The Philistines were on one side of the Valley of Elah, and Saul’s militia was on the other.
Each side was staring the other down just waiting for something to happen.
And then a freak of nature emerged from the Philistine camp.
A giant named Golyat came out and started yelling out obscenities at the Israelite soldiers.
Of course, in the English-speaking world, this man is known as Goliath.
He was from Gath, one of the five important Philistine cities called the Pentapolis.
And he was super tall.
We’re told he was 6 cubits plus a span.
A cubit is about 18 inches, and a span is about 9 inches (which is like the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your little finger when you spread your hand).
So, if we do the math, Goliath was 9 feet 9 inches tall.
That’s huge!
It’s so enormous that some early Hebrew scholars from Alexandria, Egypt concluded that number couldn’t be correct.
So, they changed the number from 6 cubits plus a span to 4 cubits plus a span.
That lowered Goliath’s height to a more believable 6 feet 9 inches tall.
These scholars were the ones who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 250 BC.
This translation is better known today as the Septuagint.
So if your Bible says 4 cubits, you’ll know it was based on this version.
Now, in those days, a man’s average height was around five feet, so even if Goliath was seven feet tall, he would’ve still been a giant by comparison.
But, here’s the thing.
The original Hebrew Scripture doesn’t say Goliath’s height was four cubits and a span (6 feet and 9 inches), it clearly says he was six cubits and a span (9 feet and 9 inches) tall.
My point is, and this is today’s takeaway, that we shouldn’t change what the Scripture says just because it doesn’t fit our preconceived notions about what’s believable or not.
This projecting our disbelief onto the Scripture has been going on since time immemorial and has led to nothing good.
Also, consider this.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists Robert Wadlow as the tallest man in history.
He was born on February 22, 1918, and stood 8 feet 11.1 inches tall.
And apparently, the tallest man living right now is a dude named Sultan Kosen.
He’s a Turkish farmer and stands at 8 feet 2 inches tall.
Plus, the ancient historians Philo and Josephus wrote about men they knew who were well over 9 feet tall.
So not only is it totally possible that Goliath was as tall as the Scripture says he was…
But come to think about it, if Goliath was taller than Robert Wadlow, why isn’t he listed in the Guinness Book of World Records?
Ya feel me?
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