Let’s take down some giants.

David could have played by the rules, but instead, he made history.

The story of David and Goliath goes loosely like this:

Goliath was an extraordinarily large and fearsome warrior. David was a small, young shepherd. 

Despite this seemingly unfair match-up, David killed Goliath with a stone from his sling.

The underdog defeated the giant and became a folklore hero.

Let’s Talk About This

The battle of David and Goliath took place in the 11th century BC in the Valley of Elah, modern-day Israel. King Saul governed the Israelites, and the Valley of Elah ran directly down the center of his kingdom. 

The Philistines were a seafaring, battle-tested tribe from Crete and sworn enemies of the Israelites. The Philistines determined that if they could conquer the Valley of Elah, they could split King Saul’s kingdom in two, fracturing his power.

David was an Israelite. Goliath was a Philistine.

King Saul received word that the Philistines were approaching and assembled his army on the northern ridge of the valley. When the Philistines reached the southern ridge, each army was in plain sight of the other, separated by the deep valley below.

For either party, to descend into the valley bottom and attack from low ground was suicide. 

A stalemate ensued.

Eventually, the Philistines, being the aggressor, took the initiative and sent one lone warrior to the valley bottom. It was not uncommon for small armies to settle feuds with one-to-one nominee combat - each army would pick their best warrior, and the two would battle for supremacy in a winner-take-all duel. 

The Philistine nominee was Goliath.

Goliath was armed with over 100 lbs of bronze armour, from his head to his feet. He carried a full bronze sculpted javelin, a large sword and a short-range “heavy spear” - a thick-handled spear with added weights to increase its force upon thrusts. Together, he may have had over 200 lbs of armour and weapons on his body.

The only part of him uncovered was the bottom of his forehead and his eyes to ensure no obstruction to his vision.

Goliath was truly a giant, with biblical accounts putting him at 6’9 or taller. Standing in the valley bottom, he would have appeared larger than any warrior the Israelites had likely ever seen. As legend has it, no Israelites stepped forward to the challenge.

Except David.

David, by contrast, had no armour. He was a shepherd, not a warrior. In the history books, he is made out to be feeble and young, with no weapons other than his sling. 

Other than his sling…

However, there is an important data point about warfare in the 11th century BC. 

Ancient armies had three types of warriors.

The infantry were the foot soldiers. They were heavily armed and excelled at close-range combat. Goliath was infantry.

Cavalry were the horse-mounted fighters - excellent at closing distance quickly and overwhelming opponents through force.

Projectile warriors were the long-distance artillery - archers and slingers. 

Although David is presented as a feeble shepherd with no more than a sling, slingers were, in fact, an essential element in ancient armies due to their ability to out-range other projectile weapons. For instance, slingers generally had a longer effective range than short bows and were used to break up enemy formations before main combat units engaged.

An expert slinger would swing his stone above his head, reaching speeds of up to six revolutions per second, before releasing the projectile. The ballistics of a well-flung stone were comparable to a modern-day handgun, moving at 34 meters per second.

Practiced slingers were known to be deadly accurate at ranges up to 150 meters.

For reference, in 1992, David Engvall set the Guinness world record for sling toss, hurling a stone 477 metres or 1565 ft. - Roughly ⅓ of a mile.

The answer to slingers was cavalry - their quick pace made them difficult targets, but the infantry were sitting ducks.

From the moment he issued his challenge, Goliath was a large, sitting duck. The odds were always in David’s favour.

David jogged down the valley, released his stone and hit Goliath square between the eyes. Goliath was dead before he raised his sword.

So why did Goliath step forward in the first place?

The ancient rules of nominee combat often called for two equally matched soldiers to fight each other. Goliath stepped forward and expected the laws of ancient combat to be respected. Centuries of tradition informed him that another infantry soldier would come to meet him.

David was not worried about tradition. His people’s kingdom was experiencing an unprovoked attack by a large and ruthless enemy.

He removed all assumptions and prior knowledge, looked at the challenge and created a solution from first principles.

“I see a big, slow target. Give me a sling. I will make this quick.” 

What is the lesson?

Goliath stepped forward and declared the rules. David broke the rules and took down the giant. 

David was likely mocked and shunned for his lack of respect for the ancient laws. He may have been questioned for his lack of honour and discretion.

But when the challenge was issued, no seasoned warriors stepped forward. They were scared and chose defeat.

It is curiously ironic - that David risked the scorn of his people in exchange for defending their freedom.

He broke the rules, stood up to the giant and is remembered as a folklore hero. 

Did he lack bravery for not meeting Goliath on his terms?

Or was he the bravest of all because he thought for himself and changed the course of history?

I love this story because we live so much of our lives governed by rules that were created by people we have never met.

Ancient laws, produced by the imagination of flawed humans, like you and I.

By giants like Goliath, who create rules to suit their strengths and hide their weaknesses.

The tale of David and Goliath transcends a mere battle; it epitomizes the triumph of unconventional thinking over social tolerance. In the face of looming challenges, it beckons us to emancipate ourselves from established rules and find innovative solutions, much like David did. By embracing a mindset of critical thinking over conformity, we might not only defeat giants, but we might just save the kingdom.

Let’s go take down some giants.

Jay