Chapter 17 is one of the most famous chapters in Tanach: the battle of David and Goliath. The Philistines gather for war, Israel stands opposite them, and out from among the Philistine camps comes a giant who taunts the ranks of the living God for forty days. Into this scene enters a young shepherd, without sword and without armor, and he decides the battle in the name of Hashem, Master of Legions. We will go through the pesukim according to the Malbim's explanations and the words of Chazal, and we will see how every detail in the wording of the pasuk opens a window for us into understanding the whole episode.
Morning and Evening - Forty Days of Taunting
וַיִּגַּשׁ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַשְׁכֵּם וְהַעֲרֵב וַיִּתְיַצֵּב אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם - And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself for forty days.
Chazal expound: "morning and evening" - in the morning and in the evening, in order to keep Israel from reciting the morning and evening Shema. Goliath knew very well that as long as Israel accept the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven through the Shema twice a day, the enemies cannot prevail against them and fall before them. Therefore it was specifically at the time of the Shema that he would come out and taunt and blaspheme, and the people would stop their ears and were unable to concentrate and accept the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven while gripped with a terrible fear of a mortal man. And do not ask how everyone could hear him: this was a man about three meters tall, he needed no megaphone and no loudspeakers, he had a throat two inches wide, and his voice would resound through all the mountains.
And why specifically forty days? Chazal say: corresponding to the forty days in which the Torah was given to Israel. There is no need to assume that Goliath himself knew this, for many matters are such that "even though he himself did not see - his guiding force saw," and this appears many times in Chazal. At the end of the forty days Israel received the Torah, and therefore as long as the forty days were not completed we were still in a state of weakness, and he was able to come and taunt and blaspheme. When the fortieth day arrived and we received the Torah, his power expired, and then the story of this dead dog came to an end.
David's Mission to the Camp
וַיֹּאמֶר יִשַׁי לְדָוִד בְּנוֹ קַח־נָא לְאַחֶיךָ אֵיפַת הַקָּלִיא הַזֶּה וַעֲשָׂרָה לֶחֶם הַזֶּה וְהָרֵץ הַמַּחֲנֶה לְאַחֶיךָ - And Yishai said to David his son: Take now for your brothers this ephah of parched grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers.
An "ephah" is a measure, "kali" is parched grain flour, and bread of kali is flour from roasted ears of grain. Yishai urges him: "and run to the camp" - with speed and haste. And why did the brothers need food at all, did they not equip themselves properly when they went out to war? Rather, the war was supposed to end within a short time. They took provisions for the way, but they did not plan to sit for forty days and listen to curses. In the meantime their food ran out.
וְאֵת עֲשֶׂרֶת חֲרִצֵי הֶחָלָב הָאֵלֶּה תָּבִיא לְשַׂר־הָאָלֶף וְאֶת־אַחֶיךָ תִּפְקֹד לְשָׁלוֹם וְאֶת־עֲרֻבָּתָם תִּקָּח - And these ten cuts of cheese bring to the captain of the thousand, and inquire after the welfare of your brothers, and take their pledge.
"Charitzei hechalav" - dry cheese, which is scored with grooves. The "captain of the thousand" is the one appointed over a thousand soldiers, and Chazal say this refers to Yonatan, as we saw "and a thousand were with Yonatan in Givat Binyamin." And in explaining "and take their pledge" there are three interpretations. The first interpretation: "aruba" is from the language of rescue and welfare, as in "aroy your servant for good," meaning: find out how they are, go and see how they are feeling.
The second interpretation is the exposition of Chazal: "aruba" is something that separates in matters that are joined between him and her, and that means the get. Yishai said to him: Go, and have them give you a bill of divorce for their wives. For everyone who went out to a war of the house of David would give a bill of divorce to his wife, and this custom began even earlier, from the wars of Shaul. And the reason: one who is killed in war is buried on the spot, for a met mitzvah acquires his place, there are no ambulances to carry him for burial elsewhere. And after he is buried, often there are no witnesses who can testify about him, and sometimes people who are not known at all are buried, and in such a situation his wife could remain an aguna all her life. Therefore they would write a bill of divorce: if I do not return by such and such a date, this get shall be valid retroactively. And why did they not give the get at the outset? The commentators say: because they went out in haste. A third interpretation is that of the Radak: when they went out to the field of battle they needed money to buy food, and the way to obtain money in their time was to give a pledge. They gave a pledge to a pawnbroker and received money, and Yishai tells David: Go pay the pawnbroker and redeem their pledges.
וְשָׁאוּל וְהֵמָּה וְכָל־אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵמֶק הָאֵלָה נִלְחָמִים עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּים - And Shaul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
This too is a continuation of Yishai's words to David: Go and see how your brothers are doing, and where exactly they are located - in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
David's Sense of Responsibility
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם דָּוִד בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּטֹּשׁ אֶת־הַצֹּאן עַל־שֹׁמֵר וַיִּשָּׂא וַיֵּלֶךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּהוּ יִשָׁי וַיָּבֹא הַמַּעְגָּלָה וְהַחַיִל הַיֹּצֵא אֶל־הַמַּעֲרָכָה וְהֵרֵעוּ בַּמִּלְחָמָה. - And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took up his load and went as Yishai had commanded him, and he came to the encampment as the army was going out to the battle line and shouting for the battle.
