1 Samuel 17, side by side
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 1: The StandoffVerses 1 to 3
The Philistine army camped on one hill. Saul's army camped on the hill across from them. The Valley of Elah lay between them, with a stream running through the bottom.
This valley mattered. It led from Philistine land up into the hills where Israel lived. David's hometown, Bethlehem, was only about 15 miles away. If the Philistines won here, the road into Israel's towns was open.
Neither army attacked. The Bible doesn't say why they waited. One likely reason: charging meant running downhill, crossing the stream, and fighting uphill against an enemy who was ready.
1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
Scene 2: The Giant's ChallengeVerses 4 to 11
Then a champion walked out from the Philistine camp. His name was Goliath, from the city of Gath.
He was enormous. He wore a bronze helmet and bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds, as much as a grown adult. Bronze plates covered his legs. A bronze javelin hung across his back. The wooden shaft of his spear was as thick as a beam on a weaving loom. Its iron point alone weighed about 15 pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield.
Goliath shouted across the valley. "Why are you lining up for battle? Choose one of your men and send him down to me. If he kills me, we'll be your servants. If I kill him, you'll be ours. I defy the ranks of Israel today! Send me a man to fight."
Sometimes wars were settled this way. Instead of thousands dying, each side sent one champion. The winner's army won everything.
Israel had a serious problem. The Philistines knew how to work iron. Israel had no blacksmiths at all. Israelites even had to go to the Philistines to sharpen their farm tools. Only Saul and his son Jonathan owned a sword or spear (1 Samuel 13:19–22). Most soldiers had no real weapons of war.
So Israel had one obvious choice: King Saul. He was the tallest man in Israel. He was the king the people had asked for, to fight their battles. He had one of the only swords in the army.
Saul didn't go. He and all his soldiers were terrified.
Goliath came out every morning and every evening. He did this for 40 days.
4A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6He had bronze shin armor on his legs, and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him. 8He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 10The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
Scene 3: David ArrivesVerses 12 to 24
David's three oldest brothers were in Saul's army. David was the youngest. He went back and forth from Saul's camp to take care of his father's sheep in Bethlehem.
Being a shepherd was lonely, dangerous work. Shepherds lived outdoors with the flock, found them water and grass, and guarded them from wild animals. Lions and bears lived in Israel back then (1 Samuel 17:34).
Soldiers often depended on food sent from home. So Jesse gave David a bag of roasted grain and ten loaves of bread for his brothers. He also sent ten portions of cheese for their commander. Jesse wanted news too. "Check on your brothers, and bring back something to show they're okay."
David got up early and left the sheep with another shepherd. He reached the camp just as the army was marching out and shouting the battle cry. He left the food with the supply keeper and ran to find his brothers.
While David was talking with them, Goliath stepped out and shouted his usual challenge. David heard it. He watched the Israelite soldiers run from Goliath in fear.
12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. 15Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 18and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. 21Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. 22David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. 24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified.
Scene 4: The Reward and the Angry BrotherVerses 25 to 30
The soldiers told each other about a reward. King Saul had promised that whoever killed Goliath would get great riches. He would marry the king's daughter. His father's family would never pay taxes again.
David asked what would be done for the man who killed this Philistine. Then he asked a bigger question: "Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (17:26). To David, Goliath wasn't only insulting soldiers. He was insulting God.
Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him and got angry. "Why did you come down here? Who's watching those few sheep? I know how proud you are. You only came to watch the battle."
The Bible doesn't say exactly why Eliab reacted so harshly. But remember: Eliab was the tall, impressive oldest son that Samuel first thought God would choose. Instead, Eliab watched his youngest brother get anointed.
David said, "What did I do now? It was only a question." He turned to other soldiers and asked again. They gave him the same answer.
25The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.” 29David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” 30He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way.
Scene 5: David VolunteersVerses 31 to 37
Someone told Saul what David was saying. Saul sent for him.
David said, "Don't let anyone lose heart because of this Philistine. I'll go and fight him."
Saul said, "You can't. You're only a boy. He has been a warrior since he was young."
David explained what shepherding had taught him. When a lion or a bear carried off a lamb, David went after it. He struck it and rescued the lamb from its mouth. When the animal turned on him, he grabbed it and killed it. "The LORD who rescued me from the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."
31When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33Saul 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.” 34David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, 35I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him. 36Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37David said, “the LORD who 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.” Saul said to David, “Go! The LORD will be with you.”
Scene 6: Armor That Doesn't FitVerses 38 to 40
Saul dressed David in his own tunic, armor, and bronze helmet. David strapped on Saul's sword and tried to walk. He couldn't. He had never trained in armor.
Remember, Saul was a head taller than everyone else. His armor was made for him.
David took it all off. He picked up his shepherd's staff. He walked down to the stream and chose five stones, worn smooth by the water. He put them in his shepherd's bag. With his sling in his hand, he walked toward Goliath.
A sling was a real weapon, not a toy. It was a strip of woven material or leather with a pouch in the middle. A slinger whirled it, then let one end go. Skilled slingers could hit very small targets (Judges 20:16).
38Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. 39David strapped his sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these; for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off. 40He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine.
Scene 7: The Face-OffVerses 41 to 47
Goliath came closer and closer, with his shield bearer in front of him. When he saw David, he looked down on him. David was only a boy, ruddy and handsome.
"Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" Goliath cursed David by his gods. "Come here, and I'll give your body to the birds and the wild animals."
David answered him:
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied" (17:45).
David said that today the whole world would know there is a God in Israel. Everyone there would know the LORD doesn't save with sword or spear. "For the battle is the LORD's" (17:47).
41The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. 43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46Today, the LORD will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
Scene 8: One StoneVerses 48 to 51
Goliath started forward to attack. David ran quickly toward him. He reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it.
The stone hit Goliath on the forehead and sank in. Goliath fell facedown on the ground.
David had no sword. He ran and stood over the giant. He pulled Goliath's own sword out of its sheath and killed him with it. Then he cut off his head.
Remember what David said: the LORD doesn't save with sword or spear. David won without a sword. The only sword in the fight belonged to Goliath.
48When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
Scene 9: The ChaseVerses 51 to 53
When the Philistines saw their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Goliath had promised they would become Israel's servants if he lost. They didn't stay to keep that promise.
The men of Israel and Judah, who had been afraid for 40 days, charged forward with a shout. They chased the Philistines all the way to the gates of the Philistine cities of Gath and Ekron.
51Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron. 53The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines and they plundered their camp.
Between scenesVerse 54
This part isn't retold as its own scene.
54David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
Scene 10: "Whose Son Is This?"Verses 55 to 58
As David had gone out to fight, Saul asked Abner, the commander of his army, "Whose son is this young man?" Abner didn't know.
After the battle, Abner brought David to Saul. David was still holding Goliath's head. Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man?"
David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
Saul still didn't know that the young man in front of him, holding Goliath's head, was the king God had already chosen. But you do.
55When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.” 56The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!” 57As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Your pair of translations is remembered on this device for other chapters.