Goliath

Of course the account of David and Goliath is true. Of course giants, like the colossal Og, the king of the giants, once roamed this earth. It’s true because God’s Word declares it so. But those who still doubt the credibility of Holy Writ should know that ancient history, ancient tradition, and legend—as well as modern science—support the veracity of the Word of God. As in all matters of the Scriptures, the preponderance of history as well as true scientific discovery support God’s Words. Relax Christians! For 6,000-plus years, God’s detractors have failed time after miserable time—and they won’t succeed tomorrow.

Seven words which rank with the most remembered of all time were spoken by Patrick Henry. His seven words, which became the battle cry of the American Revolution, were, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” On his deathbed, after serving five terms as the Governor of Virginia, he spoke the following words to his doctor:

Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die....I am, however, much consoled by reflecting that the religion of Christ has, from its first appearance in the world, been attacked in vain by all the wits, philosophers, and wise ones, aided by every power of man, and its triumphs have been complete.

God’s Word is true and righteous altogether as He calls all mankind to redemption. Have you yet to make the decision to surrender your life unto Christ? Do it today while you still have time. Click on to “Further With Jesus” for immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 17:4-51:

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

38 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

MAN SAID: David and Goliath? Giants?! This is just more proof that the Bible is just a compilation of old fairy tales!

Now THE RECORD. In regard to the credibility of the Biblical record of giants, GodSaidManSaid has posted two features concerning this issue titled “Giants” and “Giants II.” The following paragraphs are from “Giants II:”

Cambridge Essays, in 1858, published the following writings of Cyril Graham under the title The Ancient Bashan and the Cities of Og. The following excerpt from Mr. Graham is taken from the book Giants, written by Charles DeLoach:

When we find one after another, great stone cities, walled and unwalled, with stone gates, and so crowded together that it becomes almost a matter of wonder how all the people could have lived in so small a place; when we see houses built of such huge and massive stones that no force which can be brought against them in that country could ever batter them down; when we find rooms in these houses so large and lofty that many of them would be considered fine rooms in a palace in Europe; and, lastly, when we find some of these towns bearing names which cities in that very country bore before Israelites came out of Egypt, I think we cannot help feeling the strongest conviction that we have before us the cities of the Rephaim of which we read in the Book of Deuteronomy.

Rephaim, mentioned above, simply means “giants.”

DeLoach continues:

Another traveler to this area, Professor J. L. Porter, agrees with Graham that giants built these cities. “Moses,” he writes, “makes special mention of the strong cities of Bashan, and speaks of their high walls and gates. He tells us, too, in the same connection, that Bashan was called the land of the giants (or Rephaim, Deut. iii. 13), leaving us to conclude that the cities were built by giants. Now the houses of Kerioth and other towns in Bashan appear to be just such dwellings as a race of giants would build. The walls, the roofs, but especially the ponderous gates, doors, and bars, are in every way characteristic of a period when architecture was in its infancy, when giants were masons, and when strength and security were the grand requisites. I measured a door in Kerioth: it was nine feet high, four and a half feet wide, and ten inches thick,—one solid slab of stone. I saw the folding gates of another town in the mountains still larger and heavier. Time produces little effect on such buildings as these. The heavy stone slabs of the roofs resting on the massive walls make the structure as firm as if built of solid masonry; and the black basalt used is almost as hard as iron. There can scarcely be a doubt, therefore, that these are the very cities erected and inhabited by the Rephaim, the aboriginal occupants of Bashan.” [End of quote]

Much history supports God’s record of giants. The term execration needs to be defined in order to understand the following information. Execration, according to Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, means “The act of cursing; a curse pronounced; imprecation of evil; utter detestation expressed.” [End of quote]

Nineteen hundred years before Christ, the Egyptian Execration Texts of the Twelfth Dynasty record curses that Pharaoh spoke over his enemies. These curses were written on pottery, including vases and clay figurines. When smashed, these curses, conjured up by Pharaoh’s priest- sorcerers, were to fall upon his enemies. According to DeLoach:

Professor Alan F. Johnson says one recovered text, now on display at the Berlin Museum, contains "an incantation directed towards certain enemy cities and territories among which are Palestinian areas and which names specific rulers of an area called ’Iy-’aneq’." These, he adds, “could well be the Anakim of Biblical materials.”

