^17:32David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged.⁴⁴ Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” ^17:33But Saul replied to David, “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!”

^17:34David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, ^17:35I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. ^17:36Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them.⁴⁵ For he has defied the armies of the living God!” ^17:37David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.”⁴⁶

^17:38Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him. ^17:39David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them.⁴⁷ David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them. ^17:40He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch⁴⁸ of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine.

^17:41⁴⁹ The Philistine kept coming closer to David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. ^17:42When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy. ^17:43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?”⁵⁰ Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ^17:44The Philistine said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!”⁵¹

^17:45But David replied to the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! ^17:46This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God ^17:47and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves! For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hand.”

^17:48The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine.⁵²^17:49David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.

^17:50⁵³ David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.⁵⁴^17:51David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s⁵⁵ sword, drew it from its sheath,⁵⁶ killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.

Read in Logos

1 Samuel 17:45: 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 …”

Footnotes

43 Heb “he took him.”
44 Heb “Let not the heart of a man fall upon him.” The reads “my lord,” instead of “a man.”
45 The includes here the following words not found in the : “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”
46 Or “Go, and may the Lord be with you” (so , , ).
47 Heb “he had not tested.”
48 This Hebrew word occurs only here and its exact meaning is not entirely clear. It refers to a receptacle of some sort and apparently was a common part of a shepherd’s equipment. Here it serves as a depository for the stones that David will use in his sling.
49 Most lack v. 41.
50 Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.
51 Many medieval Hebrew have “the earth” here, instead of the ’s “the field.”
52 Most lack the second half of v. 48.
53 Most lack v. 50.
54 Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine.
55 Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
56 Most lack the words “drew it from its sheath.”