Quote Originally Posted by cmacq View Post
If one wants to be taken seriously, one must be specific. Also if one wants to be specific and cite a reference, please do so. For example:

II Kings 3:25
׃וְהֶעָרִ֣ים יַהֲרֹ֡סוּ וְכָל־חֶלְקָ֣ה טֹ֠ובָה יַשְׁלִ֨יכוּ אִישׁ־אַבְנֹ֜ו וּמִלְא֗וּהָ וְכָל־מַעְיַן־מַ֤יִם יִסְתֹּ֙מוּ֙ וְכָל־עֵֽץ־טֹ֣וב יַפִּ֔ילוּ עַד־הִשְׁאִ֧יר אֲבָנֶ֛יהָ בַּקִּ֖יר חֲרָ֑שֶׂת וַיָּסֹ֥בּוּ הַקַּלָּעִ֖ים וַיַּכּֽוּהָ׃

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Thus they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the slingers went about it and struck it.

King James
And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.

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Also by use of Tribes of Israel indicates the period from the late middle Bronze age up until the end of the united monarchy. So I believe you're talking about the Near Eastern Late Bronze or Early Iron ages. After this period Israel was not but a pleasant fiction. I'm not entirely sure how that would compare to the EB time frame, that is unless you’re intent is to imply that detailed information that was included for the Tribes of Israel context, actually relates to the late 1st millennium BC. The period in which the text was composed, rather than the period mentioned in the texts?


CmacQ
What you quoted is irrelevant. I know the time period is different (obviously), but what I was saying is that peasant slingers were generally organised in tribal units, which were generally small. I do not have a source for it, so I will not push it as an argument. I have a very hard time reaching any sources right now. :P