Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and pitched between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
verse value 3739
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 72 letters. The shortest word is "Socoh" (שֹׂכֹ֖ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "their·armies" (אֶת־מַֽחֲנֵיהֶם֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 163: and·they·gathered, and·they·were·gathered. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "Socoh" (שֹׂכֹ֖ה), "between·Socoh" (בֵּין־שׂוֹכֹ֥ה), "and·between·Azekah" (וּבֵין־עֲזֵקָ֖ה). The root אסף appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "between·Socoh" (root בין, 67x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Judah', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיַּאַסְפ֨וּ [and·they·gathered] (163) + פְלִשְׁתִּ֤ים [Philistines] (860) + אֶת־מַֽחֲנֵיהֶם֙ [their·armies] (554) + לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה [to·the·battle] (153) + וַיֵּאָ֣סְפ֔וּ [and·they·were·gathered] (163) + שֹׂכֹ֖ה [Socoh] (325) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [which] (501) + לִֽיהוּדָ֑ה [to·Judah] (60) + וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּ [and·they·encamped] (80) + בֵּין־שׂוֹכֹ֥ה [between·Socoh] (393) + וּבֵין־עֲזֵקָ֖ה [and·between·Azekah] (250) + בְּאֶ֥פֶס [in·Ephes-dammim] (143) + דַּמִּֽים [Dammim] (94) = 3739.
Rashi
At Ephes-Dammim. Such is the name of the place.
Radak
"In Ephes-dammim." The mem has a dagesh, and it is a place name; and in Chronicles "in Pas-dammim" is mentioned in the war of David. And in the midrash: Rabbi Yochanan said, the red field; and Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said, that from there bloodshed ceased for Israel.
Metzudat Zion
At Ephes-dammim. The name of a place.
Malbim
The Questions (1-2): Why did it say twice "And the Philistines assembled," "And they assembled at Sochoh," and after they had assembled at Sochoh, how could it say that they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah?
"And the Philistines gathered together" – this indicates that when the Spirit of the Lord departed from the head of their king, the might of Israel was diminished, and the enemy, the Philistines, grew strong. These were the very ones who had recently fallen before Jonathan alone; now their heart was emboldened to war against Israel. Moreover, it was not only that they gathered their camps in the land of the Philistines and then went into the land of Judah, where they completed their assembly – as it is written, "And they gathered themselves together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah" – but they did not fear to assemble in the land of Judah, as if they had already conquered the land. And immediately after assembling at Socoh, they moved from there to Ephes-dammim, to draw near to the camp of Israel, and there they encamped in their camp.
And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched in the vale of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
verse value 3757
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 54 letters. Verse gematria: 3757 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "in·valley·of" (בְּעֵ֣מֶק, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·man·of·Israel" (וְאִֽישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙, 9 letters). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "and·man·of·Israel" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root האלה ("Elah") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Elah', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְשָׁא֤וּל [and·Saul] (343) + וְאִֽישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ [and·man·of·Israel] (858) + נֶֽאֶסְפ֔וּ [were·gathered] (197) + וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ [and·they·encamped] (80) + בְּעֵ֣מֶק [in·valley·of] (212) + הָאֵלָ֑ה [Elah] (41) + וַיַּעַרְכ֥וּ [and·they·arrayed] (312) + מִלְחָמָ֖ה [battle] (123) + לִקְרַ֥את [to·meet] (731) + פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים [Philistines] (860) = 3757.
Malbim
And Saul and the men of Israel did not have the courage to drive them out from Shokh at the beginning of their gathering; moreover, they were afraid to approach them, but rather they gathered and encamped in the Valley of Elah, distant from Shokh. According to this, the Philistines came out from Shokh to Ephes Dammim to approach the camp of Israel (and not vice versa). And this indicates that the hearts of Israel were melted.
And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side; and there was a valley between them.
verse value 2469
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 50 letters. The shortest word is "on·this·side" (מִזֶּ֔ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Philistines" (וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֞ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 241: to·the·mountain, to·the·mountain. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·the·valley" (וְהַגַּ֖יְא). The root עמד appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·mountain" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "and·Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "and·Israel" (root ישראל, 102x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'on·this·side', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 2 words. Full calculation: וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֞ים [and·Philistines] (866) + עֹמְדִ֤ים [standing] (164) + אֶל־הָהָר֙ [to·the·mountain] (241) + מִזֶּ֔ה [on·this·side] (52) + וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל [and·Israel] (547) + עֹמְדִ֥ים [standing] (164) + אֶל־הָהָ֖ר [to·the·mountain] (241) + מִזֶּ֑ה [on·this·side] (52) + וְהַגַּ֖יְא [and·the·valley] (25) + בֵּינֵיהֶֽם [between] (117) = 2469.
Radak
They were standing by the mountain from this side. And it has already been stated, “And they encamped in the valley of Elah.” The entire camp encamped in the valley of Elah, while those arrayed for battle ascended the mountain to meet the Philistines.
Malbim
And from this side, since the Philistines had approached up to the mountain here, opposite the camp of Israel, only the valley between the mountains separated them.
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
verse value 4837
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "six" (שֵׁ֥שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "man·of·the·between" (אִֽישׁ־הַבֵּנַ֙יִם֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 443: Goliath, of·Gath. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "man·of·the·between" (אִֽישׁ־הַבֵּנַ֙יִם֙), "from·camps·of" (מִמַּחֲנ֣וֹת), "his·height" (גׇּבְה֕וֹ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "man·of·the·between" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "his·name" (root שם, 71x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root גלית ("Goliath") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'of·Gath', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֵּצֵ֤א [and·he·went·out] (107) + אִֽישׁ־הַבֵּנַ֙יִם֙ [man·of·the·between] (418) + מִמַּחֲנ֣וֹת [from·camps·of] (544) + פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים [Philistines] (860) + גׇּלְיָ֥ת [Goliath] (443) + שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (346) + מִגַּ֑ת [of·Gath] (443) + גׇּבְה֕וֹ [his·height] (16) + שֵׁ֥שׁ [six] (600) + אַמּ֖וֹת [cubits] (447) + וָזָֽרֶת [and·span] (613) = 4837.
Rashi
A champion. A hero to go out from his ranks, to stand between the two ranks.
Radak
"And a man of the sons went out." Because he went out day by day between the two camps, he was called "a man of the sons." And there is a midrashic interpretation in this. Furthermore, it is written, "And Jonathan translated: 'And a man went out from among them.'"
Ralbag
"The man between." They called him so because he would walk between the ranks of the Philistines and the ranks of Israel. And this man was, according to my calculation, one of the commanders of the Philistines. This is what he said: "Am I not a Philistine, and you servants of Saul?" He said to them, "Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me." With this he boasted against them, for even though it is not the custom of commanders and officers to fight except with the commanders and officers opposite them, I am freeing myself to fight with whomever it may be in the great camp, such as the camp of Israel. And in this manner he taunted the ranks of Israel, as if he said that there is no man among them able to fight with him.
Metzudat David
"A man of the space between." Because his heart was bold enough to go between the two battle lines, they called him a man of the space between, from the word between.
Metzudat Zion
The sons. From the word 'between'.
And a span. He means the measure from the thumb to the little finger called 'zeret,' similarly (Exodus 28:16): 'a span its length'.
Malbim
And he went out: Beyond the fact that the King of Israel was terrified and afraid, a single warrior from the Philistine camp came out to taunt the entire camp and to terrify them. Regarding this, it is said, "And there went out a man out of the camp of the Philistines," meaning that he descended from the Philistine camps situated on the mountain to the valley between the camps. The text relates that this man's prowess was not due to his physical appearance, but rather due to the strength of his body, specifically in his height, for he was six cubits and a handbreadth tall.
And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
verse value 6435
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 63 letters. Verse gematria: 6435 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "he" (ה֣וּא, 3 letters) and the longest is "five·cattle" (חֲמֵשֶׁת־אֲלָפִ֥ים, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 758: copper, copper. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·helmet" (וְכ֤וֹבַע), "and·body armour" (וְשִׁרְי֥וֹן), "scales" (קַשְׂקַשִּׂ֖ים). The root נחשת appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "he" (root הוא, 82x in I Samuel); "upon·his·head" (root ראש, 23x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root נחשת ("copper") in I Samuel. First appearance of the root שריון ("and·body armour") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'clothed', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְכ֤וֹבַע [and·helmet] (104) + נְחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ [copper] (758) + עַל־רֹאשׁ֔וֹ [upon·his·head] (607) + וְשִׁרְי֥וֹן [and·body armour] (572) + קַשְׂקַשִּׂ֖ים [scales] (850) + ה֣וּא [he] (12) + לָב֑וּשׁ [clothed] (338) + וּמִשְׁקַל֙ [and·weight·of] (476) + הַשִּׁרְי֔וֹן [body armour] (571) + חֲמֵשֶׁת־אֲלָפִ֥ים [five·cattle] (909) + שְׁקָלִ֖ים [shekels] (480) + נְחֹֽשֶׁת [copper] (758) = 6435.
Rashi
"And a coat of mail of scales": Like fish scales, made of iron, which fall upon the back of the armor [one manuscript: upon the holes of the armor], one scale for each hole.
Radak
"And a helmet of brass." It is accented on the penultimate syllable; and likewise "and a helmet of salvation upon His head." And the Targum of migbaot (mitres) is kovain. And it is one word, whether with kaf or with kuf; and its Targum is kulsa. And like it in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: a gedi mekulas — it is so called because, when they roasted the Passover offering, they would hang its entrails outside it above its head, so that it looked like a helmet upon the head.
"And a coat of mail of scales." The Targum reads: "And a coat of mail of glakin" (with a kaf), and there are manuscripts written with a bet, meaning "kelafin," which is the translation of "scales." And in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: "wearers of scale armour." And the explanation is that every ring and ring of the armor hangs like a kind of scale to block the hole of the rings, so that an arrow will not enter inside the ring.
"Shekels of brass." [It stands for] shekalei nechoshet, in the construct — like "sigim kesef," dross of silver.
Ralbag
"And a coat of mail of scales": These are the "plata" in the vernacular [Latin: *plata*, meaning plate or scale]. This teaches us about the strength and power of his might, according to the weight of the weapon of war that he bore, which was exceedingly great, as is mentioned.
Metzudat David
Shekels of copper. Like copper shekels, and they are not similar to other shekels:
Metzudat Zion
And a helmet. Kova with a kaf, and 'kova' with a kuf, is the same, and it is a head guard, similarly (Ezekiel 23:24): 'buckler and shield and helmet'.
And a coat of scales. A type of garment to protect from the blow of a sword.
Malbim
(5-6) If it were due to his garments that protect him from weapons, he would be encircled with iron and copper; on his head a copper helmet, on his body armor, and on his legs copper greaves. And if it were due to the greatness of his strength to bear heavy weights, it says, "And the weight of the armor, etc."
And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders.
verse value 3083
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 34 letters. The shortest word is "between" (בֵּ֥ין, 3 letters) and the longest is "upon·his·legs" (עַל־רַגְלָ֑יו, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 758: copper, copper. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "greave" (וּמִצְחַ֥ת), "and·javelin" (וְכִיד֥וֹן), "his·shoulder-pieces" (כְּתֵפָֽיו). The root נחשת appears 2 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "between" (root בין, 67x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·his·legs', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 4 words. Full calculation: וּמִצְחַ֥ת [greave] (544) + נְחֹ֖שֶׁת [copper] (758) + עַל־רַגְלָ֑יו [upon·his·legs] (349) + וְכִיד֥וֹן [and·javelin] (96) + נְחֹ֖שֶׁת [copper] (758) + בֵּ֥ין [between] (62) + כְּתֵפָֽיו [his·shoulder-pieces] (516) = 3083.
Rashi
"And a plate of bronze." It was like an iron hand that protruded from the helmet opposite the threads, which they call "naschel" in the vernacular, and it reached down to his feet.
"And as a spear of bronze." Jonathan translates: "And a bronze spear issues from the helmet and extends between his shoulders." Explanation: Like a bronze spear protruding from the helmet, and extending between his shoulders, to protect his neck from the sword.
Radak
"And greaves of brass." The Targum renders: and tarkelin of brass. Its meaning is a plate of brass hung upon his legs to cover them; and it is a name borrowed from metzach, the forehead — for so the maidens wear a plate of gold or silver upon their forehead, and that, properly speaking, is called a mitzchah.
“And a javelin of brass.” The Targum renders it: “And a plate of brass issuing from the helmet and hung between his shoulders,” and the Targum translates “stretch out the javelin” as “on a lance.” It appears that this weapon, which was between Goliath’s shoulders, was in the form of a lance, but it had a somewhat different characteristic: it was attached to the helmet and descended between his shoulders down to the bottom. And according to the verse written below, where David said to Goliath, “You come to me with sword and with spear and with javelin,” it appears that this “javelin” is a lance, as in “stretch out the javelin.” It was made for striking, not for defense. He placed it between his two shoulders because in his two hands he held weapons of war: in his right hand the spear, and in his left hand another weapon, which is not mentioned. This javelin was placed between his shoulders so that he could grasp it with his hand after he had thrown the spear at his opponent.
Ralbag
"And a javelin of brass between his shoulders." I think that it is a gorget, made of plates (platash), about his neck.
Metzudat David
And the greaves. It is a piece of military equipment, and it was made to cover the legs:
And as a spear. From the helmet, it emerged downward in the form of a spear, to protect his neck from a sword blow.
And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.
verse value 4735
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 62 letters. The shortest word is "tree" ((וחץ), 3 letters) and the longest is "something bleached white·hundred" (שֵׁשׁ־מֵא֥וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 474: his·spear, his·spear. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "tree" ((וחץ)), "and·tree·of" (וְעֵ֣ץ), "like·beam·of" (כִּמְנוֹר֙). The root חנית appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "going" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel); "to·his·face" (root פנים, 93x in I Samuel); "and·lifting" (root נשא, 32x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root חץ ("tree") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'iron', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: (וחץ) [tree] (104) + וְעֵ֣ץ [and·tree·of] (166) + חֲנִית֗וֹ [his·spear] (474) + כִּמְנוֹר֙ [like·beam·of] (316) + אֹֽרְגִ֔ים [weavers] (254) + וְלַהֶ֣בֶת [and·flame·of] (443) + חֲנִית֔וֹ [his·spear] (474) + שֵׁשׁ־מֵא֥וֹת [something bleached white·hundred] (1047) + שְׁקָלִ֖ים [shekels] (480) + בַּרְזֶ֑ל [iron] (239) + וְנֹשֵׂ֥א [and·lifting] (357) + הַצִּנָּ֖ה [the·shield] (150) + הֹלֵ֥ךְ [going] (55) + לְפָנָֽיו [to·his·face] (176) = 4735.
