Bible Discussion Thread

What are the things Saul clothed David with, and their meanings?

I'm not sure whether there is any special meaning to the armoury given to David, since this was an actual battle that was being entered into. However, if pressed, I can probably see a couple of things here, though the one that seems more applicable to me is:

The armoury that was appropriate & useful to Saul, was simply unsuitable for David, who may have been of smaller stature & not a warrior, but a shepherd boy. We could take, I guess, some lesson from that to our lives now: parents often require of their children to pursue a particular line of higher education, career, life partner, & many other things. However, they may not necessarily take into account the children's abilities, interests or desires, and yet compel them to go in a direction that might ultimately lead to sadness & sense of worthlessness to the young adult. It's important for parents to be careful both in prayer about raising their children & the advice given to them, as this can have a major impact on the young life and not to assume that if it's 'right' or they themselves had done things a certain way, then it must be right for all.

I hope there may be others that can give you further insight into this.

Most everyone considers David a child when he confronted Goliath. However the age of the draft for war in Israel was 20 years old. Numbers 1:3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

David could have been up to 19 years old when he faced goliath and that is hardly a child.

1 Samuel 17:42 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. Look up Ruddy sometime. 19 is still considered a youth. not sure how old David was, but not necessarily a little boy.

Bob, it wasn't my intention to suggest that David was a little boy when he confronted Goliath. Clearly he was a youth. The mention of 'shepherd boy' is just a colloquial term that can be used for a child right up to a much older person who shepherds sheep. The emphasis is on the word 'shepherd'. When walking down a city street some time ago, someone called out to a guy pushing a trolley full of goods, "Hey, delivery boy". When I looked, the delivery person was in his 40s, so I understood what was meant. Anyway, thank you for pointing that out.

Greetings Chris, I never meant to imply you suggested David was a mere boy. However the numerous pictures allegedly depicting David facing Goliath imply this all the time in what I have seen. I was not trying to "correct" you in any way. It was just a general comment to everyone when they see that type of image in their Bible. Thanks