1 Samuel 17:24

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man,.... Even as it should seem before they heard him; knowing who he was, and what he was about to say, having seen and heard him forty days running:…

Forty days the two armies lay encamped facing one another, each advantageously posted, but neither forward to engage. Either they were parleying and treating of an accommodation or they were waiting…

David's errand to the camp

12 31. This section is not found in the Vatican MS. of the Sept. On the difficulties it presents, and the question of its genuineness see Note VI. p. 241.