1 Samuel 17:25

1Sa 17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, [that] the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

Ver. 25. And it shall be, that the man who killeth him.] They talk of the reward, but dare not undertake the combat. So those that have not hearts to believe, yet can say there is glory laid up for the faithful.

The king will enrich him, &c.] But poor David found it otherwise.

“ Pollicitis dives quilibet esse potest. ”

And make his father’s house free.] Enfranchise and ennoble it, making them all gentlemen.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 17:25-26. The king will make his father’s house free — Free from all those tributes and charges which either the court or the camp required. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? &c. — Thus David expresses a high indignation that they, who were the servants of the living God, and fought under his banners, should be thus terrified by the great bulk of this idolater, as if the strength of God were not greater than that of this giant.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From taxes and payments.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

make his father's house free in Israel--His family should be exempted from the impositions and services to which the general body of the Israelites were subjected.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(25) And make his father’s house free in Israel.—Among the lavish offers Saul made to the one who should vanquish the giant was this, “The family of the successful combatant should be free in Israel.” The exact signification here of the Hebrew word rendered “free” is disputed. The simple meaning would seem to be freedom from personal service in the army and elsewhere, what in mediaeval history is known by the general term Corvée. It also probably includes a certain exemption from taxation or enforced contributions to war expenses.

Ewald goes still further, and considers that the royal. promise included the elevation of the house of the victorious warrior to noble rank, as henceforth they would be “free”—“freeholders,” a family released from the ordinary service of subjects; and this high distinction, the great German scholar considers, would easily come to be looked upon as hereditary, and thus such favoured houses would form an intermediate stage between the king and the simple subject. Although it is clear that a wonderful advance in the internal development of the kingdom of the children of Israel had taken place in Saul’s reign, yet it is doubtful if the government of the first king was as yet sufficiently organised to justify us in accepting, in its fulness, the conclusion of the ingenious comment of Ewald here. It does not appear from the narrative that these promises were ever fulfilled by Saul in the case of the house of Jesse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. will give him his daughter] Compare Caleb’s offer, Jos_15:16. Saul procrastinated about fulfilling the promise, and imposed further conditions (1Sa_18:17 ff.).

make his father’s house free] Probably exemption from taxes and personal services to the king is meant. Cp. 1Sa_8:11 ff.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the men of Israel said,.... To one another:

have ye seen this man that is come up? taken notice of him, and observed him?

surely to defy Israel is he come up; to challenge them to fight with him, and upbraid them with cowardice that they did not:

and it shall be that the man who killeth him; this, and what follows, they said to encourage any person to engage with him, though none of them cared to encounter him themselves:

the king will enrich him with great riches; give him a large gratuity, make a present of a great sum of money to him:

and will give him his daughter to be his wife, in like manner as Caleb promised to give his daughter in marriage to the person that should take Kirjathsepher, Jdg 1:12,

and make his father's house free in Israel; from all tributes, taxes, levies, impositions, king's service, and duty; or, as the Targum,"make his father's house freemen, nobles;''raise it to the rank of nobility.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Free in Israel - In all the other passages (fifteen) where this word occurs, it means free, as opposed to being a slave (Deu 15:12-13, Deu 15:18, etc.) Here it may imply a freedom from all such services and burdens as are spoken of in 1Sa 8:11-17.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Tribute, and all public charges, which may be burdensome. (Calmet) --- It does not appear that these words are addressed to any one in particular, nor that the king had authorized such a declaration. (Haydock) --- Yet the people all persisted in the same declaration, so that a promise must have been made. (Menochius) --- It was never at least fulfilled. (Haydock) --- Christ having overcome the devil, receives the Church for his spouse. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

It is observable, that Saul in his great distress doth not encourage himself in God, nor seek his counsel or favour by prayers and sacrifices, but expects relief from men only. This was one effect and sign of the departure of God’s Spirit from him.

Make his father’s house free; free from all those tributes and charges which either the court or the camp required.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. The man who killeth him, the king will enrich — It is every way probable that in his dismay and terror before the challenge of Goliath, Saul had made such offers as are here specified; but the fact that we have no record of their fulfilment has been construed into an argument against the genuineness of this section. This argument at best is only one from silence. But in reply we urge that Saul’s inquiry respecting David’s father, (vers. 55-58,) and his proposal to give him his daughter in marriage, (1Sa_18:17,) seem to have been made in direct reference to the promises here recorded, and all apparent failure to redeem his promise is sufficiently accounted for by Saul’s passionate jealousy at the honours David received from the people. 1Sa_18:6-9.

Make his father’s house free in Israel — Free from taxation and public burdens; and elevated to the rank of royalty.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 25-27. To defy Israel. Rather, "to cast scorn on," "to dishonour Israel" (see on ver. 10). The king will enrich him with great riches,... and make his father"s house free in Israel. Many years must have elapsed before Saul could thus have developed the powers of the crown, and the last words show that contributions were levied from all the households in Israel for the support of the king and his retinue. There had manifestly been a great advance since the day when Jesse sent the king a few loaves of bread, a skin of wine, and a kid. (1Sa_16:20) Still we cannot imagine that Saul had introduced taxes, nor was the political organisation of the State ripe enough for so advanced a state of things. The words more probably refer to freedom from personal service in the army and elsewhere; though it is quite possible that on special occasions contributions may have been levied, and presents, no doubt, were constantly being made to the king, though on no regular system. Taketh away the reproach. The noun formed from the verb rendered defy in ver. 10, where see note. Uncircumcised. See on 1Sa_14:6. David, like Jonathan, sees a ground of confidence in the uncovenanted relation of the Philistine towards God. The living God. A second ground of confidence. The god of the Philistines was a lifeless idol; Jehovah a Being who proved his existence by his acts. So shall it be done. As the people all answer David"s inquiries in the same way, Saul had evidently made a proclamation to this effect, which we may suppose he fulfilled, though not in the frankest manner. (1Sa_18:17, 1Sa_18:27)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Free - Free from all those tributes and charges which either the court or the camp required.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Have you seen this man who has come up?

The soldiers were saying this to draw one another's attention to the man Goliath. AT: "Look at this man who has come up!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

The king

This refers to the king of Israel. AT: "Our king" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

his daughter

This refers to the king's daughter.

to him ... his father's house

The words "him" and "his" refer to the man who kills Goliath.

will make his father's house free from taxation in Israel

The word "house" refers to the household or family. AT: "will no longer require his family to pay taxes" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Israel

king

ancestor

house

tax

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

He will exempt. From the listed royal obligations.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.