How tall was Goliath? | GotQuestions.org

Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 and the Question of His Height

How tall was Goliath? Goliath is a Biblical character found in 1 Samuel 17. The Bible says he was a large man who fought as a champion for the Philistine army against God's people, the Israelites. How tall was Goliath in reality?

Normally, we equate him with a giant, as most Bible translations state that he was over 9 feet tall. The Masoretic text, the Hebrew text that has long been accepted by the Jewish people, states that Goliath's height was 6 cubits and 1 span.

Taking a cubit to be approximately 18 inches, and a span to equal 6, this figures to a height of approximately 9 feet 6 inches. It seems Goliath may have had some Anakim blood in him. There is, however, a variation found in some ancient texts on the matter of Goliath's height.

The Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus on Goliath's Height

A Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Subtuagint, records Goliath's height as 4 cubits and 1 span. Current measurements translate this to about 6 feet 6 inches. While this would shorten Goliath some, he still would have been quite a bit taller than the average man's height at the time, about 5 .5 feet.

There are other sources that corroborate the shorter measurement, including one Hebrew text among the Dead Sea Scrolls and the writings of the Jewish historian, Josephus. The NET Bible goes with the shorter height, saying that Goliath was close to 7 feet tall.

When it comes to the deviation between these measurements, it's important to note a couple things. First, the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. The difference may be due to how the measurements were translated into Greek for the Subtuagint.

Second, a measurement of a cubit is not precise, since a cubit was based on the distance from a person's elbow to the tip of the finger. Thus, the length of a cubit would vary somewhat according to the one doing the measurement.

Goliath as a Formidable Opponent and David's Victory by Faith

Regardless of Goliath's precise height, we know from God's Word that he was a formidable opponent. He was not only tall, at least a foot taller than David, and possibly several feet taller, he was also strong.

His bronze armor alone weighed 125 pounds, and he carried a giant-sized spear. There was a reason that Goliath was the champion of the Philistines. In the end, however, a young man named David, armed with only a simple sling, a few rocks, and faith, defeated this enemy of Israel.

David proved stronger than Goliath because he had the Almighty God on his side.

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