Was Goliath a giant? Height differences and Saul

Image from David (2025)

Somewhere before I've made the following point about the height comparison between Saul and Goliath, but I can't seem to locate where so I'll lay it out again. While most translations of the Bible still give Saul's height as "six cubits and a span" (around 9'6") this is because either they are too old to know better, or because – often in contravention of their stated approaches to ancient manuscript selection – they prefer to preserve "tradition" over best practice.

One of the few exceptions here is the NRSVUE (even the earlier version of the NRSV get this wrong). It gives Saul's height as "four cubits and a span" (around 6'6"). A footnote states "Q ms Gk: MT six". This means that there are variations here between manuscripts. The Masoretic text (MT) gives the height as six cubits and a span, but both the Dead Sea Scrolls text (Q) and the Greek Septuagint text (Gk) give the height as just four cubits and a span. Because "we" ave known about the Masoretic text the longest, it's the one that became the standard, but since then we have discovered the older, (therefore written closer to the original) Dead Sea Scrolls text. 

Sorry if that's a bit complicated, but essentially, faced with two older texts that say Goliath was four cubits and a span; and one more recent text that say it was six cubits the most likely scenario is that the doubly attested shorter Goliath is the closer match to the original text. This is particularly true given (as many David films have amply demonstrated) later adaptations have a tendency to exaggerate the story to make it seem more exciting and/or give God/David more credit. It's really hard to imagine a scenario where anyone would want to the tell the story making the giant seem shorter.

The thing is that if Goliath really were only 6'6" this does change the story a lot, because Goliath was not the only tall person on the battlefield that week. 1 Sam 9:2 describes Saul as being "head and shoulders above everyone else". It's hard to give a precise figure from such a malleable description, but it would suggest he was also well over 6 foot and more importantly he was also in a special category size-wise.

In other words, perhaps the point here is that this was meant to be Saul's fight. Goliath was the Philistine's champion and he calls out Israel's champion, their super tall warrior, their best fighter (as was fairly typical of tribal leaders in those days). He calls out Saul. But Saul is has a crisis of confidence. He fails to trust God (in contrast to David). It's just another way in which the text wants to shame Saul and glorify David. And I suppose the way the textual translation of the text has gone has softened that criticism of Saul a bit through time. Even a 6'6" man would baulk at fighting a man who is perhaps even 9'9". And perhaps given Saul clearly had very poor mental health, maybe cutting him some slack (even if through the medium of poor translation) is not the worst thing in the world.

House of David (2025) s1e08

This post is part of a series looking at Amazon Prime's show House of David (2025). There are some major spoilers in in what follows even though we all know the biggest one.

The difficulty for the makers of House of David is that its plot twist is arguably the best known of all time. The last 3000 years have witnessed stories, poems, paintings, sculptures, operas, plays and, more recently, movies and television series retelling a story that is referenced almost every time someone reaches for a metaphor for a little person/team/organisation taking on a big person/team/organisation. So while on the one hand adapting the story for the streaming age seems an enticing proposition, the challenge for this episode and, I suppose, the whole series is to fashion engaging drama out of everything that happens before that fateful moment.

At the end of the last episode, itself part 1 of a two episode finale, David, Mychal and Merab are all en route to the battle field where Saul, Avner, David's brothers and thousands of other Israelites have set up camp. Facing them is Goliath, the five Philistine kings and their army. But Jonathan and group of mercenaries are sneaking towards the Philistine camp in the hope of slaying Goliath while he sleeps.

Of course Jonathan's efforts fail miserably, thanks to a turncoat among his men who's received a better offer. It's actually this moment that provides the episode's best action sequence, as Jonathan, rather optimistically, tries to fight the whole Philistine camp single-handedly. No wonder he and David are going to be friends. The Philistines, who have tired of waiting for Israel to send someone out to fight their champion, begin to enact the second phase of their attack.

Having spared Jonathan, but killed his mercenaries. the Philistines first task is to pick off the Tribe of Zebulun, who decided at the end of the last episode to retreat home rather than stay and fight. As they trudge through a steep sided valley at night, Philistine archers appear on either side and pick off the tribe's army with flaming arrows. As far as I'm aware there's no real precedence for Zebulun – a largely unremarkable tribe descended from a not particularly remarkable patriarch – leaving the field early or suffering a significant military defeat aside from the other 12 tribes. Indeed Zebulun are not mentioned in either of the Books of Samuel. It does make for a spectacular scene though, with the arrows arching across the night sky and the fire from Zebulun's torches spreading as its army is gradually snuffed out.

