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keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, 'Send and fetch him: for we will not sit 'down till he come hither.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal' of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

14¶ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD 'troubled him.

15 And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

$2 Sam. 7. 8 Psal. 78. 70. 6 Heb. round.

17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in 'matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.

19¶ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

7 Heb. fair of eyes. 8 Or, terrified. 9 Or, speech.

Verse 12. He was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.”—Dr. Boothroyd's version is undoubtedly more accurate here: "He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes, and a goodly appearance." Calmet, with whom Dr. Hales concurs, makes David to have been fifteen years of age at this time. Josephus, indeed, says that he was but ten; but this is perhaps too young for him to have charge of the sheep; and twenty-five, the age given by Lightfoot, is too old for the context.

15. “And Saul's servants said unto him," &c.—The remainder of this chapter is thought to be an anticipation of the chronological order of the history. The reader is certainly much perplexed to make out the real order of the transactions here recorded; and the difficulties would in a great degree be obviated by fixing the chronological place of this passage between verses 9 and 10 of chap. xviii. The order of the history would then, as settled by Bishop Warburton, and followed by Hales, stand thus:-David is anointed by Samuel; he carries provisions to his brethren; he fights and overcomes Goliath; is received in the king's court; contracts a friendship with Jonathan; incurs Saul's jealousy; retires home to his father; is, after some time, sent for to soothe Saul's melancholy with his harp; proves successful, and is made his armourbearer, and again excites the jealousy of Saul, who endeavours to smite him with his javelin. "An evil spirit from God troubleth thee."-There are different opinions as to this disease of Saul. Some interpreters conclude that his case was one of real possession by an evil spirit, and was, in kind, analogous to that of the demoniacs so often mentioned in the New Testament. But the large majority of modern interpreters think, that the king's complaint was a real madness, of the atrabilarious or melancholy kind, exhibited in fits, recurring at uncertain intervals, and which the soothing strains of music were well calculated to allay, but could have been of no avail had the disease been other than natural. Under this view, of course, the evil spirit is construed to mean a malign or diseased tone of mind, said to be "from the Lord," inasmuch as it was made instrumental in effecting the purposes of the Divine Providence. A similar use of the expression to that which this construction infers is found in the history of Gideon's guilty son, where it is said that "the Lord sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem " (Judges ix. 23), which evil spirit is agreed to have been a spirit of dissension and strife, which was made instrumental in accomplishing the righteous judgment of God, on those whose deep crimes had provoked his indignation.

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tain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And 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 shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron and one bearing a shield went before him.

8 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 Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

9 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 serve us.

10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

12¶ Now David was 'the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this Heb. clothed. 4 Or, gorget. 5 Chap. 16. 1.

parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

18 And carry these ten 'cheeses unto the 'captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. - 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20 ¶ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the 'fight, and shouted for the battle.

21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

25 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 father's house free in Israel.

26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

Heb. cheeses of milk.

7 Heb. captain of a thousand.

Or, battle-array, or place of fight. 10 Heb. the essels from upon him. 11 Heb. asked his brethren of peace.

13 Josh. 15. 16.

8 Or, place of the carriage. 18 Heb. from his face.

30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

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

33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

34 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:

35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

37 David said moreover, 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. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

38 And Saul "armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of

mail.

39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the "brook, and put them in a shepherd's "bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

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.

43 And the Philistine said unto David,

14 Heb. word.

Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 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.

45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

20

46 This day will the LORD deliver 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 Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So "David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

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55 And when Saul saw David go forth | ter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, brought him before Saul with the head of the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is the Philistine in his hand. this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

57 And as David returned from the slaugh- |

58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.

