1 Samuel 17:17

WEB

Jesse said to David his son, "Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;

KJV

And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren;

Commentary

And Jesse said unto David his son,.... His youngest son, that was at home with him keeping sheep; he had three more at home, and who were elder than David, and yet he is directed by the providence of God to pick and send him on the following errand, there being work for him to do Jesse knew nothing of: take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parch ed corn; pointing to a quantity of it in a certain place; this was wheat or barley dried in a furnace or oven, and ground into meal, and being mixed with water, or milk, or butter, or honey, or oil, was eaten, and reckoned very delicious; and besides this, there was another sort of "kali", the word here used, which was parched pulse, as beans, peas, &c. parched, and which to this day is by the Arabs called by this name (x); of both which mention is made, Sa2 17:28 . Now an "ephah" was as much as ten men could eat in a day, it consisted of ten omers, Exo 16:16 , and the number ten is after used of loaves and cheese: and these ten loaves of bread; or cakes of bread, as Kimchi interprets it; pieces or morsels of bread, as the Targum; which seems not so agreeable as loaves or cakes, which are not in the text, but to be supplied: and run to the camp to thy brethren; which, according to Bunting (y), was four miles from Bethlehem; and whither it seems he went on foot, and is bid to make haste, and even to run, as his brethren might be in want of provision; and Jesse was very desirous of relieving them, and hearing from them as soon as possible; it is very likely he had a servant or servants to attend him, and assist in carrying this load of provision, which, with what follows, was too much for one man to run with. (x) Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 7. col. 47. (y) Travels, &c. p. 135.