DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
An ephah of parched grain, ten loaves and ten cheeses. The grain and loaves are for his brothers, the cheeses for "the commander of their thousand," and Jesse wants news back, "some token from them" (1 Samuel 17:17-18). An ephah is about twenty-one quarts. David leaves the sheep with a keeper and reaches the camp as the army shouts the war cry (17:20).
Why it’s interesting
In this telling David is still with the sheep; his three oldest brothers are the ones who followed Saul to war (17:13-14). The cheeses for the commander read as a gift to the officer in charge of his brothers' unit. David leaves the food with the baggage keeper, runs to greet his brothers, and hears the giant's challenge while talking with them (17:22-23).
Scholarly consensus
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