Strange Story: 1 Samuel 17 How Tall Was Goliath?
I SAMUEL 17
Before I get into the details of this question, I need to clarify that the comparison and contrast between David and Goliath were not the main point in that story; the contrast between David and Saul was actually one of the main points, along with David’s faith. Goliath was just a tool that demonstrated the contrast between David and Saul and gave David the opportunity to show his faith. I invite you to go to my story called David vs. Saul, not David vs. Goliath to read more about the main issue.
There is a swirling debate about the size of Goliath and the size of David. The doubts involved appear to be a legitimate issue, not just troublemakers causing trouble. The heart of the matter stems from the fact that there are two manuscript traditions for I Samuel which disagree greatly.
Most of the time, the scribes that copied the Hebrew Scriptures were very careful to faithfully transcribe what was in the original. If they found an obvious error they would copy the text faithfully, including the error, and then they would write their idea of what it should be in the margin. This attitude that the text is sacred and should not be tampered with has resulted in a set of Old Testament manuscripts that are very reliable. The scribes that copied the New Testament followed the Greek mentality, which exhibited a totally different attitude. For them, the meaning was more important than the actual text, and they felt free to change the words of the text to make the meaning more clear (that is the meaning they assumed was the intended meaning). If they thought the Apostle Paul was not clear, they would change something or add something to make it more clear (in their minds). So in the New Testament, this must be a consideration when working with these texts.
However, to the best we can determine, the book of I Samuel is a glaring exception to the norm. In one of the manuscript traditions, called the Masoretic text (MT), I Samuel was transcribed by someone who had a different attitude about the text, one that resembled that of the Greek scribes. One theory is that he added things that were not part of the original, and changed some other things. Some of the changes could have been by accident but the additions had to be purposeful. These characteristics are true in that tradition for all of I Samuel, but are most noticeable in the story of David and Goliath.
There are approximately 23 verses found in the MT text that are not present in the Qumran text, called 4QSama; they are I Sam17:12-31 and 55-58. Only one of the Qumran scrolls has this part of I Samuel included in it, and it is very different from the version found in the Masoretic text which we are accustomed to hearing. The Septuagint (abbreviated as LXX) was a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, most of which was carried out about 250 to 200 years before the time of Jesus, with the final work on it being finished 130 years before Jesus’ arrival. It agrees with 4QSama. The Jewish historian, Josephus, who is considered a contemporary of Jesus although most of his writing was penned after Jesus died, also follows 4QSama. Thus, the three oldest witnesses we have that contain any details of the story of David and Goliath all follow a different manuscript tradition than the one we have always used.
In 4QSama Goliath is specifically said to be 4 cubits and a span, meaning about 6’9” tall. When I first read this I thought, no way, that can’t be right. I don’t want to ruin one of the best stories in the whole Bible.
However, as I studied it I found that 1) the evidence seems to favor the shorter Goliath, and 2) it does not ruin the story because the emphasis of the narrative is on something other than Goliath’s size.
In Favor of a Giant-Sized Goliath
– He was from Gath and Gath was known as a place where Anakites, who were among the Rephidim, still lived.
– The description of the weight of his armor and weapons is interpreted by some to mean that he was extremely large.
– There was someone called the giant of Gath, or described as a large man, who had four sons who were all killed by David and his fighting men, but it could have been someone else, it could have been a relative, yet Goliath excelled more than anyone else at combat. He had taken it to a whole new level.
– The Masoretic text specifically says he was 6 cubits and a span, which equals 9’ 9”.
In Favor of a 6 Foot 9 inch Goliath
– He was called a champion, not a giant.
– the weight of his armor only means that he was strong.
– Only one of the scrolls of the Qumran texts(4QSama) includes I Sam 15, and it says 4 Cubits and a span.
– the Septuagint says he was 4 cubits and a span.
– Josephus also says 4 cubits and a span. Thus all three of the earliest manuscripts say 4 cubits and a span.
– The average height of an Israelite at that time is considered by many to be between 5’0” and 5’3”. So a man that is 6’9” would seem like an unbeatable opponent.
– If Goliath was a fully grown man of about 30 years old, standing about 6’9” and David was a very young man (think skinny), standing around 5 ft, we can estimate that Goliath would have easily weighed twice as much as David.
– Boys grow until they are 18 or 19 years old. If David ended up being a man of slightly greater stature than the average Israelite, and if he was 13 or 14 when he encountered Goliath, he was have been about 5 feet tall at most.
