And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Two armies face each other across the valley of Elah. Out of one camp steps a single man whose size settles the argument before a blow is struck. His title, his town and his measurements all mark out a power no one in Israel can match.
The Philistines did not send an army into the valley. They sent one man.
It appears that the Philistines had a champion: Goliath of Gath, "a man of war from his youth". His height was six cubits and a span, or about ten feet. That is a very tall man!... In plain language, to human eyes the leader of the Philistine army could not be harmed. No man dared to fight him or answer his challenge.
His town explains his size. Scripture links Gath with the last survivors of a race of giants.
The city of Gath was famous as the dwelling place of the last of the Anakims — a race of giants (Joshua 11:21-22; 1 Sam. 17:4). However, the might of man proves to be of no avail against the power of God.
The number six runs through Goliath's description. Commentators read it as the number of man at full stretch, and still under God's limit.
The way Scripture uses six suggests its meaning. The six days speak of work and its limit... The number is often tied to men's effort to be independent of God. It shaped the height of Goliath, the defier of Israel, and the weight of his spear (1 Sam. 17:4-7)... But Goliath was overthrown, in the name of the living God, by David... So God has put His limit upon man's day, and will triumph over him when he reaches his highest point.
The pattern is not limited to his height. One writer counts it through the whole description:
It is significant that six is a number stamped upon the Philistine giants — see 1 Samuel 17:4-7; 2 Samuel 21:20. Goliath's height was six cubits and a span, six pieces of his armour are specified, his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels.
The two names carry a message of their own.
Goliath means, we believe, "banishment, exile", and the name of his city makes that meaning even stronger. Gath means the "wine-press". We have linked it before with what seems its only explanation here — the weighty saying in Revelation, "He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty." "Banishment from God in His wrath" we may take as the true thought carried by the frightening figure of Goliath of Gath.
Goliath aimed his taunt at soldiers. He had misjudged who stood behind them.
Sure of his strength, he stands out before the assembled people and challenges them. Once he has filled with terror the people he wants to subdue, he cries out, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day!" He does not know that he is not dealing with Israel but with God. In defying God's people, he is defying God Himself. This is his downfall.
His confidence had evidence behind it. Israel looked like nothing.
The Philistine took the side of nature, founded on appearances. And indeed there was little to show that Israel were the people of God. Their condition was wretched and their humiliation almost complete, so the Philistine could find plenty of reasons to think the whole claim was empty pretence... This is how unbelief usually reasons from appearances.
Israel had a king of its own. Beside Goliath he counted for nothing.
Against such armour and such a height, the king of Israel looks tiny and his armour worthless, for he has nothing but his natural advantages. Even Jonathan, a man of faith, cannot stand up to this terrifying attack... All of this is striking. Israel's utter powerlessness to do anything shows how completely they needed a deliverer.
Several writers read the giant as a picture of a greater enemy, and David's method as a picture of how that enemy fell.
If David is a picture of the Messiah, Goliath is just as truly a symbol of Satan's power... The great enemy is not yet banished from the scene of Messiah's glory, but he must learn the power of Israel's future king.
Death was that enemy's weapon, and it became the means of his own defeat.
The Lord Jesus used the very weapon that made men tremble to defeat Satan and break the power of death. For it is written, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Heb. 2:14-15).
- Champion. One man from Gath, the town where the last of the giants lived, was enough to stop a whole army.
- Six. Six marks his height and his gear — the number of man at full stretch, still under God's limit.
- Banishment. Commentators read his name as "exile" and Gath as "wine-press" — together a picture of banishment from God in His wrath.
- Defiance. He thought he was insulting Israel's ranks; he was defying God, and that was his ruin.
- Deliverer. The king looked tiny beside him and Jonathan could not face him. Israel needed someone else — and in the end the enemy fell by his own weapon.
And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was clothed with a corselet of scales; and the weight of the corselet was five thousand shekels of bronze.
Goliath is described by what he wears, not by what he does. Scripture counts his gear piece by piece, and commentators ask two things of that list: what the metal and the weight were, and why the count matters.
One writer sums up the impression this equipment made:
The Philistines had a champion — Goliath of Gath, "a man of war from his youth" — whose height was six cubits and a span, or about ten feet. … In plain language, the leader of the Philistine armies, to man's eye, was invulnerable. No man dared to meet him in conflict, or respond to his challenge.
The word behind "coat of mail" is shiryon. It turns up again a few verses later, when Saul puts his own armour on David:
Saul put on David a "coat of mail," shiryon. 1 Sam. 17:5, 38. This word is translated "habergeon" in 2 Chr. 26:14; Neh. 4:16, which also means "coat of mail," and there is a similar word in Job 41:26. It was made of brass scales fastened together. The weight of Goliath's coat of mail was 5,000 shekels.
The verse names the metal twice. Older translations call it brass; the ESV calls it bronze. One writer draws a meaning from that metal, then stops:
He is in armour of brass, a metal so often connected with the unyielding character of judgment. His heart is shut in with scales of brass. We have too little practice in divine symbolism to go further here safely.
