Page 614 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

SIT AT MEAT - SLING

SIT AT MEAT. To sit down to the table; to prepare to SLING. We know that David smote Goliath with a
eat (Mt. 9:10; 14:9; Lk. 14:10; 1 Co. 8:10). sling (1 Sa. 17:40, 50), but many Bible readers probably
SITH. If; since (Eze. 35:6). think of the ancient sling more as a boy’s plaything or a
SITNAH (opposition). Ge. 26:21. shepherd’s pasttime than a serious weapon. The sling
SITUATE. Situated (1 Sa. 14:5). was typically formed of a piece of leather with a small
hole in the center with two strong strings or small ropes
SIVAN (a thorn, month, moon). The third month of attached. A stone being placed in the hole, the sling was
the Jewish sacred year, beginning with the new moon of swung around forcibly then released expertly so that the
June (Es. 8:9). Harvest time (Potts). [See Calendar.] stone flew away. It was a powerful military weapon (Ju.
SIXTH HOUR. About noon (Mt. 20:5; 27:45). 20:16; 2 Ki. 3:25; 2 Ch. 26:14). “In Old Testament
SKILL. Understanding; knowledge; ability; dexterity times, slingers were regular components of an army and
in performance (1 Ki. 5:6; 2 Ch. 2:7; 34:12; Da. 1:17; were often used together with archers; during siege
9:22). warfare their role was to pick off the enemy from the
SLACK. Negligent; hesitant; restrained; not diligent besieged city’s ramparts. Such slingers were capable of
or eager (De. 7:10; Jos. 10:6; 18:3; 2 Ki. 4:24; Pr. 10:4; hurling a projectile at over one hundred miles an hour
2 Pe. 3:9). [See Slothful, Sluggard.] and their effective range was well in excess of one
SLACKNESS. Negligence (2 Pe. 3:9). [See Slothful, hundred yards” (Alfred Hoerth, Archaeology and the Old
Sluggard.] Testament).
The Victory of Utu-hegal, which dates to about 2100
SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT. [See Charismatic.] BC, describes ancient warfare as follows: “From the city
SLANDER. To defame; to harm the reputation of it rained missiles as from the clouds; slingstones like the
someone by false tales (Nu. 14:36-37; 2 Sa. 19:27; Ps. rain falling in a [whole] year whizzed loudly down from
31:13; 50:20; Pr. 10:18; Je. 9:4-6; Ro. 3:8; 1 Ti. 3:11). the walls of Aratta” (Reading Sumerian Poetry, p. 130).
For something to be slanderous, it must involve
falsehood and an injurious motive. To tell someone that Consider the following description of sling warfare
a certain pastor is divorced or adulterous or a thief is which describes the potential power of this weapon: “A
not slander if that information is true, but it is slander sling works by increasing the effective length of a stone-
to say such things when they are not true. [See thrower’s arm. Modern cricket bowlers or baseball
Backbite, Busybody, Evil Speaking, Gossip, Talebearer, pitchers can achieve maximum ball velocities of over
Tattler, Whisperer.] 150 kilometres per hour. A slingshot as long again as the
thrower’s arm will double the projectile’s speed, making
SLAVE. [See Servant.] the velocity of the bullet when it leaves the sling nearly
SLAYER. [See Capital Punishment, Cities of Refuge, 100 metres per second. This is already considerably
Kill.] greater than that of a longbow arrow, at only about 60
SLEEP. [See Labor, Sluggard.] mps. Intensively trained from childhood onward, there
SLEEP, ON. Asleep (Ac. 13:36). is no reason to believe that a professional slinger could
SLEIGHT. Deception; cunning; an artful trick; sly not beat 100 mps (meters per second) fairly easily and
artifice (Ep. 4:14). The Greek term (kubeia) refers to a perhaps even begin to approach the muzzle velocity of
cube for playing dice, and signifies the mischievous a .45 calibre pistol round: about 150 mps. What is more,
subtlety of seducers (Matthew Henry). It also could a smooth slingshot projectile has a far greater range
refer to the chance aspect of gambling. “It seems to than an arrow, as much as half a kilometre, because an
denote a man’s forming his religious opinions by the arrow’s flight feather’s produce so much drag. The
throw of a die; in other words, it describes a man whose modern world-record distance for a stone cast with a
opinions seem to be the result of mere chance. ... [any sling was achieved by Larry Bray in 1981, who managed
means of determining a point of duty or doctrine apart 437 metres, and thought in retrospect that he could
from] the calm examination of the Bible, and by surpass the 600-metre mark with a better sling and lead
prayer” (Barnes). This word is used only one time in the projectiles” (Paul Kriwaczek, Babylon: Mesopotamia and
Bible and it refers to the deceitfulness of false teachers. the Birth of Civilization, Kindle location 1633).
[See Beguile, Cunning Craftiness, Deceit, Dissemble, Ancient projectiles discovered at Hamoukar (in
Dissimulation, Doubletongued, Entice, False Teaching, northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border) were actually
Feign, Flattery, Sincere, Subtil, Unfeigned, Wind of egg-shaped, but more pointed, and made out of clay.
Doctrine, Winketh.] More than 2,000 of these sling bullets were found in
SLIME. Bitumen; when mixed with tar it forms a 2005 in excavations co-sponsored by the Oriental
hard surface impervious to water (Ge. 11:3; 14:10; Ex. Institute and the Syrian Department of Antiquities. One
2:3). of the stones had pierced into a mud brick wall

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