I Samuel
Chapter
17 David and Goliath
{Verses
1-10: Military Crisis}
1~~
Now the Philistines
{Palestine means the 'land of the Philistines - it is an incorrect name
for the land God promised to Israel}
kept
on mobilizing {'acaph - Qal imperfect} their armies for battle.
And
'began to maneuver themselves' {'acaph - Niphal stem}
at
Socoh - which . . . {belongs} to Judah -
and
they camped between Socoh and Azekah . . .
in
Ephes-dammim.
{Note: RBT says in 1200 BC Dorian invasion of Greece. These are the 'Apaches' of the Hellenistic world - they were cruel and mean and very, very warlike. The Dorians defeated the Greeks at Troy and that put the Greeks of Troy to the sea. They attacked Egypt when Ramses III was Pharaoh of Egypt. These Greeks became the core of what are called Philistines. The Philistine army at this time was very professional. Jewish army at this time, sounded poorly organized to RBT. The Philistines have left themselves maneuverable. The Jewish army sounds like it is hemmed in and ready for a pounding. And, the Army is 'scared'.}
2~~And
Saul and the men of Israel were gathered,
and
camped in the valley of Elah,
and
drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.
3~~And
the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side
while
Israel stood on a mountain on the other side,
with
a valley between them.
4~~Then
a 'middle man' {'iysh benayim}
{means an individual came out of the armies of the Philistines
named
Goliath {name means exile - was not a Greek by birth},
from
Gath {Goliath was probably from the giant race of Moab},
whose
height was six cubits and a span
{Note:
A cubit is the distance between elbow and the fingers -
approximately 18 inches. A span is the distance between the thumb and
little finger when spread out or about 9 inches. So, Goliath is 117
inches - 9 feet 9 inches tall}.
{Note: It is Greek style for an individual warrior of unusual strength stands in the middle of the two armies and challenges the other side to send out their best for individual battle. Whoever won, won the battle.}
5~~And
he had a bronze helmet {typical Greek equipment}
upon
his head,
and
he was clothed 'with breastplate
with
iron scales' {again Greek style}
which
weighed five thousand shekels of bronze {125 pounds}.
6~~He
also had greaves/'Greek shin guards' of bronze upon his legs,
and
a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
{Note: All the Greek soldiers carried two spears, one over their shoulder and one in their hand.}
7~~And
the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
And
his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron {17 pounds}
And
one bearing a shield went before him.
8~~And
he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel,
and
said unto them,
"Why
do you come out to draw up in battle array?
Am
I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul?
Choose
a man for yourselves and let him come down to me."
9~~"If
he is able to fight with me and kill me,
then
we will become your servants;
but
if I prevail against him and kill him,
then
you shall become our servants and serve us."
10~~Again
the Philistine said,
"I
defy the ranks of Israel this day.
Give
me a man that we may fight together."
{Verses
11-25: Failure of the Army}
11~~When
Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine.
They
were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12~~Now
David {now about 24 years old}
was
the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah
{an Ephrathite was a descendent of Ephraim},
whose
name was Jesse, and he had eight sons.
And
Jesse was old in the days of Saul.
13~~And
the three older sons of Jesse
had
gone after Saul to the battle.
And
the names of his three sons
who
went to the battle were Eliab the first-born,
and
the second to him Abinadab and the third Shammah.
14~~And
David was the youngest.
Now
the three oldest followed Saul.
{Note: 'Followed' here is actually a verb halak and an adverb 'achar. Together they indicate that these men did not merely follow after Saul, but they were commissioned officers - platoon leader types.}
15~~But
David 'kept going'/went and returned from Saul
{this verse explains what happened 5 years before at the end of
the previous chapter - David knew that it was not God's will for
him to be Saul's aide. So he returned to his father's home and
tended the flocks - David's head was not turned by superficial
prosperity}
to
shepherd/tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.
{Note: This is retrospective exposition. This shows that David had his head screwed on correctly for a long time. He had it all figured out and knew this was not God's will so he left Saul and returned to the humble position of shepherd. What happened to David in those five years ? RBT says to see Psalm 23.}
16~~And
the Philistine came forth morning
and
evening for forty days and took his stand
{means he issued a challenge to the Jewish army}.
17~~Then
Jesse said to David his son,
"Take
now for your brothers an ephah/receptacle
of
this roasted grain and these ten loaves,
and
run to the camp to your brothers."
18~~"Bring
also these ten cheeses
to
the commander of their thousand,
{the human viewpoint thinking of Jesse comes out with the bribes}
and
look into the welfare of your brothers,
and
bring back news of them."
19~~Now
Saul and they
and
all the ranks of Israel are in the valley of Elah,
'maneuvering
to fight' {lacham} with/from the Philistines.
{Note: They were not fighting. They were doing maneuvers. They were scared and were told 'regroup and fall back' . . . 'regroup and fall back' . . . doing nothing really. 40 days of doing this!}
20~~So
David arose up early in the morning
and
left the flock with a keeper
{great sense of responsibility}
and
took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him.
And
he came to the 'quartermaster perimeter'/circle of the camp
while
the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.
21~~For
Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array,
army
against army.
22~~Then
David left his baggage/provisions
in
the care of the 'baggage keeper'/quartermaster,
and
ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.
23~~While
he was talking with them,
behold,
the 'middle man'/champion, the Philistine of Gath,
{a 'middle man' was an old tradition of the Achaean Greeks (from
whom the Philistines descended) deciding the outcome of a battle
through individual combat}
Goliath
by name, was coming up {`alah}
out
of the 'ranks the army' of the Philistines,
and
he kept on speaking these same words . . .
and
David heard them.
{this made the day different from the others - the Doctrine in
David's Soul made the difference}
{Note: This is the first time `alah is used. Apparently Goliath came down the Philistine side of the hill for 39 days and issued his challenge. This time, he went UP the Jewish side of the hill to get even closer to these 'cowards'.}
24~~
When all the men of Israel saw the man,
they
fled from him and were greatly afraid.
25~~And
the men of Israel said,
"Have
you seen this man who is come up?
Surely
he is coming up to defy Israel.
And
it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him
with
great riches and will give him his daughter
and
make his father's house free in Israel."
{Verses
26-40: SuperGrace Hero - Divine Viewpoint}
26~~Then
David kept speaking to the soldiers/men
who
were standing around him, saying,
"What
will be provided for the one who kills this Philistine in combat,
and
causes to remove/depart
the
disgrace/reproach/dishonor from Israel?
For
who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
that
he should taunt/'bring dishonor to'
the
armies of the living 'Elohiym/Godhead?"
{Jesus Christ is the only Celebrity - He is the living God}
{Note: This is so strong you have to spit it out in the Hebrew! For 39 days the Jews were trembling. They see a monster of a man. David sees someone who thinks he can stand up against the people of GOD!}
27~~And the people answered him in accord with this word saying, "Thus it will be done for the man that kills him."
28~~Now
Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men;
and
Eliab's anger burned against David and he said,
"Why
have you come down?
And
with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?
I
know your insolence,
and
the wickedness of your heart/'right lobe'.
For
you have come down in order to see the battle."
29~~
But David said,
"What
have I done now?
Was
it not just a question?"
30~~
Then he turned away from him to another
and
said the same thing.
And
the people answered the same thing as before.
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