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Verse 1. "Shochoh...Azekah...Ephes-dammim."-These three places were evidently at no great distance from each other, the Philistines being encamped at the last of these places and between the two former. Shochoh is mentioned n Josh. xv. 35, among the towns of the tribe of Judah "in the valley;" that is, in the western plains of that tribe Jerome says, that in his time there were two small villages of this name, one on a mountain and the other on the plain nine miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Eleutheropolis. Azekah, in his days, was also a village on the same road Ephes-dammim is evidently between these two. In 1 Chron. xi. 13, it is mentioned under the name of Pas-dammim. 2. "Valley of Elah."-Elah means an oak or terebinth-tree: wherefore Jerome renders it "the valley of the oak;" an the Vulgate," the valley of the terebinth," or turpentine-tree. In the Targum, the valley is called Butma, which i the Arabic signifies a terebinth; and, according to Egmont and Heyman, it continued to hear a similar name, for the say that it is called "the vale of Bitumen, very famous over all these parts for David's victory over Goliath." Sandy says he passed through it at four miles from Ramah, on the road from Jerusalem to Joppa, and therefore north-wes from Jerusalem. He says, "After four miles riding (from Rama) wee descended into the valley of Terebinth, famou though little, for the slaughter of Golias. A bridge here crossed the torrent, neere which the ruins of an ancient mo nasterie, more worthie the observing for the greatnesse of the stones than finenesse of the workmanship."

4. "Whose height was six cubits and a span."-See the note on Deut. iii. 11.

5." He had an helmet of brass upon his head," &c.-Here we have the first account of what we may call a complete su of defensive armour; which naturally gives occasion to some remarks on the subject generally, and on the several par of armour which we find here specified. Sir Samuel Meyrick says, that body armour had its origin in Asia. Th warlike tribes of Europe at first contemned all protection but their innate courage, and considered any oth

defence but the shield as a mark of effeminacy. He adds, that all the European armour, except the plate, which was not introduced till the fourteenth century, was borrowed from the Asiatics. This is of importance, because it enlarges our range of illustration; since the ancient armour being borrowed from the East, its condition there is more distinctly illustrated by the information we possess concerning the derived armour of the ancient European nations. The present notice of a suit of armour is the earliest on record, and, to those who feel interest in the matter, is an important indication of the period when armour had arrived at a state of some completeness, though it does not enable us to ascertain the period when its several parts were invented. It is evident that armour hal at this time become not uncommon. Saul himself had armour composed of nearly the same articles as that of Goliath, the use of which he offered to David, who being, from his youth and manner of life, unaccustomed to such warlike harness, preferred to act without such defence. This fact helps us to the conclusion, that, as Saul was himself a giant, taller by the head and shoulders than any other Israelite, while David was but a stripling, his intention to make David wear his armour, proves that the armour then in use was not so nicely adapted to the size or form of the person destined to wear it, as we find it to have been in later times.

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a, b, c, Egyptian Helmets worn by Warriors; d, e, Caps of Egyptian Soldiers; f, g, Persian Helmets; h, i, k, Syrian ; l, m, n, o, Phrygian; P. q, Dacian.

HELMETS.-Of all kinds of armour, a strong defence for the head was unquestionably the most common, and perhaps the most early. The shield and helmet have indeed formed the only defensive armour of some nations. When men began to feel the need of a defence for the head in war, they seemed in the first instance merely to have given a stronger make to the caps which they usually wore. Such caps were at first quilted or padded with wool; then they were formed of hard leather; and ultimately of metal; in which state they gradually acquired various additions and ornaments, such as embossed figures, ridges, crests of animal figures, horsehair, feathers, &c.; and also flaps to protect the neck and cheeks, and even visors to guard the face. Visors do not, however, appear to have been used by the ancient Orientals; nor do we know any helmet but that of the Phrygians with a ridge or crest. When the dress, or at least the war-dress. of ancient people consisted of skins, it was frequently the custom for the wearer to cover his head with the head-skin of the animal; and long after other dress was adopted for the body, it remained the custom among several nations to wear, as a war-cap or helmet, the skin of an animal's head, with the hair on, and in every other respect as like life as possible. The head-skins of lions, wolves, horses, and other animals, sufficiently grim in their appearance, and with hides of suitable strength, were preferred for this purpose; and the terrible effect of this defensive head-dress was increased by the teeth being exposed, so as to appear grinning savagely at the enemy. Now when such people began to find that more convenient war-caps might be invented, they were unwilling to forego the effect which their savage helmets produced, and therefore affixed the animal's head, and ultimately a representation of it, as conveniently as they could, to the top of their new war-cap. Count Caylus and Sir Samuel Meyrick concur in

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