1 Samuel 17
17
The Challenge of Goliath. 1The Philistines rallied their forces for battle at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelites rallied and camped in the valley of the Elah, drawing up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3The Philistines were stationed on one hill and the Israelites on an opposite hill, with a valley between them.
4A champion named Goliath of Gath came out from the Philistine camp; he was six cubits and a span#Six cubits and a span: about nine feet nine inches (a cubit equals about eighteen inches; a span equals about eight inches). The Greek text and 4QSama read: “four cubits and a span” (six feet nine inches). The description of the Philistine’s might and his powerful weapons contrasts with the picture of the youthful David who trusts in God. tall. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a bronze breastplate of scale armor weighing five thousand shekels, 6bronze greaves, and had a bronze scimitar slung from his shoulders. 7The shaft of his javelin was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron head weighed six hundred shekels.#Six hundred shekels: over fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him.#2 Sm 21:19; 1 Chr 11:23; 20:5. 8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel: “Why come out in battle formation? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants. Choose one of your men, and have him come down to me. 9If he beats me in combat and kills me, we will be your vassals; but if I beat him and kill him, you shall be our vassals and serve us.” 10The Philistine continued: “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Give me a man and let us fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard this challenge of the Philistine, they were stunned and terrified.
David Comes to the Camp.#Here the final editor begins an alternative account of David’s encounter with the Philistine hero, which continues in vv. 50–51 and concludes in 17:55–18:5. 12David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. In the days of Saul Jesse was old and well on in years.#1 Sm 16:1, 10; Ru 1:2. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to war; the names of these three sons who had gone off to war were Eliab the firstborn; Abinadab the second; and Shammah the third. 14David was the youngest. While the three oldest had joined Saul, 15David would come and go from Saul’s presence to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.#1 Sm 16:11; 18:2; 2 Sm 7:8; Ps 78:70–71.
16Meanwhile the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening for forty days.
17Now Jesse said to his son David: “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves for your brothers, and bring them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18Also take these ten cheeses for the field officer. Greet your brothers and bring home some token from them. 19Saul and your brothers, together with all Israel, are at war with the Philistines in the valley of the Elah.” 20Early the next morning, having left the flock with a shepherd, David packed up and set out, as Jesse had commanded him. He reached the barricade of the camp just as the army, on their way to the battleground, were shouting their battle cry.#1 Sm 26:5. 21The Israelites and the Philistines drew up opposite each other in battle array. 22David entrusted what he had brought to the keeper of the baggage and hastened to the battle line, where he greeted his brothers.#1 Sm 25:13. 23While he was talking with them, the Philistine champion, by name Goliath of Gath, came up from the ranks of the Philistines and spoke as before, and David listened. 24When the Israelites saw the man, they all retreated before him, terrified. 25The Israelites had been saying: “Do you see this man coming up? He comes up to insult Israel. The king will make whoever kills him a very wealthy man. He will give his daughter to him and declare his father’s family exempt from taxes in Israel.”#1 Sm 18:17; Jos 15:16. 26David now said to the men standing near him: “How will the man who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from disgrace be rewarded? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should insult the armies of the living God?”#1 Sm 18:25; Dt 5:26; Jgs 15:18; 2 Kgs 19:4; Is 37:4; Jer 10:10. 27They repeated the same words to him and said, “That is how the man who kills him will be rewarded.” 28When Eliab, his oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he grew angry with David and said: “Why did you come down? With whom have you left those sheep in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and dishonest heart. You came down to enjoy the battle!”#1 Sm 16:6. 29David protested, “What have I done now? I was only talking.” 30He turned from him to another and asked the same question; and everyone gave him the same answer as before. 31The words that David had spoken were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
David Challenges Goliath. 32Then David spoke to Saul: “My lord should not lose heart. Let your servant go and fight this Philistine.” 33But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34#Jgs 14:6; Sir 47:3. Then David told Saul: “Your servant used to tend his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or bear came to carry off a sheep from the flock, 35I would chase after it, attack it, and snatch the prey from its mouth. If it attacked me, I would seize it by the throat, strike it, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God.”
37David continued: “The same Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! the Lord will be with you.”#Prv 28:1.
Preparation for the Encounter. 38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, putting a bronze helmet on his head and arming him with a coat of mail. 39David also fastened Saul’s sword over the tunic. He walked with difficulty, however, since he had never worn armor before. He said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. With his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.
David’s Victory. 41#The two combatants trade theological taunts. God uses the most unlikely opponent to destroy Goliath. With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. 42When he sized David up and saw that he was youthful, ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he began to deride him. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods 44and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”#Dt 28:26; Ps 79:2–3; Is 18:6; Jer 7:33; 15:3. 45David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have insulted. 46Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. 47All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle belongs to the Lord, who shall deliver you into our hands.”#1 Sm 14:6, 10; Ps 33:16.
