1 Samuel 17:33

33 Saul answered, "You can't go out against this Philistine and fight him. You're only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man."

1 Samuel 17:33 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:33

And Saul said to David, thou art not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him
Had neither strength of body, nor skill in military affairs, to encounter with a man of his stature, and warlike genius and practice:

for thou [art but] a youth;
some say about fourteen or sixteen years of age, but very probably about twenty, and not more, and so not only weak, but inexpert in the art of fighting:

and he a man of war from his youth;
a gigantic man, trained up in, inured to, and expert in the affairs of war; so that David could not, on any account, be a competitor with him, and a match for him.

1 Samuel 17:33 In-Context

31 Yet what David said was told to Saul, and he sent for David.

32 David said to Saul, "Don't let anyone be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and fight this Philistine!"

33 Saul answered, "You can't go out against this Philistine and fight him. You're only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man."

34 But David said to Saul, "I, your servant, have been keeping my father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and took a sheep from the flock,

35 I would chase it. I would attack it and save the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its fur and hit it and killed it.