Answers about the word…
artillery in the Bible

Hebrew: keliy —meaning: apparatus or something prepared

The word “artillery” is used only once in the King James Bible (1 Samuel 20:40), it does not appear in other translations.

Other versions use the word “weapons” in this verse. The Hebrew word keliy appears 326 times in the Bible and is translated in various ways depending on the context (stuff, goods, vessels, belongings, weapons, jewels, etc.).

In the context of this verse, Samuel probably meant “weapons.”

The English word “artillery” is derived from the Latin artillaria, meaning equipment of war.