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1 Samuel 17:25-35

Listen to 1 Samuel 17:25-35
25 Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: "Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes in Israel.")
26 David asked the soldiers standing by him, "What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?"
27 Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. "So that's what will be done for the man who kills him," they said.
28 When David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. "Why did you come down here?" he said. "Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!"
29 "What did I do wrong this time?" David replied. "It was just a question!"
30 So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply.
31 The things David had said were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
32 "Don't let anyone lose courage because of this Philistine!" David told Saul. "I, your servant, will go out and fight him!"
33 "You can't go out and fight this Philistine," Saul answered David. "You are still a boy. But he's been a warrior since he was a boy!"
34 "Your servant has kept his father's sheep," David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock,
35 I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it.

1 Samuel 17:25-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 17

This chapter relates how the armies of Israel, and of the Philistines, prepared for battle, and where, 1Sa 17:1-3, describes a champion of the Philistines, who defied the armies of Israel, 1Sa 17:4-11, and while he was so doing, it informs us that David came into the camp, and he heard his words, and signified to one and another his inclination to fight with him, 1Sa 17:12-30, which being reported to Saul, David was sent for by him, and much discourse passed between them about it, 1Sa 17:31-37 when we are told the manner in which he engaged with the Philistine, and the victory he obtained over him, 1Sa 17:38-51 upon which the Philistines fled, and Israel pursued them; and on account of this action David was taken notice of by Saul, and brought to court again, as the following chapter shows, 1Sa 17:52-58.

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Footnotes 2

  • [a] Heb uncertain
  • [b] LXX my master (the king)
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

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