A set of Mycenean armor, c. 1250 B.C. Did Goliath have equipment that looked like this?
Mockers and scorners say the Biblical account of David vs. Goliath can’t be true because there’s no such thing as giants. To be in possession of that much ignorance must surely be a comfort.
A scribal error in later times may have caused King James’ scholars to overstate Goliath’s height. Later research suggests six feet, nine inches. In the Bronze Age, he would have definitely been called a giant.
In I Kings Goliath challenges Israel to send a champion to fight him one-on-one, with the winner taking the disputed territory. This is the only time we see this custom in the Bible. But we see it several times in Homer’s Iliad. Did the Philistines have such a custom? We know so little about them, beyond what’s in the Bible.
And certainly Goliath’s armor, new and shining in the sun, would have added to the foe’s intimidation.
It seems to me that I Kings preserves genuine historical memories. And so does Homer. Ignoring these records can only make us ignorant.