Meanwhile Avner is also trying to put out a few fires, albeit more metaphorical ones. Saul's mental state means he's largely unaware of the problems he's facing, but not only has Zebulun left / been massacred and Jonathan has been captured, but now Adriel suggests he takes over if Saul is not fit to lead. Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to all of them Eshbaal (Saul's eldest son) has returned to Saul's palace to assume the crown.

Mychal and Merab's arrival at the camp works to restore their father and his spirits are further lifted when David arrives. David's fury at the lethargy and fear in the Israelite camp; his sense of Samuel's anointing and words of advice; and his surefooted confidence in God (they seem to have stopped using the name 'Hashem' in this episode) mean he puts himself forward to tackle the giant. An argument with his brothers, an unsuccessful armour fitting and a quick snog with Mychal later he's dashing on to the battlefield and we're back at the start of the first episode.

When we finally get back to it, the famous fight scene is handled pretty well. Martyn Ford's acting as Goliath has been on the weak side all series, and seems particularly exposed here. And the moment where the fight scene cut-off in episode 1, with David pinned to the ground by one of Goliath's spears, is milked a little too thoroughly. Otherwise, it's good scene. There's a nice wide shot with Goliath towering at the left hand side of the screen, with David on the far right. Samuel shows up on the ground high above the valley to add a sense of reassurance that things are going to go to plan. There's a nice slow motion shot as David dodges yet another spear while managing to fire off the celebrated shot, and a pause between Goliath getting hit (and the injury not being immediately apparent) and him finally falling. And then the Israelites charge forward while the Philistines fall into disarray.

The decision not to even get to the end of the battle is an interesting one. Now that the show has been given a second season, it will work really well with the structure of the next season: interest and familiar territory at the start, David getting to finally marry Mychal all of which can be going on while the story for the rest of the series is being developed. This matters because season 2 will inevitably be very different to this one. Here the audience has been drawn in by the familiarity of the well-known story bt that has presented a challenge in making it interesting. In contrast, season two will rely on having built up a committed audience and having developed the characters. The stories are less well-known, but handled competently there is plenty of material to make a great series. This season has been reasonably good – this final episode in some ways typifies the series as a whole – but much of how House of David is remembered will depend on subsequent seasons and the team's ability to get the pacing and structure right when it's down to a series of smaller decisions, rather than one major one as with these initial eight episodes. But certainly House of David has the potential material to make it work, has set good foundations to drive things forward and has now built a supportive a audience willing for it to succeed.

House of David (2025) s1e07

This post is part of a series looking at Amazon Prime's show House of David (2025). I'm trying to post them as soon as possible after the show airs, so keep checking back. There are a few spoilers in in what follows.

The penultimate episode of House of David's first season sees the stage being set for arguably the most famous fight in history. Goliath enraged by Doeg's murder of his mother unites the Philistines and heads up their army in a bid to defeat the Israelites. Saul, bolstered by past victories is confident Israel can overcome, until he spies Goliath.

The, um, big reveal, is a really nicely put together. One by one the kings of the four other groups of Philistines, ride forward and defiantly thrust their standards into the ground. Then there's a pause. Saul sees it as a good sign -- the Philistines are not even united. But we all know what, or rather who, is coming and it's not good news for Saul.

But that's not the only reason that Saul's confidence is misplaced. As viewers we already know Saul's mental health is making him unstable. He could slip at any moment and his grasp on his kingdom with it. We discover another issue for Saul in this episode though as well: he has never been that much of a confident fighter. Moments before going out to face the Philistines, he has a quiet word with Avner and has to beg him to give him a pep talk, just as Avner did in the past. He needs Avner to tell him what a great warrior he is before he can perform on the battlefield.

Naturally, the moment Saul spies Goliath his confidence, and his sanity evaporate. He falls from his horse and his crown portentously falls from his head onto the floor. This is not the moment of losing his kingdom which he has been haunted by, but the audience is privy to his inner world and it feels to Saul like that moment has come to pass.

The other major setting for this episode is back on Jesse's farm in Judah. David is now alone with his father and angry about his dad's reticence to explain why he won't let him fight. And then Samuel turns up, has a heart to heart alone with each of them and then leaves them so that they can reconcile. I won't spoil the details of why Jesse has been acting the way he has, but I don't imagine it will come as a great surprise to many. By the end of the episode David is heading off to the battlefront to bring supplies to his brother. Perhaps the most significant of Samuel's words, here, are that Hashem (God) chose David because of his passionate, free-spirited heart -- one that reflects Hashem's own. 

