One of the myths of Christianity is the infallibility of the bible.
Quoting Paul, some Christians insist every word in the bible is “God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16).
When you identify contradictions in the bible, they either refuse to acknowledge them or try to rationalise them away with highfalutin apologetics.
However, these apologetics have not made the contradictions disappear. All they do is establish that these bible-fanatics are not committed to the truth.
Christians generally believe little David killed mighty Goliath, according to the “infallible” account of 1 Samuel 17:50-51. This feat is drummed into us from childhood.
However, the same “infallible” bible also credits the killing of Goliath to Elhanan, one of David’s mighty men.
2 Samuel says:
There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath.” (2 Samuel 21:19
This record of Elhanan (as opposed to David) killing Goliath can be found in many bible translations but other bible translations of the same 2 Samuel 21:19 say Elhanan killed “the brother of Goliath.” These translations include the King James Version (KJV); New King James Version (NKJV); The Living Bible (TLB); and New Living Translation (NLT).
Of the latter, the New King James Version is remarkably unreliable.
As a matter of policy, King James sometimes adds its own words to bible verses, effectively doctoring their meaning.
Although the translation says Elhanan slew “the brother of Goliath;” the words “the brother of” are written in italics, indicating that they do not appear in the original Hebrew text but were added at the discretion of NKJV translators.
However, my purpose here is not just to demonstrate the fallibility of the bible. Bible-worshipping Christians will always reject that fact no matter what.
My purpose is to determine if David killed Goliath.
The question then arises as to which version are we going to believe? Should we believe the classical position that David killed Goliath, or should we believe the equally biblical position that Elhanan killed Goliath?
For a number of reasons, the account stating that David killed Goliath is the less believable.
It is in the tradition of kings and rulers to take credit for other people’s achievements under their kingdom. David was no exception to this.
- Saul and David
The account of David killing Goliath is so full of contradictions that it is clear it is the fabricated version.
One of the problems with the account has to do with the inability of bible-writers to determine precisely when David first met Saul.
We are told that when Saul transgressed against the Lord, God sent an evil spirit to trouble him. (1 Samuel 16:14). Someone then recommended to Saul that he should hire David to play the harp, offering the dubious thesis that soothing music is a demon-repellent.
But then the man recommending David said something strange: he extolled David, a young teenager who was not even old enough to be in the army, as a man of war:
I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war.” (1 Samuel 16:18
This description is a giveaway. It is obviously written after the fact. There is no basis for describing David, a youth keeping sheep, as “a mighty man of valour” and “a man of war.”
By all accounts, David was not even a man yet. On this recommendation, Saul sent word to Jesse, David’s father, that his son should be seconded to him.
However, David entered Saul’s service not as a harp-playing musician, but as his armour-bearer, even though we are told later that Saul’s armour was too heavy for David. (1 Samuel 17:38-39).
Nevertheless, whenever Saul came under attack by the evil spirit, David would play a harp and the evil spirit would depart. Saul quickly took a liking to David, and he sent to his father a second time that David’s secondment to him should become permanent. (1 Samuel 16:22).
However, when we get to the incident where David is alleged to have killed Goliath, we discover to our surprise that this same David, who was supposed to be Saul’s armour-bearer/musician, had never met Saul before.
In that contradictory account, David was just a young boy tending sheep. His father sent him to deliver lunch to his two brothers at the war-front.
On arriving there, he found Goliath terrorizing everybody and offered to fight against him.
He was then brought to Saul who, on meeting him for the very first time, said to him:
“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33).
However, in the earlier version, David was specifically introduced to Saul as “a man of war.”
Contrary to the earlier account where Saul sent emissaries to David’s father twice, he now did not know who David’s father was.
Conclusion – The bible is a book written and compiled by men; and men are not infallible.