1 Samuel 17:26-58

26 David asked the men who were standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel's disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of the living God?"

27 The soldiers repeated [to David] how the man who kills Goliath would be treated.

28 Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. "Why did you come here," he asked him, "and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle."

29 "What have I done now?" David snapped at him. "Didn't I [merely] ask a question?"

30 He turned to face another man and asked the same question, and the other soldiers gave him the same answer.

31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, who then sent for him.

32 David told Saul, "No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine."

33 Saul responded to David, "You can't fight this Philistine. You're just a boy, but he's been a warrior since he was your age."

34 David replied to Saul, "I am a shepherd for my father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it.

36 I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of the living God."

37 David added, "The LORD, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine." "Go," Saul told David, "and may the LORD be with you."

38 Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David's head and dressed him in armor.

39 David fastened Saul's sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. "I can't walk in these things," David told Saul. "I've never had any practice doing this." So David took all those things off.

40 He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd's bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

41 The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David.

42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.

43 The Philistine asked David, "Am I a dog that you come to [attack] me with sticks?" So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David.

44 "Come on," the Philistine told David, "and I'll give your body to the birds."

45 David told the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted.

46 Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God.

47 Then everyone gathered here will know that the LORD can save without sword or spear, because the LORD determines every battle's outcome. He will hand all of you over to us."

48 When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine.

49 Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath's forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face.

50 So using [only] a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn't have a sword in his hand.

51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took Goliath's sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and made certain the Philistine was dead by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw their hero had been killed, they fled.

52 Then the soldiers of Israel and Judah rose up, shouted a battle cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines lay on the road to Shaaraim and all the way to Gath and Ekron.

53 When the Israelites came back from their pursuit of the Philistines, they looted all the goods in the Philistine camp.

54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's armor in his tent.

55 As Saul watched David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" Abner answered, "I solemnly swear, as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know."

56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."

57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him to Saul. David had the Philistine's head in his hand.

58 Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man?" "The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem," David answered.

1 Samuel 17:26-58 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 17

This chapter relates how the armies of Israel, and of the Philistines, prepared for battle, and where, 1Sa 17:1-3, describes a champion of the Philistines, who defied the armies of Israel, 1Sa 17:4-11, and while he was so doing, it informs us that David came into the camp, and he heard his words, and signified to one and another his inclination to fight with him, 1Sa 17:12-30, which being reported to Saul, David was sent for by him, and much discourse passed between them about it, 1Sa 17:31-37 when we are told the manner in which he engaged with the Philistine, and the victory he obtained over him, 1Sa 17:38-51 upon which the Philistines fled, and Israel pursued them; and on account of this action David was taken notice of by Saul, and brought to court again, as the following chapter shows, 1Sa 17:52-58.