David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle.
Part of the reward for defeating Goliath that Saul had promised was that the victor’s family would be tax free in Israel (1 Samuel 17:25). [Note: See McCarter, p. 304; and Shemaryahu Talmon, King, Cult, and Calendar in Ancient Israel: Collected Studies, pp. 65-66.] The giving of the leader’s daughter in marriage to a valiant warrior was not without precedent in Israel (cf. Caleb’s challenge in Joshua 15:16).