How Tall Was Goliath? (Part 2)
In the previous issue of Israel My Glory, we considered evidence that supports the contention that Goliath was a genetic giant. The Bible records that his mother and brothers suffered from polydactyly (2 Sam. 21:20, 22), a genetic mutation that pairs with giantism.
However, the term used for this family translated “giant” is the Hebrew word raphah. First Chronicles 20:4 identifies them as members of the Rephaim, one of the original 10 peoples who dwelt in the land before the Israelites (Gen. 15:20) and were present during Israel’s conquest (Josh. 17:15). Joshua 12:4 refers to Og, king of Bashan, whose iron bed was 13.5 feet long and 6 feet wide (Dt. 3:11), as a remnant of this people group. Our translations adopt the Septuagint’s translation of raphah as gigantes (literally, “giants”), connecting them linguistically to the Rephaim as a race of giants.
Deuteronomy 2 mentions a tall race called the Anakim whom the Moabites called Emim (vv. 10–11) and the Ammorites called Zamzummim (v. 20), but they were considered Rephaim. Esau’s descendants displaced them, just as the Israelites did the Canaanites. Apparently, a surviving remnant of this race resided in Gath, and the giant woman’s sons were special recruits for the Philistine infantry.
Goliath’s comparison to King Saul favors the view that he was at least 9 feet tall, as the Masoretic Text records. Saul was “taller than any of the [Israelites] from his shoulders upward,” and there was “no one like him among the people” (1 Sam. 10:23–24; cf. 9:2). Assuming the average Israelite then was 5 feet 6 inches, as determined by the height of entrance doors in the common Iron Age house, “from his shoulders upward” would add about 12 inches.
If Goliath were 6 feet 6 inches, as the Qumran text and Josephus the historian posit, Saul and Goliath would meet eye to eye. The deviation in Goliath’s measurements between these texts and the Masoretic Text may be due to difficulties in translating Hebrew into Greek for the Septuagint or the imprecision of the cubit, which depended on the varying length of an arm. Nevertheless, Scripture does not imply that Saul’s physical attributes equaled Goliath’s. If they did, Israel would have had no reason to allow three days of Goliath’s challenge to go unanswered. The text implies that Goliath was so formidable that no one in Israel could match him and only the God of Israel could bring victory.
Furthermore, Goliath’s armor required great strength. His Hurrian-style bronze scale armor (plated cuirass) alone weighed 125 pounds (17:5). In addition, his accessories included a Hittite-style bronze helmet (probably weighing 30 pounds), Aegean-style bronze greaves (from knees to ankles), a bronze scimitar slung across his shoulders, and an Egyptian-style bronze spear (between 5 and 10 feet long)1 with a 16-pound iron spearhead (v. 7). This mention of iron anchors this event in the 11th or 10th century when the Philistines had an iron monopoly (13:19–22). Goliath also toted a standing shield, twice the size of a round shield, requiring a shield-bearer to carry it (17:6–7), and a sword in its sheath (v. 50), of which David later declared “there is none like it” (21:9).
The biblical description of the style of the armor has parallels in archaeological discoveries in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia (Turkey), and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.2 This international ensemble (seen in the loan words used to describe his armor in the Hebrew text) verifies the account’s historicity, and the armor’s size and weight necessitates it to have been worn by a giant.
These arguments for Goliath’s great size help explain other historical connections within the Bible and affirm the accuracy of the David and Goliath account. In a day in which biblical storytelling is prominent, archaeology adds realism to remind us that our faith is in a text proven by time.
Endnotes
- Based on the weaver’s beam and physics; see “What Is a Weaver’s Beam?” Goliath’s Spear (goliathsspear.com/weavers-beam).
- David Arnovitz, ed., The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel: Samuel—The Making of the Monarchy (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers, 2021), 136–138.
