1 Samuel 17:41
40 He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine. 41 The Philistine, with his shield bearer walking in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.
LXX 1 Samuel 17:41
40 And he took his staff in his hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's scrip which he had for his store, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine. 41 And Goliath saw David, and despised him; for he was a lad, and ruddy, with a fair countenance. 42 And the Philistine said to David, Am I as a dog, that thou comest against me with a staff and stones? [and David said, Nay, but worse than a dog.] And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
Notes and References
"... Overall, the description of David going unarmoured into battle with only a staff, a sling and five stones is not significantly changed between the two versions. One difference occurs in verse 41 of the Masoretic text, which is absent in the LXX, ‘Then the Philistine came and approached David, with the shield bearer in front of him’. Auld and Ho suggest that the addition of the shield bearer in the Masoretic text forms an additional contrast between the well-equipped Goliath and the scantily equipped David. On the other hand, as Quinn-Miscall points out, the shield bearer may also be considered a weakness for Goliath because a shield is precisely the piece of armour Goliath could have employed to protect himself from David’s stone. However, as his armour bearer was carrying the shield, he remained unprotected. Both effects of this detail are relevant because together hey illustrate the message of the chapter—whilst Goliath was outwardly impressive, he was ultimately ineffective ..."
Gilmour, Rachelle Representing the Past: A Literary Analysis of Narrative Historiography in the Book of Samuel (pp. 279-280) Brill, 2011