Rashi
Like a weaver's beam. Yonatan translated: the beam of weavers — inshuvul'a in the foreign tongue.
Six hundred shekels. All the shekels mentioned in the Prophets are manehs.
Radak
"Like a weaver's beam." Jonathan rendered: like the achsan of weavers — and it is the weaver's peg.
“Shekels of iron.” Just as it says “shekels of iron,” so too it says “dross of silver.” And regarding what was stated above, “shekels of bronze,” and here it says “shekels of iron”—this is because each metal has its own specific shekels. When weighing gold, one uses the shekels designated for gold; likewise for silver, likewise for bronze, and likewise for iron. And since the head of his spear was of iron, therefore it mentions here “shekels of iron.”
Ralbag
“And the wood of his spear was like a weaver’s beam.” This is the loom’s peg, which is exceedingly thick compared to what is customary, measured by the size of the spear’s shaft. And behold, the weight of the iron of his spear was close to a third of a kikkar. This is a matter of great wonder, indicating the strength of this Philistine.
Metzudat David
"And the wood of his spear" – this is the handle, which was thick like a weaver's beam.
And the blade. The iron of the spearhead weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and its weight is different from the weights of copper:
“Going before him.” To guard and protect him from the stroke of the sword and the spear.
Metzudat Zion
Like a weaver's beam. It is a thick and round wood, on which the weaver winds the warp threads, and in the Mishnah it is called 'kovad' (Shabbat 113a). And its translation: 'like the beam of weavers,' and similarly he translated concerning (Judges 16:14): 'the pin of the loom,' 'the beam of weavers'.
And the blade. So it is called the iron of the spear, named because the blade shines when it is polished, similarly (Job 39:22): 'the blade of the spear'.
The buckler. It is a kind of shield, similarly (I Kings 10:16): 'two hundred bucklers'.
Malbim
And if it is due to the large size of his weapon and its heavy weight, he says, "And the wood of his spear," etc.
And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them: ‘Why do you come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
verse value 5854
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 90 letters. The shortest word is "to·them" (לָהֶ֔ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·ranks·of" (אֶל־מַעַרְכֹ֣ת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 75: to·them, why. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "to·ranks·of" (אֶל־מַעַרְכֹ֣ת), "you·shall·go·out" (תֵצְא֖וּ), "to·arrange" (לַעֲרֹ֣ךְ). 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "to·ranks·of" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "to·Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'battle', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 10 words.
Rashi
Why do you come out. All of you to array for war — let one fight against me on behalf of all of you — on condition that it is explicit: If he can fight with me, etc.
Am I not a Philistine. I am not a captain of a hundred or a captain of a thousand, but a Philistine like one of the others. And even though I fought for them many wars, I killed Hophni and Phinehas, and I took the Ark. And you became servants to Sha'ul, and he never saved you with his might.
Choose for yourselves. Choose for yourselves.
A man. Namely Sha'ul — and let him come down to me.
Radak
“Am I not the Philistine?” That is to say, I am a Philistine, one of the Philistines, and I have come out of my own accord to fight.
"And you are servants to Saul." This means: Since you have a king, it was incumbent upon you, as a people with your king, to select a man from among yourselves to fight against me. And the Targum of the Tosefta translated the verse thus: "And I arose and proclaimed to the ranks of the army of Israel, etc." as in the column.
Metzudat David
“Al ma’arakhot.” To the organized military force for war:
"For what purpose shall you go out?" This means: Why must all of you go out to war?
“Am I not a Philistine?” He meant to say: I am the one distinguished among them, one of the commanders, whereas you are servants. Although it is not customary for a commander and a great man to fight against a lowly servant, nevertheless, choose for yourselves a man, and let him fight with me.
Metzudat Zion
The ranks. From the word 'arrangement' and 'order'.
And they chose. They selected and chose.
Malbim
Questions (8–10): Why did the Philistine divide his speech into two statements? What did he add in the second statement when he said, “Give me a man,” since he had already stated this at length? In what way did he insult the ranks of Israel if they were unwilling to attribute the success of the war to a single man, and they were all mighty warriors who would fight against the entire nation, including the Philistine among them? Why did the Philistines not keep this condition, and Goliath was killed, yet they did not become enslaved as slaves? What did he intend by saying, “Am I not the Philistine?” And likewise, what did he mean by saying, “And you shall be slaves to Saul”? Who does not know this? And why did he repeat, “And you shall be our slaves, and you shall serve us”?
“And he stood and cried out.” The Rebbe Abarbanel wrote on this that some of the Sages say that the matter of David and Goliath was like the custom that still exists today in the lands of Edom and Ishmael. When there is a dispute between man and man, or between litigants, and the judgment is unclear, they agree among themselves to fight over it, saying that the Lord, the Judge, will judge between them, for He knows the hidden things. They agree that the man whose hand prevails over the hand of his opponent shall do as he wishes and succeed, for by this it is known that he is righteous in his cause; and if the one who falls, his blood is on his own head, for he is wicked in his cause. Likewise, when peoples gather together in battle array against battle array, sometimes they choose two fighting men from among them to fight on behalf of the entire nation, and according to their outcome shall be every dispute and every grievance. This is called in their language “Rikutoi.” He rejected this with both hands, saying that the incident of David and Goliath was not of this kind, nor did such a thing enter their minds. For the single combat of fighters called “Rikutoi” is done only under conditions known to the kings of the land, and their custom in this matter is like a law. The first condition is that it is done only to ascertain a matter in doubt between the fighters, but they did not fight over a matter in doubt between them. The second condition is that the fighters do not fight except with mutual agreement on the matter and with the clarification of the agreed conditions, which they write down as a record in a book, with witnesses as evidence. Here, the words that Goliath spoke were not agreed upon between Israel and the Philistines, nor were they written down, nor did they swear by them, nor did they explain the matter of slavery and its conditions, for they were words of exaggeration and insults, not agreed conditions. The third condition is that afterwards the two fighters are equalized in the matters of their warfare—in time, place, and weapons of war—by measure, weight, and volume, so that one of them does not bring a sword and spear that the other does not have equally, and they differ only in the natural strength and might they possess and in divine judgment. Here you see that Goliath had a bronze helmet on his head, scale armor, and a javelin on his shoulders, while David went with five smooth stones, a sling, and shepherd’s staffs. Were their weapons equal? Goliath could not move this way and that because of the weight of his weapons, while David ran toward him and slung the stone, intending that if he hit him, so much the better, and if not, he would flee, and Goliath could not pursue him. Is this the equalization of fighters? The fourth condition is that there be judges and officers between them to straighten out the fighters, examine their weapons of war, arrange the time and place, and compel them to fulfill the conditions they set between them. Here this was not the case. The proof is that David killed the Philistine, and nevertheless the Philistines did not become enslaved to Israel according to the condition; rather, they saw that their champion was dead and fled. It is clear from all this that Goliath’s words were merely words of insult. Thus he wrote.
And I say that the first statement the Philistine said, “Why do you come out to array for battle? Choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me,” was indeed according to the custom of single combat of fighters. He wanted them to choose a man against him, and they would set conditions between them that whoever defeats his opponent, he and his people are righteous in their dispute, and the defeated one will become a slave. As for what he claimed in the first condition, that it is done only to ascertain a matter in doubt between the fighters, here too there was a matter in doubt between them. For initially the Philistines had conquered Israel and enslaved them for many years, and they rebelled against them and appointed a king for themselves. This was the cause of the war, for the Philistines wanted to rule over them as before. He wanted this to be ascertained through the single combat of two fighters. This is what he meant by “Why do you come out to array for battle?” meaning, why do you shed the blood of the masses for nothing? Is it not better that the matter be clarified through two fighters? He clarified the matter in doubt between them: “Am I not the Philistine, and you servants of Saul?” For the Philistines did not have a king, only lords, so that the government was attributed to the entire people. On this he said, “Am I not the Philistine?” and he argues on behalf of the Philistines that they ruled over you, and you are servants of Saul, and you do not wish to be under our command. This is the claim between us, which will be clarified through the single combat of the fighters. He had already been chosen from the Philistines, as indicated by “Am I not the Philistine?” Therefore, “Choose for yourselves a man” also from your side. And now he also stipulated the conditions to be set between them, which are:
If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and serve us.’
verse value 3405
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 78 letters. Notable word values: "to·us" (לָ֙נוּ֙) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "with·me" (אִתִּי֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·I·kill·him" (וְהִכִּיתִ֔יו, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 457: and·I·kill·him, us. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "if·he·is·able" (אִם־יוּכַ֞ל), "and·he·kills·me" (וְהִכָּ֔נִי), "and·if·I" (וְאִם־אֲנִ֤י). The root עבד appears 3 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·we·will·be" (root היה, 167x in I Samuel); "to·servants" (root עבד, 71x in I Samuel); "and·he·kills·me" (root נכה, 52x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·servants', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 8 words.
Metzudat David
"To fight against Me." This means: to prevail in fighting against Me.
And this is the meaning: "We will all be your servants, for the sake of that one victory, one for one."
"And you shall serve us." This is as if to say: Are you not already servants of Saul? And when I shall be victorious, you will be servants to us; and there is for you no great practical difference in this matter.
Metzudat Zion
He will be able. From the word 'ability' and 'strengthening'.
Malbim
"If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; and likewise the reverse. And he also said that the Philistines would suffer more loss if they were defeated than the Israelites would if they were defeated, for the Philistines are a free people, and if they are defeated they will become slaves, but you, even now, are not free, for you are servants to Saul, and you will not lose anything. And on this account he said, 'And if I can overcome him and strike him down, and you will be our servants and serve us,' meaning: Surely even then you will not lose anything; only instead of serving Saul now, you will serve us. The matter is that through the battle it will become clear to whom you will be slaves—whether to Saul or to us. But in the reverse case, from our side, it will become clear whether we will be free or slaves. Now, according to this, he had clarified the conditions and agreements that were to be established between them, and he had also clarified the disputed matter between them. And if the Israelites had been satisfied with this, then indeed they would have written down the conditions and agreements in a book, with witnesses as proof, and they would have appointed judges to clarify everything. They would have chosen the time and place, and they would have examined that the combatants be equal in their weapons and garments and the like. However, the Israelites did not agree with him to validate the judgment of the battle according to this custom, but only that they would fight nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. And this would not be counted as a disgrace for them, for in this they did not show cowardice and fear, in that they did not want the battle to be by two men alone, for sometimes an accident, illness, or disaster may befall one, and how could the entire community be condemned to be eternal slaves? Therefore, the conditions were not written, nor was anything done that ought to be done in the custom of single combat. And also there was not yet any insult from the Philistine, for in that he called for them to fight according to the custom of single combat, he had not yet insulted them, for the matter was in their hands whether to agree to these conditions or not. Only after the Philistine saw that the Israelites did not agree to his proposal, and it was his intention to insult and blaspheme, did he introduce a new statement after another, and this is what is written:"
And the Philistine said: ‘I do taunt the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.’
verse value 4565
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 56 letters. The shortest word is "I" (אֲנִ֗י, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·armies·of" (אֶת־מַעַרְכ֥וֹת, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 61: I, day. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·armies·of" (אֶת־מַעַרְכ֥וֹת), "give·me" (תְּנוּ־לִ֣י), "and·let·us·fight" (וְנִֽלָּחֲמָ֖ה). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "day" (root יום, 154x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root חרף ("I·taunt") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ [and·said] (257) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י [Philistine] (825) + אֲנִ֗י [I] (61) + חֵרַ֛פְתִּי [I·taunt] (698) + אֶת־מַעַרְכ֥וֹת [the·armies·of] (1137) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל [Israel] (541) + הַיּ֣וֹם [day] (61) + הַזֶּ֑ה [this] (17) + תְּנוּ־לִ֣י [give·me] (496) + אִ֔ישׁ [man] (311) + וְנִֽלָּחֲמָ֖ה [and·let·us·fight] (139) + יָֽחַד [together] (22) = 4565.
Metzudat David
"I have taunted." This implies: How can you not be ashamed? Am I not reproaching Israel by saying that there is no valor among you, and yet you remain silent? And until when? Give me a man, etc.
Malbim
And the Philistine said. “I have reviled the armies of Israel today.” He said to them: Know that my intention was to revile and humiliate them, saying that there is among them no man of mighty valor like me. For even though regarding what I said and stipulated—that whoever is victorious, all his people shall be servants—you could have excused yourselves by saying that you do not wish for the battle to be resolved in this manner, behold, now I say: Give me a man, and let us fight together. Show now if there is among you a mighty man like me who will fight with me. And this will be without the previous conditions, for the battle will be conducted in its usual manner, people against people, since you do not wish for the judgment of battle to be proven in this way. Nevertheless, since I have spoken to you in a manner of reviling and cursing, saying that there is no mighty man among you, you are necessarily required to seek a man who will fight with me, out of zeal for the honor of his people, whom I revile and curse. And according to this, in this second statement of his, he did not at all intend for it to be according to the law of single combat; rather, he spoke to them in a manner of reviling. Therefore, David, who went to avenge the vengeance of his people, did not stipulate conditions, nor did he appoint witnesses and judges, nor did they examine whether the combatants were equal in their circumstances. For he went out against him due to this second statement of his, which was reviling and cursing, and not due to his first statement, in which Israel had not consented at all.
And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
verse value 3541
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 46 letters. The shortest word is "very" (מְאֹֽד, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·all·Israel" (וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·they·were·dismayed" (וַיֵּחַ֥תּוּ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "Philistine" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "the·words·of" (root דבר, 113x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'these', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע [and·he·heard] (426) + שָׁאוּל֙ [Saul] (337) + וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [and·all·Israel] (597) + אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י [the·words·of] (617) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י [Philistine] (825) + הָאֵ֑לֶּה [these] (41) + וַיֵּחַ֥תּוּ [and·they·were·dismayed] (430) + וַיִּֽרְא֖וּ [and·they·saw] (223) + מְאֹֽד [very] (45) = 3541.
Metzudat Zion
And they were terrified. A matter of fear and breaking.
Malbim
And it came to pass that Saul and Israel were dismayed in heart for fear of this mighty man; even though they heard his words of reproach, none was found among them who would don the garment of vengeance.
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons; and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men.
verse value 4146
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 71 letters. The shortest word is "going·in" (בָּ֥א, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·men" (בַאֲנָשִֽׁים, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "eight" (שְׁמֹנָ֣ה), "in·days·of" (בִּימֵ֣י), "in·men" (בַאֲנָשִֽׁים). The root איש appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "and·the·man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'son', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 6 words.
Rashi
Ephrathite. Bethlehem dwells in the land of Ephrat.
And he had eight sons. And what is written (Chronicles I 2:15): 'Otzem the sixth, David the seventh' — and it does not write more — one should say that one died without sons, and therefore it was not written there.
With the men. He was counted among the men of importance in the assemblies.
Radak
"And David, the son of this Ephrathite man." The term "this" is used because he was mentioned above as having played before Saul, and he is mentioned here to relate his story—how he came to fight the Philistines. For he was not always with Saul; rather, he would go and return, not abandoning the sheep completely. He was not present in this battle, for Jesse’s three sons were there in the battle, and that was sufficient from Jesse’s household, since he had eight sons. If the three were in the battle, and Jesse himself was not in the battle because he was old and came among men, there was a cause for David to come to the battle: his father sent him to his brothers to check on them and to learn of their condition, and he sent them what he sent. Therefore, this entire narrative is introduced with "here."
“An old man came among men.” [This refers to] men of old age and weakness, who were no longer able to go out and come in. And so it says, “And Abraham was old, come in days” (Genesis 24:1)—in the days of old age and weakness, which are a sign of impending death. Therefore, he was required to take a wife for his son during his lifetime. And the bet of “among men” (ba’animshim) has a patach, and it does not carry the definite article. And the Targum translates “came among men” as “in the chosen ones.” And our Sages of blessed memory said: “Came among men” refers to Jesse, the father of David, who went out among the multitude and came in among the multitude.
Ralbag
“An old man came among men.” This means that he arrived among the rank of elderly men. Alternatively, the intention in saying “came among men” is that due to the greatness of his stature, he arrived as one who comes with a distinguished company, accompanied by many complete men.
Metzudat David
Ephrathite. Bethlehem, which is situated in the land of Ephrath:
“Hazeh.” This means: the one who is conspicuous and known to all.
“He came with men.” In his old age, he did not come himself to war; rather, he came by sending men in his place. And our Sages of blessed memory said (Berakhot 58a) that he came with a group of men who followed him due to his great importance.
Malbim
Questions (12-17): What did he see to relate here the lineage of David and the number of his brothers, besides the fact that this is not its proper place, and he already informed above that he was the son of Jesse and that he had seven brothers (as stated above, section 16)? And why does he inform here that Jesse was old? Above, he should have related this. And what is the meaning of "and they went" – they went? Since "after Saul" is superfluous language, and he said a second time, "And the three eldest went after Saul," which is superfluous. And what does he inform that David was the youngest? And what is the meaning of "And the Philistine approached for forty days"? Its place is above, not here.
And David: Before coming to the matter of David, he first answers two questions that a careful reader might ask here: 1) Why was David not found among the fighting men in this war? Is it not the nature of a hero to place himself where he can display his valor? And why was David omitted from going into battle? 2) After David constantly stood before Saul and was his armor-bearer, how did he not hear about the Philistine and not stir himself regarding his words until after forty days? He answers the first question: "And David, the son of an Ephrathite man." It was already customary among them that the army going out to war was divided according to houses of fathers. The man who had eight sons, the older ones would go out to war, and the younger ones would remain at home to serve their father, especially if the father was old and possessed property, requiring most of them to remain at home to serve him and guard his livestock. This was the case here: Jesse, their father, had eight sons, and he was old.
And the three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
verse value 6226
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 94 letters. The shortest word is "and·name·of" (וְשֵׁ֣ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "after·Saul" (אַחֲרֵֽי־שָׁא֖וּל, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 1030: three, three. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "sons·of·Jesse" (בְּנֵֽי־יִשַׁי֙), "and·his·second" (וּמִשְׁנֵ֙הוּ֙), "and·third" (וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁ֖י). The root הלך appears 3 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "and·went" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel); "and·name·of" (root שם, 71x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root אליאב ("Eliab") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·battle', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 12 words.
Radak
"And they went." And afterwards it says "halchu" (they went) — that is to say, those who were accustomed to go after Saul.
"And the third, Shammah." He is the Shimeah mentioned in this book: "Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother"; and likewise in the book of Chronicles, "and Shimea the third."
Metzudat David
"They went after Saul." Due to their great importance, they walked alongside the king.
Metzudat Zion
And the second. The second after him.
Malbim
And his three eldest sons had already gone to war, and they are those who always went with him. This is what is written: "And they went," etc.—they went.
And David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul.—
verse value 1546
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 34 letters. The shortest word is "you" (ה֣וּא, 3 letters) and the longest is "great" (הַגְּדֹלִ֔ים, 6 letters). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "they·went" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'young', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְדָוִ֖ד [and·David] (20) + ה֣וּא [you] (12) + הַקָּטָ֑ן [young] (164) + וּשְׁלֹשָׁה֙ [three] (641) + הַגְּדֹלִ֔ים [great] (92) + הָלְכ֖וּ [they·went] (61) + אַחֲרֵ֥י [after] (219) + שָׁאֽוּל [Saul] (337) = 1546.
Rashi
And David was the youngest. That he was in Sha'ul's house beforehand to play before him.
Metzudat David
And David is the youngest. For this reason, he did not go, but the elders went.
Malbim
(14-15) And David was the youngest of them all, and it was customary for him to remain at his father’s house. With this, he also answers the second question: Was not David found with Saul, and how did he not hear about the Philistine’s speech? Since he was the youngest, and the three older brothers went after Saul for this reason, David was compelled to go back and forth from Saul, and thus he had to return to his house to tend his father’s sheep. Therefore:
Now David went to and fro from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Beth-lehem.—
verse value 2617
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 37 letters. The shortest word is "going" (הֹלֵ֥ךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·pasture" (לִרְע֛וֹת, 5 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·returning" (וָשָׁ֖ב), "to·pasture" (לִרְע֛וֹת), "the·sheep" (אֶת־צֹ֥אן). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "going" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Saul', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְדָוִ֛ד [and·David] (20) + הֹלֵ֥ךְ [going] (55) + וָשָׁ֖ב [and·returning] (308) + מֵעַ֣ל [from] (140) + שָׁא֑וּל [Saul] (337) + לִרְע֛וֹת [to·pasture] (706) + אֶת־צֹ֥אן [the·sheep] (542) + אָבִ֖יו [his·father] (19) + בֵּ֥ית [house·of] (412) + לָֽחֶם [bread] (78) = 2617.
Rashi
And David went. He used to go and return always from Sha'ul to his father's house.
Metzudat David
“He goes and returns.” He did not dwell permanently in Shaul’s house, but rather he would go and return, etc.
And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
verse value 2689
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 34 letters. The shortest word is "day" (יֽוֹם, 3 letters) and the longest is "Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·evening" (וְהַעֲרֵ֑ב). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "day" (root יום, 154x in I Samuel); "Philistine" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·evening', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ [and·approached] (319) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י [Philistine] (825) + הַשְׁכֵּ֣ם [rise·early] (365) + וְהַעֲרֵ֑ב [and·evening] (283) + וַיִּתְיַצֵּ֖ב [and·stood] (518) + אַרְבָּעִ֥ים [forty] (323) + יֽוֹם [day] (56) = 2689.
Rashi
The morning and the evening. Our Sages said (Sotah 42b): In order to annul them from the Shema.
Radak
“Morning and evening.” Morning and evening, in order to terrify them; and according to the midrash, in order to annul from them the recitation of the Shema in the morning and in the evening.
"And he presented himself forty days." He stationed himself before the camp of Israel to taunt them. And in the midrash: forty days, corresponding to the forty days in which the Torah was given — that is to say, Israel had no power over Goliath until the end of forty days, for at the end of forty days, when Moses came down from the mountain, they received the Torah. And in another midrash: forty paces did Orpah walk with her mother-in-law Naomi, and by her merit her son was granted a respite of forty days. And they said that Harafah, the mother of Goliath, is Orpah.
Metzudat David
"And he stood" (ויתיצב). He stood between the camps, and he spoke his words in the morning and in the evening, until the forty days were completed before the arrival of David.
Malbim
"And the Philistine came near, etc., for forty days, for if David had not been in Bethlehem, he would have fought with him on the first day."
And Jesse said to David his son: ‘Take now for your brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brethren.
verse value 2715
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 61 letters. The shortest word is "Jesse" (יִשַׁ֜י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּ֨אמֶר, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 69: over·your·brothers, over·your·brothers. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "ephah" (אֵיפַ֤ת), "parched grain" (הַקָּלִיא֙), "and·ten" (וַעֲשָׂרָ֥ה). The root אח appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "to·David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "this" (root זה, 79x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 3 words.
Radak
"This ephah of parched corn." It comes in the manner of the lamed-heh and lamed-aleph verbs, on the pattern of navi, nasi; and the aleph in it stands in place of the heh, the third radical. And like it, "and lay not upon us innocent blood."
"And ten loaves of bread." The Targum: "And ten loaves of bread." This is the explanation: loaves of bread.
“And hasten the camp to your brothers.” He said to him: Let him convey these words in haste to his brothers.
Metzudat Zion
An ephah. The name of a measure, an ephah.
The roasted grain. Flour of roasted grain, similarly (Leviticus 23:14): 'bread and roasted grain,' and it is flour from roasted ears.
And run. Go running and hurry.
Malbim
And He said: Because they delayed for forty days, their provisions ran out; He therefore sent them provisions.
And bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and to your brethren shall you bring greetings, and take their pledge;
verse value 5893
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "and·(object marker)" (וְ֠אֵ֠ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·their·pledge" (וְאֶת־עֲרֻבָּתָ֖ם, 8 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "ten" (עֲשֶׂ֜רֶת), "cheeses·of" (חֲרִצֵ֤י), "you·shall·bring" (תָּבִ֖יא). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "you·shall·bring" (root בוא, 161x in I Samuel); "take" (root לקח, 78x in I Samuel); "these" (root אלה, 28x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·prince·of·the·thousand', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְ֠אֵ֠ת [and·(object marker)] (407) + עֲשֶׂ֜רֶת [ten] (970) + חֲרִצֵ֤י [cheeses·of] (308) + הֶחָלָב֙ [the·milk] (45) + הָאֵ֔לֶּה [these] (41) + תָּבִ֖יא [you·shall·bring] (413) + לְשַׂר־הָאָ֑לֶף [to·prince·of·the·thousand] (646) + וְאֶת־אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ [and·your·brethren] (446) + תִּפְקֹ֣ד [you·shall·visit] (584) + לְשָׁל֔וֹם [for·welfare] (406) + וְאֶת־עֲרֻבָּתָ֖ם [and·their·pledge] (1119) + תִּקָּֽח [take] (508) = 5893.
Rashi
Slices of cheese. (Targum:) cheeses of milk.
To the captain of the thousand. I say: To the captain of that thousand from which his brothers (another version: I) are — for all the tribes had captains of thousands according to their thousands. And I heard: 'to the captain of the thousand' — this is Yonatan, of whom it is said (above, 13:2): And a thousand were with Yonatan on the hill of Benjamin.
And you shall take their pledge. And the pledge of their salvation and their peace, you shall take in your ears and in your heart, and tell me. And so Yonatan translated: Ve-et tibiyahon tiyiti.
Pledge. The language of salvation — like (Psalms 119:122): 'Be surety for Your servant for good' — garanti'sh in the foreign tongue. And our Sages said (Shabbat 56a): Let him take a bill of divorce from them and bring it to their wives — to separate the intimacy that is between him and her.
Radak
The curds of milk. As its Targum [renders it]: “the curds of milk.”
"To the captain of the thousand." Its meaning: the captain of the thousand in which Jesse was numbered.
“And you shall take their pledge.” [This refers to] the pledges that they placed on their expenses, for such is the custom of soldiers, since money is not readily available during war. And Yishai gave David money with which to redeem their pledges. And the Targum translates: “And thou shalt bring word of their welfare,” meaning: Take their matters, learn them, and inform me. And the opinion of our Sages of blessed memory is that he should take from them divorce documents for their wives before the war. They said: “Their pledge” refers to matters that are intermingled between him and her, namely, the betrothal and the marriage that are between them, and the divorce document removes them [from that status].
Ralbag
“Bring it to the commander of a thousand.” This means the commander of a thousand under whom the three sons of Yishai were serving, and to him he commanded that his brothers should greet him with peace when giving him this gift, so that they might find favor in the eyes of the commander of a thousand, who was over them.
"And you shall take their pledge with you." It seems, according to what I think, that they sent to their father that he should send them what they needed for food, and they gave into the hand of a messenger a pledge for their father, so that he may give him credit, since that pledge was already known to their father as being theirs. And this is what Yishai meant when he said, "Take their pledge with you," to bring to them in the manner he said, "Take now to your brothers this ephah of parched grain." Or perhaps the intention here is that he should take with him to bring to them their pledge, which they had the custom of pawning in the camp when they were at war, so that it would suffice for them for all the days they were in the camp. And this is because what he brought them of food would not suffice for them except for a short time. And therefore Yishai needed to command David to bring to them their pledge.
Metzudat David
“Over a thousand”: From this we learn that his brothers were counted among that thousand.
You shall inquire after their welfare. You shall look to know their well-being:
"And their pledge." Their pledge which they pledged for the sake of their sustenance, you shall redeem it from the hand of the one who holds the pledge, and you shall take them with you.
Metzudat Zion
Pieces of cheese. Targum Yonatan: 'pieces of cheese,' and perhaps they are called so, because of the custom of cutting the cheese to measure at the time of making it, and it is from the word (Job 14:5): 'if his days are numbered'.
You will inquire after. A matter of providence, similarly (above 14:17): 'inquire, please, and see'.
Their pledge. A matter of pledge, similarly (Genesis 38:18): 'what is the pledge'.
Malbim
The questions (18–24): Regarding what is stated that Saul was in the Valley of Elah—besides the fact that this is not its proper place here—this was already known from the first verse. What is meant by “and he came to the barricade, and the host going forth to the battle array”? What is a “maagalah” and what is a “maarachah”? Why does verse 4 say “and he went out,” whereas verse 23 says “the man between coming up”? There, it speaks of one of the “camps,” and here of the “battle formations.” And here he added that they fled from before him?
