And their bows will dash even young men to pieces.” (Isa 13:17-19;

The Medes, like the Persians, used the bow as a principal weapon. The wooden bows, though sometimes mounted with bronze or copper (compare Ps 18:34), likely ‘dashed the young men of Babylon to pieces’ by the hail of arrows, individually polished so as to penetrate even deeper.​—Jer 51:11.