Goliath

Goliath (Hebrew: גָּלְיָת, Standard Golyat Tiberian Golyāṯ ; Arabic: جالوت , Jalut (Muslim term), جليات Julyat (Christian term)), known also as Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines), is the Philistine warrior, famous for his battle with the young David, the future king of Israel, described in the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament and, more briefly, in the Quran.

There are significant differences between the earliest manuscripts of the story, dating from the last few centuries before Christ, and those of later centuries, with Goliath's height increasing from an original six and a half feet (200cm) to nine and a half feet (290cm), and David changing from a young man to a boy. The story may have originated in oral traditions about David – the name "Goliath" appears to be an authentic 10th century Philistine one – but Goliath's famous battle may originally have been with the obscure Elhanan, rather than with the great king of Jewish folklore, and the version preserved in the Book of Samuel shows clear parallels with Greek literature.

Post-Classical Jewish traditions stressed Goliath's status as the representative of paganism, in contrast to David, the champion of the God of Israel; Christian tradition gave him a distinctively Christian twist, seeing in the battle with David the Church's battle with Satan.

PSCS/ 6 hours/ intuos/music: Goliath (Choir) - Immediate Music

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