- 149-
(^159) So ver. 12, literally. The expression, "reddish," or perhaps rather, "auburn,"
refers to the color of the hair, which is rare in Palestine.
(^160) The Authorised Version renders ver. 13: "And Samuel anointed him in the
midst of his brethren." But the word may mean either "in the midst" or "among," in
the sense of "from among." The latter is evidently the meaning in this instance.
(^161) So literally, as in the margin of our Authorised Version.
(^162) Comp. Delitzsch, Comm. u. d. Psalter, vol. 1, p. 601; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis,
vol. 1, pp. 188, 189. If the expression, "evil spirit," had been intended to convey
that it was a spirit in itself evil, Saul's servants would have scarcely spoken of him
as in 1 Samuel 16:15.
(^163) Our Authorised Version renders the word used in 1 Samuel 16:15, 16, 17, and
that in ver. 18 alike by "servants." But the original marks that the former were the
courtiers and officials around Saul, while in ver. 18 it is "one of the lads" -
belonging to the class of man-servants.
(^164) So ver. 18, literally.
(^165) The text has it, that David was made "armor-bearer" to Saul. Probably the rank
was little more than nominal. We know that in military monarchies, such as in
Russia, every civil official has also a nominal military rank.
(^166) This measurement is of course approximative, as we are not quite sure of the
exact equivalent of Hebrew measures and weights. Pliny mentions an Arab giant
who measured exactly the same as Goliath, and a man and a woman in the time of
Augustus who were even an inch taller (Hist. Nat., 7. 16). Josephus speaks of a Jew
who was even taller (Ant., 18. 4, 5); and Keil refers to a giant of nearly the same
proportions who visited Berlin in 1859. The LXX. however, characteristically
change the measurement from six to four cubits.
(^167) A corselet of this kind, belonging to Rameses III., is in the British Museum.
(^168) A mediaeval corselet preserved in Dresden weighs more than a third of that of
Goliath, which seems proportionate to his size.
(^169) This is the meaning of the word, and not "target," as in our Authorised Version.
(^)