Goliath: Difference between revisions

'''Goliath (Jālūt)''' (Arabic: {{ia|جالوت}}) is the name of a powerful Palestinian warrior defeated by Prophet [[David (a)]].  The name "Jalut" is mentioned in the noble [[Qur'an]] three times in the story of the battle between [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and [[Israelites]]. It has been narrated with more details in the [[Old Testament]], where Jalut is referred to as Goliath. The victory of Prophet David (a) reminds that at war, the victory belongs to the faithful and [[God]] helps them, even though they are small regarding number and provisions.

In lexical and Islamic [[exegesis|exegetic]] 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 Josef Horovitz, a Jewish-German orientalist, this name is certainly related to the Hebrew word or the Aramaic{{enote|According to Collins, this is an ancient language of the Middle East, still spoken in parts of Syria and the Lebanon, belonging to the NW Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family. Originally the speech of Aram, in the 5th century bc it spread to become the lingua franca of the Persian empire.}} word meaning wandering and exile, the fact that was common among the [[Jew]]s of [[Medina]].

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 marry her daughter to that person. When the young [[David (a)]] heard the war cries of Goliath, convinced Saul (Talut) to fight with him and then went to the battlefield. When Goliath saw David (a) going to fight him without a sword and only holding a stick and stone, mocked and threatened him. David (a) too threatened Goliath (Jalut) and said that he (a) would kill him, so that everyone would believe that there is a God. Then, David (a) hit Goliath 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.{{enote|For more reading, see the book [1 Samuel 17]:1-53}} Head of Goliath was taken to [[Jerusalem]]{{enote|[1 Samuel 17]:54}} and his sword remained in a temple in the city of "Nob"{{enote|Based on map of Occupied Palestine in [[Old Testament]] times, this area currently is in the vicinity of [[Jerusalem]] in the east.}} until it was later returned to David (a).{{enote|[1 Samuel 21]:9 and 22:10}}

Goliath (Jalut) was born in the city of "Gath" (located in southeast of [[Gaza]]) and is mentioned in the [[Torah]] as Goliath of Gath.{{enote|[2 Samuel 21]:19-22 and [1 Chronicles 20]:5 & 8}} However, this possibility has been mentioned that he was not originally from [[Palestine]] and merely served in 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.{{enote|[1 Samuel 17]:47}} It is written in the [[Old Testament]] that Elhanan killed Goliath, not David (a),{{enote|2 Samuel 21:19}} which seems to be a mistake of scriptwriters of the Torah; because, elsewhere,{{enote|[1 Chronicles 20]:5}} Elhanan is introduced as the killer of Goliath's brother, not Goliath himself. The encounter of Goliath with David (a) has been the subject of many poems and artistic works especially sculpture and painting in the West.

The prophet of [[Israelites]] at that time is mentioned [[Samuel]] in the Torah who chose [[Saul]] (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 Goliath 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 Goliath and his army and when the soldiers who remained loyal to Talut encountered Goliath and his army, asked God for patience and victory and thus conquered him by the [[will of God]] and [[David (a)]] killed Goliath{{Enote|Refer to the [[Qur'an 2]]: 247-251}}.

In Islamic historical and exegetic sources, there are points mentioned about Goliath. [['Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi]] considered him [[Coptic]], [[Dinwari]] mentioned him among the descendants of Walid b. Rayyan{{Enote|Or Rayyan b. Walid, a contemporary [[pharaoh]] with the Prophet [[Moses (a)]] or the Prophet [[Joseph (a)]], based on contradictory information in the sources.}}, and [['Ali b. al-Husayn al-Mas'udi|al-Mas'udi]] mentioned his lineage as Jalut b. Malud b. Dabbal b. Hattan b. Faris{{Enote|"Ibn" literally means "son" in Arabic, whose abbreviated form is "b.".}}. [[Al-Tabari]] considered him among Amalek{{Enote|According to the Bible, Amalek was the first enemy that Israel encountered after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds.}} and mentioned Goliath (Jalut), the king of Amalek. Al-Mas'udi mentioned him from Berbers{{Enote|According to Britannica, Berber is any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. The Berbers live in scattered communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, and Mauretania.}} and [[Ibn Khaldun]] mentioned him from Canaanites{{Enote|According to livescience.com, the Canaanites were people who lived in the land of Canaan, an area which according to ancient texts may have included parts of modern-day Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.}}. [[Al-Ya'qubi]] mentioned him as Goliath which is his Hebrew name and mentioned his height five cubits{{Enote|Acording to Collins dictionary, cubit is an ancient unit of linear measure, about 18-22 inches (45.4-55.5 cm); orig., the length of the arm from the end of the middle finger to the elbow.}}. Al-Tabari too described him a robust warrior.

The story of the encounter between Israelites and Palestinians, especially the duel between Goliath 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 exegetic sources of [[Muslim]]s with additions and omissions and sometimes differences, while some of these reports have many differences with the Jewish narration.

About the place of killing Goliath (Jalut), there are different reports in Islamic sources. Al-Mas'udi mentioned Beit She'an{{Enote|Currently, this city is located in the northern district of Occupied Palestine.}} as the place the battle took place. [[Ibn 'Asakir]] mentioned "Qasr Umm Hakim" near "Marj al-Sufr", in the suburb of [[Damascus]], the place where Goliath was killed. Dabbagh mentioned the place of that event, a village in southwest of [[Bethlehem]] which is now called "Khirbit al-Shawika". The naming of a region as "Ain Jalut" which is a village between "Beit She'an" and "Nablus" in [[Palestine]] is considered to be related with the battle of David (a) and Goliath.

In Islamic sources, with reference to the [[Qur'an]], the [[miracle|miraculous]] triumph of David (a) over Goliath and thus a great victory of [[Israelites]] over Palestinians indicates that at war, the victory belongs to the faithful whom [[God]] helps; even though they are small in number and provisions{{Enote|[[Qur'an 2]]:249: Those who were certain that they would encounter Allah said, ‘How many a small party has overcome a larger party by Allah’s will!}}. In the same way, the companions of the holy [[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 Goliath and David (a). [[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi]] in his ''[[Mathnawi]]'' too, mentioned the battle between David (a) and Goliath in brief.