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David and Goliath
Five questions on the story most children can already tell, and the details almost everyone gets wrong.
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- DAVID
- SLING
- STONE
- BROOK
- ARMOUR
- STAFF
- BRASS
Seven words out of the passage, and five of them are objects. The armour and the brass helmet came off again; the staff, the sling and a stone from the brook are what David walked down into the valley with.
1 Samuel 17:38-50
Read the chapter38 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.
48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
King James Version
About David and Goliath
Most children meet this story as a small boy, a giant, and one lucky stone. The chapter itself is more interesting than that, because it spends its time on what David refused rather than on what he threw. Saul dresses him in a king's armour, a brass helmet and a coat of mail, and David takes all of it off again. His reason is plain and worth reading aloud: he had not proved it. He would not walk into the valley wearing equipment he had never used.
What he took instead was what he knew. A staff, a sling, and five smooth stones out of the brook — the tools of the job he had been doing all along, out with his father's sheep. He had already fought a lion and a bear over a lamb, and he says so to Saul before the fight rather than afterwards. Whatever nerve he had, he had built it keeping sheep.
The line the chapter builds to is the one children remember least. Goliath lists his sword, his spear and his shield. David answers with a name: he comes in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. Then verse 47 says what the whole story is for — the battle is the LORD's. The stone lands two verses later, and the writer is careful to add that there was no sword in the hand of David.
Read it with a child and the question worth asking is why he would not wear the armour.
Words checked against the King James text by Random Bible. Last reviewed September 23, 2026.
David and Goliath: common questions
Is this Bible quiz suitable for children?
Yes. The questions are written for readers around eight and up, every answer names its verse, and nothing in the quiz goes past verse 50 — the beheading in verse 51 is outside the passage.
How tall was Goliath?
Six cubits and a span, which the King James Version gives in 1 Samuel 17:4. That works out around nine feet nine inches, though the oldest Greek and Hebrew manuscripts disagree with each other about the number.
Why did David take five stones if he only needed one?
The chapter does not say. It says he chose five smooth stones out of the brook and used one. Some readers point to 2 Samuel 21, where four more giants of Gath are killed and one of them is named as Goliath's brother; others say David was simply being careful. Neither reading has more support in the text than the other.