1 Samuel 17:12

12 Enter David. He was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons, was himself too old to join Saul's army.

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 challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!"

11 When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.

12 Enter David. He was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons, was himself too old to join Saul's army.

13 Jesse's three older sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who had joined up with Saul were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah.

14 David was the youngest son. While his three oldest brothers went to war with Saul, David went back and forth from attending to Saul to tending his father's sheep in Bethlehem.