A couple of other moments of note in this episode. Firstly, as Saul flees back to his tent he makes some rash promises about how he would reward anyone willing to fight Goliath and, as per 1 Sam 17:25, includes the hand of his daughter in the list of potential prizes. In the Bible David and Mychal have not yet met, but here we know that they are already sweet on each other. As if David wasn't fired up enough it looks like there might be a way for him to be with Mychal after all.

Speaking of Mychal, when she hears of Goliath and her father's relapse she, in a deft pairing with David, realises she must do something despite a reluctant parent. Here, Mychal's mother has given up all hope in Hashem taking action to save Saul. She only seems to have faith in witchcraft, and not even much of that. So Mychal secretly heads off to the battlefield to support her dad as best she can, bringing along Merab for moral support and company.

I imagine she's also hoping to support Jonathan, but by the time she arrives he'll be long gone. Remembering Jonathan's earlier guerrilla victory against the Philistines (1 Sam 14) he again finds an elite group of champion mercenary warriors from the surrounding nations who will ride with him to find a way to slay Goliath off the battlefield. Given we more or less know how the David vs Goliath confrontation will pan out, this is the most intriguing part of the story. Will Jonathan's elite team have any bearing on the battle, or will they become another failure of the established dynasty to protect Israel. Next week's season finale should be a good one.  

David and Goliath (2015)

Back in 2013-14 I wrote a chapter for the book "The Bible in Motion" about film portrayals of David (and, by extension, Goliath). There are two problems with committing this kind of thing to paper. Firstly, you will inevitably come across an odd portrayal that you had somehow not discovered before and secondly, the moment you're done, someone releases a new version and your work looks outdated.

So I must admit that I hardly leapt for joy back in 2015 when I heard that Tim Chey was producing a film called David and Goliath and I must admit that given the David film fatigue I was experiencing, when the trailer came out and looked pretty bad then I decided not to exert the effort needed to try and track it down.

But then of course Netflix picked it up, their not always entirely effective algorithm suggested it might be my kind of thing and I added it to my list. And there it stayed, at least until last week when I realised it was about to disappear and that I needed to see it before it would cost me good money to do so.

I have to say my initial hunch was right. David and Goliath is probably the worst Bible film I've ever seen, and, as anyone who knows anything about this subject will be aware, it's a very competitive category. It starts with a script that feels like it was never submitted to serious scrutiny. It's a little unfair to pick on an historical screenplay for anachronistic dialogue, but then I can't remember another film where soldiers talk about their percentage chance of winning, or dismiss those to be executed by saying "Have a nice day". True some films have entirely tried to use modern style dialogue (and probably been praised here for doing it), but here the more modern sounding dialogue clashes with the parts which use epic-movie-speak.

Elsewhere Goliath's pre-fight challenge to David sounds like a cliche from ringside at the WWF:

"Your God can't save you little rat...I'll eat your head. Nobody can defeat ME…You coward, you little maggot, you little weasel. I am God, you are nothing. I hate your guts. You moron. I'll show you. I'll destroy you..."

Is it being contemporary? Is it comedy? Perhaps it's making the point that Goliath was unlikely to have been very articulate, but the film is full of this kind of clunky dialogue. "Let me get this through your THICK, STUBBORN SKULL!" David's brother yells at him at one point, "that man was created to kill people!"

The problems with the dialogue are exacerbated by acting that is almost universally poor, with the cast seemingly resorting to shouting in almost every scenario from attempting intimidation, to being mildly annoyed. There's also repeated use of time lapse scenery footage, but bizarrely the bright lush scenery used in these sequences neither matches the geography of the action sequences, nor their style.

To be fair this is a low budget effort, and. given that, some of costuming works quite well, the red cloth and leather tunics worn by the Israelites give a tip of the cap to Rome, whilst still being distinct.

Usually I like to write positive reviews; flaming films rarely does much to improve the world, and other people do that far better. So I focus on what a film does well, what I learnt from it and so on. I try and understand what the filmmakers were trying to do and write about that. Here, however, it's almost impossible to do that. It does do much well and it's difficult to discern what the filmmakers were trying to do. It doesn't even provide a new angle on the story, or have a strong message - indeed, perhaps most damningly of all for an evangelical, faith-based project, it doesn't even make decent propaganda.

Having said all that, on going to IMDb to add some quotes from the film, I found that far more people had been there before me and done the same. So some people are clearly not only watching it, but also connect with the movie enough to post the quotes. I don't know whether this is a sign that I'm overlooking the extent to which some people will cherish even films that I think are very poor, or an indication that it's beginning to gain a cult following of the so-bad-it's-good variety. I can certainly see the appeal of the latter option. Now that David and Goliath has disappeared from Netflix I find myself wanting to watch bits again one more time or show them to others. After all, where else can you get to see a giant call his diminutive foe both a rat and a maggot and still fel the need to add "weasel" to the list as well?

