“And the Philistine said: I do taunt the armies of Israel this day….”
Goliath had a foul mouth. David heard more than enough of the Philistine chief’s loud irreverence for the Chosen People and their army. Day in and day out, Goliath railed and ranted. “And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.”
Arriving at King Saul’s camp, David spoke to his older brothers conscripted into Saul’s army.
During the course of the conversation, David witnessed Goliath’s indignities. “And as he talked
with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of
the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words; and David heard them.”
The young shepherd observed his people cower before over-sized, coarse Goliath. “And all the
men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.”
But there was another buzz making the rounds in the base. David listened as the Hebrew
soldiers spoke of King Saul’s offer in return for standing up to Goliath and defeating him. It
amounted to a promise of riches as well as Saul’s daughter’s hand in marriage. Jesse’s youngest
son wanted a crack at the uncircumcised galoot. “And David said to Saul: Let no man's heart fail
within him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
King Saul, to put it mildly, was less than enthusiastic about David’s offer. Saul explained that the
notion that David fight Goliath rated ludicrous, highlighting the men’s disparities. Leagues
apart. “And Saul said to David: You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for
you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” In time, the shepherd earned the
king’s approval, even his blessing. Our essay takes Bible students through David’s methodical
argument, as explained by Abravanel.
We’ll illustrate David’s presentation alongside the chapter’s verses. Bear in mind, we are
essentially discussing David’s rebuttal to Saul’s initial reaction that the shepherd was no match
for Goliath given their vastly lopsided battle-readiness and therefore commanded David to
stand down.
Since David believed that he was the superior fighter, in comparison to Goliath, a prefatory
question that Abravanel brings up is one of definition: How do we determine who makes a
better soldier? What are the parameters behind this evaluation? And by extension, how might
we judge the superiority of contending armies? Sheer numbers or quantity play a role. Which
side has more warriors? Quality, too, counts in predicting which army holds the edge. Of
course, morale comes into play.
We move from Abravanel’s preface about warfare in a general sense to an overview of David’s military background, as David saw it and hoped to convince Saul of the same. David gained military experience in the field, while pasturing Jesse’s flock.
- Frequently, and for starters, David fought off fierce, lone predators, like lions or a bears. “And David said unto Saul: Your servant kept his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear…”
- David earned a higher rank, per se, when he managed multi-front animal attacks, say, a lion and bear coming after Jesse’s sheep simultaneously. “Your servant smote both the lion and the bear.” At this juncture, note, Saul heard about David handling not only fierce enemies (lions and bears), but also performed well when outnumbered (coordinated lion/bear attacks).
- David introduced a third element to his fighting repertoire: Hot pursuit. That is, after a predator’s surprise attack, and after it carried off one of the flock, David excelled in tracking. “And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after him…”
- Advancing, David’s tactics became more sophisticated. He carried out delicate search and rescue missions. These included not only tracking predators that made off with sheep, but more. Namely, David killed the fierce attackers and extricated the sheep from the jaws of predators. “I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth.”
- David needed stamina through it all, because sometimes even when he wounded the animal, that animal charged David to retrieve “stolen” prey. “And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.”
David was approaching his final remarks to Saul. He informed the king how these experiences inured him to pain, and honed fighting skills. Furthermore, these were not one-offs. David regularly faced grisly opponents, as per the verse: “Your servant smote both the lion and the bear…” The Hebrew phrasing, Abravanel teaches, suggests repetition.
The shepherd pleaded with the king. David neutralized ferocious animals and mastered the art of warfare. He begged Saul to reconsider; he wanted a shot (pun intended) at Goliath. “And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has taunted the armies of the living God.”
King Saul, however, didn’t budge. Permission not granted, Saul stated. And so, David changed tack, Abravanel continues. David brought God into the conversation. “And David said: The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Now David was talking Saul’s language. “And Saul said unto David: Go, and the LORD shall be with you.”
In sum, Bible students see how Abravanel’s tight reading of the text makes things clearer. We trace how David built his case and successfully deflected King Saul’s initial hesitation and mischaracterization of David’s war readiness. The stage set, a contest for the ages was about to commence.