Bible Strands
1 Samuel 17:36
Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses Saul and the Israelite commanders, recounting his past encounters with predators to justify his readiness to face Goliath.
The words — The Hebrew הִכָּ֣ה (hi.Kah, "he has struck down") and עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ ('av.De.kha, "your servant") anchor David’s factual claim of past deliverance and his designated role before the king.
The thread — The text states that the Philistine "has defied the armies of the living God," directly echoing 1 Samuel 17:10 and framing the confrontation as a divine challenge rather than a conventional duel.
Why it lands — The passage records past animal attacks to establish a pattern of deliverance, requiring the reader to acknowledge that repeated historical acts of protection ground present confidence in future conflict.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”
- 1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Isaiah 36:8 Now, 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!
- Isaiah 36:15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
- Isaiah 36:18 Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
- Isaiah 37:22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
- Isaiah 37:28 But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
- Ezekiel 32:19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
- Ezekiel 32:27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones, although the terror of the mighty was once in the land of the living.