What does the word…
champion mean in the Bible

Hebrew: בֵּנַיִם —transliteration: benayim —meaning: champion —occurrences: 2

Hebrew: גִּבּוֹר —transliteration: gibbor —meaning: strong, mighty —indicating a particularly mighty man —occurrences: 159

Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

…behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them. —1 Samuel 17:4, 23 excerpt

A champion was “the man between the two,” who took a position between the two warring camps, offering a victory to be decided by the battle of just two men, rather than between the two armies.

Single combats of this kind at the head of armies were common in ancient times.

The word translated “champion” in the following verse is the Hebrew word גִּבּוֹר (gibbor).

Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and put him to death and cut off his head with it. Then the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, so they fled. —1 Sam. 17:51

More information

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• Giants and mighty men in the Bible
• About armies in the Bible
• About war in the Bible