Comments on: Some Thoughts on GOLIAH OF GATH

By: Erik

Erik — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:15:23 +0000

NEPHILIM is a plural. You cannot have “a nephilim”.

Also, NPL simply means “amazing” or “unique”. It is related to PLA in Akkadian.

But grammar and language aside, saying Goliath was one of the Nephilim requires an extrabiblical assertion. According to Genesis, the Nephilim were wiped out in Noah’s flood.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:41:29 +0000

The spear head weight is massive. The spear heads of that time weighed around 1.1 pounds. http://www.academia.edu/1217073/Late_Bronze_and_Early_Iron_Age_Bronze_Spear-_and_Javelinheads_in_Bulgaria_in_the_Context_of_Southeastern_Europe No normal sized man used a 10-15 pound spear head. Try to lift and trust that much weight on a 8-15 foot long pole you couldn’t do it. Goliath was a Nephilim a hybrid of human and celestial or fallen angels. So you can’t compare him to pituitary gland giants of today.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:55:51 +0000

I’m not sure what you mean by “clearest interpretation of the most reliable manuscript” since there are no textual variants in this text that I know of. As for clarity of interpretation, we must always be cautious that our literalism is attached to the original languages and not to our English readings.

All things considered, however, I agree in essence. He was a really big, scary dude.

By: jcamomile

jcamomile — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 22:48:09 +0000

Hey, thanks for the thoughtful overview and analysis of Goliath’s size and that of his armament using the Hebrew text and translations of the weights and measures. I will stick with Goliath being about 9’3″ as the clearest interpretation of the most reliable manuscript but the main point is that he was a really big and impressive dude.