The prophet gives us here a full portrait of a responsible person. David did not simply abandon the sheep and say, "My father sent me, what do I care about them," but rather "and he left the sheep with a keeper" - he entrusted them to a shepherd's care. This is an important preface, so that we will understand later that his brother's anger was not justified. As for explaining the rest of the verse: the army was divided into two, a camp and a battle line. The "camp" is the assembly point where the army is stationed, and that is "the encampment"; the "battle line" is the place to which the army goes out to arrange the battle. At that very moment the army was going out to the battle line, to the place where the battle was to take place.
וַתַּעֲרֹךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּפְלִשְׁתִּים מַעֲרָכָה לִקְרַאת מַעֲרָכָה. - And Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines, line facing line.
This means that they stood battalion facing battalion.
וַיִּטֹּשׁ דָּוִד אֶת־הַכֵּלִים מֵעָלָיו עַל־יַד שׁוֹמֵר הַכֵּלִים וַיָּרָץ הַמַּעֲרָכָה וַיָּבֹא וַיִּשְׁאַל לְאֶחָיו לְשָׁלוֹם. - And David left the vessels he was carrying in the charge of the keeper of the vessels, and he ran to the battle line and came and greeted his brothers.
David arrives at the camp and sees that his brothers are not there, but have gone out to the battle line. He therefore places all the items he had brought in the hands of the keeper of the vessels, so that they would not weigh him down, and runs on foot to the battle line, to the place where the lines stand facing one another against the Philistines, and greets his brothers.
The Man of the In-Between
וְהוּא מְדַבֵּר עִמָּם וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ הַבֵּנַיִם עוֹלֶה גָּלְיָת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי שְׁמוֹ מִגַּת מִמַּעַרְכוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיְדַבֵּר כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיִּשְׁמַע דָּוִד. - And as he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, Goliath the Philistine by name, from Gath, was coming up from the ranks of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words, and David heard.
Just as David arrives, he happens to witness Goliath's taunts and blasphemies. And why is he called "the man of the in-between" (ish habenayim)? One explanation: because he would go out and stand between the two camps. Here was the Israelite line and here the Philistine line, and he would walk to the middle, into the valley, and blaspheme the ranks of the living God. "Ish habenayim" - one who had the audacity to stand between the two camps, without hesitation and without fear.
A second explanation, from the words of Chazal: Goliath's mother was Orpah, and on the very day she left Naomi there was a troop of a hundred men and she became defiled to them. Some say "a hundred foreskins and one dog" - a hundred men and one dog, and she became defiled to all of them, and from them Goliath was born. There is a dispute among Chazal whether a woman can conceive from several men, and this is stated according to the opinion that she can. According to this, "ish habenayim" is one who comes from among several men, not from a single man. Today it is clear to us that a woman conceives from one, but it is quite possible that in their time the reality was different. According to this you will understand Goliath's words to David further on: "הַכֶלֶב אָנֹכִי כִּי אַתָּה בָא אֵלַי בַּמַּקְלוֹת" - "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks" - he prophesied without knowing what he was prophesying, that he came from a dog as well. This is also the explanation of the written form "mima'arot Pelishtim" - from the hundred men who defiled her. However, the read form is "mima'archot Pelishtim," and the Radak explains that "me'arah" too denotes a plain, as in "mima'areh Geva," which is rendered "from the plain of Giva," and according to this it means from the plain of the Philistines.
"And David heard" - the Holy One arranged all of this so that David would hear, so that the salvation would come through him. And notice: at the beginning of the chapter it is written that the champion came out "from the camps of the Philistines," and here "from the ranks of the Philistines," for at first they were still in the camp, and at this stage they are already in the battle formation, the fight is closer to beginning.
וְכֹל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּרְאוֹתָם אֶת־הָאִישׁ וַיָּנֻסוּ מִפָּנָיו וַיִּירְאוּ מְאֹד. - And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from before him and were greatly afraid.
He was dreadful and terrifying to see and to hear, and at the very sight of him they would already flee.
וַיֹּאמֶר אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל הַרְּאִיתֶם הָאִישׁ הָעֹלֶה הַזֶּה כִּי לְחָרֵף אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל עֹלֶה וְהָיָה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יַכֶּנּוּ יַעְשְׁרֶנּוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ עֹשֶׁר גָּדוֹל וְאֶת־בִּתּוֹ יִתֶּן־לוֹ וְאֵת בֵּית אָבִיו יַעֲשֶׂה חָפְשִׁי בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל. - And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? For he has come up to taunt Israel, and it shall be that the man who strikes him down, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father's house free in Israel.
"And will make his father's house free in Israel" - free of every tax. Income tax, value added tax, property tax, all of it. He would not have to pay anything.
