1 Samuel 17:5

5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.

1 Samuel 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:5

And he had an helmet of brass upon his head
This was a piece of armour, which covered the head in the day of battle; these were usually made of the skins of beasts, of leather, and which were covered with plates of iron, or brass; and sometimes made of all iron, or of brass F7; as this seems to have been:

and he was armed with a coat of mail;
which reached from the neck to the middle, and consisted of various plates of brass laid on one another, like the scales of fishes F8, so close together that no dart or arrow could pierce between:

and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass:
which made one hundred and fifty six pounds and a quarter of zygostatic or avoirdupois weight; and therefore he must be a very strong man indeed to carry such a weight. So the armour of the ancient Romans were all of brass, as this man's; their helmets, shields, greaves, coats of mail, all of brass, as Livy says F9; and so in the age of the Grecian heroes F10.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Vid. Lydium "de re militari": l. 3. c. 5. p. 63.
F8 "----Rutilum thoraca indutus anis Horrebat squamis----" Virgil. Aeneid. l. 11.
F9 Hist. l. 1. c. 22.
F10 Pausan. Messenica, l. 3. p. 163. So Homer frequently describes the Grecians with a coat of mail of brass.

1 Samuel 17:5 In-Context

3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.