HELMET (כﯴבַע׃֙, קﯴבַ֔ע; περικεφαλαία, G4330). The helmet was the head-protecting part of the soldier’s armor. The walls of Karnak in Egypt show Hittites wearing helmets in the form of a skullcap. In the early history of Israel, prob. only kings and prominent persons wore helmets. King Saul’s armor included a helmet of bronze (1 Sam 17:38), as did also that of Goliath (17:5). The helmet was part of the equipment of foreign troops (Jer 46:4; Ezek 23:24; 27:10; 38:5). King Uzziah provided his soldiers with helmets (2 Chron 26:14). The helmet worn by Assyrian and Babylonian soldiers was pointed, in contrast to the Syrian-Hittite helmet. Roman soldiers wore helmets with a crest. Helmets were usually made of leather; only in the Seleucid period was the ordinary soldier supplied with brass helmets (1 Macc 6:35). In the OT, the Lord is represented as wearing a helmet of salvation (Isa 59:17); and Paul in the NT says that the armor of the Christian includes the helmet of salvation (Eph 6:17) and that his helmet is the hope of salvation (1 Thess 5:8).