John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 17:12

"Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken [in years] among men." — 1 Samuel 17:12 (ASV)

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah ,
whose name was Jesse mentioned before, (1 Chronicles 16:1)

and he had eight sons ;
seven only are mentioned, (1 Chronicles 2:13–15) one of them being, as is thought by some, a grandson, perhaps Jonadab the son of Shammah; or was a son by another woman, or died without children, as Jarchi, and therefore not mentioned:

and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul ;
the phrase, "among men", either signifies that he was ranked among old men, infirm and unfit for war, and so excused, and his sons went in his room, so Kimchi; or he was reckoned among men of the first rank, men of esteem, credit, and reputation, so Jarchi and R. Isaiah, with which agrees the Targum; or whenever he went abroad, he was attended by many men, had a large retinue, which sense Abarbinel mentions, and is that of Ben Gersom, and agrees with the Talmud ^F20 ;

but the Syriac and Arabic versions read "stricken in years", which seems most agreeable.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F20: T. Bab. Beracot: fol. 58. 1.