Goliath

Mentioned 1062–1017 BC traditional (Jones)

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

Father: the giant in Gath
Siblings: Ishbi-benob, Lahmi, man of great stature, Sippai
Tagged in: 6 verses

Mentioned in the era of the Kingdom, 1050–587 BC.
Named in the same verses as David, Elhanan, Jair, and Lahmi.

Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).

Family

Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.

Stories

1 event in which Goliath takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).

1066 BCDavid Kills Goliath1 Sam 17:1-58

Places

Places named in the same verses as Goliath, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.

likely location: Gath2
possible location: Gob1
likely location: Valley of Elah1

Timeline

The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1087–992 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 4 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.

Mentions

6 tagged verses in 3 books. Select a book to read its verses.

1 Samuel4
2 Samuel1
1 Chronicles1

The name in each translation

Text	Occurrences of each name
BSB	Goliath 9
KJV	Goliath 6
ASV	Goliath 6

Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts

Every verse

All 6 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.

1 Samuel4 verses

17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
17:23
And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.
21:9
The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
22:10
Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

2 Samuel1 verse

21:19
Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

1 Chronicles1 verse

20:5
Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.

A famous giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone from a sling (1 Sam. 17:4). He was probably descended from the Rephaim who found refuge among the Philistines after they were dispersed by the Ammonites (Deut. 2:20, 21). His height was “six cubits and a span,” which, taking the cubit at 21 inches, is equal to 10 1/2 feet. David cut off his head (1 Sam. 17:51) and brought it to Jerusalem, while he hung the armour which he took from him in his tent. His sword was preserved at Nob as a religious trophy (21:9). David’s victory over Goliath was the turning point in his life. He came into public notice now as the deliverer of Israel and the chief among Saul’s men of war (18:5), and the devoted friend of Jonathan.