Just wanted to direct you to a new interactive post on the Bible Study Magazine website. It’s an article I did for the magazine (a popular magazine, but it has a lot of content beyond what you’d get in popular Christian magazines). I’m one of the editors. We ran a themed issue on Goliath and I wrote articles on his height and a famous textual problem related to him. Check it out!
How Tall Was Goliath?
Wow, incredible article…I couldn’t get enough of the scribe-detective goodness! One question, I didn’t realize that Goliath lived 3000 years ago…is this based on, I don’t know the word I’m looking for here, “modern” timelines of archeology or the whole 6000 year old biblical world model? They are different, right?
Thanks for this, Michael. While I’m not at all worried about Goliath’s size per se, your observation that Saul, himself a “giant” among the Israelites, would have been the logical opponent for Goliath is one I’d never thought of before (even though now you say it, it’s patently obvious you are right). It’s reinforced by David trying on Saul’s armor and finding it way too big. Saul’s cowardice in this situation only adds fuel to the fire of his resentment when the people celebrated his thousands vs. David’s ten thousands slain.
We’ve all been taught the Sunday School story about David being willing to step up to the plate and trust God. . .and that’s definitely part of the take-home message. But your textual analysis–by placing Goliath and Saul at closer (though not equivalent) stature–brings the negative side of how the story reflects on Saul into much sharper relief. To me, that enriches the story. Thank you.
Dan
@dwmtractor: you’re welcome (and me too).
@Jonnathan Molina: This is based on standard biblical chronology.
What a fantastic article…still I would like to see a study based on the weight of Goliath’s armor to see if it’s practical for a 6 or 7 foot person to wear and fight in…if not, I will have to assume Goliath was 9 foot plus in height.
@stevereid: good question. You’ll find that “weights and measures” in the Bible have a fairly notorious reputation for uncertainty and inexactitude.
The page with your article is missing. Can you post a PDF here? I recently learned about this height issue and would like to study more.
I’ll have a look
I just went to the link just fine – ?
http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/interactive/goliath/
I apologize. It works now on my PC, but not when I first tried on my Android Tablet. Don’t you love technology? Thanks for this article.
yep
I shared your article on Goliaths height with my study group at church. They appreciated having a better understanding of it all, but many were disappointed that such a glaring error in transmission could exist for so long.
How concerned should we be about textual transmission if an error like this can exist? I tried to make the point, Hey look, at least we found the error and are no longer ignorant of it. I also explained that its a logical fallacy to think an error in one place means we should hold the entire OT in suspect.
This is an open minded group. But maybe they have studied apologetics material that paints an overly rosy view of OT transmission.
Are there any resources you can point me to that could reassure them about OT textual transmission?
I’d encourage you to get your group to think about the “error lasting so long” trajectory a bit differently. The “error” was “corrected” for over two millennia ago (LXX, DSS). It only escaped attention because English translators slavishly decided to follow only MT in the Bibles they produced. That was an arbitrary decision, and so the result was not produced by any sort of “divine failure” to preserve the correct information, but rather human decision. Humans could have made the decision to look at other data — and so THAT is what we all ought to endeavor to do today. Regardless of the feet and inches, the point of the story (and its unlikely outcome) are quite the same. David should have been dog meat in under a few minutes, but he wasn’t.
I believe there are valid reasons to suggest that Goliath’s height was in fact closer to the Masoretic version. For one his body armor alone (weighing 125-135 lbs) would have weighed three times that of a Greek hoplite solider, and that’s not counting his helmet, sword, spear, javelin, and greaves. If Goliath was only a couple inches taller than Saul that would hardly make him a giant, nor would it explain why Saul and Israelite’s were dismayed and afraid to fight him. The MT height of Goliath is concurrent with other text regarding the giants of Cannann, including Og of Bashin whose bed or sarcophagus was 13 ½ feet long. Granted Og would have been shorter than this, but it would have been vastly over-sized for an average male of that time. According to Egyptian text (The Craft of the Scribe) giants ranged from 6’8 to 8’6.
Professor Clyde E. Billington makes a compelling argument that the MXX and MT are not in conflict but an attempt to convert the MT’s common cubits into Royal Egyptian cubits, which the translators of the LXX would have most certainly used. Recall a common cubit was around 16 inches while a Royal cubit was a standardized 20.65 inches. 6 Royal cubits would have made Goliath 11’1 tall. The translator may have thought this too tall and opted for 4 cubits instead. Also it should be noted that some ancient versions of the LXX do use 6 cubits and one, The LXX Greek Codex Venetus, uses 5 cubits.
The sarcophagus of Og is not a reliable indicator of Og’s own height. The numbers match exactly the sacred marriage bed of Marduk, and so that informs us that there is something more “cosmic” at play in the dimensions (which dovetails with the Babylonian polemic that underlies Genesis 6:1-4. I’m sorry I can’t say more in that regard here, since all that content is in my “Myth book” revision, which hasn’t appeared yet.
As far as the armor – ask a WWII paratrooper (a lot smaller than Goliath) what they carried when jumping out of planes and on the ground. If you guessed 100 lbs, you’d be right. A 6’6″ or 6’9″ guy could handle that no problem.
I’ve read Billington’s article and don’t find it at all compelling.
Thanks for the reply. Let’s say Goliath was 6’6, why the need for more armor than would be necessary for a man of that height? Especially one who fought
melee and needed to be agile. WWII paratroopers may
prove someone smaller could carry that much weight, but they sure couldn’t fight melee style with it on.
And then you have Goliath’s weapons which would be over sized even for a guy of 6’9. The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam (2-2.5 inches in diameter, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels (A little over 18 lbs).
Calling it more armor than needed is a subjective judgment on your part. I’d say he could carry what he wanted to carry. He had no idea he’d be opposed by a kid, or whether a bunch of Israelites might rush him. In any event, single combat wasn’t about great mobility. I’ll let him make the call as to what he wants to take into battle.
Really, none of what you cite is beyond someone of the size the DSS and LXX proposes. Using an NFL lineman as an analogy, a guy who can bench press 225 lbs. 30-35 times could throw a spear with a head of 18 lbs. It’s the same weight as an Olympic shot put. Just because it would be difficult for us doesn’t mean he couldn’t do it with skill.
Only the Masoretic verison is God’s Word, the LXX was deliberately changed first by Hellenizers and then latter by Proto-Catholic Christians.
This just isn’t the case. It’s conspiratorial nonsense.
I can tell you haven’t read any Catholic scholars — who freely use both MT and LXX to make their points, not assigning priority to either (e.g., Joseph Fitzmyer or Raymond Brown).
You should be aware that there are places in MT that specifically deny the messiah-ship of Christ (e.g., the Masoretic accenting in Daniel 9). You’re parroting a sort of fundamentalist myth here. Someone needs to tell you.
Saying that Goliath wasn’t the tall, or that he was disabled by the disease of Gigantism takes the Glory of what David did.
I made a mistake for the homepage in my prior comment and need it deleted please.