CHAPTER III.

GOLIATH CHALLENGES THE ISRAELITES. DAVID OFFERS TO MEET HIM IN SINGLE COMBAT.

SOME time had elapsed after the events took place which we have been noticing, when the Philistines once more waged war against the Israelites. Assembling an immense army, they encamped between Shochoh and Azekah, a few miles south-west of Jerusalem. Saul was prompt to meet them, and collected his forces on a mountain near the valley of Elah, not far from Bethlehem. The Philistines were on the opposite mountain; so that the two armies were in full view of each other, expecting soon to be engaged in battle.

Under these circumstances, what was the surprise of the Israelites to behold a giant warrior advance from the camp of the enemy, with no one to attend him except the armor-bearer who went before him, carrying his shield. It was Goliath of Gath, a man of enormous stature, being between nine and ten feet in height, and of proportionate size and strength. A huge helmet of brass glittered on his head. He wore a coat of mail which weighed a hundred and fifty-six pounds, with greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. The staff of the spear which he carried was like a weaver's beam,

GOLIATH'S CHALLENGE.

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and the pointed head of it weighed not less than eighteen pounds. His appearance and intrepid bearing were well adapted to strike the Israelites with terror, while their dismay was increased when they learned the object of his movement.

He came to challenge some one of them to single combat, and to have the fate of the two armies, instead of being decided by a general engagement, depend on the issue of this personal encounter. With an air of proud defiance, and a voice that rang fearfully along the declivities of the mountain, and throughout the hosts of the Israelites, Goliath exclaimed, "Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. I defy," he tauntingly added, "the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together."

The Philistines placed great confidence in the terrific aspect and martial prowess of their champion; exulting in the triumph which they hoped, in one way or another, to secure from the challenge which he gave. It would be sure, they thought, to strike terror into the ranks of the enemy; so that if accepted, the champion opposed to Goliath would come disheartened to the conflict, and be easily slain; or if declined, this would be the

result of that general fear among the Israelites which would turn the issue of a battle decidedly against them.

The challenge was repeated morning and evening, for the space of forty days; while frequent skirmishes were taking place between small detachments of the rival armies. It was at this point of time that the aged Jesse, himself unable to visit the camp of Saul, felt anxious to hear from his three eldest sons who had joined the forces of their king to fight against the Philistines. He concluded to send David on this errand, and directed him to go with an ephah of parched corn and ten loaves of bread for his brethren, and a present of ten cheeses for the commander of the thousand to which they belonged.* "Look," said he, "how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge," that is, some token of their welfare which had previously been agreed upon, and which David was to bring back to Jesse.

Having made the necessary arrangements for his departure, and leaving his father's flocks under the care of a faithful keeper, David was on his way the next morning at an early hour. He arrived at the camp of the Israelites just as their hosts, going forth to meet the enemy, rent the air with their loud shoutings for the conflict.

The

An ephah was equal to three pecks and three pints. The cheeses were not like ours, but slices of coagulated milk which had been strained, and after it had grown hard, cut into pieces for use.

SAUL'S OFFER.

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Philistines too were in battle array and preparing to descend the mountain. Leaving what he had brought with him in the care of the proper officer, he hastened forward into the midst of the army; and finding his brethren, communicated his errand, and exchanged friendly salutations with them. As he was conversing with them, Goliath again came forward in advance of the army of the Philistines, repeating his usual challenge in so loud a voice that it reached the ears of David. What was his astonishment to find those around him, and indeed the whole army, as if overwhelmed with dismay at the sight of the champion, fleeing from his presence towards their camp. He soon perceived from the conversation of the soldiers how deeply they were affected. "Have ye seen," said one to another, "this man that is come up? Surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel."

To be satisfied that he understood them, and that what they said was not the mere result of the alarm which they felt, David proposed the inquiry to several who were near him, "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel?" adding with a modest though pious intrepidity of soul, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

The universal reply convinced him that Saul

had indeed offered the reward of valor which had been mentioned. Strange that the king himself, the leader of his people, and distinguished for his own superior stature and military prowess, should shrink from a personal encounter with the champion of the Philistines. And if possible, still more surprising, that the first indication of a spirit that was brave enough to meet him should come from the unpretending interrogatory of a youthful stranger. There was one near by who knew this spirit; what appalling dangers in the strength of Jehovah its possessor could dare to meet, and what astonishing exploits to achieve. It was Eliab, the eldest brother of David. Even in the retired vale of Bethlehem, the occasions had not been wanting to show that this youngest son of the family had a measure of courage and strength which bordered on the miraculous. This and the distinction which the anointing of Samuel had conferred upon him above the rest of his brethren, and which they themselves witnessed, seem to have excited against him the envy at least of Eliab, in a very striking degree. It had long been rankling in his breast, and now burst forth with increased virulence, heightened in all probability by the degrading contrast between his own cowardice and that of the whole army, including even the king himself, and the self-possessed intrepidity which marked the language and the deportment of David.

"Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with