He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms, х qeshet (H7198) nªchuwshaah (H5154)] - a bow of brass (rather, bronze, a compound of copper and tin (cf. Job 20:24; Psalms 18:35). The bow held a prominent place among the military weapons of antiquity; and if a judgment may be formed of the shape or structure of those used in Western Asia, from the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian monuments, they were made of bronze, which is inferred from their being on the sculptures coloured red, and when undrawn, but strung, exhibited the figure of an obtuse angle rather than a curve, as if composed of two metallic shafts united. Of course, it required strength no less than skill to bend them. Thus, in the account of the bow of Ulysses, which none of the numerous suitors was able to draw, Homer says ('Odyssey,' lib. 21:,
409):
`So the great master drew the mighty bow, And drew with ease; one hand aloft display'd The bending horns, and one the string essay'd.'
Ulysses having bent his bow, shot the arrows through the rings, and then turning to his son, Telemachus, addresses him in a glow of self-satisfied pride:
`Nor have I wrought thee shame; Nor erred this hand, unfaithful to its aim; Nor proved the toil too hard; nor have I lost, That ancient vigour, once my pride and boast.'(-Pope.)
Herodotus also relates ('Thalia,' 21:) that when Cambyses sent his spies into the country of Ethiopia, the king of that country, well aware of their object in coming, addressed them thus:-When the Persians can easily draw bows of such dimensions as this, then let them hope to invade Ethiopia. Having said this, he unstrung the bow, and handed it to them to carry to their king. These instances may suffice to show how much the bending of a metallic bow was considered to display the athletic power and military skill of a great warrior. The sentiment intended to be expressed by David is equivalent to that of Paul, Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."