Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 17:24

"And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid." — 1 Samuel 17:24 (ASV)

Fled from him, and were sore afraid. —The student of history can hardly understand this great fear of a giant Philistine which seems to have come upon the warriors of Saul. When we remember the gallant deeds of the people in former years, it reads like a page out of the story of another race. A dull, cowardly torpor had come over Saul, the punishment for his self-will and disobedience, and the king’s helpless lethargy had settled now on the hearts of the soldiers he had trained so well in his earlier and nobler days.