Author Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book in 2015 entitled "David and Goliath" that deals with the biblical story of the same name. It presents an alternate view that portrays David not as a weak underdog but as a mighty warrior, and Goliath not as the strong giant but as a sickly man. In Gladwell's version, it becomes less about faith in God and more about human strength and skill. The article here wasn't written by Gladwell, but it does hit upon his main points.
This is my response.
Point 1: Gladwell says that Goliath is "led" on the valley floor by his attendant.
Response: The inference is that Goliath may have had bad eye sight, but it does not say in scripture that his armor bearer (attendant) led him (by the hand), only that he walked ahead of him (1Sa 17:7), which would make sense considering he was carrying his shield.
Point 2: Goliath says, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" but David was only carrying a sling and a staff.
Response: Again, this is implying Goliath couldn't see very well, when in reality it could be nothing more than an expression. Goliath was insulted that a boy with only a shepherd's staff and a sling would dare challenge him.
Point 3: "Come here and I'll give your flesh to the beasts of the field!" Why does he ask David to come closer when, in fact, he is right there?
Response: Another verse that is used to assume vision trouble. Goliath was heavy infantry; he was expecting David to fight him in close combat, which is why he tells him to come closer.
Point 4: Goliath's height has led many doctors and researchers—since back in the 1960s—to think that Goliath suffered from acromegaly, a form of giantism caused by a tumor of the pituitary gland that produces an excess of growth hormone.
Response: There are a couple of problems with this assumption:
*Gigantism produces many health problems with the circulatory system, skeletal system, joint pain, and vision, among other issues. But if Goliath was in such poor condition, how did he last as long as he did on the battlefield? How was he even conscripted into the army in the first place? Someone with gigantism can't move very fast. Then why was everyone afraid to fight him when it would have been apparent he couldn't move fast or see well? How did he manage to wear 125 pounds of mail armor, not counting his helmet, leg armor, javelin, spear, and sword, if he was in poor condition? Goliath was called a champion (1Sa 17:4), which implies he defeated many opponents in his lifetime.
*Acromegaly\gigantism is not inherited, yet Goliath had relatives that appeared to be as tall as him. There was Lahmi, whose spear was like a weaver’s beam (2.5in or 63.5 mm in diameter, that same as Goliath's spear). Ishbi-Benob, whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels (7.5lbs or 3.4kg), Saph (also called Sippai), and an unnamed giant who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Historian Flavuis Josephus said the height of this unnamed giant was six cubits, or over nine feet (2.7m) tall.
*Are we to assume that every giant mentioned in the Old Testament suffered from gigantism? For instance, Og king of Bashan, had a bed or sarcophagus that was 13.5 feet (4.1m) long and 6 feet (1.8m) wide. The 12 spies who scouted the land of Canaan described the Anakim as giants, and they were like grasshoppers in their sight. And what about the other giant clans? The Nephilim, the Rephaim (whom Goliath was a member of), the Emims, and the Zamzummims. Genetic disorders such as gigantism or Marfan syndrome are rare and could not account for entire tribes of giant men.
Point 5: In addition, David was not as weak as he looked, either. First of all, as Artur Mas would put it, David was a shrewd young man who knew that the Philistines would tear him to pieces if he engaged him in close-quarter combat. That's why he turned down the helmet and armor offered by the king and chose to fight from a distance. In military jargon, Goliath was an infantry soldier, whereas David served in an artillery unit.
Response: The sling can be a deadly weapon, and David was no doubt skilled in its use, but we can't overstate his prowess at the time. He was still a young man (Saul called him a boy), obviously too young to have been conscripted into the army, and who had never been in combat. He turned down Saul's armor because he had never worn them before, and they were too cumbersome and big for him (it was said Saul was a head taller than anyone in Israel). Goliath, on the other hand, had been a man of war since his youth (1Sa 17:33).
Conclusion: Malcolm Gladwell's alternate version of David and Goliath is nothing more than assumptions and speculations. By all accounts, Goliath was a seasoned, able-bodied solider, and David was a mere boy who tended his father's flock. By all rights, Goliath should have won, yet David prevailed because he put his faith in God not in his own strength:
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. (1Sa 17:45)
“This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
(1Sa 17:46)
