Codex Vaticanus and the Masoretic Text witness to two§significantly different texts in 1 Samuel 17 18. But§do both texts reflect literary unity and coherence?§Text-critical analysis shows that the differences in§the texts are not due to translator activity.§However, the evidence is too inconclusive to§determine the textual history of the passage.§Literary-critical analysis focuses on instances of§repetition, contradiction, and accretion attributed§to the MT. Some of these difficulties can be§resolved, but it is evident that the major problem§with the MT is its chronology. A survey...