Bible Strands
1 Samuel 17:39
David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. “I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses King Saul at the battlefield threshold immediately after Saul has dressed him in royal armor and a bronze helmet.
The words — וַיַּחְגֹּר (va-yachgōr) literally means "and he girded" or fastened the sword over his garments, while וַיֹּאֶל (va-yō’el) literally means "and he fell short" or failed to walk properly in the heavy gear.
The thread — This rejection of conventional combat gear runs through Hosea 1:7, where God saves Judah not by bow or sword, and Zechariah 4:6, which declares victory comes not by might or power but by God’s Spirit.
Why it lands — The passage demands the reader acknowledge that familiar human preparation and standard military equipment are inadequate for the task, requiring a shift toward reliance on divine provision rather than personal comfort or tradition.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
- Hosea 1:7 Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”
- Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.