That David was barely a teenager when he fought Goliath is a Myth,
although he is shown in many illustrations as very young. That comes from the Latin text which calls David a child, a miss-translation of the Hebrew, which calls him a young man.
David was at least twenty-seven, maybe twenty-eight, when he fought Goliath. The key to David’s age is the two years of Saul’s reign and the seven and a half years that David was king over Judah while he was in Hebron. David was thirty when he began his reign in Hebron, which came immediately after Saul’s two-year reign.
(See 1 Samuel 13:1. See Timeline in the Hebrew Texts chapter of the One New Man Bible Companion.)
One New Man Bible Companion
Tsk tsk tsk. Dont make up about his age. Read the bible very carefully. The bible mentioned “a boy” None in the bible mentioned a young man. He was only a boy who fought Goliath with God Jehovah’s almighty!
Look: It said “BOY” —-> 1 Samuel 17:1-54.
But Saul said to David: “You are not able to go fight against this Phi·lisʹtine, for you are but a boy,k and he has been a soldier* from his youth.” 34 David then said to Saul: “Your servant became a shepherd of his father’s flock, and a lionl came, also a bear, and each carried off a sheep from the flock. 35 I went out after it and struck it down and rescued it from its mouth. When it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its fur* and struck it down and put it to death.
1Samuel 17:13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
Those were the ones old enough to go to battle. 20 years old was the age they were old enough to fight. The Bible and Saul would not have called him a youth if he was 27 years old.
Saul reigning 2 years is clear back in chapter 13. A lot of time passed from then until chapter 17. There were many battles. In fact Ishbosheth Saul’s son reigned 2 years after Saul died.
David then was in exile for a few years while Saul was still king because Saul wanted to kill him.
We don’t know the exact age of David when he killed Goliath, but to say he was 27 is wrong. He was less than 20.
The word for young man is “Elem.” The prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, uses the feminine version of this very same word; Alma! Therefore, this chapter does not prophesize a virgin birth, but just an ordinary birth. The meaning of the prophecy is in the subsequent verses; this verse just introduces the situation!
Do you even know Hebrew? Did you even take that into consideration for this article? Na’ar means something very specific, and you totally ignored that.
Again, why does the actual age matter so much? (Puzzled)
The bible never say the actual age so I dont know why above say 27 maybe 28. What a ignorant! The bible clearly said a boy. Thats all we know.. Not a teenager either.. Just a boy. So he was not a young man. A boy!
1 Samuel 17:1-54. mentioned a boy!
Youth, not at war (age 20 and up) but sent to get news.
14-15 when you do the Hebrew work, his age of 30 becoming king, etc.
The hebrew word for “youth” describing David is na’ar. The exact definition of this word is “the age of infancy TO (not through) adolescence. In the ancient near east, adolescence began at 14 years old for boys. So, either God inspired the writer, by the Holy Spirit to use the WRONG Hebrew word, or the writer was NOT inspired by the Holy Spirit, OR, David was somewhere between infancy and adolescence (14). Hard to believe that a 14 year old boy would fight Goliath and win? Not if He is backed by God. Also, the literal translation of Saul letting David put on His armor isn’t the word armor – but the word “garment” so we can’t actually use the “but he tried on the armor” argument regarding David’s size. Remember – even if David were an adult – Saul was head and shoulders above the crowd – but David was just a regular guy – so the “armor” wouldn’t have fit him anyway -regardless of the age issue.
Shalom Stephanie,
Thank you for writing. If you go by the timeline of Saul’s two year reign, David could not have been less than 27 years old when he killed Goliath.
Blessings, Bill
Age doesnt matter. Since bible said David was a boy.. A boy. What age ? He could be 12-17. And we never will know. Simple is that he was just a boy. Thats what matter. No argument about it. According to this:
1 Samuel 17:1-54.
Age doesnt matter. Since bible said David was a boy.. A boy. What age ? He could be 12-17. And we never will know. Simple is that he was just a boy. Thats what matter. No argument about it. According to this:
1 Samuel 17:1-54.
This isnt accurate. 20 years and above was the age for all men required to be in the military. Jesse had 8 sons, only the 3 oldest were in the military. That puts David at around 15-19 years old.
Shalom Earl,
Thanks for writing. This is what Scripture has, with no explanation of which sons were called up and which were not. The draft may have been similar to today’s, where all men from twenty to twenty-three are on active duty, then most are in the reserves and are called up for various emergencies. Some remain on active duty, but most do not.
Blessings, Bill
The scripture list exactly who were called up.
Age doesnt matter. Since bible said David was a boy.. A boy. What age ? He could be 12-17. And we never will know. Simple is that he was just a boy. Thats what matter. No argument about it. According to this:
1 Samuel 17:1-54.