Half a dozen Bibles sit on the bookshelf of Jordan K. Monson’s son. Some are hand-me-downs published in the 1980s and ’90s, while others have been produced in the 2000s. All of them share something in common, though. They depict David as a small, innocent-looking child when he takes on Goliath.
“But the boyish picture of David obscures the reality of a much more nuanced character,” writes Monson in a recent CT article. Later, he explains, “On the field of battle that fateful day, Goliath met not a child, but a man.”
Remember the story when David’s father, Jesse, commissions David with taking food to men on the front lines of war? Scholars estimate that David carried around 45 pounds for 15 miles.
“David is no child,” Monson writes. “He’s more like a Marine.”
Why does it matter? Because David the man is a complicated figure—one who committed grave sins and also did great things in God’s name. As we consider his story, and see him for who he really was, may we grow in our affection for the God whose Word is filled with complex characters, just like us.
