How Big Was Goliath?

[Doc Tinker]

Goliath was one big dude, according to Biblical accounts, but how big was big? Maybe David was two feet tall. To a two foot tall guy a six footer would be pretty big.



Or. . maybe David was 6 feet tall. Then Goliath might have been 10 feet tall, to rate as a giant to David.



Doc

 

[78repowerwagon]

nine feet +. 1 Samuel 17:4

 

[Doc Tinker]

King James says he was six cubits and a span. What is that in feet?



According to one conversion chart I found, a short greek cubit is 1. 1 feet and a span is . 75 feet. That would make Goliath no taller than a lot of today's basket ball players. Or in Persian Royal Cubits he would have been over 13 feet tall



Doc

 

[milehiscott]

I used to have an article where someone did the math. If I find it I will post the exact numbers.

As memory serves (and it doesn't always), it worked out to 9'10" and ~500lbs. The weight was guesstimated by his height and the weight of his armor and weapons.

:--) :--) :--) :--) :--) :--) :--) :--)

Scott



Doc,

A short Greek is different than a scared Hebrew. :-laf

I think a cubit is 1. 5 feet. Not sure about a span, but I think it is the span of a man's hand (~5"-7" depending on which way you go).

 

[Doc Tinker]

The next question. . how big was the rock that David clobbered him with? Was the rock polished to make it fly straight and fast?



Doc

 

[milehiscott]

1 Sam 17:40 "... (he) chose 5 smooth stones from the stream... "

So they were "river polished".

Another interesting foot note. David gathered 5 stones. Goiath had 4 brothers (extra-Biblical sources).

Scott

 

[illflem]

A cubit is the length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, or about 17 to 22 inches and span is the length of a fully extended hand, about 8 inches. If he was 6 cubits and a span he would be 9'4" to 11'8". I think someone was exaggerating.

 

[Texas Diesel]

There are other references to "giants" in the Bible. In Genesis 6:1-4 they are from cross breeding human females and "Sons of God" as destinct from human males. They were giants COMPARED to normal humans. The King of Og was one too, Duet 3:11 and Joshua 12:4 & 13:12. I forget where but Goliaths spear was 28 feet long and his shield weighed 240 pounds. His height was supposed to be nearly 12 feet. If you read carefully there is "666" associated with Goliath as mentioned in I Samuel 17. Vs 4, 6 cubits, vs 5-7, 6 kinds of armor, vs 7, 6 hundred shekels (weight).



6 (cubits) 6 (kinds of armor) 6 (huindred shekels of weight).



They were supposed to have 6 toes and 6 fingers too.



There is also "666" associated with the oversize (giant?) statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in Daniel 3 too. I'll elaborate if anyone is interested.

 

[MJawsman]

According to Guiness, "experts" (whoever they are) seem to agree that Golaith was about 6'10" tall. The Cubit thing has been tossed around quite a bit and no one can seem to agree on it's length. My guess is that it was never standardized like our current inch/metric system.



Speaking of Guiness, they also mention an Egyptian sarcophagus that if it was accurately made for the body (it was found empty), the height of that king would have been close to 13 feet.



And as I'm sure most of you know, Robert P Wadlow was the tallest man ever documented at 8'11. 1" tall.

 

[RHARVEY]

Here is a website that I use when I need to figure length for a network connection. .



http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/length



It showed that 6 cubits in Biblical measurements was 9'



Rick

 

[baby.driver]

So if it's Guiness vs. Genesis

I'll take the Bible every time.

 

[milehiscott]

Originally posted by MJawsman

The Cubit thing has been tossed around quite a bit and no one can seem to agree on it's length. My guess is that it was never standardized like our current inch/metric system.

Actually, the cubit was a standard measurement. The problem is that we don't understand it.

Many archaeologists are saying that very ancient peoples were very tall. Over time people shrunk. From what I have seen, people were the shortest during the dark ages. In Elizabethan England, the ave. hight for men was 5'7". As you can see we're getting taller again.



As to Guinness, that was started in the late 1700's by the Harp brewing co. Oh, sorry, that's different.

 

[Doc Tinker]

I think that the Earth's gravitational forces have changed over the years. Once. . Gravety was low as the Earth was winding up. Now the Earth is slowing back down, so gravity is dropping again. That's why ancient people were taller, people living during the time of Christ and through the middle ages were short and now people are taller.



Doc

 

[Texas Diesel]

Wouldnt the Earth rotation slowing cause an increase in felt gravity due to lessening centrifigual force pushing us away from the Earths center of rotation?