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Contemporary English Version
1 Samuel 17:4
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall
There went out a champion out of the camp of the Pelishtim, named Golyat, of Gat, whose height was six cubits and a span.
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.
Then a champion went out from the camps of the Philistines, whose name was Goliath from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
The Philistines had a champion fighter from Gath named Goliath. He was about nine feet, four inches tall. He came out of the Philistine camp
Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall.
Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.
Then came a man betweene them both out of the tents of the Philistims, named Goliath of Gath: his height was sixe cubites and an hande breadth,
Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
There came out a champion from the camp of the P'lishtim named Golyat, from Gat, who was nine feet nine inches tall.
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
The Philistines had a champion fighter named Goliath, who was from Gath. He was over 9 feet tall. Goliath came out of the Philistine camp.
And there went out a mighty man from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet tall
And a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines, Goliath was his name, from Gath; his height was six cubits and a span.
Then stepte there forth from amoge the Philistynes a stoute bolde man, named Goliath of Gath, sixe cubites and an hande breth hye,
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.
And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.
And there came a man betweene the both, out of the tentes of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath: sixe cubites and a handbreadth long:
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
And there went out a champion out of the campe of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath: whose height was sixe cubites and a span.
And there went forth a mighty man out of the army of the Philistines, Goliath, by name, out of Geth, his height was four cubits and a span.
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.
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
And a man, `sone of a widewe, whos fadir was vncerteyn, yede out of the `castels of Filisteis, Goliath bi name of Geth, of sixe cubitis heiy and a spanne; and a brasun basynet on his heed;
And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath [is] his name, from Gath; his height [is] six cubits and a span,
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.
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose hight [was] six cubits and a span.
There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
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!
Then a strong fighter came out from the armies of the Philistines. His name was Goliath, from Gath. He was almost twice as tall as most men.
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
And there came forth a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, Goliath, his name, from Gath, - his height, six cubits and a span;
And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span:
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.
Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Goliath: 1 Samuel 17:23, 1 Samuel 21:9, 1 Samuel 21:10, 2 Samuel 21:19, 1 Chronicles 20:5
of Gath: 1 Samuel 27:4, Joshua 11:22, 2 Samuel 21:16-22, 1 Chronicles 20:4-8
whose height: Deuteronomy 3:11, 1 Chronicles 11:23, Amos 2:9
six cubits: According to Bp. Cumberland's calculation, the height of Goliath was about eleven feet ten inches; but Parkhurst estimating the ordinary cubit at seventeen inches and a half, calculates that he was nine feet six inches high. Few instances can be produced of men who can be compared with him. Pliny says, "The tallest man that hath been seen in our days was one name Gabara, who, in the days of Claudius, the late Emperor, was brought out of Arabia: he was nine feet nine inches." Josephus mentions a Jew, named Eleazar, whom Vitellius sent to Rome, who was seven cubits, or ten feet two inches high. Becanus saw a man near ten feet, and a woman that was full ten feet. And, to mention no more, a man of the name of John Middleton, born at Hale, near Warrington, in Lancashire, in the reign of James the First, was more than nine feet high. Dr. Plott, in his history of Staffordshire, says, that "his hand, from the carpus to the end of the middle finger, was seventeen inches, his palms eight inches and a half broad, and his whole height was nine feet three inches; wanting but six inches of the height of Goliath of Gath.
Reciprocal: Genesis 6:4 - giants Numbers 13:33 - saw the giants 1 Samuel 5:8 - Gath 1 Samuel 9:2 - from his shoulders 1 Samuel 10:23 - he was higher Job 39:21 - and Psalms 33:16 - mighty Jeremiah 9:23 - neither Amos 6:2 - Gath
Cross-References
I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others.
I will give you more descendants than there are specks of dust on the earth, and someday it will be easier to count the specks of dust than to count your descendants.
I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael, because I have heard your cry for help. And later I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all.
Abram was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him again and said, "I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right,
Then he asked God, "Why not let Ishmael inherit what you have promised me?"
"I will bless you and give you such a large family, that someday your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live.
But you have promised that I would be a success and that someday it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the stars in the sky.
