King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 17
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Now the gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and , in Ephes–dammim. And and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the . 3And the stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the , named , of , whose height was six and a . 5And 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 of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 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 , and ye servants to ? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 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 us. And the said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When and all Israel heard those words of the , they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. Now was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth–lehem–judah, whose name was ; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of . And the three eldest sons of went and followed to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were , and next unto him , and the third . And was the youngest: and the three eldest followed . But went and returned from to feed his ’s sheep at Beth–lehem. And the drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. And said unto his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 19Now , and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the . And rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the had put the battle in array, army against army. And left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the of , by name, out of the armies of the , and spake according to the same words: and heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his ’s house free in Israel. And spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this , and taketh away the from Israel? for who is this , that he should defy the armies of the living ? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. And his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and ’s was kindled against , and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in ? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine ; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. And when the words were heard which spake, they rehearsed them before : and he sent for him. And said to , Let no man’s fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this . And said to , Thou art not able to go against this to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34And said unto , Thy servant kept his ’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and it out of his : and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living . said moreover, that me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will me out of the hand of this . And said unto , Go, and be with thee. 38And armed with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And girded his upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And said unto , I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And put them off him. And he took his in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a ’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the . 41And the came on and drew near unto ; and the man that the shield went before him. And when the looked about, and saw , he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the said unto , Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the by his gods. And the said to , Come to me, and I will give thy unto the fowls of the air, and to the of the field. Then said to the , Thou comest to me with a , and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of of hosts, the of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a in Israel. And all this shall know that saveth not with and spear: for the battle is ’s, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass, when the arose, and came and drew nigh to meet , that hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the . And put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon to the earth. So prevailed over the with a sling and with a stone, and smote the , and slew him; but there was no in the hand of . Therefore ran, and stood upon the , and took his , and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and his head therewith. And when the saw their champion was , they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the , until thou come to the valley, and to the of . And the wounded of the fell down by to , even unto , and unto . And the returned from chasing after the , and they spoiled their tents. And took the head of the , and brought it to ; but he put his armour in his tent. And when saw go forth against the , he said unto , the captain of the host, , whose son is this youth? And said, As thy liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 56And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. And as returned from the slaughter of the , took him, and brought him before with the head of the in his hand. And said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And answered, I am the son of thy servant the Beth–lehemite.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.