Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

1 Samuel 17:54
ESV And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
NIV David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
NASB And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.
CSB David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
NLT (David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man’s armor in his own tent.)
KJV And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
NKJV And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

What does 1 Samuel 17:54 mean?

The head of Goliath, the giant and champion of the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:4–7), is a trophy of Israel's victory over their enemy (1 Samuel 17:1–3). It also proves that the seemingly invincible warrior has been bested by faith in Israel's unstoppable God (1 Samuel 17:46–47). David, a youth in shepherd's clothing (1 Samuel 17:33, 40) and confident in the Lord (1 Samuel 17:34–37), defeated the Philistine with one well-delivered stone (1 Samuel 17:49). David had declared that the "battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand" (1 Samuel 17:47). God did just that. After the stone crushed Goliath's skull, he fell on his face, where David took the giant's sword and decapitated him (1 Samuel 17:51).

Now David takes Goliath's head to Jerusalem. Scholars are divided about what exactly this means. At this moment in history, Israel did not control the walled city of Jerusalem. It was not yet the capital of Israel or the location of the temple. David's home in Bethlehem, however, was just a few miles from Jerusalem. It may be that David eventually took Goliath's head home to a suburb of Jerusalem to put on display. Some suggest that he took it and gave it to those occupying Jerusalem to show that the Philistine champion had been defeated in order to demoralize them. First, David will present the head to King Saul (1 Samuel 17:57).

In any case, the second part of the verse is clear. David kept Goliath's armor and weapons for himself as plunder from the battle. He put them in his own tent to keep them. Later, Goliath's sword will turn up again at the temple in Nob (1 Samuel 21:9).
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit