1 Samuel 17

The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They came together at Shochoh, a town that belonged to Judah, and camped between Shochoh and Azekah, at a place called Ephes-dammim.

1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled on the coastal plain to the south-west of Israel, in five main cities (Gath, Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza). Through this period they were Israel's chief military rivals, pressing inland from the coast. Shochoh, Azekah and Ephes-dammim lie in the low hill country between the coastal plain and the Judean highlands.

2Saul and the men of Israel also gathered. They camped in the valley of Elah and lined up their troops for battle against the Philistines.

2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

NoteThe valley of Elah is one of the natural corridors running from the Philistine plain up into the hills of Judah, so an army holding it controls the road inland. Both sides camping on the slopes with the valley floor between them is a stand-off: whoever crosses first fights uphill.

3The Philistines stood on a hill on one side, and the Israelites stood on a hill on the other side. A valley lay between them.

3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

4A champion came out of the Philistine camp. His name was Goliath, and he was from the city of Gath. He stood six cubits and a span tall.

4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

Note"Champion" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning roughly "the man between the two" (a fighter who steps into the space separating the armies. A cubit was about eighteen inches (45 cm), the length of a forearm; a span was about nine inches (23 cm), the width of a spread hand. Six cubits and a span is therefore around nine feet nine inches (2.9 m). Some of the oldest surviving manuscripts) the Dead Sea Scrolls and the early Greek translation, read "four cubits and a span," about six feet nine inches (2.06 m), which would still make him a giant beside men of that era.

5He wore a bronze helmet on his head, and a coat of armor made of small metal plates. The coat weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.

5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

NoteA shekel was a unit of weight, about two-fifths of an ounce (11.5 g), not a coin at this date. Five thousand shekels is roughly 125 pounds (57 kg). "Coat of mail" renders a Hebrew term for scale armor: hundreds of small bronze plates sewn overlapping onto a leather or cloth backing, like fish scales.

6He wore bronze guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung across his back between his shoulders.

6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "javelin" here (kidon) is disputed: it may be a light throwing spear, or a curved sword or scimitar. The King James "target" means a small shield. What is clear is that it was a bronze weapon carried slung across his back.

7The shaft of his spear was as thick as the wooden beam on a weaver's loom, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. A man carrying a shield walked in front of him.

7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

NoteA weaver's beam is the thick wooden roller on an upright loom, several inches across, the point is the sheer thickness of the spear shaft. Six hundred shekels of iron is about fifteen pounds (7 kg) for the spearhead alone. Iron was still relatively new and costly in this period, and the Philistines had the advantage in working it.

8Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite troops, "Why have you come out and lined up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not Saul's servants? Pick one of your men and send him down to me.

8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

9If he can fight me and kill me, then we will become your servants. But if I beat him and kill him, then you will become our servants and work for us."

9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

NoteSettling a battle by single combat between two chosen champions, with both armies bound by the result, was a recognized practice in the ancient Near East and Greek world. It spared an army, though in practice the losing side rarely honored the bargain.

10Then the Philistine said, "Today I dare the armies of Israel to face me. Give me a man, and let the two of us fight."

10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

11When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they lost heart and were very afraid.

11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

12David was the son of a man named Jesse, from the family of Ephrath, who lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons. By the time Saul was king, Jesse was already an old man.

12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

Note"Ephrathite" here means a member of the clan of Ephrath, an older name for Bethlehem and its district, not a man from the tribe of Ephraim. The King James "went among men for an old man" simply means he was reckoned an old man.

13Jesse's three oldest sons had gone with Saul to the war. Their names were Eliab, the firstborn, then Abinadab, and then Shammah.

13And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14David was the youngest. The three oldest had gone with Saul,

14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

15but David went back and forth. He would leave Saul and go home to take care of his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and every evening and took his stand in front of Israel.

16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

17One day Jesse said to his son David, "Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Hurry to their camp.

17And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren.

NoteAn ephah was a dry measure of about 22 liters, roughly two-thirds of a bushel, a substantial load of grain. "Corn" in 1611 English meant grain of any kind, never maize; parched corn is grain roasted over a fire, a standard field ration that needed no cooking.

