Lexicon :: Strong's H6430 - pᵊlištî

Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other! ”

When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.

“They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”

Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other.

While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard.

David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? ”

David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine! ”

But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”

“Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Then David said, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy[fn] and handsome.

He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks? ”[fn] Then he cursed David by his gods.

“Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts! ”

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel ​— ​you have defied him.

“Today, the LORD will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses[fn] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,

When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground.

David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.

David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron.[fn] Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

David took Goliath’s[fn] head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

[fn] When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner? ”

“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.

Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife if you will be a warrior for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’ ” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.

David and his men went out and killed two hundred[fn] Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.

Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.

When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.

So David inquired of the LORD: “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines? ”

The LORD answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”

But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces! ”

Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.”

Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land! ”

So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation.

The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory.