Reference: Armour
Easton
is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive.
(1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The "rod of iron" (Ps 2:9) is supposed to mean a mace or crowbar, an instrument of great power when used by a strong arm. The "maul" (Pr 25:18; cognate Hebrew word rendered "battle-axe" in Jer 51:20, and "slaughter weapon" in Eze 9:2) was a war-hammer or martel. The "sword" is the usual translation of hereb, which properly means "poniard." The real sword, as well as the dirk-sword (which was always double-edged), was also used (1Sa 17:39; 2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 20:11). The spear was another offensive weapon (Jos 8:18; 1Sa 17:7). The javelin was used by light troops (Nu 25:7-8; 1Sa 13:22). Saul threw a javelin at David (1Sa 19:9-10), and so virtually absolved him from his allegiance. The bow was, however, the chief weapon of offence. The arrows were carried in a quiver, the bow being always unbent till the moment of action (Ge 27:3; 48:22; Ps 18:34). The sling was a favourite weapon of the Benjamites (1Sa 17:40; 1Ch 12:2. Comp. 1Sa 25:29).
(2.) Of the defensive armour a chief place is assigned to the shield or buckler. There were the great shield or target (the tzinnah), for the protection of the whole person (Ge 15:1; Ps 47:9; 1Sa 17:7; Pr 30:5), and the buckler (Heb. mageen) or small shield (1Ki 10:17; Eze 26:8). In Ps 91:4 "buckler" is properly a roundel appropriated to archers or slingers. The helmet (Eze 27:10; 1Sa 17:38), a covering for the head; the coat of mail or corselet (1Sa 17:5), or habergeon (Ne 4; 13:31), harness or breat-plate (Re 9:9), for the covering of the back and breast and both upper arms (Isa 59:17; Eph 6:14). The cuirass and corselet, composed of leather or quilted cloth, were also for the covering of the body. Greaves, for the covering of the legs, were worn in the time of David (1Sa 17:6). Reference is made by Paul (Eph 6:14-17) to the panoply of a Roman soldier. The shield here is the thureon, a door-like oblong shield above all, i.e., covering the whole person, not the small round shield. There is no armour for the back, but only for the front.
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After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to thee, thy reward is exceeding great.'
and now, take up, I pray thee, thy instruments, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt for me provision,
and I -- I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I have taken out of the hand of the Amorite by my sword and by my bow.'
and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman -- unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel;
And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Stretch out with the javelin which is in thy hand towards Ai, for into thy hand I give it;' and Joshua stretcheth out with the javelin which is in his hand toward the city,
and a helmet of brass is on his head, and with a scaled coat of mail he is clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail is five thousand shekels of brass, and a frontlet of brass is on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,
And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried it; and David saith unto Saul, 'I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him. And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling is in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.
And a spirit of sadness from Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand, and Saul seeketh to smite with the javelin through David, and through the wall, and he freeth himself from the presence of Saul, and he smiteth the javelin through the wall; and David hath fled and escapeth during that night.
And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.
and three hundred shields of alloyed gold -- three pounds of gold go up on the one shield; and the king putteth them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
Thou dost rule them with a sceptre of iron, As a vessel of a potter Thou dost crush them.'
Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of brass was brought down by my arms.
Nobles of peoples have been gathered, With the people of the God of Abraham, For to God are the shields of earth, Greatly hath He been exalted!
With His pinion He covereth thee over, And under His wings thou dost trust, A shield and buckler is His truth.
A maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow, Is the man testifying against his neighbour a false testimony.
Every saying of God is tried, A shield He is to those trusting in Him.
And He putteth on righteousness as a breastplate, And an helmet of salvation on His head, And He putteth on garments of vengeance for clothing, And is covered, as with an upper-robe, with zeal.
An axe art thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms,
And lo, six men are coming from the way of the upper gate, that is facing the north, and each his slaughter-weapon in his hand, and one man in their midst is clothed with linen, and a scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and they come in, and stand near the brazen altar.
Thy daughters in the field by sword he slayeth, And he hath made against thee a fort, And hath poured out against thee a mount, And hath raised against thee a buckler.
Persian and Lud and Phut Have been in thy forces -- thy men of war. Shield and helmet they hung up in thee, They -- they have given out thine honour.
Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about in truth, and having put on the breastplate of the righteousness,
Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about in truth, and having put on the breastplate of the righteousness, and having the feet shod in the preparation of the good-news of the peace; read more. above all, having taken up the shield of the faith, in which ye shall be able all the fiery darts of the evil one to quench, and the helmet of the salvation receive, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the saying of God,
and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings is as the noise of chariots of many horses running to battle;
Morish
None of the Hebrew words translated 'armour' refer definitely to what is understood now by armour worn on the person. Saul armed David with his 'armour,' 1Sa 17:38, but the word used is also translated 'clothes,' etc., and it may refer to Saul's warrior-dress. The articles named are somewhat more definite.
1. Saul put on David a 'HELMET of brass.' These were raised a little above the head, as may be seen by some of the sculptures from Nineveh. 1Sa 17:38; Eze 23:24: the word is qoba. Another word, koba, meaning the same, is found in 1Sa 17:5; 2Ch 26:14; Isa 59:17; Jer 46:4; Eze 27:10; 38:5.
