What Does 1 Samuel 17:5 Mean?
And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was clothed in a coat of scales, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.THE KEY
Goliath’s armor is a garment of scales, and its stated weight makes protection a covering the body must bear.
THE MEANING
The verse shows protection worn on the body: a helmet over the head and scaled armor over the torso. Its precise weight makes the covering tangible; what guards the body is also something the body carries.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The assumption that protection is weightless: this armor covers the body, and its burden is measured.
THE ROOT
לָבוּשׁ
lāvūš
GROWS FROM
לבשׁ
L-B-Sh
to wear, clothe
The Hebrew says he is clothed in armor: שִׁרְיוֹן קַשְׂקַשִּׂים (shiryon qasqassim, armor of scales). The root לבשׁ (lavash, to clothe or wear) connects battle defense to the ordinary act of dressing: this protection is a covering on a body.
ALSO GROWS
lāvaš: to wear, put on clothing
לָבַשׁ
The verb names the act expressed here: Goliath wears his armor.
levuš: garment, clothing
לְבוּשׁ
This branch makes the armor legible as something worn over the body.
מִשְׁקַל
mišqal
GROWS FROM
שקל
Sh-Q-L
to weigh, measure by weight
The verse gives the armor’s מִשְׁקַל (mishqal, weight) in שְׁקָלִים (sheqalim, shekels), words from the root שקל (shaqal, to weigh). The numerical detail makes the covering a measured burden, not only an image of strength.
ALSO GROWS
šeqel: shekel, a unit of weight
שֶׁקֶל
The armor’s burden is counted in this weight unit.
mišqal: weight, measure by weight
מִשְׁקָל
This is the word used for the armor’s stated heaviness.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents protection as something put onto the body, a covering that is worn.
And David girded his sword upon his garments, and he tried to walk; for he had not tested it. And David said to Saul, I cannot walk in these; for I have not tested them. And David took them off him.He put on alignment as a breastplate, and a helmet of deliverance upon his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in burning as in a cloak.Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the paths of the Slanderer.THE THREAD
He put on alignment as a breastplate, and a helmet of deliverance upon his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in burning as in a cloak.Isaiah uses the same לבשׁ (lavash, clothe or wear) root in “put on” and “was clad.” The root links Goliath’s scaled armor to a wider scriptural image: protection is a covering worn on a body.
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