John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 17:7
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam ,.... The wooden part of it, held in the hand; this for thickness was like the beam in the weaver's loom, about which the warp, or else the web, is rolled; and it is conjectured that, in proportion to the stature of Goliath, his spear must be twenty six feet long, since Hector's in Homer F13 Iliad. 18. was eleven cubits, or sixteen feet and a half: and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron ; the iron part of the... read more
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 17:6
And he had greaves of brass upon his legs ,.... Which were a sort of boots, or leg harnesses, which covered the thighs and legs down to the heels; such as Iolaus F11 Hesiod. Scutum Herc. ver. 122. and the Grecians usually wore, as described by Homer; which are supposed to be double the weight of the helmet, reckoned at fifteen pounds, so that these must weigh thirty pounds of avoirdupois weight: and a target of brass between his shoulders ; the Targum is,"a spear or shield of... read more