1 Samuel 17:1-11

Goliath's Challenge. 1 Samuel 17:1-11

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

1.

Where were Shochoh, Azekah, and Ephes-dammim? 1 Samuel 17:1

These places are in the Valley of Elah, now called Wady es Sunt. This valley begins a few miles northwest of Hebron and runs in a northerly direction between the mountains of Judah and the lower hills of the Shephelah forming the border of the Philistine Plain. Shochoh, now called Suweikeh, is about nine miles down the valley. This spot was on the Philistine side of the valley, the western side. To meet the description of the Scripture text, modern-day explorers look for a place which has on each side a mountain slope suitable for the camp of an army. It would need to be a valley wide enough to give room for Goliath's daily advance into it with his challenge. Finally, a brook must flow along the valley where smooth, round stones could be found nearer Saul's side of the valley than the Philistines-' side. J. W. McGarvey, in his Lands of the Bible (page 260), says that just such a point was found by him. He found it a short distance north of Shochoh. Above the spot, the valley was too narrow and the hills too steep, while the brook was either in the middle or too near the western side. At the point he located, however, the western hills have a moderate slope. They recede to a kind of amphitheater. A sloping ridge stands on the opposite side with a valley on each side of it. No doubt here were stationed the two armies with something more than a quarter of a mile of space between them. The brook, a raging torrent in the winter, but dry in the summer, flows within sixty or seventy yards of the eastern side of the valley. David, in advancing, was compelled to cross it. The bed is full of smooth, round stones from one to six inches in diameter. With scarcely a moment's hesitation David could have picked up five of these stones to suit his purpose. Mr. McGarvey and his companions picked up five apiece, any one of which would be the very thing with which to knock down a giant! The word Ephes-dammim comes from the root which means boundary of blood. It is called Pas-Dammim (1 Chronicles 11:13). No doubt the bloody contest between Israel and the Philistines gave the place its name. Probably this was a name for the valley where the battle was pitched. Azekah comes from a root meaning tilled. It is known as a town in the plain of Judah (Joshua 15:35). It seemed to be a place of considerable strength (Jeremiah 34:7), and it had suburban villages in later times (Nehemiah 11:30). The southern coalition of the Canaanite kings were defeated at this place by Joshua, and their army destroyed by an extraordinary shower of hailstones (Joshua 10:10-11). This location must have been farther down the valley and to the north of the battle field.

2.

Who was Goliath? 1 Samuel 17:4

Goliath was a survivor of the famous race of Anak (Numbers 13:28). The spies compared them to the Nephilim or giants of Genesis 6:4. The home of Goliath is named as being Gath, one of the chief cities of the Philistines. His height was six cubits and a span, which is, according to the calculations made by Thenius, about nine feet and two inches. The armor of Goliath corresponded to his stature, his coat of mail not being made of rings worked together like chains, but a coat made of plates of brass, lying one upon the other like scales. Upon his feet were greaves of brass, slung over his back was a small shield, and carried before him was a huge shield. The object of this description is to show how impregnable the man seemed to be. Added to all this is a description of his offensive weapon, a spear whose shaft was like a weaver's beam and whose head weighed some seventeen pounds.

3.

What challenge did he hurl at the armies of Israel? 1 Samuel 17:8-10

It was, and is, the Arab custom for a warrior to vaunt his own prowess and to satirize his enemies, as a challenge to single combat. Goliath offers himself as a sample of his nation and bases his challenge upon the uselessness of general engagement when the single combat would settle the whole matter. The whole issue of the war was to be staked on the duel, and the challenge became a taunt, when no one was brave enough to accept it. At his words, all Israel, even Saul, were dismayed and greatly afraid; because not one of them dared to accept the challenge to fight with such a giant.