David and the Philistine 1 Samuel 17 Few Bible stories have gripped the popular imagination as has the story of David and Goliath—alas, totally wrongly.

A ‘David and Goliath’ situation has the small and powerless facing and overcoming the big and powerful. Great stuff, but not the stuff of the Bible story.

The story of David and the Philistine champion—’Goliath’ is used twice, ‘the Philistine’ some thirty times—is about trust in God, certainly, but about that sort of trust in God that enables us to do what we have the capacities and abilities to do.

We should not underestimate David. He may have been the youngest son and a good-looking redhead; so is many a hefty hunk. Saul says to him, ‘you are just a boy’ (17:33). It sounds conclusive, but it is a shocking example of mistranslation. The same Hebrew word (boy/youth) is used of all Jesse’s sons in 16:11—‘Are all your sons here?’—as we might say, ‘Are all the boys here?’—when they range in age from twenty to forty. The three eldest of Jesse’s sons were serving in Saul’s army (17:13). Nothing so far to suggest that David was barred by age or size.

David’s own description of himself is worth scrutiny. He says that, when he was a shepherd, if a lion or bear took a lamb from the flock, he would go after it, strike it and rescue the lamb from its mouth, and if it turned on him he would grab it by the jaw, strike it and kill it (17:34-35).

He’d catch it, so he was fast. He’d strike it and get the lamb back, so he had courage. If attacked, he’d grab it by the jaw and kill it, so he was not only tough and ruthless but had very good reflexes. This is no ‘small, apparently defenceless’ shepherd boy.

We should not underestimate David’s weapon. The sling was a standard military weapon (see 2 Kings 3:25 and 2 Chronicles 26:14); the sling was a very accurate weapon (see Judges 20:16). This is no schoolboy’s slingshot or catapult; it played the same role in the ancient world as the English longbow against the French cavalry, or the Molotov cocktail against the German tank. In hand-to-hand combat, the giant Philistine was probably unbeatable; at a distance, the sling was the ideal weapon to take him out—especially if his armour-bearer was still holding his shield (17:41).

All David had to do was to get within range and not miss. He knew he could do it, as long as he didn’t lose his nerve and mess up. He could stumble and fall in the approach run; he could miss with his first shot and he probably would not get a second one. So he put his trust in God all right and he did what he knew he could do. The Philistine ended up dead.

Far better than having God help the hopeless, the story has God help those who need encouragement and support to do what they can do—if they are game to take the risk.

Incidentally, there are two stories in 1 Samuel 17 about this single combat between David and the Philistine. Both are in the Hebrew text; only one is in the Greek. In the second one, David is ambitious and trust in God takes a back seat. ‘What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine?’ (17:26). Money, a royal daughter in marriage, and tax-free status for the family.
Ambition and faith. No harm in combining them both.