Commentary for I Samuel 17:39
וַיַּחְגֹּ֣ר דָּוִ֣ד אֶת־חַ֠רְבּוֹ מֵעַ֨ל לְמַדָּ֜יו וַיֹּ֣אֶל לָלֶכֶת֮ כִּ֣י לֹֽא־נִסָּה֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֜ד אֶל־שָׁא֗וּל לֹ֥א אוּכַ֛ל לָלֶ֥כֶת בָּאֵ֖לֶּה כִּ֣י לֹ֣א נִסִּ֑יתִי וַיְסִרֵ֥ם דָּוִ֖ד מֵעָלָֽיו׃
And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he essayed to go, [but could not]; for he had not tried it. And David said unto Saul: ‘I cannot go with these; for I have not tried them.’ And David put them off him.
Rashi on I Samuel
But he did not want to go out. Targum Yonoson renders "and he did not want to go."22Although וַיאֶׁל usually means ‘he wanted’ as in Shemos 2:21. There are words which have two opposite definitions, as in "will cut off [מְסָעֵף] a branch,"23Yeshayahu 10:33. [derived from סָעִיף, a branch]. [Also,] "and he will uproot you [וְשֵׁרֶשְׁךְ] from the land of the living," [derived from שׁוֹרֶש, a root].24Tehillim 52:7.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Rashi on I Samuel
For he was not accustomed. I.e., because he was not accustomed.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Rashi on I Samuel
For I am not accustomed. [Targum renders] 'for their is no miracle [נֵס] in them,' [meaning] there will be no praise for the miracle in this manner.25Dovid wanted it to be clear to all that his victory was achieved solely by the intervention of ה׳. Another explanation why Dovid refused to wear Shaul’s battle garments was because he feared that by doing so would arouse Shaul’s jealousy thereby aggravating Shaul.—Da’as Sofrim Another explanation of ,וַיאֶׁל לָלֶכֶת is, 'he wanted to go, and to try [wearing Shaul's battle garments],' but when he saw that they were too heavy for him, he took them off.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy