And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Parallel translations
- WEB A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- NASB Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.
- NLT Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A Philistine champion named Goliath of Gath, of enormous height, steps forward. The formidable giant emerges as Israel's seemingly unbeatable foe.
Overview
Goliath, a towering champion, comes out to represent the Philistines in single combat, a custom that could decide a battle. His extraordinary size embodies the human impossibility that confronts Israel. This sets up the central contrast of the chapter: human might against faith in the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Josh 11:22There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.
- 1 Sam 17:23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them.
- 2 Sam 21:16–22and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David.
- 1 Chr 20:4–8After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.
- Deut 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.)
- 1 Sam 27:4Saul was told that David had fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.
- 1 Sam 21:9–10The priest said, “Behold, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you would like to take that, take it; for there is no other except that here.” David said, “There is none like that. Give it to me.”
- 1 Chr 11:23He killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high. In the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.
- Amos 2:9Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 17:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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