David & Goliath

Effective Bible study requires spending enough time and doing enough work and study to accurately represent what a certain passage, theme or topic of Scripture is about, how it was understood by its original audience, and then what the Holy Spirit intended in it for our edification today.

We are going to do a study of the story of David and Goliath to illustrate how I typically go about doing this. The original story is found in I Samuel 17. It has become a favorite for teaching children, and used to illustrate how we can be victorious against overwhelming odds if God is on our side. The expression “David and Goliath” has become a part of our English language. According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, it is “used to describe a situation in which a small or weak person or organization tries to defeat another much larger or stronger opponent.” But, to paraphrase an expression of former radio commentator Paul Harvey, let’s find out “the rest of the story!”Continue Reading

“Now the Philistines gathered together their armies for battle…”

The writer of I Samuel carefully chose what to include and not include in his chronicle. He would have done this because of the limited amount of space he would have (limited by what would fit on one scroll). Even more importantly, he would have chosen based on the purposes and point he wants to make in his recorded history. Critics may claim that this would be “creating” or “editing” history. Not so. Every historian today does the same thing, choosing what is included in his account which best illustrates his emphasis.

So, who are the Philistines?Continue Reading

“Saul and the men of Israel were gathered…”

I Samuel 17 is recording a war between the Philistine peoples of the southwestern coastal plain of Canaan and the Israelites who occupied the interior of Canaan between the coastal plain and the Jordan River valley. Conservative Biblical scholars use the approximate timeline below for Israel’s history in Canaan before I Samuel 17:

• 1446 BC – Exodus from Egypt by Israel led by Moses
• 1406 BC – Crossing of Jordan River and conquest of Canaan begins under Joshua
• 1396 BC – End of Book of Joshua
• 1396-1050 BC – Death of Joshua and Period of the Book of Judges
• 1050 BC – Saul crowned King of Israel by Samuel
• 1024 BC – 27th year of Saul’s reign; Israel’s army faces the Philistines at the Elah Valley

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In this series on the story of David and Goliath we are trying to provide four things:

1. Demonstrate the value and importance of digging deeper into the context, background, and details of biblical stories and passages.
2. Create useful research results for teachers and students wanting to see what “digging deeper” looks like.
3. Make it possible for a teacher or student to use this research to teach others, as well as repeat this process in their own studies of other passages.
4. Helping the Bible student realize that research and notes created for one study, even if unused immediately, then become resources already in hand for other studies further down the road.

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INTRODUCTION:

1. Another key character in our story is Goliath, typically referred to as a “giant.”
2. It is interesting to me that the term “giant” is not actually used in Scripture of Goliath, even though his size clearly would satisfy our modern definition.
3. Modern skeptics question the whole concept of giants in biblical times.
4. So, as part of our background research for the story of David and Goliath, we want to look at some of what we find in the text of the Old Testament.

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The hero of our story is David, youngest son of Jesse, whose family lived in Bethlehem. This section will seek to answer the who, what, when, where, why, how and how much questions; these are key to any serious exegesis of Scripture.Continue Reading