Xena: Warrior Princess - The Giant Killer (1996)

Over the years makers of biblical films have often been at pains to stress the historical and/or biblical accuracy of their particular portrayals. There have always been exceptions however and, as would be no surprise to fans of the show, one adaptation that is cheerfully anachronistic is the episode of Xena: Warrior Princess called The Giant Killer (Series 2 episode 3, 1996).

As the title suggests, this is the episode where Xena meets up with an old friend of hers, a giant called Goliath, only to find themselves on opposing sides of the conflict between Israel and the Philistines. Like the biblical story Israel is still being led by King Saul, seconded by his son Jonathan, but unlike 'the original' David is already a valued member of the Israelite army, such as it is, and good friends with Jonathan (who dies before Goliath does).

For their part, the Philistines are led by a king called Dagon, (in the Bible the name of a Philistine god rather than their king) who sees Saul as a "petty criminal". Dagon also claims that the land "was an unproductive desert when we got here, and now, it's a thriving area!", which echoes the claims often made about how the kibbutz movement transformed the landscape of modern Israel.

Goliath here is given a far more significant back story than in any other dramatisation that I can recall. He has known Xena from her time before the series began. Not only is he familiar with her metanoia¹ but it emerges that the last time the two of them saw each other they were fighting together against another giant called Gareth. On that occasion Goliath saved Xena from Gareth's army only to see their enemy kill Goliath's family.

A decade on and Goliath is still hunting Gareth. It's for this reason that he is working as Dagon's muscle - despite his apparent misgivings about the Philistine king - yet when he finds out that he will be opposing Xena he almost considers deserting the Philistine army. Dagon however convinces Goliath to stay by promising to tell him where he can find Gareth if he stays.

Reluctantly the two former comrades end up on opposite sides of the battle and unfortunately for the Philistine hero, Xena tells David about his weak spot and helps him plan how to bring the giant down. Goliath's death, then, has a sense of tragedy about it. Not only do we, at least, appreciate his motives, but Goliath dies in vain, with his family still unavenged.

By coincidence, I happened to watch this film, Mary Magdalene (2018) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2012) within a week of each other and I could but be struck by the parallels between them. (Minor Spoilers for all three) All three feature a male protagonist who is mourning the death of his family and is now driven to action by that sense of loss. Here, as with Guardians it's too gain revenge on the person that murdered them. In Mary Magdalene it was to bring about the kingdom, which, one could argue was still a form of revenge, only a kinder, gentler form, with God doing the avenging. Nevertheless, all three characters suffer a cinematic "death" of sorts, with a sense of them being united with their families in death. And, of course, the audience gets the sense that ultimately they will get their wish (sort of). In Guardians it comes sooner than the others. In Mary it depends on how you view the Jesus movement and your faith for the future. Here, Goliath's revenge storyline reaches a conclusion later in the series when Xena causes Gareth to be struck by a bolt of lightning (end of spoilers).

Either way, this redeeming of Goliath is a radical departure from the Bible, and even his portrayal in most other David films, although films such as David e Golia (1959) do this to a certain extent. This is thoroughly in keeping with the way Xena's "lack of historical accuracy" is a "running joke" throughout the series.² "Xena's self-parody" and "her mismatched style" reinforcing that her "storyline never really happened".³ The series repeatedly subverts the myths in it's path, through it's humorous tongue in cheek style. By revisiting each story, playfully exaggerating and reimagining them, and developing characters beyond the details we find in the 'original' myths, it simultaneously presents a made-up version of the story which was definitely not how it happened, but nevertheless highlights the incomplete, and typically one-sided, nature of the traditional version of the stories. 

In this particular episode it's interesting that in addition to the aspects of the dialogue and script (available online) that alter and exaggerate the story from the first Book of Samuel, it also does it visually. When we first encounter Goliath he is already taller than the 9'9" (or 6'6") that the Bible credits him with. However, as the episode goes on he grows taller and taller relative to the other characters, moving from perhaps 12 foot to about 18th by the end of the episode.

