1 Samuel 17:44

44 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field."

1 Samuel 17:44 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:44

And the Philistine said to David, come to me
He seems to have stood still, disdaining: to take another step towards such a pitiful combatant, and therefore bids him come up to him, and he would soon dispatch him; unless he said this, because David was light and nimble, and he heavy and unwieldy because of his bigness, and the burden of armour on him, and therefore could not make such haste as he wished to destroy his adversary, of which he made no doubt:

and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts
of the field;
the wild beasts he means; though Jarchi thinks he spoke improperly, since it is not the way of the beasts of the field, as sheep, oxen to devour a man, or even to eat any flesh; and therefore he observes, when David comes, he uses another word, which signifies the wild beasts of the earth, and so we render it, ( 1 Samuel 17:46 ) ; but Kimchi shows that even these are comprehended in the word here used, see ( Isaiah 18:6 ) .

1 Samuel 17:44 In-Context

42 And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance.
43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field."
45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to 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, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.