Goliath is a Biblical giant slain by David.
Goliath of Gath ("Golyat" in Hebrew) was a gigantic figure in the Biblical story of David in the Book of Samuel I in the Old Testament. He came from Gath, one of five ancient city-states of the Philistines, which was opposed to Israel at the time. Scripture describes how David, as a young man without military training, volunteered to defend the honor of G-d and Israel by fighting Goliath in a match to the death. Goliath, a national battle hero, was fully armored and quite willing to destroy little David. David slung a single stone which either killed or rendered Goliath unconscious. David then decapitated Goliath with Goliath's own sword. According to the Midrash, Goliath was killed by the stone from the sling which miraculously penetrated his forehead. David and Goliath shared ancestry, David's great-great-grandmother being the Moabite Ruth who was the sister of Orpah, the forebear of Goliath
The name has been used elsewhere for various pieces of software, large machinery (for example, a crane on the Clyde in Scotland), a frog (Conraua goliath), the Goliath Beetle and any situation featuring unequal competing groups.
Although Goliath is generally known as a 'giant' of the Bible, actual careful reading of the scripture in the original Hebrew clearly shows a detailed description of the height and size of Goliath. He was a giant of a man, perhaps eight to eight and half feet tall, but no mythical "giant" of lore
Compare star of Goliath.
Goliath is also a Marvel Comics character: an enhanced identity of Dr Henry Pym.
Goliath is also a character in the animated television series Gargoyles.Goliath of Gath