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Text -- 1 Samuel 17:1-48 (NET)
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Context
David Kills Goliath
17:1 The Philistines gathered their troops for battle . They assembled at Socoh in Judah . They camped in Ephes Dammim , between Socoh and Azekah .
17:2 Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah , where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines .
17:3 The Philistines were standing on one hill , and the Israelites on another hill , with the valley between them.
17:4 Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines . His name was Goliath ; he was from Gath . He was close to seven feet tall .
17:5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor . The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels .
17:6 He had bronze shin guards on his legs , and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders .
17:7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam , and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels . His shield bearer was walking before him.
17:8 Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops , “Why do you come out to prepare for battle ? Am I not the Philistine , and are you not the servants of Saul ? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me!
17:9 If he is able to fight with me and strike me down , we will become your servants . But if I prevail against him and strike him down , you will become our servants and will serve us.”
17:10 Then the Philistine said , “I defy Israel’s troops this day ! Give me a man so we can fight each other !”
17:11 When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine , they were upset and very afraid .
17:12 Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah . He had eight sons , and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years.
17:13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war . The names of the three sons who went to war were Eliab , his firstborn , Abinadab , the second oldest, and Shammah , the third oldest.
17:14 Now David was the youngest . While the three oldest sons followed Saul ,
17:15 David was going back and forth from Saul in order to care for his father’s sheep in Bethlehem .
17:16 Meanwhile for forty days the Philistine approached every morning and evening and took his position .
17:17 Jesse said to his son David , “Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread ; go quickly to the camp to your brothers .
17:18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer . Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.
17:19 They are with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the valley of Elah , fighting with the Philistines .”
17:20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. After loading up , he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry .
17:21 Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines opposite one another.
17:22 After David had entrusted his cargo to the care of the supply officer , he ran to the battlefront . When he arrived , he asked his brothers how they were doing.
17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath , the Philistine from Gath , was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines . He spoke the way he usually did, and David heard it.
17:24 When all the men of Israel saw this man , they retreated from his presence and were very afraid .
17:25 The men of Israel said , “Have you seen this man who is coming up ? He does so to defy Israel . But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy ! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel .”
17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation ? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine , that he defies the armies of the living God ?”
17:27 The soldiers told him what had been promised, saying , “This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down .”
17:28 When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men , he became angry with David and said , “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert ? I am familiar with your pride and deceit ! You have come down here to watch the battle !”
17:29 David replied , “What have I done now ? Can’t I say anything ?”
17:30 Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question , but they gave him the same answer as before .
17:31 When David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul , he called for him.
17:32 David said to Saul , “Don’t let anyone be discouraged . Your servant will go and fight this Philistine !”
17:33 But Saul replied to David , “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy ! He has been a warrior from his youth !”
17:34 David replied to Saul , “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock . Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock ,
17:35 I would go out after it, strike it down , and rescue the sheep from its mouth . If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw , strike it, and kill it.
17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear . This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them . For he has defied the armies of the living God !”
17:37 David went on to say , “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine !” Then Saul said to David , “Go ! The Lord will be with you.”
17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head . He also put body armor on him.
17:39 David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. David said to Saul , “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them.
17:40 He took his staff in his hand , picked out five smooth stones from the stream , placed them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag , took his sling in hand , and approached the Philistine .
17:41 The Philistine kept coming closer to David , with his shield bearer walking in front of him.
17:42 When the Philistine looked carefully at David , he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy .
17:43 The Philistine said to David , “Am I a dog , that you are coming after me with sticks ?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods .
17:44 The Philistine said to David , “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field !”
17:45 But David replied to the Philistine , “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin . But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel’s armies , whom you have defied !
17:46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand ! I will strike you down and cut off your head . This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land . Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God
17:47 and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves ! For the battle is the Lord’s , and he will deliver you into our hand .”
17:48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him , while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
David |
Saul |
Philistines |
ELHANAN |
Jesse |
Goliath |
Boasting |
JAARE-OREGIM |
WAR; WARFARE |
SAMUEL, BOOKS OF |
Israel |
Suffering |
Championship |
Armies |
Decision |
Courage |
Bear |
Sling |
Shepherd |
PALESTINE, 2 |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> 1Sa 17:1; 1Sa 17:1; 1Sa 17:2; 1Sa 17:2; 1Sa 17:3; 1Sa 17:4; 1Sa 17:4; 1Sa 17:5; 1Sa 17:6; 1Sa 17:7; 1Sa 17:7; 1Sa 17:8; 1Sa 17:8; 1Sa 17:8; 1Sa 17:8; 1Sa 17:10; 1Sa 17:11; 1Sa 17:12; 1Sa 17:12; 1Sa 17:12; 1Sa 17:13; 1Sa 17:15; 1Sa 17:17; 1Sa 17:18; 1Sa 17:18; 1Sa 17:18; 1Sa 17:19; 1Sa 17:20; 1Sa 17:20; 1Sa 17:22; 1Sa 17:23; 1Sa 17:24; 1Sa 17:25; 1Sa 17:26; 1Sa 17:27; 1Sa 17:27; 1Sa 17:28; 1Sa 17:28; 1Sa 17:28; 1Sa 17:29; 1Sa 17:30; 1Sa 17:30; 1Sa 17:31; 1Sa 17:32; 1Sa 17:36; 1Sa 17:37; 1Sa 17:39; 1Sa 17:40; 1Sa 17:41; 1Sa 17:43; 1Sa 17:44; 1Sa 17:48
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:4 Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, accor...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:5 Although the exact weight of Goliath’s defensive body armor is difficult to estimate in terms of modern equivalency, it was obviously quite heav...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:6 Or “greaves.” These were coverings (probably lined for comfort) that extended from about the knee to the ankle, affording protection for t...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:8 Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:10 Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here.
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:12 The translation follows the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “in years,” rather than MT “among men.&...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:18 Heb “and their pledge take.” This probably refers to some type of confirmation that the goods arrived safely. See R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (W...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:32 Heb “Let not the heart of a man fall upon him.” The LXX reads “my lord,” instead of “a man.”
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:36 The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:40 This Hebrew word occurs only here and its exact meaning is not entirely clear. It refers to a receptacle of some sort and apparently was a common part...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:43 Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for...
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NET Notes: 1Sa 17:44 Many medieval Hebrew mss have “the earth” here, instead of the MT’s “the field.”
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