Dart

A pointed weapon to be thrown by the hand; a javelin or light spear. The English version uses "dart" as an equivalent for five Hebrew words: (1) "Ḥeẓ," which should be rendered "arrow" (compare the Assyrian "uṣṣu" and the Phenician ). (2) "Massa'," given in the list of weapons which of necessity must prove ineffective in the struggle with the leviathan (Job xli. 26). In the same connection is found (3) "totaḥ," and from the words "counted as stubble," a weapon with a shaft can be inferred (Job xli. 18). (4) "Shebeṭ": with three of these Joab smote Absalom (II Sam. xviii. 14). The most usual form is (5) "shelaḥ." This the workers on the Temple wall under Nehemiah constantly had with them (Neh. iv. 11). Hezekiah provided them in abundance for the defense of the Temple (II Chron. xxxii. 5). The men under Jehoiada were armed with them (II Chron. xxiii. 10). Darts were used in sieges (I Macc. vi. 51), and it may be that the reference here is to darts used to carry fire into the works and the city of the enemy. The New Testament speaks of the "fiery darts of the wicked" (Eph. vi. 16).

E. G. H. G. B. L.