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From: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51

David and Goliath (Continuation)

[32] And David to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will
go and fight with this Philistine.” [33] And Saul said to David, “You are not able
to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he has
been a man of war from his youth.” [37] And David said, “The LORD who deli-
vered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me
from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be
with you!” [40] Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones
from the brook, and put them in his shepherd’s bag or wallet; his sling was in his
hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

[41] And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer
in front of him. [42] And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained
him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. [43] And the
Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the
Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me,
and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” [45]
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear
and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God
of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the LORD will deliver
you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give
the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and
to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel, [47] and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with
sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and he will give you into our hand.”

[48] When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran
quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
bag and took out a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead;
the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

[50] So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck
the Philistine, and killed him; there was no sword in the hand of David. [51] Then
David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its
sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that
their champion was dead, they fled.

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Commentary:

17:32-37. The conversation between Saul and David about Goliath’s challenge
shows Saul’s dispiritedness and David’s courage. David has not got some mad
juvenile idea; he is consciously committing himself to a difficult enterprise, con-
vinced that the Lord will protect him just as he has so often done in his work as
a shepherd (vv. 34-37). The Fathers apply David’s experience to Jesus Christ:
“David, that is, Christ, strangled the lion and the bear when he descended into
hell and freed everyone from the jaws of death [...]. Since the strength of the bear
is his paws, and the lion’s, his mouth, these fierce creatures prefigure the devil.
Moreover, all this is said of Christ who would have to free the one, true Church
from the clutches of evil, that is, from the power of the devil” (St Caesarius of
Aries, “Sermons”, 121, 4).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.