Shmuel Alef 17:4

4 And there went out an Ish HaBenayim [i.e., a middleman champion whose single combat saves the day and decides the victor] out of the machanot of the Pelishtim, shmo Golyat (Goliath), of Gat, whose height was shesh cubits and a span.

Shmuel Alef 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 17:4

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the
Philistines
Or a "middle person", or a man "between two" ^F25; meaning either one that went and stood between the two armies of Israel and the Philistines, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it: or a "dueller" ^F26, as others, with which our version agrees; one that proposed to fight a duel, and have the war decided by two persons, of which he would be one:

named Goliath of Gath;
which was one of the places where the Anakims or giants were driven, and left, in the times of Joshua, and from whom this man descended, ( Joshua 11:22 )

whose height was six cubits and a span;
and taking a cubit after the calculation of Bishop Cumberland ^F1 to be twenty one inches, and more, and a span to be half a cubit, the height of this man was eleven feet four inches, and somewhat more; which need not seem incredible, since the coffin of Orestea, the son of Agamemnon, is said ^F2 to be seven cubits long; and Eleazar, a Jew, who because of his size was called the giant, and was presented by Artabanus, king of the Parthians, to Tiberius Caesar, is said by Josephus ^F3 to be seven cubits high; and one Gabbara of Arabia, in the times of Claudius Caesar, measured nine feet nine inches, as Pliny ^F4 relates, and who elsewhere ^F5 speaks of a people in Ethiopia, called Syrbotae, who were eight cubits high; the Septuagint version makes Goliath to be only four cubits and a span high, and so Josephus ^F6; that is, about eight feet.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (Mynybh vya) "vir intermedius", Montanus; "inter duo", Vatablus; "vir medietatum", Noldius, p. 194. No. 283.
F26 "Quidam duellator", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F1 Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 2. p. 57.
F2 Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 68. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 16.
F3 Antiqu. l. 18. c. 5. sect. 5.
F4 Nat. Hist. ib.
F5 Ibid. l. 6. 30.
F6 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 1.

Shmuel Alef 17:4 In-Context

2 And Sha’ul and the Ish Yisroel were gathered together, and encamped by the Emek (valley) of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Pelishtim (Philistines).

3 And the Pelishtim stood on the har on the one side, and Yisroel stood on the har on the other side; and there was a gey between them.

4 And there went out an Ish HaBenayim [i.e., a middleman champion whose single combat saves the day and decides the victor] out of the machanot of the Pelishtim, shmo Golyat (Goliath), of Gat, whose height was shesh cubits and a span.

5 And he had a kova (helmet) of nechoshet upon his rosh, and he was wearing a coat of mail armor; and the weight of the coat of armor was five thousand shekels of nechoshet.

6 And he had mitzchah (greaves, i.e., leg plate armor) of nechoshet upon his legs, and a kidron (javelin) of nechoshet [slung] between his shoulders.