Greaves

Greaves

(מִצחָה, mitschah', lit. a facing; Sept. κνημῖδες, Vulg. ocreae) occurs in the A.V: only in 1Sa 17:6, in the description of the equipment of Goliath "He had greaves of brass (נחשֶׁת, copper) upon his legs" ( ל רִגלָיו, lit. on his feet, whence some have supposed only a kind of boot to be meant). Its ordinary meaning is a piece of defensive armor reaching from the foot to the knee, and thus protecting the shin of the wearer. This was the case with the κνημίς of the Greeks, which derived its name from its covering the κνἠμη, i.e., the lower part of the leg, and was a highly esteemed piece of defensive armor (see Smith, Dict. of Class. Ant. s.v. Ocrea). The Heb. term is derived from מֵ ח, therefore part of anything. Hence all the ancient versions and Josephus (Ant. 6:9, 1) agree in regarding it as designating a defensive armor for the leg. It is to be distinguished from סאוֹן, seon' (Isa 9:4), which Gesenius thinks was a sort of military shoe like the Roman caliga; and it probably was similar to the greaves of the Assyrians, as represented in their sculptures, which not only protected the leg, but covered the upper part of the foot like our gaiters, and seem to have been laced up in front; in other cases they appear to have extended over the whole thigh (Layard, Nineveh, 2:261). SEE ARMOR.