1 Samuel 17:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 17:1
Now 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.
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
together
וַיַּאַסְפ֨וּvai.ya.'as.Fu
H622
to gather for any purpose · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
armies
מַֽחֲנֵיהֶם֙ma.cha.nei.Hem
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
battle
לַמִּלְחָמָ֔הla.mil.cha.Mah
H4421
a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
together
וַיֵּאָ֣סְפ֔וּvai.ye.'A.se.Fu
H622
to gather for any purpose · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Shochoh
שֹׂכֹ֖הso.Khoh
H7755
Sokoh or Soko · proper noun, a place name
Judah
לִיהוּדָ֑הli.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
pitched
וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּvai.ya.cha.Nu
H2583
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Shochoh
שׂוֹכֹ֥הso.Khoh
H7755
Sokoh or Soko · proper noun, a place name
Azekah
עֲזֵקָ֖ה'a.ze.Kah
H5825
Azekah · proper noun, a place name
Ephes-dammim
בְּאֶ֥פֶסbe.'E.fes
H658
Ephes-Dammim · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 15:35 Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,
1 Samuel 13:5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as th…
1 Chronicles 11:13 He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; an…
2 Chronicles 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Geder…
Joshua 10:10-11 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to…
Judges 3:3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Ba…
1 Samuel 7:7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Is…
1 Samuel 14:46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:1-11
It was not long ago that the Philistines were soundly beaten, and put to the worse, before Israel, and they would have been totally routed if Saul's rashness had not prevented; but here we have them making head again. Observe,
I. How they defied Israel with their armies, Sa1 17:1. They made a descent upon the Israelites' country, and possessed themselves, as it should seem, of some part of it, for they encamped in a place which belonged to Judah. Israel's ground would never have been footing for Philistine-armies if Israel had been faithful to their God. The Philistines (it is probable) had heard that Samuel had fallen out with Saul and forsaken him, and no longer assisted and advised him, a…
Now the Philistines gathered together - Calmet thinks that this war happened eight years after the anointing of David, and ten or twelve years after the war with the Amalekites. We have already seen that there was war between Saul and the Philistines all his days. See Sa1 14:52.
Shochoh and Azekah - Places which lay to the south of Jerusalem and to the west of Bethlehem; about five leagues from the former. Ephes-dammim was somewhere in the vicinity, but it is not known where. See Calmet.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:1
Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle,.... Josephus (s) says this was not long after the things related in the preceding chapter were transacted; and very probably they had heard of the melancholy and distraction of Saul, and thought it a proper opportunity of avenging themselves on Israel for their last slaughter of them, and for that purpose gathered together their dispersed troops:
and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah; a city of the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:35, which shows that, notwithstanding their last defeat, they had great footing in the land of Israel, or however had penetrated far into it in this march of theirs:
and pitched betw…
Azekah — Dug over, a town in the Shephelah or low hills of Judah (Josh. 15:35), where the five confederated Amoritish kings were defeated by Joshua and their army destroyed by a hailstrom (10:10, 11). It was…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Elah, The Valley Of — (valley of the terebinth), the valley in which David killed Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:2,19) It lay somewhere near Socoh of Judah and Azekah, and was nearer Ekron than any other Philistine town. 1Sam. 17.
Elhanan — Whom God has graciously bestowed. (1.) A warrior of the time of David famed for his exploits. In the Authorized Version (2 Sam. 21:19) it is recorded that “Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a…
Ephes-dammim — Boundary of blood, a place in the tribe of Judah where the Philistines encamped when David fought with Goliath (1 Sam. 17:1). It was probably so called as having been the scene of frequent sanguinary…
Ephesdammim — (cessation of blood-shed), a place between Socoh and Arekah, at which the Philistines were encamped before the affray in which Goliath was killed. (1 Samuel 17:1) Under the shorter form of PAS-DAMMIM…
Goliath — Great. (1.) A famous giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone from a sling (1 Sam. 17:4). He was probably descended from the…
Pas-dammim — The border of blood = Ephes-dammim (q.v.), between Shochoh and Azekah (1 Sam. 17:1; 1 Chr. 11:13).
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
Shocho — (2 Chr. 28:18) = Shochoh (1 Sam. 17:1) = Shoco (2 Chr. 11:7). See SOCOH.
on 1 Samuel 17:1-54
A war between the Philistines and the Israelites furnished David with the opportunity of displaying before Saul and all Israel, and greatly to the terror of the enemies of his people, that heroic power which was firmly based upon his bold and pious trust in the omnipotence of the faithful covenant God (Sa1 17:1-3). A powerful giant, named Goliath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines, and scornfully challenged the Israelites to produce a man who would decide the war by a single combat with him (Sa1 17:4-11). David, who had returned home for a time from the court of Saul, and had just been sent into the camp by his father with provisions for his elder brothers who were serving in th…
The Philistines presented an ongoing threat throughout Saul’s reign (see 14:47-52). • Socoh in Judah was fourteen miles west of Bethlehem toward Philistine territory. • Azekah was a few miles northwest of Socoh (the precise location of Ephes-dammim is unknown). The Philistines were encroaching on Israelite territory.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 17:1
At Ephes Damim. This was the name of the place.1It literally means ‘no more blood’ because it was there that the bloodshed between the Bnei Yisroel and the Philistines ceased.—Radak
Socho — A fence; hedge, (1 Chr. 4:18; R.V., Soco)=So’choh (1 Kings 4:10; R.V., Socoh), Sho’choh (1 Sam. 17:1; R.V., Socoh), Sho’co (2 Chr. 11:7; R.V., Soco), Sho’cho (2 Chr. 28:18; R.V., Soco), a city in the…
Socoh — the name of two towns in the tribe of Judah.
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…
Azekah · A town of — A town of
Pas-Dammim · General references — General references
Philistines · Character of: Warlike — Character of: Warlike
Socoh · .A city of the tribe of — .A city of the tribe of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
