1 Samuel 17:46

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

This day will Yahweh deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

World English Bible · Public Domain

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פֶּ֣גֶר

peger

H6297

“corpse of”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct

Appears 22× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 15:11

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H6296

TWOT: 1732a

corpse, carcass, monument, stela - corpse (of man) - carcass (of animals)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

27: words
24: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is פֶּ֣גֶר corpse H6297 — appearing just 22 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

פֶּ֣גֶר corpse H6297 occurs in 21 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
16 nouns
2 pronouns
1 preposition
1 conjunction
2 particles

Verb forms

יְסַגֶּרְךָ֩ Piel · Imperfect
וְהִכִּיתִ֗ךָ Hiphil · Sequential Perfect
וַהֲסִרֹתִ֤י Hiphil · Sequential Perfect
וְנָ֨תַתִּ֜י Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְיֵֽדְעוּ֙ Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הַיּ֣וֹם day H3117 ×2
הָאָ֑רֶץ land H776 ×2
הַזֶּ֡ה this H2088 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 63 words from the Hebrew and 69 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Samuel 17:46 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Isaiah 52:10 Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Joshua 4:24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty; that you may fear Yahweh your God forever.
2 Kings 19:19 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save you us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you Yahweh are God alone.
1 Kings 8:43 hear in heaven, your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by my name.
Deuteronomy 28:26 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.
Daniel 6:26–27 I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the end.
Exodus 9:16 but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth;
Daniel 2:47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this secret.

Revelation 19:17–18 I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,
Daniel 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.
Deuteronomy 7:2 and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
Deuteronomy 7:23 But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they be destroyed.
Deuteronomy 9:2–3 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak?
1 Samuel 17:44 The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.
1 Kings 18:36–37 It happened at the time of the offering of the [evening] offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."

Isaiah 37:20 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.
Matthew 24:28 For wherever the carcass is, there will the vultures be gathered together.
Psalms 31:8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.
Isaiah 56:9 All you animals of the field, come to devour, [yes], all you animals in the forest.
Exodus 15:14–15 The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Joshua 10:8 Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't fear them: for I have delivered them into your hands; there shall not a man of them stand before you.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Samuel 17:46 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֡ה יְסַגֶּרְךָ֩ יְהוָ֨ה בְּיָדִ֜י וְהִכִּיתִ֗ךָ וַהֲסִרֹתִ֤י אֶת רֹֽאשְׁךָ֙ מֵעָלֶ֔יךָ וְנָ֨תַתִּ֜י פֶּ֣גֶר מַחֲנֵ֤ה פְלִשְׁתִּים֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה לְע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּלְחַיַּ֣ת הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיֵֽדְעוּ֙ כָּל הָאָ֔רֶץ כִּ֛י יֵ֥שׁ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל

This day will Yahweh deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Samuel 17:46 Septuagint · lemma form

this day. And the Lord shall deliver you this day into my hand; and I will kill you, and take away your head from off you, and will give your limbs and the limbs of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and all the earth shall know that there is a God in Israel.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

יוֹמָא הָדֵין יִמְסְרִינָךְ יְיָ בִּידִי וְאֶקְטְלִינָךְ וְאַעְדִי יַת רֵישָׁךְ מִנָךְ וְאֶתֵּן פִּגוּל מַשִׁרְיַת פְּלִשְׁתָּאֵי יוֹמָא הָדֵין לְעוֹפָא דִשְׁמַיָא וּלְחֵיוַת אַרְעָא וְיֵדְעוּן כָּל דַיָרֵי אַרְעָא דְאִית אֱלָהָא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 1 Samuel 17:46 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

1Sa 17:46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Ver. 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand.] Quandoquidem mihi pro armatura Dens est, since God is my defence, even Jehovah the Conqueror, as Josephus bringeth in David saying. And surely by the force of his heroical faith, David letteth fly here at his adversary, no otherwise than as if he had wrapped up in his sling, not a stone, but the blessed God himself, if I may say so with reverence to his Majesty.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

1Sa 17:46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand — He speaks with as much assurance as Goliath had done, but upon better grounds, confiding, not in his own strength, but in the divine omnipotence, and expecting, through it, certain victory, not only over Goliath, but over the whole army of the Philistines. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel — Superior to all others. Hebrew, That God is for Israel, or on Israel’s side, and against you. Or, that Israel hath a God, a God indeed! one who is able to help them; and not such an impotent idol as you serve.

