Goliath[A] (/ɡəˈlaɪəθ/gə-LY-əth) is aPhilistine giant in theBook of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath'simmense stature vary among biblical sources, with various texts describing him as either 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) or 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) tall.[1] According to the text, Goliath issued a challenge to theIsraelites, daring them to send forth a champion to engage him insingle combat; he was ultimately defeated by the young shepherdDavid, employing asling and stone as a weapon. The narrative signifiedKing Saul's unfitness to rule, as Saul himself should have fought for theKingdom of Israel.[2]
Some modern scholars believe that the original slayer of Goliath may have beenElhanan, son of Jair, who features in 2 Samuel 21:19, in which Elhanan kills Goliath the Gittite,[3] and that the authors of theDeuteronomistic history changed the original text to credit the victory to the more famous figure David.[4][5]
The phrase "David and Goliath" has taken on a more popular meaning denoting an underdog situation, a contest wherein a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary.[6]
In1 Samuel 17,Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines in theValley of Elah. Twice a day for 40 days, morning and evening, Goliath, thechampion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat, but Saul is afraid. David accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armour, which David declines, taking only his staff, sling, and five stones from a brook.[7]
David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armor andjavelin, David with hisstaff andsling. "The Philistine cursed David by his gods", but David replies:
"This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a god in Israel and that all this assembly may know that God saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is God's, and he will give you into our hand."
David hurls a stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the center of hisforehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, and David cuts off his head. The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites "as far asGath and the gates ofEkron". David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head toJerusalem, and Saul sendsAbner to bring the boy to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers:
"I am the son of your servantJesse theBethlehemite."
TheBooks of Samuel, together with the books ofJoshua,Judges andKings, make up a unified history of Israel which biblical scholars call theDeuteronomistic History. The first edition of the history was probably written at the court of Judah's KingJosiah (late 7th century BCE) and a revised second edition during the exile (6th century BCE), with further revisions in the post-exilic period.[8][9] Traces of this can be seen in contradictions within the Goliath story, such as that between 1 Samuel 17:54, which says that David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, although according to 2 Samuel 5 Jerusalem at that time was still a Jebusite stronghold and was not captured until David became king.[10]
The Goliath story is made up of base-narrative with numerous additions made probably after the exile:[11]
The oldest manuscripts, namely theDead Sea Scrolls text of Samuel from the late 1st century BCE, the 1st-century CE historianJosephus, and the majorSeptuagint manuscripts, all give Goliath's height as "fourcubits and aspan" (6 feet 9 inches or 2.06 metres), whereas theMasoretic Text has "six cubits and a span" (9 feet 9 inches or 2.97 metres).[13][1] Many scholars have suggested that the smaller number grew in the course of transmission (only a few have suggested the reverse, that an original larger number was reduced), possibly when a scribe's eye was drawn to the number six in line 17:7.[14]
The underlying purpose of the story of Goliath is to show that Saul is not fit to be king (but that David is). Saul was chosen to lead the Israelites against their enemies, but when faced with Goliath, he refuses to do so; Saul is a head taller than anyone else in all Israel (1 Samuel 9:2), which implies he was over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and the obvious challenger for Goliath, yet David is the one who eventually defeated him. Also, Saul's armour and weaponry are apparently no better than Goliath's:
"David declares that when a lion or bear came and attacked his father's sheep, he battled against it and killed it, [but Saul] has been cowering in fear instead of rising up and attacking the threat to his sheep (i.e., Israel)."[1]
David's speech in 1 Samuel 17 can be interpreted as referring to both Saul and Goliath through its animal imagery. When this imagery is considered closely, David can be seen to function as the true king who manipulates wild beasts.[15]
In2 Samuel 21, verse 19, the Hebrew Bible tells how Goliath theGittite was killed by "Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite". The fourth-century BC1 Chronicle 20:5 explains the second Goliath by saying that Elhanan "slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath", constructing the nameLahmi from the last portion of the word "Bethlehemite" ("beit-ha’lahmi"), and theKing James Bible adopted this into 2 Samuel 21:18–19, but the Hebrew text at Goliath's name makes no mention of the word "brother".[16] Most scholars dismiss the later 1 Chronicles 20:5 material as "an obvious harmonization".[17]
