Joel Werner

11/2/15
Prof. Penhallegon
Resource Review 2
The Story of David and Goliath is one in which David, a man of little size but great faith,
defeats a giant with the help of God. David is the youngest of 8 brothers. He is a small guy, but
Yahweh has chosen him to be the next king in the chapter before. Saul, however, is still king and
is in a battle against the Philistines. He recruits more soldiers and all of Davids brothers go, but
Jesse (Davids father) has David stay back to tend the flock while his brothers fight the
Philistines. The Philistines are lined-up opposite the Israelites; each on opposing sides of a
valley. Goliath is 6-cubits-and-a-span tall and he stands in the valley. He shouts, and scares all of
the Israelites away. David comes to deliver supplies to his older brothers and asks why hasnt
anyone gone into battle against Goliath. David knows that if God is on his side, no army can
defy. So, David, through the strength of God. David gathers stones, slings one at Goliath, it
becomes lodged in his forehead, he falls, and David cuts off his head. This story shows Davids
great faith in Yahweh and the deliverance Yahweh provides.This great faith is important as we
consider that David will be the next king of Israel and the contrast it has to Sauls reign. It is also
important to consider Davids devotion to Yahweh when we think about the fact that Jesus will
eventually be born into Davids line. David needs to survive to pass on the Promise to his
children, and who is better to help him through life than Yahweh himself?
Big Idea Productions made a half-hour video-interpretation of the story from 1 Samuel
entitled Dave and the Giant Pickle. It is not very faithful to the text, but this can be expected.
This is an interpretation of the scriptures, so it is possible that it may stray from my

interpretation. And it is also a comedic show for children, starring vegetables as the characters.
So, right off the bat, this isnt going to be 100% accurate. But there are some changes to the
narrative we are given in 1 Samuel that are not needed and cause me to scratch my head. For
instance, Davids name is changed to Dave. Im not very sure why they did this. It could be to
make it easier for children to remember, but Im not sure. Also, the brothers in VeggieTales were
very mean to David when they were tending the flocks. It doesnt say anything about this in the
Bible, but it isnt a large leap as later, when David brings supplies to them, they are mean. And
also, Goliath is portrayed in kind of a different light. In the Bible, he was the one doing the
taunting. He was down in the valley for forty days, yelling at the Israelites. In VeggieTales, he is
kind of a stupid giant and the other Israelites do the taunting, yelling, and challenging for him.
The other inaccuracies (such as the sheep falling over or the fact that the characters are
vegetables) are just for comic effect--its not a difference in translation.
Where the text differs greatly from the movie is in the interpreted theme. God is pretty
clear what the theme of the story of David and Goliath is; its that God will provide for those
who maintain great faith in Him. David says throughout the story that Yahweh will deliver the
Israelites and that they have nothing to fear when God is on their side. It is a story about having
faith. Big Idea used the same Biblical text, but gathered a different message. It says the message
in the title of the movie--A Lesson in Self-Esteem. Big Idea understands the text to not be
about what God can do, but instead about what David did and what we can now do even though
we are small. The VeggieTales version focuses much more on what David did than the Bible
does because the story isnt really all that much about David. He is just the instrument used by
God to deliver his people and remind them of the strength of Yahweh. Then, Big Idea throws in
the Self-Esteem message. It doesnt belong in this text because its not as important as people

want it to be. Believing in yourself is not that critical in your life because believing and trusting
in God is far more important.
This VeggieTales has too much missing and differing from the text to be useful. I really
enjoy VeggieTales, but Dave and the Giant Pickle simply differs too much from the text and
meaning of the story to still be relevant, even for children. While it is enjoyable, it offers an
inaccurate depiction of the events in the Bible and creates an incorrect version of the story in
childrens minds. I dont want my kids take-away from 1 Samuel 16-17 to be that I can do
anything even though Im small. I want it to be, God is more powerful than the foes in Davids
life and the ones in my life, too. This is not the message they will receive from the movie, and,
for that reason, I would not use this particular VeggieTales in a church, home, or school setting.