What does 1 Samuel 17:4 mean?
The armies of the Philistines and the Israelites formed battle lines, at a distance overlooking a valley. As they face off against each other, a warrior steps out from the Philistine battle line into the "no man's land" between the two armies. He is huge.The word "champion" is translated from a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "a man in between." This referred to the great warriors who would advance alone into combat, engaging champions of the other army, or rallying others to fight through their bravery. This Goliath was no common soldier; he was one of their mightiest. Goliath came from Gath, one of the five main cities of the Philistines (Joshua 13:3).
The text reports that he was six-cubits-and-a-span tall. Some ancient texts have four cubits instead of six, but scholars suggest those may have been changed from the original. A cubit was generally the length from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger, and a span was about the width from the thumb to the pinky when the hand was spread all the way out. That makes a cubit about eighteen inches and a span about nine inches. This makes Goliath around nine feet, nine inches tall, or approximately three meters in height.
One of Israel's first objectives when they came into the Promised Land was to fight the Anakim, a race of extremely tall and powerful people. At first the Israelites were terrified to face the Anakim (Numbers 13:28, 33; Deuteronomy 1:28). Later, under Joshua, Israel defeated them and drove them mostly out of Canaan (Joshua 11:22). However, some of the giant-like people known as the Anakim survived around the edges of the Promised Land, including in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Goliath was from Gath, and it reasonable to think that he was a descendant of the Anakim "giants."
Outside of the biblical record, Egyptian letters from the thirteenth century BC describe Canaanite warriors who were seven to nine feet tall. There's no reason to discount the Bible's claim that Goliath was gigantically proportioned. Some commentators speculate that Goliath was "only" tall. Most people of extreme height today suffer from various joint, muscle, and heart conditions due to their size. One theory is that Goliath was used as an intimidating spectacle, but that he was not really much of a fighter. While this wouldn't change David's bravery—he wouldn't have known this—or the point of the passage, the general description here suggests that Goliath was indeed physically fit.
Scholars are uncertain as to the meaning of the name "Goliath." It could come from a word meaning "uncover, remove, or exile." This would certainly fit the champion's intended plan and his eventual end. Some commentators suggest that the name "Goliath" was a title, rather than a personal name, somewhat like "Pharaoh" (Genesis 12:15; 40:2; Exodus 1:8, 22). Related suggestions have been made about the name "Abimlelech" (Genesis 20:3; 21:22; 26:1).