“And he also sent with him a present to the commander of the thousand, and commanded him to inquire after the welfare of his brothers and to take their pledge.” According to Radak, this means that he should pay their debts and retrieve the pledges they had given; and according to our Sages of blessed memory, it means that he should bring a bill of divorce for their wives.
now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, are in the vale of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.’
verse value 2708
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "and·they" (וְהֵ֙מָּה֙, 4 letters) and the longest is "with·Philistines" (עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "with·Philistines" (עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "and·all·man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "with·Philistines" (root עם, 128x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Elah', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְשָׁא֤וּל [and·Saul] (343) + וְהֵ֙מָּה֙ [and·they] (56) + וְכׇל־אִ֣ישׁ [and·all·man] (367) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [Israel] (541) + בְּעֵ֖מֶק [in·valley·of] (212) + הָאֵלָ֑ה [Elah] (41) + נִלְחָמִ֖ים [fighting] (178) + עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים [with·Philistines] (970) = 2708.
Ralbag
"fighting with the Philistines" – meaning that they were striving to fight against the Philistines.
Metzudat David
And they. The three sons of Yishai:
“they are fighting.” They are prepared to fight:
Malbim
And Saul, too, this is from the words of his father: he informed him of their location, that they were in the Valley of Elah, for David, with the sheep, knew nothing.
And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the barricade, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle.
verse value 4657
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 84 letters. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֜ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·the·row" (אֶל־הַמַּ֣עֲרָכָ֔ה, 8 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·sheep" (אֶת־הַצֹּאן֙), "upon·keeper" (עַל־שֹׁמֵ֔ר), "commanded·him" (צִוָּ֖הוּ). 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·the·row" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "as" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root מעגל ("entrenchment") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jesse', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 7 words.
Rashi
The circle. They make a circle around the camp. And the one who goes out outside, forward or backward, becomes liable. Forward — lest the men of the enemy's ranks run upon him. Backward — he is seeking to flee.
Radak
The circle. Since the camp is arranged in a circular formation, therefore it is called a "circle." And the Targum of Jonathan translated it as "karkoma," and similarly Onkelos translated it, and he rendered [the verse] "and you shall build a siege and you shall construct karkomin." And likewise in the words of our Sages of blessed memory: "A city that has been captured is called 'karkum.'" And the construction of a siege is that they build around the camp with stakes and chains, so that no person may go outside the camp except by the command of the officers of the army. And they said: What is a "karkum"? It is any place surrounded by stakes, chains, and dogs. And this matter is to terrify the city or the other camp, as it is written: "and they shall harass them in battle."
Ralbag
“And he came to the circle.” This means that he entered the camp, and it is called so because they sit in a circle to guard against enemies coming from every side of the camp.
Metzudat David
And he left. He abandoned the flock with a single shepherd, to guard them until his return:
And he lifted up. The ephah of parched grain, etc.:
The circle. It is the camp, which is accustomed to encamp in a circular formation, for it is advantageous to be guarded from the enemy on all sides:
And the army that went out. At that time, the army was going out to the battle, which is the place of war, and at the time of their going out, they shouted:
Metzudat Zion
And he left. And he abandoned.
Malbim
(20–22) “And David rose early in the morning” — David did as his father had commanded him. And in response to the fact that Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said (below, verse 28), “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?” — it relates here: against “With whom have you left those few sheep,” that he left the sheep in the charge of a keeper; and against “Why have you come down,” it says, “And he rose and went,” as Jesse had commanded him. And the Lord brought it about that at the very moment David arrived at the barricade, which is the place of the camp’s encampment, at that very moment the army went out to the battle line and shouted the war cry toward the weapons. And his brothers were not in the circle of the camp but at the place of the battle line, and David was compelled to run to the battle line, and by means of this he saw the Philistine and was stirred by his words.
And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
verse value 3504
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 32 letters. The shortest word is "and·arranged" (וַתַּעֲרֹ֤ךְ, 5 letters) and the longest is "and·Philistines" (וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 335: row, row. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·arranged" (וַתַּעֲרֹ֤ךְ). The root מערכה appears 2 times in this verse. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "Israel" (root ישראל, 102x in I Samuel); "to·meet" (root קרא, 58x in I Samuel). Full calculation: וַתַּעֲרֹ֤ךְ [and·arranged] (696) + יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ [Israel] (541) + וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים [and·Philistines] (866) + מַעֲרָכָ֖ה [row] (335) + לִקְרַ֥את [to·meet] (731) + מַעֲרָכָֽה [row] (335) = 3504.
Rashi
And Israel arrayed. The battle-array of Israel.
Radak
"And Israel set the battle in array." [That is,] the congregation of Israel.
Metzudat David
And they shall set in array. They arranged and deployed their battle lines, Israel and the Philistines, facing one another:
And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brethren.
verse value 3239
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 61 letters. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֨ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·baggage" (אֶת־הַכֵּלִ֜ים, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·baggage" (אֶת־הַכֵּלִ֜ים), "upon·hand·of" (עַל־יַד֙), "keeper" (שׁוֹמֵ֣ר). The root כלי appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "and·came" (root בוא, 161x in I Samuel); "from·upon·him" (root על, 112x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'row', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיִּטֹּשׁ֩ [and·left] (325) + דָּוִ֨ד [David] (14) + אֶת־הַכֵּלִ֜ים [the·baggage] (506) + מֵעָלָ֗יו [from·upon·him] (156) + עַל־יַד֙ [upon·hand·of] (114) + שׁוֹמֵ֣ר [keeper] (546) + הַכֵּלִ֔ים [the·vessels] (105) + וַיָּ֖רׇץ [and·ran] (306) + הַמַּעֲרָכָ֑ה [row] (340) + וַיָּבֹ֕א [and·came] (19) + וַיִּשְׁאַ֥ל [and·asked] (347) + לְאֶחָ֖יו [to·his·brothers] (55) + לְשָׁלֽוֹם [for·peace] (406) = 3239.
Rashi
Keeper of the vessels. Of the men of war.
Radak
The keeper of the vessels. He was responsible for guarding the vessels of the men of the camp, their garments, and all that was with them.
Metzudat David
And he abandoned. He left and relinquished the utensils that were with him, into the hands of the keeper of the utensils of those who came to war.
And he ran to the battle. To his brothers who had already gone to the battle:
And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words; and David heard them.
verse value 6437
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 85 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְה֣וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "with" (עִמָּ֗ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "from·ranks·of" (מִמַּעַרְכ֣וֹת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 443: Goliath, of·Gath. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·space-between" (הַבֵּנַ֡יִם), "row" ((ממערות)), "from·ranks·of" (מִמַּעַרְכ֣וֹת). The root דבר appears 3 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "with" (root עם, 128x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'these', dividing the verse into phrases of 17 and 2 words.
Rashi
From the caves of the Philistines. So it is written. Our Sages expounded (Sotah 42b): A hundred men had relations with Orpah his mother, when she separated from Ruth and Naomi her mother-in-law.
Radak
“From the caves of the Philistines.” So it is written, maarot; and the qere is maarachot, “from the camps”, and the reading is clear, while the meaning of the written text is “from the camps of the Philistines,” from the level places where they encamped, for “ma’arah” [cave] is a term for a level place, as in “from the level place of Geba” [Targum: “from the level place of the hill”]. And now, the written text and the reading are close to each other, and both are valid. And the Targum follows the written text: “from the encampment of the battle of the Philistines.” The opinion of the midrash on the verse, and on “ish ha-benayim” [the champion], is distant, for they interpreted that he was called “ish ha-benayim” because he was from many men. And similarly they interpreted “from the cave of the Philistines” as “from a hundred foreskins” that were poured into his mother; and therefore they said: “Bar me’ah papin ve-chad nana,” meaning “son of a hundred men and one dog” who came upon his mother, as he said to David, “I am the dog.” And they said that his mother was Orpah, Ruth’s sister-in-law, and “Harpa” is like “Orpah.” But what they said, “It is written Harpa and we read Orpah,” we have not found. The reasoning of those who say this midrash is that a woman becomes pregnant from many men. And some say that Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, whose mother became pregnant from the father and from the son. And there are those who dispute them on this, saying that a woman does not become pregnant from two men at once. And there are those who reconcile the two opinions: that once the seed has rotted, she does not become pregnant from two men, but before the seed has rotted, a woman can become pregnant from two men.
Metzudat David
From the ranks of the Philistines. It refers back to the word "going up":
Malbim
(23–24) And he, while still lingering there to speak with his brothers, the Philistine went out. And here, upon his exit, there are two differences: a) Initially, it is written “the man between went out” (verse 4), meaning he went out from the camp that was on the mountain into the valley between them; and here it is written “and behold, the man between coming up,” indicating that his heart had already been emboldened to ascend to the mountain where the camp of Israel was located. b) Initially, it is written “from the camps of the Philistines,” and here it is written “from the battle lines of the Philistines,” for now they had already arranged their battle lines and desired to begin the war, as it is stated, “And Israel and the Philistines arrayed themselves.” And therefore, they now fled before him, for he drew near to them up to their location, and they fled.
And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
verse value 2870
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "and·them·of" (וְכֹל֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "when·they·saw" (בִּרְאוֹתָ֖ם, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "when·they·saw" (בִּרְאוֹתָ֖ם), "and·feared" (וַיִּֽירְא֖וּ). The root איש appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "Israel" (root ישראל, 102x in I Samuel); "from·his·face" (root פנים, 93x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·man', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְכֹל֙ [and·them·of] (56) + אִ֣ישׁ [man] (311) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [Israel] (541) + בִּרְאוֹתָ֖ם [when·they·saw] (649) + אֶת־הָאִ֑ישׁ [the·man] (717) + וַיָּנֻ֙סוּ֙ [and·they·fled] (132) + מִפָּנָ֔יו [from·his·face] (186) + וַיִּֽירְא֖וּ [and·feared] (233) + מְאֹֽד [very] (45) = 2870.
And the men of Israel said: ‘Have you seen this man that is come up? surely to taunt Israel is he come up; and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.’
verse value 9351
Insights
Verse structure: 26 words, 113 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְֽ֠הָיָ֠ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֛י, 2 letters) and the longest is "Israel" (אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 316: man, man. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "to·reproach" (לְחָרֵ֥ף), "who·strikes·him" (אֲשֶׁר־יַכֶּ֜נּוּ), "will·enrich·him" (יַעְשְׁרֶ֥נּוּ). The root איש appears 3 times in this verse. 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "who·strikes·him" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root חפש ("free") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'going·up', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 15 words.
Rashi
He shall make free. From the things mentioned in the laws of the kingship.
Radak
"Have you seen?" – The resh is dagesh-ed to strengthen its pronunciation because of the interrogative heh prefixed to it, even though the custom is generally not to put a dagesh in the resh.
“The king will make us rich.” Its meaning is “He will make us rich,” for it is from the hifil binyan; similarly, “greatly they will make them rich” is like “they will make them rich.”
“He shall make him free.” Free from the dominion of kingship. And Targum Jonathan renders it: “He shall serve the great ones in Israel.” Perhaps this was his intention, as we have explained; or alternatively, “free” means as in the verse, “Happy are you, O land, whose king is the son of nobles” (Ecclesiastes 10:17), “nobles” [chorei], and there is no kingship. They are called “nobles” because they are the great princes, distinguished above the other princes. And the meaning is: he shall make him such that he will place his father’s house among the great ones of the kingdom in every matter.
Metzudat David
"Have you seen?" When they saw the man going up, they said to one another in the form of a question: "Are you paying attention to observe the deed of this man who is going up, for he is going up to blaspheme, etc.?"
"He shall make him a freeman." This means without performing the king's service.
Metzudat Zion
Have you seen. With the heh of question.
Free. Free men.
And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying: ‘What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the taunt from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should have taunted the armies of the living God?’
verse value 7529
Insights
Verse structure: 26 words, 110 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֥ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·men" (אֶֽל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֞ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 30: for, that. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "pillar" (הָעֹמְדִ֣ים), "what·shall·be·done" (מַה־יֵּעָשֶׂ֗ה), "he·shall·strike" (יַכֶּה֙). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 24 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·the·men" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 10 words.
Ralbag
And behold, David volunteered to fight the Philistine, when he knew what to do to the man who would confront him, and he imagined that, although he relied on the Name of the Blessed One, He would avenge him against this Philistine, because he came to blaspheme the armies of the living God. He had already relied on this regarding what Samuel had destined him for kingship, as if he thought that this would be the instrument to fulfill the desire of God, Blessed be He, in the sprouting of his kingdom, for although he was the king’s son-in-law, it was possible that he would attain success in kingship.
Metzudat David
What will he do for the man? Even though he had already heard, he returned and asked, in order to enter into the matter and to say that he would go.
"For who?" In what is he reckoned, that he should taunt the armies of the people of the Lord?
Metzudat Zion
That one. This one.
Malbim
Questions (26-31): Why did David ask, “What shall be done for the man?” Had he not already heard the voice of the herald proclaiming that the king would enrich him and give him his daughter? Is it conceivable that a man of valor such as he would not have agreed to go until he heard that the king would pay his wages, and that he did not feel zeal for his people and his God? And why did he turn to another person and ask again? And what did they tell Saul? Did David not merely ask a question?
And David said: I have already explained this (in my book Artzot ha-Shalom, discourse 1), that David said this in a tone of wonder regarding the common Israelite man, who thought that through the wealth and the king’s daughter promised to the victor, a man would be stirred up to fight with the Philistine. And David replied that this great action itself—to avenge himself upon the reviler of the living God and against the people of the Lord of Hosts—is more precious than all property and all gifts, and this very thing is the greatest reward for whoever succeeds in performing such a blessed deed. And it is inconceivable that one would receive a separate reward for a good and blessed act which he performs, when the act itself is the greatest reward. This is what is written in a tone of amazement: “What shall be done to the man who strikes this Philistine?” Is it conceivable that he would receive an additional reward, when in this very deed he removes disgrace from Israel? And it is already sufficient reward and more than enough if he merits to do such a thing. For “Who is this Philistine, etc.?” Surely the heart of every one who is zealous for the Lord and for His people will gird itself to avenge vengeance, out of the fire of zeal and vengeance for his people and his God, not out of consideration for reward.
