"... there are small variations in the description of his armour. In verse 5, the Masoretic text describes Goliath’s helmet as bronze (תשחנ) whereas this word is absent in the Greek. On the other hand, the Masoretic text describes Goliath’s chain mail as 5000 shekels of bronze (תשחנ) whereas the LXX describes it as bronze and iron (χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου). In the Masoretic text verse 6, Goliath has some sort of scimitar between his shoulders (ןודיכ) whereas the LXX mentions a shield (ἀσπὶς). A similar variation can be found in verse 38 where the Masoretic includes the additional information that Saul clothed David in his armour (ןוירש ותא שבליו) as well as his cloak and helmet. These variations confirm our earlier proposition that such details were included for their effect in the narrative and not as historical ‘facts’. Whilst some of these details could be attributed to scribal error or translational problems, their cumulative effect is that the description is altered and this must have been observed by the scribes/translators ..."