It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music.
"When David returned from the slaying of the Philistine"  (1 Samuel 18:6).  The ASV margin here notes that the plural "Philistines" is an alternate rendition, and we believe that to be correct.  "The allusion here is not to the combat with Goliath but to one of the expeditions mentioned in  1 Samuel 18:5.  The women would not have described the slaughter of one champion as the slaying of ten thousand, nor would there have been any contrast between David's act and the military enterprises of Saul."[3]