I was reading the story of David and Goliath to my five-year-old son a couple of days ago. When I was finished, I thought: something’s missing. It clicked that I was reading the children’s version. Since the Old Testament can be brutal, we must sanitize children’s Bible school stories so that we don’t traumatize our youngsters.
After my son went to bed, I got my Bible out and read the story of David and Goliath. David cuts off Goliath’s head with a sword…how sharp that sword must’ve been to sever Goliath’s head! It sounds so bloody and brutal. Plus, in the Bible I was reading it kept referring to David as being a boy…I wondered how old he was? Around fifteen or sixteen, maybe? Then, I kept thinking of David walking around holding Goliath’s severed head in his hand…
What’s the point to this blog post? I’m not sure! I know I keep thinking about this story and I have no idea why. Maybe because when people talk about it, they don’t recall the brutality of what happened. The Lord was with David and gave this youngster the power to overcome this giant whom everybody feared, but, it was so grotesque and bloody…I don’t think people recall that part of the story too much. I’m not sure when kids will be old enough to know the full story of David and Goliath…How old do you think kids should be before they hear the full story of David and Goliath?
I’ve copied and pasted a few verses from 1 Samuel chapter 17 below.
1 Samuel 17: 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 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. 51 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…. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
56 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
57 Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Great stuff. very incisive post, i really appreciate it. The example you have shown in your post is really good and easily.Thanks for sharing understandable.
Wow, Cecelia. I hadn’t realized how often I think of David and his sling shot, throwing pebbles, and how I’m usually thinking of the kids’ version. You’re right. For him to be carrying Goliath’s decapitated head around is brave, not to mention bloody.
To answer your question. I’m thinking that it’s good to read the kids’ version to children when they’re younger, but when they’re somewhere between 10 and 12–it really depends on the child–to have them read the straight biblical account aloud with you.
Though, I’m not yet a parent, I’m thinking that you should be able to gauge their reaction to what the Bible says. If their eyes widen a bit, does it mean they understood, or does it mean they’re very afraid? Hopefully, the parent will know what the child can handle.
Thank you for sharing this. You made me realize how often I gloss over (as I read) the violent parts of the account of David and Goliath, as well as other very–messy?–parts of the Word. You’ve also reminded me to pay attention to what I’m reading.
Thanks for your insightful post, Nedra. I think lots of people forget about the gory parts of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. I’ll have to watch my child and gauge when he’s ready to hear the truth about what really happened between David and Goliath!
I am in the middle of the Beth Moore bible study and have a question or point of interest in the David story. Before David killed Goliath he was in the service if Saul as his harp player. However, when Saul ask who David is he doesn’t know. Any thoughts this has troubled me while studying the life of David.
Your Sister in Christ – Rita
Hi, Rita. I’m glad that you stopped by Cecelia’s Christian Fiction Blog and commented. I tried to email you privately, but, your profile is marked private so I can’t see your email information. The only insight I can give regarding your question is, perhaps, although David was Saul’s harp player, perhaps some time had passed between the chapters and he no longer recognized David because he’d gotten older? Or, perhaps, he didn’t recognize David when he’d killed Goliath because he looked different – he may have looked brave and strong holding that decapitated head? I’m unfamiliar with Biblical history so, I’m not sure how often harp players interact with their superiors. I know David played the harp whenever the distressing spirits came upon Saul, to help him to feel better, and that Saul loved David, initially. So, it is puzzling as to why Saul didn’t recognize David after he killed Goliath. Your question is a valid one, I’m just afraid that I can’t provide much insight, but wish that I could. I’ll post your question on a blog entry to see if any of my blog readers know the answer.
Rita, I posted your question on my blog recently and we’ve received a few responses. Stop by the following link and read the entire blog post as well as ALL OF THE COMMENTS. Some of my blog readers had some insightful information that I think will help you to answer your question!
http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2011/03/david-and-saul.html
Rita, I recently had that same question myself and I’m not exactly sure either (need to ask my pastor about that). My first thought was that as Saul’s harpist, he came to Saul’s private chamber and played as needed. Maybe when he came, the lights were low because Saul was trying to sleep.
Between only seeing him in dim light and the fact that David didn’t have a bloody severed head in his hand when he served Saul, I could see why Saul had to ask who that was who just killed Goliath.
And think about it- would a man of war like Saul really guess that the nice young man who played the harp so beautifully was capable of killing a giant Philistine? Sounds like he had a bad case of Clark Kent/Superman blindness 🙂
@Maurice, Not to change the subject, but, ya know, when I used to watch superman on TV, I always did have a hard time believing that Lois Lane couldn’t tell the difference between Clark Kent and Superman! I felt the same way about Wonder Woman! Although both had a dowdy/nerdy alter-ego, I still knew it was the same person, so, why couldn’t the other people on the show tell the difference??