How old was David when he defeated Goliath?

Popular assertion is that David was only a kid when he killed Goliath (between 12 and 14). Some other scholars believe he was around the age of 17 then. Although there are fairly strong reasons for such conclusions, we do not find them plausible in the light of careful biblical analysis.

Here, we shall examine the reasons for these assertions.

In Israel, the ordinance for selecting men who would be enlisted in the army started with age. No teenager qualified as the age begins from twenty years.

Numbers 1:1–3,45–46(NKJV)

1 - Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:

2 - "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually,

3 - from twenty years old and above--all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

45 - So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel--

46 - all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

Only men were to be in the army and anyone less than 20 years of age was still considered a child, no matter the size or physique. Old age was rated from 60 years (Lev. 27:1–7).

Numbers 26:1–4(NKJV)

1 - And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying:

2 - "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel."

3 - So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying:

4 - "Take a census of the people from twenty years old and above, just as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt."

Now, while this was a blanket approach, there were levels to it. Among these soldiers (called men of war), there were those that excelled in skill, tact and strength. These were described as valiant men or mighty men of war or mighty men of valor. They were a step ahead of others.

Joshua 8:3(NKJV)

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.

These special men were usually the ones picked for special assignments and also as captains and commanders in the army.

Joshua 10:7(NKJV)

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.

Now, back to our discussion, on this premise, when the children of Israel were at war with the Philistines who had a champion named Goliath (1 Samuel 17), the men of war were brought together and put in battle array (verse 2). Jesse, David's father, had eight sons, David being the youngest, and only the first three sons went to the battle (verse 12–14). Hence, many Bible scholars believe this was so because only these three were 20 years old and above. So, if this is the case, David, being the youngest, would have been between 12 and 14 years old at that time.

Now, while this is a fairly strong stance, it is not strong enough in the light of several others factors which we shall examine together now.

How can we conclude so soon that Jesse's children were this young at a time when Jesse, their father, was too old to join the army (1 Sam. 17:12)? It was not popular to get married and have children late at that time.

What if the eight sons were all above 20 and there were other reasons why they did not join the army?

For example, Deuteronomy 20:1–9 gives at least four reasons why some men could get excluded from the army in time of war:

• A man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it

• A man that has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it

• A man that is betrothed to a woman and has not married her

• A man that is fearful and fainthearted.

Also, what if three sons coming from the same family was considered fair enough seeing that not everyone who goes for war returns? Could that also be the reason why Jesse was not required to release more than three?

Saul was Israel's first king and at that time, the protocol for “throwing” people into the army at that time was apparently not as stringent as it would later be.

Moving on, leaving a kid of 12–14 years old or even 17 years old to tend sheep (1 Sam. 16:11, 17:15) is highly unlikely considering the peculiarities of being a shepherd (Gen. 31:39–41); then, killing a lion and a bear is off-the-wall (1 Sam. 17:34–37). While we are not trivializing the supernatural, other factors strengthen our position.

1 Samuel 17:33(NKJV)

And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."

Although Saul truly referred to David as a youth, and rightly so, it is important to note that this word youth is from the Hebrew word na‛ar which has a long age range.

• It was used to describe baby Moses [Ex. 2:6 (baby)]

• It was used to describe Joshua when he was already ministering to Moses [Ex. 33:11 (young man)]; Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of very old Eli [1 Sam. 2:17 (young men), 22]; the two spies Joshua sent that Rahab helped [Joshua 6:23 (young men)]

• In fact, it was also used for all of Jesse’s children, including the three that went for the battle [1 Sam. 16:11 (young men)].

So Saul referring to David as a youth does not in any way tell that David was as young as being a teenager. The king was only bothered about how far from balanced the fight would be; at least, so he thought.

To further prove that David was much older, let's see these:

We find that, before the battle, Saul had made David his armorbearer (1 Sam. 16:21).

At the camp, when David was asking around about the reward that would be given to whoever defeated Goliath, the soldiers did not even laugh, look at him with disdain or chase him away; they promptly answered his question; they even took him so seriously as to reach out to King Saul about him (1 Sam. 17:25–31). This is highly unlikely if he was just a kid. Interestingly, the reward included being given the king's daughter to marry. 🙂 This was not a matter for some little kid.

Also, he was able to convince Saul to choose him to face the giant. Not only that, the king gave him his armor (1 Sam. 17:33–39). This would be completely unreasonable and foolish if David was that young. How was he supposed to fit into an armor of a man who was described as arguably the tallest man in Israel (1 Sam. 10:20–24)? David apparently wasn't that young. He only couldn't use Saul's armour because he wasn't used to wearing such.

Finally, for the clincher, before they met for the first time, the king was in need of a skillful harp player, and David was recommended thus:

1 Samuel 16:18–19(NKJV)

18 - Then one of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the LORD is with him."

19 - Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."

This proves that David was obviously above 20 years of age at this time and this was a while before the battle between Israel and the Philistines.

Seeing that David was thirty years old when he began to reign (2 Sam. 5:4), we can see that he was clearly in his early twenties when he defeated Goliath, and the years between this victory and when he became king were not so many after all.

Victor Ibosiola © 2024