Goliath: Difference between revisions

In lexical and Islamic [[Tafsir]] sources, the word "Jalut" is considered non-Arabic, and it is said that [[Muslim]] scholars agree on it. In their linguistic researches about the Qur'an, some [[orientalist]]s studied the etymology of the word "Jalut". According to Horowitz, this name is certainly related with the Hebrew word … or the Aramaic word … (meaning wandering and exile), which was common among the [[Jew]]s of [[Medina]]. Jeffry too believes that the word "Jalut" has entered Arabic through the Qur'an, because there is no instance of its usage before [[Islam]].

According to the Old Testament, when Palestinians and Israelites stood against each other in the valley of Elah, Goliath went forth from among Palestinians and began his war cry. He continued this action every morning and night for forty days, which frightened Israelites. [[Saul]] (Talut), the commander of Israelites' army had promised that he would give the killer of Goliath a great amount of properties and make her daughter marry that person. When the young [[David (a)]] heard the war cries of Jalut, convinced Talut to fight with him and then went to the battlefield. When Jalut saw David (a) going to fight him without a sword and only holding a stick and stone, mocked him and threatened him. David (a) too threatened Jalut and said that he (a) would kill him, so that everyone would believe that there is God. Then, David (a) hit Jalut on the forehead with a stone sling and killed him. Then, he (a) went upon his body and severed his head. This victory led to the complete defeat of Palestinians and their escape. Head of Jalut was taken to [[Jerusalem]] and his sword remained in a temple in the city of "Nob" until it was later returned to David (a).

Jalut was born in the city of "Gath" (located in south east of [[Gaza]]) and is mentioned in the [[Torah]] as Goliath of Gath. However, this possibility has been mentioned that he was not originally from [[Palestine]] and served the army of Palestinians as a soldier.

Also, extraordinary physical characteristics have been reported for him, including that he had a height of three meters and had heavy weapons in the battle with Israelites. It is written in the [[Old Testament]] that Elhanan killed Jalut, not David (a), which seems to be a mistake of script-writers of the Torah; because, elsewhere, Elhanan is introduced as the killer of Jalut's brother, not Jalut himself. The encounter of Jalut and David (a) has been the subject of many poems and artistic works especially sculpture and painting in the west.

The story of the battle between Talut and Jalut is mentioned in the noble [[Qur'an]] in brief and without details as the following: the prophet of [[Israelites]] at that time is mentioned [[Samuel]] in the Torah who chose [[Talut]] as the king to fight Palestinians by the order of [[God]]. After Israelites made some objections to their prophet for his choice, finally accepted him as the king and under his command went to fight Jalut and his companions. On the way to the battlefield, after they passed a river which was a means of divine trial, most of the army of Talut expressed weakness against Jalut and his army and when the soldiers who remained loyal to Talut encountered Jalut and his army, asked God for resistance and victory and thus conquered him by the will of God and [[David (a)]] killed Jalut.

In Islamic historical and tafsir sources, there are points mentioned about Jalut. [['Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi]] considered him [[Coptic]] and [[Dinwari]] mentioned him among the descendants of Walid b. Rayyan and [['Ali b. al-Husayn al-Mas'udi|al-Mas'udi]] mentioned his lineage as follows: Jalut b. Malud b. Dabbal b. Hattan b. Faris. Al-Tabari considered him among [[Amalik]] and mentioned Jalut, the king of Amalik. Al-Mas'udi mentioned him from Barbar nations and [[Ibn Khaldun]] mentioned him from [[Canaan|Canaanites]]. [[Al-Ya'qubi]] mentioned him as Goliath which is his Hebrew name and mentioned his height five cubits. Al-Tabari too described him a powerful warrior.

The story of the encounter between Israelites and Palestinians, especially the man to man fight between Jalut and prophet [[David (a)]] is reported in details in Islamic sources. It seems that these reports are typically influenced by Jews' reports of this story and entered historical and tafsir sources of [[Muslim]]s with additions and omissions and sometimes differences, while some of these reports have many differences with the Jewish narration.

== The Place of Killing Jalut ==

About the place of killing Jalut, there are different reports in Islamic sources. [[Al-Mas'udi]] mentioned Baysan in [[Jordan]] as the place, the battle took place. [[Ibn 'Asakir]] mentioned "Qasr Umm Hakim" near "Marj al-Sufr" the place where Jalut was killed. Dabbagh mentioned the place of that event, a village in south west of [[Bethlehem]] which is now called "Khirbit al-Shawika". The name of a region between "Ain Jalut" which is a village between "Beit She'an" and Nablus in [[Palestine]] is considered related with the battle of David (a) and Jalut.

In Islamic sources, the [[Qur'an]]'s reference to the event as [[miracle|miraculous]] triumph of David over Jalut and thus a great victory of [[Israelites]] over Palestinians which reminds that at war, the victory belongs to the faithful whom [[God]] help; even though they are small in number and provisions. The same way, the companions of the noble [[Prophet (s)]] in the [[battle of Badr]] are likened to the number of the faithful in the battle between the army of Talut and Jalut and the number of Muslims in this battle is considered the same as the number of the soldiers of Talut.

Also, [[Jabir b. 'Abd Allah Ansari]], the [[companion of the Prophet (s)]] likened the killing of [['Amr b. 'Abdwadd]] by [[Imam Ali (a)]] in the [[battle of Ahzab]] to the story of Jalut and David (a). [[Rumi]] in his ''[[Mathnawi]]'' too, mentioned the battle between David (a) and Jalut in brief.

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