1 Samuel 17:17

THE MESSAGE

One day, Jesse told David his son, "Take this sack of cracked wheat and these ten loaves of bread and run them down to your brothers in the camp. And take these ten wedges of cheese to the captain of their division. Check in on your brothers to see whether they are getting along all right, and let me know how they're doing—Saul and your brothers, and all the Israelites in their war with the Philistines in the Oak Valley."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
One day Jesse had told his son David: “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

Hebrew Names Version
Yishai said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an efah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to your brothers;

King James Version
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren;

Lexham English Bible
Then Jesse said to his son David, "Please take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and bring them quickly to the camp for your brothers.

English Standard Version
And Jesse said to David his son, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.

New Century Version
Jesse said to his son David, "Take this half bushel of cooked grain and ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp.

New English Translation
Jesse said to his son David, "Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly to the camp to your brothers.

Amplified Bible
Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and run quickly to the camp to your brothers.

New American Standard Bible
Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Ishai said vnto Dauid his sone, Take nowe for thy brethren an Ephah of this parched corne, and these ten cakes, and runne to the hoste to thy brethren.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.

Contemporary English Version
One day, Jesse told David, "Hurry and take this sack of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers at the army camp.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yishai said to David his son, "Please take your brothers five bushels of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; hurry, and carry them to your brothers at the camp.

Darby Translation
And Jesse said to David his son, Take, I pray, for thy brethren, this ephah of parched [corn] and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren;

Easy-to-Read Version
One day Jesse said to his son David, "Take this basket of cooked grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp.

George Lamsa Translation
And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of parched wheat and ten loaves of bread, and run to the camp to your brothers;

Good News Translation
One day Jesse said to David, "Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp.

Literal Translation
And Jesse said to his son David, Please take to your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp, to your brothers.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Isai sayde vnto Dauid his sonne: Take this Epha of firmentye for thy brethren, and these ten loaues of bred (and runne to the hoost vnto thy brethren)

American Standard Version
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren;

Bible in Basic English
And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Isai sayd vnto Dauid his sonne: Take for thy brethren an Epha of this partched corne, & these ten loaues, and runne to the hoast to thy brethren.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Jesse said unto David his son: 'Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren.

King James Version (1611)
And Iesse said vnto Dauid his sonne, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corne, and these ten loaues, and run to the campe to thy brethren.

English Revised Version
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to thy brethren;

Berean Standard Bible
One day Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli Ysai seide to Dauid his sone, Take thou to thi britheren meete maad of meele, the mesure of ephi, and these ten looues, and renne thou in to the castels to thi britheren;

Young's Literal Translation
And Jesse saith to David his son, `Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted [corn], and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

Update Bible Version
And Jesse said to David his son, Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to your brothers;

Webster's Bible Translation
And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched [corn], and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

World English Bible
Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to your brothers;

New King James Version
Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.

New Living Translation
One day Jesse said to David, "Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers.

New Life Bible
Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take for your brothers a basket of this baked grain and these ten loaves. Hurry and carry them to your brothers among the army.

New Revised Standard
Jesse said to his son David, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Jesse said unto David his son, Take, I pray thee, unto thy brethren - this ephah of parched corn, and these ten loaves, - and run to the camp unto thy brethren;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy brethren an ephi of frumenty, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren,

Revised Standard Version
And Jesse said to David his son, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.

Contextual Overview

¹²Enter David. He was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons, was himself too old to join Saul's army. Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who had joined up with Saul were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah. David was the youngest son. While his three oldest brothers went to war with Saul, David went back and forth from attending to Saul to tending his father's sheep in Bethlehem. ¹⁶ Each morning and evening for forty days, Goliath took his stand and made his speech. ¹⁷One day, Jesse told David his son, "Take this sack of cracked wheat and these ten loaves of bread and run them down to your brothers in the camp. And take these ten wedges of cheese to the captain of their division. Check in on your brothers to see whether they are getting along all right, and let me know how they're doing—Saul and your brothers, and all the Israelites in their war with the Philistines in the Oak Valley." ²⁰David was up at the crack of dawn and, having arranged for someone to tend his flock, took the food and was on his way just as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the army was moving into battle formation, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines moved into position, facing each other, battle-ready. David left his bundles of food in the care of a sentry, ran to the troops who were deployed, and greeted his brothers. While they were talking together, the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, stepped out from the front lines of the Philistines, and gave his usual challenge. David heard him. ²⁴The Israelites, to a man, fell back the moment they saw the giant—totally frightened. The talk among the troops was, "Have you ever seen anything like this, this man openly and defiantly challenging Israel? The man who kills the giant will have it made. The king will give him a huge reward, offer his daughter as a bride, and give his entire family a free ride." ²⁶ David, who was talking to the men standing around him, asked, "What's in it for the man who kills that Philistine and gets rid of this ugly blot on Israel's honor? Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?" ²⁷ They told him what everyone was saying about what the king would do for the man who killed the Philistine. ²⁸ Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: "What are you doing here! Why aren't you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you're up to. You've come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!" ²⁹"What is it with you?" replied David. "All I did was ask a question." Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Take now: Matthew 7:11, Luke 11:13

parched corn: 1 Samuel 25:18, Ruth 2:14, 2 Samuel 17:28

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:13 - come Genesis 37:14 - see whether it be well with 2 Samuel 16:1 - with a couple

Cross-References

Genesis 17:3
Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face. Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that ‘I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."

