1 Samuel 17:12

12 Forsooth David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it is said before, of Bethlehem of Judah, to whom the name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and in the days of Saul, Jesse was an old man, and of great age among men. (And David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it was spoken of before, of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and Jesse was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men.)

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 And the Philistine said, I have said shame today to the companies of Israel; give ye [to me] a man, and begin he singular battle with me. (And the Philistine said, I have shamed Israel's companies this day; now give ye to me a man, and let him fight with me man-to-man.)

11 Soothly Saul and all men of Israel heard such words of the Philistine, and they were astonished, and dreaded greatly (and were greatly afraid).

12 Forsooth David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it is said before, of Bethlehem of Judah, to whom the name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and in the days of Saul, Jesse was an old man, and of great age among men. (And David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it was spoken of before, of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and Jesse was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men.)

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went after Saul into battle; and the names of his three sons, that went to battle (who went to battle), were Eliab, the first begotten, and the second, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah.

14 And David was the youngest. Then while the three eldest sons followed Saul,