War Stories: 21:15–17 Four separate incidents tell of spectacular victories over Philistine giants. The stereotyped format probably indicates that the accounts are selected from a larger document, perhaps a military archive. The first story involves David himself. At the end of a particular battle he became exhausted. It is possible that this event took place in the early stages of David’s reign or before he came to the throne and that David was overtired or had temporarily lost his enthusiasm for fighting. However, it seems likely that it took place later in his reign and that his age had caught up with him. In any event, he was no longer able to cope with the huge Philistines, and his nephew Abishai had to come to his rescue to get rid of Ishbi-Benob. It may be that David had become more…