This is Book Six of Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, written around 93 to 94 CE, retelling the duel between David and the Philistine champion Goliath in the Valley of Elah. As a first century retelling composed roughly eleven centuries after the events it claims to record, it is not itself an eyewitness source, but its independent detail on Goliath's height, four cubits and a span rather than the Masoretic six cubits and a span, is read by textual scholars as evidence Josephus knew and followed a manuscript tradition closer to the Septuagint than to the Hebrew text later standardized as the Masoretic Bible.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Josephus's own first century retelling, composed about eleven centuries after the events it claims to record and demonstrably adding invented narrative detail beyond the biblical text, hence the middle tier rather than the top given to the Hebrew text itself, though its independent testimony to the shorter height tradition gives it real text-critical value. NotesRetells the duel in 1 Samuel 17 and gives Goliath's height as four cubits and a span, siding with the Septuagint's shorter figure against the Masoretic text's six cubits and a span.
Citation
AuthorFlavius Josephus
PublisherWritten c. 93 to 94 CE
URLhttps://lexundria.com/j_aj/6.170-6.192/wst
Source TypePrimary text in translation
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Goliath directly: "David and the Philistine champion Goliath in the Valley of Elah."
Claims Backed By This Source (10 claims)
This source backs 10 claims across the atlas. As facts: 8 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Myths & Sacred Narratives, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Well-attested
8Myths & Sacred Narratives
General References
1Myths & Sacred Narratives
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