Flavius Josephus, one of the greatest historians of all time, writes the following in chapter five of The Antiquities of the Jews:

For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shewn to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men. [End of quote]

Again, according to the research collected by DeLoach:

Pliny mentions that in the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54), a nine-foot-nine-inch giant named Gabbaras was brought to Rome from Arabia. Claudius placed him at the head of the famed Adiutrix legions. The giant so awed his troops that some worshipped him as a god.

And again:

During his principate, Caesar Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) assigned two giants who towered over ten feet tall to lead the Roman armies into battle. “On account of this remarkable height,” writes Pliny, the bodies of the two giants “were preserved in the tomb in Sallust’s Gardens; their names were Pusio and Secundilla.” [End of quotes]

Og, the king of the giants, is mentioned 56 times in the Word of God. The following passage concerning Og and the giants is found in Werner Keller’s research volume, The Bible As History:

Into the matter-of-fact description of this military offensive in Transjordan there has crept a reference to the “iron bed” of a giant, King Og of Bashan (Deut. 3:11), which may have puzzled many people. This mysterious and improbable sounding passage in the Bible has, however, a very natural and at the same time striking explanation. The Bible is preserving here in all faithfulness a memory which takes us back to Canaan’s dim and distant past.

When the scholars were searching the Jordan country for evidence which would tie up with Biblical history, they came upon remarkable structures such as archaeologists had already encountered in other countries as well. These consisted of tall stones, built in oval formation and every now and then roofed over with a heavy transverse block—the famous Great Stone Graves. They are also called megalithic graves or dolmens, and were once used for burying the dead. In Europe—they are found in North Germany, Denmark, England and North-west France—they are called locally “Giants’ Beds.” Since these massive monuments are also found in India, East Asia and even the South Sea Islands, they are ascribed to a great mass migration in early times.

In 1918, Gustav Dalman, the German scholar, discovered in the neighbourhood of Amman, the modern capital of Jordan, a dolmen which aroused unusual interest because it seemed to shed light on a factual Biblical reference in quite an astonishing way. Amman stands precisely on the old site of Rabbath-Ammon. The Bible says about this giant king Og: “behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon [Rabbath-Ammon]? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man” (Deut. 3:11). The size of the dolmen discovered by Dalmen corresponded approximately to these measurements. The “Bed” consists of basalt, an extremely hard grey-black stone. The appearance of such a burying-place may have given rise to the Biblical description of the “iron bed” of the giant king. Further investigations have proved that dolmens are common in Palestine, principally in Transjordan above the river Jabbok, that is, in present day Ajlun. Well over a thousand of these ancient monuments are to be found among the coarse grass of the highlands. The country above the Jabbok, so the Bible tells us, is the kingdom over which King Og of Bashan is said to have reigned, Og who alone “remained of the remnant of giants” (Deut. 3:11). Bashan, which was conquered by Israel, was also called “the land of giants” (Deut. 3:13).

West of the Jordan the only dolmens to be found are in the neighbourhood of Hebron. The scouts, whom Moses sent out from Kadesh, “ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron . . . And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak” (Num. 13:22,33). They must have seen the stone graves which have now been discovered at Hebron in the vicinity of the Valley of Grapes. [End of quote]

Yes giants, even as the Word of God so accurately reports. The most famous of the giants is the nearly 10-feet-tall Goliath the Gittite, a Philistine from Gath. In rabbinical literature, additional information concerning Goliath is recorded. The following excerpts are published at www.JewishE ncyclopedia.com:

Goliath was of ignoble birth. His mother is said to have been Orpah, who, after making a pretense of accompanying Ruth, her mother-in-law, and walking with her forty paces, had left her and had led a very profligate life, so that Goliath, her son, was of uncertain paternity. She bore besides Goliath three other giants.

In defying Israel, Goliath boasted of having slain the two sons of Eli, captured the Holy Ark, brought it to the house of Dagon, where it stayed seven months, and of having led the van of the Philistines in every war, scattering the enemy before him like dust. [End of quote]

It is interesting to note that Goliath is said to be one of four giants born to Orpah, a daughter-in-law to the Naomi of the Bible. Their story is recorded in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. Ruth was sister-in-law to Orpah and also daughter-in-law to Naomi. Both Orpah and Ruth were Moabites. According to rabbinical literature, Orpah, daughter-in-law to Naomi and sister-in-law to Ruth, was the mother of Goliath. Orpah’s husband, Naomi’s son, died. Orpah left her mother-in-law to return unto her own people. Orpah’s sister-in-law Ruth was also married to a son of Naomi who died, but she decided to return with her mother-in-law to Israel where she married Boaz. Ruth then gives birth to Obed who is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David, making David Ruth’s great-grandson.

