The early versions of the Bible describe Goliath, the ancient Philistine warrior known as a giant, as standing four cubits and a span tall. However, recent research suggests that this measurement should not be taken literally.
Archaeological findings at biblical-era sites, including Goliath’s hometown (a well-known Philistine settlement called Gath), indicate that those ancient measurements translate to approximately 2.38 meters, or 7 feet, 10 inches.
Illustration of the warrior Goliath.
According to archaeologist Jeffrey Chadwick from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, this figure corresponds to the width of the walls that form a gateway at Gath, excavated in 2019.
During the virtual annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chadwick stated: “Rather than towering over any NBA player ever, Goliath was likely described metaphorically by an Old Testament writer as a warrior who matched the size and strength of Gath’s defensive walls.”
The Canaanites first occupied Gath at the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 4,700 to 4,500 years ago. The city was rebuilt over a millennium later by the Philistines, known from the Old Testament as enemies of the Israelites. Gath reached its peak during the Iron Age about 3,000 years ago, the time when the Bible mentions Goliath.
Scholars continue to debate whether David and Goliath were real individuals who faced each other in battle around that time.
Remains of Gath have been found at a site named Tell es-Safi in Israel. A team led by archaeologist Aren Maeir from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel—who collaborated with Chadwick to excavate the Gath gateway—has been investigating Tell es-Safi since 1996. Other discoveries at Gath include a ceramic fragment inscribed with two names that may be related to Goliath. Evidence of Gath’s destruction about 2,850 years ago by an invading army has also been recovered.
One of four interior pillars of an Iron Age gateway at et-Tell (possibly the biblical city of Bethsaida), including this pillar, measures 2.38 meters, or four cubits and one span wide. This corresponds to the width of the walls at Goliath’s hometown, Gath, and the same height used by an Old Testament writer to describe Goliath. (Photo: ERIC WELCH)
Archaeologists have long known that in ancient Egypt, a cubit corresponded to 52.5 cm and assumed a similar measurement was used in Gath and other locations in and around ancient Israel. However, careful evaluations of various excavated structures in recent years have shown that standard measurements differed slightly between the two regions, Chadwick noted.
Chadwick has found buildings at Gath and several dozen other ancient Israeli cities and nearby kingdoms of Judah and Philistia, excavated by other groups, constructed based on three primary measurements. These include a cubit of 54 cm (compared to an Egyptian cubit of 52.5 cm), a short cubit of 38 cm, and a span of 22 cm corresponding to the width of an adult’s outstretched hand.
The sizes of building blocks at these sites display various combinations of the three measurements, Chadwick stated. For instance, at a settlement named et-Tell in northern Israel, two columns at the front of the city gate measure 2.7 meters, or five cubic blocks of 54 cm. Each of the four interior pillars of the city gate has a width of 2.38 meters, or four cubic blocks of 54 cm and a span of 22 cm. Excavators at et-Tell consider this site to be the location of a biblical city named Bethsaida.
Chadwick’s 2019 excavations uncovered what may be some of the gateways providing access to Gath through the city’s defensive walls. Like the columns within the city gate at et-Tell, the gateway walls of Gath are 2.38 meters wide, or four cubits and one span, similar to the stature of Goliath in the Bible.
Chadwick remarked: “The ancient writer used a real architectural measurement from that time to describe Goliath’s height, likely indicating that he was as imposing and sturdy as the walls of his city,” Chadwick said.
Although the research raises the possibility that Goliath’s recorded size was the width of the city walls, Chadwick “will need to conduct further studies to turn this into an engaging idea,” said biblical scholar and archaeologist Gary Arbino from Gateway Seminary in Mill Valley. One point, Arbino suggested, needs to be clarified is that the measurement attributed to Goliath, four cubits and a span, was commonly used at that time as a metaphorical phrase meaning “large and strong.”