"What shall be done for the man" - a question that is really a claim
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־הָאֲנָשִׁים הָעֹמְדִים עִמּוֹ לֵאמֹר מַה־יֵּעָשֶׂה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּה אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַלָּז וְהֵסִיר חֶרְפָּה מֵעַל יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי מִי הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הֶעָרֵל הַזֶּה כִּי חֵרֵף מַעַרְכוֹת אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים. - And David said to the men standing with him, What shall be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and removes the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God?
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הָעָם כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לֵאמֹר כֹּה יֵעָשֶׂה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּנּוּ. - And the people answered him in this manner, saying, So shall it be done for the man who strikes him down.
At first glance this is a great wonder: as if David comes and takes an interest in what is written and in the details, exactly how much money is promised, exactly what he will receive. Is that what interested David? Certainly not. The Malbim explains: exactly the opposite, and this is precise in the wording of the pasuk. David says: who cares what will be done for him? After all, the matter is to strike down this Philistine and to remove the disgrace from Israel, "for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" There is a task here that is higher and more important than any payment, and why are you looking at the payment? Whatever you give him will not be worth removing the disgrace from Israel and bringing down the head of one who taunts the armies of the living God and curses the Creator of the world. Whoever merits this mitzvah has an immense merit, and what you are speaking to me about is small money, pocket change.
And according to this you will understand their answer: "So shall it be done for the man who strikes him down." They say to him: you are right, from the standpoint of the act itself he has a great and immense merit, and he is considered one who is zealous for Hashem's honor and defends the whole of Israel, and "all your delights cannot compare to it," and this cannot be measured in money at all. But the reward is not for the sanctification of Hashem's name and for the zeal for the honor of Hashem, for that no reward of a king can pay, and it is not within the king's means to pay for such an immense thing. The reward is for the very fact that in practice he struck down a man who came to fight against Israel, which reveals that he has valor in him, and by his very valor he is already worthy to become the king's son in law.
Eliav's anger
וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלִיאָב אָחִיו הַגָּדוֹל בְּדַבְּרוֹ אֶל־הָאֲנָשִׁים וַיִּחַר־אַף אֱלִיאָב בְּדָוִד וַיֹּאמֶר לָמָּה־זֶּה יָרַדְתָּ וְעַל־מִי נָטַשְׁתָּ מְעַט הַצֹּאן הָהֵנָּה בַּמִּדְבָּר אֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי אֶת־זְדֹנְךָ וְאֵת רֹעַ לְבָבֶךָ כִּי לְמַעַן רְאוֹת הַמִּלְחָמָה יָרָדְתָּ. - And Eliav, his oldest brother, heard him speaking to the men, and Eliav's anger burned against David, and he said, Why did you come down, and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart, for you came down in order to see the battle.
Eliav assumed that David had come out of curiosity: there is news, there are events, he came to see who stands against whom, who goes out, it is interesting to see and hear this Goliath. And David's task was to guard the flock while his brothers went out to war, and so Eliav charges: "And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?" But the prophet had already told us in verse 20, "And he left the sheep with a keeper," so that you would not err: David was an extremely responsible person. And also "your insolence and the evil of your heart" - Eliav thought that David had gone without his father's permission and abandoned the flock, and that this was evil of heart: to abandon his father's sheep out of curiosity to see the battlefield. A great man like Eliav, yet what he said was truly incorrect.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד מֶה עָשִׂיתִי עָתָּה הֲלוֹא דָּבָר הוּא. - And David said: What have I done now? Was it not merely a word?
וַיִּסֹּב מֵאֶצְלוֹ אֶל־מוּל אַחֵר וַיֹּאמֶר כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַיְשִׁבֻהוּ הָעָם דָּבָר כַּדָּבָר הָרִאשׁוֹן. - And he turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same manner, and the people answered him the same as before.
David answers: What have I done? I have done nothing, I only spoke. And he goes on and continues to ask the people that very same question, "What shall be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine," as we explained in verse 26. And why return and ask everyone again, when they had already answered him? The answer is in the next verse.
וַיִּשָּׁמְעוּ הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר דָּוִד וַיַּגִּדוּ לִפְנֵי־שָׁאוּל וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ. - And the words that David spoke were heard, and they told them to Shaul, and he sent for him.
It would not have been dignified to come to Shaul and declare, "Send me, I will finish off Goliath." That is not fitting. Rather, the matter needed to come from Shaul's side. Therefore David kept going around and saying: What is the problem, he must be eliminated, he must not be left alive. And in this way the words would be conveyed to Shaul, and Shaul would summon him, and the proposal would come from Shaul's side. This is far more dignified than coming, God forbid, in a manner of arrogance and saying, "I am capable, I can do it."
