Why Five Stones?

Most of us are familiar with the Old Testament account of the young man David versus the Philistine giant Goliath. For those who are not, the story is told in 1 Samuel 17. As the account is most often taught, it is a matter of young David having faith in his God to defeat the enemies of Israel. David chose to meet Goliath in battle and as he went, the story reads as follows:

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:32-40)

So why did David place five stones in his bag? Was he afraid he'd miss? Would it take more than one stone to do the job? Would he even have time to reload and get off another shot before Goliath caught David with his spear - the one that was like a weaver's beam and weighed 15 pounds or more?

I don't think any of these questions can be answered affirmatively. There is another account in the Bible that tells of a group of infantry (or would slingers be the artillery of 1000 BC?) who were excellent shots:

And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. (Judges 20:15-16, italics mine)

Although this passage doesn't tell us the range at which they would "not miss" it is clear that the ancient warriors were quite proficient at slinging stones at the bad guys. David, too, was proficient as is noted in 1 Samuel 17:34-35.

So why five stones? If we look further into the Scriptures, we find later that there were four other giants of the Philistines: Ishbi-benob (2 Samuel 21:16); Saph (2 Samuel 21:18); Lahmi the brother of Goliath (1 Chronicles 20:5); and a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot (2 Samuel 20:20); "these four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants" (2 Samuel 21:22). The complete account is found in 2 Samuel 21:15-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-8.

So, I think that David knew that there were five giants in the Philistine army although he only met Goliath that day in the Valley of Elah. The five stones were not a lack of faith, but an admission that there may be additional enemies to slay and David's preparation for what may have been in store.