links open new window David Dragging Goliath's Head Giovanni Lanfranco 24x18 Giclee Print

Goliath Goli'ath. (splendor). A famous giant of Gath, who "morning and evening for forty days," defied the armies of Israel. 1Sa_17:1. (B.C. 1063). He was possibly descended from the old Rephaim, see Giants, of whom a scattered remnant took refuge with the Philistines, after their dispersion by the Ammonites. Deu_2:20-21; 2Sa_21:22. His height was "six cubits and a span," which taking the cubit at 21 inches, would make him 10 1/2 feet high. The scene of his combat with David, by whom he was slain, was the "valley of the terebinth," between Shochoh and Arekah, probably among the western passes of Benjamin. In 2Sa_21:19, we find that another Goliath of Gath was slain by Elhanan, also a Bethlehemite.