Strata: The Bible in the News

The Philistine champion Goliath is well known to the press. Recently, the most widely reported Goliath-related story by far has been the discovery in the region where the Philistines once dwelt of a pottery sherd bearing the name “Goliath.”^a Literally dozens of stories on this find appeared, almost all of which were appropriately restrained in their claims as to what this inscription could—or could not—prove. As it turns out, no such restraint was exhibited by the headline writers, who produced such winning and clever phrases as “Goliath’s Still a Bit Shattered,” “Giant Israeli Find” and “Goliath Find Just Slays Archaeologist.”

Thank goodness, none of this means that we can’t still have a little fun with all sorts of big creatures named Goliath. For example, there are the fish known as Goliath grouper, each weighing 200 to 300 pounds, off the coast of Tampa Bay, Florida. A protected species, these dwellers of the not-so-deep are described as “huge, lethargic creatures that were easy to catch, easy to spear and good to eat.” “Huge, lethargic, easy to catch” could also describe the Goliath of David’s day, but good taste requires that I not speculate on whether the Philistine tasted good.