1st Samuel Chapter 17 verse 2 Holy Bible

ASV 1stSamuel 17:2

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the vale of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
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BBE 1stSamuel 17:2

And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines.
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DARBY 1stSamuel 17:2

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of terebinths, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
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KJV 1stSamuel 17:2

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
read chapter 17 in KJV

WBT 1stSamuel 17:2

And Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and encamped by the valley of Elah, and they set the battle in array against the Philistines.
read chapter 17 in WBT

WEB 1stSamuel 17:2

Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
read chapter 17 in WEB

YLT 1stSamuel 17:2

and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines.
read chapter 17 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 2, 3. - The valley of Elah. I.e. of the terebinth tree. A valley between them. Conder ('Tent Work,' 2:160) describes the spot from personal observation thus: "Saul, coming down by the highway from the land of Benjamin, encamped by the valley on one of the low hills; and between the two hosts was the gai or ravine." In the A.V. no exactness of rendering is ever attempted, and both the emek, the broad strath or valley of Elah, with gently sloping sides, and the flag, the narrow, precipitous ravine, are equally rendered valley. Really the gai is most remarkable, and fully explains how the two hosts could remain in face of one another so long without fighting; for Conder proceeds, "Two points require to be made clear as to the episode of David's battle with Goliath: one was the meaning of the expression gai or ravine; the other was the source whence David took the 'smooth stones.' A visit to the spot explains both. In the middle of the broad, open valley we found a deep trench with vertical sides, impassable except at certain places - a valley in a valley, and a natural barrier between the two hosts. The sides and bed of this trench are strewn with rounded and waterworn pebbles, which would have been well fitted for David's sling. Here, then, we may picture to ourselves the two hosts, covering the low, rocky hills opposite to each other, and half hidden among the lentisk bushes. Between them was the rich expanse of ripening barley, and the red banks of the torrent, with its white, shingly bed. Behind all were the distant blue hill walls of Judah, whence Saul had just come down. The mail clad champion advanced from the west through the low corn, with his mighty lance perhaps tufted with feathers, his brazen helmet shining in the sun. From the east a ruddy boy in his white shirt and sandals, armed with a goat's hair sling, came down to the brook, and, according to the poetic fancy of the Rabbis, the pebbles were given voices, and cried, 'By us shalt thou overcome the giant.' The champion fell from an unseen cause, and the wild Philistines fled to the mouth of the valley, where Gath stood towering on its white chalk cliff, a frontier fortress, the key to the high road leading to the corn lands of Judah and to the vineyards of Hebron."

Ellicott's Commentary