The armor described in 1 Samuel 17 appears typical of Greek armor of the sixth century BCE; narrative formulae such as the settlement of battle bysingle combat between champions has been thought characteristic of theHomeric epics (theIliad) rather than of the ancient Near East. The designation of Goliath as aאיש הביניים, "man of the in-between" (a longstanding difficulty in translating 1 Samuel 17) appears to be a borrowing from Greek "man of themetaikhmion (μεταίχμιον)", i.e., the space between two opposite army camps wherechampion combat would take place.[18] Other scholars argue the description is a trustworthy reflection of the armaments that a Philistine warrior would have worn in the tenth century BCE.[19][C]
A story very similar to that of David and Goliath appears in theIliad, writtenc. 760–710 BCE, where the youngNestor fights and conquers the giant Ereuthalion.[21][22] Each giant wields a distinctive weapon—an iron club in Ereuthalion's case, a massive bronze spear in Goliath's; each giant, clad in armor, comes out of the enemy's massed array to challenge all the warriors in the opposing army; in each case the seasoned warriors are afraid, and the challenge is taken up by a stripling, the youngest in his family (Nestor is the twelfth son ofNeleus, David the seventh or eighth son ofJesse). In each case an older and more experienced father figure (Nestor's own father, David's patron Saul) tells the boy that he is too young and inexperienced, but in each case the young hero receives divine aid and the giant is left sprawling on the ground. Nestor, fighting on foot, then takes the chariot of his enemy, while David, on foot, takes the sword of Goliath. The enemy army then flees, the victors pursue and slaughter them and return with their bodies, and the boy-hero is acclaimed by the people.[23]
Tell es-Safi, the biblicalGath and traditional home of Goliath, has been the subject of extensive excavations by Israel'sBar-Ilan University. The archaeologists have established that this was one of the largest of the Philistine cities until it was destroyed in the ninth century BC, an event from which it never recovered. TheTell es-Safi inscription, apotsherd discovered at the site, and reliably dated to between the tenth to mid-ninth centuries BC, is inscribed with the two namesʾLWT andWLT. While the names are not directly connected with the biblical Goliath (גלית,GLYT), they are etymologically related and demonstrate that the name fits with the context of the late tenth- to early ninth-century BC Philistine culture. The name "Goliath" itself is non-Semitic and has been linked with theLydian kingAlyattes, which also fits the Philistine context of the biblical Goliath story.[24] A similar name, Uliat, is also attested inCarian inscriptions.[25]Aren Maeir, director of the excavation, comments: "Here we have very nice evidence [that] the name Goliath appearing in the Bible in the context of the story of David and Goliath… is not some later literary creation."[26]
Based on the southwestAnatolianonomastic considerations, Roger D. Woodard proposed *Walwatta as a reconstruction of the form ancestral to both Hebrew Goliath and LydianAlyattes. In this case, the original meaning of Goliath's name would be "Lion-man," thus placing him within the realm ofIndo-European warrior-beast mythology.[27]
TheBabylonian Talmud explains the name "Goliath, son of Gath" through a reference to his mother's promiscuity, based on the Aramaic גַּת (gat,winepress), as everyone threshed his mother as people do to grapes in a winepress (Sotah, 42b).
The name sometimes appears in English as Goliah.[28]
According to theBabylonian Talmud (Sotah 42b), Goliath was a son ofOrpah, the sister-in-law ofRuth, David's own great-grandmother (Ruth →Obed →Jesse → David).Ruth Rabbah, a haggadic and homiletic interpretation of theBook of Ruth, makes the blood relationship even closer, considering Orpah and Ruth to have been full sisters. Orpah was said to have made a pretense of accompanying Ruth but after forty paces left her. Thereafter she led a dissolute life. According to theJerusalem Talmud, Goliath was born bypolyspermy, and had about one hundred fathers.[29]
The Talmud stresses Goliath's ungodliness: his taunts before the Israelites included the boast that it was he who had captured theArk of the Covenant and brought it to the temple ofDagon, and his challenges to combat were made at morning and evening to disturb the Israelites in their prayers. His armor weighed 60 tons, according to rabbiHanina; 120, according to rabbiAbba bar Kahana; and his sword, which became the sword of David, had marvelous powers. On his death it was found that his heart carried the image of Dagon, who thereby also came to a shameful downfall.[30]
InPseudo-Philo, believed to have been composed between 135 BCE and 70 CE, David picks up seven stones and writes on them his father's name, his own name, and the name of God, one name per stone; then, speaking to Goliath, he says:
"Hear this word before you die: were not the two woman from whom you and I were born, sisters? And your mother was Orpah and my mother Ruth ..."
