Read 1 Samuel 17 and 18 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions for today’s chapters are:
1 Sam 17:1-11 {p} Goliath, a giant of the Philistines (9 ft 6 in) defies the armies of Israel
1 Sam 17:12-14 {s} David, the youngest son of Jesse / the three oldest sons of Jesse who followed Saul
1 Sam 17:15-16 {p} David went to & fro from Saul to his father / Goliath taunted Israel 40 days
1 Sam 17:17-19 {s} Jesse sent David with provisions for his sons and their captain
1 Sam 17:20-25 {p} David heard the taunts + how Saul would reward the man who kills the giant
1 Sam 17:26-33 {s} Both David’s older brother and Saul despise David’s youth
1 Sam 17:34-36 {s} David assures Saul he has killed both lion and bear who sought his father’s sheep
1 Sam 17:37a {s} The LORD who delivered me from the lion + bear will deliver me from the Philistine
1 Sam 17:37b-44 {s} David disdains Saul’s armor / Goliath disdains David’s youth and taunts him
1 Sam 17:45-47 {s} David prophesied Goliath’s defeat, so that the nations would know there is a God in Israel
1 Sam 17:48-54 {s} David prevailed over Goliath with a sling + stone / Israel prevailed over the Philistines
1 Sam 17:55-56 {s} Saul inquires whose son David is
1 Sam 17:57-18:5 {p} Saul took David from his father + set him over his men of war
1 Sam 18:6-9 {s} The women extol Saul and David / Saul eyed David jealously from that day forward
1 Sam 18:10-13 {s} Saul’s first attempt to kill David / he removed him from his presence
1 Sam 18:14-16 {p} David behaved wisely + the Lord was with him/ Saul feared him + the people loved him
1 Sam 18:17 {s} Saul’s second attempt to kill David, in warfare with the Philistines
1 Sam 18:18-27 {s} David and the daughters of Saul / his third attempt to kill David, in the matter of the dowry
1 Sam 18:28-29 {p}The Lord was with David + Saul feared him even more + Saul made himself David’s enemy
1 Sam 18:30 {s} David behaved more wisely than all Saul’s servants, so that his name was greatly esteemed
The strong themes:
1 Sam 17:1-11 {p} Goliath, a giant of the Philistines (9 ft 6 in) defies the armies of Israel
1 Sam 17:12-16 {s+p} David, the youngest/ the three oldest did not confront Goliath 40 days
1 Sam 17:17-15 {s+p} Jesse sent David to the camp + he heard the taunts + what will be the man’s reward
1 Sam 17:26-18:5 {sx7+p} David’s youth despised/ his faith + victory/ exalted over the men of war
1 Sam 18:6-16 {s+s+p} The love of the people for David/ The jealousy + fear of Saul for David
1 Sam 18:17-29 {s+s+p} Saul’s attempts to kill David/ David’s marriage/ Saul made himself David’s enemy
The chiastic structure from 1 Sam 17:1-18:5:
1a) 1 Sam 17:1-31, Goliath, the Philistine’s champion + the son of Jesse + behaved wisely + was disdained:
1) 1 Sam 17:1-11 {p} Goliath, the champion of the Philistines;
1.1) 1 Sam 17:4-10, Goliath, a giant of Gath, defied the armies of the living God;
1.2) 1 Sam 17:11 {p} When Israel heard the Philistine, they were dismayed + greatly afraid;
2) 1 Sam 17:12-16 {s+p} David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite;
3) 1 Sam 17:17-20, David went where Jesse sent him, and behaved wisely;
1a) 1 Sam 17:17-18, Jesse tasked David with bringing provisions for his brothers at the camp;
central axis) 1 Sam 17:19 {s} The men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines;
2a) 1 Sam 17:20a, David rose early, made provision for the sheep + went as Jesse had commanded him;
4) 1 Sam 17:20b-31, David was disdained and reproached in his brother’s sight;
1a) 1 Sam 17:20b-24, When David came to the camp, he heard the words of Goliath the Philistine;
1b) 1 Sam 17:25 {p} The reward which Saul shall give to the man who kills the giant;
1c) 1 Sam 17:26-27, David asked what reward, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine + they answered him;
central axis) 1 Sam 17:28-29, Eliab disdained and reproached David without a cause;
2c) 1 Sam 17:30a, David turned toward another and asked the same thing;
2b) 1 Sam 17:30b, These people answered him as the first ones did;
2a) 1 Sam 17:31, The words which David spoke were heard + they reported them to Saul + he sent for him;
1b) 1 Sam 17:32-37, David’s faith in YHVH that He will deliver the Philistine into his hand:
1a) 1 Sam 17:32-33 {s} Saul to David: You are not able to go against this Philistine;
1b) 1 Sam 17:34-36a, David: Your servant has killed both lion and bear while keeping the sheep;
central axis) 1 Sam 17:36b {s} “This uncircumcised Philistine will be the same, since he has defied the living God;”
2b) 1 Sam 17:37a {s} David: YHVH who delivered me from both lion and bear will deliver me from the Philistine;
2a) 1 Sam 17:37b, Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
1c) 1 Sam 17:38-40a, David rejected Saul’s armor, but took smooth stones and his sling;
1d) 1 Sam 17:40b-41, And he drew near to the Philistine + the Philistine came and drew near to David;
