1 Samuel 17:25

25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

1 Samuel 17:25 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:25

And the men of Israel said
To one another:

have ye seen this man that is come up?
taken notice of him, and observed him?

surely to defy Israel is he come up;
to challenge them to fight with him, and upbraid them with cowardice that they did not:

and it shall be [that] the man who killeth him;
this, and what follows, they said to encourage any person to engage with him, though none of them cared to encounter him themselves:

the king will enrich him with great riches;
give him a large gratuity, make a present of a great sum of money to him:

and will give him his daughter to be his wife,
in like manner as Caleb promised to give his daughter in marriage to the person that should take Kirjathsepher, ( Judges 1:12 ) ;

and make his father's house free in Israel;
from all tributes, taxes, levies, impositions, king's service, and duty; or, as the Targum,

``make his father's house freemen, nobles;''

raise it to the rank of nobility.

1 Samuel 17:25 In-Context

23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.