1 Samuel 17:36

Hebrew Bible

35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its beard*, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.”

LXX 1 Samuel 17:36

Septuagint

35 then I went forth after him, and smote him, and drew the spoil out of his mouth: and as he rose up against me, then I caught hold of his throat, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear, and the uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them: shall I not go and smite him, and remove this day a reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised one, who has defied the army of the living God? 37 The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this uncircumcised Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord shall be with thee.

 Notes and References

"... In our analysis of the Masoretic text, we proposed that it was not plausible that the speeches of the characters were the actual words said by these people. This is confirmed by the variations in direct speech between the MT and the Septuagint. There are subtle variations in verses 8, 32, 35–37, 43 and 45–46. Some of these variations can be attributed to the process of translation or transmission. In LXX verse 8, Εβραῖοι can be reconstructed as a translation of םירבﬠ (‘Hebrews’), which could have been corrupted from םידבﬠ (‘servants’), as is found in the MT, or vice versa. Translation of technical military equipment could explain the interchange of LXX ‘shield’ and MT ‘sword’ in verse 45, and this reflects a similar interchange of these words in verse 6. Others are additions or omissions, such as the extra material in LXX verse 36 (‘Shall I not go and smite him and take away today a reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one . . .’) and verse 43 (‘and stones’) ..."

Gilmour, Rachelle Representing the Past: A Literary Analysis of Narrative Historiography in the Book of Samuel (p. 275) Brill, 2011

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