collected by David are actually light, when compared with metal armor, and if all their names play on the word “light,” the Philistine has now responded measure for measure: in his eyes, David is lightweight and contemptible. Having seen himself through David’s eyes, not as a noble lion or bear, but as no more than a dog—and dogs are scavengers and pests in Near Eastern tradition—the Philistine threatens to turn David over to scavengers at large, whether birds of the air or “beasts of the field.”