David & the Giant
I learned the story David slaying the giant about the same time I made the acquaintance of another figure from literature, a lad named Jack. This Jack, it seems, having climbed a hill to fetch a pail of water, fell down and broke his crown, but he later redeemed himself by slaying a giant; the incident involved a beanstalk. Anyway, both boys, David and Jack, were giant-slayers.
I understood this congruence of young heroes as imposing a stern imperative: Little boys, no matter how little, are ever to be brave, keep their wits about them, and, most important, never back down before a giant.
That “comparative literature” approach to the matter was not entirely off the mark, I think. There are certain aspects of the biblical story that invite comparison with other literature. Homer, for instance.
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Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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