Discovery Box1 Samuel 17:8 
Context17:8 Goliath 1 stood and called to Israel’s troops, 2 “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose 3 for yourselves a man so he may come down 4 to me!
1 Samuel 17:49-51
Context17:49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.
17:50 5 David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand. 6 17:51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s 7 sword, drew it from its sheath, 8 killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”
3 tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.
4 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.
6 tn Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine.
7 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tc Most LXX
