ARCHER, ARCHERS, ARCHERY. The main tactical offensive unit of ancient armies was the archer. Archers developed their skills from childhood with stronger bows at longer and longer distances until their proficiency was assured. The laminated bows made of glued layers of animal hide and thin layers of wood pulled at upward of one hundred pounds, and the missiles thus powered could easily pierce all but the strongest armor.

In the OT a number of terms are rendered “archer,” “archers,” by the Eng. VSS. There is no one single term in Heb. for the archer; in its place a number of phrases are used. Most of these phrases contain the term קֶ֫שֶׁת, H8008, “compound bow.” A Ugaritic term, qs ’t, is thought by many authorities to mean “bow,” but the cognate name, Heb. קְצִיעָ֑ה, one of Job’s daughters (Job 42:14), hardly seems to fit. The names of the parts of the bow are mentioned in the Scripture (cf. esp. M. Held, “Studies in Comparative Semitic Lexicography,” Landsbergerfestschrift, Assyriological Studies, No. 16, [1965] p. 402, n. 111). The forms of the root ירה, “to shoot,” are rendered “archers” in two passages (1 Chron 10:3; 2 Chron 35:23) in both KJV and RSV. Although the contexts in both cases mention wounds but not arrows, the meaning of “shooting an arrow” is made certain by 1 Samuel 20:36, et al. Ancient bows and arrows and jagged holes in armor have been excavated from a number of areas of the Mediterranean coast. Although not mentioned specifically, words derived from archery do appear in the NT. The simplest is Gr. τόξον, G5534, “bow,” used frequently in the LXX and as a hapax legomenon in Revelation 6:2. In numerous accounts in the Scripture archers are foremost in the heat of battle, and their victims included several of the kings of Israel (1 Sam 31:3; 2 Sam 11:24; 1 Chron 10:3; 2 Chron 35:23 et al.). In the extremely problematic text of Proverbs 26:10 the rendering “archer” (RSV) is doubtful, as is “the great God” (KJV); the JPS “master” is much to be preferred. See Armor, Arms; War, Warfare.