1 Samuel 17:7
in 1 Samuel 17The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the staff 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.
KJV
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 17
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Spear’s-head - literally, “the flame of his spear,” the metal part which flashed like a flame. Six hundred shekels - i. e., between seventeen and eighteen pounds avoirdupois.
This site's exposition
he had armor of bronze on his legs
on 1 Samuel 17:6-7
The armor is described piece by piece, bronze at every point a stone might land, and a shield bearer walks in front. A spear shaft "like a weaver’s beam" and an iron point of six hundred shekels mark him as a one-man siege engine. The narrator gives this equipment more words than any armor in Scripture, so that its uselessness in verse 50 lands with full weight.
This site's exposition
its iron point weighed six hundred shekels
Albert Barnes gives the Hebrew for the spear's point as its flame, the metal that flashed, and puts its weight near eighteen pounds. Matthew Henry and John Wesley both read the shield bearer as ceremony. A man armored in bronze had little need of a shield.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Yet there stands Goliath, monstrous in his pride, swollen with his earthly power, confident that he can do everything by himself, with his head, hands and entire body clad in much bronze, having his own armor bearer behind him who, though he does not himself …
In my discourse I showed that Goliath was protected by the power of his weapons and the strength of a full set of armor, whereas David had none of that panoply. But he was fortified by his faith.Goliath had the external protection of his glittering breastplate and shield; David shone from within with the grace of the Spirit. This is why a boy prevailed over a man, this is why the one wearing no armor conquered the one fully armed, this is why the shepherd's hand crushed and destroyed the bronze weapons of war.
The Medieval Church2 voices
And his armor-bearer went before him. The armor-bearer precedes Goliath as he goes out against Israel, just as the weapons of iniquity and the examples of the wicked precede and assist the devil as he tries to deceive the faithful.
However, the shaft of his spear, etc. For indeed the work of those whom the devil brings forth against the Church for battle seems most fitting to the eyes of the foolish, as if to weave a garment of righteousness and holiness. But the sharpness …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It was like this for thickness. And though the whole weight of Goliath's armour may seem prodigious; yet it is not so much by far as one Athanatus did manage: of whom Pliny relates, That he saw him come into the theatre with arms weighing twelve thousand ounces. A shield - Probably for state: for he that was clad in brass, little needed a shield.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It was like a weaver's beam. His arm could manage that which an ordinary man could scarcely heave. His shield only, which was the lightest of all his accoutrements, was carried before him by his esquire, probably for state; for he that was clad in brass little needed a shield.
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
a champion--Hebrew, a "man between two"; that is, a person who, on the part of his own people, undertook to determine the national quarrel by engaging in single combat with a chosen warrior in the hostile army.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
staff of his spear--rather under five feet long, and capable of being used as a javelin (1Sa 19:10). It had an iron head. one bearing a shield--In consequence of their great size and weight, the Oriental warrior had a trusty and skilful friend, whose office it was to bear the large shield behind which he avoided the missile weapons of the enemy.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The staff on his spear was like a weaver’s beam - Either like that on which the warp is rolled, or that on which the cloth is rolled. We know not how thick this was, because there were several sorts of looms, and the sizes of the beams very dissimilar. Our woollen, linen, cotton, and silk looms are all different in the size of their beams; and I have seen several that I should not suppose too thick, though they might be too short, for Goliath’s spear. His spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron - That is, his spear’s head was of iron, and it weighed six hundred shekels; this, according to the former computation, would amount to eighteen pounds twelve ounces. And one bearing a shield - הצנה hatstsinnah, from צן tsan, pointed or penetrating, if it do not mean some kind of a lance, must mean a shield, with what is called the umbo, a sharp protuberance, in the middle, with which they could as effectually annoy their enemies as defend themselves. Many of the old Highland targets were made with a projecting dagger in the center. Taking the proportions of things unknown to those known, the armor of Goliath is supposed to have weighed not less than two hundred and seventy-two pounds thirteen ounces! Plutarch informs us that the ordinary weight of a soldier’s panoply, or complete armor, was one talent, or sixty pounds; and that one Alcimus, in the army of Demetrius, was considered as a prodigy, because his panoply weighed two talents, or one hundred and twenty pounds.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעֵ֣ץ | vechatz | and [the] wood of | H6086 → | |
| חֲנִית֗וֹ | chanito | spear his | H2595 → | 47 times |
| כִּמְנוֹר֙ | kimnor | [was] like a beam of | H4500 → | |
| אֹֽרְגִ֔ים | ʾoregim | weavers | H707 → | |
| וְלַהֶ֣בֶת | velahevet | and [the] blade of | H3852 → | |
| חֲנִית֔וֹ | chanito | spear his | H2595 → | 47 times |
| שֵׁשׁ־ | shesh- | [was] six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שְׁקָלִ֖ים | shekalim | shekels | H8255 → | 88 times |
| בַּרְזֶ֑ל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | |
| וְנֹשֵׂ֥א | venose' | and [the] bearer of | H5375 → | 656 times |
| הַצִּנָּ֖ה | hatzinah | the body shield | H6793 → | |
| הֹלֵ֥ךְ | holekh | [was] walking | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְפָנָֽיו׃ | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וְעֵ֣ץand [the] wood of
vechatzH6086 →
חֲנִית֗וֹspear his
chanitoH2595 →47 times
כִּמְנוֹר֙[was] like a beam of
kimnorH4500 →
אֹֽרְגִ֔יםweavers
ʾoregimH707 →
וְלַהֶ֣בֶתand [the] blade of
velahevetH3852 →
חֲנִית֔וֹspear his
chanitoH2595 →47 times
שֵׁשׁ־[was] six
shesh-H8337 →216 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekels
shekalimH8255 →88 times
בַּרְזֶ֑לiron
barzelH1270 →
וְנֹשֵׂ֥אand [the] bearer of
venose'H5375 →656 times
הַצִּנָּ֖הthe body shield
hatzinahH6793 →
הֹלֵ֥ךְ[was] walking
holekhH1980 →1546 times
לְפָנָֽיו׃<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 21:19Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 20:5
Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 17:4–11
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- 1 Chronicles 11:26
Now these were the mighty men: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
- 1 Chronicles 20:5
Through
1 Chronicles 20:5Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 21:19
Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s…
- 1 Samuel 22:10
Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
- 1 Samuel 21:9
The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take…
- 2 Samuel 21:19
Through
1 Chronicles 11:23He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 11.4-5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Paulus Orosius, DEFENSE AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2 and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).