And the people answered him after this manner, saying: ‘So shall it be done to the man that kills him.’
verse value 2260
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "to·him" (לוֹ֙) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·him" (לוֹ֙, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּ֤אמֶר, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "he·shall·strike·him" (יַכֶּֽנּוּ). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "that" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "to·the·man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'saying', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + לוֹ֙ [to·him] (36) + הָעָ֔ם [the·people] (115) + כַּדָּבָ֥ר [as·the·word] (226) + הַזֶּ֖ה [this] (17) + לֵאמֹ֑ר [saying] (271) + כֹּ֣ה [thus] (25) + יֵעָשֶׂ֔ה [will·be·done] (385) + לָאִ֖ישׁ [to·the·man] (341) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + יַכֶּֽנּוּ [he·shall·strike·him] (86) = 2260.
Metzudat David
Like this matter. The one stated above:
Malbim
And the people said to him: Reply to him, “Indeed, you are right in your statement that if we consider the ultimate outcome resulting from the deed—namely, that it removes disgrace from Israel—it is not fitting to receive a reward, for this is incumbent upon every Israelite by virtue of his religion and his zeal for his God. However, what we said—that the man who will kill him will receive great wealth and the king’s daughter—this will not be like a reward for the ultimate outcome he achieved through his action for the honor of his people and his God. Rather, this will be solely because he killed him. For a man who displays such valor as to kill such a tyrannical warrior is worthy, even apart from the benefit he thereby conferred upon his fellow countrymen, to take the king’s daughter on account of himself, inasmuch as he is a mighty man and a man of valor without equal. And he is worthy of all honor, glory, and wealth on account of the excellence of his valor.”
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said: ‘Why are you come down? and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you are come down that you might see the battle.’
verse value 7347
Insights
Verse structure: 29 words, 129 letters. The shortest word is "evil·of" (רֹ֣עַ, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·men" (אֶל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֑ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 614: you·came·down, you·went·down. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "when·he·spoke" (בְּדַבְּר֖וֹ), "and·on·whom" (וְעַל־מִ֨י), "you·left" (נָטַ֜שְׁתָּ). The root אליאב appears 2 times in this verse. 27 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "in·David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·the·men" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·men', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 23 words.
Radak
“And Eliab’s anger was kindled.” For he understood that David’s desire was to fight the Philistine, and it seemed far-fetched in his eyes that David would be saved from his hand if he fought with him; according to this interpretation, his anger was kindled against him.
"Thy presumptuousness." The Targum renders it yat bikranutach; the bet is like a peh, their sense being abandon and frivolity — that is to say, that you abandon yourself, to go out and leave the flock. And so the Targum renders pochazim as bakrin, which is like pakrin with a peh. And likewise in the Mishnah, hivkir to the poor — hivkir is like hifkir with a peh.
Metzudat David
"For what purpose have you come down?" He had not yet told him that his father had sent him here.
In the wilderness. In a place of bands of wild beasts and robbers:
To see. To take pleasure in the sight of the battle:
Metzudat Zion
You have abandoned. You left.
In the wilderness. The place of pasture was near the wilderness.
Malbim
Why camest thou down? They suspected now: 1) Because he went on his own accord, and regarding this it says, "Why have you descended?" 2) Because he left the flock as ownerless property, and regarding the first point it says, "I know thy presumptuousness," and regarding the second point it says, "and the evil of your heart."
And David said: ‘What have I now done? Was it not but a word?’
verse value 1841
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 28 letters. The shortest word is "what" (מֶ֥ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·said" (וַיֹּ֣אמֶר, 5 letters). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "word" (root דבר, 113x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'now', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֣אמֶר [and·said] (257) + דָּוִ֔ד [David] (14) + מֶ֥ה [what] (45) + עָשִׂ֖יתִי [I·did] (790) + עָ֑תָּה [now] (475) + הֲל֖וֹא [was·it·not] (42) + דָּבָ֥ר [word] (206) + הֽוּא [it] (12) = 1841.
Radak
Is it not a matter of speech? As its Targum renders it: "Is it not a word?"—meaning, if I have spoken, I have not done anything, nor is it my intention to do anything, even though I am speaking.
Metzudat David
“What have I done now?”—as if to say: “If it is your way to be angry with me when I do an evil thing in your eyes, why are you angry now? Surely I have done nothing at this moment; I have only spoken mere words.”
And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner; and the people answered him after the former manner.
verse value 2499
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "another" (אַחֵ֔ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·they·answered·him" (וַיְשִׁבֻ֤הוּ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 226: as·the·word, as·the·word. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "from·beside·him" (מֵֽאֶצְלוֹ֙), "toward" (אֶל־מ֣וּל), "and·they·answered·him" (וַיְשִׁבֻ֤הוּ). The root דבר appears 3 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "toward" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "the·people" (root עם, 128x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיִּסֹּ֤ב [and·turned] (78) + מֵֽאֶצְלוֹ֙ [from·beside·him] (167) + אֶל־מ֣וּל [toward] (107) + אַחֵ֔ר [another] (209) + וַיֹּ֖אמֶר [and·said] (257) + כַּדָּבָ֣ר [as·the·word] (226) + הַזֶּ֑ה [this] (17) + וַיְשִׁבֻ֤הוּ [and·they·answered·him] (329) + הָעָם֙ [the·people] (115) + דָּבָ֔ר [an·answer] (206) + כַּדָּבָ֖ר [as·the·word] (226) + הָרִאשֽׁוֹן [the·former] (562) = 2499.
Radak
“Opposite another.” The meaning is: opposite another person who was standing opposite this place.
Metzudat David
Like this matter: What shall be done to the man, etc.
And when the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he was taken to him.
verse value 2085
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 40 letters. The shortest word is "which" (אֲשֶׁ֖ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·face·of·Saul" (לִפְנֵֽי־שָׁא֖וּל, 8 letters). The root דבר appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "which" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "the·words" (root דבר, 113x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'David', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיִּשָּֽׁמְעוּ֙ [and·they·were·heard] (432) + הַדְּבָרִ֔ים [the·words] (261) + אֲשֶׁ֖ר [which] (501) + דִּבֶּ֣ר [spoke] (206) + דָּוִ֑ד [David] (14) + וַיַּגִּ֥דוּ [and·they·told] (29) + לִפְנֵֽי־שָׁא֖וּל [to·face·of·Saul] (507) + וַיִּקָּחֵֽהוּ [and·he·took·him] (135) = 2085.
Metzudat David
“Which David spoke” – to belittle the might of the Philistine by saying, “Who is this Philistine…?” and thus he was as one saying that he would fight against him.
Malbim
And they heard. Before Saul they understood from his words that he was a man of spirit, and that the zeal of the Lord had taken hold of him, and that it was weighed by him as more than great wealth and a great bride-price.
And David said to Saul: ‘Let no man’s heart fail within him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’
verse value 2225
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִד֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "with·the·Philistine" (עִם־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֥י, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "inner man·man" (לֵב־אָדָ֖ם), "will·go" (יֵלֵ֔ךְ), "with·the·Philistine" (עִם־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֥י). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·Saul" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + דָּוִד֙ [David] (14) + אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל [to·Saul] (368) + אַל־יִפֹּ֥ל [let·not·fail] (151) + לֵב־אָדָ֖ם [inner man·man] (77) + עָלָ֑יו [upon·him] (116) + עַבְדְּךָ֣ [your·servant] (96) + יֵלֵ֔ךְ [will·go] (60) + וְנִלְחַ֖ם [and·shall·fight] (134) + עִם־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֥י [with·the·Philistine] (935) + הַזֶּֽה [this] (17) = 2225.
Radak
“Let not man’s heart fail him because of him.” Explanation: “Because of him” means because of himself; or, alternatively, “because of him” refers to Goliath, meaning that a person should not fear on account of him, for I will fight against him.
Metzudat David
“Let him not fall.” A person’s heart should not tremble because of the Philistine.
Malbim
“Let no man's heart fall” means that it is not fitting for a person’s heart to fall from its level because of him, for although according to his physical substance he is powerful in strength, he is weak from the aspect of his form that dwells in the heart. And a person’s heart, which is truly a person according to his form, is greater in strength than he. Therefore, “your servant will go and fight,” by virtue of the spiritual strength that I possess even more abundantly.
And Saul said to David: ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.’
verse value 4292
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְה֛וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֤א, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·Philistine" (אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֣י, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "for·a·boy" (כִּֽי־נַ֣עַר), "from·his·youth" (מִנְּעֻרָֽיו). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "to·David" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 6 words.
Ralbag
And Saul distanced himself from this, due to his seeing that David was a youth and had not yet tested himself in battle; whereas the Philistine was a man of war from his youth. Added to this was the fame of Goliath’s great stature and mighty strength.
Metzudat David
"for you are but a youth." And you still do not know the tactics of war, whereas he has been accustomed to warfare since his youth:
Malbim
"For he was a youth" – this implies that you cannot say: a) from your side, that you are a youth; b) from his side, that he is trained in warfare from his youth.
And David said to Saul: ‘Your servant kept his father’s sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock,
verse value 2852
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 58 letters. The shortest word is "lamb" (שֶׂ֖ה, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·bear" (וְאֶת־הַדּ֔וֹב, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "to·his·father" (לְאָבִ֖יו), "and·the·bear" (וְאֶת־הַדּ֔וֹב), "lamb" (שֶׂ֖ה). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·Saul" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root ארי ("lion") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·flock', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + דָּוִד֙ [David] (14) + אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל [to·Saul] (368) + רֹעֶ֨ה [pasturing] (275) + הָיָ֧ה [was] (20) + עַבְדְּךָ֛ [your·servant] (96) + לְאָבִ֖יו [to·his·father] (49) + בַּצֹּ֑אן [in·the·flock] (143) + וּבָ֤א [and·he·shall·come] (9) + הָאֲרִי֙ [lion] (216) + וְאֶת־הַדּ֔וֹב [and·the·bear] (424) + וְנָשָׂ֥א [and·will·lift] (357) + שֶׂ֖ה [lamb] (305) + מֵהָעֵֽדֶר [from·the·flock] (319) = 2852.
Rashi
And there came the lion and the bear. (Targum:) and the lion came, and also the bear.
Radak
"And the bear." Explanation: "And with the bear came the lion," meaning that despite this, I struck both the lion and the bear. In some manuscripts of the Targum, it reads: "And the bear, and even the bear."
Metzudat David
"And the bear." "And with the bear," both together.
Metzudat Zion
And the bear. And with the bear.
Malbim
The Questions (34–37): Why did he divide his statement into two utterances?
"And David said." He informed him that it had already befallen him to overcome those who were mightier of body and stronger than he; for when he was shepherding, a lion and a bear came upon him and carried off a sheep. (And in the midrash, that he made himself a girdle of the sheep's skin as a memorial of the miracle, and upon it he showed that this was it; and so it is found in some books, which write it thus, and the Minchat Shai rejects this.)
I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
verse value 3757
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 59 letters. Verse gematria: 3757 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "against·me" (עָלַ֔י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·I·caught" (וְהֶחֱזַ֙קְתִּי֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 447: and·I·struck·him, and·I·struck·him. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·I·will·go·out" (וְיָצָ֧אתִי), "and·I·will·deliver" (וְהִצַּ֣לְתִּי), "from·his·mouth" (מִפִּ֑יו). The root נכה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "against·me" (root על, 112x in I Samuel); "after·him" (root אחר, 62x in I Samuel); "and·I·killed·him" (root מות, 62x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·his·mouth', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. 7 of the verse's 11 words begin with the letter ו. Full calculation: וְיָצָ֧אתִי [and·I·will·go·out] (517) + אַחֲרָ֛יו [after·him] (225) + וְהִכִּתִ֖יו [and·I·struck·him] (447) + וְהִצַּ֣לְתִּי [and·I·will·deliver] (541) + מִפִּ֑יו [from·his·mouth] (136) + וַיָּ֣קׇם [and·arose] (156) + עָלַ֔י [against·me] (110) + וְהֶחֱזַ֙קְתִּי֙ [and·I·caught] (536) + בִּזְקָנ֔וֹ [in·his·beard] (165) + וְהִכִּתִ֖יו [and·I·struck·him] (447) + וַהֲמִיתִּֽיו [and·I·killed·him] (477) = 3757.
Radak
"And I held fast by his beard." The Targum: "And I seized his throat," meaning that when I held the lion by the beard, I did not hold only the hair of the beard, but the beard together with the lower jaw.
"And I struck him and killed him." [They are spelled] with a yod and with dagesh, and we have already written similar [cases] in the book Miklal.
Metzudat Zion
And I will seize. And I will grasp.
Malbim
And I went after him. At first, he struck him and rescued his prey from his mouth; and after he stood up against him, he struck him and killed him without a sword, only by means of having seized his beard.
Your servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has taunted the armies of the living God.’
verse value 3333
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 63 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְֽ֠הָיָ֠ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "also" (גַּ֧ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·lion" (אֶֽת־הָאֲרִ֛י, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 30: struck, for. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·lion" (אֶֽת־הָאֲרִ֛י), "also·bear" (גַּם־הַדֹּ֖ב), "as·one" (כְּאַחַ֣ד). The root גם appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 167x in I Samuel); "for" (root כי, 161x in I Samuel); "the·Philistine" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Your·servant', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 11 words.
Rashi
Both the lion and the bear. Behold, these are amplifications — a lion and its two cubs, and a bear and its two cubs.
Radak
“Also the lion, also the bear.” Each [term] serves as an inclusion upon the other. And similarly, “also your sheep, also your cattle.” In the exegetical sense: If the verse had stated “the lion and the bear,” I would have said that these refer to only two wild beasts. But when it states “also the lion, also the bear,” there are here three inclusions. This teaches that there were five wild beasts present. How so? The lion and its two cubs, and the bear and its cub.
Metzudat David
Also the bear. That comes with the lion:
"And the Philistine was" – as if to say, "I will trust in the Lord that the end of the Philistine will be like that of one of them," on account of his having blasphemed, etc.
Malbim
From this, too, he derived an a fortiori argument: Did he not there smite both the lion and the bear, which were two? Yet the Philistine with his strength is no more than as one of them. And even if you were to say that man, by virtue of his intellect and form, is more dangerous than a wild beast, he responded that since he had cursed the order of the living God, he had descended from his human rank to the rank of beast and cattle, possessing only physical strength. Just as he had overcome the lion and the bear by the power of the divine faculty of his soul, which by its nature dominates living creatures, so too will he overcome the predatory Philistine by this same power.
And David said: ‘Hashem that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David: ‘Go, and Hashem shall be with you.’
verse value 3313
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 83 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֗ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "go" (לֵ֔ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "He·delivered·me" (יַצִּילֵ֔נִי, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 257: and·said, this·and·he·said. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "delivered·me" (הִצִּלַ֜נִי), "bear" (הַדֹּ֔ב), "He·delivered·me" (יַצִּילֵ֔נִי). The root יד appears 3 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 316x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 7 words.
