( 1 Samuel 17:4 1 Samuel 17:23 ), properly "the man between the two," denoting the position of Goliath between the two camps. Single combats of this kind at the head of armies were common in ancient times. In ver. 51 this word is the rendering of a different Hebrew word, and properly denotes "a mighty man."
CHAMPION
cham'-pi-un ('ish habenayim):
In 1 Samuel 17:4,23 this unusual expression occurs in the description of Goliath. It means literally "the man of the two spaces," "spaces," or "space between," and is perhaps to be explained by the fact that there was a brook flowing through the valley separating the two armies. In 1 Samuel 17:51 the word champion is the rendering of the Hebrew gibbor, "mighty man."
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