servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." Composition of the Book of Samuel The Books of Samuel, together with the books of Joshua, Judges and Kings, make up a unified history of Israel which biblical scholars call the Deuteronomistic History. The first edition of the history was probably written at the court of Judah's King Josiah (late 7th century BCE) and a revised second edition during the exile (6th century BCE), with further revisions in the post-exilic period. Traces of this can be seen in contradictions within the Goliath story, such as that between 1 Samuel 17:54, which says that David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, although according to 2 Samuel 5 Jerusalem at that time was still a Jebusite stronghold and was not captured until David became king. Structure of the Goliath narrative The Goliath story is made up of base-narrative with numerous additions made probably after the exile: Original story The Israelites and Philistines face each other; Goliath makes his challenge to single combat; David volunteers to fight Goliath; David selects five smooth stones from a creek-bed to be used in his sling; David defeats Goliath, the Philistines flee the battlefield. Additions David is sent by his father to bring food to his brothers, hears the challenge, and expresses his desire to accept; Details of the account of the battle; Saul asks who David is, and he is introduced to the king through Abner. Textual considerations Goliath's height The oldest manuscripts, namely the Dead Sea Scrolls text of Samuel from the late 1st century BCE, the 1st-century CE historian Josephus, and the major Septuagint manuscripts, all give Goliath's height as "four cubits and a span" (), whereas the Masoretic Text has "six cubits and a span" (). Many scholars have suggested that the smaller number grew in the course of transmission (only a few have suggested the reverse, that an original larger number was reduced), possibly when a scribe's eye was drawn to the number six in line 17:7. Goliath and Saul The underlying purpose of the story of Goliath is to show that Saul is not fit to be king (and that David is). Saul was chosen to lead the Israelites against their enemies, but when faced with Goliath he refuses to do so; Saul is a head taller than anyone else in all Israel (1 Samuel 9:2), which implies he was over tall and the obvious challenger for Goliath,