A weapon used to hurl small projectiles at an enemy, human or animal. This simple device was made of a cloth pad (i.e., “the hollow of a sling,” 1Sam 25:29) and two cords, one attached to each side of the pad. Ammunition consisted of smooth brook pebbles (1Sam 17:40), hammer-worked stones, or, in the Greco-Roman period, lead pellets. The slinger whirled the sling in the air while holding the ends of the cords, thereby building up centrifugal force. At the proper instant, one cord was released, and the missile was fired at its target. The story of David’s victory over Goliath illustrates the military value of slings (1Sam 17), and the accuracy of the left-handed slingers from the tribe of Benjamin was famous (Judg 20:16; 1Chr 12:2). The sling was so well known in ancient Hebrew society that biblical writers referred to this weapon in symbolic ways (1Sam 25:29; Job 41:28; Prov 26:8; Jer 10:18; Zech 9:15).
