1 Samuel 17:5 (ASV)

Passage

And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

1 Samuel 17:5 And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

1 Samuel 17:6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a javelin 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 his shield-bearer went before him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "helmet", "brass", "upon", "head", "clad", "coat", "mail", and "weight". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "helmet" and "brass", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And there went out a champion out..." into verse 6's "And he had greaves of brass upon...", so "helmet" and "brass" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "helmet" and "brass" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.