1 Samuel 17:18

“And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, etc.] Their chiliarch or colonel, who had the command of 1000 men, and under whom Jesse’s sons fought; Jarchi thinks this was Jonathan, who had 1000 men with him at Gibeah, and so now, (<091302>1 Samuel 13:2), these cheeses were sent by Jesse to the captain, to be distributed among his men, or a present to himself, that he might use his sons well who were under his command: and look how thy brethren fare; whether in good health, in good spirits, and in safety: and take their pledge; that is, if they had been obliged for want of money to pawn any of their clothes, or what they had with them to buy food with, that he would redeem…”

“carry these ten cheeses to the captain--to enlist his kind attention. Oriental cheeses are very small; and although they are frequently made of so soft a consistence as to resemble curds, those which David carried seem to have been fully formed, pressed, and sufficiently dried to admit of their being carried. take their pledge--Tokens of the soldiers' health and safety were sent home in the convenient form of a lock of their hair, or piece of their nail, or such like.”

“Take their pledge - i. e., bring back what they have to say in return. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Pledge - That is, bring me some token of their welfare. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 17:19”

“carry: Sa1 16:20 cheeses: Heb. cheeses of milk, Sa2 17:29; Job 10:10 their thousand: Heb. a thousand look: Gen 37:14; Act 15:36; Th1 3:5, Th1 3:6 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 17:19”