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1 Samuel 17:44

in 1 Samuel 17

“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field.

KJV

And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 17

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): " Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, it will be a tender and delicate feast for them." Thus the security and presumption of fools destroy them. How very pious David was. His speech savours nothing of ostentation, but God is all in all in it,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And the Philistine said to David, come to me,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Come to me, and I will give thy flesh - He intended, as soon as he could lay hold on him, to pull him to pieces.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖יthe Philistine

    hapelishtiH6430 →287 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • דָּוִ֑דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לְכָ֣הcome !

    lekhahH1980 →1546 times

  • אֵלַ֔יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • וְאֶתְּנָה֙so let me give

    veetenahH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בְּשָׂ֣רְךָ֔flesh your

    besarekhaH1320 →270 times

  • לְע֥וֹףto [the] bird[s] of

    leofH5775 →

  • הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥תand to [the] animal[s] of

    ulevehematH929 →

  • הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃ סthe field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

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

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 17:46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.4 worksRevelation 19:18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”4 worksJeremiah 34:20I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.3 worksProverbs 30:17As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.3 worksEzekiel 28:9–10Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.2 works1 Kings 20:10–11Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”2 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
Proverbs 18:12Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.2 works1 Kings 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”2 worksGenesis 40:19Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”2 worksGenesis 19:9“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.2 works2 Kings 18:23Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!2 works2 Samuel 21:10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.2 worksEzekiel 29:5I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.2 worksEzekiel 39:17–20And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.1 worksEcclesiastes 9:11–12I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.1 worksJeremiah 9:23This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.1 worksEzekiel 28:2“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.1 works

The walk

5 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

    Proverbs 18:12

    Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 15:33

      The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

    • 1 Peter 5:5

      Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

    • Proverbs 16:18

      Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

    • Ezekiel 28:2

      “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of…

    • Proverbs 11:2

      When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 17 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 17 →