Rashi
The Lord who delivered me from the hand of the lion. I know that that matter did not happen to me in vain, but in the future I will come to something similar for the salvation of Israel. And I will rely upon it and go out. And this is one of two righteous men to whom He gave a hint, and they paid attention to understand the matter — David and Mordechai. As it is said (Esther 2:11): And every day Mordechai was walking before the courtyard, etc. He said: It did not happen in vain that this righteous woman was caught in the bed of that uncircumcised one, but she is destined to stand for Israel on a day of distress.
Ralbag
And when Saul heard what David had related to him, that he had overcome the lion and the bear, so that he already trusted in God, blessed be He, to assist him in the killing of the Philistine, because the latter had blasphemed the armies of the living God, then Saul granted him permission to go, and he trusted that God, blessed be He, would indeed be with him to defeat the Philistine.
Metzudat David
He will save me. If I cannot kill him:
Malbim
And David said. He added to strengthen his trust from another angle, from the aspect of God’s providence over those who fear Him. He said that even if my strength were weak against the lion and the bear, and against the Philistine, behold, the Lord who saved me from the lion and the bear through His providence will also save me now through a miracle. Accordingly, initially he spoke according to natural custom, and here he spoke according to providence and miracle. To this Saul agreed, because he trusted in God’s providence; therefore he said to him, “And the Lord be with you.”
And Saul clad David with his apparel, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
verse value 4530
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "him" (אֹת֖וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "upon·his·head" (עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 348: and·he·clothed, and·he·clothed. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "his·garments" (מַדָּ֔יו), "helmet" (ק֥וֹבַע), "body armour" (שִׁרְיֽוֹן). The root לבש appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "and·put" (root נתן, 69x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·his·head', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיַּלְבֵּ֨שׁ [and·he·clothed] (348) + שָׁא֤וּל [Saul] (337) + אֶת־דָּוִד֙ [David] (415) + מַדָּ֔יו [his·garments] (60) + וְנָתַ֛ן [and·put] (506) + ק֥וֹבַע [helmet] (178) + נְחֹ֖שֶׁת [copper] (758) + עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ [upon·his·head] (607) + וַיַּלְבֵּ֥שׁ [and·he·clothed] (348) + אֹת֖וֹ [him] (407) + שִׁרְיֽוֹן [body armour] (566) = 4530.
Rashi
David with his apparel. They were turned to be like the measure of David — after he was anointed with the anointing oil. Even though they were Sha'ul's, who was tall above all the people, from his shoulders and up (above, 9:2). And when Sha'ul saw so, he brought the evil eye upon him. And David sensed the matter.
Radak
"And he placed a helmet (kova) of bronze upon his head." [The word קובע here is] written with a qof and accented on the penultimate syllable (mil'eil). There are some books in which it is written with a kaf, but that is an error of the scribes, and the Masorah attests concerning it that it is with a qof. And thus is the Masorah upon it: "there is none other like it with a qof." And [Scripture] says "buckler and shield and helmet (kova)" — and that one is accented on the final syllable (milra), and both of them are written plene; and all other occurrences of the reading kova ("helmet") are with a kaf, all of them, except for these two, which are with a qof.
Metzudat Zion
His garments. His clothing, similarly (above 4:12): 'and his garments were torn'.
Malbim
(38-39) "And Saul clothed [David] with his armor." Initially, Saul thought that he would defeat him in the manner of war, for combatants should be equal in their weapons; for this reason he clothed him with armor, etc. "And he attempted to go": the meaning is that since David had never tried this before, he did not know whether he would be able to walk in such garments or not; therefore, at first he agreed to try walking. And he explains the reason: because he had not tried it, he initially thought he would be able to walk in them. Afterward, David said, "I cannot walk, for I have not tried this and am not accustomed to it."
And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he essayed to go, [but could not]; for he had not tried it. And David said to Saul: ‘I cannot go with these; for I have not tried them.’ And David put them off him.
verse value 4113
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 87 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "his·sword" (אֶת־חַ֠רְבּ֠וֹ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 480: to·go, to·go. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "to·his·garments" (לְמַדָּ֜יו), "not·he·had·tried" (לֹֽא־נִסָּה֒), "I·am·able" (אוּכַ֛ל). The root דוד appears 3 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·Saul" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'I·have·tried', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 3 words.
Rashi
And he was willing to go. Yonatan translated: and he was not willing to go. There are words that serve a sense and its opposite — like (Isaiah 10:33): 'lopping the bough'; (Psalms 52:7): 'and root you out of the land of the living.'
For he had not tried. (Targum:) for he was not trained.
For I have not tested. (Translation:) For there is no miracle in them — there is no praise of a miracle in this. Another explanation: 'Va'yoyal lelechet' — he wanted to go and to test. And when he saw that they were heavy upon him, he removed them.
Radak
"And he was willing to go." The Targum: "And he did not want to go, because he had not trained." One may also interpret it according to its plain sense: that he wanted to go with them but could not, because he had not tried walking in such weapons of war before. And so he said, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tried [them]." And the Targum renders "for I have not tried [them]" as "because there is no miracle in them" — meaning, they will not recognize the miracle that God will perform for me if I go in weapons of war. This is a homiletical (derash) reading, and it should not displace the plain sense [of the verse].
"To walk in these." With a qamats under the bet, and they are two in their masorah: with a qamats under the bet, this one, and "And that which we have written above, the Lord did not choose these."
Metzudat David
"And he was willing to go." He desired to go equipped with weapons of war.
"For he had not tested." Rather, it means that he had not tested, implying: he had never tested himself in going forth with weapons of war, and therefore he said, "I am not able," etc.
Metzudat Zion
And he was willing. And he wanted, similarly (Exodus 2:21): 'and Moses was willing'.
For he did not test. Rather, he did not test, and it is from the word 'testing' and 'examination'.
And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his scrip; and his sling was in his hand; and he drew near to the Philistine.
verse value 4664
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 87 letters. The shortest word is "them" (אֹ֠תָ֠ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "smooth·stone" (חַלֻּקֵֽי־אֲבָנִ֣ים, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 22: in·his·hand, in·his·hand. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "his·staff" (מַקְל֜וֹ), "smooth·stone" (חַלֻּקֵֽי־אֲבָנִ֣ים), "from·the·brook" (מִן־הַנַּ֡חַל). The root יד appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·Philistine" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "which·he·had" (root אשר, 229x in I Samuel); "in·his·hand" (root יד, 99x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root חלק ("smooth·stone") in I Samuel. First appearance of the root קלע ("and·his·sling") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·his·hand', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 2 words.
Rashi
Smooth stones. Fine and smooth stones.
And in the bag. (Targum:) and in his pouch.
Radak
Five smooth stones. “Smooth stones” means stones suitable for slinging, and so too does the Targum render it: “smooth stones.” In a homiletical sense, why five? One for the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He; one for the Name of Aaron; and three for the three Patriarchs. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Have I not been insulted and blasphemed? Shall I not take vengeance on him?” Aaron said: “Am I not the blood avenger? Shall I not take vengeance on him?” The Patriarchs said: “Is it not our duty to take vengeance on him, since he insulted and blasphemed the hosts of the living God, and sought to uproot our children and uproot their Torah, which is their source of life?” And the explanation of Aaron being the blood avenger refers to the blood of Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests that Goliath killed, as it is written in the Targum of the Tosefta to the verse above. And in another homiletical interpretation, “five smooth stones” teaches that David was zealous against Goliath on account of five things: because he mocked, blasphemed, and insulted the five books of the Torah, the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the memory of the three pillars of the world, namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
"And in the scrip." A vessel in which the slinger puts the stones that he gathers, to place in the pouch of the sling; therefore it is called a yalkut. And the Targum renders: and in his wallet — and it is a vessel of leather or of cloth in which travellers carry provisions for the way, and they call it in Arabic ta'laqah. And as to its saying "in the shepherds' vessels and in the scrip," when one of them would have sufficed him to put five sling-stones in — it is possible that he gathered more stones, which he put in the one vessel, and the five that he chose he put in the other.
Ralbag
And in the scrip. That is to say that he put them specifically in the scrip. It is the container into which shepherds place all their belongings, and for this reason it is called a Yalkut, because there they gather all the items it carries. And it has become widely known through this fame, due to the immense wonders of the Name, that a single youth defeated, without sword or spear, a mighty man like Goliath, as tall as cedars in height, with all the might of his weapons of war.
Metzudat David
"And he took his staff." To deceive the Philistine, so that he would think that he was approaching him to strike him with the staff, and thus he would not be on guard against the sling.
"And he chose for himself": The good and suitable ones for slinging them.
And in the pouch. The vessel: he placed them in the pouch, so that he would not notice the stones:
Metzudat Zion
Smooth stones. Smooth stones, he left them for his slinging and throwing.
And in the yalkut. It is like a sack made of leather, in which the shepherd places his things and what he gathers on the way of his walking, and therefore it is called a yalkut.
And his sling. It is the thing with which he throws the stone.
Malbim
"And he took." He relates the greatness of David's trust, that he took no weapon with him but stones and a staff, as one drives off beasts of prey — for the reviler was as one of them in his eyes.
And the Philistine came nearer and nearer to David; and the man that bore the shield went before him.
verse value 2298
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 39 letters. The shortest word is "going" (הֹלֵ֥ךְ, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·near" (וְקָרֵ֖ב). The root הלך appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·David" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "and·the·man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "and·went" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·David', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ [and·went] (66) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י [the·Philistine] (825) + הֹלֵ֥ךְ [going] (55) + וְקָרֵ֖ב [and·near] (308) + אֶל־דָּוִ֑ד [to·David] (45) + וְהָאִ֛ישׁ [and·the·man] (322) + נֹשֵׂ֥א [lifting] (351) + הַצִּנָּ֖ה [the·shield] (150) + לְפָנָֽיו [to·his·face] (176) = 2298.
Malbim
He was going and approaching, whereas concerning David it is written "and he drew near" (ויגש), for I have already explained the difference between "approaching" (qerivah) and "drawing near" (gishah). The term "approaching" applies to equals, whereas "drawing near" is used in a place where one must strengthen himself, such as before a great man or a tyrant, and the like. Therefore, since David was weak in comparison to the Philistine, it is written of him "and he drew near" (ויגש), while the Philistine, who was confident in his strength, is described with "approached" (qarav). And since he could not move quickly due to the weight of his armor, it is written that he went and approached slowly.
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance.
verse value 2457
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 49 letters. Notable word values: "and·he·despised·him" (וַיִּבְזֵ֑הוּ) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 2457 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "boy" (נַ֔עַר, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֛י, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·he·saw" (וַיִּרְאֶ֥ה), "and·red" (וְאַדְמֹנִ֖י), "sight" (מַרְאֶֽה). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "for·he·was" (root היה, 167x in I Samuel); "the·Philistine" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·he·despised·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיַּבֵּ֧ט [and·he·looked] (27) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֛י [the·Philistine] (825) + וַיִּרְאֶ֥ה [and·he·saw] (222) + אֶת־דָּוִ֖ד [David] (415) + וַיִּבְזֵ֑הוּ [and·he·despised·him] (36) + כִּֽי־הָיָ֣ה [for·he·was] (50) + נַ֔עַר [boy] (320) + וְאַדְמֹנִ֖י [and·red] (111) + עִם־יְפֵ֥ה [with·fair] (205) + מַרְאֶֽה [sight] (246) = 2457.
Radak
“And he was ruddy, and withal a fair man of countenance.” We have already explained that this is equivalent to saying “and he was fair.” And behold, it was not because he saw that he was a youth that he despised him; rather, why did he despise him? Because he was ruddy and withal a fair man of countenance. For he reasoned in his heart that it could not be that he was a man of war, for whoever is accustomed to go out to war will not maintain his beauty, on account of the toil and labor, and his being outdoors during times of war, exposed to frost, rain, and scorching heat.
Metzudat David
"For he was a youth, etc." This indicates that he had not been tested in battle, due to his few years and his indulgence in pleasure.
Metzudat Zion
With fair appearance. Like 'and fair of appearance'.
Malbim
"And the Philistine looked at him" means: Do not think that dread and fear fell upon the Philistine, and therefore he fell before David; rather, the opposite is the case. Upon seeing that he was a youth in years and handsome in appearance, which indicates that he was tender and delicate, and had not been tested in hard battles, only because he was ruddy did the boiling of his blood lift him up to that which is above his nature.
And the Philistine said to David: ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his god.
verse value 3793
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 62 letters. The shortest word is "dog" (הֲכֶ֣לֶב, 4 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 825: the·Philistine, the·Philistine. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "dog" (הֲכֶ֣לֶב), "that·you" (כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה), "coming·to·me" (בָֽא־אֵלַ֖י). The root פלשתי appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·David" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel). First appearance of the root כלב ("dog") in I Samuel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·staves', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙ [the·Philistine] (825) + אֶל־דָּוִ֔ד [to·David] (45) + הֲכֶ֣לֶב [dog] (57) + אָנֹ֔כִי [I] (81) + כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה [that·you] (436) + בָֽא־אֵלַ֖י [coming·to·me] (44) + בַּמַּקְל֑וֹת [with·staves] (578) + וַיְקַלֵּ֧ל [and·cursed] (176) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֛י [the·Philistine] (825) + אֶת־דָּוִ֖ד [David] (415) + בֵּאלֹהָֽיו [by·his·god] (54) = 3793.
Metzudat David
Am I a dog? Is it that I am a dog?
In "his god." In his saying, "the god of the Philistines shall slay you," and similarly:
Malbim
And the Philistine spoke first, thinking that the battle would be conducted in the manner of a single combat between warriors, as per his initial statement, as mentioned above (verses 8–9), and for this it is necessary that their weapons and armor be equal. And now, when he saw him without a sword or weapon, he knew that he did not come in this manner, but rather for the purpose of vengeance and to humiliate him. Regarding this, he said, “Am I a dog?” meaning that this is a great humiliation to me, and for this reason he cursed him for his insult.
