1st Samuel Chapter 16 verse 21 Holy Bible
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer.
read chapter 16 in ASV
And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms.
read chapter 16 in BBE
And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
read chapter 16 in DARBY
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.
read chapter 16 in KJV
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer.
read chapter 16 in WBT
David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer.
read chapter 16 in WEB
And David cometh in unto Saul, and standeth before him, and he loveth him greatly; and he is a bearer of his weapons.
read chapter 16 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 21-23. - David came to Saul, and stood before him. The latter phrase means, "became one of his regular attendants." This, and his being appointed one of Saul's armour bearers, happened only after the lapse of some time. The armour bearer, like the esquire in the middle ages, had to carry his lord's lance, and sword, and shield, and was always a tried soldier, and one whom the king trusted. It was apparently after the combat with Goliath that Saul sent to Jesse, and asked that David might be always with him; and until his jealousy burst forth David was very dear to him, and his music exercised a soothing influence upon his melancholy. At first, probably, these fits of insanity came upon Saul only at distant intervals, but afterwards more frequently, and with such loss of self-control that he more than once tried to murder David, and even Jonathan, his own son. We have, then, here a summary of the relations of Saul to David until the unfortunate day when the king heard the women ascribe to the youthful soldier the higher honor (1 Samuel 18:7); and thenceforward these friendly feelings gave way to a growing dislike which deprived Saul of a faithful servant, and finally cost him his crown and life on Mount Gilboa.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(21) And he became his armour-bearer.--But probably only for a very short time. David returned, we should conclude, to Samuel, whose pupil and friend we know he was. The seer was watching over the young man with a view to his lofty destiny. Saul apparently, from his question in 1Samuel 17:55, "Whose son is this youth?" had forgotten all about him. There is no "note of time," so we are not able to determine how long a period had elapsed between the events narrated in this chapter and the combat with the Philistines told in 1 Samuel 17. It is, however, likely that the king's malady, which was making rapid progress in this period of his reign, had already obscured his once powerful mind; his memory for the past was likely enough to have been treacherous.
