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.
There went out a champion - Hebrew, a man between two; i:e., 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. This was frequently done in ancient warfare, when the issue of the contest depended on the personal strength and courage of the combatants; and the well-known story of the Horatii and Curiatii shows that the custom was transmitted even to classic times.
Out of the camp, х mimachªnowt (H4264), plural] - from the armies or hosts of the Philistines.
Named Goliath of Gath, х Gaalyaat (H1555), supposed to be from golaah (H1540), same as gowlah (H1540), exile, migration; and if this derivation be correct, it suggests that Goliath was not his proper name, but an appellative bestowed on him as one of the ancient Rephaim, who, on being dispossessed of their native territory by an invasion of Ammonites, took refuge with the Philistines (Deuteronomy 11:20-23). And this idea seems to obtain support from the fact, that the name is given to another giant called Lahmi (see the note at 1 Chronicles 20:5). Another derivation, however, is mentioned by Gesenius, from an Arabic word signifying 'strong.']
Whose height was six cubits and a span. Taking a cubit at the standard of 21 inches, the stature of the champion would be 10 1/2 feet. [But the Septuagint has: hupsos autou tessaroon peecheoon kai spithamees, his height was four cubits and a span = 8 feet and a little more; and the statement of Josephus ('Antiquities,' b.
vi., ch. 9:, sec. 1) coincides with this estimate of the giant's tallness; so that, even according to the reduced scale of reckoning, he must have been a person of monstrous dimensions.]