1 Samuel 17:50-51

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. It is evident that the narrator regarded David's victory as extraordinary; and no doubt it required not only great courage, but also perfect skill, as only the lower portion of the forehead would be exposed, and on no other part of the giant's body would a blow have been of any avail. The narrator also calls attention to the fact that David relied upon his sling alone, for there was no sword in the hand of David. Slings probably were regarded as useful only to harass an enemy, while swords, which they had only lately been able to procure ( 1 Samuel 13:22 ), were regarded as the real weapons of offence. David, therefore, completes his victory by killing Goliath with his own sword as he lay stunned upon the ground. As Ahimelech considered it fit for David's own use ( 1 Samuel 21:9 ), it was probably not so monstrous in size as Goliath's other weapons. Champion is not the word so rendered in 1 Samuel 17:4 , 1 Samuel 17:23 , but that used in 1 Samuel 16:18 for "a hero of valour."