1 Samuel 17:1-11

The Philistine challenge 17:1-11

The Elah (Oak) Valley is an S-shaped valley just south of the Sorek Valley, where Samson earlier lived. It runs east and west parallel to it. Socoh stood to the east and Azekah to the west. Some authorities believe Ephes-dammim stood west of Socoh and south of Azekah, but its location is debated. Gath was 7 miles to the west and was the closest Philistine town.

"That Saul now came to meet the Philistines, even at the west end of the Elah Valley-and so before the enemy could penetrate Israelite country very far-shows that he had not given up in his rule just because he had been rejected. As far as he was concerned, apparently, he was still king and he was going to carry on as though nothing had changed." [Note: Wood, Israel’s United . . ., p. 151.]

Goliath was apparently 9 feet 9 inches tall. Another view is that he was 6 feet 9 inches tall. [Note: See the note on 1 Samuel 17:4 in the NET Bible, and J. Daniel Hays, "Reconsidering the Height of Goliath," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:4 (December 2005):701-14; Clyde E. Billington, "Goliath and the Exodus Giants: How Tall Were They?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50:3 (September 2007):489-508; and Hays, "The Height of Goliath: A Response to Clyde Billington," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50:3 (September 2007):509-16.] He was probably a descendant of the Anakim who had moved to Philistia after Joshua drove them out of Hebron (Joshua 11:21-22). Five thousand shekels’ weight equals 125 pounds (1 Samuel 17:5). Goliath’s spearhead weighed 15 pounds (1 Samuel 17:7), about the weight of a standard shot-put. This is an unusually long description of an individual for the Old Testament. The writer evidently wanted to impress Goliath’s awesome power and apparent invulnerability on the readers so we would appreciate David’s great courage and faith.

The Philistines proposed a battle in which two representative champions from Israel and Philistia would duel it out, a not uncommon method of limiting war in the ancient world (cf. 2 Samuel 2). [Note: Harry A. Hoffner Jr., "A Hittite Analogue to the David and Goliath Contest of Champions?" Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30 (1968):220. See also George I. Mavrodes, "David, Goliath, and Limited War," Reformed Journal 33:8 (1983):6-8.] However, the Israelites had no one who could compete with Goliath physically. That was the only dimension to the conflict that Saul and his generals saw. Since Saul was the tallest Israelite and the king, he was the natural choice for an opponent. However, as earlier (1 Samuel 14:1-2), Saul was staying in the background when he should have been leading the people.