Concise Bible Dictionary:
Ancient Egyptian saws have been discovered, and a double handed one was found at Nimrood. They are such as would be used for wood, but there must have been other kinds, for 1 Kings 7:9 speaks of stones that were “sawed with saws.” The inhabitants of Rabbah, when conquered by David, were “cut with saws and harrows of iron and axes” (1 Chron. 20:3). They had perhaps thus treated the captives they had taken, and this was God’s judgment upon them (compare Heb. 11:37).
“298. Saws” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
1 Kings 7:9. All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws.
When the saw was invented is not known. It is seen on the Egyptian monuments, and also on the Assyrian. The saws referred to in the text were doubtless double-handed, since they were used for sawing stones. A striking peculiarity of the Oriental saw is that the teeth usually incline toward the handle instead of from it, as in the saws used among us.
“883. Sawing Asunder” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Hebrews 11:37. They were sawn asunder.
This terrible mode of punishment is said to have originated either with the Persians or the Chaldeans, and was occasionally practiced by other ancient nations. It is supposed by some to be mentioned in 2 Samuel 12:31 and 1 Chronicles 20:3, though commentators are by no means agreed on this point. There is a very old tradition that Isaiah suffered death by this means. The Saviour is thought to refer to it in Matthew 24:51 and Luke 12:46. Dr. Shaw says that the Western Moors practiced this barbarous punishment during his travels among them. “They prepare two boards of a proper length and breadth, and having tied the criminal betwixt them, they proceed to the execution by beginning at the head” (Travels, p. 254).
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