'd love to see that!

[bobby0]

Bold Believer is right. They still use them today. I think they hunted with them also.

Would you want to get hit with one?

[Guest shiloh357]

David would have had to have some kind of weapon against wolves and other animals while sheparding. Slings are not toys period, they can maime and kill as we know from the tale of David and Goliath. Just ask my mom, my dad gave one to my youngest and he proceded to break several windows in the neighborhood before mom destroyed it herself.

Yeah those stones were often two or three pounds. They would smooth them out in order to make them fly straight. I saw a demonstration once and a good slinger could take off the head of a human being due to the amazing velocity they could achieve. These weapons experts (can't remember the name of the show) use biblical slings on melons, and on dummies that were made of a material that was supposed to mimic human flesh and bone. Those slings were as deadly as weapon we have today.

[other one]

There is a different in a sling and a slingshot. If you are thinking of the things that have stretchy material hooked up on a "Y" shaped handle, it is not what David used on the giant. a sling is a leather piece with two leather straps about three feet long attached to it. You put the stone in the piece of leather and sling it around your head very fast and turn one of the straps loose.

It's kind of tricky to hit things with, but with a lot of practice they can be very accurate and deadly. We used to use them for rabbit hunting when i was a kid.

What I find very interesting in the David Story was that he picked up five stones.....

Did you know that Goliath had 4 brothers?

[~candice~]

So it's likely then that the Philistines knew that the sling was a deadly weapon.

They were not apathetic about the weapon, they were apathetic about DAVID.

The symbology here is remarkable.

[bobby0]

If you just throw a stone at someone you can kill them. Now fling the rock out of a piece of leather 5 or 10 feet long. It has to be powerful! And they were likely accurate. I would think there are videos online of how they are used.

[mizzdy]

David would have had to have some kind of weapon against wolves and other animals while sheparding. Slings are not toys period, they can maime and kill as we know from the tale of David and Goliath. Just ask my mom, my dad gave one to my youngest and he proceded to break several windows in the neighborhood before mom destroyed it herself.

Yeah those stones were often two or three pounds. They would smooth them out in order to make them fly straight. I saw a demonstration once and a good slinger could take off the head of a human being due to the amazing velocity they could achieve. These weapons experts (can't remember the name of the show) use biblical slings on melons, and on dummies that were made of a material that was supposed to mimic human flesh and bone. Those slings were as deadly as weapon we have today.

My husband used to be pretty good with a sling as well as a slingshot but much better with the sling. I've seen the show your talking about pretty amazing the destruction these things bring. What gets me is the intimacy of war then, personal upfront and brutal beyone measure. Our soldiers are trained in hand to hand combat and we have elite teams that are taught to use unconventual weapons but I am not sure any of us could handle the brutality of war back them.