1 Samuel 17:45

45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

1 Samuel 17:45 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:45

Then said David to the Philistine
In answer to the contempt he held him in, and to the threatening words he gave him:

thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield;
the word for "shield" is not the same with that so rendered, ( 1 Samuel 17:41 ) ; which his armourbearer carried before him, but with that translated a "target", which was between his shoulders, ( 1 Samuel 17:6 ) ; however, they were all weapons of war, either defensive or offensive:

but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied;
the Lord of all hosts, in heaven and in earth in general, and in particular the God of the armies of Israel; which he was at the head of, led on, protected and defended, having a kind and merciful regard unto them, and which this Philistine had defied, reproached, and blasphemed; and now David was come, by a commission from this great Jehovah, to vindicate his honour, and to avenge his people on him: he had asked for a man, and now the Lord of hosts, as the Jews ^F12 observe, comes forth as a man of war, for the battle was his, as in ( 1 Samuel 17:47 ) ; and David was his messenger, and came in his name, and was the man into whose hands he should be given.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 42. 2.

1 Samuel 17:45 In-Context

43 “Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”