why was the sword of Goliath behind the ephod ? very interesting question, and I can only provide an opinion and maybe be wrong
The weapon of your enemy will be used on them the word of God says, but the best way to fight is to pray before you take the sword to battle. In addition the weapon of goliath was a testimony of Gods deliverance from your enemies.
This to was why God had the Ark also known as the "Testmony " thathad items in it that testified of Gods salvation, provision, and healing. Aaron's rod, the commadments, manna
Only the items that God said were to go into the Ark, how ever King David brought the items like the sword of goliath to testify of what God had done, and cause the King to remember What God had done.
thanks for the reply
i was thinking about the significance of it being there, and yeah, it relates to the objects placed in the ark - the jar of manna, Aaron's budded rod, the tablets. but it's not
in the ark, tho it has a correlation. so it's similar but not the same as these.
and i was thinking, how did it get there? David brought Goliath's armament back to his own tent, and his head to Jerusalem (((1 Samuel 17:54)) -- as an aside, i believe David buried Goliath's head at Jerusalem and named the place "Golgatha" -- but 1 Samuel 17 is the last 'known location' of the sword of Goliath until we see it in Nob with the tabernacle -- in the sanctuary? or not? but there behind the ephod -- in 1 Samuel 21. so it was in David's possession. i don't think that it's the sort of thing you lose track of, but the sort of thing you treat very carefully and thoughtfully, so i infer that David knew it was there, that David himself had something to do with it being there. in the narrative the priests at Nob seem to be unjustly slain by an antichrist-type, as tho martyrs. like giving the sword of Goliath to the good-shepherd-king is something the world hates, tho that good-shepherd-king has every right to it; it
belongs to David and he keeps it wrapped in cloth ((like a garment)), at the sanctuary of God behind the garment of the priest.
another question is where is Goliath's spear? why the sword and not the spear? where's Goliath's armor? why is the "set" broken up?
and the whole question brings up the ephod and everything about ephods. is this the high priest's ephod? is this another ephod. we've got Gideon making a golden ephod in Judges 8:27, and it becoming a snare to the people, who somehow became guilty of idolatry with it. is the ephod at Nob like this? so the sword of Goliath being there is a kind of 'bad thing' ? or is this the high priestly ephod, and the sword being there a 'good thing' ? Jesus mentions Davis going here and receiving the shewbread in Matthew 12:4, calling them innocent, so i get the sense Ahimelek wasn't doing evil, even tho Jesus doesn't mention Goliath's word changing hands at the same event. Saul kills Ahimelek when his evil Edomite shepherd, who was there, tells him what he's done to help David. in fact the evil shepherd is the one who kills him, because Saul's own men will not raise their hands against the priests, defying Saul's orders for fear of God. i don't see indications that Goliath's sword being present, or being given to David, are 'wrong things' in any sense.
it's a really interesting thing, with a puzzle hidden in it -- a kind of obvious question that people don't seem to look into, 'what's Goliath's sword doing there?' -- i mean, you brought up the manna and the rod and the tablets in the ark; there are clearly very important spiritual lessons in why those particular objects are where they are. since this sword is put alongside that, there has to be a deep meaning at the bottom of this, too.