How tall was Goliath?
Most English Bibles say Goliath was “six cubits and a span” tall (1 Samuel 17:4), which works out to about 9 feet 9 inches. Some of the oldest copies of the text, including the Greek Septuagint and a Dead Sea Scroll, say four cubits and a span instead. That's about 6 feet 9, still a giant next to David.
Where the two numbers come from
A cubit is the length from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger, about 18 inches. A span is the width of a spread hand, about 9 inches. Six cubits and a span is 117 inches, or 9 feet 9. Four cubits and a span is 81 inches, or 6 feet 9.
The Masoretic Text, the Hebrew text most English Bibles translate from, says six. The Septuagint, a Greek translation made a couple of centuries before Jesus, says four, and so does 4QSamuel-a, a copy of Samuel found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Scholars still argue about which one is older.
What it means for the story
Either way, the point of 1 Samuel 17 holds. Goliath was a trained soldier in heavy armor, and David was a shepherd boy with a sling and five smooth stones.
Questions
How tall was Goliath in feet?
About 9 feet 9 inches by the count in most English Bibles, or about 6 feet 9 by the older Greek and Dead Sea Scroll copies.
How heavy was Goliath's armor?
His coat of mail weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze, roughly 125 pounds, and the iron point of his spear weighed 600 shekels, about 15 pounds (1 Samuel 17:5-7).
Sources: 1 Samuel 17:4-7; the Septuagint (1 Kingdoms 17:4); 4QSamuel-a from Qumran Cave 4.