The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
Parallel translations
- KJV And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
- BSB Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”
- NKJV And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
- NASB Then the Philistine said, “I have defied the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, so that we may fight together.”
- NLT I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Goliath defies the armies of Israel and demands a man to fight. His taunt is ultimately a challenge against Israel's God.
Overview
Goliath's defiance, repeated morning and evening, is not merely against Israel's soldiers but against the living God they represent. His blasphemous challenge frames the conflict as a contest over whose God is supreme. David will rightly perceive this as an affront to the LORD that demands an answer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Sam 17:25–26The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.”
- 1 Sam 17:45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
- 1 Sam 17:36Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- Neh 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammontite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
- 2 Sam 21:21When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.
- Num 23:7–8He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
- Job 40:9–12Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
- Ps 9:4–5For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.
- Prov 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
- Jer 9:23Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.
- 2 Sam 23:9After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 17:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.