1 Samuel 17:34
in 1 Samuel 17David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock,
KJV
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
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This verse in 1 Samuel 17
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThy servant kept his father’s sheep - He found it necessary to give Saul the reasons why he undertook this combat; and why he expected to be victorious. 1. I have courage to undertake it, and strength to perform it. 2. Both have been tried in a very signal manner: (1). A lion came upon my flock, and seized a lamb; I ran after him, he attacked me, I seized hold of him by his shaggy locks, smote and slew him, and delivered the lamb. (2). A bear came in the same way, and I attacked and slew him.
This site's exposition
there came a lion, and a bear
on 1 Samuel 17:34-37
David's argument is testimony, not bravado: the LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. Past deliverance is the ground of present faith, and the shepherd's unseen faithfulness in the wilderness turns out to have been the training of a king. Saul's blessing, Go, and the LORD be with thee, gives official leave with words whose weight Saul himself no longer carries.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
When David had been anointed by blessed Samuel before he came here, he had killed a lion and a bear without any weapons, as he himself told King Saul. Both the lion and the bear typified the devil, for they had been strangled by the …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And David said to Saul: Your servant was tending, etc. The Lord strengthens the weak in faith, calls unbelievers to faith, urging modestly that amidst the frailties of His humanity, by which He took on our pains, even the exalted aspects of His Divinity, by …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It was the praise of this humility that it came after he had the honour of a courtier, and the reward of it that it came before the honour of a conqueror. Before honour is humility. Now he had that opportunity of mediation and prayer, and other acts of devotion, which fitted him for what he was destined to more than all the military exercises of that inglorious camp could do.
He could not see a lamb in distress but he would venture his life to rescue it. This temper made him fit to be a king, to whom the lives of subjects should be dear and their blood precious ( Ps. lxxii. 14 ), and fit to be a type of Christ, the good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in his bosom ( Isa. xl.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And David said unto Saul,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
a lion, and a bear--There were two different rencontres, for those animals prowl alone. The bear must have been a Syrian bear, which is believed to be a distinct species, or perhaps a variety, of the brown bear.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The narrative does not make it certain whether the lion and the bear came on one and the same, or on two different occasions. If it was on one occasion, the probability would be that the bear, having seized a lamb and carrying it off, a lion appeared to dispute the prize with the bear, or with David after he had taken it from the bear, and that David killed first one and then the other.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שָׁא֔וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| רֹעֶ֨ה | roeh | shepherding | H7462 → | 177 times |
| הָיָ֧ה | hayah | he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֛ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| לְאָבִ֖יו | leaviv | for father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| בַּצֹּ֑אן | batzon | <in> the flock | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבָ֤א | uva' | and it came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הָֽאֲרִי֙ | haari | the lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| הַדּ֔וֹב | hadov | the bear | H1677 → | 12 times |
| וְנָשָׂ֥א | venasa' | and it carried off | H5375 → | 656 times |
| שֶׂ֖ה | seh | a sheep | H7716 → | 47 times |
| מֵהָעֵֽדֶר׃ | mehaeder | from the flock | H5739 → |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שָׁא֔וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
רֹעֶ֨הshepherding
roehH7462 →177 times
הָיָ֧הhe was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
עַבְדְּךָ֛servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
לְאָבִ֖יוfor father his
leavivH1 →1212 times
בַּצֹּ֑אן<in> the flock
batzonH6629 →274 times
וּבָ֤אand it came
uva'H935 →2568 times
הָֽאֲרִי֙the lion
haariH738 →80 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
הַדּ֔וֹבthe bear
hadovH1677 →12 times
וְנָשָׂ֥אand it carried off
venasa'H5375 →656 times
שֶׂ֖הa sheep
sehH7716 →47 times
מֵהָעֵֽדֶר׃from the flock
mehaederH5739 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 121.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).