1 Samuel 17:5

Contextual Overview

¹The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. ¹ Now the Pelishtim gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Sokho, which belongs to Yehudah, and encamped between Sokho and `Azeka, in Efes-Dammim. ¹ Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. ¹ The Philistines gathered their camps for battle and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. ¹ Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ¹ The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They met at Socoh in Judah and camped at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. ¹ The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. ¹Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah; and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ¹ Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ¹ Nowe the Philistims gathered their armies to battell, & came together to Shochoh, which is in Iudah, and pitched betweene Shochoh and Azekah, in the coast of Dammim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

armed: Heb. clothed, 1 Samuel 17:38

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 21:16 - of the sons Ephesians 6:17 - the helmet

Cross-References

Genesis 17:2
I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

Genesis 17:2
And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Genesis 17:2
so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you exceedingly."

Genesis 17:2
I will make an agreement between us, and I will make you the ancestor of many people."

Genesis 17:2
Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants."

Genesis 17:2
"I will establish My covenant (everlasting promise) between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly [through your descendants]."

Genesis 17:2
"I will make My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly."

Genesis 17:2
And I will make my couenant betweene me and thee, & I will multiplie thee exceedingly.

Genesis 17:2
so that I may confirm My covenant between Me and you,And that I may multiply you exceedingly."

Genesis 17:2
I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 g; 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 h, 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 i; and so in the age of the Grecian heroes j.

g Vid. Lydium "de re militari": l. 3. c. 5. p. 63. h "----Rutilum thoraca indutus a‰nis Horrebat squamis----" Virgil. Aeneid. l. 11. i Hist. l. 1. c. 22. j Pausan. Messenica, l. 3. p. 163. So Homer frequently describes the Grecians with a coat of mail of brass.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Coat of mail - Or “breastplate of scales.” A kind of metal shirt, protecting the back as well as the breast, and made of scales like those of a fish; as was the corselet of Rameses III, now in the British Museum. The terms, helmet, coat, and clothed (armed the King James Version) are the same as those used in Isaiah 59:17.

Five thousand shekels - Probably about 157 pounds avoirdupois (see Exodus 38:12). It is very probable that Goliath’s brass coat may have been long preserved as a trophy, as we know his sword was, and so the weight of it ascertained.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 17:5. He was armed with a coat of mail — The words in the original, שרון קשקשים shiryon kaskassim, mean a coat of mail formed of plates of brass overlapping each other, like the scales of a fish, or tiles of a house. This is the true notion of the original terms.

With thin plates of brass or iron, overlapping each other, were the ancient coats of mail formed in different countries; many formed in this way may be now seen in the tower of London.

The weight - five thousand shekels — Following Bishop Cumberland's tables, and rating the shekel at two hundred and nineteen grains, and the Roman ounce at four hundred and thirty-eight grains, we find that Goliath's coat of mail, weighing five thousand shekels, was exactly one hundred and fifty-six pounds four ounces avoirdupois. A vast weight for a coat of mail, but not all out of proportion to the man.