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Joshua describes giant warriors driven out of the land, but some survive in places like Gath. Goliath is later said to come from Gath, following this tradition of giant warriors connected to the Watchers and their children, found in texts like 1 Enoch.
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Joshua 11:22
Hebrew Bible
21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country—from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua annihilated them and their cities. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua conquered the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses, and he assigned Israel their tribal portions. Then the land was free of war.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Samuel 17:4
Hebrew Bible
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them. 4 Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to nine feet tall7. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was 5,000 shekels.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... For another example of such narrative continuity there is the matter of giants. There are huge, frightening persons in the Bible. Their origin is explained in a story near the beginning of the collection: “sons of God” (whatever that means) have relations with human women, and they give birth to giants (Genesis 6:1–4). Later, when Moses sends spies to scout the land of Canaan, the Israelite spies see the giants (Numbers 13). Then, in the book of Joshua, Joshua eliminates the giants from all of the land except from the city of Gath and two other Philistine cities (Joshua 11:21–22). And then, in the Samuel B part of the collection (1 Samuel 17:4), the most famous Philistine giant, Goliath, comes from that city: Gath! ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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