Commentators suggest Goliath's boldness stemmed from a known spiritual crisis in Israel. Charles Ellicott proposes the Philistines may have known that 'the Spirit of the Lord...had departed from Saul.' Goliath's taunt, calling the Israelites 'servants to Saul,' was a deliberate jab at their weakened state. This frames the conflict not just as military, but as a direct result of Israel's spiritual health.