Malcolm Gladwell:The unheard story of David and Goliath

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

The?Tipping?Point:?How?Little?Things?Can?Make?a?Big?Difference?(2000)

Blink:The?Power?of?Thinking?Without?Thinking?(2005)

Outliers:The?Story?of?Success?(2008)

What?the?Dog?Saw:?And?Other?Adventures?(2009)

David?and?Goliath:?Underdogs,?Misfits,?and?the?Art?of?Battling?Giants?(2013)

David and Goliath? Video 1

So I wanted to tell a story that really obsessed me when I was writing my new book,

and it's a story of something that happened 3,000 years ago,when the Kingdom of Israel was in its infancy.

And it takes place in an area called the Shephelah in what is now Israel.

And the reason the story obsessed me is that I thought I understood it,

and then I went back over it and I realized that I didn't understand it at all.

Ancient Palestine had a -- along with its eastern border, there's a mountain range. Still same is true of Israel today.

And in the mountain range are all of the ancient cities of that region, so Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron.

And then there's a coastal plain along the Mediterranean, where Tel Aviv is now.

And connecting the mountain range with the coastal plain is an area called the Shephelah, which is a series of valleys and ridges that run east to west,

and you can follow the Shephelah, go through the Shephelah to get from the coastal plain to the mountains.

And the Shephelah, if you've been to Israel, you'll know it's just about the most beautiful part of Israel.

It's gorgeous, with forests of oak and wheat fields and vineyards.

But more importantly, though, in the history of that region, it's served, it's had a real strategic function,

and that is, it is the means by which hostile armies on the coastal plain find their way, get up into the mountains and threaten those living in the mountains.

And 3,000 years ago, that's exactly what happens.

The Philistines, who are the biggest of enemies of the Kingdom of Israel, are living in the coastal plain.

They're originally from Crete. They're a seafaring people.

And they may start to make their way through one of the valleys of the Shephelah up into the mountains,

because what they want to do is occupy the highland area right by Bethlehem and split the Kingdom of Israel in two.

And the Kingdom of Israel, which is headed by King Saul, obviously catches wind of this,

and Saul brings his army down from the mountains

and he confronts the Philistines in the Valley of Elah, one of the most beautiful of the valleys of the Shephelah.

And the Israelites dig in along the northern ridge, and the Philistines dig in along the southern ridge,

and the two armies just sit there for weeks and stare at each other, because they're deadlocked.

Neither can attack the other because to attack the other side you've got to come down the mountain into the valley and then up the other side, and you're completely exposed.

Questions

What best scribe the landscape of?Shephelah?

>it's covered by forests and farmland.

Why won't?Israelite?and?Palestine armies attack each other?

>Moving from their position would expose them to attacks.

If somthing is in its infancy, it is...

>very new and still developing.

Why is Gladwell obsessed with the story?

>Everything he thought he knew about it was wrong.

Why did Philistines want to move up into the mountains?

>They want to attack the Kingdom of Israel.

To catch wind of something means...

>to learn about something secret.

What?connects?the mountain?range?with the coastal plain is an?area?called the Shephelah, which is a series of valleys and ridges that?run?east to west,and you can?follow?the Shephelah, go through the Shephelah to get from the coastal plain to the mountains.

The Philistines?want to occupy the highland area and split the Kingdom of Israel in two.

It's gorgeous, with forests of oak and wheat fields and vineyards.

I wanted to tell a storythat really obsessed me when I was writing my new book, and it's a story of something that happened 3,000 years ago,when the Kingdom of Israel was in its infancy.