13
throw a fifteen pound weight a long, long ways. In fact, a stout colleague of mine who is
not even six feet tall competes in the Scottish sporting competition known as the
Highland Games. In the caber toss event the competitors toss a wooden pole called a
caber. The caber resembles a telephone pole and weighs up to 180 pounds. The men in
this event would not have any trouble heaving a fifteen pound spear.
Many writers also stress the extreme weight (125-130 pounds) of the bronze coat
of scale armor that Goliath wears. While this is certainly very heavy for a small
untrained person, for a big man like Flozell Adams (or a 6'9" Goliath) it is not an overly
burdensome weight, and it certainly does not require a ten foot tall person to carry it.
Most commentaries also make the faulty assumption that strength is directly proportional
to height, and that heavy armor would more likely be carried by a super-tall person. Yet
there is little correlation between the height of a person and the strength of a person.
Consider American's strongest man, super heavyweight champion Shane Hammon, who
weighs 340 pounds but is only 5'9" tall. He is quite a bit stronger than any of the 7 feet
tall centers in the NBA. And certainly Shane Hammon is many times stronger than
someone with the growth disorder know as gigantism, the medical explanation often put
forward by commentators to explain Goliath's 9'9" height (see the discussion below).
In reality, 125-130 pounds is not all that heavy of a weight, and it certainly does
not require a giant to carry it. Two of my former students who are now in the United
States Marines told me that Marines today often go into battle with over 130 pounds of
gear.
18
It does not require a giant to carry that much weight into battle. So the armor of
18
Besides standard equipment, food, and ammunition, some soldiers carry exceptionally heavy equipment.
The MK 19 40mm Machine Gun weighs a total of 137 pounds (the gun weighs 72.5 pounds, the cradle 21
pounds, and the tripod weighs 44 pounds). The extensive amount of ammunition needed for this gun is