Shmuel Alef 17:5

5 And he had a kova (helmet) of nechoshet upon his rosh, and he was wearing a coat of mail armor; and the weight of the coat of armor was five thousand shekels of nechoshet.

Shmuel Alef 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.

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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.

Shmuel Alef 17:5 In-Context

3 And the Pelishtim stood on the har on the one side, and Yisroel stood on the har on the other side; and there was a gey between them.

4 And there went out an Ish HaBenayim [i.e., a middleman champion whose single combat saves the day and decides the victor] out of the machanot of the Pelishtim, shmo Golyat (Goliath), of Gat, whose height was shesh cubits and a span.

5 And he had a kova (helmet) of nechoshet upon his rosh, and he was wearing a coat of mail armor; and the weight of the coat of armor was five thousand shekels of nechoshet.

6 And he had mitzchah (greaves, i.e., leg plate armor) of nechoshet upon his legs, and a kidron (javelin) of nechoshet [slung] between his shoulders.

7 And the khetz (shaft) of his khanit (spear) was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s blade weighed six hundred barzel (iron) shekels; and the no’se tzinnah (great shield bearer) walked ahead of him.