1 Samuel 17
The Philistines are again causing trouble to Saul and Israel - they have come towards the highlands of Israel from the coastal plain. Where the Philistines meet the Israelites both sides dig in on the top of the hill with a river valley in between them.
This is a stalemate - neither army is prepared to lose the position advantage by going down into the valley and attacking up hill, so they wind up staring at each other and for weeks nothing happens.
Eventually the Philistines offer a solution - rather than the whole army coming to battle let it be settled in single combat, and the Philistines have a brilliant champion - a goliath of a man called, well, Goliath - he is extraordinarily tall at getting on for 3 metres (9 ft) tall and wearing the very latest in military technology - bronze scale armour weighing 58 kg - which would usually take 2 people to lift up if not 3. Normally if we are lifting at work we do not try and lift more than about 20 kg by hand.
In addition to this he has a bronze helmet, leg greaves. He has a bronze javelin at his back and an iron tipped spear where the tip alone weighed approx 7 kg (the same as 7 bags of sugar)
David is evidently not required in the service of the king as he has returned home and spends his time between tending sheep and visiting the army to check on his older brothers. Thus it happened that David arrived at the Israelite army camp as Goliath gave the same challenge he had been giving for the last 6 weeks - Come and fight me in single combat, winner takes all.
The trained soldiers having seen this massive, heavily armoured warrior have all decided that they do not want to face Goliath on his terms (or indeed any other terms)
David hears that Saul will reward whoever beats Goliath and exempt their family from taxes, and give his daughter in marriage (Not sure what his daughter thought of this - her letter to Dad is not recorded!)
Eventually David's older brother Eliab hears David chatting to the men, and challenges him for abandoning the sheep and causing trouble having just come to watch the battle..
David responds very much like a younger brother "What have I done now, can't I even speak?"
Eventually king Saul, leader of the army hears and sends for David, who apparently he entirely fails to recognise!
Saul tried to equip David to meet Goliath in single combat giving him armour and a sword, but David says he cannot use them as he is not used to them, instead he takes a shepherds staff, his sling and picks up 5 stones from the river valley.
David then went on to Goliath and in the prototypical David and Goliath moment beans Goliath with a stone from his slingshot and using Goliath's weapons he kills the champion and Israel win a great victory.
Saul apparently did not recognise David as after the dust had settled he had his army commander Abner find him and bring him to the king. Where David told Saul he was the son of Jesse in Bethlehem.
This is such a famous story that I'm going to, inspired by a TED talk by Malcolm Gladwell, look at this story in a bit more detail than today as there are some very interesting theories about David the underdog and Goliath the giant
The Philistines are again causing trouble to Saul and Israel - they have come towards the highlands of Israel from the coastal plain. Where the Philistines meet the Israelites both sides dig in on the top of the hill with a river valley in between them.
This is a stalemate - neither army is prepared to lose the position advantage by going down into the valley and attacking up hill, so they wind up staring at each other and for weeks nothing happens.
Eventually the Philistines offer a solution - rather than the whole army coming to battle let it be settled in single combat, and the Philistines have a brilliant champion - a goliath of a man called, well, Goliath - he is extraordinarily tall at getting on for 3 metres (9 ft) tall and wearing the very latest in military technology - bronze scale armour weighing 58 kg - which would usually take 2 people to lift up if not 3. Normally if we are lifting at work we do not try and lift more than about 20 kg by hand.
In addition to this he has a bronze helmet, leg greaves. He has a bronze javelin at his back and an iron tipped spear where the tip alone weighed approx 7 kg (the same as 7 bags of sugar)
David is evidently not required in the service of the king as he has returned home and spends his time between tending sheep and visiting the army to check on his older brothers. Thus it happened that David arrived at the Israelite army camp as Goliath gave the same challenge he had been giving for the last 6 weeks - Come and fight me in single combat, winner takes all.
The trained soldiers having seen this massive, heavily armoured warrior have all decided that they do not want to face Goliath on his terms (or indeed any other terms)
David hears that Saul will reward whoever beats Goliath and exempt their family from taxes, and give his daughter in marriage (Not sure what his daughter thought of this - her letter to Dad is not recorded!)
Eventually David's older brother Eliab hears David chatting to the men, and challenges him for abandoning the sheep and causing trouble having just come to watch the battle..
David responds very much like a younger brother "What have I done now, can't I even speak?"
Eventually king Saul, leader of the army hears and sends for David, who apparently he entirely fails to recognise!
Saul tried to equip David to meet Goliath in single combat giving him armour and a sword, but David says he cannot use them as he is not used to them, instead he takes a shepherds staff, his sling and picks up 5 stones from the river valley.
David then went on to Goliath and in the prototypical David and Goliath moment beans Goliath with a stone from his slingshot and using Goliath's weapons he kills the champion and Israel win a great victory.
Saul apparently did not recognise David as after the dust had settled he had his army commander Abner find him and bring him to the king. Where David told Saul he was the son of Jesse in Bethlehem.
This is such a famous story that I'm going to, inspired by a TED talk by Malcolm Gladwell, look at this story in a bit more detail than today as there are some very interesting theories about David the underdog and Goliath the giant
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