Psalm 46/Notes/Lexical.v. 10.877661

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Furthermore, v. 10 lists several items related to weaponry and military activity in general, which the Lord destroys. Thus, the first weapon that God is said to shatter in v. 10b is a bow (קשת),[1] “a strong but flexible piece of wood to which a string is attached for the firing of arrows, ► used for hunting or as weapon of war” (SDBH). In HB, it appears with a variety of other weapons in contexts related to warfare (Gen 48:22; Josh 24:12; Hos 1:7; 2:20; 1 Sam 18:4; 2 Sam 1:22; 2 Kgs 6:22; Isa 41:2, etc.). As the distance weapon par excellence, the bow (especially the composite type, with a range of c. 120m) was in wide use in antiquity, being particularly effective at various stages of siege.[2]

  1. ↑ Translations usually render both "bow" and "spear" as “the” bow and “the” spear. In poetry, the article is not used often, which is true of Psalm 46 in particular.
  2. ↑ On distance weapons used in ANE, including the bow, see Trimm 2017: 529‒541.