1 Samuel 17:12

12 Now David was Jesse's son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul's time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.

1 Samuel 17:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:12

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah,
whose name was Jesse Before made mention of, ( 1 Chronicles 16:1 )

and he had eight sons;
seven only are mentioned, ( 1 Chronicles 2:13-15 ) one of them being, as is thought by some, a grandson, perhaps Jonadab the son of Shammah; or was a son by another woman, or died without children, as Jarchi, and therefore not mentioned:

and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul;
the phrase, "among men", either signifies that he was ranked among old men, infirm and unfit for war, and so excused, and his sons went in his room, so Kimchi; or he was reckoned among men of the first rank, men of esteem, credit, and reputation, so Jarchi and R. Isaiah, with which agrees the Targum; or whenever he went abroad, he was attended by many men, had a large retinue, which sense Abarbinel mentions, and is that of Ben Gersom, and agrees with the Talmud ^F20; but the Syriac and Arabic versions read "stricken in years", which seems most agreeable.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 T. Bab. Beracot: fol. 58. 1.

1 Samuel 17:12 In-Context

10 I insult Israel's troops today!" the Philistine continued, "Give me an opponent, and we'll fight!"

11 When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.

12 Now David was Jesse's son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul's time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.

13 Jesse's three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest.

14 (David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul,

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Syr