David and Goliath

I decided to include a Bible story this week for two reasons:  1) I like the Bible, and 2) Not many people know the Bible.  Sure, many people - especially here in America - know of the Bible, but they don't really know the Bible.  They're vaguely familiar with a few of the stories, maybe some of the broader concepts, but most people have no idea what the Bible stories actually say; nor do they really have any idea that they have no idea - they don't know that they don't know the Bible.


So I'm including the story of David and Goliath this week, because most people view it as a fairytale in which a little boy kills a giant, but there is so much more going on in the story than that.  So here it is; discover the awesomeness of it, and enjoy!


David and Goliath


Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah.  They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.  [King] Saul and the Israelites camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.  The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp.  He was over nine feet tall.  He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [125 pounds]; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.  His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels [15 pounds].  His shield bearer went ahead of him.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle?  Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?  Choose a man and have him come down to me.  If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."  Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel!  Give me a man and let us fight each other."  On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah.  Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and advance in years.  Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to war:  the firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.  David was the youngest.  The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep in Bethlehem.

For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah [22 litres] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.  Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit.  See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.  They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed.  He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.  Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.  David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.  As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his line and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.  When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.

Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out?  He comes out to defy Israel.  The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him.  He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel."

David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?  Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."

When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here?  And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert?  I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

"Now what have I done?" said David.  "Can I even speak?"  He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the man answered him as before.  What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep.  When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.  When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."



David Confronts Goliath
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic.  He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.  David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them."  So he took them off.  Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.  He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.  He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?"  And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.  "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head.  Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead.  The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

David ran and stood over him.  He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard.  After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.  Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.  Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.  When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.  David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
-I Samuel 17:1-54, NIV Translation




The most interesting thing about this story is how different it is from most people's perception of it.  Most people believe it's a very simple, very basic story, without having any idea how many geographical details, as well as how many nuances and subtle lessons there are in the story.  The story goes so far as to tell us how much grain David was taking to his brothers when he encountered Goliath (although even that detail - that David was running an errand - is lost on most people).  I suppose that what I'm driving at is that most people dismiss the story of David and Goliath - or, worse yet, symbolize it - and they honestly have no idea what the story even says. 


When we take a look at the elements of the story, what is most surprising is that all of the elements have either been confirmed, or are at least plausible.  Consider:


-The Philistines were real (vs. 1)
-The Philistines and the Israelites were at war with each other during this time period (vs.1)
-Socoh and the Valley of Elah exist (vs. 1)
-The first king of Israel was named Saul (vs. 2)
-Gath existed (vs. 4)
 -The method of warfare (two champions facing off) was a common method of battle in those days   (vs. 8-11)
-The Ehprathites were a people group (vs. 12)
-Bethlehem exists (vs. 12)

-David existed, and eventually became king (vs. 12)
-Slings were a common weapon (vs. 40)
-Beheading a slain enemy was a common practice (vs. 51)
-Ekron existed (vs. 52)


So what does that leave us with?  The only piece of information that is inconclusive is Goliath's stature, but does this make the entire story impossible?  Could Goliath have existed, and, if so, could he have been over nine feet tall?  Well, gigantism is a known medical condition.  It is usually caused by acromegaly, a condition in which the pituitary gland continues to produce growth hormone for the duration of the person's life (author Malcolm Gladwell makes an interesting case for just such an explanation in the story of David and Goliath).  So the only unverifiable relevant detail is still quite plausible.   


And yet our educated society continues to dismiss it as a fairy-tale, ridiculing those who believe such stories as superstitious, stupid, and biased.  This is an absurd practice, and I firmly believe it must be stopped.  If, after all, the people, places, and practices of a story can be confirmed, then what, really, is there to doubt?  Perhaps the doubts stem, not from the accuracy of the story, but from the personal bias of the "educated" and willfully-doubting reader.  If that is the case, then is there really any difference between the "legitimate" beliefs of the educated, and the "illegitimate" beliefs of the superstitious and uneducated?  In other words, if both groups of people believe, not based on evidence, but on personal choice and bias, then can the educated truly claim intellectual superiority over everyone else?