Who was the tallest man in the Bible?

Goliath of Gath is the Bible's tallest recorded figure - 1 Samuel 17:4 gives his height as "six cubits and a span," roughly 9 feet 9 inches (about 2.97 meters) in the standard Hebrew text, though some ancient manuscripts give a shorter figure of about 6 feet 9 inches.

1 Samuel 17:4 introduces Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, as standing "six cubits and a span." Using the common cubit of about 18 inches, that works out to roughly 9 feet 9 inches - an imposing figure, matched by the description of his armor: a coat of mail weighing 5,000 shekels of brass (well over 100 pounds) and a spear "like a weaver's beam." Interestingly, some of the oldest surviving manuscripts - including a Dead Sea Scroll fragment of Samuel and the historian Josephus's account - give Goliath's height as "four cubits and a span," around 6 feet 9 inches, still enormous for the ancient world but closer to the range of other biblical giants. Most modern English translations, including the King James Version, follow the Masoretic Text's "six cubits and a span." Either way, Goliath's size underlines the story's central point in 1 Samuel 17: David's victory over him came "not with sword and spear," but in the name of the Lord of hosts.

Key Passages

Goliath's height and armor described

1 Samuel 17:4-7

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. 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. ⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. ⁷ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

David's declaration before the fight

1 Samuel 17:45-47

⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. ⁴⁶ This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands.