1 Samuel 17:49-50

17:49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.

17:50 ¹ David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand. ² 

Psalms 33:16-17

33:16 No king is delivered by his vast army;

a warrior is not saved by his great might.

33:17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; ³ 

despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ⁴  I observed this on the earth: ⁵ 

the race is not always ⁶  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ⁷  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ⁸  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ⁹  them all.

Jeremiah 9:23

9:23 ¹⁰ The Lord says,

“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.

Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. ¹¹ 

Rich people should not boast that they are rich. ¹² 

Zechariah 4:6

4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ¹³  says the Lord who rules over all.”

¹ tc Most LXX mss lack v. 50.

² tn Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine.

³ tn Heb “a lie [is] the horse for victory.”

⁴ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁶ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “bread.”

⁸ tn Heb “favor.”

⁹ tn Heb “happen to.”

¹⁰ sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the Lord spoke to him (see Jer 36:4, 32 for reference to two of these collections). Here it is probable that vv. 23-26 were added as a further answer to the question raised in v. 12.

¹¹ tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”

¹² tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”

¹³ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).