1e) 1 Sam 17:42-43, The Philistine disdained David for his youth + cursed him by his gods;
1f) 1 Sam 17:44 {s} Philistine’s boast: David’s flesh will be food for the birds + beasts;
central axis) 1 Sam 17:45, Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of YHVH of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied;”
2f) 1 Sam 17:46, David’s prophecy: YHVH will deliver you into my hand/ Philistines food for the birds + beasts;
2e) 1 Sam 17:47 {s} David: All shall know that YHVH does not save with sword + spear/ He will prevail over you;
2d) 1 Sam 17:48, When the Philistine drew near to meet David, David ran and hurried to meet him;
2c) 1 Sam 17:49, David slung a stone + struck the Philistine in his forehead + he fell to the earth;
2b) 1 Sam 17:50-51, David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling + stone/ killed him with his own sword;
2a) 1 Sam 17:51b-18:5, David, the Israelites’ champion, son of Jesse + behaved wisely + was accepted:
1) 1 Sam 17:51b-54 {s} David, the champion of the Israelites;
2.2) 1 Sam 17:51b, And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
2.1) 1 Sam 17:52-54 {s} Israel prevailed over the Philistines to Ekron/ David + the head of the giant;
2) 1 Sam 17:55-18:4, David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite:
1a) 1 Sam 17:55, Saul inquired of Abner whose son David was;
1a central axis) 1 Sam 17:56 {s} So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is;”
2a) 1 Sam 17:57-58a, Abner brought David/ Saul inquired of David whose son he was;
central axis) 1 Sam 17:58b, So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite;”
1a) 1 Sam 18:1, Jonathan knit to David/ Jonathan loved him as his own soul;
2a central axis) 1 Sam 18:2, Saul took him + no longer allowed him to return to his father;
2a) 1 Sam 18:3-4, Jonathan + David made a covenant/ Jonathan loved him as his own soul;
3) 1 Sam 18:5a, So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely;
4) 1 Sam 18:5b {p} Saul set David over the men of war/ he was accepted in the sight of all the people.
David is a type of Messiah in Scripture, and the teaching tool of the signs of Messiah are present in these chapters. One of the signs of Messiah is life from certain death, and this is exactly what David experienced. His death seemed certain, but instead he triumphed over the enemies of Israel, just as Messiah did and does!
Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, “a man of war from his youth,” standing at 9 ft. 6 in. tall, fully armored and weaponed, is contrasted with David, who becomes the champion of the Israelites, a youth of normal height, with no armor and no weapons but his shepherd’s sling. Truly, the arm of flesh fails when the battle is the LORD’s. David’s faith in the covenant with the LORD God plays a central role. Why does he keep referring to Goliath as “this uncircumcised Philistine?” The giant, no matter how big he was, was not in covenant with the LORD God, Creator of heaven and earth, as David and all Israel was. Apparently David was the only Israelite who remembered the significance of Abraham’s covenant.
The three oldest sons of Jesse are likewise contrasted with the youngest son of Jesse. The oldest sons had left their elderly father and followed Saul and the army. Hmmm. David, the youngest son, kept the care of his father’s concerns, even after Saul tapped him to play his harp and soothe him. He went back and forth from his father to Saul. It is not so strange that Saul didn’t remember whose son David was. I am sure the harp-player was just thought of as another servant, whose personal details Saul did not care to know.
Furthermore, the oldest sons, especially Eliab the firstborn, were rather proud of their soldierly life, and he disdained David for keeping the sheep, which it seems he thought a cowardly career. However, for all his exalted estimation of himself and his bravado, he did not confront Goliath for the 40 days the giant had been challenging Israel. The first day David arrived in camp, and the first day he heard the giant’s taunts, that was the day of the giant’s death at David’s hands. This must the LORD’s way of saying, watch what you esteem and what you despise!
The structure of the 2nd element in the 2a pair is my first encounter with such. The central axis’ within the structure pair, and become the narrative elements from which the structure is made.
Chapter 18 seems to be showing how David’s family is exchanged, but not from his own agency. He went from doing his father’s bidding to doing Saul’s bidding, since Saul no longer allowed him to return home. Saul became his new father (-in-law, however, a dangerous one as he sought David’s life). His brother Eliab despised him, but his new brother-in-law Jonathan loved him as his own soul, and no wonder; Jonathan and David were two peas in a pod in their strong faith in the LORD God of Israel. ♥
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