And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.
Two hundred targets ... six hundred shekels. These defensive arms were anciently made of wood, and covered with leather: Solomon's were covered with fine gold. 600 shekels were used in the gilding of each target; 200 targets had 300 shields, having three pounds of gold in one shield. The targets were circular, perhaps with an umbo or convex protuberance in the center, designed to be fastened on the person for the protection of the breast. The shields, which were only half the weight of the targets, were made probably in the form of upright bucklers borne by an armour-bearer (cf. 'Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 194). They were intended for the state armoury of the palace (see the notes at 1 Kings 14:26). They were ranged on the walls of the armoury (Song of Solomon 4:4), upon pins fixed in the walls for the purpose (cf. Isaiah 22:24), as in the Assyrian temples.