Again from rabbinical literature, “Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and every evening, so as to disturb them at the hour set for reciting the Shema.’” [End of quote]

The Babylonian Talmud weighs in on the subject of Goliath and his mother. The Talmud is the body of Hebrew laws, explanations, and traditions written by Jewish scholars. The Babylonian Talmud is the Talmud written by Jews while in captivity in Babylon. The Babylonian Talmud records:

And there went out a champion [benayim]out of the camp of the Philistines etc. What means ‘benayim’—Rab said: That he was built up [mebunneh] without any blemish. Samuel said: He was the middle one of his brothers. In the School of R. Shila they explained, He was made like a building [binyan]. R. Johanan said: He was the son of a hundred fathers and one mother. ‘Named Goliath of Gath’—R. Joseph learnt: [He is so described] because all men pressed his mother like a wine-press. [End of quote]

From The Legends of the Jews is found the following excerpt:

While there was still life in him, Goliath said unto David: “Hasten and slay me, and rejoice.” But David said: “Before thou diest, open thine eyes and behold the slayer who hath killed thee.” And the Philistine looked and saw the angel, and said: “Thou hast not killed me by thyself, but he that was with thee, whose form is not like the form of a man.” Ps.—Philo, loc. cit., makes David harangue Goliath as follows: “Were not the two women, of whom thou and I were born, sisters (comp. notes 27, 28)? Thy mother was Orpah, and mine was Ruth. Orpah chose for herself the gods of the Philistines, and went after them, but Ruth chose for herself the ways of the Almighty, and walked in them. And now . . . I that am born of thy kindred am come to avenge my people. For thy three brothers also shall fall into my hands after thy death.” [End of quote]

I Samuel 17:1-2:

1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.

2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

In this passage, the armies of the Philistines were encamped between Shochoh, being situated about 15 miles from Bethlehem where David was born and raised. The armies of Israel pitched by the valley of Elah. Keep these locations—Shochoh, Azekah, and Elah—in mind as you review the following astounding paragraphs published in the July 2, 2004 issue of The International Jerusalem Post:

The gentle heights of Tel Sucho in the south and Tel Azekah to the north slope down like a mother’s thighs into the Elah Valley. Filled today with blazing sunflowers, this valley is a womb. From here, the legend of David and Goliath was born. From here, the Palestinian refugees set out to the hills in the distance 56 years ago and from here a renewal of modern Israeli settlement emerged.

“We saw ourselves living on the remains of King David. We are in the direct line of David’s ancestors. My people were taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar and only now have returned,” says Assael Lavi, who was born in Zakariyya to Kurdish immigrants.

“We returned to the land and to our ancestral home. I don’t have to apologize for the fact that others stole my land for over 2,000 years,” says Lavi, who grew up in a house Palestinians built using Byzantine-era stones.

“The Palestinians call this area Makbarat Jalut, Goliath’s grave,” says Lavi, surveying his field of wheat. “Well I found it. Goliath’s grave. It’s right over there.”

Lavi points to a patch of stunted wheat, where an altar made of a circle of stones lies partially hidden.

Yes to giants! Yes to David and Goliath! God’s Word found in His Holy Bible is true. Trust Him.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 17:4-7:

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

MAN SAID: David and Goliath? Giants?! This is just more proof that the Bible is just a compilation of old fairy tales!

Now THE RECORD.




References:

King James Bible

Ginzberg, L., The Legends of the Jews, The Jewish Publications Society of America, 1939, p252

Hirsch, E. G., “Goliath,” www.JewishE ncyclopedia.com

The International Jerusalem Post, “Return To The Rubble,” July 2, 2004, pp10-11

Keller, W., The Bible As History, Bantam Books, 1982

Nashim, S., The Babylonian Talmud, The Soncino Press, London, p210

Patrick Henry, www.leaderu.com

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