1 Samuel 17:26 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 17:26
And 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?
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
men
הָאֲנָשִׁ֞יםha.'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
stood
הָעֹמְדִ֣יםha.'o.me.Dim
H5975
to stand · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
saying
לֵאמֹר֒le.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
done
יֵּעָשֶׂ֗הye.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man
לָאִישׁ֙la.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
killeth
יַכֶּה֙ya.Keh
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
this
הַלָּ֔זha.Laz
H1975
this or that · demonstrative particle
Philistine
הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֣יha.pe.lish.Ti
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
away
וְהֵסִ֥ירve.he.Sir
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
reproach
חֶרְפָּ֖הcher.Pah
H2781
contumely · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
uncircumcised
הֶֽעָרֵל֙he.'a.Rel
H6189
uncircumcised (i.e. still having the prepuce uncurtaile… · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Philistine
הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֤יha.pe.lish.Ti
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
defy
חֵרֵ֔ףche.Ref
H2778
to pull off · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
armies
מַעַרְכ֖וֹתma.'ar.Khot
H4634
an arrangement · noun, common feminine plural construct
living
חַיִּֽיםchai.Yim
H2416
alive · adjective, masculine plural absolute
God
אֱלֹהִ֥ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common 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).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
1 Samuel 11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay…
1 Samuel 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that t…
1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
1 Samuel 17:36 Thy 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…
2 Kings 19:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God;…
Joshua 7:8-9 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
Nehemiah 5:9 Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:12-30
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…
make his father's house free in Israel--His family should be exempted from the impositions and services to which the general body of the Israelites were subjected.
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 17:26
And David spake to the men that stood by him,.... Who were next to him, looking upon the Philistine, and hearing what he said:
saying, what shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine,
and taketh away the reproach from Israel? which he asked not for the sake of the reward, but to observe the necessity there was of some man's engaging with him, and killing him, or otherwise it would be a reproach to Israel, and to signify that he had an inclination to attempt it:
for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? there were two things which provoked David, and raised indignation in him against this man; the one was, the character of the pe…
If you don't mind, however, let us refer to a theme in our preaching earlier, so that by bringing the whole story to mind we may learn that nothing is stronger than the person protected by help from on high, and nothing is more vulnerable than the person deprived of this help, surrounded though he may be with countless armies. So this man David, quite young though he was and living in his father's house on account of his immaturity, heard the call of destiny for his virtue to become conspicuous; he was urged by his father to observe his brothers; he obeyed and was sent off to them. So, after coming on the scene to observe them, he saw the battle line drawn against the foreigner Goliath and the whole people of Saul's company withdrawing in fright and the king himself placed in particular danger. For a while he was happy to be an onlooker and went to see the strange and unusual sight of one person pitted against so many thousands. But his brothers could not tolerate the manliness of his bearing; they were moved to hatred and said to him, "Have you come for no other reason than to see the war." You haven't really come to observe us.Notice, however, his good sense and great restraint. Instead of saying anything rash to them, anything harsh, he extinguished the flame of their hatred; he mollified their hatred by saying, "Isn't it only a word?" I mean, surely you haven't observed me taking position in the ranks? I simply wanted to watch and find out the source of this man's extraordinary frenzy. "After all, who is this foreigner who reproaches the ranks of the living God?" Then, on hearing the man's awful arrogance and the unspeakable cowardice of those who had gone with Saul, he said, "What will be given to the man who cuts off his head?" He showed great boldness of spirit through these words and caused amazement in every one. Realizing this, Saul sent for the young man, who had experience of nothing other than shepherding, and when he saw his age he made fun of him. Then he learned from him how he dealt with bears when they raided his flocks; you see, this remarkable young man was obliged to describe this, not out of a wish to blow his own trumpet but because he had no choice if the king was to be inspired with courage and to have regard not for the poor impression he gave but for the faith concealed within him and the assistance from on high that made the…
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
Circumcision — Cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. 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…
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…
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…
Armies Of Israel, The · Called: The armies of the living God — Called: The armies of the living God
Championship · .Goliath and David — .Goliath and David
Circumcision · The Jews: Despised as unclean those not of the — The Jews: Despised as unclean those not of the
Jesse · General references — General references
Zeal, Religious · EXEMPLIFIE
Keil & Delitzsch 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…
What will a man get: Cp. 18:17-27. David’s interest in a reward was overshadowed by his determination to silence Goliath’s defiance of God (17:45-47). • pagan: Literally uncircumcised. See study note on 14:6.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 17:25
He will exempt. From the listed royal obligations.16See above 8:11–17 for details of these obligations.
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).
