Bible Strands
1 Samuel 17:44
“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Philistine Goliath speaks to David immediately before their combat, issuing a taunting threat after David declines conventional armor.
The words — לְכָ֣/ה (le.Kha/h) translates literally as "come here," while וְ/אֶתְּנָה֙ (ve./'e.te.Nah) means "and I will give," structuring the utterance as a command followed by a promise of violence.
The thread — This pattern of arrogant defiance appears in later biblical curses, including Ben-hadad’s oath in 1 Kings 20:10 and the prideful claims condemned in Proverbs 18:12 and Ezekiel 28:9.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that human boasts of power collapse when confronted by divine authority, demanding an assessment of where one places ultimate trust.
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 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.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 20:10 Then 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.”
- Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- Ezekiel 28:9 Will 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.
- 1 Samuel 17:46 This 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 Philistine army 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.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I 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.
- Jeremiah 9:23 This 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.
- 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 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.
- Ezekiel 39:17 And 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.