How Did David Kill Goliath?

In 1 Samuel 17:50–51, there appears to be a contradiction about how David killed Goliath. Verse 50 states in all English versions that David killed Goliath without a sword in his hand (meaning from the previous verse that he killed Goliath with the stone from his sling). Yet in verse 51, most versions state that David killed Goliath by taking Goliath’s own sword and cutting off his head. Admittedly, there are four English translations which either do not state this or have wording which could allow for a different interpretation. But even taking the versions which do mention David killing Goliath with Goliath’s own sword, there are two explanations which resolve any apparent discrepancy. But let’s examine the four versions previously mentioned below.

English Translations* Which Allow for a Different Interpretation

The original NASB has different wording in verse 51 than the NASB 1995 version, which states that David “took his [Goliath’s] sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him.” I’ll list the original below and also a few other English translations of the verse. There are some interesting statements in these translations that might be passed over at first glance. The CJB says, “finished killing him,” the CEV, ERV, and NIRV make no mention of killing Goliath with the sword, and the Darby version says, “killed him completely.”

1 Samuel 17:51

NASB: Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

CJB: Then David ran and stood over the P’lishti, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and finished killing him, cutting off his head with it. When the P’lishtim saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

CEV: David ran over and pulled out Goliath’s sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath’s head. When the Philistines saw what had happened to their hero, they started running away.

ERV: So he ran and stood beside the Philistine. Then David took Goliath’s own sword out of its sheath and used it to cut off his head. That is how David killed the Philistine. When the other Philistines saw their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

NIRV: David ran and stood over him. He picked up Goliath’s sword and cut off his head with it. The Philistines saw that their hero was dead. So they turned around and ran away.

DARBY: And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him completely, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

GW and NOG: David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took Goliath’s sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and made certain the Philistine was dead by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw their hero had been killed, they fled.

In the original NASB and CJB, the translators’ text could be read to say that David stunned Goliath with his slingstone and finished him off with the sword. The CEV, NIRV, and ERV seem to state that Goliath was already dead and David only used the sword to cut off Goliath’s head after his demise. The Darby translation is rather strange but implies that Goliath was “mostly dead” but David made him “completely dead” by decapitating him. The GW and NOG versions state that David made certain that Goliath was dead by cutting off his head.

What Does the Hebrew Say in These Verses?

But verse 50 makes it clear that Goliath had already been killed before David grabbed Goliath’s sword.

NASB: So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone: he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand.

ESV: So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

The Hebrew word (muwth) is used in both verses, and this word means “die,” “kill,” or “slay.” There are actually different Hebrew words for murder (ratsach, harag, and sometimes nakah). When speaking about killing or sacrificing an animal, the Hebrew word used is usually shachat. But for killing in war, the word usually used is muwth or nakah. So the Hebrew wording supports that David killed Goliath with his slingstone in verse 50 and with Goliath’s sword in verse 51.

A Biblical Contradiction?

If this is indeed the intent of Scripture here, it shows us exactly how Goliath died and when David knew for sure he was dead.

So how do we explain this discrepancy? The first and foremost explanation is that David hit Goliath in the forehead with his slingstone and that the stone actually killed Goliath. This is the Spirit-inspired description of what happened. However, the Spirit quite probably lets us in on David’s thoughts at the time. David would likely be unable to tell if Goliath was dead or just rendered unconscious, so to make sure he was dead, he cut off Goliath’s head, “finishing him off,” so to speak. Keep in mind that the text says Goliath fell face down (1 Samuel 17:49), so David couldn’t put his head to Goliath’s mouth to make sure he was breathing or to his chest to make sure Goliath’s heart wasn’t beating. Not wanting to risk the giant waking up if he was only unconscious, he cut off his head to finalize his death. If this is indeed the intent of Scripture here, it shows us exactly how Goliath died and when David knew for sure he was dead.

A secondary explanation hinges upon the words at the end of verse 51: “When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” David (as well as the rest of the Israelite army) wanted a quick and decisive end to this battle. The Philistines would have no idea that Goliath had been killed by the slingstone. They almost certainly thought that he was merely stunned or unconscious. Had David just walked away at that point, the Philistines would have not fled the battle but would have fought all the harder to make sure their unconscious hero was not harmed before they had swarmed the Israelites. If this is the case, then Scripture is probably disclosing that Goliath’s death would not be accepted until his body was checked or they saw incontrovertible proof (such as decapitation) that Goliath would fight no more. In this explanation, David was showing to the Philistines and the Israelites that Goliath was truly dead. He was dead beforehand but now was proven to be dead.

And what subsequently happened showed that Goliath’s death needed to be proven, for as soon as the Philistines fled, “the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron” (1 Samuel 17:52). The proof of Goliath’s death rallied and invigorated Israel’s army.

No Contradiction Here

In addition to meaning “die” and “kill,” muwth can also mean “execute” in the sense of a public display of justice involving capital punishment. It is used in that way several times in Scripture, including twice in 2 Samuel (14:7 and 14:32). It might be this second sense that is meant in 1 Samuel 17:51. David killed Goliath with his sling per 1 Samuel 17:50 but executed him publicly by decapitation (1 Samuel 17:51). There is even biblical precedent for dead bodies to be executed publicly, as Joshua killed the five kings of the Amorites who had attacked Israel and then hanged their lifeless bodies as examples (Joshua 10:26) and David had his soldiers kill and then hang the men who murdered Saul’s son Ish-bosheth (2 Samuel 4:12).

But whether this passage of consecutive verses is the Holy Spirit giving the reader insight into the actual event and the simultaneous thoughts of David or merely declaring Goliath’s means of death as well as his means of public execution, the point is clear. There is no real contradiction here. In fact, if the former hypothesis is correct, then the Spirit is relaying the absolute truth as well as communicating the lack of knowledge and difficulty that David and the people of that time had in determining the cause of death in the case of blunt-force trauma to the head. But whichever hypothesis is correct, David, without having any means to know for sure if Goliath was dead, had to act to ensure there was no question. God then used that event as a means to revitalize Israel’s army and lead them to a decisive victory.