31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37David said, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!”
38Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and 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. 46This very 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 Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”
48When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand. 51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52The troops of Israel and Judah rose up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gathc and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53The Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
55When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56The king said, “Inquire whose son the stripling is.” 57On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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a MT: Q Ms Gk four
b Gk Syr: Heb among men
c Gk Syr: Heb Gai
17.1–58 The familiar story of David and Goliath is actually a composite of two accounts of David’s victory over a Philistine champion. The first account roughly corresponds to vv. 1–11, 32–54, while the second, which was added late enough to be completely missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts, is contained within vv. 12–31, 55–58 and portions of ch. 18.
17.1 Socoh, a small town in the hills about fourteen miles west of Bethlehem; Israel regarded it as a part of Judah (Josh 15.35), but because of its border location it was disputed with Philistia (see 2 Chr 11.7; 28.18). Azekah, a fortress a few miles northwest of Socoh that guarded the main road across the valley of Elah (v. 2). Ephes-dammim, called Pas-dammim in 1 Chr 11.13, was probably about four miles northeast of Socoh.
17.2 Valley of Elah, one of the principal wadis, the next south of Sorek (see note on 6.9), in the western watershed of the Judean hills.
17.4 Champion, rendered “infantryman” in the Qumran War Scroll (1QM). The name Goliath is at home in Anatolia, one of the places from which the Philistines and other Sea Peoples came; it occurs only here in the older version of David’s fight with the Philistine champion, and it may have been borrowed from 2 Sam 21.19, where the slayer of Goliath the Gittite is not David, but Elhanan, one of his heroes. The Masoretic Text’s six cubits and a span make the Philistine champion almost 10 feet tall! According to the Septuagint and a scroll from Qumran (4QSama), which probably preserve a superior reading here, he was “four cubits and a span,” or about 6 feet, 9 inches tall—a true giant but not a fairy-tale monster.
17.5–6 The description of the Philistine’s armor prepares readers for v. 49 by showing that he had no vulnerable spot except his forehead.
17.6 Javelin (Hebrew kidon), more likely a curved and flat-bladed sword or scimitar (see v. 51).
17.7 Like a weaver’s beam derives from 2 Sam 21.19; it probably means that the spear had a thong attached to a ring, similar to the rod and ring of a weaver’s heddle, by which the spear could be slung in battle. The spearhead is iron, a metal harder than bronze that was available because of new metal-working techniques being introduced in the region at the time; according to biblical tradition, the Philistines carefully controlled the new technology (see 13.19–22).
17.12 The beginning of the second version of the story, which has been combined with the first by an editor (see note on 17.1–58). Jesse and his sons are introduced as if for the first time (see 16.1–13). Jesse was an Ephrathite, a member of a clan that settled in Benjamin near Kiriath-jearim (see 10.2) and in Judah near Bethlehem.
17.25 On the promise of marriage to Saul’s daughter, see 18.17–30. Free in Israel, probably exempt from taxation and the obligations of palace service because of a brave deed at arms.
17.26 David’s remarks in this verse, still part of the secondarily added alternate version of the story, seem influenced by the language of v. 36, which belongs to the primary version (see note on 17.1–58). In both verses David refers to the Lord as the living God, an epithet that stresses the reality and power of the God of Israel (see Jer 10.10) while implying that anyone who would challenge the authority of the Lord will fail (see 2 Kings 19.4, 16; Isa 37.4, 17; Jer 23.36).
17.33–37 Saul argues that David is unfit to take on the Philistine champion because he is just a boy. David’s rejoinder is that his experience as a shepherd with lions and bears has prepared him to deal with the Philistine.
17.38–39 Saul lends David his own armor, but when fully dressed, David, who is depicted in this episode as a shepherd without military training, is unable to walk.
17.40 David chooses his staff and his sling, the weapons he is comfortable with. The wadi that provides the sling stones is the valley (i.e., wadi) of Elah of v. 2.
17.42 Ruddy and handsome in appearance, out of place here, was probably added by a scribe who was remembering 16.12.
17.44–45 The Philistine expresses co
ntempt for David’s rude weapons, but David’s retort expresses the true contrast between the two champions (see v. 47). The Philistine relies on sword and spear and javelin, ordinary weapons, but David is armed with the name of the LORD, drawing upon the spiritual power of the God of Israel.