David Before Shaul
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל אַל־יִפֹּל לֵב־אָדָם עָלָיו עַבְדְּךָ יֵלֵךְ וְנִלְחַם עִם־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַזֶּה. - And David said to Shaul: Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
With Shaul, David speaks clearly: let your heart not fail, do not be frightened, do not be broken, I will go and fight. And what is meant by "let no man's heart fail because of him"? If you notice, in the earlier description of Goliath there is no description of a mighty warrior, only a physical description. From this the Malbim explains that he possessed only physical might and not spiritual might. A true hero needs strength of soul, and Goliath's soul had no form. A hero of soul, even if he is physically weaker, is stronger than a man who is a hero of body but weak of soul. Spiritual might is the great power. This is what David said: "Let no man's heart fail because of him" - a man is not frightened by a large beast like Goliath. He is large, but a beast. He has no form, he is only matter.
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־דָּוִד לֹא תוּכַל לָלֶכֶת אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַזֶּה לְהִלָּחֵם עִמּוֹ כִּי־נַעַר אַתָּה וְהוּא אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה מִנְּעֻרָיו. - And Shaul said to David: You cannot go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth.
Shaul raises two arguments: first, you are still young. Second, he has been trained in war from his youth - everything you might learn, he has already had time to forget. How can one go out and fight against such a man?
The Lion and the Bear
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל רֹעֶה הָיָה עַבְדְּךָ לְאָבִיו בַּצֹּאן וּבָא הָאֲרִי וְאֶת־הַדּוֹב וְנָשָׂא שֶׂה מֵהָעֵדֶר. - And David said to Shaul: Your servant was a shepherd for his father among the flock, and a lion came, and a bear, and carried off a sheep from the herd.
David says: I remembered what happened to me, and I have no doubt that the Holy One, blessed be He, did what He did for me so that I would recognize my strength from it, and on the day of reckoning I would know how to use it. And Chazal expound "and a lion came, and a bear" - a lion and its five cubs, a bear and its five cubs. The word "and" (ואת) comes to include the five cubs that were with them, all together. The lion and the bear are mightier in strength than Goliath, for a person does not go to compete against a lion, and even so both of them came upon him at once.
And on "and carried off a sheep from the herd" Chazal say: we read "seh" (sheep), but the written form is "zeh" (this). David used to walk in a special coat that was made from the skin and fur of that very sheep which he rescued from their mouths, and by saying "and carried off a sheep" he was pointing to it: do not read "seh" but "zeh" (this) - behold, this is the sheep, do you see? This is the coat that was made from it. And why did he do this? In order to remember through it the miracles of Hashem, for all the time he wears the coat and remembers to give thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, who saved him.
וְיָצָאתִי אַחֲרָיו וְהִכִּתִיו וְהִצַּלְתִּי מִפִּיו וַיָּקָם עָלַי וְהֶחֱזַקְתִּי בִּזְקָנוֹ וְהִכִּתִיו וַהֲמִיתִּיו. - And I went out after it and struck it and rescued from its mouth, and it rose against me, and I grasped it by its beard and struck it and killed it.
At first I rescued the prey from its mouth, and after it saw that its prey had been taken from it, it rose against me, and then "I grasped it by its beard and struck it and killed it" - without any weapon, with bare hands he killed the lion.
גַּם אֶת־הָאֲרִי גַּם־הַדֹּב הִכָּה עַבְדֶּךָ וְהָיָה הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הֶעָרֵל הַזֶּה כְּאַחַד מֵהֶם כִּי חֵרֵף מַעַרְכֹת אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים. - Your servant struck both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has taunted the ranks of the living God.
"Both... and" comes to include, as we explained. Some say a lion and its five cubs and a bear and its five cubs, and Rashi brings a lion and its two cubs and a bear and its two young, and there is a Midrash that says five. They were two, a lion and a bear, and this Philistine is "like one of them" only - not like both of them together, but like a bear or like a lion, for he does not have the courage of soul of a man, rather he is like an animal, like a beast that rages wildly. If I overcame two, all the more so will I overcome him, for he has only physical strength without strength of soul. And by what merit? "For he has taunted the ranks of the living God" - and if so, who is with me? The living God, the Holy One, blessed be He, is with me.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר הִצִּלַנִי מִיַּד הָאֲרִי וּמִיַּד הַדֹּב הוּא יַצִּילֵנִי מִיַּד הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַזֶּה וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־דָּוִד לֵךְ וַיהוָה יִהְיֶה עִמָּךְ. - And David said: Hashem, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. And Shaul said to David: Go, and Hashem will be with you.
Now David says the matter explicitly: he relies on the strength of Hashem, may He be blessed. And what ultimately convinced Shaul? David's faith and his trust in Hashem. For one who has such strong faith and relies on Hashem, even if he is weak, by the strength of Hashem he can defeat the strong even when the weak fights the mighty one. At first, when he spoke according to nature and said that if he could overcome a lion and a bear he could surely overcome him, Shaul was not fully convinced. When he added the name of Heaven and said that all the more so here, since he taunts the ranks of God and Hashem is with him, then he became convinced that he had a chance to win.
Shaul's Garments and His Evil Eye
וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ שָׁאוּל אֶת־דָּוִד מַדָּיו וְנָתַן קוֹבַע נְחֹשֶׁת עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ שִׁרְיוֹן. - And Shaul clothed David in his garments, and placed a copper helmet on his head, and clothed him in a coat of mail.