18Take these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are doing, and bring back word from them that they are all right.

18And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

NoteThe "captain of their thousand" is the officer commanding the unit his brothers served in; the cheeses are a courtesy gift to him. "Take their pledge" translates an obscure Hebrew phrase: David is to bring home some token or proof from his brothers showing they are alive and well, soldiers' families had no other way of hearing.

19Saul and your brothers and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines."

19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20So David got up early in the morning. He left the sheep with someone to watch them, packed up, and set out, just as Jesse had told him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out and shouting the war cry.

20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

NoteThe King James "trench" does not mean a ditch dug for fighting. It renders a Hebrew word for the circular barricade of wagons and baggage thrown up around a camp for protection.

21Israel and the Philistines had lined up for battle, army facing army.

21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

22David left the supplies he was carrying with the man in charge of the supplies. Then he ran to the battle line and greeted his brothers.

22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

Note"Carriage" in 1611 English meant the things one carries, baggage or supplies, not a vehicle. Armies posted a man to guard the piled-up baggage while the troops formed up.

23While he was talking with them, the champion came out from the Philistine lines. He was Goliath of Gath. He said the same things he always said, and David heard him.

23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran away from him. They were terrified.

24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

25The Israelites had been saying, "Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes out to insult Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich. He will also give him his daughter as a wife, and free his father's family from taxes and service in Israel."

25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

NoteMarrying the king's daughter would make the man part of the royal household. Freeing his father's house means exempting the whole family, permanently, from the taxes in kind and the forced labor service a king could demand, a standing reward, not a one-off payment.

26David spoke to the men standing near him. He asked, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away this shame from Israel? Who is this Philistine, who does not even belong to God's people, that he should insult the armies of the living God?"

26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

NoteCircumcision was the physical mark of belonging to Israel's covenant community. Most of Israel's immediate neighbors practiced it; the Philistines, who had come from elsewhere, did not, which is why "uncircumcised" works as a specifically anti-Philistine insult and not merely a general one.

27The people told him the same thing again: "That is what will be done for the man who kills him."

27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

28Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him talking with the men, and he became angry with David. He said, "Why did you come down here? Who is watching those few sheep out in the wilderness? I know how proud you are, and how bad your heart is. You only came down to watch the fighting."

28And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

Note"Naughtiness" in 1611 English meant wickedness or malice, a strong accusation, not the mild word it has since become. As eldest brother Eliab held authority over David in their father's absence.

29David said, "What have I done now? It was only a question, wasn't it?"

29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

NoteThe Hebrew of David's second sentence is compressed and genuinely ambiguous. It can mean "It was only a word, a question," brushing the rebuke aside, or "Is there not a reason?", meaning that something here is worth speaking about. Translators are divided.

30He turned away from Eliab to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people gave him the same answer as before.

30And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

31Someone heard what David was saying and repeated it to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

31And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

32David said to Saul, "Do not let anyone lose courage because of this man. I am your servant, and I will go and fight this Philistine."

32And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

33Saul said to David, "You cannot go out against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a boy, and he has been a soldier since he was young."

33And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

NoteThe Hebrew word for "youth" (na'ar) covers a wide range, from a boy to an unmarried young man not yet counted among the fighting men. Saul's objection is about military age and training, not about David's size.

34David said to Saul, "I have been taking care of my father's sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come and carry off a lamb from the flock.

34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

35I went after it, struck it, and pulled the lamb out of its mouth. When it turned on me, I grabbed it by the fur, struck it, and killed it.

35And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

NoteThe King James "beard" translates a Hebrew word for the hair of the jaw, a lion's mane, or the animal's throat and jaw. David describes seizing the beast at close quarters, not merely striking at it.

36I have killed both lions and bears. This Philistine, who does not belong to God's people, will be like one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God."

36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

37David went on, "The LORD saved me from the claws of the lion and the claws of the bear. He will save me from this Philistine too." Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."

