a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
valley
בְּעֵ֖מֶקbe.'E.mek
H6010
a vale (i.e. broad depression) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Elah
הָֽאֵלָ֑הha.'e.Lah
H425
Elah · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fighting
נִלְחָמִ֖יםnil.cha.Mim
H3898
to feed on · verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Philistines
פְּלִשְׁתִּֽיםpe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:12-30
Forty days the two armies lay encamped facing one another, each advantageously posted, but neither forward to engage. Either they were parleying and treating of an accommodation or they were waiting for recruits; and perhaps there were frequent skirmishes between small detached parties. All this while, twice a day, morning and evening, did the insulting champion appear in the field and repeat his challenge, his own heart growing more and more proud for his not being answered and the people of Israel more and more timorous, while God designed hereby to ripen him for destruction and to make Israel's deliverance the more illustrious. All this while David is keeping his father's sheep, but at th…
carry these ten cheeses to the captain--to enlist his kind attention. Oriental cheeses are very small; and although they are frequently made of so soft a consistence as to resemble curds, those which David carried seem to have been fully formed, pressed, and sufficiently dried to admit of their being carried.
take their pledge--Tokens of the soldiers' health and safety were sent home in the convenient form of a lock of their hair, or piece of their nail, or such like.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:19
Fighting with the Philistines - See at the end of the chapter, Sa1 17:58 (note).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:19
Now Saul, and they,.... That is, the sons of Jesse, and brethren of David:
and all the men of Israel; the soldiers in the army:
were in the valley Elah; or "by" it, near unto it; for they were set in array on the mountain on the side of it:
fighting with the Philistines; not actually engaged in battle, but drawn up for it; prepared and in readiness to engage whenever it was necessary, or they were obliged to it; and perhaps there might be now and then some skirmishes in the outer parts of the camp.
Keil & Delitzsch
The Church Fathers
As David came, he found the Jewish people located in the valley of Terebinth in order to fight against the Philistines, because Christ the true David was to come in order to lift up the human race from the valley of sins and tears. They stood in a valley facing the Philistines. They were in a valley, because the weight of their sins had pressed them down. However, they were standing but did not dare to fight against their adversaries. Why did they not dare to do so? Because David who typified Christ had not yet arrived. It is true, dearly beloved. Who was able to fight against the devil before Christ our Lord freed the human race from his power? Now the word David is interpreted as strong in hand; and what is stronger, brothers, than he who conquered the whole world, armed with a cross but not a sword? Furthermore, the children of Israel stood against their adversaries for forty days. Because of the four seasons and the four parts of the world, those forty days signify the present life in which the Christian people do not cease to fight against Goliath and his army, that is, the devil and his angels. Moreover, it would be impossible to conquer, if Christ the true David had not come down with his staff which is the mystery of the cross. Truly, the devil was free before the advent of Christ, dearly beloved; but at his coming Christ did to him what is recorded in the Gospel: "No one can enter the strong man's house, and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man." For this reason Christ came and bound the devil.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
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 — Terebinth or oak. (1.) Valley of, where the Israelites were encamped when David killed Goliath (1 Sam. 17:2, 19). It was near Shochoh of Judah and Azekah (17:1). It is the modern Wady es-Sunt, i.e.,…
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…
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…
Teil tree — (an old name for the lime-tree, the tilia), Isa. 6:13, the terebinth, or turpentine-tree, the Pistacia terebinthus of botanists. The Hebrew word here used (elah) is rendered oak (q.v.) in Gen. 35:4;…
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…
Championship · .Goliath and David — .Goliath and David
Elah · 1. A valley where David killed Goliath — 1. A valley where David killed Goliath
Jesse · General references — General references
Valleys · Often the scenes of great contests
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…
went back and forth: David apparently served as a musician and armor bearer in Saul’s court (see 16:19-23) while maintaining his duties at home. The intermittent nature of David’s service might explain why Saul was unfamiliar with David during the encounter with Goliath (see 17:55-58).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 17:18
Cheeses. [Targum Yonoson renders] 'cheeses.'
To the captain of the thousand. I say 'to the captain of that thousand to which his brothers belong,' for all the tribes had captains of thousands according to their thousands. But I have heard, that 'to the captain of the thousand' refers to Yonoson, concerning whom [Scripture] stated, 'And a thousand were with Yonoson in Givas Binyomin'.10Above 13:2.
And take the tidings of their welfare. The assurance of their salvation and their welfare you shall take into your ears and to your heart, and tell it to me. And so did Targum Yonoson render, 'and their welfare you shall bring.'
Tidings of their welfare. This is an expression of salvation, as in…
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).
