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Passage Research

1 Samuel 17 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for 1 Samuel 17, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

58
verses
914 / 263
Hebrew words / lemmas
12
classic sermon excerpts
4
preachers & commentators

1 Samuel 17 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Hebrew Transliteration Strong's Count Glosses
פְּלִשְׁתִּי Pᵉlishtîy H6430 40 Pelishtite
דָּוִד Dâvid H1732 36 David
שָׁאוּל Shâʼûwl H7586 18 Shaul
מַעֲרָכָה maʻărâkâh H4634 10 arrangement, pile
נָכָה nâkâh H5221 12 strike
מִלְחָמָה milchâmâh H4421 9 battle, engagement
יָד yâd H3027 11 hand, open

How preachers through history handled this text

12 public-domain excerpts on 1 Samuel 17, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Matthew Henry 6 Spurgeon 3 Alexander MacLaren 2 John Wesley 1

“Jesse little thought of sending his son to the army at that critical juncture; but the wise God orders actions and affairs, so as to serve his designs. In times of general formality and lukewarmness, every degree of zeal which implies readiness to go further, or to venture more in the cause of God than others, will be blamed as pride and ambition, and by none more than by near relations, like Eliab, or negligent superiors. It was a trial of David's meekness, patience, and constancy. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on 1 Samuel 17:12–30 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Azekah — 1 Sam 17:1
  • Ephes-dammim — 1 Sam 17:1
  • Socoh 1 — 1 Sam 17:1
  • Bethlehem 1 — 1 Sam 17:12
  • Valley of Elah — 1 Sam 17:19

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Greek exegesis, historical background, current scholarship, sermon outlines, illustrations — a complete PDF report on 1 Samuel 17, delivered in 45 minutes.