Champion

Champion in the Old Testament translates the Hebrew phrase ish ha-benaim, literally the man between the two — referring to the ancient practice of representative or single combat between chosen warriors from opposing armies (1 Sam. 17:4, 23). Goliath's challenge to Israel to send out a champion against whom he would fight was a standard formula of ancient Near Eastern warfare, in which the outcome of single combat was understood to decide the fate of the armies. The theological point of the narrative is that David, an untrained youth with no conventional armor, was God's chosen representative, and that the victory over Goliath was therefore a divine victory rather than a military one.