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

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

David being assured both of his cause and of his calling, prophesieth of the destruction of the Philistines.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand] This was a direct and circumstantial prophecy of what did take place.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(46) I will smite thee.—David reiterated to the Philistine, as he had done to Saul, his certainty of victory, but in the same breath says that the victory will be that God’s whose name the Philistine had just been contemptuously using.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

46. deliver thee into mine hand] Lit. “shut thee up.” Cp. Psa_31:8. “David did not rashly and vainly boast beforehand of the victory, as Goliath had done; but being full of faith praised the divine omnipotence and prophesied of an assured victory.” Patrick.

that there is a God in Israel] That Israel hath a God who is worthy of the name. For the thought cp. 1Sa_12:22; 1Ki_18:36; 2Ki_19:19.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hands,.... Of which he was assured by divine inspiration, by the impulse of the Spirit of God upon him; or otherwise he could not have expressed himself with such certainty, and have given the particulars of what he should do, as in the following clauses:

and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and yet he had no weapon in his hand to do it with, Sa1 17:50, but it was revealed to him that he should do it, and he believed it; though the Philistine no doubt looked upon all this as romantic:

and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; not only this man's carcass, which should fall and become a prey to fowls and wild beasts, but the carcasses of the Philistine army, which fleeing upon the fall of their champion, and pursued by the Israelites as they were, would be cut off, and become the food of wild creatures, see Sa1 17:52; though some think the plural is put for the singular, and that it only means his carcass, who was a Philistine; but the host of the Philistines, carries it to the other sense: and this would be done:

that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel; not only the land of Canaan or Palestine, but the whole earth, and all the inhabitants of it, who should hear of the fall of this giant by such means, and of the rout of the Philistine army upon it; the report of which no doubt was spread far, and near.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Heb. that God, the only true God, is for Israel; or on Israel’s side, and against you. Or, that Israel hath a God, a God indeed, one who is able to help them, and not such an impotent idol as you serve.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

A God - Hebrew. that God, the only true God, is for Israel; or on Israel's side, and against you. Or, that Israel hath a God, a God indeed, one who is able to help them; and not such an impotent idol as you serve.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

Connecting Statement:

David continues speaking to Goliath.

I will give the dead bodies ... to the birds ... and to the wild beasts of the earth

David speaks of leading the Israelites in killing the Philistines and leaving their bodies on the ground for the animals to eat them as if he were to give their bodies to the animals. AT: "We Israelites will kill the Philistine army, and the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth will eat them" (See: Metaphor)

all the earth may know

The word "earth" refers to the people on earth. AT: "all the people of the earth may know" (See: Metonymy)

Yahweh does not give victory with sword or spear

Swords and spears are examples of battle weapons. They represent human ways of fighting. AT: "The victory that Yahweh gives does not depend on sword and spear" or "when Yahweh gives us victory, he does not depend on how we fight" (See: Metonymy)

the battle is Yahweh's

Winning the battle is spoken of as owning the battle. AT: "Yahweh always wins the battle" or "the victory belongs to Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)

he will give you into our hand

Giving the Philistines into Israel's hand represents helping Israel to defeat the Philistines in battle. AT: "he will help us defeat you" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Yahweh

die

Philistines

earth

know

God

Israel

sword

spear

hand

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 27 words (24 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is peger (“corpse”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “corpse” (peger) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Genesis 15:11 shares the word «corpse» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“day” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «יְסַגֶּרְךָ֩» is Piel Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 30 words in this verse.
“day” occurs 2× in this single verse.
24 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 27 words in this verse.