1 Samuel 17:31-40

David’s qualifications to fight Goliath 17:31-40

When David volunteered to be Israel’s champion, Saul scoffed at him because he evaluated David’s chances for success solely in physical terms, as usual. The Hebrew word na’ar translated "youth" (1 Samuel 17:33) usually describes an older teenager (cf. 1 Samuel 3:1).

"The opposite of the fear of the Lord is the fear of man. No greater contrast of these opposing fears could be presented than when David confronted Goliath. Saul and his men feared Goliath the man, but David by virtue of his fear of Yahweh did not." [Note: Homer Heater Jr., "Young David and the Practice of Wisdom," in Integrity of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands, p. 53.]

David responded that if that was the criterion Saul wanted to use, he had already defeated two formidable beasts (1 Samuel 17:34). However, David’s real confidence lay in the fact that Goliath had set himself against the living God (1 Samuel 17:36). David viewed Goliath as just another predator that was threatening the safety of God’s flock, Israel, and the reputation of Israel’s God. [Note: See T. A. Boogaart, "History and Drama in the Story of David and Goliath," Reformed Review 38 (1985):209.] He gave credit to God for allowing him to kill the lion and the bear (1 Samuel 17:37). The same faith in Yahweh had inspired Jonathan’s deed of valor (1 Samuel 14:6). Saul again showed that he trusted in material things for success by arming David as he did (1 Samuel 17:38). Gordon wrote that Saul tried to turn David into an armadillo. [Note: Gordon, p. 157.] David preferred the simple weapon that he could handle best (1 Samuel 17:40).

"Nothing comes more naturally to people than trying to get someone to fight our battles the way we would were we fighting them." [Note: Chafin, p. 145.]

Some students of this passage have suggested that David chose five stones because Goliath had four brothers, and he wanted to be ready to attack them too. However there is no indication in the text that David had any concern for them or even that they were present at this battle. He probably chose five stones simply so he would have some in reserve if his first shot missed its mark.

The sling David used was not the toy catapult with which children play, namely, a slingshot. It was an ancient offensive weapon that shepherds also used to control their sheep. Shepherds usually made a sling out of a long, thin strip of leather and formed a pouch in its middle. Talented slingers could propel small objects hundreds of feet at very high speeds with great accuracy (cf. Judges 20:16). [Note: Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 1957 ed., s.v. "Armor, Arms."] Pictures of slings and stones from this time show the stones typically being from two to three inches in diameter. [Note: See Ovid R. Sellers, "Sling Stones in Biblical Times," Biblical Archaeologist 2:4 (1939):41-42, 44.] Probably David’s stones were about the size of a modern baseball or even larger. David beat Goliath, not with the weapons of a warrior, but with the tools of a shepherd. Critics of the Bible have tried to prove that David did not really kill Goliath as the Bible says. [Note: Norvelle Wallace Sharpe, "David, Elhanan, and the Literary Digest," Bibliotheca Sacra 86 (July 1929):319-26, rebutted such an attempt.]