David and Goliath in the Bible - a legend

The history of the Bible about David and Goliath today is known not only to believers. Fame gave her an amazing story: a shepherd defeats a huge soldier with the help of a sling, trusting only in God's help. Scientists have found evidence that such a battle took place in reality, but who was the winner in fact - put forward different hypotheses.

David and Goliath - who is this?

Historians call David the second king of the Israeli people, who for more than 7 years was the ruler of Judea, and then another 33 years - the two kingdoms of Israel and Judea. And who is David in the Bible? A handsome and strong young shepherd has repeatedly proved his courage, struck a huge warrior Goliath in a fair fight, thereby giving victory to the Israelis. Goliath the Old Testament calls the descendant of the Rephaim giants, who fought for the Philistines and took a single battle with a representative of a hostile camp.

David and Goliath - The Bible

The biblical legend of David and Goliath tells how a young shepherd was recognized as king of the Israelites. This right gave him the victory over the strongest warrior of enemies Goliath. The Bible says that the young shepherd did it in the name of the God of Israel, for which the Lord gave him the victory. How did David hit Goliath? The Bible says that the young man used an ancient weapon - sling.

It operated on the principle of slingshot: a stone was laid in the rope and thrown into the enemy. With a clear throw David got a giant in the head, and when he fell, he cut off his head with a sword. This victory made the youth a people's favorite, and later - and the ruler of the country, whose years of reign are called the golden age, the young king rescued the people from the Philistine attacks, introduced many useful reforms.

The Battle of David and Goliath

And today, the researchers of Holy Letter argue about the reality of this legend. The first refer to the works of historian Josephus Flavius, who claims that such a battle in history is fixed. The second explains the position by the fact that there is no evidence that would confirm: such people once lived. But in 1996, archaeologists managed to find evidence on excavations in the valley of the Judean Mountains that David was facing a battle against Goliath:

  1. The skeleton of a giant is up to three meters tall with a severed head, in which a stone is stuck.
  2. The age of the find was about 3 thousand years before our era.

Another indirect proof of the reality of this battle was that it is described in the Qur'an, it speaks of the battle of the Prophet David with the warrior of the unbelievers Goliath. This parable is an edification, that one can never doubt the help of God. There is another interesting version, supposedly the giant was struck by the son of Jagar-Orgim of Bethlehem Elkhanan, the battle, judging by the citations of Holy Letter, took place in Gobe. Such confusion gave impetus to the most different versions of theologians and atheists, allegedly later the chroniclers attributed the victory to the great king David.

How did David defeat Goliath?

Historians believe that David killed Goliath in an unequal match, which gave this victory a symbolic meaning. The shepherd refused to armor, which prevented him from moving, easily avoided the blows of the hulking giant. There are two versions that explain the victory of the inexperienced David:

  1. The real one. The maneuverability of the shepherdess gave him the opportunity to freely throw stones, it might even be the first to be lethal. And after that it turned into the only one, and was commemorated as God's support.
  2. Mystical. Allegedly the guy had a traced sign, which later was called "the star of David." The symbol in the form of a star with 6 ends is a hexagram, in this version Goliath and the star of David are symbols of the confrontation of spiritual and physical strength.

Movies about David and Goliath

The history of David and Goliath was repeatedly mentioned in the works of the authors of different times and countries, and in the masterpieces of cinema. The most famous films about this event:

  1. "David and Goliath", 1960, Italy.
  2. "King David", 1985, USA.
  3. "David and Goliath", 2015, USA.
  4. "David and Goliath", 2016, the USA.