48The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine dead, and did it without a sword in his hand.#1 Mc 4:30; Sir 47:4. 51Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath he killed him, and cut off his head.#1 Sm 21:10.
Flight of the Philistines. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah sprang up with a battle cry and pursued them to the approaches of Gath and to the gates of Ekron, and Philistines fell wounded along the road from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53When they returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, the Israelites looted their camp. 54#1 Sm 31:9. David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he kept Goliath’s armor in his own tent.#Jerusalem was a Jebusite city; it came under Israelite control only at the beginning of David’s rule. As a young shepherd, David would not have had a military tent. In 21:10, Goliath’s sword is in the Nob temple.
David Presented to Saul. 55As Saul watched David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked his general Abner, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied, “On your life, O king, I have no idea.”#1 Sm 14:50. 56And the king said, “Find out whose son the lad is.” 57So when David returned from slaying the Philistine, Abner escorted him into Saul’s presence. David was still holding the Philistine’s head. 58Saul then asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
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1 Samuel 17: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
1 Samuel 17
17
David defeats Goliath
1The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. 3The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.
4A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall.#17.4 LXX over six feet tall 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.#17.5 Five thousand shekels 6He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. 7His spear shaft#17.7 Qere, LXX, Syr (cf 2 Sam 21:19); Kethib the point of his spear was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds.#17.7 Six hundred shekels His shield-bearer walked in front of him.
8He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion,#17.8 MT the Philistine lacks champion. and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t that right? Select one of your men, and let him come down against me. 9If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves, but if I overcome him and kill him, then you will become our slaves and you will serve us. 10I insult Israel’s troops today!” The Philistine continued, “Give me an opponent, and we’ll fight!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.#17.11 The following verses are absent from LXXB: 17:12-31, 41, 48b, 50, 55-58.
12Now David was Jesse’s son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul’s time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.#17.12 LXX, Syr 13Jesse’s three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest. 14(David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul’s side to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
16For forty days straight the Philistine came out and took his stand, both morning and evening. 17Jesse said to his son David, “Please take your brothers an ephah#17.17 One ephah is approximately twenty quarts. of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread. Deliver them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18And here, take these ten wedges of cheese to their unit commander. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back some sign that they are okay. 19They are with Saul and all the Israelite troops fighting the Philistines in the Elah Valley.”
20So David got up early in the morning, left someone in charge of the flock, and loaded up and left, just as his father Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp right when the army was taking up their battle formations and shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines took up their battle formations opposite each other. 22David left his things with an attendant and ran to the front line. When he arrived, he asked how his brothers were doing. 23Right when David was speaking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came forward from the Philistine ranks and said the same things he had said before. David listened. 24When the Israelites saw Goliath, every one of them ran away terrified of him. (25Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes#17.25 Heb uncertain in Israel.”)
26David asked the soldiers standing by him, “What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?”
27Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. “So that’s what will be done for the man who kills him,” they said.
28When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. “Why did you come down here?” he said. “Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!”
29“What did I do wrong this time?” David replied. “It was just a question!”
30So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply. 31The things David had said were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
32“Don’t let anyone#17.32 LXX my master (the king) lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”
33“You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”
34“Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, 35I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.
37“The LORD,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”
“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the LORD be with you!”
38Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. 40He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.
41The Philistine got closer and closer to David, and his shield-bearer was in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy; reddish brown and good-looking.
43The Philistine asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. 44“Come here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the wild animals!”
45But David told the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel’s army, the one you’ve insulted. 46Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head! Today I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the entire Philistine camp#17.46 LXX; MT lacks your dead body. to the wild birds and the wild animals. Then the whole world will know that there is a God on Israel’s side. 47And all those gathered here will know that the LORD doesn’t save by means of sword and spear. The LORD owns this war, and he will hand all of you over to us.”
48The Philistine got up and moved closer to attack David, and David ran quickly to the front line to face him. 49David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50And that’s how David triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the Philistine down and killing him—and David didn’t even have a sword! 51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and finished him off. Then David cut off the Philistine’s head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52The soldiers from Israel and Judah jumped up with a shout and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath#17.52 LXX; MT Gai or a valley and the gates of Ekron. The dead Philistines were littered along the Shaarim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
55Now when Saul saw David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner the army general, “Abner, whose son is that boy?”
“As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know,” Abner answered.
56“Then find out whose son that young man is,” the king replied.
57So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner sent for him and presented him to Saul. The Philistine’s head was still in David’s hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?”
“I’m the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.
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