17.52 Shaaraim, a town in Judah (Josh 15.36) near Socoh and Azekah (see note on 17.1); it apparently lay to the west in the direction of Gath and Ekron (see 5.8, 10).
17.54 The mention of Jerusalem is surprising, since it did not become an Israelite city until after David became king (see 2 Sam 5.6–9). Although David puts Goliath’s armor in his tent, he acquires his sword at the shrine of Nob in 21.9.
17.55 Abner. See note on 14.50.
1 SAMUEL 18
Jonathan’s Covenant with David
1When Davida had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.
6As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.b 7And the women sang to one another as they made merry,
“Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”
8Saul was very angry, for this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9So Saul eyed David from that day on.
Saul Tries to Kill David
10The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; 11and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.
12Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him. 15When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
David Marries Michal
17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I will not raise a hand against him; let the Philistines deal with him.” 18David said to Saul, “Who am I and who are my kinsfolk, my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
20Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. Saul was told, and the thing pleased him. 21Saul thought, “Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,c “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘See, the king is delighted with you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23So Saul’s servants reported these words to David in private. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and of no repute?” 24The servants of Saul told him, “This is what David said.” 25Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no marriage present except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26When his servants told David these words, David was well pleased to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27David rose and went, along with his men, and killed one hundredd of the Philistines; and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. 28But when Saul realized that the LORD was with David, and that Saul’s daughter Michal loved him, 29Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward.
30Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle; and as often as they came out, David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his fame became very great.
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a Heb he
b Or triangles, or three-stringed instruments
c Heb by two
d Gk Compare 2 Sam 3.14: Heb two hundred
18.1–9 David receives Jonathan’s loyalty, and as David’s success on the battlefield grows, Saul begins to look on him with suspicion.
18.1 Soul…bound to…soul, inseparable devotion, like that of Jacob for his son Benjamin (see Gen 44.30–31). For the political overtones of Jonathan’s loving David as his own soul (also v. 3), see note on 20.17.
18.3 Jonathan and David enter into a covenant, a formal agreement of friendship and mutual loyalty.
18.4 It has been suggested that by giving David his robe and other apparel Jonathan is formally transferring his claim on Saul’s throne to David.
18.6–9 Saul’s jealousy of David begins when David’s military exploits become the subject of public celebration.
18.10–16 Saul takes measures to rid himself of David.
18.10–11 This episode is not in the Septuagint; it may have been added in anticipation of 19.9–10. For the evil spirit from God, see 16.14–15.
18.14 Here and throughout the old story of his rise to power (see Introduction) David’s extraordinary success is attributed to the fact that the LORD was with him (see v. 13; 16.18; 17.37; 18.28–29a; 2 Sam 5.10). See also note on 16.18.
18.16 Saul’s attempt to protect himself against David’s growing popularity by sending him to war (v. 13) proves counterproductive; as a military leader David earns the loyalty of all Israel and Judah.
18.17–30 In 17.25 Saul’s daughter was promised to the man who slew the Philistine champion. In this section, however, each of Saul’s daughters is offered to David as a ruse to get him slain by the Philistines.
18.17 Merab, introduced in 14.49.
18.19 Adriel the Meholathite was from the town of Abel-meholah, which was east of the Jordan not far from Jabesh-gilead (see 10.27).
18.25 The unusual marriage present, or bride-price, is calculated both to tempt David, who would otherwise be too poor (v. 23) to marry a king’s daughter, and to put him in harm’s way.
1 SAMUEL 19
Jonathan Intercedes for David
1Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. 2Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; 5for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?” 6Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his pres
ence as before.
Michal Helps David Escape from Saul
8Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. 9Then an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. 10Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.
11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13Michal took an idola and laid it on the bed; she put a netb of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. 14When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16When the messengers came in, the idolc was in the bed, with the coveringd of goats’ hair on its head. 17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?’”
David Joins Samuel in Ramah
18Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. 19Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge ofe them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. 21When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. 22Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu;f he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
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