I was small among my brothers: David was the smallest or shortest of his father Jesse’s sons. See 1 Sam 16.7.

And youngest in my father’s house: See 1 Sam 16.11.

I tended my father’s sheep is literally “I shepherded my father’s sheep.” This is also a reference to 1 Sam 16.11.

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• I was smaller than all my brothers,
the youngest of my father’s sons.
I was a shepherd boy in my father’s fields.

• I was my father’s youngest
and smallest son,
and I took care of his sheep (Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see