1 Samuel 17:42

42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was [only] a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance.

1 Samuel 17:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:42

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he
disdained him
He looked about for his antagonist, to take a view of him, what sort of a man he was, expecting to see one much like himself; but observing a puny young man, he despised him in his heart, and perhaps looked upon it as an affront to him to send such a man to fight with him:

for he was [but] a youth;
his age was one reason why he despised him, being, as before observed, about twenty years of age, and not come to his full strength, a stripling, as he is called, ( 1 Samuel 17:56 ) , another reason follows,

and ruddy, and of a fair countenance;
looked effeminate, had not the appearance of a soldier, of a weather beaten veteran, exposed to heat and cold, and inured to hardships.

1 Samuel 17:42 In-Context

40 Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi, and he put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

41 Then the Philistine {came on, getting nearer and nearer} to David, with {his shield bearer} in front of him.

42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was [only] a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance.

43 So the Philistine said to David, "[Am] I a dog, that you [are] coming to me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!"