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Could You Outrun Goliath?
By Brian Thomas, M.S.*
Evidence for Creation
At “six cubits and a span,” Goliath stood over nine feet tall, using a
conservative 18-inch cubit.
Scripture demonstrates his strength by cataloging the weight of his
armaments, including a 5,000-shekel (125-pound) coat of mail.
No wonder he was the champion of Gath! He was big and strong, but was
he fast?
Modern science gives us new ways to examine the history presented in
the Bible.
Four scientists developed a model that accurately predicts an animal’s
top speed based simply on body mass and means of locomotion.
Their model for land-running animals generally matched most of the
measured speeds of over 400 different animals, and even matched some
sophisticated speed estimates for dinosaurs, including T. rex.
The researchers showed that two factors explain why an ant is slower
than a rat, which is slower than a rabbit, which is slower than a cheetah,
which is faster than a hippo.
At some point, greater size slows the body.
Energy is the first factor. Animals’ muscles spend stored chemical
energy when they run.
Once that energy is gone, they must pause and wait for muscle cells to
replenish fuel stores.
The second factor is inertia, which means resistance to changes in
motion.
A running animal or person must spend enough energy to propel their
whole body mass.
Animals eventually reach a size at which their bodies’ inertia
counteracts the maximum amount of energy their muscles can store.
That’s why great cats can outrun elephants.
Did Goliath reach this “slowing size,” or would his bigger, longer
legs have propelled him faster than you?
To answer this question, we first need to recognize that humans run
more slowly than animals of similar mass.
This means that the new speed model does not directly apply to people.
We also must satisfy ourselves with educated guesses as to Goliath’s
body weight.
Most formulas that estimate “ideal” body weight suggest that a man of
Goliath’s height should have weighed about 450 pounds.
For comparison, Shaquille O’Neal stands at seven feet one inch.
He weighed around 325 pounds when he was a fit NBA player, but the
ideal body weight for that height is only about 220 pounds.
Goliath may have weighed more than ideal estimates.
I used the new speed model to compare how fast Goliath might have run
against more normal human sizes.
A skinny 450-pound Goliath would have run about 6% slower than a
six-foot-tall man.
A more robust 530-pound Goliath would have run 7% slower.
This exercise carries two messages.
First, giant descendants of Noah like Goliath would have reached
body masses where larger means slower.
However, they would not have reached body masses that defied
biophysics, leaving them within the realm of biological feasibility and thus
biblical reality—not just myth.
Giants were probably slower sprinters, and centuries of warfare
apparently did them in, but they were once just as real as David’s trust in the
Lord when he defeated godless Goliath.
* Mr. Thomas is
Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his M.S. in
biotechnology from Stephen F. Austin State University.
