Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath

[buffalo]

Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath

Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine’s name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible’s tale of David’s battle with the giant.

While the discovery is not definitive evidence of Goliath’s existence, it does support the Bible’s depiction of life at the time the battle was supposed to have occurred, said Dr. Aren Maeir, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and director of the excavation.

“What this means is that at the time there were people there named Goliath,” he said. “It shows us that David and Goliath’s story reflects the cultural reality of the time.” In the story, David slew Goliath with a slingshot.

more…

 

[Digitonomy]

Interesting stuff. Now if only they can figure out whether it was David (1 Samuel 17:49) or Elhanan (2 Samuel 21:19) who slew him.

 

[arieh0310]

Digitonomy:

Interesting stuff. Now if only they can figure out whether it was David (1 Samuel 17:49) or Elhanan (2 Samuel 21:19) who slew him.

1 Chronicles 20:5: And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elha’nan the son of Ja’ir slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

Many scholars believe that 2 Samuel 21:19 was a copyist error, that a scribe missed the word “brother” and was passed on without that word from then on.

 

[Digitonomy]

Or it could be that the 1 Samuel story was written to laud David by attributing Elhanan’s victory to him, and the Chronicler simply tried to solve the Samuel discrepancy.

 

[mercygate]

Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath

Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine’s name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible’s tale of David’s battle with the giant.

While the discovery is not definitive evidence of Goliath’s existence, it does support the Bible’s depiction of life at the time the battle was supposed to have occurred, said Dr. Aren Maeir, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and director of the excavation.

“What this means is that at the time there were people there named Goliath,” he said. “It shows us that David and Goliath’s story reflects the cultural reality of the time.” In the story, David slew Goliath with a slingshot.

Some scholars assert the story of David slaying the giant Goliath is a myth written down hundreds of years later. Maeir said finding the scraps lends historical credence to the biblical story.

The shard dates back to around 950 B.C., within 70 years of when biblical chronology asserts David squared off against Goliath, making it the oldest Philistine inscription ever found, the archaeologists said.

more…

Goliath had monogrammed china? Cool!

 

[arieh0310]

Digitonomy:

Or it could be that the 1 Samuel story was written to laud David by attributing Elhanan’s victory to him, and the Chronicler simply tried to solve the Samuel discrepancy.

Well, that makes the 1 Samuel story a complete fiction, which I reject. I think it easier to acknowlege a simple 1 word copyist error rather than a complete fabrication. David did enough heroic things outside of slaying Goliath, why would he need to be lauded any more than he is elsewhere?

 

[Digitonomy]

arieh0310:

David did enough heroic things outside of slaying Goliath, why would he need to be lauded any more than he is elsewhere?

Well, if he’s your patron, or the historical leader of your nation, then the more glorious you can make him, the better. Like George Washington and the cherry tree.