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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Armor-Bearer
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ar´mẽr-baÌ‚r´ẽr (× ×©×‚× ×›Ö¼×œ×™, noÌ„seÌ„' kelı̄; Greek uses a phrase, ὁ αἰÌÏων τὰ σκευÌη, ho aıÌroÌ„n taÌ skeuÌeÌ„, literally “the one carrying the armorâ€): One who carried the large shield and perhaps other weapons for a king (), commander-in-chief (), captain () or champion (). All warriors of distinction had such an attendant. Rather than perish by the hand of a woman, Abimelech called upon his armor-bearer to give him the finishing stroke (), and when King Saul's armor-bearer refused to do this office for him that he might not become the prisoner of the Philistines, he took a sword himself and fell upon it (). David became Saul's armor-bearer for a time, and Jonathan's armor-bearer was a man of resource and courage (). The shield-bearer was a figure well known in the chariots of Egypt and Assyria and the Hittites, his business being to protect his fighting companion during the engagement.
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