But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
- KJV 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.
- BSB Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
- NKJV Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
- NASB Now Eliab his oldest brother heard him when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why is it that you have come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”
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
David's oldest brother Eliab angrily accuses him of pride and idle curiosity. The rebuke is unjust, but David's calm response models patience under unfair criticism.
Overview
Eliab, perhaps stung by his own fear or earlier rejection in chapter 16, lashes out at David with false charges of pride and presumption. His anger reveals the human tendency to belittle faith we do not share. David faces opposition from his own family on the brink of doing God's work, a pattern echoed in the life of Christ, who was not honored among His own kin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 10:36A man’s foes will be those of his own household.
- Gen 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
- Gen 37:8His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
- Gen 37:11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
- Prov 18:19A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
- Mark 3:21When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, “He is insane.”
- Prov 27:4Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
- 1 Sam 16:7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
- Ps 35:11Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
- 1 Sam 16:13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
- Eccl 4:4Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Jude 1:10But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason.
- Matt 27:18For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.
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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 17:28 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
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