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1 Samuel 17:34-44

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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,[a] 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."[b] Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."
38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor.
39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. "I can't walk in these," David said to Saul, "I'm not used to them." So David took them off.
40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd's bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy[c] and handsome.
43 He said to David, "Am I a dog[d] that you come against me with sticks?"[e] Then he cursed David by his gods.
44 "Come here," the Philistine called to David, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!"
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1 Samuel 17:34-44 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
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Footnotes 5

  • [a] LXX reads throat
  • [b] 2 Tm 4:17-18
  • [c] Or reddish
  • [d] 1 Sm 24:14
  • [e] Some LXX mss add and stones?" And David said, "No! Worse than a dog!"
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

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