There is also some toying with the idea of God. Being more familiar with the Greek pantheon, Xena's sidekick Gabrielle struggles to get her head around her new found friends' monotheism. At one point she tells David "This one God stuff is a new concept for me". David tries explaining that his god is "the ultimate power the highest Being there is", before employing a metaphor or two, "try to think of him as a sort of caretaker to the world, like our shepherd". This reminds David of a song he had just thought of, which he then recites which is, of course, Psalm 23. Shortly afterwards, on the morning of the battle, Xena sees David with his head bowed, sidles up to him and says "You might want to mention the weather to, you know, Him"

But perhaps one of the most interesting things the episode does is with David, and his rise to power. Whilst Saul remains king, Jonathan's death creates something of a vacuum. Initially it seems like Xena, who has sided with the Israelites due to Dagon's oppression of them, will be the one to take down Goliath and liberate them. Yet after Jonathan's death both Xena and David independently come to the same conclusion that it has to be David that kills Goliath and defeats Dagon, not Xena. What the Israelites need is "a leader", "someone to believe in". Thus Xena advises, equips, emboldens and fights alongside David, but ultimately it is he who leads the people and he who takes on and defeats Goliath.

Ultimately, then, for all the show's subversion, it leaves the story's primary structure more or less intact. David becomes the hero, defeats Goliath and ultimately becomes their leader. It's an approach nicely summed up by a final disclaimer in the credits: "No Bible myths or icons were irreparably mangled during the production of this motion picture". Well quite.

=============
1 - My understanding is that Xena first appeared in the Hercules TV series starring Kevin Sorbo as an anti-heroine, before having a change of heart after her dealings with Hercules. The redeemed Xena then began her own series as a hero with a past.
2 - Frankel, Valerie Estelle (2018), "Hercules, Xena and Genre: The Methodology Behind the Mashup" in Diak, Nicholas (ed.) The New Peplum: Essays on Sword and Sandal Films and Television Since the 1990s, pp.115-134. Jefferson, North Carolina: MacFarland. p.116
3 - ibid. p.123
4 - I'm grateful for Grantman Brown's transcript of this episode provided at SpringfieldSpringfield:
https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=xena-warrior-princess&episode=s02e03

Dave and the Giant Pickle (1996)

One of the films I didn't cover in last year's whistle stop tour of David movies was this entry into the popular Veggie-Tales series, Dave and the Giant Pickle. As with most of the other episodes in this series, the leading characters are played by CGI animated, anthropomorphic vegetables in a light hearted manner that seeks to each the kids who comprise its audience with a life lesson. Indeed so well is this lesson-for-the-day aspect established that it no only does it have it's only jingle, but the characters' boredom at this repetitive formula is played for laughs.

The story starts in a psychologist's office where Larry the Cucumber is being treated for what will turn out to be low self-esteem. There's a flashback to the story of David which starts with David trying to control his father's sheep, and his brother's abuse of him, But then a messenger arrives to announce the arrival of Goliath - sorry the, um, Giant Pickle, . Then one day David brings his brothers lunch, is incensed by the Giant Pickle denouncing God and vows to defeat his. Goliath makes his challenge no-one from Israel dare fight him; No-one that is, except for David, who, incensed by the pickle's impudence, tells Saul he will fight the pickle. Saul attempts to kit out David in his own armour, but David goes commando, take up his sling and turns the pickle into relish.

Sorry, that's my joke rather than a line from the film.

There are a couple of interesting moments. Firstly, the arrival of Goliath is prefigured by the same shaking water shot that Spielberg used to such great effect in Jurassic Park (1993) three years earlier. Other contemporary references include one of David's brothers appreciating the cheese filled crust to his Pizza and a series of Rorschach spots which increasingly look like something rather than being entirely random. Maybe that's just me.

But in a fortnight where we've been marketing the 20th anniversary of the release of Toy Story it was amazing to see how badly the CGI on this film compared to that. The CGI has not aged at all well.

That said, the kids loved it, and some of the tunes have come back to us through the day. So whilst Dave and the Giant Pickle might not be great art, it certainly amused and engaged its target audience.

David e Golia (1959)

The title may read David and Goliath, but really it's all about Orson Welles' Saul. It's unclear what possessed Welles - a director of sublime talent - to get involved in this film, where very little talent is on display, but nevertheless he did and his portrayal of the Israelite king is, unsurprisingly, the best thing in an otherwise forgettable movie. Welles' heavy, sweaty body evokes memories of his earlier role as corrupt cop Hank Quinlan in A Touch of Evil (1958). The impression of corruption and decay is only heightened by the cheap and poorly lit throne room set and the generally amateurish feel of the production as a whole.

Whilst the vast majority of the film is set in the period before David becomes his national hero, the filmmakers nevertheless introduce the theme of Saul's jealousy for his one-day successor. It's not hard to see why. In contrast to the boyish figures that feature in many films about David here he is a full-blown, muscular adult. Whilst actor Ivo Payer is certainly shorter in stature than Goliath, he would be a match for many a man. Personally my feeling is that this is a little more realistic. The odds are still overwhelmingly in Goliath's favour, but David's subsequent military heroics make far greater sense.

