First
Samuel 17 presents Goliath as a formidable warrior who challenged Israel's army to single combat and repeatedly defied Israel and its God.
David, visiting his brothers at the battlefront, was outraged by the challenge and volunteered to fight. Rejecting
Saul's armor, David approached with his staff, sling, and stones, declaring that the battle belonged to the Lord. His sling stone struck Goliath in the forehead; David then used Goliath's own sword to kill him and cut off his head, prompting the Philistine army to flee. Later biblical passages mention other giant Philistine warriors and contain a textual issue involving another Elhanan, but 1 Samuel 17 unmistakably presents David as Goliath's killer.