1 Samuel 17:49 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 17:49
And 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.
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
stone
אֶ֙בֶן֙'e.ven
H68
a stone · noun, common feminine singular absolute
slang
וַיְקַלַּ֔עvay.ka.La'
H7049
to sling · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
smote
וַיַּ֥ךְvai.Yakh
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Philistine
הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖יha.pe.lish.Ti
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
forehead
מִצְח֑וֹmitz.Cho
H4696
the forehead (as open and prominent) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
stone
הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ha.'E.ven
H68
a stone · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
sunk
וַתִּטְבַּ֤עva.tit.Ba'
H2883
to sink · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
forehead
בְּמִצְח֔וֹbe.mitz.Cho
H4696
the forehead (as open and prominent) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fell
וַיִּפֹּ֥לvai.yi.Pol
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
face
פָּנָ֖יוpa.Nav
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
earth
אָֽרְצָה'A.re.tzah
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional suffix
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
1 Corinthians 1:27-28 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the t…
1 Kings 22:34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver…
2 Kings 9:24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:48–end
Here is 1. The engagement between the two champions, Sa1 17:48. To this engagement the Philistine advanced with a great deal of state and gravity; if he must encounter a pigmy, yet it shall be with the magnificence of a giant and a grandee. This is intimated in the manner of expression: He arose, and came, and drew nigh, like a stalking mountain, overlaid with brass and iron, to meet David. David advanced with no less activity and cheerfulness, as one that aimed more to do execution than to make a figure: He hasted, and ran, being lightly clad, to meet the Philistine. We may imagine with what tenderness and compassion the Israelites saw such a pleasing youth as this throwing himself into the…
smote the Philistine in his forehead--At the opening for the eyes--that was the only exposed part of his body.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:49
Smote the Philistine in his forehead - Except his face, Goliath was everywhere covered over with strong armor. Either he had no beaver to his helmet, or it was lifted up so as to expose his forehead; but it does not appear that the ancient helmets had any covering for the face. The Septuagint however supposes that the stone passed through the helmet, and sank into his forehead: Και διεδυ ὁ λιθος δια της περικεφαλαιας εις το μετωπον αυτου, "and the stone passed through his helmet, and sank into his skull." To some this has appeared perfectly improbable; but we are assured by ancient writers that scarcely any thing could resist the force of the sling.
Diodorus Siculus, lib. v., c. 18, p. 287,…
And David put his hand in his bag,.... The shepherd's scrip, in which he had put the five stones he took out of the brook:
and took thence a stone; and put it into his sling he had in his hand:
and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; it is made a difficulty of how he should smite him on his forehead, when he had a helmet of brass upon his head, 1 Samuel 17:5; in answer to this Kimchi observes, that some say, that when David said he would give his flesh to the fowls of the air, at the mention of that he looked upwards, and what was upon his forehead fell backwards, and then David slung and smote him; or he might put back his helmet to talk with David, and hear and be heard t…
The Church Fathers
Having trust in Christ, consigning everything to the God of powers, regarding God alone as all that is highest—this has always been efficacious in achieving every good. This is the faith that has prevailed over all weapons. This was the strength that made that slight boy great, for he grew stronger by spurning weapons and brought low the armed giant by the power of a stone.
David never waged war unless he was driven to it. Thus prudence was combined in him with fortitude in the battle. For even when about to fight single-handed against Goliath, the enormous giant, he rejected the armor with which he was laden. His strength depended more on his own arm than on the weapons of others. Then, at a distance, to get a stronger throw, with one cast of a stone, he killed his enemy.
Therefore, let us take in our hands that stone, I mean the cornerstone, the spiritual rock. If Paul could think in these terms of the rock in the desert, no one will in any way feel resentment against me if I understand David's stone in the same sense. In the case of the Jews in the desert, it was not the nature of the visible stone but the power of the spiritual stone which sent forth those streams of water. So, too, in David's case, it was not the visible stone but the spiritual stone which sank into the barbarian's head. This is why, at that time, I promised that I would say nothing based on rational arguments. "Our weapons are not merely carnal but spiritual, demolishing sophistries and reasoning and every proud height that raises itself against the knowledge of God."
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, 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…
Sling — With a sling and a stone David smote the Philistine giant (1 Sam. 17:40, 49). There were 700 Benjamites who were so skilled in its use that with the left hand they “could sling stones at a hair…
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
Head · Parts of mentioned: The forehead — Parts of mentioned: The forehead
Philistines · David: Slew Goliath the champion of — David: Slew Goliath the champion of
Rephaim, Or Giants, The · The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors — The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors
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…
Goliath’s forehead remained exposed beneath his enormous helmet. • stumbled and fell face down: The stone only incapacitated Goliath; David killed him by decapitating him (17:51).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 17:49
And he fell face downward. He should have fallen backwards since he had been struck on his forehead.26The impact should have made him fall backwards. But, in order that Dovid should not be troubled to walk [the extra distance] and cut off his head, for Dovid now saved twelve amos and two zeres; for his height was six amos and a zeres, Dovid saved [walking] his entire height back and hs entire height forward.27Another reason why he fell face downward is because ה׳ had decreed that the mouth that blasphemed shall lick the dust of the earth.
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).
