while Goliath was limited in movement by his armor. Indeed, it says that David ran out quickly to meet him. Josephus makes a similar observation: “Still, the Philistine, the load of his armor impeding a more rapid advance, gradually approached David.”24 David hit Goliath in the forehead with a stone. The LXX adds, “through the helmet” (v. 49). The LXX translators were thinking of the Greek helmets with nose guards. However, the author of the Hebrew text was thinking of the helmet that was used by the Assyrians that did not have a nose guard. The stone killed Goliath, so David, with no sword in his hand, took Goliath’s own sword and decapitated him. Verses 5–7 do not say that Goliath had a sword nor did David, thus the general term for sword refers to the Philistine’s kidon, a scimitar.25 Interestingly, in Psalm 151 LXX addition to the book of Psalms, it says that David killed Goliath with his own sword and does not mention the sling at all. The authors were familiar with the LXX but not with the additions to the MT. Evidently those additions came to enhance the image of David who killed Goliath first with a sling.
According to this text, David killed Goliath. However, reading 2 Sam 21:19 suggests that Elhanan slew Goliath. It has been suggested by an Aramaic Targum, and later by Bright, that Elhanan and David were the same person. The name David afterwards was his name on the throne.26 This, however, is unlikely since 1 Chr 20:5 says that Elhanan killed Goliath’s brother. It appears that the author of the book of Chronicles tried to resolve the contradiction in Samuel. But still, if David killed Goliath, why is it not stated in the book of Chronicles? This book was written several hundred years after the Davidic dynasty. Why hide from the reader such a heroic deed performed by David? Instead, the heroic act is attributed to Elhanan, whom the sages claimed was David. Examination of the list of David’s warriors, however, reveals that one of his warriors was “Elhanan son of Dodo [from] Bethlehem” (2 Sam 23:24). In other words, Elhanan was a member of the royal family. This fact is repeated in the book of Chronicles (1 Chr 11:26). Thus, it is possible that the author of 1 Samuel 17 attributed the great victory to David instead of Elhanan who killed Goliath for the simple fact that in ancient times, heroic actions of the king’s warriors were attributed to the king. Indeed as the reader might recall, Jonathan’s victory in Geba was attributed to his father, King Saul (1 Sam 13:3–4).
A shepherd boy who overcomes the giant is believed to occur in fairy tales. The same is true with rewards promised by the king to the man who will defeat the giant.27 In addition, theological elements were added to the story where the defeat of the Philistines does not point to the superiority of the shepherd’s slingshot over battle armor, but to David’s faith. David will fight and win: “All the earth shall know that there is a God in Israel. And this whole assembly shall know that the Lord can give victory without sword or spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will deliver you into our hands” (1 Sam 17:46–47). The contrast is no longer a folktale, but it is a confrontation between two people of different faiths.
In spite of the literary and theological elements that were added to the story, examination of the battlefield shows that this story has a basis in history. As mentioned previously, the sling was a shepherd’s weapon, but armies in the ancient world used it as well. David’s mobility, his ability to conceal his weapon and to attack from a distance gave him an advantage over the Philistine. According to McKenzie, it is possible that at an earlier stage of his career David defeated a formidable Philistine opponent.28
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