Accordingly, if they insert that clause, they will only have stipulated something that is itself permissible, so the contract is valid. If they further stipulate that each of the two competitors shall begin from both sides (1) in consecutive turns, that too is permissible, because they remain on equal footing.

There is, however, another opinion: making a stipulation about who begins is legally meaningless; its presence is the same as its absence, for the order of starting has no effect on accuracy or on the quality of the shooting. Many archers (2)—especially the seasoned experts—prefer to delay rather than to commence (3); some prefer to commence, and for others the two options are equivalent.

In truth, delaying one’s turn carries greater prestige and weight. For this reason Moses said to the magicians, when they offered him the choice of beginning or letting them begin first, that he preferred that they start; only after they had done so did he cast down his staff (4). This decision contains many layers of wisdom:
– First, the wrong-doer expends his utmost effort and exhausts his stratagems, leaving nothing about which it might be said that, had he produced it, he would have prevailed (5).
– Second, he thereby takes on the role of the aggressor, which makes the vindication of the rightful party (6) all the more likely.