Hebrew word · H8302

שִׁרְיוֹן

shiryon

armor

Shiryon: a coat of mail, typically small bronze or iron scales sewn onto leather or fabric, covering the torso and sometimes reaching the thighs. Kova': a war helmet.

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

body armour

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 59:17

Range of meaning

Shiryon: a coat of mail, typically small bronze or iron scales sewn onto leather or fabric, covering the torso and sometimes reaching the thighs. Kova': a war helmet.

Against the English

'Breastplate' (KJV and most versions, following the Greek thōrax) suggests one rigid plate on the chest. The Iron Age shiryon was a flexible scale coat. NLT's 'body armor' gives the shape better.

How it drifted

The word passed through the Greek thōrax and Latin lorica into English 'breastplate,' which pictures medieval and Roman plate armor.

Used elsewhere in the period

Goliath's 'coat of scale mail' (shiryon qasqassim) and bronze kova' (1 Sam 17:5); Saul puts his own shiryon and kova' on David (1 Sam 17:38); Uzziah supplying his army with helmets and coats of mail was worth recording (2 Chr 26:14). Archaeology has found many bronze armor scales at Near Eastern sites.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 3

  1. 1 Samuel 17:5 וְשִׁרְי֥וֹן הַשִּׁרְי֔וֹן and body armor of, the body armor

    and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,

  2. 1 Samuel 17:38 שִׁרְיֽוֹן׃ body armor

    Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 22:34 הַשִּׁרְיָ֑ן the body armor

    However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 18:33 הַשִּׁרְיָ֑ן the body armor

    However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”

  2. 2 Chronicles 26:14 וְשִׁרְיֹנ֖וֹת and body armor<s>

    Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 4:16 וְהַשִּׁרְיֹנִ֑ים and the body armor<s>

    And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah

Job · 1

  1. Job 41:26 וְשִׁרְיָֽה׃ and a javelin

    The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 59:17 כַּשִּׁרְיָ֔ן like <the> body armor

    He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

    Here: 'Like the scale-armor': the costly coat of overlapping metal scales worn over the torso. 'The' marks the class ('as armor is worn'). Righteousness is his protection in battle and the thing he is wearing.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.