--- title: "Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah" author: "Adam Clarke" languages: [en] shelf: "Commentaries" section: 301 of 914 url: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/301/ cite: "Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah, section 301. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/301/" --- # Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah *Adam Clarke* Clarke's learned notes on the Hebrew and Greek, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation: volume 1 of 2. ## 301. 1 Samuel · 23 of 37 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/301/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/301/#p-N ### Verse 5 [¶1] He was armed with a coat of mail - The words in the original, שרון קשקשים shiryon kaskassim, mean a coat of mail formed of plates of brass overlapping each other, like the scales of a fish, or tiles of a house. This is the true notion of the original terms. [¶2] With thin plates of brass or iron, overlapping each other, were the ancient coats of mail formed in different countries; many formed in this way may be now seen in the tower of London. [¶3] The weight - five thousand shekels - Following Bishop Cumberland's tables, and rating the shekel at two hundred and nineteen grains, and the Roman ounce at four hundred and thirty-eight grains, we find that Goliath's coat of mail, weighing five thousand shekels, was exactly one hundred and fifty-six pounds four ounces avoirdupois. A vast weight for a coat of mail, but not all out of proportion to the man. ### Verse 6 [¶5] Greaves of brass upon his legs - This species of armor may be seen on many ancient monuments. It was a plate of brass (though perhaps sometimes formed of laminae or plates, like the mail) which covered the shin or fore part of the leg, from the knee down to the instep, and was buckled with straps behind the leg. From ancient monuments we find that it was commonly worn only on one leg. Vegetius, de Re Militari, says, Pedites Scutati etiam ferreas ocreas in dextris cruribus copebantur accipere. "The foot soldiers, called Scutati, from their particular species of shield, were obliged to use iron greaves on their right legs." One of these may be seen in the monument of the gladiator Buto, in Montfaucon; and another in the Mosaic pavement at Bognor, in Surrey. [¶6] A target of brass between his shoulders - When not actually engaged, soldiers threw their shields behind their back, so that they appeared to rest or hang between the shoulders. [¶7] There are different opinions concerning this piece of armor, called here כידון kidon. Some think it was a covering for the shoulders; others, that it was a javelin or dart; others, that it was a lance; some, a club; and others, a sword. It is certainly distinguished from the shield, [1Sam 17:41], and is translated a spear, [Jos 8:18]. ### Verse 7 [¶9] 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. [¶10] 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. [¶11] 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. ### Verse 8 [¶13] I a Philistine - The Targum adds much to this speech. This is the substance: "I am Goliath the Philistine of Gath, who killed the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas the priests; and led into captivity the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and placed it in the temple of Dagon my god; and it remained in the cities of the Philistines seven months. Also, in all our battles I have gone at the head of the army, and we conquered and cut down men, and laid them as low as the dust of the earth; and to this day the Philistines have not granted me the honor of being chief of a thousand men. And ye, men of Israel, what noble exploit has Saul, the son of Kish, of Gibeah, done, that ye should have made him king over you? If he be a hero, let him come down himself and fight with me; but if he be a weak or cowardly man, then choose you out a man that he may come down to me." ### Verse 9 [¶15] Then will we be your servants - Of this stipulation we hear nothing farther. ### Verse 10 [¶17] I defy - אני חרפתי ani cheraphti, "I strip and make bare," the armies of Israel; for none dared to fight him. From the Dhunoor Veda Shastra it appears that, among the Hindoos, it was common, before the commencement of an engagement, to challenge the enemy by throwing out some terms of abuse, similar to those used by Goliath. We find this also in Homer: his heroes scold each other heartily before they begin to fight. See on [1Sam 17:43] (note). ### Verse 11 [¶19] Saul and all Israel - were dismayed - They saw no man able to accept the challenge. ### Verse 12 [¶21] The 12th verse, to the 31st inclusive, are wanting in the Septuagint; as also the 41st verse; and from the 54th to the end; with the first five verses of 1 Samuel 18, and the 9th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 18th, and 19th of the same. [¶22] All these parts are found in the Codex Alexandrinus; but it appears that the MS. from which the Codex Alexandrinus was copied, had them not. See observations at the end of this chapter, [1Sam 17:58] (note). Dr. Kennicott has rendered it very probable that these portions are not a genuine part of the text. [¶23] Notwithstanding what Bishop Warburton and others have done to clear the chronology of the present printed Hebrew, it is impossible to make a clear consistent sense of the history, unless these verses are omitted. Let any one read the eleventh verse in connection with the thirty-second, leave out the forty-first, and connect the fifty-fourth with the sixth of 1 Samuel 18, and he will be perfectly convinced that there is nothing wanting to make the sense complete; to say nothing of the other omissions noted above. If the above be taken in as genuine, the ingenuity of man has hitherto failed to free the whole from apparent contradiction and absurdity. I must confess that where every one else has failed, I have no hope of succeeding: I must, therefore, leave all farther attempts to justify the chronology; and refer to those who have written for and against the genuineness of this part of the common Hebrew text. At the end of the chapter I shall introduce some extracts from Kennicott and Pilkington: and leave the whole with the unprejudiced and discerning reader. ### Verse 18 [¶25] Carry these ten cheeses - Cheeses of milk, says the margin. In the East they do not make what we call cheese: they press the milk but slightly, and carry it in rush baskets. It is highly salted, and little different from curds. ### Verse 19 [¶27] Fighting with the Philistines - See at the end of the chapter, [1Sam 17:58] (note). ### Verse 29 [¶29] Is there not a cause? - הלוא דבר הוא halo dabar hu. I believe the meaning is what several of the versions express: I have spoken but a word. And should a man be made an offender for a word? ### Verse 32 [¶31] And David said - This properly connects with the eleventh verse. ### Verse 33 [¶33] Thou art but a youth - Supposed to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years of age. ### Verse 34 [¶35] Thy servant kept his father's sheep - He found it necessary to give Saul the reasons why he undertook this combat; and why he expected to be victorious. [¶36] 1. I have courage to undertake it, and strength to perform it. [¶37] 2. Both have been tried in a very signal manner: (1). A lion came upon my flock, and seized a lamb; I ran after him, he attacked me, I seized hold of him by his shaggy locks, smote and slew him, and delivered the lamb. (2). A bear came in the same way, and I attacked and slew him. [¶38] 3. This, with whom I am to fight, is a Philistine, an uncircumcised man; one who is an enemy to God: God therefore will not be on his side. On that ground I have nothing to fear. [¶39] 4. He has defied the armies of the Lord; and has in effect defied Jehovah himself: therefore the battle is the Lord's, and he will stand by me. [¶40] 5. I have perfect confidence in his protection and defense; for they that trust in him shall never be confounded. [¶41] 6. I conclude, therefore, that the Lord, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. ### Verse 35 [¶43] The slaying of the lion and the bear mentioned here, must have taken place at two different times; perhaps the verse should be read thus: I went out after him, (the lion). and smote him, etc. And when he (the bear) rose up against me, I caught him by the beard and slew him. ### Verse 37 [¶45] Go, and the Lord be with thee - Saul saw that these were reasonable grounds of confidence, and therefore wished him success.