Count the pieces of armour listed in verses 5 to 7. The same number runs through his height and his spear:
Just as seven is the number of completeness and perfection, so six is the number of human incompleteness and imperfection. It is significant that six is a number stamped upon the Philistine giants — see 1 Samuel 17:4-7; 2 Samuel 21:20. Goliath's height was six cubits and a span; six pieces of his armour are specified; his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels.
Another writer follows that number through Scripture and shows how it always ends:
The number is often linked with the effort of men to be independent of God. It entered into the height of Goliath, the defier of Israel, and the weight of his spear (1 Sam. 17:4-7). It was also a factor in the idolatrous image set up by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 3:1). That image foreshadowed the "Beast," who gathers to himself all that is great in manhood to oppose God, and whose number is the number of a man, 666 (Rev. 13:18). But Goliath was overthrown, in the name of the living God, by David … and the Beast is to be cast into the lake of fire. So God has put His limit upon man's day, and will triumph over him when he reaches his highest point.
One writer reads each piece of the armour as a picture. The helmet gets the most pointed treatment:
His armour is mentioned, first his helmet of brass. As a picture, this tells us he has closed his head (his mind) to the influence of the word of God. For "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers" (2 Cor. 4:4). His whole body was protected in the same way by armour of great weight, so that a sword in the hand of a weaker man would mean nothing. He illustrates the stature and power of the well-trained debaters of this world, the boasted strength of man in the flesh.
Israel had a king with armour of his own. Set beside Goliath, he counts for nothing:
Against such armour and such a stature, the king of Israel appears as a dwarf, and his armour worthless. He has no excellence except what belongs to him by nature. Even Jonathan, man of faith though he is, cannot withstand the fearful assault. All here is most striking and suggestive. The utter powerlessness of Israel to do anything shows the complete need of a deliverer.
The giant's strength and protection are itemised. David's are not:
The giant's strength was expressed by his sword and his spear. His protection was his helmet of brass, his greaves of brass, his small shield of brass, and the man who carried his shield. David's strength and protection were "in the name of the LORD of hosts."
- Bronze. The coat was brass scales fastened together, weighing five thousand shekels. The same word describes the armour Saul later put on David.
- Judgment. Scripture ties that metal to unyielding judgment. Here it closes around a heart shut in behind scales.
- Six. Six cubits tall, six pieces of armour, six hundred shekels in his spearhead. Six is the number of human incompleteness — man at his proudest.
- Helplessness. Set beside this, Israel's own king and his armour count for nothing. No man there could answer the challenge.
- Deliverer. The giant's strength is weighed piece by piece. David's strength was the name of the LORD of hosts. God sets His limit on man's day at his highest point.
And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders.
This verse ends the head-to-foot list of Goliath's gear: metal on his legs, metal slung across his back. The details are not filler. They raise the question the whole chapter turns on: can appearances settle anything when God is in the field?
Two rare Hebrew words sit in this verse, and one of them is hard to pin down:
GREAVES. The giant wore Greaves of brass upon his legs (1 Samuel 17:6). The word is mitschah, and occurs nowhere else.
TARGET. He had a target of brass between his shoulders (1 Samuel 17:6). The word is kidon. Elsewhere it is translated both 'shield' and 'spear.' Here it was most likely a small spear carried between the shoulders.
Older English Bibles read "target" , a small shield. Modern versions read javelin instead, and so does one writer as he runs through the giant's gear:
Why all that armour? Why the helmet, the coat of mail, the greaves of brass on his legs, a javelin of brass — not a small shield — between his shoulders, and a shield-bearer walking in front of him?
The list is not only a description. A man sure of himself does not need this much cover:
What care Goliath had taken for his own safety! He was covered in scaly armour, and a man walked ahead of him carrying a shield that hid his whole body. Dressed like that, and only after taking all those precautions, this giant challenged the Israelites to single combat to the death. Appearances were all in his favour: his height was impressive, and his armour looked impossible to pierce. But those precautions showed he had no real confidence in himself. He was afraid of the men he sneered at as the servants of Saul. How bold the enemy can be before those who are afraid of him!
Israel's refusal was not simple cowardice. One writer reads their fear as good sense:
Do you say, What cowards? You and I would have done just the same, I expect. That is the real truth. They knew it was no use. It was certain death for them to face the giant. With his huge weapons, and the strength to swing them, standing against him could only end in defeat. "They were dismayed and greatly afraid" — and I don't call them a pack of cowards. I think the men were wise.
The brass here is copper, and Scripture gives that metal a settled meaning:
These verses, and others we could add, make clear what copper stands for — durability, strength, and a refusal to bend, whether in protection, in chains, or in war. Applied to the nature of God, it speaks of His unchanging character, His strength, and the impossibility of escaping His judgment. On the other side, it speaks of the safety of those under His protection.
On a man, the same metal pictures a mind sealed shut and a body no ordinary attack can reach:
His helmet of brass tells us he has closed his head — his mind — to the word of God... In the same way, heavy armour covered his whole body, so a sword in a weaker man's hand would mean nothing. His spear stands out for its size, both the shaft and the head. He could reach past any ordinary opponent and kill him before that man got close enough to strike. He pictures the size and power of this world's trained debaters, the boasted strength of human nature.
