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oliath

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Goli'ath. (splendor). A famous giant of Gath, who "morning and evening for forty days," defied the armies of Israel. 1 Samuel 17:1. (B.C. 1063). He was possibly descended from the old Rephaim, see Giants, of whom a scattered remnant took refuge with the Philistines, after their dispersion by the Ammonites. Deuteronomy 2:20-21; 2 Samuel 21:22.

His height was "six cubits and a span," which taking the cubit at 21 inches, would make him 10 1/2 feet high. The scene of his combat with David, by whom he was slain, was the "valley of the terebinth," between Shochoh and Arekah, probably among the western passes of Benjamin. In 2 Samuel 21:19, we find that another Goliath of Gath was slain by Elhanan, also a Bethlehemite.