Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 17:34

And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

34. and there came a lion, &c.] And when a lion came or even a bear (or, and that too with a bear) I went out after him, &c. “In those early days, when the forests of Southern Palestine had not been cleared, it was the habit of the wild animals which usually frequented the heights of Lebanon or the thickets of the Jordan, to make incursions into the pastures of Judaea. From the Lebanon at times descended the bears. From the Jordan ascended the lion, at that time infesting the whole of Western Asia.” Stanley, Lect. II. 43. The Syrian bear is said to be especially ferocious, and appears to have been more dreaded than the lion. See Amo 5:19. Lions are not now found in Palestine, but the traveller Thevenot says that the Arabs are not afraid of them, and will attack and kill them, with no better arms than a stick. Cp. Amo 3:12.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The narrative does not make it certain whether the lion and the bear came on one and the same, or on two different occasions. If it was on one occasion, the probability would be that the bear, having seized a lamb and carrying it off, a lion appeared to dispute the prize with the bear, or with David after he had taken it from the bear, and that David killed first one and then the other.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 34. Thy servant kept his father’s sheep] He found it necessary to give Saul the reasons why he undertook this combat; and why he expected to be victorious.

1. I have courage to undertake it, and strength to perform it.

2. Both have been tried in a very signal manner:

(1.) A lion came upon my flock, and seized a lamb; I ran after him, he attacked me, I seized hold of him by his shaggy locks, smote and slew him, and delivered the lamb.

(2.) A bear came in the same way, and I attacked and slew him.

3. This, with whom I am to fight, is a Philistine, an uncircumcised man; one who is an enemy to God: God therefore will not be on his side. On that ground I have nothing to fear.

4. He has defied the armies of the Lord; and has in effect defied Jehovah himself: therefore the battle is the Lord’s, and he will stand by me.

5. I have perfect confidence in his protection and defense; for they that trust in him shall never be confounded.

6. I conclude, therefore, that the Lord, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

There came a lion, and a bear; not both together, but one after another, at several times.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

34-36. a lion, and a bearTherewere two different rencontres, for those animals prowl alone. Thebear must have been a Syrian bear, which is believed to be a distinctspecies, or perhaps a variety, of the brown bear. The beard appliesto the lion alone. Those feats seem to have been performed with noweapons more effective than the rude staves and stones of the field,or his shepherd’s crook.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And David said unto Saul,…. In answer to his objection of inability to encounter with one so superior to him; and this answer is founded on experience and facts, and shows that he was not so weak and inexpert as Saul took him to be:

thy servant kept his father’s sheep; which he was not ashamed to own, and especially as it furnished him with an stance of his courage, bravery, and success, and which would be convincing to Saul:

and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; not that they came together; though Kimchi so interprets it, “a lion with a bear”; but these are creatures that do not use to go together; and besides, both could not be said with propriety to take one and the same lamb out of the flock: to which may be added, that David in 1Sa 17:35 speaks only of one, out of whose mouth he took the lamb; wherefore the words may be rendered, “a lion or a bear” f; and if the copulative “and” is retained, the meaning can only be, that at different times they would come and take a lamb, a lion at one time, and a bear at another.

f “leo vel ursus”, V. L. “leo aut ursus”, Junius & Tremellius, Bochart. Noldius, p. 271.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(34) Thy servant kept his fathers sheep.Here follows in the colloquy between the king and the boy that simple brave narrative which children listen to with glowing cheeksthat simple story, bearing the stamp of truth on every wordof what had happened to him in past days. Fierce wild animals, the terror of the Hebrew shepherds, had attacked his flock: these he had met and slain, almost without arms. Another had helped him when he did his brave duty then; and he felt that the same invisible Guardian would give him nerve and strength now in this more dangerous encounter. Only let him try. There was nothing to fear; he must succeed, he and his Divine Helper!

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

34. A lion, and a bear The prowess of the lion is well known. It is a testimony of Samson’s mighty power that he rent a lion as he would have rent a kid. Jdg 14:6. No ordinary man would, therefore, dare to fight the king of beasts. “The Syrian bear still found on the higher mountains of this country is perhaps equally to be dreaded in a close personal encounter. The inhabitants of Hermon say that when he is chased up the mountain he will cast back large stones upon his pursuers with terrible force and unerring aim. The stoutest hunter will not venture to attack him alone, nor without being thoroughly armed for the deadly strife.” Thomson.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments