The story is well known – David the boy, in his first famous battle, kills the Philistine giant Goliath: “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 … And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam” (1 Samuel 17:4-7). In today’s terms, this is a giant about 10 feet tall. The version of the story found in the Dead Sea Scrolls is milder: “four cubits and a span” (about 6.5 feet).

In other places in the Bible, another person, not David, killed Goliath – or his brother:

“And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam” (2 Samuel 21:19).

“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” (1 Chronicles 20:5).

And what does the boy David do after he kills Goliath? “And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem” (1 Samuel 17:54). But according to the biblical story, King David conquers Jerusalem only years later: “And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying … thou shalt not come in hither … Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David” (2 Samual 5:6-7).

Goliath’s battle uniform is also interesting: “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. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders” (1 Samuel 17:5-6). The author of the story describes armor that fits the later period in which the story was written, and not the period it was written about…