Shaul clothes David in his garments, the very garments in which he himself was supposed to go out to fight. And Chazal say: they turned into David's size, and that he was anointed with the anointing oil. For David and Shaul were two completely different sizes: this one "small" and that one "extra large," long. Shaul was taller than all the people, from his shoulders up, and David was short, ruddy, small. How did the garments suddenly fit David? Miraculously. And Shaul saw this and cast an evil eye upon him - that is, he looked at the matter and it did not find favor in his eyes: how does this suddenly fit him? This implies that my garments will suit him, and the matter troubled Shaul. David sensed this, saw that Shaul cast an evil eye upon him, and decided to refuse to wear the garments. He said: I do not want to go out to fight while Shaul's evil eye accompanies me, as he looks at me this way with a bad eye - "how do my garments fit him" - this could bring me down. And from where do we learn this? From the wording of the verse. It should have said "and Shaul clothed his garments upon David," that Shaul takes his garments and clothes David, and it is written "and Shaul clothed David his garments" - the word "his garments" refers also to David: Shaul's garments became "David his garments," the garments of David, which fit him and suited the measure of his body.
וַיַּחְגֹּר דָּוִד אֶת־חַרְבּוֹ מֵעַל לְמַדָּיו וַיֹּאֶל לָלֶכֶת כִּי לֹא־נִסָּה וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל לֹא אוּכַל לָלֶכֶת בָּאֵלֶּה כִּי לֹא נִסִּיתִי וַיְסִרֵם דָּוִד מֵעָלָיו. - And David girded his sword over his garments, and he tried to go, for he had not tested them, and David said to Shaul: I cannot go in these, for I have not tested them, and David removed them from upon himself.
Here it says explicitly that he took off the garments, and he found a reason for it: "for I have not tested them" - I am not accustomed to fighting with weapons of war. It is like putting a person inside a tank and telling him: with this you will win the battle. He will tell you: this I do not know, all my days I was only with a machine gun, I am not used to tanks. So too here David said: I am not accustomed to all this, it only encumbers me, and he removed them from upon himself.
A Staff and Smooth Stones
וַיִּקַּח מַקְלוֹ בְּיָדוֹ וַיִּבְחַר־לוֹ חֲמִשָּׁה חַלֻּקֵי־אֲבָנִים מִן־הַנַּחַל וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָם בִּכְלִי הָרֹעִים אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ וּבַיַּלְקוּט וְקַלְעוֹ בְיָדוֹ וַיִּגַּשׁ אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי. - And he took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's vessel that he had, in the pouch, and his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
"Smooth stones" - stones that were smooth. And a "yalkut" is a leather sack in which the shepherd places his belongings and whatever he gathers along the way of his travel, and from this comes its name yalkut (from gathering). "And his sling was in his hand" - the sling with which he threw the stone, like those slings we have seen in pictures from the Intifada: a cord with a piece of cloth at its end. And why did he take specifically these? By this he showed the greatness of his trust in Hashem. When you see a dog you throw a stone at it or pick up a staff, but when you go to fight a man of war you take a sword, you take a shield, knowing that he is a man of military tactics. David wanted to show how great his trust in Hashem was, and it was precisely from this point that Goliath was offended, for he saw that David was coming to him with staves and stones - that is how one drives away dogs, that is not how one goes to fight a man of war.
וַיֵּלֶךְ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הֹלֵךְ וְקָרֵב אֶל־דָּוִד וְהָאִישׁ נֹשֵׂא הַצִּנָּה לְפָנָיו. - And the Philistine went, going and drawing near to David, and the man bearing the shield was before him.
"The one bearing the shield" - he had a man who carried the shield before him, for Goliath's hands were all occupied: here a sword, here a bow, here a spear, here arrows, occupied on all sides, and therefore he needed someone to hold the shield and go before him. And note the linguistic difference: regarding David it says "and he approached the Philistine" (vayigash), and regarding the Philistine "going and drawing near to David" (karev). The Malbim says: the term "drawing near" (kerivah) is used between equals - I drew near to you and you to me, and we are equals. But the term "approaching" (hagashah) is used when a person comes before a great man, before a king or before a tyrant, as in "and Yehudah approached him" before Yosef. David approached before Goliath, who in his eyes was great, and therefore "vayigash"; whereas Goliath feels that he is coming to an equal or even to one lesser than himself, and therefore "and he drew near to David."
Goliath's Disdain and His Curse
וַיַּבֵּט הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיִּרְאֶה אֶת־דָּוִד וַיִּבְזֵהוּ כִּי־הָיָה נַעַר וְאַדְמֹנִי עִם־יְפֵה מַרְאֶה. - And the Philistine looked and saw David, and he despised him, for he was a youth, ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
What is meant by "and the Philistine looked and saw David"? Goliath was a giant, and when he looks he sees the horizon. He was sure they would bring him someone big, on his order of size. Suddenly they tell him the opponent is approaching, and he has to raise his eyeglasses, look downward, search - and he sees someone milling about between his legs. Therefore "and he looked" and only afterward "and he saw David": he had to search for him. And why did he despise him? "For he was a youth, ruddy, with a handsome appearance." When you see someone with a smooth face, all soapy like that, you say: this is not a man of war. A man with stubble and hair and fur on his hands radiates a fighter, like Nimrod, like Esav. But when a smooth little kid comes with a "baby face," you say: this is not for war. Handsome features do not radiate strength and do not radiate might.
