War with the Philistines. Goliath challengs Israel. He is slain by David.

¹ Now the Philistines, gathering their troops for battle, assembled at Socoh of Judah. And they made camp between Socoh and Azekah, within the borders of Dammim.

² But Saul and the sons of Israel, having gathered together, went to the Valley of Terebinth. And they positioned the army so as to fight against the Philistines.

³ And the Philistines were standing on a mountain on the one side, and Israel was standing on a mountain on the other side. And there was a valley between them.

⁴ And there went out from the camp of the Philistines, a man of illegitimate birth, named Goliath of Gath, whose height¹ was six cubits² and a palm.

1. 17:4His height is stated in a figurative number, meaning that he was tall (six cubits is a large number for height), but he was not a good man (seven symbolizes good, whereas six symbolizes evil, as a privation of what is good). The addition of the width of a palm to each cubit makes the ordinary cubit into a royal cubit, indicating that this man has power like a king; yet it is said of him that he is of illegitimate birth, so he does not deserve to have the power of a king. So Goliath is a figure of the Antichrist. His armor bearer is a figure of the false prophet (a woman) who assists the Antichrist.(Conte)
2. 17:4On the length of the royal cubit, Ezekiel chapter 43, verse 13 tells us “Now these are the measures of the altar by the most true cubit, which has a cubit and a palm.”(Conte)

⁵ And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a breastplate of scales. Moreover, the weight of his breastplate was five thousand shekels of brass.

⁶ And he had plates of brass on his lower legs, and a small shield of brass was covering his shoulders.

⁷ Now the shaft of his spear was like the beam used by a weaver. And the iron of his spear held six hundred shekels of iron. And his armor bearer went before him.

⁸ And standing still, he cried out to the battle lines of Israel, and he said to them: “Why have you arrived, prepared for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose one man from among you, and let him descend to do battle alone.

⁹ If he is able to fight with me and to strike me down, we will be your servants. But if I will prevail over him, and strike him down, you will be the servants, and you will serve us.”

¹⁰ And the Philistine was saying: “I have reproached the troops of Israel today. Present a man to me, and let him undertake a fight against me alone.”

¹¹ And Saul and all the Israelites, hearing these words of the Philistine in this manner, were stupefied and exceedingly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of an Ephrathite man, the one mentioned above, from Bethlehem of Judah, whose name was Jesse. He had eight sons, and during the days of Saul, he was an elderly man, and of great age among men.

¹³ Now his three eldest sons followed Saul into battle. And the names of his three sons, who went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

¹⁴ But David was the youngest. Therefore, when the three eldest had followed Saul,

¹⁵ David went away from Saul, and he returned, so that he might pasture the flock of his father at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ Truly, the Philistine advanced morning and evening, and he stood forth, for forty days.

¹⁷ Now Jesse said to his son David: “Take, for your brothers, an ephah of cooked grain, and these ten loaves, and hurry to the camp, to your brothers.

¹⁸ And you shall carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune. And visit your brothers, to see if they are doing well. And learn with whom they have been stationed.”

¹⁹ But they were in the valley of Terebinth, with Saul and all the sons of Israel, fighting against the Philistines.

²⁰ And so, David rose up in the morning, and he commended the flock to the caretaker. And he went away burdened, just as Jesse had instructed him. And he went to the place of the battle line, and to the army, which, in going out to fight, was shouting in the conflict.

²¹ For Israel had positioned their troops, but the Philistines also had prepared themselves against them.

²² Then, leaving the items that he had brought under the hand of the keeper of baggage, David ran to the place of the conflict. And he was asking if all was going well with his brothers.

²³ And while he was still speaking with them, there appeared the man of spurious descent, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, ascending from the camp of the Philistines. And he was speaking in these same words, which David heard.¹

1. 17:23Goliath is a figure of the Antichrist, whose claims about his birth are false (false claim that his mother, a woman religious, gave birth as a virgin), and whose claimed ancestry is spurious.(Conte)

²⁴ Then all the Israelites, when they had seen the man, fled from his face, fearing him greatly.

²⁵ And someone of Israel said: “Have you seen this man, who has risen up. For he ascended in order to reproach Israel. Therefore, the man who will strike him down, the king will enrich with great wealth, and will give to him his daughter, and will cause his father’s house to be free of tribute in Israel.”

²⁶ And David spoke to the men who were standing with him, saying: “What will be given to the man who will have struck down this Philistine, and who will have taken away the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the soldiers of the living God?”

²⁷ Then the people repeated to him the same words, saying, “These things shall be given to the man who will have struck him down.”

²⁸ Now when Eliab, his eldest brother, had heard this, as he was speaking with the others, he became angry against David, and he said: “Why did you come here? And why did you leave behind those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the wickedness of your heart, that you have come down so that you might see the battle.”

²⁹ And David said: “What have I done? Is there any word against me?”

³⁰ And he turned away from him a little, toward another. And he asked the same question. And the people responded to him as before.

³¹ Now the words that David had spoken were heard and reported in the sight of Saul.

³² When he had been led to Saul, he said to him: “Let no one lose heart over him. I, your servant, shall go and fight against the Philistine.”

³³ And Saul said to David: “You are not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him. For you are a boy, but he has been a warrior from his boyhood.”

³⁴ And David said to Saul: “Your servant was pasturing the flock of his father. And there approached a lion or a bear, and it took a ram from the midst of the flock.

³⁵ And I pursued after them, and I struck them, and I rescued from their mouth. And they rose up against me. And I caught them by the throat, and I strangled and killed them.

³⁶ For I, your servant, have killed both lion and bear. And so this uncircumcised Philistine, too, will be like one of them. Now I will go and take away the reproach of the people. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who has dared to curse the army of the living God?”

³⁷ And David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the hand of the lion, and from the hand of the bear, he himself will free me from the hand of this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ And Saul clothed David with his garments. And he placed a helmet of brass upon his head, and he clothed him with a breastplate.

³⁹ Then David, having girded his sword over his armor, began to see if he could walk in the armor. But he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: “I cannot move about in this way. For I am not used to it.” And he put them aside.

⁴⁰ And he took up his staff, which he held always in his hands. And he chose for himself five very smooth stones from the torrent. And he put them into the shepherd’s bag that he had with him. And he took up a sling in his hand. And he went out against the Philistine.