After David strikes Goliath with the stone he runs to Goliath before he dies, and Goliath says: "Hurry and kill me and rejoice." David replies: "Before you die, open your eyes and see your slayer." Goliath sees an angel and tells David that it is not he who has killed him but the angel. Pseudo-Philo then goes on to say that the angel of the Lord changes David's appearance so that no one recognizes him, and thus Saul asks who he is.[31]
Goliath appears in chapter 2 of theQuran (2: 247–252), in the narrative of David and Saul's battle against the Philistines.[32] CalledJalut in Arabic (جالوت), Goliath's mention in the Quran is concise, although it remains a parallel to the account in theHebrew Bible. Muslim scholars have tried to trace Goliath's origins, most commonly with theAmalekites.[33] Goliath, in early scholarly tradition, became a kind of byword or collective name for the oppressors of theIsraelite nation beforeDavid.[32] Muslim tradition sees the battle with Goliath as a prefiguration ofMuhammad'sbattle of Badr, and sees Goliath as parallel to the enemies that Muhammad faced.[33]
In modern usage, the phrase "David and Goliath" has taken on a secular meaning, denoting anunderdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary; if successful, the underdog may win in an unusual or surprising way.[6][34]
Theology professor Leonard Greenspoon, in his essay, "David vs. Goliath in the Sports Pages", explains that "most writers use the story for itsunderdog overtones (the little guy wins) ... Less likely to show up in newsprint is the contrast that was most important to the biblical authors: David's victory shows the power of his God, while Goliath's defeat reveals the weakness of the Philistine deities."[35]
The phrase is widely used in news media to succinctly characterize underdog situations in many contexts without religious overtones. Contemporary headlines include: sports ("Haye relishes underdog role in 'David and Goliath' fight with Nikolai Valuev"—The Guardian[36]); business ("On Internet, David-and-Goliath Battle Over Instant Messages"—The New York Times[37]); science ("David and Goliath: How a tiny spider catches much larger prey"—ScienceDaily;[38] politics ("Dissent in Cuba: David and Goliath"—The Economist[39]); social justice ("David-and-Goliath Saga Brings Cable to Skid Row"—Los Angeles Times[40]).
Aside from the above allegorical use of "David and Goliath", there is also the use of "Goliath" for a particularly tall person.[41][42] For example, basketball playerWilt Chamberlain was nicknamed "Goliath", which he disliked.[43]
American actorTed Cassidy portrayed Goliath in the TV seriesGreatest Heroes of the Bible (1978).[44] Italian actorLuigi Montefiori portrayed this 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)-tall giant inParamount's 1985 live-action filmKing David as part of a flashback. This film includes the King of the Philistines saying: "Goliath has challenged the Israelites six times and no one has responded." It is then on the seventh time that David meets his challenge.
Toho andTsuburaya Productions collaborated on a film calledDaigoro vs. Goliath (1972), which follows the story relatively closely but recasts the main characters askaiju.[citation needed]
In 2005, Lightstone Studios released a direct-to-DVD movie musical titled "One Smooth Stone", which was later changed to "David and Goliath". It is part of theLiken the scriptures (now just Liken) series of movie musicals on DVD based on scripture stories.Thurl Bailey, a former NBA basketball player, was cast to play the part of Goliath in this film.[citation needed]
In 2009,NBC airedKings, which has a narrative loosely based on the biblical story ofKing David, but set in a kingdom that culturally and technologically resembles the present-day United States.[45] The part of Goliath is portrayed by a tank, which David destroys with a shoulder-firedrocket launcher.[citation needed]
In 1975,Kaveret recorded and released a humorous interpretation of the Goliath story, with several changes made such as Goliath being the "Demon fromAshkelon", and David randomly meeting Goliath rather than dueling each other on a battlefield.
The Italians used Goliath as an action superhero in a series of biblical adventure films (peplums) in the early 1960s. He possessed amazing strength, and the films were similar in theme to theirHercules andMaciste movies. After the classicHercules (1958) became a blockbuster sensation in the film industry, the 1959Steve Reeves filmTerrore dei Barbari (Terror of the Barbarians) was retitledGoliath and the Barbarians in the United States, (afterJoseph E. Levine claimed the sole right to the name ofHercules); the film was so successful at the box office, it inspired Italian filmmakers to do a series of four more films featuring a beefcake hero named Goliath, although the films were not really related to each other. Note that the Italian filmDavid and Goliath (1960), starringOrson Welles, was not one of these, since that film was a straightforward adaptation of the biblical story.[citation needed]
The four titles in the ItalianGoliath series were as follows:[citation needed]
The name Goliath was later inserted into the film titles of three other Italian muscle man movies that were retitled for distribution in the United States in an attempt to cash in on the Goliath craze, but these films were not originally made as Goliath films in Italy.[citation needed]
BothGoliath and the Vampires (1961) andGoliath and the Sins of Babylon (1963) actually featured the famed superhero Maciste in the original Italian versions, but American distributors did not feel the name Maciste had any meaning to American audiences.Goliath and the Dragon (1960) was originally an Italian Hercules film calledThe Revenge of Hercules.[citation needed]
Most scholars dismiss the parallel in 1 Chronicles 20:5 as an obvious harmonization
GOLIAH[:] Goliath, the giant whom David slew.
Media related toGoliath at Wikimedia Commons| Hebrew Bible battles |
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