וַיֹּאמֶר הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אֶל־דָּוִד הַכֶלֶב אָנֹכִי כִּי־אַתָּה בָא־אֵלַי בַּמַּקְלוֹת וַיְקַלֵּל הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אֶת־דָּוִד בֵּאלֹהָיו. - And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
He says to him: Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves, in the way one drives off a dog? "Shoo"? Is this how you come to me? Come fight like a man of war! This angered him and was in his eyes a great disgrace, and therefore he cursed him over the affront that David had supposedly done to him. And according to what we explained above, "Am I a dog" - he prophesied without knowing, for in truth Goliath's own origin was also from Kalev (a dog).
וַיֹּאמֶר הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אֶל־דָּוִד לְכָה אֵלַי וְאֶתְּנָה אֶת־בְּשָׂרְךָ לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְבֶהֱמַת הַשָּׂדֶה. - And the Philistine said to David: Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field.
Here there is a question: in the field there are wild animals, not domesticated beasts, and the beast of the field eats grass, not people. Wild animals devour human beings, while a beast eats grass. Rashi explains: it is not the way of beasts to eat a person. David said: this fellow's mind has already become deranged, he is mine. When a person says things that are irrelevant, apparently he has already begun to falter, and this is a sign that he is already in my hands. And there is another expression that shows his downfall: "come to me" (lecha elai), for "elai" is like "alai" (over me), and from this David understood that there was a hint here that he would prevail over him.
"But I come to you in the name of Hashem, Lord of Hosts"
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אַתָּה בָּא אֵלַי בְּחֶרֶב וּבַחֲנִית וּבְכִידוֹן וְאָנֹכִי בָא־אֵלֶיךָ בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי מַעַרְכוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר חֵרַפְתָּ. - And David said to the Philistine: You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of Hashem, Lord of Hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have taunted.
You ask why I come with sticks and stones? Because I do not need a sword, a spear, and a javelin. Only one who comes by his own strength needs all these, but one who comes in the name of Hashem, Lord of Hosts, need only make an effort, and for the sake of that effort a few stones suffice to win the battle.
הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְסַגֶּרְךָ יְהוָה בְּיָדִי וְהִכִּיתִךָ וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת־רֹאשְׁךָ מֵעָלֶיךָ וְנָתַתִּי פֶּגֶר מַחֲנֵה פְלִשְׁתִּים הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְחַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וְיֵדְעוּ כָּל־הָאָרֶץ כִּי יֵשׁ אֱלֹהִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. - This day Hashem will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you, and I will give the corpses of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the sky and to the wild beasts of the earth, and all the earth will know that there is a God for Israel.
David is precise in his language: not "to the beast of the earth" but "to the wild beast of the earth." And he says to him: I will defeat you, and not by my own strength, but "Hashem will deliver you into my hand," and not only you but the entire Philistine camp, and through this all the nations will believe in Hashem.
וְיֵדְעוּ כָּל־הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה כִּי־לֹא בְּחֶרֶב וּבַחֲנִית יְהוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה כִּי לַיהוָה הַמִּלְחָמָה וְנָתַן אֶתְכֶם בְּיָדֵנוּ. - And all this assembly will know that Hashem does not save with sword and spear, for the battle belongs to Hashem, and He will give you into our hand.
This is the additional benefit: not only that we will crush the Philistine camp and all the earth, all the nations, will know that there is a God for Israel, but also "all this assembly" - the people of Israel standing here - will have the name of Heaven sanctified through them, for they will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not save with sword and spear, but even if you come with smooth stones, it is in Hashem's power to save.
The Stone and the Forehead
וְהָיָה כִּי־קָם הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּקְרַב לִקְרַאת דָּוִד וַיְמַהֵר דָּוִד וַיָּרָץ הַמַּעֲרָכָה לִקְרַאת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי. - And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near toward David, that David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד אֶת־יָדוֹ אֶל־הַכֶּלִי וַיִּקַּח מִשָּׁם אֶבֶן וַיְקַלַּע וַיַּךְ אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אֶל־מִצְחוֹ וַתִּטְבַּע הָאֶבֶן בְּמִצְחוֹ וַיִּפֹּל עַל־פָּנָיו אָרְצָה. - And David put his hand into the bag and took from there a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
Everyone asks: he had a bronze helmet on his head and a bronze plate over his forehead, he was entirely protected from any shot, how could David prevail over him? A first explanation: Chazal say this was one of the places where the soft overcame the hard, the stone softened against the iron and penetrated it, contrary to the way of nature where "a hammer strikes a stone and the stone shatters." A second explanation: when David said "and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky," Goliath looked up toward the birds of the sky, and when he looked up the plate of the helmet lifted and the area of the forehead was left open, and so David was able to strike his forehead. So there is a midrash.
