Sotah 42B

שמעו דברי מערכי המלחמה, וחזרו. במלחמה מה הוא אומר: ״אל ירך לבבכם אל תיראו ואל תחפזו ואל תערצו״. כנגד ארבעה דברים שאומות העולם עושין: מגיפין, ומריעין, צווחין, ורומסין.

Hear my words, the regulations of war, and consider who is fit to participate in the battle. And return home, all of you who are exempt from combat. What does he say on the battlefield? “Let not your heart faint; fear not, nor be alarmed, and do not be terrified of them” (Deuteronomy 20:3). These 4 cautions correspond to 4 actions done by the non-Jewish nations: They clash their weapons, and they blast horns, they shout, and they trample heavily with their horses to frighten their adversaries.

פלשתים באו בנצחונו של גלית כו׳. גלית, אמר רבי יוחנן: שעמד בגילוי פנים לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, שנאמר: ״ברו לכם איש וירד אלי״, ואין ״איש״ אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא, שנאמר: ״ה׳ איש מלחמה״. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא: הריני מפילו על יד בן איש, שנאמר: ״ודוד בן איש אפרתי הזה״.

The Mishnah recorded the particulars of the priest’s address: The Philistines came championed by Goliath. The Talmud describes the battle between David and Goliath. What is implied by the name Goliath? R' Yoḥanan says: The verse indicates that he stood before God with brazenness [gilui panim], as it is stated: “Choose yourselves a man [ish], and let him come down to me” (I Samuel 17:8), and man [ish] is referring to none other than God as it is stated: “YHWH is a man [ish] of war” (Exodus 15:3). God said: I will hereby fell him by the son of a man [ben ish], as it is stated: “Now David was the son of that man [ben ish] of Ephrath” (I Samuel 17:12).

אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי מאיר: בשלשה מקומות לכדו פיו לאותו רשע. אחד: ״ברו לכם איש וירד אלי״, ואידך: ״אם יוכל להלחם אתי והכני וגו׳״. ואידך, דקאמר ליה לדוד: ״הכלב אנכי כי אתה בא אלי במקלות״. דוד נמי אמר ליה ״אתה בא אלי בחרב ובחנית ובכידון״! הדר אמר ליה: ״ואנכי בא אליך בשם ה׳ צבאות אלהי (ישראל) מערכות ישראל אשר חרפת״.

R' Yoḥanan said in the name of R' Meir: In 3 instances, his own mouth ensnared that wicked one and unwittingly foretold his own downfall. One time he said: “Choose yourselves a man, and let him come down to me,” describing himself at the bottom. And another time, he said: “If he is able to fight with me and kill me then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then should you be our servants, and serve us” (I Samuel 17:9). There, he supposed that his opponent would defeat him, before supposing that he, Goliath, would be victorious. Finally, the other time was when he said to David (I Samuel 17:43): “Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves?” The Talmud asks: But didn’t David also speak in this manner? David also said to him: “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin” (I Samuel 17:45). The Talmud answers: David then said to him, immediately afterward: “But I come to you in the name of YHWH of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted” (I Samuel 17:45).