‘Gonnes’ and early firearms
Supposed not to exist before the 12th century A.D.
Hand cannon - Wikipedia
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The Bible has what seems to be a firearm, from much much longer ago than that.
[Numbers 17] 8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11 And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he. 12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
Not that easy to understand, and too many of those who do understand do not want us to, if a “tabernacle of witness” isn’t a courthouse or some sort in ancient Israel.
I am not entirely sure. If the buds are fire, the blossoms are an explosion, and the almonds are death, then the rod of Aaron is a firearm. It is a rod, and these are strange things to say about a rod, after a manner of speaking, if there is no such interpretation. Moreover there appears to be mortal fear and no doubt from the following verses that it is a deadly weapon or something with which one kills.