Goliath

Goliath (/la/) (Hebrew: , Modern Golyat, Tiberian Goly; Arabic: , lt (Qur'anic term), ulyt (Christian term)) or Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines) was a giant Philistine warrior defeated by the young David, the future king of Israel, in the Bible's Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 17).The story of Goliath takes place in the context of war between the Israelites and the Philistines. Goliath was chosen as a champion of his people and challenged the Israelites to a duel. He asked them to choose a champion of their own to face him in single combat. Nobody volunteered. For 40 days, Goliath kept challenging them in vain. Saul, King of Israel and his men were terrified of him.David, not a soldier yet, eventually volunteered to face the champion. David chose his sling as his weapon, and declined to wear armor. David was reportedly an experienced slinger, and had already killed bears and lions with his weapon of choice.The young slinger hurled a stone towards Goliath, which collided with the champion's forehead. Goliath fell to the ground, and David decapitated him. The Philistines retreated towards their hometowns and the Israelites claimed victory. David kept Goliath's severed head and Goliath's armor as his trophies.The height of the giant Goliath differs among various versions of the Bible. The Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint estimate his height to four cubits and a span . This translates to 2.06 metres/6 feet, 9 inches. The Masoretic text and its derivatives estimate his height to six cubits and a span . This translates to 2.97 metres/9 feet 9 inches.A contradictory account from the Bible, reports that Goliath was killed by Elhanan. Elhanan is an otherwise obscure Biblical character.The original purpose of the story was to show David's identity as the true king of Israel. Post-Classical Jewish traditions stressed Goliath's status as the representative of paganism, in contrast to David, the champion of the God of Israel. Christian tradition gave him a distinctively Christian perspective, seeing in David's battle with Goliath the victory of God's king over the enemies of God's helpless people as a prefiguring of Jesus' victory over sin on the cross and the Church's victory over Satan.The phrase David and Goliath has taken on a more secular meaning, denoting an underdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary. Show less «