And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it [is here] wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take [it]: for [there is] no other save that here. And David said, [There is] none like that; give it me.
Ver. 9. And the priest said, The sword of Goliath.] This priest had no other weapon: the high priest of Rome is a great warrior: professeth to hold both the swords: and is herein the picture and successor of Timotheus Herulus, that warlike bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 467.
Wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod,] i.e., Behind the vestry, or priest's wardrobe; kept there for a monument of that famous victory; dedicated by David, and therefore some a think, neither lawful nor fit for him, being to go among the Philistines, who could not but know it. But necessity hath no law; and why he desired it, see on 1 Samuel 21:8 .
There is none like that.] Say we so of the sword of the Spirit, the word, when preached especially. As milk warmed is fitter for nourishment, and as the rain from heaven hath a fatness with it, and a special influence more than standing waters: so there is not that life, operation, and blessing in the word read as preached.
a Pellican.