Set the giant's gear beside David's, and the contrast speaks for itself:
The giant's strength lay in his sword and his spear. His protection lay in his helmet of brass, his greaves of brass, his target of brass, and the man who carried his shield. David's strength and protection were "in the name of the LORD of hosts."
Underneath the standoff lay a deeper argument, and the giant had taken a side in it:
The Philistine took the side of nature, judging by appearances. And there really was little to show that Israel were the people of God. Their condition was wretched and their disgrace almost complete, so the Philistine could find plenty of reasons to think the whole claim was nothing more than a pretence... This is how unbelief normally reasons from appearances.
- Words. The word for greaves appears nowhere else in the Bible, and the thing between his shoulders was most likely a javelin, not a shield.
- Armour. The brass covering him head to foot put the giant out of reach of any weapon a weaker man could swing.
- Fear. All that cover, plus a shield-bearer walking ahead, exposes a champion less sure of himself than his shouting suggested.
- Appearances. Goliath argued from what he could see, and by that measure Israel had no case. Unbelief still argues the same way.
- Answer. Brass met a sling. What decided the day was not David's gear but the name of the LORD of hosts.
And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and the shield-bearer went before him.
This verse ends the description of Goliath's gear, right down to the man who carried his shield in front of him. Commentators find meaning in the reach of the spear, in the repeated number six, and in that extra man.
A dictionary of Bible terms explains where the image comes from:
The Israelites knew how to weave, and they used the skill to make fine work for the tabernacle and the priests' robes. Scripture often mentions a weaver's beam as a heavy thing for a man to use as a weapon.
One writer weighs that spear and that armour against an ordinary fighter:
Heavy armour covered his whole body, so a sword in the hand of a weaker man would mean nothing. The account stresses the size of his weapon, his spear — both the shaft and the head. He could outreach any ordinary opponent and kill him before that man came close enough to strike. He shows us the size and power of the trained debaters of this world, the boasted strength of man in the flesh.
The figure of six hundred is not the only six in the passage. One writer counts them:
Just as seven is the number of completeness and perfection, so six is the number of human incompleteness and imperfection. It is significant that six is a number stamped upon the Philistine giants — see 1 Samuel 17:4-7; 2 Samuel 21:20. Goliath stood six cubits and a span tall. The text lists six pieces of his armour. His spear's head weighed six hundred shekels.
The same number turns up elsewhere in Scripture, and each time God has the last word:
Scripture often links this number with man's effort to be independent of God. It entered into the height of Goliath, the defier of Israel, and the weight of his spear (1 Sam. 17:4-7). It shaped both the width and the height of the idol image that Nebuchadnezzar set up (Dan. 3:1). That image points forward to the "Beast," who gathers to himself all that is great in man to oppose God, and whose number, the number of a man, is 666 (Rev. 13:18). But David overthrew Goliath in the name of the living God. Men of faith despised and insulted Nebuchadnezzar's great image, going into the fiery furnace rather than bow to it. And the Beast will be thrown into the lake of fire. So God has put His limit upon man's day, and will triumph over him when he reaches his highest point.
One writer reads the shield-bearer as a sign of the giant's own fear:
Why all that armour — the helmet, the coat of mail, the brass leg guards, a brass javelin (not a small shield) slung between his shoulders, and an armour-bearer walking ahead of him with a shield? What care Goliath had taken to keep himself safe!... Everything about him looked impressive. His height was imposing, and his armour looked impossible to pierce. But all these precautions showed that he did not trust himself, and that he feared the men he sneered at as the servants of Saul. How bold the enemy can be in front of people who are afraid of him!
Commentators read the giant in more than one way. Grant, above, sees human strength on show. Another sees the enemy behind that power:
Goliath, the giant, is a picture of Satan, the prince of this world, who has the power of death... The bold and defiant language Goliath used, and the terror he spread among the people of God, apply easily to Satan and his power.
The contrast the chapter sets up is between two kinds of equipment:
The giant's strength lay in his sword and his spear. His protection lay in his brass helmet, his brass leg guards, his small brass shield, and the man who carried his shield for him. David's strength and protection were "in the name of the LORD of hosts."
And the outcome turned the giant's own equipment against him:
The giant might look down on the young man and his shepherd's staff, but the young man overcame him and killed him with his own sword. In the same way, death brought Satan and his power to nothing — and death was the very weapon Satan had used to terrify people.
- Measured — a shaft like a weaver's beam and a six-hundred-shekel head gave Goliath reach. He could strike before an ordinary opponent got near.
- Numbered — six cubits tall, six pieces of armour, six hundred shekels of iron. Six is the number of man apart from God, and it runs on to the 666 of Revelation.
- Guarded — the shield-bearer walking in front shows the fear behind the boast. The enemy is boldest in front of people who already fear him.
- Limited — the image in Daniel 3 and the Beast end as Goliath ended. God sets a limit on man's day and defeats human power at its peak.
- Answered — the giant's strength lay in his sword and spear. David's lay in the name of the LORD of hosts, and the giant died by his own sword.