Goliath
The Biblical giant Goliath is one of the few semi-admitted puns: His name is officially derived from the word root √gl for “rolling”, just without a good explanation. But it’s easy to find: The link to the giant in the literal story is gl meaning “heap [of a man]”, derived from stones “rolled into a heap”. The link to the spooky parable beneath is glh for “revealing”, derived from “unrolling”. To the spooks, “revealing” their scams is bad, and that’s why Goliath is the enemy in the story.
Contrary to popular knowledge, David & Goliath do indeed mean “weak & strong”,
but with a twist: They also mean “concealing & revealing”. “Revealing” loses.
Goliath’s pun with glh for “revealing” is also confirmed by him being contrasted to David:
- Goliath puns with gl for “heap”, and with glh for “rolled open” & “revealed”.
- David puns with dwy for “weak”, and with ṭwy for “rolled shut” & “concealed”.
- They’re perfect opposites in all their puns!
- There’s confirmation by Goliath’s epithet m-gt “from Gath”: It puns with mgd for “leadership” (from m-ngd), and with Arabic mjd for “nobility”. Goliath from Gath means to “reveal your leadership & nobility” — The ancient spooks thought that’s a fatal mistake!
- More confirmation comes from Goliath being a Philistine: The Biblical Philistines are a pun with “penetrating” & “detection”, which are synonyms for “revealing”.
Hebrew, Arabic gl, jl = rolled-up heap, pile, bulk, great
Hebrew, Aramaic, Persian glh, glˁ, jlˁ = roll, unroll, unfold, uncover, reveal
גלה glh galah : uncover, remove; to reveal, appear, denude, disclose, discover, depart, exile, open, publish,report, show — Old Hebrew (Strong)
גלה glh : to uncover; to appear; uncovered, revealed, disclosed; discovered, made known — Hebrew (Klein)
גלי ; גלה glh; gly : to be uncovered; open, revealed; to banish, carry into captivity; to be discovered, exposed to view; to reveal one’s self, appear; to uncover, remove; to discover, reveal, publish; to expose to suspicion; to expose, put to shame — Hebrew (Jastrow)
גלל gll : to roll; rolled, rolled away; wrapped; rolled up; unrolled, unfolded; removed — Hebrew (Klein)
גלי gly : to uncover; to open; to show, reveal; to bring to light; to declare; to reveal (secrets, revelations); to uncover; to be visible; to be naked — Aramaic (CAL)
גלוע glwˁ : uncovering, disclosing; opening — Hebrew (Klein)
جلع jlˁ jalʻ : pulling off clothes; being uncovered; being shameless — Persian (Steingass)
جلع jlˁ jalʻ : pulling off clothes; being open; being shameless; one whose privities are exposed; obscene; inverted-lipped; open-mouthed — Persian (Johnson)