"How did David kill Goliath?" (Alleged Contradiction #E8733)
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
I Samuel 17:50-51
Response
The sling and stone effectively killed Goliath. David finished the job more quickly by using Goliath’s sword afterward.
Furthermore, Webster’s 1828 dictionary states parenthetically of the word “slay” (past tense “slew”): “The proper sense is to strike, and as beating was an early mode of killing, this word, like smite, came to signify to kill.” 1
Site Under Construction
This site is still under construction. It needs more references, citations, and debate arguments. If you would like to help, please view the community page.
Sources
Webster, N. (1828). An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit .... New York: S. Converse.
Notes
- Webster, 1828 ↩