David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Vladimir Berginer and Chaim Cohen,
“The Nature of Goliath’s Visual
Disorder and the Actual Role of His
Personal Bodyguard,” Ancient Near
Eastern Studies 43 (2006): 27–44.
Berginer and Cohen write: “We thus
surmise that the phrase ‘shield bearer’
was originally used by the Philistines as
an honorable euphemistic title for the
individual who served as Goliath’s
guide for the visually impaired so as not
to denigrate the military reputation of the
Philistine heroic warrior. They may well
have even given him a shield to carry in
order to camouflage his true function!”