2. COAT OF MAIL. Saul put on David a 'Coat of Mail,' shiryon. 1Sa 17:5,38. This word is translated 'HABERGEON ' in 2Ch 26:14; Ne 4:16, which also signifies 'coat of mail,' and there is a similar word in Job 41:26. It was made of brass scales fastened together. The weight of Goliath's coat of mail was 5,000 shekels.
3. GREAVES. The giant wore Greaves of brass upon his legs. 1Sa 17:6. The word is mitschah, and occurs nowhere else.
4. TARGET. He had a Target of brass between his shoulders, 1Sa 17:6: the word is kidon, and is elsewhere translated both 'shield' and 'spear.' In this case it was probably a small spear carried between the shoulders.
5. SHIELD. A Shield was carried before him. This was a tsinnah, a shield of large size to protect the whole body, with a large boss in the centre rising to a point which could be used as a weapon. It is employed figuratively for God's protecting care of His people. Ps 5:12; 91:4. The same word is translated BUCKLER. Ps 35:2; Eze 23:24; 26:8, etc.
Another word is used for a smaller shield, magen, and this is the word which occurs most commonly in the O.T., especially in the Psalms, referring to God's protection, as Ps 28:7; 33:20; 84:11; 119:114, etc. The same word is translated BUCKLER. 2Sa 22:31; 1Ch 5:18; Cant. 4:4; Jer 46:3, etc.
The word shelet is translated Shield, but is also applied to Shields of gold, 2Sa 8:7, and those suspended for ornament. Eze 27:11. It occurs also in 2Ki 11:10; 1Ch 18:7; 2Ch 23:9; Cant. 4:4; Jer 51:11.
In the N.T. 'armour' is used symbolically.
1. ???? in contrast to 'the works of darkness' we are exhorted to put on 'the armour of light.' Ro 13:12. Paul and his fellow-labourers commended themselves as God's ministers by the "armour, or arms, of righteousness on the right hand and on the left." 2Co 6:7.
2. ????????, 'whole armour.' One stronger than Satan takes away all his 'armour.' Lu 11:22. The Christian is exhorted to put on the 'whole armour of God,' the panoply, that he may stand in the evil day in his conflict with the spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenlies. Eph 6:11,13. See BREASTPLATE, HELMET, etc.
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and a helmet of brass is on his head, and with a scaled coat of mail he is clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail is five thousand shekels of brass,
and a helmet of brass is on his head, and with a scaled coat of mail he is clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail is five thousand shekels of brass, and a frontlet of brass is on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,
and a frontlet of brass is on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,
And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.
And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.
And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.
and David taketh the shields of gold which were on the servants of Hadadezer, and bringeth them to Jerusalem;
God! Perfect is His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield He is to all those trusting in Him.
and the priest giveth to the heads of the hundreds the spears and the shields that king David had, that are in the house of Jehovah.
And Uzziah prepareth for them, for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, even to stones of the slings.
yea, it cometh to pass, from that day, half of my servants are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the heads are behind all the house of Judah.
For Thou blessest the righteous, O Jehovah, As a buckler with favour dost compass him!
Jehovah is my strength, and my shield, In Him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. And my heart exulteth, And with my song I thank Him.
Our soul hath waited for Jehovah, Our help and our shield is He,
Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise for my help,
For a sun and a shield is Jehovah God, Grace and honour doth Jehovah give. He withholdeth not good To those walking in uprightness.
With His pinion He covereth thee over, And under His wings thou dost trust, A shield and buckler is His truth.
In my heart I have hid Thy saying, That I sin not before Thee.
And He putteth on righteousness as a breastplate, And an helmet of salvation on His head, And He putteth on garments of vengeance for clothing, And is covered, as with an upper-robe, with zeal.
'Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail.
Cleanse ye the arrows, fill the shields, Stirred up hath Jehovah the spirit of the kings of Madia, For against Babylon His device is to destroy it, For the vengeance of Jehovah it is, The vengeance of His temple.
And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments.
And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments.
Thy daughters in the field by sword he slayeth, And he hath made against thee a fort, And hath poured out against thee a mount, And hath raised against thee a buckler.
Persian and Lud and Phut Have been in thy forces -- thy men of war. Shield and helmet they hung up in thee, They -- they have given out thine honour. The sons of Arvad, and thy force, Are on thy walls round about, And short swordsmen in thy towers have been, Their shields they have hung up on thy walls round about, They -- they have perfected thy beauty.
but when the stronger than he, having come upon him, may overcome him, his whole-armour he doth take away in which he had trusted, and his spoils he distributeth;
the night did advance, and the day came nigh; let us lay aside, therefore, the works of the darkness, and let us put on the armour of the light;
in the word of truth, in the power of God, through the armour of the righteousness, on the right and on the left,
put on the whole armour of God, for your being able to stand against the wiles of the devil,
because of this take ye up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to resist in the day of the evil, and all things having done -- to stand.