And a third explanation in the midrash: when the stone wished to penetrate the iron, the iron would not agree, for by nature iron is stronger than stone. The stone said to it: let me make a deal with you. Until now circumcision was done with flint, with stone, as in "and Tziporah took a flint," and as in "and Yehoshua made himself flint knives... and circumcised Bnei Yisrael a second time." From now on I give you the right of the firstborn, that circumcision be done with you. And indeed from that time on, says the midrash, they stopped circumcising with stone, and to this day all circumcision is performed with a knife as a result of that event.
And regarding "and he fell on his face to the ground," Chazal ask: when a person is struck in the head with a stone, his head is thrown backward and he falls on the back of his neck, so why did Goliath fall on his face? One answer: so that David would not need to trouble himself and walk many cubits to reach the head. He fell on his face and his head came right to David's feet, so that David would not need to pace its entire length. A further explanation: that same mouth which had blasphemed the ranks of God, God buried it in the dust, "dust to his mouth," God filled his mouth with dust, and therefore he fell on his face with his mouth straight in the dust. And a further explanation: Dagon his god was engraved on his heart, an idol he carried in order always to remember it, and when he fell on his face there was fulfilled in him "וְנָתַתִּי פִּגְרֵיכֶם עַל פִּגְרֵי גִּלּוּלֵיכֶם" - your corpses upon the corpses of your idols, that below was the idol and above it Goliath.
Cutting Off the Head and the Sword
וַיֶּחֱזַק דָּוִד מִן־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי בַּקֶּלַע וּבָאֶבֶן וַיַּךְ אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיְמִתֵהוּ וְחֶרֶב אֵין בְּיַד־דָּוִד. - And David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David's hand.
וַיָּרָץ דָּוִד וַיַּעֲמֹד אֶל־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיִּקַּח אֶת־חַרְבּוֹ וַיִּשְׁלְפָהּ מִתַּעְרָהּ וַיְמֹתְתֵהוּ וַיִּכְרָת־בָּהּ אֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ וַיִּרְאוּ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים כִּי־מֵת גִּבּוֹרָם וַיָּנֻסוּ. - And David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it from its sheath, and finished killing him, and cut off his head with it. And the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, and they fled.
Why did David need to draw his sword and cut off his head? Two reasons. The first, confirmation of the kill is required, for it is possible that Goliath had only fallen and would afterward rouse himself and rise. And if you would say: does one who trusts in God need confirmation? For if so, do not go out to battle at all and do not take stones, for if God wills it one can be victorious even without stones and one could even stay at home. Rather, a person is obligated to make an effort, and part of David's effort was to do the thing in the way of nature. The second reason: the very cutting off of the head was a humiliation of their hero, and an atonement for the terrible desecration of God's name that he had done. For further on we will see that they carried his head and paraded with it through the camp of Israel, and this itself was an immense sanctification of God's name: this reviler and blasphemer, here is his head, here is what was done to him, that very mouth.
And who was Goliath's armor bearer? Uriah the Hittite. And Chazal say that David could not draw Goliath's sword from its sheath, because it was locked by names of impurity, by sorcery, and it could not be drawn out. And who cracked the secret code for him? His armor bearer, Uriah the Hittite. But he did not agree at once: David asked him to help him draw out the sword and he would not agree, until David made him a promise. Some say he asked David to promise him a daughter of Israel, that he would convert and they would give him a daughter of Israel in marriage, and some say he asked for Bat Sheva herself. And Chazal say: a heavenly voice went forth and said, by your life, David, you are giving him from what is yours, and as a result of this all that happened with Uriah the Hittite and Bat Sheva came about.
And why does the previous verse say "vayemitehu" (and he killed him) and here "vayemotetehu"? The Malbim says: "vayemotetehu" means to complete the killing, to finish it in an absolute manner. And what is "and they fled" - was there not an agreement that the losers would become slaves? Rather, as we said, those conditions were the first ones that Goliath proposed, that a duel be held and whoever won, the other side would become slaves, and Israel did not agree. Then he said to them in a manner of humiliation: give me a man and I will fight with him. And when David came out, it was not in the manner of warriors matched in a duel by a written agreement, and therefore they were not obligated to become our slaves, for in the end the matter had not been agreed upon.
וַיָּקֻמוּ אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה וַיָּרִעוּ וַיִּרְדְּפוּ אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים עַד־בּוֹאֲךָ גַיְא וְעַד שַׁעֲרֵי עֶקְרוֹן וַיִּפְּלוּ חַלְלֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים בְּדֶרֶךְ שַׁעֲרַיִם וְעַד־גַּת וְעַד־עֶקְרוֹן. - And the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and pursued the Philistines until you come to the valley and until the gates of Ekron, and the slain of the Philistines fell along the way of Shaarayim, and as far as Gat and as far as Ekron.
וַיָּשֻׁבוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִדְּלֹק אַחֲרֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיָּשֹׁסּוּ אֶת־מַחֲנֵיהֶם. - And Bnei Yisrael returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camps.
