1 Samuel 17:56

And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:48-58 See how frail and uncertain life is, even when a man thinks himself best fortified; how quickly, how easily, and by how small a matter, the passage may be opened for life to go out, and death to enter! Let not the strong man glory in his strength, nor the armed man in his armour. God resists the proud, and pours contempt on those who defy him and his people. No one ever hardened his heart against God and prospered. The history is recorded, that all may exert themselves for the honour of God, and the support of his cause, with bold and unshaken reliance on him. There is one conflict in which all the followers of the Lamb are, and must be engaged; one enemy, more formidable than Goliath, still challenges the armies of Israel. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Go forth to battle with the faith of David, and the powers of darkness shall not stand against you. But how often is the Christian foiled through an evil heart of unbelief!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Whose son ... - See the marginal reference note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

55-58. Saul … said unto Abner … whose son is this youth?—A young man is more spoken of in many Eastern countries by his father's name than his own. The growth of the beard, and other changes on a now full-grown youth, prevented the king from recognizing his former favorite minstrel [1Sa 16:23].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the king said, inquire thou whose son the stripling is. Still the question is the same, being very desirous of knowing of what family he was, for the reason before given; see Gill on 1 Samuel 17:55.

Geneva Study Bible

And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

56. the stripling] This word is the diminutive of strip, and like slip, scion, &c. means a youth, as it were a strip from the parent stem. The Heb. word, which is found again only in 1 Samuel 20:22, signifies “a full grown youth.”

1 Samuel 17:56

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Jonathan's friendship. - 1 Samuel 17:55-58. The account of the relation into which David was brought to Saul through the defeat of Goliath is introduced by a supplementary remark, in 1 Samuel 17:55, 1 Samuel 17:56, as to a conversation which took place between Saul and his commander-in-chief Abner concerning David, whilst he was fighting with the giant. So far, therefore, as the actual meaning is concerned, the verbs in 1 Samuel 17:55 and 1 Samuel 17:56 should be rendered as pluperfects. When Saul saw the youth walk boldly up to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner whose son he was; whereupon Abner assured him with an oath that he did not know. In our remarks concerning the integrity of this section we have already observed, with regard to the meaning of the question put by Saul, that it does not presuppose an actual want of acquaintance with the person of David and the name of his father, but only ignorance of the social condition of David's family, with which both Abner and Saul may hitherto have failed to make themselves more fully acquainted.

(Note: The common solutions of this apparent discrepancy, such as that Saul pretended not to know David, or that his question is to be explained on the supposition that his disease affected his memory, have but little probability in them, although Karkar still adheres to them.)