37David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

NoteWhere the King James prints "LORD" in capitals it stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants often written YHWH. Jewish readers avoided saying it aloud and substituted the ordinary word for "Lord," a practice the English translators followed.

38Then Saul dressed David in his own clothing for battle. He put a bronze helmet on his head and put a coat of armor on him.

38And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

39David strapped his sword on over the armor and tried to walk, because he was not used to any of it. David said to Saul, "I cannot move in these. I am not used to them." So he took them off.

39And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

40He took his shepherd's staff in his hand and picked out five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag. With his sling in his hand, he walked toward the Philistine.

40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

NoteA sling was not a toy but a standard weapon: a leather pouch on two cords, whirled and released to hurl a stone at lethal speed over a considerable distance. Shepherds carried them against predators, and armies fielded trained slingers. The King James "scrip" is an old word for a small pouch or satchel.

41The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the man carrying his shield walking in front of him.

41And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

42The Philistine looked David over and saw he was only a boy, with a reddish face and good looks, and he thought nothing of him.

42And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

Note"Ruddy" describes a reddish or fair complexion, perhaps with red hair, meant as a compliment to his looks, and here also a sign of how young and unweathered he appeared.

43The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come after me with sticks?" And he called down curses on David in the name of his gods.

43And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

NoteDogs in this culture were scavengers that hung about rubbish heaps, not pets; calling a man a dog was a serious insult. Goliath's complaint is that David approaches him with a stick, the way one drives off a stray animal, rather than with weapons.

44The Philistine said to David, "Come here, and I will give your body to the birds of the sky and the wild animals."

44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

NoteLeaving a corpse unburied for scavengers was the ultimate degradation in this world, worse than death itself. Goliath is not just threatening to kill David but to deny him a grave.

45David said to the Philistine, "You come at me with a sword and a spear and a javelin. But I come at you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, the God you have insulted.

45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

Note"LORD of hosts" means the LORD of armies. The phrase can refer to Israel's fighting men, to the heavenly armies, or to both at once; the Hebrew does not specify which, and David sets the title directly against Goliath's list of weapons.

46Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. Then the whole earth will know that there is a God in Israel.

46This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47Everyone gathered here will know that the LORD does not save by sword or spear. The battle belongs to the LORD, and he will hand all of you over to us."

47And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands.

48The Philistine got up and came forward to meet David. David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49David reached into his bag and took out a stone. He slung it and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50So David beat the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He struck the Philistine down and killed him, and he had no sword in his hand.

50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the man's own sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and killed him, cutting off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they ran away.

51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

52The men of Israel and Judah jumped up, shouted, and chased the Philistines all the way to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Bodies of wounded Philistines lay along the road to Shaaraim, all the way to Gath and Ekron.

52And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

NoteThe King James "until thou come to the valley" follows the Hebrew word gai, valley; the early Greek translation reads "Gath," the name of a city, which differs from it by one letter and fits the geography of the rest of the verse better. Both readings are ancient.

53When the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, they took everything of value from the Philistine camps.

53And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the man's weapons and armor in his own tent.

54And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

NoteThis raises a known difficulty: Jerusalem was still a Jebusite city at this point and was not taken by David until years later (2 Samuel 5). Some read this as the narrator looking ahead to where the trophy eventually ended up. "His tent" is likewise unclear in the Hebrew, David's own quarters, or possibly the sanctuary.

55When Saul watched David go out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" Abner answered, "As surely as you live, my king, I do not know."

55And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

Note"As thy soul liveth" is a standard oath formula, roughly "as surely as you are alive", a way of swearing the answer is honest. That Saul does not recognize David, after chapter 16 has David playing the harp in his service, is a long-noted tension in the book; the oldest Greek manuscripts contain a much shorter version of this chapter that lacks verses 12–31 and 55–58, and many scholars think two separate accounts of David's arrival have been preserved side by side.

56The king said, "Then find out whose son this young man is."

56And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

57When David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him to Saul. David was still holding the Philistine's head in his hand.

57And as David returned from the slaughter of 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?" David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem."

58And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.