1 Samuel 17

There were two towns in Judah’s tribal land called Socoh, also spelled Sokho. One is southwest of Hebron about 10 miles (16 km). But the one in this story is linked to the ancient ruin Tel Socho, on a hill above the Valley of Elah. That was about 14 miles (22 km) west of David’s home in Bethlehem. And it was about 17 miles southwest of Jerusalem (27 km), and roughly the same distance from Saul’s home in Gibeah. Today, the hilltop is a tourist attraction called Givat Haurmusim—“Hill of Lupines.” Lupines are wild blue mountain flowers that cover the hillside in the spring.

Azekah was a hilltop city about 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Socoh. It guarded the main route through the Valley of Elah below.

Hebrew: Ephes Dammin. This location in the tribal highlands of Judah was near Philistine territory on the coastal plains.

The shallow Valley of Elah starts in the hills of Judah, between Bethlehem and Socho. It runs west, down through the foothills and on toward the Mediterranean coast by Socoh, Azekah, and the major Philistine town of Gath, home of the Philistine champion warrior, Goliath. “Elah” is a kind of oak or terebinth tree. The valley may have had many of those trees in Bible times. Not today, though. Just a few.

Gath was one of the five major Philistine cities along the Mediterranean coastal plain. It was roughly 10 miles or less (16 km) from the Philistine camp above the Valley of Elah.

Goliath’s height reported here is from the first Greek translation of the Jewish Bible, finished in the century before the birth of Jesus. The oldest surviving copies of this translation, known as the Septuagint, date to the AD 200s-400s.But the most popular Hebrew version of the story put Goliath at 9 feet 9 inches (3 meters) tall. Those astonishing numbers—some say exaggerated—come from the Masoretic Text, written in the original Hebrew language of the story. The oldest known copy is from about the AD 1000s. That’s several centuries after the Greek versions of the Jewish Bible, which Christians often call the Old Testament.

A weaver’s beam may have been about 2 inches thick (5 cm).

Goliath’s spearhead weighed almost as much as two large cast-iron skillets.

This shield may have been soldier-sized, big enough for a typical soldier to hide behind it. For Goliath, it may have been too short to protect his head unless he ducked and tucked, a maneuver that would make him look like the champion of Duck, Duck, Goose.

David’s role in this story can feel like an abrupt cut and paste from another story, rather than a continuation of what we’ve been reading. Or perhaps it’s a rocky flashback or it was supposed to go earlier in the story. Here, the writer introduces him as a new character. David is no longer staying with Saul and comforting him with music therapy, to treat Saul’s depression. Saul doesn’t seem to even know him or his father (verse 55).

“Forty days” may not have been exactly 40 days. The number was a common expression in the Bible, whether it was talking about 40 days or 40 years. It meant a long time. Perhaps “a month or more” for “40 days” and “a generation” for “40 years.”

Hebrew measurement was an ephah, which is about 20 quarts or 22 liters. Wheat kernels weight about 710 grams or 1.5 pounds per liter.

Jesse asks David to bring back their “token,” (rubba). The word can mean a report, assurance, or perhaps confirmation that they got what David delivered.

It would have taken David about seven hours, at the average walking pace of 3 miles per hour (5 km/hr), adjusting slightly for the 1,200-foot (365 m) descent from Bethlehem to Socoh, and half an hour to rest and eat lunch.

Respectfully, given the length and power of the teeth and claws on lions and bears, some might wonder if David is a teenager who could be stretching the truth somewhat, if not entirely. He certainly seemed motivated by the king’s offer of riches or a woman. If David was a typical teen male, the lady was the main draw—as David proved later by completing the extra tasks Saul gave him (1 Samuel 18).

Goliath may have threatened to do with David what the Philistines did later, when they killed Saul and his sons. They cut off their heads and hung their corpses for the birds and wild animals (verse 44; 1 Samuel 31:8-13).

Israelites used slings as an ancient form of artillery. An experienced slinger could send an aerodynamically smooth stone 100 yards/meters in a second. The tribe of Benjamin once had a corps of 700 slingers who reportedly could cut a hair in half (Judges 20:16).

Location of Shaaraim is uncertain but was likely near the Philistine camp somewhere between Socoh and Azekah (1 Samuel 17:1). One suggested location: ruins called Khirbet esh-Sharia about a mile northeast of Azekah. Gath and Ekron would have been roughly 10 and 15 miles (16 km and 24 km) away, respectively.

David hadn’t conquered Jerusalem yet. Most scholars seem to presume the writer meant that David took Goliath’s skull to Jerusalem after he conquered the city from Jebusites and declared it his capital of Israel.