One of the most interesting things about this film is that it gives Goliath a backstory. Indeed all three of the major players are developed as characters. The film's early scenes keep the three in isolation working hard to help the audience connect with them and build a backstory. This casts Goliath in a particularly interesting light. His character is shown to be a loner, living outside normal society. His only "friend" is really seeking to sell his labour to the Philistine kings. This sense of isolation is heightened by the bold and unusual soundtrack when Goliath is on screen. The orchestral music that features for most of the film is replaced by more esoteric sounds such as the musical saw and the theremin. It evokes sci-fi / monster B-movies, and makes Goliath monstrous and further emphasising how he is different from normal people.

Of all the films about David, this is the one that is most content to invent plot lines to flesh out the story and leading characters. David's first scene features his fictional girlfriend Egla who dies when she is struck by lightning. Later David visits Jerusalem (which in this film is already an Israelite city) and appalled by what he sees takes action and makes a speech against those exploiting others to make money. It's strongly reminiscent of the episode in the Gospels where Jesus turns over the tables in the temple. Abner and Saul's daughter Merab are also lovers and plot together against David, a scheme brought to an end in one of the closing scenes when Saul shoots his favourite commander with a bow and arrow. These elements so add a greater level of intrigue to the plot.

The biggest downside of the film, in the English dub, at least, is the attempted use of King James English. Whilst it's not hard to understand - it feels a little like someone has just gone through the script with a checklist of modern English words that convert to 17th century English - it's not close enough to the King James Bible to sound authoritative or authentic. Instead it leaves the film feeling stilted and phony and whilst the melodramatic acting and cheap sets mean this was never going to achieve classic status, it does ruin what had the potential to be a cult favourite B-movie.

Greatest Heroes of the Bible: David and Goliath (1978)

The latest in this series of films about David is this entry from The Greatest Heroes of the Bible series and I have to say it exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. Perhaps the main reason for this is the filmmakers decision to limit the story to that of the battle between David and Goliath. As a single narrative the film comes to a natural climax which provides tension throughout, even though the audience know all along who will win. This contrasts with some of the other David films which cover most of what we know about him leaving the storyline more as a series of episodes but without a great deal uniting the various threads or driving the plot.

As with the other entries in the series, the film starts with a two and a half minute introduction to the Bible, which starts with the authoritative "In the beginning...". What follows is equally authoritative in tone but it moves from being actual words from the Bible, to a paraphrase of what the Bible says, to it's own modern take on the Bible.

In some ways that's the opposite of what happens once the film starts properly. The opening scenes are all essentially extra-biblical - there's a huge sub=plot about Abner's plan to use David's bout with Goliath as a distraction which will allow his guerilla army to sneak up undetected on the unsuspecting Philistines. Then gradually the film moves more into ground that is more firmly biblical, ending on David killing Goliath.

One of the biblical sounding additions is when David actually hears God's voice telling him to fight Goliath. It's an interesting addition - the only David film which I recall making the link between David's bravery and God's will so explicit. Typically the bravery aspect is played up, making David seem more heroic, whilst alleviating the issue of David killing and beheading an enemy.

Another interesting way in which the programme makes subtle additions is a brief shot from Goliath's point of view. Again this is fairly rare, and it's notable not just because other films haven't really done it, but also because of the unusual angle that it uses. In fact of all the David films this is perhaps the one that is most sympathetic to Goliath. Apart from anything he is played by the most well known actor in the cast, Ted Cassidy, best known for playing Lurch in The Adams Family. Cassidy is undoubtedly tall (6'9"), but he doesn't appear as mighty as the majority of Goliaths, indeed he looks rather awkward.

There are also elements of the Joseph story imported in here. When David's brothers hear it is he who is to tackle Goliath they implore Abner to let them fight Goliath in his place.

The battle itself is also a little unusual. It's rather drawn out and the "sword, spear and javelin" line from 1 Sam 17:45 is played out rather literally as Goliath throws his spear and javelin at David before producing his sword. The fight scene is also intercut with shots of Abner's men sneaking into position. Whilst this whole sub-plot is rather ludicrous - not least because it seems to undermine the impression of being biblically faithful that the production seems to strive for - it has to be said that these intercut scenes, and the score do ratchet up the tension.

Once his men are in position Abner blows his horn, David goes on the attack as do the Israelite army. There's a battle which might have culminated in a battle between the rather aged Saul and the Philistine king, were it not so feeble. Nevertheless, it's a more decent production than I would have imagined and at only 40 minutes worth seeing.

