When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face.
Parallel Translations
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When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face.
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And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
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And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 17:42 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 16:12 He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
- 1 Samuel 17:33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
- Psalms 123:3-4 Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
- Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
- 2 Corinthians 11:27-29 in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
- 1 Kings 20:18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
- 2 Kings 18:23-24 Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
- Nehemiah 4:2-4 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” “Hear, our God; for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 17:42 And when the Philistine looked about, and…
1Sa 17:42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was [but] a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
Ver. 42. For hewas but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.] No son of Mars, {a} hardened and habituated in feats of chivalry, but some effeminate Adonis he took him for, a knight of Venus rather than Bellona, fitter for a canopy than a camp, for language than a lance: cuius bella, labella; spicula, pocula; spolia, dolia; scutum, scortum; stratagemata, tragemata.
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{a} Militia est operis altera digna tui.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Not having so much as the countenance of a…
Not having so much as the countenance of a martial person.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David,…
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him,.... He looked about for his antagonist, to take a view of him, what sort of a man he was, expecting to see one much like himself; but observing a puny young man, he despised him in his heart, and perhaps looked upon it as an affront to him to send such a man to fight with him:
for he was but a youth; his age was one reason why he despised him, being, as before observed, about twenty years of age, and not come to his full strength, a stripling, as he is called, Sa1 17:56, another reason follows:
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and ruddy, and of a fair countenance; looked effeminate, had not the appearance of a soldier, of a weather beaten veteran, exposed to heat and cold, and inured to hardships.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Fair - Not having so much as the countenance…
Fair - Not having so much as the countenance of a martial person.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 42. He disdained him] He held him in…
Verse 42. He disdained him] He held him in contempt; he saw that he was young, and from his ruddy complexion supposed him to be effeminate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 17:42-43. He disdained him — He had looked…
1Sa 17:42-43. He disdained him — He had looked about, expecting to meet some tall, strong man; but when he saw what a mean figure he made with whom he was to engage, he despised him, and thought it below him to enter the lists with him, fearing that the contemptibleness of the champion with whom he contended would lessen the glory of the victory. For he was a youth of a fair countenance — Not having so much as the countenance of a martial person. Am I a dog? — Dost thou think to beat me as easily as thou wouldst thy dog? The Philistine cursed David by his gods — Imprecating the impotent vengeance of his idols against him, wishing that Dagon, Ashtaroth, and the rest of his gods would confound and destroy David. Thus the Romans used to curse their enemies, saying, “All the gods and goddesses destroy thee.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the Philistine said . . . said David to…
the Philistine said . . . said David to the Philistine--When the two champions met, they generally made each of them a speech, and sometimes recited some verses, filled with allusions and epithets of the most opprobrious kind, hurling contempt and defiance at one another. 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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 42. he disdained him] See Pro_16:18.
42. he disdained him] See Pro_16:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:42 ruddy-faced: The same Hebrew word is translated “dark”…
17:42 ruddy-faced: The same Hebrew word is translated “dark” (16:12) and “very red” (Gen 25:25). Here, it emphasizes David’s youthfulness and inexperience. • boy: Saul had expressed similar disbelief (1 Sam 17:33). As a champion, Goliath expected to be met by an Israelite warrior of similar rank.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.