John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 5. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head , etc.] This was a piece of armour, which covered the head in the day of battle; these were usually made of the skins of beasts, of leather, and which were covered with plates of iron, or brass; and sometimes made of all iron, or of brass f349 ; as this seems to have been: and he was armed with a coat of mail ; which reached from the neck to the middle, and consisted of various plates of brass laid on one another, like the scales of fishes f350 , so close together that no dart or arrow could pierce between: and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass : which made one hundred and fifty six pounds and a quarter of zygostatic or avoirdupois weight; and therefore he must be a very strong man indeed to carry such a weight. So the armour of the ancient Romans were all of brass, as this man’s; their helmets, shields, greaves, coats of mail, all of brass, as Livy says f351 ; and so in the age of the Grecian heroes f352 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - Men so entirely depend upon God in all things, that when he withdraw his help, the most valiant and resolute cannot find their hearts of hands, as daily experience shows.
Original Hebrew וכובע3553 נחשׁת5178 על5921 ראשׁו7218 ושׁריון8302 קשׂקשׂים7193 הוא1931 לבושׁ3847 ומשׁקל4948 השׁריון8302 חמשׁת2568 אלפים505 שׁקלים8255 נחשׁת׃5178