And the Philistine said to David: ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.’
verse value 3986
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 52 letters. The shortest word is "come" (לְכָ֣ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "your·flesh" (אֶת־בְּשָׂ֣רְךָ֔), "beast" (וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "to·David" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "come" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·David', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 8 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֥אמֶר [and·said] (257) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י [the·Philistine] (825) + אֶל־דָּוִ֑ד [to·David] (45) + לְכָ֣ה [come] (55) + אֵלַ֔י [to·me] (41) + וְאֶתְּנָה֙ [and·I·will·give] (462) + אֶת־בְּשָׂ֣רְךָ֔ [your·flesh] (923) + לְע֥וֹף [to·fowl·of] (186) + הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם [heaven] (395) + וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥ת [beast] (483) + הַשָּׂדֶֽה [field] (314) = 3986.
Rashi
And to the beasts of the field. It is not the way of beasts to eat a man. David said: Already his mind has been torn apart — he is mine. David came and said to him: And I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines, etc., to the beasts of the earth.
Radak
“Come to me.” Since the Philistine was burdened in his gait due to the weight of the iron and bronze armor upon him, this is what is meant by “he walked and drew near to David,” namely, little by little, because of the load upon him. And when he saw him without armor and without weapons of war, he told him to come to him. Now, the text does not say here “and I will come to you,” but rather “Come to me.” From here we learn that the earth held him fast, and he was unable to move from his place.
“And the beasts of the field.” Just as it says “and the wild animals of the field,” for the wild animals eat flesh, but not the domesticated animals; and “wild animal” is included in the category of “beast,” as it says, “This is the beast that you may eat,” and immediately after it lists: “the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.” So too, “and the beasts of the land.” And there is no term “terrifying” that He uses regarding the wild animals that eat flesh. And likewise, “every beast of the land, you shall curse it.” In the midrashic interpretation: Since David saw that his words were flawed, in that he said “and the beasts of the land,” he said, “If there is meat in the city, this is my portion.” He said, “Today the Lord will enclose you in His hand,” etc., up to “the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the land.” It is not written here “and the beasts of the land,” but rather “and the wild animals of the land.” He said, “There is a God in Israel; He has done my deed and their deed.”
Malbim
And he said, “Come to me, for I am ashamed to approach you with a staff and stones, and I will give your flesh…”—because you came to mock me. (Not so if he had come to him with a sword and weapons, in the manner of the private combat of warriors; then the custom is that even a fallen hero is buried with great honor.)
Then said David to the Philistine: ‘You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Hashem of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
verse value 5893
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 86 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "going·in" (בָּ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·the·Philistine" (אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·in·javelin" (וּבְכִיד֑וֹן), "coming·to·you" (בָֽא־אֵלֶ֗יךָ), "you·have·taunted" (חֵרַֽפְתָּ). The root בוא appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 316x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·in·javelin', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 10 words.
Ralbag
“With the sword and with the spear and with the javelin.” This “javelin” is not the same “javelin” mentioned earlier as being between his shoulders; rather, it resembles a spear, as stated in the verse, “Not by the sword and not by the spear.” And behold, David demonstrated through his words to the Philistine that his trust was solely in God, blessed be He, and not in his own might.
Metzudat David
“Come to me with a sword.” This means: “All your trust is in the sword, etc.”
In the name of the Lord. With trust in the name of the Lord:
“Which you have blasphemed.” This refers back to the battle ranks of Israel:
Malbim
And David said, "Inform him that the reason he did not take with him a sword and spear is that he does not rely on the strength of flesh and blood or on natural means; rather, the weapon in his hand is the Name of the Lord whom he has blasphemed. By this Name he will defeat him through a miracle."
This day will Hashem deliver you into my hand; and I will smite you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel;
verse value 7617
Insights
Verse structure: 25 words, 112 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֨ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֛י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·I·will·strike·you" (וְהִכִּיתִ֗ךָ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 61: day, day. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "will·deliver·you" (יְסַגֶּרְךָ֩), "and·I·will·strike·you" (וְהִכִּיתִ֗ךָ), "and·I·will·remove" (וַהֲסִרֹתִ֤י). The root יום appears 2 times in this verse. 22 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 316x in I Samuel); "that" (root כי, 161x in I Samuel); "day" (root יום, 154x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·land', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 6 words.
Metzudat David
"And I will give the carcass." For when I strike you down, they will all flee and fall as corpses.
Metzudat Zion
He will deliver you. A matter of handing over, similarly (Amos 1:6): 'to deliver to Edom'.
Carcase. So it is called the body of the dead.
Malbim
"He said, 'Today,' meaning: I will not defeat you by my own strength, but rather the Lord will deliver you into my hand. And not only you, but also the entire camp of the Philistines will be delivered into the hand of one man who trusts in Him. And by this, I will gain two things: 1) All the nations of the land, who do not believe in the providence of the Lord, will recognize and know that there is a God for Israel."
and that all this assembly may know that Hashem saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is Hashem’S, and He will give you into our hand.’
verse value 2732
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 64 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·the·assembly" (כׇּל־הַקָּהָ֣ל, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "all·the·assembly" (כׇּל־הַקָּהָ֣ל), "He·saved" (יְהוֹשִׁ֣יעַ). The root כי appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 316x in I Samuel); "that·not" (root כי, 161x in I Samuel); "in·our·hand" (root יד, 99x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְיֵֽדְעוּ֙ [and·let·them·know] (96) + כׇּל־הַקָּהָ֣ל [all·the·assembly] (190) + הַזֶּ֔ה [this] (17) + כִּי־לֹ֛א [that·not] (61) + בְּחֶ֥רֶב [in·sword] (212) + וּבַחֲנִ֖ית [and·in·spear] (476) + יְהוֹשִׁ֣יעַ [He·saved] (401) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + כִּ֤י [for] (30) + לַֽיהֹוָה֙ [to·Hashem] (56) + הַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה [battle] (128) + וְנָתַ֥ן [and·He·will·give] (506) + אֶתְכֶ֖ם [you] (461) + בְּיָדֵֽנוּ [in·our·hand] (72) = 2732.
Metzudat David
"For not with the sword... For behold, they are not in my hand:"
"For the Lord has the battle." It is upon the Lord to wage war because you have taunted His people, and it is in His power to deliver you into our hands without the use of the sword.
Metzudat Zion
He will save. From the word 'salvation'.
Malbim
b) And all the congregation shall know, even the Israelites, who although they believe in Divine Providence, had until now thought that the Lord would save them through natural means; therefore they prepared swords, weapons, and warfare, so that according to their understanding, the battle is attributed to the human combatant, and the Lord merely tips the scales toward the side upon which He will manifest His providence. And now they shall know that it is not by sword and spear that the Lord will save, not through natural preparations, but rather that the battle belongs to the Lord alone; the entire battle is attributed to Him alone, and man need do nothing, for "He shall deliver you into our hands" without our needing arrows of the bow, shield, sword, or warfare at all.
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
verse value 4627
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֑ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 825: the·Philistine, the·Philistine. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "when·he·arose" (כִּי־קָ֣ם). The root פלשתי appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "and·it·shall·be" (root היה, 167x in I Samuel); "and·went" (root הלך, 133x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'David', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְהָיָה֙ [and·it·shall·be] (26) + כִּי־קָ֣ם [when·he·arose] (170) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י [the·Philistine] (825) + וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ [and·went] (66) + וַיִּקְרַ֖ב [and·approached] (318) + לִקְרַ֣את [to·meet] (731) + דָּוִ֑ד [David] (14) + וַיְמַהֵ֣ר [and·hastened] (261) + דָּוִ֔ד [David] (14) + וַיָּ֥רׇץ [and·ran] (306) + הַמַּעֲרָכָ֖ה [row] (340) + לִקְרַ֥את [to·meet] (731) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּֽי [the·Philistine] (825) = 4627.
Radak
And it came to pass when the Philistine arose. The matter is one of urging, like “Arise, go forth,” “Arise, walk to and fro.” Initially, he said to him, “Come to me,” and now, when he heard David’s words, his anger burned within him, and he hastened to go to him. And he went and approached, as we have explained, that he was heavy with the armor upon him, and he went little by little, and drew near to meet David.
Metzudat David
And he ran to the battle. Toward the Philistine battle line:
Malbim
"And it came to pass now that the Philistine arose to approach him, and David ran backward toward the side of the battle array, and he purposed that he should be over against him, that he might hit the mark:"
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.
verse value 4454
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 79 letters. Notable word values: "and·he·struck" (וַיַּ֥ךְ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֨ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "into·the·bag" (אֶל־הַכֶּ֗לִי), "and·he·slung" (וַיְקַלַּ֔ע), "in·his·forehead" (אֶל־מִצְח֑וֹ). The root איל appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "into·the·bag" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "upon·his·face" (root פנים, 93x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·his·forehead', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 6 words.
Rashi
And he fell on his face. He ought not to have fallen except on his back — for upon his forehead he was struck. But so that David not be pained to go and cut off his head — for David now gained twelve cubits and two spans, for his stature was six cubits and a span. He gained a full stature backward and a full stature forward (Midrash Tehillim).
Radak
“Upon his forehead.” This is akin to “on his forehead,” similar to the expression “and he made him king over Gilead, unto the mountains he hath not eaten”, where the preposition “over” is used in a locative sense. There are those who ask: How did the stone sink into his forehead, given that the bronze scale on his helmet covered his forehead? It is impossible that there was not a shield on his forehead, since he had protective gear covering his entire body. They respond that when the Philistine said, “I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens,” David looked upward, recalling the birds of the heavens, and the covering on his forehead slipped backward. Then David slung the stone and struck him on the forehead. This is an aggadic interpretation. Moreover, since David’s war with the Philistine was orchestrated by God, and the verse states that he struck the Philistine on his forehead, one should not ask how it happened, for nothing is impossible for God. It is possible that the stone passed through the shield on his forehead and sank into it. Similarly, it is stated in midrashic exposition: As soon as David threw the stone, it struck the bronze scale on his forehead and sank into it. This is one of the matters in which the Holy One, blessed be He, empowered the soft against the hard. Alternatively, it is possible that a small area was exposed at that spot, and by God’s will, the stone happened to strike that very place.
"And he fell on his face." According to the manner of one who is struck, unable to stand on his own, he fell on his face to the ground. In the way of interpretation: Why did he fall on his face? So that the mouth which blasphemed and reviled might be buried in the dust, as it is said, "They shall bury them together in the dust..." Another interpretation: Because Dagon, his god, was engraved upon his heart, to fulfill what is written, "I will lay your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols."
Ralbag
And behold, David struck him in his forehead in the place that was exposed, in such a way that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell like a dead man to the ground on his face. And after David finished him with the Philistine's spear, to kill him, he ran at full speed, and with the Philistine’s own sword he cut off his head, so that the matter of his death would be publicized, and the miracle would also be publicized to Israel. And for this reason David brought the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem.
Metzudat David
"to the vessel." The shepherds' vessel in which he placed the stones.
“On his forehead.” It entered through the copper helmet, pierced it, and sank into his forehead.
Metzudat Zion
And he slung. He threw the stone with the sling.
And it sank. From the word 'sinking'.
Malbim
And He sent, and attached to him the providence of the Lord: whether in that he hit the target on the first attempt, or in that he aimed at his forehead, or whether, if he had fallen due to the blow, he would have fallen backward. But the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell because of weakness; therefore he fell on his face.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
verse value 3359
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 55 letters. Notable word values: "and·he·struck" (וַיַּ֥ךְ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֤ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "from·the·Philistine" (מִן־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 61: stone, nothing. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "from·the·Philistine" (מִן־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙), "with·the·sling" (בַּקֶּ֣לַע), "stone" (וּבָאֶ֔בֶן). The root דוד appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "and·killed·him" (root מות, 62x in I Samuel); "and·he·struck" (root נכה, 52x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·killed·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֶּחֱזַ֨ק [and·strengthened] (131) + דָּוִ֤ד [David] (14) + מִן־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי֙ [from·the·Philistine] (915) + בַּקֶּ֣לַע [with·the·sling] (202) + וּבָאֶ֔בֶן [stone] (61) + וַיַּ֥ךְ [and·he·struck] (36) + אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י [the·Philistine] (1226) + וַיְמִתֵ֑הוּ [and·killed·him] (467) + וְחֶ֖רֶב [and·sword] (216) + אֵ֥ין [nothing] (61) + בְּיַד־דָּוִֽד [in·hand·of·David] (30) = 3359.
Radak
"With a sling and with a stone." When he was distant from him, [he threw] with a sling; when he drew near to him, [he threw] with a stone in his hand, without a sling.
Metzudat David
"And he prevailed." He overpowered the armed Philistine, and he had in his hand nothing but a sling and a stone.
And David had no sword in his hand, to cut off the head of the Philistine with it.
Malbim
Questions (50-51): What is the meaning of the verse’s statement, “and he put him to death” and “and he put him to death”?
And he strengthened himself, to say: Behold the greatness of the miracle, for with a sling and a stone he strengthened himself against this mighty and arrogant warrior, who was armed with iron and bronze, and with this he killed him. He means to say that he struck him a blow that was destined to result in death. And since there was still a breath of life in him, therefore:
And David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw that their mighty man was dead, they fled.
verse value 7552
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 87 letters. The shortest word is "David" (דָּ֠וִ֠ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·the·Philistine" (אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֜י, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·he·drew·it" (וַֽיִּשְׁלְפָ֤הּ), "from·her·razor" (מִתַּעְרָהּ֙), "and·he·killed·him" (וַיְמֹ֣תְתֵ֔הוּ). The root מות appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "to·the·Philistine" (root איל, 238x in I Samuel); "the·Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'his·head', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 5 words.
Radak
"And he stood over the Philistine." Like "upon the Philistine"; and likewise "and made him king over Gilead," "unto the mountains he hath not eaten."
"And slew him." He had already slain him before he stood over him — he slew him with the stones, as it says, "and there was no sword in the hand of David"; and when he stood over him he took his sword and cut off his head with it.
Metzudat David
"to the Philistine." The phrase "near him" refers to the fact that when he slung the stone, he stood at a distance.
"His sword." That of the Philistine:
And he put him to death. And he had already killed him with the sling, and now he cut off his head with his sword:
Metzudat Zion
And he drew it. He took it out, similarly (Judges 8:20): 'and the boy did not draw his sword'.
The sheath. It is the sword sheath, similarly (Ezekiel 21:35): 'return to its sheath'.
Malbim
(51-52) "And he ran," etc., "and slew him": that is to say, he completed his death (for this is the distinction between met and motet in the quadriliteral form, which denotes the completing of the death, as explained elsewhere). And we have already explained that this was not by way of a single combat between champions, and therefore the conditions were not kept that the Philistines should be servants; rather they fled, and Israel pursued after them and cast them down slain.
