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On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 11:37 PM, David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Although I am speculating here, perhaps
> to their audience a "double edged sword" may simply have been
> recognized as being sharper than they could get with an inferior
> blade--which, being of lesser material, may have had to have been
> single edged simply to have enough mass to resist breaking.
>
>
Ah... so the double-edged sword in this case may merely mean super-sharp,
like a "Ginsu" blade, with which you can allegedly even cut a tin can --
just look at that tomato!
Some of those in this thread have said the "double edged sword is
> dangerous to you and to the foe"--but that is not quite correct. If
> that were all there was to it, it would never have been made and used for
> hundreds of years--people were no more foolish then than we are today, after
> all. Instead, the two edges were dangerous to a foe on both fore and back
> strokes, reducing the vulnerability of the swordsman during combat.
>
>
And increasing the lethality of the weapon during combat. Swing it one way
to cut your opponent. Swing it the other way to cut another opponent...
double-edged in this case then represents twice as capable.
It makes sense. The actual greek word used in the New Testament for
double-edged is "distomos" which means "two-mouthed". It symbolizes the
power of a word being spoken and then repeated. (Theologically, God spoke
the word once, which we repeat, and reinforce its meaning within us).
So, double-edged may not mean mixed blessing, or dichotomous, but rather,
double trouble, twice as powerful, twice as lethal... doubly good or doubly
bad, depending on the wielder's swordsmanship.
Thanks, David!
--
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