God, Science and the Bible: Oldest Philistine inscription offers giant surprise
Ancient clay potsherd bears names strikingly similar to Goliath.
Archaeologists excavating Tell es-Safi, the biblical city "Gath of the Philistines," recently uncovered a scrap of broken pottery bearing the oldest Philistine inscription yet discovered. Of itself, that wasn't so surprising. What was surprising is that the potsherd bears two names etymologically remarkably similar to "Goliath," the giant Philistine warrior slain by David as recorded in 1 Samuel 17.
According to the Bible, this same Gath was the hometown of Goliath (verses 4, 23) and was one of the Philistines' major cities. Archaeologists have also dated the sherd to 50 to 100 years after the biblical account of Goliath's slaying at the hand of David.
No one can know for sure whether this inscription includes a reference to the biblical Goliath, since it is apparently a Hebrew transliteration of two Philistine names. This transliteration makes sense, since archaeological evidence indicates the Philistines gradually adopted the Semitic alphabet while retaining their Philistine names and some elements of their Philistine language.
Still, the similarities with the name of Goliath are striking. "It can be suggested that in 10th-9th century Philistine Gath, names quite similar, and possibly identical, to Goliath were in use," says Bar Ilan University's Aren Maeir, director of the excavation.
Bible critics who claim the Old Testament is a fabrication written only a few centuries B.C.—hundreds to a thousand years or more after the events it claims to document—face a challenge in trying to explain how such an invented name could show up on a potsherd dating to the time period the Bible describes and within the ruins of a town in which the Bible says an individual by this name lived. GN
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2006
Course Content
Mario Seiglie
Mr. Seiglie was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States when he was a child. He found out about the Church when he was 17 from a Church member in high school. He went to Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, and in Pasadena, California, graduating with degrees in theology and Spanish. He serves as the pastor of the Garden Grove, CA UCG congregation and serves in the Spanish speaking areas of South America. He also writes for the Beyond Today magazine and currently serves on the UCG Council of Elders. He and his wife, Caty, have four grown daughters, and grandchildren.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
Tom Robinson
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri as managing editor and senior writer for Beyond Today magazine, church study guides and the UCG Bible Commentary. He is a visiting instructor at Ambassador Bible College. And he serves as chairman of the church's Prophecy Advisory Committee and a member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends the Columbia-Fulton, Missouri congregation with his wife Donna and their two teen children.
