1 Samuel 17 · Verse 4

1 Samuel 17:4

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
1 Samuel 17:4, King James Version

1 Samuel 17:4 in other translations

BSBThen a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
WEBA champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out.
ASVAnd there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
YLTAnd there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath is his name, from Gath; his height is six cubits and a span,
DARBYAnd there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
BBEAnd a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.
WebsterAnd there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose hight was six cubits and a span.

What does 1 Samuel 17:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 17:4-11
4-11. a champion--Hebrew, a "man between two"; that is, a person who, on the part of his own people, undertook to determine the national quarrel by engaging in single combat with a chosen warrior in the hostile army.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 There went out a champion - Our word champion comes from campus, the field; Campio est enim ille qui pugnat in campo, hoc est, in castris, "Champion is he, properly, who fights in the field; i.e., in camps." A man well skilled in arms, strong, brave, and patriotic. But is this the meaning of the original איש הבנים ish habbenayim, a middle man, the man between two; that is, as here, the man who undertakes to settle the disputes between two armies or nations. So our ancient champions settled disputes between contending parties by what was termed camp fight, hence the campio or champion. The versions know not well what to make of this man. The Vulgate calls him sir spurius, "a bastard;" the Septuagint, ανηρ δυνατος, "a strong or powerful man;" the Targum, גברא מביניהון gabra mibbeyneyhon, "a man from between them;" the Arabic, rujil jibar, "a great or gigantic man;" the Syriac is the same; and Josephus terms him ανηρ παμμεγεθιστατος, "an immensely great man." The Vulgate has given him the notation of spurius or bastard, because it considered the original as expressing a son of two, i.e., a man whose parents are unknown. Among all these I consider our word champion, as explained above, the best and most appropriate to the original terms. Whose height was six cubits and a span - The word cubit signifies the length from cubitus, the elbow, to the top of the middle finger, which is generally rated at one foot six inches. The span is the distance from the top of the middle finger to the end of the thumb, when extended as far as they can stretch on a plain; this is ordinarily nine inches. Were we sure that these were the measures, and their extent, which are intended in the original words, we could easily ascertain the height of this Philistine; it would then be nine feet nine inches, which is a tremendous height for a man. But the versions are not all agreed in his height. The Septuagint read τεσσαρων πηχεων και σπιθαμης, four cubits and a span; and Josephus reads the same. It is necessary however to observe that the Septuagint, in the Codex Alexandrinus, read with the Hebrew text. But what was the length of the ancient cubit? This has been variously computed; eighteen inches, twenty inches and a half, and twenty-one inches. If we take the first measurement, he was nine feet nine; if the second, and read palm instead of span, with the Vulgate and others, he was ten feet seven inches and a half; if we take the last, which is the estimate of Graevius, with the span, he was eleven feet three inches; or if we go to the exactest measurement, as laid down in Bishop Cumberland's tables, where he computes the cubit at 21.888 inches, the span at 10.944 inches, and the palm at 3.684 inches, then the six cubits and the span will make exactly 11 feet 10.272 inches. If we take the palm instead of the span, then the height will be 11 feet 3.012 inches. But I still think that the nine feet nine inches is the most reasonable.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 17:1-11

and goes to meet him. (40-47) He kills Goliath. (48-58) Verses 1-11 Men so entirely depend upon God in all things, that when he withdraws his help, the most valiant and resolute cannot find their hearts or hands, as daily experience shows.

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 17:1-11 →

1 Samuel 17:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֵּצֵ֤אvai.ye.Tze'and he came outH3318
אִֽישׁ\־'ish-[the] man ofH376
הַבֵּנַ֙יִם֙ha.be.Na.yimthe championsH1143
מִמַּחֲנ֣וֹתmi.ma.cha.Notfrom [the] camps ofH4264
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpe.lish.Tim[the] PhilistinesH6430
גָּלְיָ֥תgal.Yat[was] GoliathH1555
שְׁמ֖וֹshe.Moname hisH8034
מִגַּ֑תmi.Gatfrom GathH1661
גָּבְה֕וֹga.ve.Hoheight hisH1363
שֵׁ֥שׁshesh[was] sixH8337
אַמּ֖וֹת'a.MotcubitsH520
וָזָֽרֶת\׃va.Za.retand a spanH2239

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 17:4

  • Joshua 11:22

    There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

  • 1 Samuel 17:23

    And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

  • 1 Chronicles 20:4-8

    And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued. And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam. And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant. But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him. …

  • 2 Samuel 21:16-22

    And Ishbi–benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare–oregim, a Beth–lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. …

  • Deuteronomy 3:11

    For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

  • 1 Chronicles 11:23

    And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear.

  • 1 Samuel 21:9-10

    And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

  • 1 Samuel 27:4

    And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.

  • Amos 2:9

    Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Goliath.
23; 21:9,10; 2Sa 21:19; 1Ch 20:5
of Gath.
27:4; Jos 11:22; 2Sa 21:16-22; 1Ch 20:4-8
whose height.
De 3:11; 1Ch 11:23; Am 2:9
six cubits.According to Bp. Cumberland's calculation, the height of Goliath was about eleven feet ten inches; but Parkhurst estimating the ordinary cubit at seventeen inches and a half, calculates that he was nine feet six inches high. Few instances can be produced of men who can be compared with him. Pliny says, "The tallest man that hath been seen in our days was one name Gabara, who, in the days of Claudius, the late Emperor, was brought out of Arabia: he was nine feet nine inches." Josephus mentions a Jew, named Eleazar, whom Vitellius sent to Rome, who was seven cubits, or ten feet two inches high. Becanus saw a man near ten feet, and a woman that was full ten feet. And, to mention no more, a man of the name of John Middleton, born at Hale, near Warrington, in Lancashire, in the reign of James the First, was more than nine feet high. Dr. Plott, in his history of Staffordshire, says, that "his hand, from the carpus to the end of the middle finger, was seventeen inches, his palms eight inches and a half broad, and his whole height was nine feet three inches; wanting but six inches of the height of Goliath of Gath."

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 17:3

    And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

  • 1 Samuel 17:4

    And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

  • 1 Samuel 17:5

    And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

Read all of 1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 17:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Salió entonces un varón del campo de los Filisteos que se puso entre los dos campos, el cual se llamaba Goliath, de Gath, y tenía de altura seis codos y un palmo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il sortit du camp des Philistins un champion de l’armée; son nom était Goliath, il était de Gath; sa hauteur était de six coudées et un empan.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der Zwischenkämpfer trat aus den Lagern der Philister hervor, sein Name war Goliath, aus Gath; seine Höhe war sechs Ellen und eine Spanne.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et egressus est vir spurius de castris Philisthinorum nomine Goliath, de Geth, altitudinis sex cubitorum et palmi: