Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 17
17
1And the Philistines had gathered their armies for battle, and came together at Soḵoh, which belongs to Yehuḏah, and encamped between Soḵoh and Azĕqah, in Ephes Dammim.
2And Sha’ul and the men of Yisra’ĕl were gathered and encamped in the Valley of Ělah, and drew up in battle array to meet the Philistines.
3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Yisra’ĕl stood on a mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
4Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines, named Golyath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5And a bronze helmet was on his head, and he was armed with a scaled armour, and the weight of the coat was five thousand sheqels of bronze,
6and bronze shin guards on his legs and a bronze spear between his shoulders.
7And the wood of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred sheqels, and a shield-bearer went before him.
8And he stood and shouted to the armies of Yisra’ĕl, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Sha’ul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
9“If he is able to fight with me, and shall strike me, then we shall be your servants. But if I overcome him and shall strike him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
10Then the Philistine said, “This day I shall reproach the armies of Yisra’ĕl. Give me a man, and let us fight together.”
11And Sha’ul and all Yisra’ĕl heard these words of the Philistine, and they were broken down and in great fear.
12Now Dawiḏ was the son of that Ephrathite of Bĕyth Leḥem in Yehuḏah, whose name was Yishai, and he had eight sons, and in the days of Sha’ul the man was old among men.
13And the three oldest sons of Yishai went, they had gone to follow Sha’ul to the battle, and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliyaḇ the first-born, and his second Aḇinaḏaḇ, and the third Shammah.
14And Dawiḏ was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Sha’ul,
15but Dawiḏ went and returned from Sha’ul to feed his father’s sheep at Bĕyth Leḥem.
16And for forty days the Philistine drew near, morning and evening, and took his stand.
17Then Yishai said to his son Dawiḏ, “Please take to your brothers an ĕphah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.
18“And take these ten cheeses to the commander of the thousand, and see how your brothers are, and bring back news of them.”
19For Sha’ul and they and all the men of Yisra’ĕl were in the Valley of Ělah, fighting with the Philistines.
20And Dawiḏ rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a herdsman, and took and went as Yishai had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight, and they shouted for the battle.
21And Yisra’ĕl and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.
22And Dawiḏ left his supplies in the hand of the keeper of the supplies, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
23And he was speaking with them and saw the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Golyath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines. And he spoke according to the same words, and Dawiḏ heard.
24And all the men of Yisra’ĕl, when they saw the man, ran from him and were in great fear.
25And the men of Yisra’ĕl said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? For he has come up to reproach Yisra’ĕl. And it shall be that the man who strikes him, the sovereign is going to enrich him with great riches, and give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption in Yisra’ĕl.”
26And Dawiḏ spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who strikes this Philistine and shall take away reproach from Yisra’ĕl? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the armies of the living Elohim?”
27And the people answered him according to this word, saying, “This is what is done for the man who strikes him.”
28And Eliyaḇ his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliyaḇ’s displeasure burned against Dawiḏ, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
29And Dawiḏ said, “Now what have I done? Was it not but a word?”
30And he turned around from him toward another and said the same word. And these people answered him a word like the first word.
31And when the words which Dawiḏ spoke were heard, they reported them to Sha’ul, and he sent for him.
32And Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him, your servant is going, and shall fight with this Philistine.”
33And Sha’ul said to Dawiḏ, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he a man of battle from his youth.”
34Then Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “Your servant has been tending sheep for his father, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
35I went out after it and struck it, and rescued it from its mouth. And when it rose against me, I took hold of it by its beard, and struck it and killed it.
36“Your servant has stricken both lion and bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has reproached the armies of the living Elohim.”
37And Dawiḏ said, “יהוה, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He does deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Sha’ul said to Dawiḏ, “Go, and יהוה be with you!”
38And Sha’ul dressed Dawiḏ with his garments, and he put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a coat of armour on him.
39And Dawiḏ girded his sword over his garments, and began to go, but he had not tried them. Then Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “I am not able to go with these, for I have not tried them.” So Dawiḏ took them off.
40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
41And the Philistine came, and began drawing near to Dawiḏ, and the man who bore the shield went before him.
42And when the Philistine looked about and saw Dawiḏ, he despised him, for he was a youth, and ruddy and of handsome appearance.
43And the Philistine said to Dawiḏ, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed Dawiḏ by his mighty ones.
44And the Philistine said to Dawiḏ, “Come to me, and I give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field!”
45But Dawiḏ 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 יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of the armies of Yisra’ĕl, whom you have reproached.
46“This day יהוה shall deliver you into my hand, and I shall strike you and take your head from you, and give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines today to the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth know that Elohim is for Yisra’ĕl,
47and all this assembly know that יהוה does not save with sword and spear, for the battle belongs to יהוה, and He shall give you into our hands.”
48And it came to be, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet Dawiḏ, that Dawiḏ hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49And Dawiḏ put his hand in his bag and took out a stone, and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50Thus Dawiḏ was stronger than the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in the hand of Dawiḏ.
51Then Dawiḏ ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52And the men of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Eqron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the way to Sha‛arayim, even as far as Gath and Eqron.
53Then the children of Yisra’ĕl turned back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camps.
54And Dawiḏ took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Yerushalayim, but he put his weapons in his tent.
55And when Sha’ul saw Dawiḏ going out against the Philistine, he said to Aḇnĕr, the commander of the army, “Aḇnĕr, whose son is this youth?” And Aḇnĕr said, “As your being lives, O sovereign, I do not know.”
56And the sovereign said, “Ask whose son this young man is.”
57And when Dawiḏ returned from the striking of the Philistine, Aḇnĕr took him and brought him before Sha’ul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58And Sha’ul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And Dawiḏ said, “The son of your servant Yishai the Bĕyth Leḥemite.”
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Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 17: TS2009
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1 Samuel 17
17
David Kills Goliath
1#tc The content of 1 Sam 17–18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. 17–18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in 1 Sam 17–18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages. The Philistines gathered their troops#tn Heb “camps.” for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelite army#tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.” assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against#tn Heb “to meet.” the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites#tn Heb “Israel.” on another hill, with the valley between them.
4 Then a champion#tn Heb “the man of the space between the two [armies].” See v. 23. came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall.#tc Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 286, 291. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels.#sn Although the exact weight of Goliath’s defensive body armor is difficult to estimate in terms of modern equivalency, it was obviously quite heavy. Driver, following Kennedy, suggests a modern equivalent of about 220 pounds (100 kg); see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 139. Klein, taking the shekel to be equal to .403 ounces, arrives at a somewhat smaller weight of about 126 pounds (57 kg); see R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 175. But by any estimate it is clear that Goliath presented himself as a formidable foe indeed. 6 He had bronze shin guards#sn Or “greaves.” These were coverings (probably lined for comfort) that extended from about the knee to the ankle, affording protection for the shins of a warrior. on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders. 7 The shaft#tn The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading “wood,” rather than the “arrow” (the reading of the Kethib). of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels.#sn That is, about fifteen or sixteen pounds. His shield bearer was walking before him.
8 Goliath#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity. stood and called to Israel’s troops,#tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.” “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose#tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error. for yourselves a man so he may come down#tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here. to me! 9 If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight#tn Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here. each other!” 11 When Saul and all the Israelites#tn Heb “all Israel.” heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.
12#tc Some mss of the LXX lack vv. 12-31. Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4. in Judah. He had eight sons, and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years.#tc The translation follows the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “in years,” rather than MT “among men.” 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the#tn Heb “his.” three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest. 14 Now David was the youngest. While the three oldest sons followed Saul, 15 David was going back and forth#tn Heb “was going and returning.” from Saul in order to care for his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.
16 Meanwhile for forty days the Philistine approached every morning and evening and took his position. 17 Jesse said to his son David, “Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly#tn Heb “run.” to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer.#tn Heb “officer of the thousand.” Find out how your brothers are doing#tn Heb “and your brothers, observe with respect to welfare.” and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.#tn Heb “and their pledge take.” This probably refers to some type of confirmation that the goods arrived safely. See R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 177. Cf. NIV “bring back some assurance”; NCV “some proof to show me they are all right”; NLT “bring me back a letter from them.” 19 They are with Saul and the whole Israelite army#tn Heb “all the men of Israel.” in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it.#tn Heb “to a guard”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “with a keeper”; NIV “with a shepherd.” Since in contemporary English “guard” sounds like someone at a military installation or a prison, the present translation uses “to someone else who would watch over it.” After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp#tn Or “entrenchment.” as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines opposite one another. 22 After David had entrusted his cargo to the care of the supply officer,#tn Heb “the guard of the equipment.” he ran to the battlefront. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did,#tn Heb “according to these words.” and David heard it. 24 When all the men of Israel saw this man, they retreated#tn Or “fled.” from his presence and were very afraid.
25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so#tn Heb “he is coming up.” to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.”
26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation?#tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.” For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?” 27 The soldiers#tn Heb “people.” told him what had been promised, saying,#tn Heb “according to this word, saying.” “This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down.”
28 When David’s#tn Heb “his”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry#tn Heb “the anger of Eliab became hot.” with David and said, “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert? I am familiar with your pride and deceit!#tn Heb “the wickedness of your heart.” You have come down here to watch the battle!”
29 David replied, “What have I done now? Can’t I say anything?”#tn Heb “Is it not [just] a word?” 30 Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question,#tn Heb “and spoke according to this word.” but they#tn Heb “the people.” gave him the same answer as before. 31 When David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, he called for him.#tn Heb “he took him.”
32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged.#tn Heb “Let not the heart of a man fall upon him.” The LXX reads “my lord,” instead of “a man.” Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” 33 But Saul replied to David, “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!”
34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them.#tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?” For he has defied the armies of the living God!” 37 David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.”#tn Or “Go, and may the Lord be with you” (so NASB, NCV, NRSV).
38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him. 39 David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them.#tn Heb “he had not tested.” David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch#tn This Hebrew word occurs only here and its exact meaning is not entirely clear. It refers to a receptacle of some sort and apparently was a common part of a shepherd’s equipment. Here it serves as a depository for the stones that David will use in his sling. of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine.
41#tc Most LXX mss lack v. 41. The Philistine kept coming closer to David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?”#sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both. Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!”#tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have “the earth” here, instead of the MT’s “the field.”
45 But David replied to the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! 46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God 47 and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves! For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hand.”
48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine.#tc Most LXX mss lack the second half of v. 48. 49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.
50#tc Most LXX mss lack v. 50. David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.#tn Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine. 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s#tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity. sword, drew it from its sheath,#tc Most LXX mss lack the words “drew it from its sheath.” killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.
52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry.#tn Heb “arose and cried out.” They chased the Philistines to the valley#tc Most of the LXX ms tradition has here “Gath.” and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem,#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. and he put Goliath’s#tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity. weapons in his tent.
55#tc Most LXX mss lack 17:55–18:5. Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.” 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is!”
57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.”#map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
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