1 Samuel 17:28 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 17:28

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But Eliab is scathing in his criticism. ‘And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness [rottenness, badness] of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle’ – an historic event. Now this is very interesting, because Eliab sees no spiritual issue here. He doesn't grasp the situation; he doesn't have any sense of his place as an Israelite, of his purpose in life. He doesn't seem to know the promises of God. It never occurs to him: this is a spiritual event, not merely a physical battle. This is God being blasphemed, and the armies of Israel, and Israel – God's people at that time – is likely to be enslaved. The promises of God are with his people, and if they repent, and forsake idolatry, and pray to him for help, he has absolutely promised to be with them, to fight for them, and give them victory. This is a spiritual matter, and this has to be proved, and God has to be vindicated. There is no sense of any of this in Eliab. He can only imagine that David, using this rather militant language which suggests this giant ought to be dealt with; one of us ought to do something about this, that he is just being insolent, and impertinent, and ridiculous. So he speaks to him along those lines. Eliab has personally witnessed the Lord’s choosing of David through Samuel, but he is not taking it seriously; there is little prospect of it happening in his mind. His status as eldest brother makes his look down on David in spite of this.‘And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness’ – well, there were a few thousand of them, actually, but he is derisive. ‘I know thy pride.’ He thinks of David as proud. Pride sees pride in others where there is no pride. How little the unbeliever understands the believer and his way of thinking. A heart full of spiritual passion is soon accused of false motives. The unbeliever thinks he knows what drives the believer, but really he is attributing what is in his own heart. There was probably jealousy in Eliab’s heart at the opportunities David had had in court. Maybe David was a little aloof from his brothers, or so it appeared, because he was a godly young man, and he didn't indulge in the same things, and the same talk as they did. That is probably where Eliab gets this idea of pride from. ‘And the naughtiness of thine heart’ – that simply means rottenness. He may mean ‘insolence’ – he is insulting David – but it is tempting to think that ‘the rottenness of thine heart’ may be used in exactly the same way we use this kind of language today. You think of somebody in a family being spoilt by their parents, and ‘spoil’ means ‘corrupted’ by their parents. That seems to be what is meant: ‘the spoilt rottenness of your heart’. It could be that Eliab is saying, ‘You’re a spoilt brat. You haven't had it hard yet; you are too young, and you have come here telling everyone what ought to be done about this giant. ‘For thou art come down that thou mightiest see the battle.’ That is an insult. ‘You have come as a spectator. You are not man enough to participate.’‘He turned from him towards another of these troops of Israel, spake after the same manner, and the people answered him again.’ But the fact that he was doing this was soon reported to the commanders, and the word was heard by Saul, and he sent for him. Was that an accident? There is a vast crowd there. There are many thousands of soldiers, officers, organised troops. Did word just happen to get back to Saul? That is unlikely. David had been a courtier. He was known at court, and he was himself familiar with a lot of the people at court, in fact with Saul himself, so it is fairly evident that in speaking to people, and in saying, ‘We should act. This man should be confronted’, and implying that he himself would do it, that he had deliberately spoken this to members of court, perhaps even to Abner, one of Saul's generals, who crops up in a few verses time. Inevitably therefore, his words are reported to Saul and he sent for him.

Application

David is accused of valour hunting by a coward, and that is always the way. If you or anyone in this country really begins to get great spiritual fervour and concern for the low state of things, and you want to go forward for the Lord; you want to do things, you want to accomplish things, you will soon be accused of doing everything out of false motives. You will be accused of all kinds of things, by people who are spiritual, who ought to know better, but prefer to be complacent. They will suspect you immediately. I know of a number of churches round the country that have pastors that are really working overtime to do something, and ironically almost every one of these men is the subject of various rumours generally running down their efforts, as though they are interested in personal repute and personal recognition and that is all. You will always get that, and you will get it where it hurts, more from people who should know better. These taunts came from David's own side, from one of his own brothers.

Our existence as God's people is a spiritual issue. It is not that we have been born; we have grown up; we happen to have come to the Lord, and we love him, and we worship him, but our main assignment is to live reasonably successfully in this life, look after our families, and live righteously with the help of God before him. Is that all it is? Are we here just for life in this world, and we happen to be converted and belong to him? or are we gathered here as a church for a great spiritual cause? Do we look at life in this way? What happens to every one of us in the providence and goodness of God is part of a tremendous battle for souls, and for men and women for all eternity, and to represent God, and to defeat the armies of Satan? Eliab couldn't see any of this. David, you see, could see it all very clearly: Is there not a cause? What about us? You say, I love the Lord; I trust in his shed blood’, and of course your exams are important, your career is important, your money, your pay, and your looking after your family, and giving them a decent living. All these things are important, but is it not much more important to see life in a spiritual context, and the great cause and mission, and to be part of it, and part of the service of the Lord? There was a strong reason to be standing against Goliath.

Questions

‘And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?’ This is a key verse in the chapter, and most of the modern translations absolutely miss the point. ‘Is there not a cause?’ The Hebrew actually reads, ‘Is there not a word?’, and the modern translators look at this and ask: What does that mean? What is he saying? So they put something like this: ‘What have I now said? Can't I say anything right?’ and they take it along those lines. Or, ‘What have I now said? I have only asked a question’, and they run along those lines. It shows where sometimes the modern translations go wrong, because there is a translator, and he may be a most able scholar as far as the Hebrew is concerned and the language, but he has lost sight of the Bible as a whole, and he is not reading the passage, and hasn't grasped the context. This is the whole point: ‘Is there not a word? Well it can mean this? A word – ‘Is there not a word?’ – is something concrete. It has been uttered. It’s no longer just an idea; it's a word; it’s put into more tangible, concrete form. That can signify: Is there not an issue? Is there not something here, something substantial? Of course, it could mean, as the old writers used to point out – but this is speculation – ‘Is there not a word in our Scriptures? Do you not know the Book of Joshua? Do you not know God's promises to the patriarchs, about his readiness to defend against those who would insult the Lord of hosts, the Lord of God's armies?’ It could be that he refers to that. Much more likely is our King James translation, absolutely on the nail: ‘Is there not a cause?’ Is there not a great issue here? You're looking at things so carnally. This is about the enemies of God, attacking God's name, and honour, and people, and the seed royal that they carry. Anyway, hearing Eliab, he left off talking to his brothers.

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Introduction

1 Samuel 17:28 Commentary and Bible Study