1
Samuel 17:1-49
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- Reading the Text:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
- Historical References, Commentary and Comparative
Texts:
- "War Against Evil," Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit.
- Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
- From the Geneva Notes.
- "Here Satan proves David's faith, by the infidelity of Saul."
- From
Matthew Henry's
Commentary.
- "The security and presumption of fools destroy them. Nothing can excel the humility, faith, and piety which appear in David's words."
- From
Wesley's
Notes.
- "These arms in themselves were contemptible, yet chosen by David; because he had no skill to use other arms; because he had inward assurance of the victory, even by these weapons; and because such a conquest would be more honourable to God, and most shameful, and discouraging to the Philistines."
- From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- "When the two champions met, they generally made each of them a speech, and sometimes recited some verses, filled with allusions and epithets of the most opprobrious kind, hurling contempt and defiance at one another. This kind of abusive dialogue is common among the Arab combatants still. David's speech, however, presents a striking contrast to the usual strain of these invectives. It was full of pious trust, and to God he ascribed all the glory of the triumph he anticipated."
- Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
-
Commentary, 1 Samuel 17:[1a, 4-11, 19-23] 32-49, Ralph W. Klein,
Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
- "The lectionary's desire to include the story of David and Goliath in the Sunday lessons is made difficult by the length of the story in the Bible."
-
"'After He Killed Him, He Cut Off His Head': David, Goliath, and Sacred
Violence,"
- "Sometimes the connection between religion and violence is tenuous, sometimes it is explicit. Sacred terror is almost always complex and bound up with other causes (social, historical, economic, cultural, political, etc). But at the end of the day we must admit that there is far too much violence in the world that is fomented with a specifically religious rationale, motivation, or justification. Christians should commit ourselves to do whatever we can to stop it."
-
"Texts
of Terror and the Enemies of God: What Should We Do When Religion Becomes
Evil?"
- "...we should not remain silent when we see attempts to legitimize sacred violence, but instead name it for what it is. We should learn the warning signs that religion has become evil and evil has become religious..."
- 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, Pentecost 3, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
-
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49, Pentecost 3,
The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common
Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson,
Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne,
Australia.
- "...this story is not just about David?s skill and gifts. He is one with whom the Lord is present (16:18). Moreover, Saul mentions that it has been the Lord who actually has saved David, and will again (17:37). This is the point of the story."
-
"David
and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-58)," by Robert Deffinbaugh at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
- "As David risks his life to rescue the sheep under his care, God rescues him."
-
Commentary, 1 Samuel 17:[1a, 4-11, 19-23] 32-49, Ralph W. Klein,
Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
- Articles & Background:
- "Young
David was Lonely after He Slew Goliath,"
David C. Jacobson, Jewish Heritage Online Monthly, January 2000.
- "The biblical David triumphantly brought the head that he had severed from Goliath's body to King Saul as concrete proof of the victory he had accomplished. The David of the poem, however, does not know what to do with Goliath's head, which he sees as "superfluous." Indeed, as the speaker notes, David realizes that in modern times there are no more David-like heroes, because the celebration of victory in the unselfconscious manner of David in biblical times is no longer possible."
- "Beyond Just War and Pacifism," Walter Wink. Chapter 11 from Engaging the Powers, 1984. At Progressive Christian Witness, Pacific School of Religion.
- "David the Man: The Construction of Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible," David J.A. Clines, 1995.
- "Confused
Language as a Deliberate Literary Device in Biblical Hebrew
Narrative," Gary A. Rendsburg, Journal of Hebrew Scripture
Volume 2: Article 6 (1999).
- "I propose an English rendering of 1 Sam 17:38 such as ?Saul clothed David in his body-suit, then he even placed a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with a breastplate,? with the highlighting weqatal verb indicated by the expression ?then he even placed?; or more radically, ?Saul clothed David in his body-suit, then placed he a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with a breastplate,? with the inverted word order ?then placed he? replicating the most unusual presence of the Hebrew weqatal form."
- Stones from Jewish Heritage OnLine Magazine. Ancient and contemporary articles, commentary, and exposition, Biblical to modern.
- "Young
David was Lonely after He Slew Goliath,"
David C. Jacobson, Jewish Heritage Online Monthly, January 2000.
-
Recommended articles
from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are
linked below.
ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of
selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices.
- Auld, A. Graeme, and Craig Y.S. Ho, "The Making of
David and Goliath," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament,
1992.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Beck, John A., "David and Goliath, a Story of Place:
The Narrative-Geographical Shaping of 1 Samuel 17," Westminster
Theological Journal, 2006.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Bernat, David,
"Biblical WASFS beyond Song of Songs," Journal for the Study
of the Old Testament, 2004.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Bodner, Keith,
"Eliab and the Deuteronomist," Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament, 2003.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Ceresko, Anthony R., "A Rhetorical Analysis of
David's 'Boast' (1 Samuel 17:34-37): Some Reflections of Method," The
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1985.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - DeVries, Simon J., "David's Victory over the
Philistine as Saga and as Legend," Journal of Biblical Literature,
1973.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Finkelstein, Israel,
"The Philistines in the Bible: A Late-Monarchic Perspective," Journal
for the Study of the Old Testament, 2002.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- George, Mark K.,
"Yhwh's
Own Heart," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2002.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Hays, J. Daniel,
"Reconsidering the Height of Goliath," Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Prince, Robert,
"Top Ten Preaching Texts from 1 Samuel," Review and Expositor,
2002. (Section begins on page 214.)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Vasholz, Robert I, "The Patriarchs and the Philistines,"
Presbyterion, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Yadin, Azzan, "Goliath's Armor and Israelite
Collective Memory," Vetus Testamentum, 2004.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Auld, A. Graeme, and Craig Y.S. Ho, "The Making of
David and Goliath," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament,
1992.
- Reviews:
- Review: Stanley Isser, The Sword of Goliath: David in Heroic Literature. Scholars Press, 2003. Review by Peter D. Micall in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2004.
- Sermons:
- "Five Smooth Stones," Samuel Wells, Faith and Leadership, 2010.
- "The Goliath Factor," John Jewell, 2000.
- With Children:
-
"David and
Goliath," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons),
coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
- "David & Goliath," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
- "David & Goliath," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
- "David and Goliath," online computer java-based coloring pages from Grace Baptist Church of Feeding Hill.
-
"David and
Goliath," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons),
coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
- Drama:
- "David and Goliath (well....sort of)," Janelle S. Ponte, dramatix.
- "Operation Tall Justice," Glenn A. Hascall, dramatix.
- "Li'l David," J'son M. Lee, dramatix.
- Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
- Clip Art: David and Goliath, Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld woodcuts, World Mission Collection, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
- Goliath Clip Art, Goliath Clip Art, Philistines, Crossmap ClipArt.
- Hymns and Music:
- Hymns with Scripture Allusions: 1 Samuel 17:37. The Cyber Hymnal.
- Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
- Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
- Study Links and Resources for the Book of 1 Samuel