David et Goliath (1910)

(Warning: sometimes I write well, intelligently and interestingly. Other times I seem to be more driven by a desire to record everything, even if it's dull and meandering so at least I know where to find it if I ever need to. Sadly for all concerned this is one of those latter occasions.)

I'm doing some writing on film portrayals of King David at the moment so I thought it was about time I wrote up my notes on Pathé's David et Goliath from 1910. There was a rush of short films about David at the time with six films about David being released in as many years (the others being David and Goliath in 1908, Saul and David in 1909, David and Saul in 1911, David, King of Israel in 1912, and La Mort de Saül in 1913).

David et Goliath is the only one I have seen however, although the fact that Solomon¹ (p.166) discusses the Italian made David, King of Israel and Shepherd² (p.66-68) discusses Blackton's Saul and David means that prints of those two films are still in existence. As far as I can tell however David et Goliath does appear to be the only one which you can view online (parts 1, 2 and 3). The online version comes with French intertitles whereas the version in the BFI archives has German intertitles. As it was there I first encountered it - and diligently wrote down all the intertitles it is those I'll refer to, though I'm not convinced that the intertitles all say the same things.

It's also worth noting that the German version has been produced using some kind of early colour process (hence the image above) whereas the French version is in black and white. The appearance is similar to that of early two-strip Technicolor, but as that wasn't yet in existence then it looks like it was made using either Lee-Turner Colour, Kinemacolor or the Keller-Dorian process. (The Kinemacolor Wikipedia entry lists 262 films made using the process but this isn't one of them.)

Unusually the film starts with a close up of some of the leading actors, the French version shows the actors playing David, Goliath and Saul, whereas the German version only includes Goliath and Saul. As was typical at the time the rest of the film only comprises mid-shots so these are the only close ups in the picture. The close ups are proceeded by each actor's billing (though the German print only starts after Goliath's introduction.

HERR ALEXANDRE
VON DER COMÉDIE FRANÇAIS
ALS KÖNIG SAUL

MR ALEXANDRE OF THE "COMÉDIE FRANÇAIS" AS KING SAUL

Following the introductory shot of Saul we get the first intertitle proper.

Die Philister haben
Den Israeliten den Krieg
Erklärt, und die drei
Brüder Davids ergreifen
die waffen

The Philistines declare war on the Israelites and David's three brothers take weapons.

This preceeds a scene of David and his brothers are sitting around which is absent from the French version. David plays the harp, Jesse wears an alarmingly short robe and Samuel arrives giving the early 20th century gestures for "quit playing that harp I have a message from God". More messengers arrive and read from a scroll resulting in a two columned intertitle designed like a scroll.

Sohn Israels! Die Philister sine in dein Land eingedrugen Der König mendet sich an dich

damit durch deinen Hut die Ehre deines Gottes gerellel werde Saul

There seem to be quite a few errors between what I noted down and correct German, some of which is probably my poor quality transcription, but there are translation errors in some of these intertitles as well, so here is what it seems the intertitle should be trying to say and an English translation

[Sohn Israels! Die Philister sein in dein Land eingedrungen Der König wendet sich an dich damit durch deinen mut die Ehre deines Gottes gerettet werde Saul]

Son of Israel! The Philistines have invaded your land. The King turns to you so that by your courage the glory of your God will be saved. Saul

The older sons are sent off to war and David tries to go too, but Jesse stops him, putting his arm around his shoulders. A heartbroken David sits down and pleads to go but Samuel also intervenes.

The next intertitle introduces the next scene of David looking after the sheep

“David Verteidigit
Seine herde gegen
die raubtiere"

[David Verteidigt Seine herde gegen die raubtiere]
David defends his herd against predators

The "predator" in question turns out to to be a wolf, bear or lion, but an eagle. It's a surprising divergence (do eagles poach sheep frequently enough for this scene to be credible. Perhaps it was just that the fake eagle seemed more credible than a fake lion / bear / wolf. Perhaps composition required an aerial threat rather than another woolly mammal trying to stand out amongst all those sheep. Either way David brings it down with his sling and Jesse is so pleased he allows him to head to the front with a basket of bread for his brothers.

“Im auftrage
seines vaters bringt
David seinen brüdern,
Sauls soldaten,
Lebensmittel

David on behalf of his father brings his brothers, Saul's soldiers, food.

There's an oddly comedic scene here (also absent from the French version) where some boys hide and steal David bread. Fortunately David whips out his sling, fells one of them and gets his brad back.

David then arrives at the camp waving into the distance. Meanwhile some of the soldiers grab weapons and line up.

