Sling

The Sling in the Bible

The best-known passage involving the sling is 1 Samuel 17. David, then a shepherd boy, took off the armor that Saul had put on him. He chose five smooth stones from the brook, put them in his shepherd's bag, and, with his sling in his hand, went out to face the Philistine champion Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40). When David slung a stone, it sank into Goliath's forehead, and he fell (1 Samuel 17:49–50). The text records that David prevailed "with a sling and with a stone." Before the fight, David declared that "the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's" (1 Samuel 17:47). The episode is treated in detail in the article David and Goliath.

Other passages that mention the sling include the following:

• Judges 20:16: Seven hundred left-handed men of the tribe of Benjamin "could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss."
• 1 Chronicles 12:2: The Benjamites who came to David could sling stones with either the right hand or the left.
• 2 Kings 3:25: The slingers of Israel's army attacked the Moabite city of Kir-hareseth.
• 2 Chronicles 26:14: King Uzziah equipped his army with slingstones along with shields, spears, and bows.
• 1 Samuel 25:29: Abigail said that God would sling out the lives of David's enemies "as out of the middle of a sling."
• Figurative uses: Proverbs 26:8 compares giving honor to a fool to one "that bindeth a stone in a sling." Job 41:28 says of Leviathan that "slingstones are turned with him into stubble." Slingstones also appear in Zechariah 9:15.

Background

The Hebrew word for sling is qela, and the verb from the same root means "to sling" or "to throw." A sling consists of a small pouch for holding a stone, with a cord attached to each side. The user grips the ends of the cords, whirls the sling overhead or to the side, and releases one cord to send the stone flying. Shepherds used slings to drive off wild animals and to guide their flocks. In the armies of the ancient Near East, slingers also served as a regular branch of troops. Slingers are reportedly depicted in the reliefs portraying the Assyrian assault on the Judean city of Lachish. The biblical passages above likewise show that the sling was a weapon of trained soldiers.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The word "sling" itself does not appear in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the theme of the David story—that God works through seemingly insignificant instruments and weak people—is frequently read alongside New Testament teaching in Christian preaching. A text often cited in this connection is Paul's statement that God hath chosen "the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (the context following 1 Corinthians 1:22–25). Paul's confession that when he is weak, then he is strong (2 Corinthians 12:7–10), is also commonly cited. This is an interpretive connection rather than one drawn directly by the text.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Distinction from the slingshot: The biblical sling is not a slingshot—a Y-shaped frame with rubber bands—but a device that is whirled by its cords and released. It is sometimes drawn as a slingshot in children's picture books and similar materials, but this differs from the sling of the biblical text.
• A "weapon of the weak"?: Sermons often emphasize the sling as a humble weapon. Others, however, point to the records in Judges and Chronicles and argue that because skilled slingers could strike accurately from a distance, the sling was in fact a powerful weapon. Both readings are compatible with the text's emphasis on attributing the victory to God.
• Five stones: The text does not explain why David chose five stones. A commonly repeated explanation is that he was preparing for Goliath's giant kinsmen (2 Samuel 21:15–22), but this is an added interpretation not found in the text.

In the Korean Church

The story of David and his sling is frequently taught in Sunday school curricula and at vacation Bible school. It is also widely used as an illustration in sermons that emphasize faith and courage, however small. In sermons, the "slingstone" is sometimes used as a metaphor for the small things offered to God or for the gifts each believer has received.