1 Samuel 17:38

And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saul	שָׁא֤וּל sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
armed	וַיַּלְבֵּ֨שׁ vai.yal.Besh	H3847	properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
David	דָּוִד֙ da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
armour	מַדָּ֔יו ma.Dav	H4055	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
put	וְנָתַ֛ן ve.na.Tan	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
helmet	ק֥וֹבַע Koa'	H6959	a helmet · noun, common masculine singular construct
brass	נְחֹ֖שֶׁת ne.Cho.shet	H5178	copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
head	רֹאשׁ֑וֹ ro.Sho	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
armed	וַיַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ vai.yal.Besh	H3847	properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mail	שִׁרְיֽוֹן shir.Yon	H8302	a corslet (as if twisted) · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:31-39

David is at length presented to Saul for his champion (Sa1 17:31) and he bravely undertakes to fight the Philistine (Sa1 17:32): Let no man's heart fail because of him. It would have reflected too much upon the valour of his prince if he had said, Let not thy heart fail; therefore he speaks generally: Let no man's heart fail. A little shepherd, come but this morning from keeping sheep, has more courage than all the mighty men of Israel, and encourages them. Thus does God often send good words to his Israel, and do great things for them, by the weak and foolish things of the world. David only desires a commission from Saul to go and fight with the Philistine, but says nothing to him of the re…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 17:38

Saul armed David with his armour--The ancient Hebrews were particularly attentive to the personal safety of their warriors, and hence Saul equipped the youthful champion with his own defensive accoutrements, which would be of the best style. It is probable that Saul's coat of mail, or corslet, was a loose shirt, otherwise it could not have fitted both a stripling and a man of the colossal stature of the king.

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:38

Saul armed David - He knew that although the battle was the Lord's, yet prudent means should be used to secure success.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:38

And Saul armed David with his armour,.... Not with what he wore himself; for it cannot be thought he would strip himself of his armour in the field of battle, and when just going to it; and besides what suited the one would not be fit for the other, their bulk and stature being different i but this was some armour Saul had brought with him, besides what he himself wore, to furnish any with that might want it: and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; such an one, though not so large as Goliath had, these being usually made of brass; See Gill on 1 Samuel 17:5, also he armed him with a coat of mail; which probably was of brass also, and like that of Goliath's too, only lesser, 1 Samuel 17…

The Church Fathers

And Saul clothed David with his garments, etc. The people of the Jews applied to the incarnate Lord the figures of legal observations, by circumcising him on the eighth day, then carrying him to the temple on the thirty-third day, offering a sacrifice for him, teaching carnal sabbaths, and annually providing examples of the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb, and other such things, which in their time were most beneficial, and the spiritual teachers in the law of the Jewish people armed them very usefully against all the fiery darts of the wicked one, almost as the head and body of Saul.
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

We sometimes see a bad example drawn from good things. For if someone presumes to do the same things but not with the same disposition and orientation or with unlike virtue, he easily falls into the snares of deception and death on account of those very things from which others acquire the fruits of eternal life. That brave boy who was set against the most warlike giant in a contest of arms would certainly have experienced this if he had put on Saul's manly and heavy armor, with which a person of more robust age would have laid low whole troops of the enemy. This would undoubtedly have imperiled the boy, except that with wise discretion he chose the kind of weaponry that was appropriate for his youth and armed himself against the dreadful foe not with the breastplate and shield that he saw others outfitted with but with the projectiles that he himself was able to fight with.
— John Cassian, CONFERENCE 24.8.1-2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Armour — 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…
Coat of mail — The rendering of a Hebrew word meaning “glittering” (1 Sam. 17:5, 38). The same word in the plural form is translated “habergeons” in 2 Chr. 26:14 and Neh. 4:16. The “harness” (1 Kings 22:34),…
Copper — Derived from the Greek kupros (the island of Cyprus), called “Cyprian brass,” occurs only in the Authorized Version in Ezra 8:27. Elsewhere the Hebrew word (nehosheth) is improperly rendered “brass,”…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Elah, The Valley Of — (valley of the terebinth), the valley in which David killed Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:2,19) It lay somewhere near Socoh of Judah and Azekah, and was nearer Ekron than any other Philistine town. 1Sam. 17.
Elhanan — Whom God has graciously bestowed. (1.) A warrior of the time of David famed for his exploits. In the Authorized Version (2 Sam. 21:19) it is recorded that “Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a…
Helmet — (Heb. kob’a), a cap for the defence of the head (1 Sam. 17:5, 38). In the New Testament the Greek equivalent is used (Eph. 6:17; 1 Thess. 5:8). (See ARMS.)
Metals — The Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether as the products of their own soil or the results of intercourse with…
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…

1 Samuel 17:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:31-39

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 17:38

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:38

John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 17:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:31-39

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 17:38

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:38

John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 17:1-54

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 17:32

Rashi on 1 Samuel 17:38