1 Samuel 17:33-37
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear
The argument for letting a boy go is an employment history. He describes catching a lion by the beard as a normal part of the job.
Objects of the Bible
The sling and the five stones
He tried on the king’s armour first, walked two steps in it, and took it off.
The armour is offered sincerely. Saul clothes David with his garments, puts a helmet of brass upon his head, and arms him with a coat of mail. Then comes the sentence that decides the chapter: I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. He does not say they are too heavy, he says they are untested. What he takes instead is what he has used: a staff, a sling, and five smooth stones out of the brook, put in a shepherd’s bag.
Scroll down to the storyThe movements, in the order the text gives them.
The story of The sling and the five stones
- 01
- 02
1 Samuel 17:38-39
I cannot go with these
He tries the armour and takes it off, and the reason he gives is testing rather than weight or size.
- 03
1 Samuel 17:40
Five smooth stones out of the brook
He stops at the water on the way to choose ammunition. The number is given and never explained.
- 04
1 Samuel 17:45-47
Thou comest to me with a sword
The longest speech in the chapter is made before the sling is used, and it lists the other side’s equipment item by item.
- 05
1 Samuel 17:49-50
There was no sword in the hand of David
The account pauses to note the absence. One stone, one throw, and a sentence about what he was not holding.
Why it matters
The five stones are one of the most discussed details in the book and the text offers no explanation for the number. What it does explain is the reasoning behind the weapon, and the reasoning is experience: thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. He has done this before, on animals, for sheep. The speech he makes before the throw is longer than the fight, and it names what he is carrying: thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts.
3 songs
The music
Every song in the catalogue whose passage falls inside these chapters.
