1 Samuel 17:50–54

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

David doesn’t know whether Goliath is dead or just knocked out, so he finishes him off ASAP. The Hebrew clearly says that David drew Goliath’s sword and killed him and cut off his head. That definitely sounds like Goliath was alive when David drew his sword.

And notice that Goliath’s sword was still in its sheath. That’s because he wasn’t close to David when he was struck by the stone. He was holding his spear—his distance weapon. He would have drawn his sword if David had gotten close.

Then, sure enough, the “champion contract” is instantly ignored. Remember this?

Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” — 1 Samuel 17:8–9

Now, having lost the “champion challenge,” the Philistines simply run away. The passage doesn’t even mention them thinking about honoring this agreement. Don’t be silly. They’re obviously not going to honor it. That idea never crossed their minds.

It didn’t cross David’s either. In 1 Samuel 17:44, Goliath said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” David’s response was, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

David rejected the “champion contract” to begin with. What followed was just what you’d expect.

David was wise not to bargain with the enemy. Contracts are only as good as the authority that has the power to force people to honor them. Goliath’s challenge only had the force of a verbal contract anyway.

“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” — Apocryphal (not actually Sam Goldwyn)

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.