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
verse value 7072
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 98 letters. Notable word values: "and·Judah" (וִיהוּדָ֜ה) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 7072 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "valley" (גַ֔יְא, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistines" (אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים, 9 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·Philistines" (אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים), "until·you·come" (עַד־בּוֹאֲךָ֣), "valley" (גַ֔יְא). The root עד appears 3 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "man" (root איש, 201x in I Samuel); "until·you·come" (root בוא, 161x in I Samuel); "Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Ekron', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Metzudat David
And they shouted. A blast of joy and victory:
Metzudat Zion
And they shouted. From the word 'shout'.
Until you come to the ravine. Until you come to the ravine, and it is as if speaking to one who knows the place.
And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their camp.
verse value 3116
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 40 letters. The shortest word is "son" (בְּנֵ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "their·camp" (אֶת־מַחֲנֵיהֶֽם, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "from·chasing" (מִדְּלֹ֖ק), "and·they·plundered" (וַיָּשֹׁ֖סּוּ). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Philistines" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel); "Israel" (root ישראל, 102x in I Samuel); "son" (root בן, 69x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Philistines', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ [and·they·returned] (324) + בְּנֵ֣י [son] (62) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [Israel] (541) + מִדְּלֹ֖ק [from·chasing] (174) + אַחֲרֵ֣י [after] (219) + פְלִשְׁתִּ֑ים [Philistines] (860) + וַיָּשֹׁ֖סּוּ [and·they·plundered] (382) + אֶת־מַחֲנֵיהֶֽם [their·camp] (554) = 3116.
Rashi
From pursuing. From chasing — like (Genesis 31:36): 'you have hotly pursued after me.'
Metzudat David
And they spoiled. They trampled and plundered all that was in the place where the Philistine camp had stood:
Metzudat Zion
Pursuing. Chasing, similarly (Genesis 31:36): 'for you have chased after me'.
And they plundered. They trampled, or they plundered.
And David took the head of the philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
verse value 3338
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 44 letters. The shortest word is "thered" (שָׂ֥ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·his·armour" (וְאֶת־כֵּלָ֖יו, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·head·of" (אֶת־רֹ֣אשׁ), "Jerusalem" (יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם), "and·his·armour" (וְאֶת־כֵּלָ֖יו). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "and·he·brought·him" (root בוא, 161x in I Samuel); "the·Philistine" (root פלשתי, 124x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jerusalem', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיִּקַּ֤ח [and·took] (124) + דָּוִד֙ [David] (14) + אֶת־רֹ֣אשׁ [the·head·of] (902) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י [the·Philistine] (825) + וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּ [and·he·brought·him] (30) + יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם [Jerusalem] (586) + וְאֶת־כֵּלָ֖יו [and·his·armour] (473) + שָׂ֥ם [thered] (340) + בְּאׇהֳלֽוֹ [in·his·tent] (44) = 3338.
Radak
"And he brought him to Jerusalem." After he had brought him before Saul, as it is written, "And the head of the Philistine in his hand," and afterward he brought him in his hand through the cities of Israel, to announce the news to the women and the children, and to those who had not been in the battle, until they brought him to Jerusalem. And my master and father of blessed memory wrote that Nob, the city of the priests, is called Jerusalem, because there was the sword of the Philistine, as is explained.
“Thither in his tent.” The weapons of the Philistine he put in his tent, meaning that David brought them to his home, Bethlehem, for “tent” is used in place of “house,” as in “every man to his tents” and “to your tents, O Israel.” And in most cases, the term “tent” refers to the Tabernacle. In this camp, David had no tent, for he did not come there except on his father’s mission. Therefore, “in his tent” means in his house. And regarding the other vessels, it says, “not of the sword,” for the sword was in the Tent of Meeting in Nob, as written above: “wrapped in a cloth.” It was there as a memorial of this great miracle. And whoever came to the Tent of Meeting in Nob to sacrifice or to pray would see it and remember the miracle, give thanks to God, blessed be He, straighten his heart toward Him, and strengthen his trust in Him.
Metzudat David
“And he brought him to Jerusalem.” To inform the people.
Malbim
“And they brought him to Jerusalem” means that ultimately they brought him to Jerusalem. Initially, they brought him before Saul (as stated in verse 57), and afterward he toured with him through the cities of Israel (as stated in chapter 18, verse 6). From there, he returned with Saul to Gibeah of Saul, his city, and they brought him to Jerusalem, which was nearby. Although the Jebusite dwelt within Jerusalem at that time, I have already explained this (in Judges, chapter 1), that the Jebusite resided in the fortress, while the city itself was in the hands of Israel.
"And he put his armour in his tent." And as for what is said below (21:10), that the sword of Goliath was wrapped up in Nob the city of the priests — that is because it was afterwards given there as a memorial of the miracle.
And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host: ‘Abner, whose son is this youth?’ And Abner said: ‘As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell.’
verse value 6465
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 84 letters. The shortest word is "prince" (שַׂ֣ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·I·know" (אִם־יָדָֽעְתִּי, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 253: Abner, Abner. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·when·seeing" (וְכִרְא֨וֹת), "prince" (שַׂ֣ר), "the·host" (הַצָּבָ֔א). The root אבנר appears 3 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Abner', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 5 words.
Rashi
The son of whom is this boy? And did he not know him? Is it not written (above, 16:21): And he loved him very much, and he was his armor-bearer? Rather, he saw him conducting himself in the apparatus of kingship. Sha'ul said: If he comes from the family of Perets, he will be king — for the king breaks a fence to make for himself a way, and no one objects in his hand. And if he comes from the family of Zerach, he will be important. Doeg said to him: Until you ask if he comes from a family that he be worthy for kingship or not — ask if he is worthy to enter the assembly or not — for he comes from Ruth the Moabite. Abner said to him: We learned: an Ammonite male, not an Ammonite female. Doeg said to him: If so, a mamzer male, not a mamzer female. He said to him: Here it is said (Deuteronomy 23:5): Because they did not meet you with bread and with water. And it is not the way of a woman in this. He said to them: They ought to have sent men to meet men, and women to meet women. Abner was silenced. Sha'ul said to him: You ask, the son of whom is this youth. Above it is written 'the boy,' and here it is written 'the youth.' He said to him: This halachah was hidden from you — go and ask in the bet midrash — as it is in Yevamot (76b).
Radak
“Who is this youth’s father?” My master and father, of blessed memory, explained that when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine without fear, he asked Abner, “Who is this youth’s father?” That is to say, he wished to know whether Jesse, his father, had been a mighty man of valor, so that he could rely on the son’s strength; for if he were a hero, the son of a hero, he would add to his courage. But Abner did not know that Jesse was an old man in those days, as it is stated, “The man was old in his days when he came among the men.” And the interpretation is that Saul also knew about his father that he was a warrior, as it is stated, “This is Jesse, the father of David, who goes out with the host and comes in with the host.” Rather, Saul asked whether he was from the tribe of Peretz or from the tribe of Zerah, because he saw royal bearing in him, as it is written, “And Saul clothed David with his garments.” And it is taught that “his armor” means “according to his measure.” And it is written concerning Saul, “He was taller than any of the people from his shoulders up.” Therefore, he asked about him whether he was from Peretz or from Zerah. If he was from Peretz, he should be king, for the king breaks through a path and does as he pleases. If he was from Zerah, he should be a prominent person, a citizen (azrah), but he should not be king. Doeg said to him, “Until you ask about him whether he is fit for kingship or not, ask about him whether he is fit to enter the congregation or not, since he comes from Ruth the Moabite.” Abner said to him, “An Ammonite male, but not an Ammonite female; a Moabite male, but not a Moabite female.” Why? Because the reason for it is written in it: “For the matter that they did not meet you with bread and water on the way when you came out of Egypt.” A man’s way is to meet [people], but it is not a woman’s way to meet [people]. And if you were to say that they should have met men with men and women with women, behold, it is written, “All the glory of the king’s daughter is inward,” and it is written, “And they said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘Behold, in the tent.’”
Ralbag
"Whose son is this youth, Abner?" Many wonder how it is possible that Saul did not know whose son he was, when it has already been recounted above that Saul sent messengers to Jesse that David should abide with him. And it seems that the king, because of his many affairs and the multitude of those who came before him, could not know each one of them in particular. And it is clear from David's answer to him that Saul's question was only to learn who he was, so that it might be clear to him of what family he was — for he had already promised that he would give him his daughter to wife. And from this matter David was settled toward the kingship, for this was the cause that Saul set him over the men of war, and the excellence of his success became clear; and from this point they agreed to set him as king over them. And therefore thou findest that all the tribes of Israel said to him, "in times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that didst lead out and bring in Israel." Blessed be the Lord, to Whom deeds are counted.
Metzudat David
"And when Saul saw." From the time he came to fight with the Philistine.
“Son of whom is this lad?” Because of the evil spirit, he had forgotten his father’s name.
As your soul lives, I swear by the life of your soul, if I had known:
Malbim
The Questions (55-58): How did he ask, "Whose son are you?" without recalling that his father's name was Jesse, as stated above, "Send me your son," and how did Abner and all those standing there not know this? Why did he first say, "Whose son is this youth?" and then, "Whose son is this young man?"
"And when Saul saw..." — "Whose son is this youth?" Abner. The divine sages say: (to remove the difficulty regarding Saul’s inquiry about David’s father, since he already knew that he was the son of Jesse, as stated above in chapter 16): For when the divine light appears and its radiance breaks forth like the dawn upon a man of spirit, then he will be transformed into another person, for the ray of light is upon his face, and glory and splendor are before him. From this perspective, when David was clothed with the spirit of valor and divine radiance, Saul did not recognize him at that moment, and therefore inquired, saying, "Who is this man of spirit?" However, according to the simple meaning, after Saul had promised to give his daughter to the one who would defeat the Philistine, immediately upon David volunteering to fight him, it came to Saul’s mind that he would inevitably have to fulfill his vow and give him his daughter. Therefore, he immediately inquired about the honor of his father’s house, not to learn his name, for he knew that his father’s name was Jesse, but rather to learn his lineage and status. And he said, "Whose son is this youth?" Abner, meaning: If his father is of noble lineage, distinguished and of high standing, it is fitting that he should marry into the royal house. But Abner did not know the answer to this, for the honor of Jesse was not known at that time.
And the king said: ‘Inquire you whose son the stripling is.’
verse value 1348
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 25 letters. The shortest word is "ask" (שְׁאַ֣ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "whose·son·is·this" (בֶּן־מִי־זֶ֖ה, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "the·youth" (הָעָֽלֶם). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "king" (root מלך, 102x in I Samuel); "whose·son·is·this" (root בין, 67x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'king', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֖אמֶר [and·said] (257) + הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ [king] (95) + שְׁאַ֣ל [ask] (331) + אַתָּ֔ה [you] (406) + בֶּן־מִי־זֶ֖ה [whose·son·is·this] (114) + הָעָֽלֶם [the·youth] (145) = 1348.
Metzudat Zion
The young man. The youth, similarly (below 20:22): 'and if thus I say to the young man'.
Malbim
And he said, etc. “Inquire thou whose son this stripling is.” He relates that he was already greatly concerned for the honor of David. And although between him and Abner they called him by the name “youth” (na’ar), when he commanded Abner to inquire about him, he commanded him to say, “Whose son is this stripling?” For the term elem is more honorable than the term na’ar (for the term na’ar indicates one who is young in years, or one who is destined to serve or to be trained, who has not yet attained his proper status; not so the term elem, as stated in another place), in order that he might be honored in the eyes of the people.
And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
verse value 4720
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 60 letters. The shortest word is "David" (דָּוִ֗ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Philistine" (אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "and·when·returning" (וּכְשׁ֣וּב). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel); "and·he·brought·him" (root בוא, 161x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Saul', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּכְשׁ֣וּב [and·when·returning] (334) + דָּוִ֗ד [David] (14) + מֵֽהַכּוֹת֙ [from·striking] (471) + אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔י [the·Philistine] (1226) + וַיִּקַּ֤ח [and·took] (124) + אֹתוֹ֙ [him] (407) + אַבְנֵ֔ר [Abner] (253) + וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּ [and·he·brought·him] (30) + לִפְנֵ֣י [to·face·of] (170) + שָׁא֑וּל [Saul] (337) + וְרֹ֥אשׁ [and·head·of] (507) + הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖י [the·Philistine] (825) + בְּיָדֽוֹ [in·his·hand] (22) = 4720.
Malbim
(57–58) And when David returned... and Saul said to him: Upon his return, Saul then resolved in his heart to fulfill the marriage arrangement, according to his promise, and he asked him, “Whose son are you?”—his intent being also to learn of his father’s merit, honor, and lineage. However, David, who had not entertained the thought of seeking reward for his valor, as it is stated, “What can be done for a man like this?” as written there, nor did he seek to claim the king’s daughter, as it is stated (below 17:18), answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” He meant to say: This is my status and my father’s status—that he is your servant Jesse, meaning that he is the king’s servant and submits to his authority.
And Saul said to him: ‘Whose son are you, you young man?’ And David answered: ‘I am the son of your servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.’
verse value 2718
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 49 letters. Verse gematria: 2718 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "you" (אַתָּ֖ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "son·of·your·servant" (בֶּֽן־עַבְדְּךָ֥, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 257: and·said, and·said. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Samuel. Unique to this verse in I Samuel (hapax): "whose·son" (בֶּן־מִ֥י), "son·of·your·servant" (בֶּֽן־עַבְדְּךָ֥). The root אמר appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 418x in I Samuel); "David" (root דוד, 262x in I Samuel); "Saul" (root שאול, 226x in I Samuel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·boy', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר [and·said] (257) + אֵלָיו֙ [to·him] (47) + שָׁא֔וּל [Saul] (337) + בֶּן־מִ֥י [whose·son] (102) + אַתָּ֖ה [you] (406) + הַנָּ֑עַר [the·boy] (325) + וַיֹּ֣אמֶר [and·said] (257) + דָּוִ֔ד [David] (14) + בֶּֽן־עַבְדְּךָ֥ [son·of·your·servant] (148) + יִשַׁ֖י [Jesse] (320) + בֵּ֥ית [Beth-] (412) + הַלַּחְמִֽי [the·lehemite] (93) = 2718.
Radak
“Son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.” Explanation: “Son of a mighty man am I,” for my father was called “the Bethlehemite” for two reasons: on account of his place, Bethlehem, and on account of the fact that he was a man of war.
Rashi
Radak
Metzudat Zion
Malbim