17:8 Goliath 2 stood and called to Israel’s troops, 3 “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose 4 for yourselves a man so he may come down 5 to me!
1 tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).
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.
1 tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.”