But his father said, "Son, I know what I am doing. It's true that Manasseh's family will someday become a great nation. But Ephraim will be even greater than Manasseh, because his descendants will become many great nations."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines,.... Or a "middle person", or a man "between two" y; meaning either one that went and stood between the two armies of Israel and the Philistines, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it: or a "dueller" z, as others, with which our version agrees; one that proposed to fight a duel, and have the war decided by two persons, of which he would be one:
named Goliath of Gath; which was one of the places where the Anakims or giants were driven, and left, in the times of Joshua, and from whom this man descended, Joshua 11:22
whose height was six cubits and a span; and taking a cubit after the calculation of Bishop Cumberland a to be twenty one inches, and more, and a span to be half a cubit, the height of this man was eleven feet four inches, and somewhat more; which need not seem incredible, since the coffin of Orestea, the son of Agamemnon, is said b to be seven cubits long; and Eleazar, a Jew, who because of his size was called the giant, and was presented by Artabanus, king of the Parthians, to Tiberius Caesar, is said by Josephus c to be seven cubits high; and one Gabbara of Arabia, in the times of Claudius Caesar, measured nine feet nine inches, as Pliny d relates, and who elsewhere e speaks of a people in Ethiopia, called Syrbotae, who were eight cubits high; the Septuagint version makes Goliath to be only four cubits and a span high, and so Josephus f; that is, about eight feet.
y איש הבינים "vir intermedius", Montanus; "inter duo", Vatablus; "vir medietatum", Noldius, p. 194. No. 283. z "Quidam duellator", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. a Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 2. p. 57. b Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 68. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 16. c Antiqu. l. 18. c. 5. sect. 5. d Nat. Hist. ib. e Ibid. l. 6. 30. f Antiqu. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 1.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
A champion - literally, “a man between the two camps:” i. e., one who did not fight in the ranks like an ordinary soldier, but came forth into the space between the hostile camps to challenge the mightiest man of his enemies to come and fight him.
Goliath of Gath - One of the places mentioned in Joshua 11:22 as still retaining a remnant of the sons of Anak; Gaza and Ashdod being the others. The race of giants (the Rephaim, from רפא râphâ' ) is mentioned again in the account of David’s Philistine wars 2 Samuel 21:15-22; 1 Chronicles 20:4-8. It appears from these passages that Goliath had a brother Lahmi. Four are named as being “born to the giant in Gath.” See Deuteronomy 2:10-11, Deuteronomy 2:20-21; Deuteronomy 3:11-13.
Six cubits ... - If the cubit, the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, is about 1 12 feet; and the span, the distance from the thumb to the middle or little finger, when stretched apart to the full length, be half a cubit, six cubits and a span would equal about nine feet nine inches. The bed of Og king of Bashan was nine cubits long Deuteronomy 3:11.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Samuel 17:4. There went out a champion — Our word champion comes from campus, the field; Campio est enim ille qui pugnat in campo, hoc est, in castris, "Champion is he, properly, who fights in the field; i.e., in camps." A man well skilled in arms, strong, brave, and patriotic.
But is this the meaning of the original איש הבנים ish habbenayim, a middle man, the man between two; that is, as here, the man who undertakes to settle the disputes between two armies or nations. So our ancient champions settled disputes between contending parties by what was termed camp fight, hence the campio or champion. The versions know not well what to make of this man. The Vulgate calls him sir spurius, "a bastard;" the Septuagint, ανηρ δυνατος, "a strong or powerful man;" the Targum, גברא מביניהון gabra mibbeyneyhon, "a man from between them;" the Arabic, [Arabic] rujil jibar, "a great or gigantic man;" the Syriac is the same; and Josephus terms him ανηρ παμμεγεθιστατος, "an immensely great man." The Vulgate has given him the notation of spurius or bastard, because it considered the original as expressing a son of two, i.e., a man whose parents are unknown. Among all these I consider our word champion, as explained above, the best and most appropriate to the original terms.
Whose height was six cubits and a span. — The word cubit signifies the length from cubitus, the elbow, to the top of the middle finger, which is generally rated at one foot six inches. The span is the distance from the top of the middle finger to the end of the thumb, when extended as far as they can stretch on a plain; this is ordinarily nine inches. Were we sure that these were the measures, and their extent, which are intended in the original words, we could easily ascertain the height of this Philistine; it would then be nine feet nine inches, which is a tremendous height for a man.
But the versions are not all agreed in his height. The Septuagint read τεσσαρων πηχεων και σπιθαμης, four cubits and a span; and Josephus reads the same. It is necessary however to observe that the Septuagint, in the Codex Alexandrinus, read with the Hebrew text. But what was the length of the ancient cubit? This has been variously computed; eighteen inches, twenty inches and a half, and twenty-one inches. If we take the first measurement, he was nine feet nine; if the second, and read palm instead of span, with the Vulgate and others, he was ten feet seven inches and a half; if we take the last, which is the estimate of Graevius, with the span, he was eleven feet three inches; or if we go to the exactest measurement, as laid down in Bishop Cumberland's tables, where he computes the cubit at 21.888 inches, the span at 10.944 inches, and the palm at 3.684 inches, then the six cubits and the span will make exactly 11 feet 10.272 inches. If we take the palm instead of the span, then the height will be 11 feet 3.012 inches. But I still think that the nine feet nine inches is the most reasonable.
