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1 Samuel 17:32

in 1 Samuel 17

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

KJV

And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

This verse in 1 Samuel 17

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him,.... The Philistine, though so gigantic, mighty, and blustering: this he said within himself, so Kimchi; as David perceived the hearts of most, if not all, did, since none dared to go out and fight him, but on the contrary fled from him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine; and therefore there need be no thought, care, or concern to look out for another man.

This site's exposition

Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul

on 1 Samuel 17:31-33

David's words travel up the chain of command because no one else in the camp is saying anything like them. Saul's objection is arithmetic, "You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth," and by the camp's arithmetic Saul is right. The chapter is built to show that the camp's arithmetic is the wrong ledger.

This site's exposition

Your servant will go and fight him

John Gill reports the medieval Jewish commentator David Kimchi, who read the first words as spoken within David himself after he saw every heart in the camp fail. To Saul he offers himself as your servant. The offer answers the terms of verse 9, one man to fight for all.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

To get clear of the objection Saul made against his undertaking. "Alas!" says Saul, "thou hast a good heart to it, but art by no means an equal match for this Philistine. To engage with him is to throw away a life which may better be reserved for more agreeable services.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And David said - This properly connects with the eleventh verse.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שָׁא֔וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • יִפֹּ֥לit fall

    yipolH5307 →435 times

  • לֵב־[the] heart of

    lev-H3820 →595 times

  • אָדָ֖םanyone

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • עָלָ֑יוon him

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • עַבְדְּךָ֣servant your

    ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times

  • יֵלֵ֔ךְhe will go

    yelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • וְנִלְחַ֖םand he will fight

    venilchamH3898 →177 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֥יthe Philistine

    hapelishtiH6430 →287 times

  • הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 3:6

    I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side.

    it leads to

    • Romans 8:31

      What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 27:1–3

      The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?

    • Psalms 118:10–12

      All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

    • Psalms 23:4

      Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

    • 2 Kings 6:15–17

      When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master,…

  • Through

    Isaiah 35:4

    Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

    it leads to

    • James 5:7–9

      Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

    • Isaiah 41:10–14

      Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…

    • Zephaniah 3:16–17

      On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.