Goliath Schlägt
Saul einen
Einzelkampf vor

Goliath beats Saul before single combat

I'm not entirely sure what the meaning of this sentence is so I've left it rather literally. Essentially though it's followed by Goliath strolling into camp and shouting (in tablet form):

König Saul! Erwählet einen unter euch, der mit mir Kämpfe, Vermag er wider mich zu streilen und schlägt er

mich, so wallen wir eure Knechte sein, schlage ich aber ihn, so sollt ihr unsere Knechte sein. In zwei Studen erwarte ich meinen Gegner

[König Saul! Erwählet einen unter euch, der mit mir Kämpfe, Vermag er wider mich zu streiken und schlägt er mich, so wollen wir eure Knechte sein, schlage ich aber ihn, so sollt ihr unsere Knechte sein. In zwei stunde erwarte ich meinen Gegner]

King Saul! Chose one of you, with me fighting, he is able to strike against me, and he beats me, then will we be your servants: but I kill him, then shall ye be our servants. In two hour I expect my opponent

Seeing Goliath leave, David is ashamed. Saul begins his hunt for a champion, but only David is willing:

Es entfalle keine,
menschen das herz um
deswillen dein knecht
will hingehen und
mit de Philister straiten

Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with the Philistine

There are quite a lot of extra subtitles in the French version than in the German, which disrupts the story for anyone that knows it. David offers himself and points to the sky and then in the next scene comes face to face with Goiath.

David sprach zu Goliath:
Du kommst zu mir mit
Schwert, Spieß und Schild;
Ich aber komme zu dir im
namen des hernn zebaoth
des Gottes ISraels den
du Gehöhnet hast

[David sprach zu Goliath: Du kommst zu mir mit Schwert, Spieß und Schild; Ich aber komme zu dir im namen des herr zebaoth des Gottes Israels den du Gehöhnet hast]

David said to Goliath:
"You come to me with sword, spear and shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel whom you have defied"

Thus David reveals that he is the challenger. Goliath mocks him of course, raising his arms whilst David prays desperately to God. The two circle each other for a while using the depth of field in a way that was not that well established at the time so that by the time David fires the vital shot, Goliath is closest to the camera. Goliath falls, writhes and dies.

The final scene shows David processing through the town on a horse. He wears a crown on his head whilst a minion follows at a respectable distance with Goliath's head on a stick. Again there are more subtitles in the French version, the last of which ends by citing Samuel 1 - 2 Ch 32.

Campbell and Pitts describe it as follows:

DAVID AND GOLIATH
1910
France
Pathé
1000 feet B/W
CAST Berthe Bovy, René Alexander, L.Ravet.
Another in the series of French Pathé films adapted from Old Testament stories. This version of David's slaying of the giant Goliath, at 1,000 feet, was a bit longer than most of the series entries.

The BFI archive has a synopsis for this film rolling two descriptions into one very long one so I'll just provide the link on this occasion.

====
1 - Solomon, Jon. "The Ancient World in the Cinema", (Revised and expanded edition). Yale University Press, 2001 p.166
2 - Shepherd, David J., "The Bible on Silent Film: Spectacle, Story and Scripture in the Early Cinema", Cambridge University Press, 2013. pp 66-68.

Derrickson to film Goliath

Both the Hollywood Reporter and deadline.com have the story that director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) is to make Goliath, about the death of the Biblical giant.

Ryan Kavanaugh of Relativity Media is teaming up with Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill to produce the film. Godfrey and Bowen previously worked together on the 2006 telling of The Nativity Story. The script has been written by John D. Payne and Patrick McKay. The Hollywood Reporter article says that the new film will be aiming to have "a modern vibe that harkens to the spirit of films such as 300 and The Bourne Identity. That makes it the second such film in production to aspire to be like the 2007 comic book-esque epic, the other being Fox's Moses movie.

The deadline.com article features a brief synopsis:

When the fierce warrior Goliath is sent to track down the foretold king of the Israelites, the young shepherd David gets thrust into an epic chase and adventure fighting for his own life, and his loved ones, in a battle between the young man and the giant.

That sounds a little different from the biblical account, so it will be interesting to see how this ends up.

I'm also interested to see what the film does with the fact that the more reliable Hebrew Bible manuscripts describe Goliath as about 6'6" rather than the more famous 9'6". I can't imagine, particularly given the citation of 300 above, that this is something the film will be looking to incorporate (although it would make casting a lot easier). Not only would it upset some Christians, but it will also be derided by those outside of the church, particularly those whose knowledge about Goliath only extends to knowing that he was a giant. That said, some kind of nod in that direction would be fun.