1st Samuel Chapter 17 verse 8 Holy Bible

ASV 1stSamuel 17:8

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in ASV

BBE 1stSamuel 17:8

He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in BBE

DARBY 1stSamuel 17:8

And he stood and cried to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I the Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in DARBY

KJV 1stSamuel 17:8

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in KJV

WBT 1stSamuel 17:8

And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in WBT

WEB 1stSamuel 17:8

He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array? am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
read chapter 17 in WEB

YLT 1stSamuel 17:8

And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? `am' not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me;
read chapter 17 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 8-11. - He stood and cried unto the armies. Literally, "the ranks," the word being the noun formed from the verb translated set in array, just below. The same word is used throughout (see vers. 10, 20, 21, 22, 26, 45). Am not I a Philistine? Hebrew, "the Philistine," the champion on their side. I defy the armies. Hebrew, "I have cast scorn or insult upon the ranks of Israel this day." The sense is not so much that he defied them as that they were dishonoured by not accepting his challenge. They were dismayed. That is, terrified, and made uncertain what to do (comp. Jeremiah 1:36). We have seen from Mr. Condor's account that each army held an impregnable position on the two sides of the ravine, which neither could cross without the certainty of being defeated in the attempt by the other side. Under such circumstances there seemed no way of deciding the contest except by a single combat. But though Saul and his warriors were too terrified at Goliath's appearance to venture to meet him, still they held their ground for forty days, inasmuch as it was evidently impossible for him to cross the ravine clad in such cumbrous armour, nor did the Philistines venture to make the attempt, us the Israelites would have taken them at a manifest disadvantage. DAVID'S VISIT TO THE CAMP (vers. 12-31). The Vatican codex of the Septuagint omits the whole of this section, and it was inserted in the Alexandrian copy by Origen. It is found, however, in the other versions; and possibly this treatment of David's history as of a person unknown, just after the account given of him in ch. 16, did not seem so strange to readers in old time as it does to us, with whom reading is so much more easy an accomplishment. It is, nevertheless, one of the many indications that the Books of Samuel, though compiled from contemporaneous documents, were not arranged in their present form till long afterwards. It was only gradually that Samuel's schools dispersed throughout the country men trained in reading and writing, and trained up scholars capable of keeping the annals of each king's reign. The Books of Kings were, as we know, compiled from these annals; but probably at each prophetic school there would be stored up copies of Psalms written for their religious services, ballads such as those in the Book of Jashar, and in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah, narratives of stirring events like this before us, and histories both of their own chiefs, such as was Samuel, and afterwards Elijah and Elisha, and also of the kings. There is nothing remarkable, therefore, at finding information repeated; and having had in the previous narrative an account of a passing introduction of David to Saul as a musician, which led to little at the time, though subsequently David stood high in Saul's favour because of his skill upon the harp, we here have David's introduction to Saul as a warrior.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(8) Am not I a Philistine?--The literal rendering here gives a far more forcible reading: Am not I the Philistine? the famous warrior whom you know too well? The Targum of Jonathan adds here the proud boast of the giant warrior that it was he who had slain Hophni and Phinehas (the sons of Eli, the high priest), and had carried the Ark to the temple of Dagon. This Targum, although comparatively a late compilation, doubtless embodied many ancient national traditions.And ye servants to Saul.--Thus taunting the soldiers of Israel with the memory of the former glory of their king. Will none of the famous servants of the warrior king dare to meet me?Must we not deem it probable that the fact of the separation of the prophet from the king had been made public in Philistia, and that the present daring challenge was owing to their knowledge that the Spirit of the Lord--whom we know these enemies of the Hebrews dreaded with so awful a dread--had departed from Saul and his armies?