1 Samuel 17:16

16 And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days.

1 Samuel 17:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:16

And the Philistine drew near morning and evening
Twice a day he came near the camp, within the hearing of it. The Jews ^F23 say, he took those seasons on purpose to disturb them in reading their "Shema", or "hear, O Israel" and saying their prayers morning and evening:

and presented himself forty days;
Successively, before the armies of Israel, daring them to send down a man to fight with him, and reproaching them for their cowardice in not doing it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 42. 2.

1 Samuel 17:16 In-Context

14 And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army.

15 Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.

16 And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days.

17 And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers;

18 And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are.