An attendant preceded him, carrying a large shield. He carried a javelin, a spear, and a sword.

He was a giant, six foot nine at least, wearing a bronze helmet and full body armor. They sent their greatest warrior down into the valley to resolve the deadlock one-on-one. To attack meant descending down the hill and then making a suicidal climb up the enemy’s ridge on the other side.įinally, the Philistines had enough. The Israelites pitched their tents on the other side, along the northern ridge, which left the two armies looking across the ravine at each other. The Philistines set up camp along the southern ridge of the Elah. Alarmed, Saul gathered his men and hastened down from the mountains to confront them. The Philistines were battle-tested and dangerous, and the sworn enemies of the Israelites. The Philistines from Crete had taken to sea, landed in Palestine, and began moving East, winding their way upstream along the floor of the Elah Valley – with the goal of capturing the mountain ridge near Bethlehem and splitting Saul’s kingdom in half. In the 11th Century BC, the Israelites were clustered in the mountains under the leadership of King Saul. We do need a better guide to face our giants, and there is no better place to start that journey than with the epic confrontation between David and Goliath 3,000 years ago in the Valley of Elah. Drawn from history and psychology, Gladwell uses a compelling narrative to reshape the way we see the world around us and practise what might otherwise have seemed unthinkable. He argues that the same qualities and traits that appear to give the ‘giants’ their strength are also their weak points. In this book, Malcolm Gladwell asks us to reconsider how we perceive obstacles and disadvantages in our lives. What You Will Learn from David and Goliathĭavid and Goliath is an investigation into what happens when the ‘underdog’ is forced to face an outsize challenge.

David and goliath chapters