1 Samuel 17:17

17 Jesse said to his son David, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;

1 Samuel 17:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:17

And Jesse said unto David his son
His youngest son, that was at home with him keeping sheep; he had three more at home, and who were elder than David, and yet he is directed by the providence of God to pick and send him on the following errand, there being work for him to do Jesse knew nothing of:

take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched [corn];
pointing to a quantity of it in a certain place; this was wheat or barley dried in a furnace or oven, and ground into meal, and being mixed with water, or milk, or butter, or honey, or oil, was eaten, and reckoned very delicious; and besides this, there was another sort of "kali", the word here used, which was parched pulse, as beans, peas parched, and which to this day is by the Arabs called by this name F24; of both which mention is made, ( 2 Samuel 17:28 ) . Now an "ephah" was as much as ten men could eat in a day, it consisted of ten omers, ( Exodus 16:16 Exodus 16:36 ) , and the number ten is after used of loaves and cheese:

and these ten loaves of bread;
or cakes of bread, as Kimchi interprets it; pieces or morsels of bread, as the Targum; which seems not so agreeable as loaves or cakes, which are not in the text, but to be supplied:

and run to the camp to thy brethren;
which, according to Bunting F25, was four miles from Bethlehem; and whither it seems he went on foot, and is bid to make haste, and even to run, as his brethren might be in want of provision; and Jesse was very desirous of relieving them, and hearing from them as soon as possible; it is very likely he had a servant or servants to attend him, and assist in carrying this load of provision, which, with what follows, was too much for one man to run with.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 7. col. 47.
F25 Travels p. 135.

1 Samuel 17:17 In-Context

15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 Jesse said to his son David, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
18 also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See how your brothers fare, and bring some token from them."
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.