1 Samuel 17:42

42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

1 Samuel 17:42 in Other Translations

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.

42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.

42 He took one look down on him and sneered - a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance.

42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.

42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome.

42 Goliath looked David over. He saw how young he was. He also saw how tanned and handsome he was. And he hated him.

1 Samuel 17:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:42

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he
disdained him
He looked about for his antagonist, to take a view of him, what sort of a man he was, expecting to see one much like himself; but observing a puny young man, he despised him in his heart, and perhaps looked upon it as an affront to him to send such a man to fight with him:

for he was [but] a youth;
his age was one reason why he despised him, being, as before observed, about twenty years of age, and not come to his full strength, a stripling, as he is called, ( 1 Samuel 17:56 ) , another reason follows,

and ruddy, and of a fair countenance;
looked effeminate, had not the appearance of a soldier, of a weather beaten veteran, exposed to heat and cold, and inured to hardships.

1 Samuel 17:42 In-Context

40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.

42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 16:12
• 2. Psalms 123:3-4; Proverbs 16:18