1 Samuel 17 · Verse 7

1 Samuel 17:7

And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
1 Samuel 17:7, King James Version

1 Samuel 17:7 in other translations

BSBThe shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.
WEBThe staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him.
ASVAnd the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him.
YLTand the wood of his spear is like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear is six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him.
DARBYAnd the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and the shield-bearer went before him.
BBEThe stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover.
WebsterAnd the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

What does 1 Samuel 17:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 17:4-11

4-11. a champion--Hebrew, a "man between two"; that is, a person who, on the part of his own people, undertook to determine the national quarrel by engaging in single combat with a chosen warrior in the hostile army.

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 17:4-11 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 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. 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. 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 17:1-11

and goes to meet him. (40-47) He kills Goliath. (48-58) Verses 1-11 Men so entirely depend upon God in all things, that when he withdraws his help, the most valiant and resolute cannot find their hearts or hands, as daily experience shows.

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 17:1-11 →

1 Samuel 17:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעֵ֣ץve.chatzand [the] wood ofH6086
חֲנִית֗וֹcha.ni.Tospear hisH2595
כִּמְנוֹר֙kim.nOr[was] like a beam ofH4500
אֹֽרְגִ֔ים'o.re.GimweaversH707
וְלַהֶ֣בֶתve.la.He.vetand [the] blade ofH3852
חֲנִית֔וֹcha.ni.Tospear hisH2595
שֵׁשׁ\־shesh-[was] sixH8337
מֵא֥וֹתme.'othundred<s>H3967
שְׁקָלִ֖יםshe.ka.LimshekelsH8255
בַּרְזֶ֑לbar.ZelironH1270
וְנֹשֵׂ֥אve.no.Se'and [the] bearer ofH5375
הַצִּנָּ֖הha.tzi.Nahthe body shieldH6793
הֹלֵ֥ךְho.Lekh[was] walkingH1980
לְפָנָֽיו\׃le.fa.Nav<to> before himH6440

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 17:7

  • 2 Samuel 21:19

    And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare–oregim, a Beth–lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

  • 1 Samuel 17:41

    And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

  • 1 Chronicles 11:23

    And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear.

  • 1 Chronicles 20:5

    And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the staff.
2Sa 21:19; 1Ch 11:23; 20:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 17:6

    And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

  • 1 Samuel 17:7

    And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

  • 1 Samuel 17:8

    And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

Read all of 1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 17:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El asta de su lanza era como un enjullo de telar, y tenía el hierro de su lanza seiscientos siclos de hierro: é iba su escudero delante de él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et le bois de sa lance était comme l’ensouple des tisserands, et le fer de sa lance pesait 600 sicles de fer; et celui qui portait son bouclier marchait devant lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und der Schaft seines Speeres war wie ein Weberbaum, und die Spitze seines Speeres war sechshundert Sekel Eisen. Und der Schildträger ging vor ihm her.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Hastile autem hastæ ejus erat quasi liciatorium texentium: ipsum autem ferrum hastæ ejus sexcentos siclos habebat ferri: et armiger ejus antecedebat eum.