1 Samuel 17:12

12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons.

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 defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!”

11 When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.

12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons.

13 Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea —had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines.

14 David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army,