1 Samuel 17:35

35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued [the lamb] from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur,^[a] strike it down, and kill it.

1 Samuel 17:35 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:35

And I went out after him
Whether a lion or a bear; but mention after being made of his beard, a lion rather is meant:

and smote him;
with his fist, or rather with his shepherd's staff:

and delivered [it] out of his mouth;
snatched it out from thence, or obliged him to drop it, by beating him:

and when he arose against me;
after he had let go the lamb, threatening to tear him in pieces for attempting to disturb him in his prey, and take it away from him;

I caught [him] by his beard;
such as lions have; hence a lion is often called in Homer ^F7 (liv heugeneiov) , the well-bearded lion. Kimchi thinks the beard with the nether jaw is meant, which David caught hold on:

and smote him, and slew him;
tore him to pieces, as Samson did, ( Judges 14:5 Judges 14:6 ) , or slew him with some weapon in his hand.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F7 Iliad. 17. ver. 109. & Iliad. 18. ver. 318.

1 Samuel 17:35 In-Context

33 But Saul replied, "You can't go fight this Philistine. You're just a youth, and he's been a warrior since he was young."

34 David answered Saul, "Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,

35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued [the lamb] from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God."

37 Then David said, "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX reads throat