Genesis 17:19
But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.

Genesis 17:20
"And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."

Numbers 14:5
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire community, gathered in emergency session.

Numbers 16:22
They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"

Deuteronomy 9:18
Then I prostrated myself before God , just as I had at the beginning of the forty days and nights. I ate no food; I drank no water. I did this because of you, all your sins, sinning against God , doing what is evil in God 's eyes and making him angry. I was terrified of God 's furious anger, his blazing anger. I was sure he would destroy you. But once again God listened to me. And Aaron! How furious he was with Aaron—ready to destroy him. But I prayed also for Aaron at that same time.

Deuteronomy 9:25
When I was on my face, prostrate before God those forty days and nights after God said he would destroy you, I prayed to God for you, "My Master, God , don't destroy your people, your inheritance whom, in your immense generosity, you redeemed, using your enormous strength to get them out of Egypt.

Joshua 5:14
He said, "Neither. I'm commander of God 's army. I've just arrived." Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, "What orders does my Master have for his servant?"

Joshua 7:6
Joshua ripped his clothes and fell on his face to the ground before the Chest of God , he and the leaders throwing dirt on their heads, prostrate until evening.

1 Chronicles 21:16
David, Satan, and Araunah Now Satan entered the scene and seduced David into taking a census of Israel. David gave orders to Joab and the army officers under him, "Canvass all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and get a count of the population. I want to know the number." Joab resisted: "May God multiply his people by hundreds! Don't they all belong to my master the king? But why on earth would you do a thing like this—why risk getting Israel into trouble with God?" But David wouldn't take no for an answer, so Joab went off and did it—canvassed the country and then came back to Jerusalem and reported the results of the census: There were 1,100,000 fighting men; of that total, Judah accounted for 470,000. Joab, disgusted by the command—it, in fact, turned his stomach!—protested by leaving Levi and Benjamin out of the census-taking. And God, offended by the whole thing, punished Israel. Then David prayed, "I have sinned badly in what I have just done, substituting statistics for trust; forgive my sin—I've been really stupid." God answered by speaking to Gad, David's pastor: "Go and give David this message: ‘ God 's word: You have your choice of three punishments; choose one and I'll do the rest.'" Gad delivered the message to David: "Do you want three years of famine, three months of running from your enemies while they chase you down, or three days of the sword of God —an epidemic unleashed on the country by an angel of God ? Think it over and make up your mind. What shall I tell the One who sent me?" David told Gad, "They're all terrible! But I'd rather be punished by God whose mercy is great, than fall into human hands." So God unleashed an epidemic in Israel—seventy thousand Israelites died. God then sent the angel to Jerusalem but when he saw the destruction about to begin, he compassionately changed his mind and ordered the death angel, "Enough's enough! Pull back!" The angel of God had just reached the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel hovering between earth and sky, sword drawn and about to strike Jerusalem. David and the elders bowed in prayer and covered themselves with rough burlap.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Jesse said unto David his son,.... His youngest son, that was at home with him keeping sheep; he had three more at home, and who were elder than David, and yet he is directed by the providence of God to pick and send him on the following errand, there being work for him to do Jesse knew nothing of:

take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched [corn]; pointing to a quantity of it in a certain place; this was wheat or barley dried in a furnace or oven, and ground into meal, and being mixed with water, or milk, or butter, or honey, or oil, was eaten, and reckoned very delicious; and besides this, there was another sort of "kali", the word here used, which was parched pulse, as beans, peas, c. parched, and which to this day is by the Arabs called by this name x of both which mention is made, 2 Samuel 17:28. Now an "ephah" was as much as ten men could eat in a day, it consisted of ten omers, Exodus 16:16, and the number ten is after used of loaves and cheese:

and these ten loaves of bread; or cakes of bread, as Kimchi interprets it; pieces or morsels of bread, as the Targum; which seems not so agreeable as loaves or cakes, which are not in the text, but to be supplied:

and run to the camp to thy brethren; which, according to Bunting y, was four miles from Bethlehem; and whither it seems he went on foot, and is bid to make haste, and even to run, as his brethren might be in want of provision; and Jesse was very desirous of relieving them, and hearing from them as soon as possible; it is very likely he had a servant or servants to attend him, and assist in carrying this load of provision, which, with what follows, was too much for one man to run with.

x Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 7. col. 47. y Travels, &c. p. 135.