WHO KILLED GOLIATH, REALLY? (PART I)

“1 Samuel 17 Account of David Killing Goliath”

By Akin Ojumu

Hell is bent on destroying the credibility of the Bible. There is no book that has been the subject of greater scrutiny than the Holy Scriptures. From powerful emperors to lowly peasants and everyone in between, unrelenting attempts have been made to malign God and marginalize His Word. Throughout history, the Bible has been burned, banned and banished. Many have met violent ends for simply being caught reading the Bible.

Unabated in their efforts to rid the world of the Word of God, wicked men twist its content, distort its meaning, and doubt its accuracy. Reprobate minds, wise in their own eyes, dismiss the Bible in skepticism. Punny men, with punny brains, suppress the truth of Scripture in their cynicism. Evil people who have sworn allegiance to Satan have made it their life’s mission to expose what they claim are inconsistencies in the Bible.

One of those seeming contradictions the enemies of God claim they have discovered in the Bible is the story of the slaying of Goliath. In the telling of this popular story, a war broke out between Israel and their archenemies, the Philistines. When warring sides faced each other in the battlefield, the Philistines had on their side an ace fighter and war veteran named Goliath who stood more than 9 feet tall.

Standing between the two armies of the Philistines and Israel, this giant of a man threw a challenge to the army of Israel. He called on Israel to send forward anyone from their side to engage him in a mano-o-mano, hand-to-hand winner-takes-all duel the outcome of which would settle the battle for both sides.

1 Samuel 17:4-9

“And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span……He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”

Scared to death at the sight of the looming giant, king Saul and the whole army of Israel were cowered and could not respond to Goliath’s taunt.

1 Samuel 17:11

“When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

It was at this point that David showed up on the scene. He was sent by his father, Jesse, to bring provisions to his brothers who were enlisted men in the army.

1 Samuel 17:17-18

“And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.””

From a distance, David could smell the fear oozing from the camp of Israel. Perplexed and curious to know the source of the fear that had overcome the army of the people of God, David drew close to the battleline between Israelites and Philistines to see for himself what was going on.

When David heard Goliath’s braggadocio and the insult he was hauling at Israel, something stirred on his inside. Overcome with wrath, he enquired of the reward that would be given to the man who would cut the Philistine giant down to size.

1 Samuel 17:26-27

“And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

Unfazed by his brothers’ skepticism and undeterred by king Saul’s pessimism, David declared to everyone who cared to listen that Goliath was as good as dead for defiling the Name of YAHWEH.

1 Samuel 17:34-37

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!””

Without so much as an armor or helmet, David faced the 9-foot giant with five smooth stones and a sling. Seeing David approached, all Goliath could see was a mere child holding nothing in his hand but a sling. At that, he felt insulted. In derision, he cursed David in the name of his gods.

1 Samuel 17:41-44

“And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.””

The moment Goliath dared to curse David by his gods, the battle became a clash of the titans. This encounter would echo a future showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

1 Kings 18:24

“And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

With confident assurance, David told the towering giant how the duel was going to end. Without mincing words, he let Goliath know exactly what the LORD God of Israel was going to do to him.

1 Samuel 17:45-47

“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.””

Furious that David could be that impetuous to challenge him, an unarmed little child whom he thought he could blow away by the breadth of his breath, Goliath rushed toward David swinging his massive sword. He couldn’t wait to put the pesky little nuisance in his place once and for all.

On his part, an infuriated David ran forward to confront the uncircumcised Philistine. He was full of confidence that YAHWEH would prevail.

1 Samuel 17:48-54

“When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.”

With one fling of a stone, Goliath was laid flat on his back. In the blink of an eye, the head of the bloviating giant had been chopped off, felled by a smooth-skinned good-looking armorless and helmetless lad.

For many of you reading this commentary, this is the story of the encounter between David and Goliath you are all familiar with. As far as you are concerned, it was David who killed Goliath with a single slingshot to the forehead. To you, this account is clear and straightforward enough.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the enemies of God who are always looking for opportunities to poke holes in the accuracy of Bible stories. There are folks out there who firmly believe they can discredit the story of David killing Goliath and prove it is inaccurate. They say that the account of this story in 1 Samuel 17 is not consistent with the recounting of the same story elsewhere in the Bible.

To support their assertion, they point to 2 Samuel 21 where you read about a “Goliath” who was killed by an Elhanan.

2 Samuel 21:19

“And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.”

Chew on that for the moment. We’ll take it from here next time.