that case he would have no hand left with which to take the helmet. Hence, the order is shield, helmet, sword. This, to be sure, was not the only possible sequence, and may not even have been the actual order in which a soldier would equip himself. The order: helmet, sword, and shield suggests itself. But possibly in order to work his way toward a climax Paul mentions first those weapons which in physical warfare are considered defensive, and saves the sword, as the most emphatically and obviously