"And they plundered their camps" - they took their spoils.
וַיִּקַּח דָּוִד אֶת־רֹאשׁ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיְבִאֵהוּ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם וְאֶת־כֵּלָיו שָׂם בְּאָהֳלוֹ. - David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put his weapons in his own tent.
He brought the head to Jerusalem, and his weapons, the weapons with which he was victorious, he placed in his tent. And where did he put the sword? In Nov, the city of the priests. For when David flees from Shaul, as we will see later on, Achimelech ben Achituv gives him the sword. And which sword was it? The sword with which he had killed Goliath.
"Whose son is this lad?"
וְכִרְאוֹת שָׁאוּל אֶת־דָּוִד יֹצֵא לִקְרַאת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי אָמַר אֶל־אַבְנֵר שַׂר הַצָּבָא בֶּן־מִי־זֶה הַנַּעַר אַבְנֵר וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְנֵר חֵי־נַפְשְׁךָ הַמֶּלֶךְ אִם־יָדָעְתִּי. - When Shaul saw David going out toward the Philistine, he said to Avner, the commander of the army: Whose son is this lad, Avner? And Avner said: By your life, O king, I do not know.
Did Shaul really not know whose son he was, when David played music before him? Rather, our Sages say: he saw him conducting himself with royal bearing, and he asked whether he descended from Peretz or from Zerach. For if he descended from Peretz, he would become king, for a king breaks through a fence for himself; and if from Zerach, there was no need to worry so much about him, for he would be nothing more than an officer. Doeg said to him: while you are worrying whether he comes from Peretz or from Zerach, ask whether he is fit to enter the congregation at all, for he descends from Rut the Moaviah. Avner said to him: we learned "an Ammonite" and not an Ammonitess. Doeg said to him: if so, according to your reasoning that the masculine form is used, say also "a mamzer" and not a female mamzer. He answered: here the reason is stated, "because they did not greet you with bread and water," and it is not the way of a woman to do so. Doeg said to him: they should have had men come out to greet the men and women to greet the women, and the women too should have come out to greet. Avner was silenced.
וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁאַל אַתָּה בֶּן־מִי־זֶה הָעָלֶם. - And the king said: You yourself inquire whose son this youth is.
Shaul said to him: this halachah has escaped you, that all the honor of a king's daughter is within, and it is not the way of women to go out and greet; rather, they should have stayed in their homes. And our Sages derived this from the fact that at first he called him "lad" (na'ar) and suddenly he calls him "youth" (elem). And according to the plain meaning of the verse: "You yourself inquire," go and find out whose son this youth is.
The Malbim explains the question "Whose son is this lad?" in a different way: when a person performs such an act of heroism, the divine light appears upon him and breaks forth like the dawn over the man of spirit, and he becomes a different person and the skin of his face shines. Shaul knew David as an armor bearer and as one who played music before him, but he did not know him as a man of spirit and as such a great man, and so he saw him and was amazed: whose son is this lad? It was a surprise for him. And the Malbim brings a further explanation: some say there is no strict chronological order in the words of the prophet, and the anointing in the house of Yishai took place afterward, and according to this the question is settled simply: he truly did not yet know him.
וּכְשׁוּב דָּוִד מֵהַכּוֹת אֶת־הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיִּקַּח אֹתוֹ אַבְנֵר וַיְבִאֵהוּ לִפְנֵי שָׁאוּל וְרֹאשׁ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי בְּיָדוֹ. - And when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Avner took him and brought him before Shaul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
Notice: David did not come before Shaul on his own, and he did not think at all to demand a reward. Naturally he should have come and asked, "Well, where is the check?" but David did not come. Rather, it was Avner who took him and brought him before Shaul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו שָׁאוּל בֶּן־מִי אַתָּה הַנָּעַר וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד בֶּן־עַבְדְּךָ יִשַׁי בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי. - And Shaul said to him: Whose son are you, lad? And David said: The son of your servant Yishai the Bethlehemite.
David says to him: I am the son of a mighty man, for my father is "the Bethlehemite," named for his place, Bet Lechem, and also for his being a man of war. All my strength stems from him, and of myself I have nothing.
In summary:
For forty days Goliath stood and taunted the ranks of the living God, morning and evening, seeking to make Israel abandon the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, and at the end of forty days, corresponding to the forty days in which the Torah was given, his power expired. Into this arena entered a responsible and faithful youth, who did not forsake his father's flock, who sought neither reward nor honor, and whose entire question, "What shall be done for the man," was itself a claim: there is no reward in the world that could compare to removing the disgrace from Israel. He knew that Goliath was matter without form, a body without strength of soul, and therefore "let no man's heart fail on his account"; he remembered the miracles of Hashem with the lion and the bear, until he carried them upon himself like a garment; and he went out with a staff and smooth stones in order to show that all of it is nothing but human effort, "for not by sword and spear does Hashem save, for the battle is Hashem's." And from here comes the way in which David concluded his words to Shaul: "the son of your servant Yishai" - of myself I am nothing.