1 Samuel 17:44

44 The Pelishti said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.

1 Samuel 17:44 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:44

And the Philistine said to David, come to me
He seems to have stood still, disdaining: to take another step towards such a pitiful combatant, and therefore bids him come up to him, and he would soon dispatch him; unless he said this, because David was light and nimble, and he heavy and unwieldy because of his bigness, and the burden of armour on him, and therefore could not make such haste as he wished to destroy his adversary, of which he made no doubt:

and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts
of the field;
the wild beasts he means; though Jarchi thinks he spoke improperly, since it is not the way of the beasts of the field, as sheep, oxen to devour a man, or even to eat any flesh; and therefore he observes, when David comes, he uses another word, which signifies the wild beasts of the earth, and so we render it, ( 1 Samuel 17:46 ) ; but Kimchi shows that even these are comprehended in the word here used, see ( Isaiah 18:6 ) .

1 Samuel 17:44 In-Context

42 When the Pelishti looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face.
43 The Pelishti said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? The Pelishti cursed David by his gods.
44 The Pelishti said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.
45 Then said David to the Pelishti, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Yisra'el, whom you have defied.
46 This day will the LORD deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Pelishtim this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the eretz; that all the eretz may know that there is a God in Yisra'el,
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.