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40 Then David took his staff in his hand and picked five smooth stones out of the stream bed and put them into the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. He took his sling in his hand and approached the Philistine.

41 The Philistine kept walking and got closer and closer to David. The man who was carrying his shield was walking ahead of him. 42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him, because David was just a boy, nothing but a good-looking, red-headed boy.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:42 This is the same physical description of David as given in 16:12, but here the point seems to be to highlight his boyish appearance.

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(A) 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,(B) and he despised(C) him.

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