How Did Goliath Die

HOW DID GOLIATH DIE?
James-Michael Smith
www.jmsmith.org
Many of us are taught as a child that Goliath died when the stone from David’s
sling struck him in the forehead. Some modern translations seem to read this
way as well. However, the original Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 17:49-51 makes
clear the fact that Goliath was actually killed by his own sword at the hands of
David after David had literally made him bow down to the God of Israel! In the
Hebrew Bible, to die by one’s own weapon was an especially humiliating or tragic
death.
LITERAL HEBREW: IV RSV ESV
And he reached David Reaching into his bag David put his hand in And David put his hand
the hand of him into the and taking out a stone, his bag, took out a in his bag and took out
bag and he took from he slung it and struck stone, slung it, and a stone and slung it and
there a stone and he the Philistine on the struck the Philistine on struck the Philistine on
slung and he struck the forehead. The stone his forehead; the stone his forehead. The stone
Philistine on the sank into his forehead sank into his forehead, sank into his forehead,
forehead/greave of him and he fell facedown on and he fell face down and he fell on his face
and she sank the stone the ground. 50 So on the ground. 50 So to the ground.
into the forehead/greave David triumphed over David prevailed over [50] So David
of him and he fell on the Philistine with a the Philistine with a prevailed over the
the face of him to the sling and a stone; sling and a stone, Philistine with a sling
ground. 50 So he without a sword in his striking down the and with a stone, and
triumphed David over had he struck down the Philistine and killing struck the Philistine and
the Philistine with the Philistine and killed him; there was no killed him. There was
sling and with the stone him. 51 David ran and sword in David's hand. no sword in the hand of
and he struck down the stood over him. He 51 Then David ran and David. [51] Then
Philistine and he killed took hold of the stood over the David ran and stood
him. And a sword not Philistine’s sword and Philistine; he grasped over the Philistine and
in the hand of David 51 drew it from the his sword, drew it out took his sword and
and he ran David and scabbard. After he of its sheath, and killed drew it out of its sheath
he stood over the killed him, he cut off him; then he cut off his and killed him and cut
Philistine and he took his head with the head with it. off his head with it.
hold of the sword of sword.
him and he drew her
from the scabbard of
her and he killed him
and he cut off with her
the head of him.
Of the above English translations, the ESV comes closest to the Hebrew wording
without conveying an incorrect timeline of events.
An additional translation issue involves the word for the bronze “greaves” Goliath
was wearing on his legs. The Hebrew word translated as “greave” (shin guard)
appears only once in the Hebrew Bible—in the description of Goliath at the
beginning of the chapter:
"...on his legs he wore bronze greaves [Heb. ‘mitschath’ tx;c.mi], and a bronze
javelin was slung on his back." (1 Sam 17:6)
According to some Hebrew scholars, the word ‘mitschath’ is a plural form of the
word ‘metsach’ [xc;me] which means “forehead.” This means that it is possible
that the “forehead” upon which the stone struck Goliath and into which it “sank” in
v.49, was one of the “foreheads” of bronze he was wearing on his legs! This
might also make better sense of the passage in numerous ways as well:
• Sling stones found from the Ancient Near East were usually the size of
baseballs or softballs and were often used for knocking down walls of an
enemy city or fortress. Such a stone would definitely dent a piece of
armor on the leg and leave it looking like it “sunk” into it—whereas the
results on a human forehead would be much worse.
• The text implies that it was the stone hitting Goliath’s “forehead” that
caused him to fall “facedown.” If the stone knocked his leg/s out from
under him, this would be the normal outcome—whereas if it struck him on
the literal forehead it would likely knock him backwards rather than
forward facedown.
Either translation of ‘mitschath/metsach’ makes sense in the story, as reflected in

the proposed translation below:
49 Then David reached his hand into the bag, took out a stone and slung it.
When he struck the Philistine on his forehead/greave, the stone sank into
his forehead/greave so that he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David
triumphed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone. He struck
down the Philistine and he killed him. (Now there was not a sword in
David’s hand 51 so he ran David and he stood over the Philistine, took hold
of his sword, drew it from its scabbard and killed him. Then he cut off his
head with it.) [alternate proposed translation]
If the ‘metsach’ which the stone hits is one of the ‘mitschath’ on Goliath’s legs,
the details take on a slightly more dramatic and theologically nuanced feel. The
giant was killed by his own weapon only after the young shepherd made him first
kneel facedown to the God if Isreal—the God whom the giant had been defying
for nearly 40 days!
The message of the story of David’s triumph over Goliath is a tangible example
of the message of Psalm 2—If we ‘take a stand against the Lord’s Anointed,’ no
matter how mighty we are, we will be humbled and you may have ultimately
signed your own death warrant! (See Psalm 2)

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HOW DID GOLIATH DIE?

Either translation of ‘mitschath/metsach’ makes sense in the story, as reflected in

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