Text -- 1 Samuel 17:8 (NET)

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!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 17:8

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”

³ tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.

⁴ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.