David and Goliath
Perhaps one of the most popular stories in the Old Testament is the classic story of David and Goliath. This story has always been used in modern culture as the underdog against what appears to be an unbeatable force. However, this passage takes on a much bigger and deeper meaning upon further analysis. 1 Samuel 17:41-47 recounts when David approaches Goliath and gives a speech that shows how the power of God is with him in this time where he needs him most. This passage seems often overlooked because it occurs right before David kills Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:41-47 is used to show the true power of God and how David is destined to become the next king of Israel and usher in a new era of peace after the long violent history with the Judges.
This part of 1 Samuel is the climax of the chapter. David has been chosen as the unlikely warrior to face the massive Philistine that is Goliath. This particular passage reads more like a fictional epic than the rest of the chapter. Modern scholars today draw many parallels between this particular battle and many of the battles that take place in the Iliad. One of the more interesting aspects of the story is how confident David is as he is approaching Goliath, he has striking confidence and is not deterred by Goliaths appearance at all. This will come to reinforce the fact the spirit of the Lord is flowing through him. This is best exemplified by David’s long speech he gives near the end of the passage. His speech is a representation of the theological tension that exists between the Israelites and Philistine armies. In this speech, he exclaims about how Goliath has come to him with many weapons and a lots of armor but David says that he comes only with the word of the Lord that Goliath has defiled. This occurs right after Saul has had the spirt of the Lord leave him and is now being tormented by the evil spirit of the Lord. Saul is present at this battle and when he sees David talking about the word of the God in front of the army, begins to have jealous thoughts toward David. Davids speech sets up what is going to become the victory for the Israelite army to conquer the Philistines. His speech is able to empower not only himself but the entire Israelite army.
This whole section of 1 Samuel is dedicated to telling the story of how David makes his rise to eventually become the king of Israel. David is the main figure in this chapter, being chosen to go up against what appears to be the most unstoppable force in all of the Philistine army. This brings us to Goliath, the foil to David. Goliath is an absolute monster said to be unbeatable. He is the complete opposite of David, tall and strong compared to small and weak. Saul is the current king of Israel and this is where the beginning of Sauls hatred of David occurs. When David singlehandedly takes care of Goliath, Saul immediately becomes jealous towards David and eventually leads to his plot to kill David.
This passage is unmistakably written by the Deuteronomist editors sometime after the actual battle took place. This is because they write about many cultural aspects and question aspects of their history. Their outlook fits similarly with what was stated earlier about how Goliath comes prepared with weapons while David comes prepared with the word of the Lord. Davids speech is what really sets this section apart from the rest of this story. His speech encapsulates many aspects of why David is set to be the next king of Israel. Over the course of three verses, he is able to construct a speech that exemplifies the power of God that is going through David at this moment. David’s first verse consists of him calling out Goliath for coming to this battle with many physical weapons in hand, but David comes with the word of the Lord which is the only thing he needs to win this battle. David also calls out how Goliath has defiled the word of God and the armies of Israel which Goliath has defiled. Davids second verse talks about how this is the day that the Lord will give David the victory over not only Goliath, but the entire Philistine army. This verse is especially graphic with David describing how he will take down and cut off Goliaths head and how he will feed the bodies of the Philistine army to all of the wild animals. David claims that this act will show to the world that there is a God in Israel. Davids final remark is how the battle is not to be won with sword and spear yet it will be decided by the hand of the Lord. This final statement is significant because once again David is mentioning that this is the Lords battle. He believes that the winner will be determined not by the strength of the battle, but by what the Lord has decided.
Through Davids speech, he is able to distinguish and prove that he will become the next king of Israel. The elegance and word choice is very particular as if the words were given to him straight from the Lord himself. The way in which he continuously mentions that the Lord will decide the fate of the battle shows his undying loyalty to the Lord and how he believes he is the true king of Israel. This falls in line with one of the major themes that is present throughout the passage which shows Gods undying loyalty to his people. This story occurs after the period of Judges where God sent many military and political leaders to Israel in order to get Israel back on the right path. Through all those failures, God still persists with his main goal of helping his people. The Israelites were fighting the Philistine army due to the conflict that was introduced in Exodus where God states that the Israelite land consists of some parts of Philistine land. Through David he is able to give him the power to conquer the nearly unstoppable Philistine army. Goliath is the most unstoppable solider in the Philistine army and yet is killed when David is able to slingshot a rock and hit him on the forehead knocking him to the ground. This feat alone rallies the entire Israelite army and leads to them conquering the rest of the Philistine army. This theme is further supported by the verse “…I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”
The story in the modern period has been more focused on the actual exchange that takes place between David and Goliath on the battlefield. Today, the story really only is ever talked about when there is an underdog going up against what seems to be the impossible. As long as the underdog is grounded in their faith, they can basically take on anyone and anything they please. However, this is not the same account that is occurring in the Old Testament. Here, David is simply not more grounded in his faith than Goliath, but David has already been anointed by Samuel to become the next king of Israel. The modern interpretation skips over this fact Goliath is quite literally fighting the next king. This passage also continues on the theme that the violence that has been rampant with the Judges is coming to an end. Although the rest of the battle will become very violent, afterwards the violence in Israel begins to settle down. This is not to say that the modern interpretation is bad but that it needs to examine the whole context in which the story is placed.
1 Samuel 17:41-47 tells of the heroic actions that David took against the Philistine army and Goliath. His speech at the end of the passage not only proves that he is a rightful king for Israel but also that he has the word of the Lord close to him at all times. This is the key moment of Davids life where he is no longer the runt of his family but instead turns into the person who will be the savior of the Israelite people. This passage also exemplifies how powerful the word of the Lord is. The Lord is able to take a person like David and have him take down the most powerful Philistine solider. This epic tale of overcoming the strongest challenges continues to be an inspiration for most who read the story today and will continue to read it for the years to come.