The case for arrows used by warriors and hunters. Psalm 127:3-5 turns the warrior image into the famous metaphor for many children: Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. The image is rich. Arrows are weapons pointed outward, sent forward, with reach beyond the warrior's own physical position; the man who has many sons has many extensions of his influence into the future. The full quiver is the man's confidence at the gate (the place of legal-judgment and civic-leadership in the ancient Israelite city). The biblical reception of children is, in a culture of declining fertility, a concrete act of faith: the man who receives children as arrows is the man who has decided his name will extend forward, his witness will continue, his influence will outlive him.