1 Samuel 17:1-11

1 Samuel 17:1-11

[1] Now the Philistines  gathered together  their armies  to battle,  and were gathered together  at Shochoh,  which belongeth to Judah,  and pitched  between Shochoh  and Azekah,  in Ephesdammim.  [2] And Saul  and the men  of Israel  were gathered together,  and pitched  by the valley  of Elah,  and set the battle  in array  the Philistines.  [3] And the Philistines  stood  on a mountain  on the one side, and Israel  stood  on a mountain  on the other side: and there was a valley  [4] And there went out  a champion  out of the camp  of the Philistines,  named  Goliath,  of Gath,  whose height  was six  cubits  and a span.  [5] And he had an helmet  of brass  upon his head,  and he was armed  with a coat  of mail;  and the weight  of the coat  was five  thousand  shekels  of brass.  [6] And he had greaves  of brass  upon his legs,  and a target  of brass  between his shoulders.  [7] of his spear  was like a weaver's  beam;  and his spear's  head  weighed six  hundred  shekels  of iron:  and one bearing  a shield  went  before  [8] And he stood  and cried  unto the armies  of Israel,  and said  unto them, Why are ye come out  to set your battle  in array?  am not I a Philistine,  and ye servants  to Saul?  choose  you a man  for you, and let him come down  to me. [9] If he be able  to fight  with me, and to kill  me, then will we be your servants:  but if I prevail  against him, and kill  him, then shall ye be our servants,  and serve  us. [10] And the Philistine  said,  I defy  the armies  of Israel  this day;  give  me a man,  that we may fight  together.  [11] When Saul  and all Israel  heard  those words  of the Philistine,  they were dismayed,  and greatly  afraid. 

What does 1 Samuel 17:1-11 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Elah (Oak) Valley is an S-shaped valley just south of the Sorek Valley, where Samson earlier lived. It runs east and west parallel to it. Socoh stood to the east and Azekah to the west. Some authorities believe Ephesians -dammim stood west of Socoh and south of Azekah, but its location is debated. Gath was7 miles to the west and was the closest Philistine town.
"That Saul now came to meet the Philistines, even at the west end of the Elah Valley-and so before the enemy could penetrate Israelite country very far-shows that he had not given up in his rule just because he had been rejected. As far as he was concerned, apparently, he was still king and he was going to carry on as though nothing had changed." [1]
Goliath was apparently9 feet9 inches tall. Another view is that he was6 feet9 inches tall. [2] He was probably a descendant of the Anakim who had moved to Philistia after Joshua drove them out of Hebron ( Joshua 11:21-22). Five thousand shekels" weight equals125 pounds ( 1 Samuel 17:5). Goliath"s spearhead weighed15 pounds ( 1 Samuel 17:7), about the weight of a standard shot-put. This is an unusually long description of an individual for the Old Testament. The writer evidently wanted to impress Goliath"s awesome power and apparent invulnerability on the readers so we would appreciate David"s great courage and faith.
The Philistines proposed a battle in which two representative champions from Israel and Philistia would duel it out, a not uncommon method of limiting war in the ancient world (cf2Samuel2). [3] However, the Israelites had no one who could compete with Goliath physically. That was the only dimension to the conflict that Saul and his generals saw. Since Saul was the tallest Israelite and the king, he was the natural choice for an opponent. However, as earlier ( 1 Samuel 14:1-2), Saul was staying in the background when he should have been leading the people.