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1 Samuel 17 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Malcolm Gladwell recently delivered a TED talk titled, “The Unheard Story of David and Goliath.” In this talk, Gladwell poses the idea that Goliath suffered from poor eyesight due to acromegaly, a disease of the pituitary gland. Acromegaly causes your bones to grow bigger thus increasing your overall size. One side effect includes impaired vision. When Goliath mocks David, he asks him why he would come at him with sticks (plural).
So, stringing together this far-fetched idea, Gladwell believed that Goliath was seeing double (two slingshots instead of one) and that David won due to his strategic plan. Using his slingshot and stones, he stayed out of Goliath’s visual range and was able to topple the giant.
Gladwell encourages us to go back and read the story again. The problem is that this theory falls apart when we study the text. We must assume too much. We have to assume Goliath had acromegaly, assume that he had this particular side effect, and assume that the word “sticks” is undeniable evidence of double vision. Why didn’t Goliath see two of David?
This is what we get when we take faith out of the story and read the chapter with no context. The glory goes to human strategy instead of God. Besides all that, the context of the chapter is not about strategy. It’s about faith. Over the past several chapters, the writer of 1 Samuel has introduced David as the anti-Saul. He is God’s true pick to be king and in 1 Samuel 17 we find out why. David trusted God.
If David’s strategy is the most important trait of this story, why does he give all the credit to God?
David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies—you have defied Him.
1 Samuel 17:45 HCSB
You can file human strategy under the list of Goliath’s strengths. The story is much deeper. David was outmatched in every way against this formidable foe. Goliath was a fighter. David was a shepherd. Goliath had the weaponry and strength to destroy David. David had a sling and some stones.
If David won because he outsmarted Goliath, he only did so by the Lord’s strength, and that’s a story worth reading.