– The points Saul used (in the MT text) to try and dissuade David from going to fight Goliath were that the Philistine was an experienced, champion fighter, while David had little experience. Even though this part appears only the MT text, nothing is said about the opponent’s size.
– Joshua 12:4 calls Og of Bashan the last of the Rephaites. Rapha of Gath was from the Rephaites (Rephaim) but this was later than Joshua. It is possible that Og was the last of the truly huge giants, and Rapha of Gath was of that blood line but was not as tall, probably due to some mixing of the blood line.
In Favor of a Small David:
– Usually only young boys (younger than 13) or girls tended the sheep, with an older family member serving as a supervisor for the various shepherds under him.
– Saul calls him just a boy (I Sam 17:33)
– Goliath thought he was a handsome boy (I Sam 17:42). Saul and Goliath use different forms of the same Hebrew word which is imprecise regarding age; it can mean “boy, lad, youth” and in some cases even “baby or child or servant.”
– so we know from this that he was young enough to be considered incapable of the task. Whether he was a child of 11 or a youth of 13 or 14, it does not change the fact that he was considered inexperienced in battle.
In Favor of an Almost Fully Grown David
– I Sam 16:18 calls him “a mighty man of valor;” it can also mean “a man of war.” The fact that this term was used of David does not necessarily mean that he had battle experience; it could simply refer to how he protected the sheep from a lion and a bear, and the stories that circulated about those incidents. However, in favor the idea that he did have battle experience, see below in regards to 16:21.
– One of David’s brothers had height and stature that impressed Samuel (16:7)
– He was already an armor bearer for the king (I Sam 16:21). Some think that this honor was given to David after his defeat of Goliath, but the text does not point that direction. Others think that it was an honor bestowed on him, but an office which David never filled in action. All this is only speculation because we are not told either way. The point here is that an armor bearer was someone who was trusted, and who had enough battle experience to be valuable in a battle situation. Thus my conclusion is that David had some battle experience and he had proven himself to be a warrior of great courage, even though he was quite young.
– I Sam 17:15 informs us that David went back and forth from Saul to Bethlehem to tend his father’s sheep. This may mean that Jesse had no one else he could rely on consistently to do this work, even though it was now beneath David to do so. This may also mean that Jesse was reluctant to have a son who was so young become a “regular” in Saul’s army. But I picture David pleading with his father to let him go. So sometimes Jesse allowed him to go, and sometimes Jesse made him stay home.
– David rejected the use of Saul’s armor, not because it was too big, but because he was not accustomed to it. Saul was exceptionally tall for an Israelite, probably 6’2”, instead of 5’2” like the rest. So David had to be well on his way to developing into a taller than average Israelite. There is no way he was under 5 feet tall, or Saul’s armor would not have been offered. Even if he was around 5’2” at the time, tall for a lad of his age, the armor would have been obviously too big.
– David was capable of wielding Goliath’s sword.
My Conclusion about the Size of Goliath and the Youthfulness of David
My perception is that there is stronger manuscript evidence and better internal evidence in favor of the shorter Goliath (about 6’9”). He was still very strong, and a proven champion; we know his record had only wins and no losses because in hand to hand combat, you only lose once. His experience and his long-standing winning record would have made him a formidable opponent, but to those accolades were added his extra size and tremendous strength, making him unbeatable in the eyes of everyone, except those with a truck-load of faith in God.
About David the differences can be reconciled if we conclude that He was too young to be a regular member of the army, but too old to be tending sheep full-time. He had some battle experience, and had proven his courage convincingly, but when Saul considered David going up against Goliath, he concluded that David was just a “boy” by comparison.
Why This Does Not Ruin the Story of David and Goliath
The emphasis of the description of Goliath seems to be on two things, his strength and his battle experience. His size is mentioned once, whereas his strength and experience are emphasized several times. His size was added in there as an extra factoid that completed the mental picture of an unbeatable opponent.
The odds were still terrible odds. Israel’s army had two swords!!! That would be similar to facing a modern army equipped with planes, missiles, and machine guns with only a BB gun in hand. Humanly speaking there was no way this could end well. Servitude to the Philistines seemed inevitable.
Then this young, courageous, but brash lad steps forward claiming he can defeat the mighty warrior. “Right! Stop wasting my time, kid. Yah, you’ve done some pretty cool stuff, but you’re still just a kid compared to that guy. He’s a super-sized Bruce Lee and you’re still working on your white belt.”
Yet this kid has a few things that none of the soldiers in Saul’s army have; he has faith in God; he knows no fear; he is unwilling to allow anyone to defame his God.