2 Samuel 21

2 Samuel 21

Clarke - David is considered as the lamp by which all Israel was guided, and without whom all the nation must be involved in darkness.” Laney says, “The points of the record is that David was delivered from four great foes. That theme of deliverance prepares the reader for the psalm recorded in chap. 22. David’s faithful soldier Abishai is noted to have slain the Philistine giant Ishi-Benob, whose spear weighed approximately 7 and (1/2) pounds. The ‘lamp of Israel’ refers to David, whose life and actions were as a light kindled for Israel.” Utley on "You shall not go out again with us to battle" David's men saw his weakness and did not want him to fight anymore lest "the lamp of Israel" (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kgs. 8:19; Ps. 132:7) be extinguished. David was the friend of YHWH and hope for Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 18:3). He was the fulfillment of Gen. 49:10 (i.e., Ps. 60:7; 108:8; even possibly Nu. 24:17). 2 Samuel 21:18 Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant. Sibbechai: 1Ch 11:29 20:4 Saph: or, Sippai, 1Ch 20:4 the giant: or, Rapha, 2Sa 21:16,20 2 Samuel 21 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: 1 Chronicles 20:4+ Now it came about after this, that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the giants, and they were subdued. MORE PHILISTINE WAR WITH ANOTHER GIANT FALLING Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant - Again we see the phrase "the giant" which suggests that was the same giant as in 2Sa 21:16. Sibbecai (The Lord sustains) was one of David's heroes (1Ch 11:29), general of the eighth division of the army (1Ch 27:11), is also called Mebunnai (2Sa 23:27). 2 Samuel 21:19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. BGT 2 Samuel 21:19 καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ πόλεμος ἐν Γοβ μετὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἐπάταξεν Ελεαναν υἱὸς Αριωργιμ ὁ Βαιθλεεμίτης τὸν Γολιαθ τὸν Γεθθαῖον καὶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ δόρατος αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀντίον ὑφαινόντων LXE 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was a battle in Rom with the Philistines; and Eleanan son of Ariorgim the Bethleemite slew Goliath the Gittite; and the staff of his spear was as a weaver's beam. KJV 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. NET 2 Samuel 21:19 Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. CSB 2 Samuel 21:19 Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam. ESV 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. NIV 2 Samuel 21:19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod. NLT 2 Samuel 21:19 During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam! NRS 2 Samuel 21:19 Then there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. NJB 2 Samuel 21:19 Again, war with the Philistines broke out at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair, of Bethlehem, killed Goliath of Gath, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. NAB 2 Samuel 21:19 There was another battle with the Philistines in Gob, in which Elhanan, son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed Goliath of Gath, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's heddle-bar. YLT 2 Samuel 21:19 And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, smiteth a brother of Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear is like a beam of weavers. GWN 2 Samuel 21:19 When more fighting broke out with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan, son of Jaare Oregim from Bethlehem, killed Goliath of Gath. (The shaft of Goliath's spear was like a beam used by weavers.) BBE 2 Samuel 21:19 And again there was war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan, the son of Jair the Beth-lehemite, put to death Goliath the Gittite, the stem of whose spear was like a cloth-worker's rod. RSV 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, the Bethlehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. NKJ 2 Samuel 21:19 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ASV 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Elhanan: 1Ch 11:26 Jaareoregim: or, Jair, 1Ch 20:5 Goliath: 1Sa 17:4-11 2 Samuel 21 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 1 Chronicles 20:5+ And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. WHO KILLED GOLIATH? There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam - Who killed Goliath? The NLT tries to resolve the issue writing Elhanan "killed the brother of Goliath of Gath" as explained in the somewhat technical note. Some writers note at least three possible solutions: 1. There could have been two giants named Goliath. 2. Elhanan and David may be different names for the same person, just as Solomon had another name in 2 Samuel 12:24,25. 3. There has been a scribal error in transmission and the text should read, ‘Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath.’ Remembering that Scripture is the best commentary on Scripture (Compare Scripture with Scripture), the third view is clearly supported by the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 20:5. NET NOTE - The Hebrew text as it stands reads, “Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite.” Who killed Goliath the Gittite? According to 1Sa 17:4-58 it was David who killed Goliath, but according to the Masoretic Text of 2Sa 21:19 it was Elhanan who killed him. Many scholars believe that the two passages are hopelessly at variance with one another. Others have proposed various solutions to the difficulty, such as identifying David with Elhanan or positing the existence of two Goliaths. But in all likelihood the problem is the result of difficulties in the textual transmission of the Samuel passage. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 20:5 reads, “Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath.” Both versions are textually suspect. The Chronicles text appears to have misread “Bethlehemite” (בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי, bet hallakhmi) as the accusative sign followed by a proper name אֶת לַחְמִי (ʾet lakhmi). (See the note at 1 Chr 20:5 = The Hebrew text reads, “Elchanan son of Jair killed Lachmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite.” But it is likely that the accusative marker in front of לַחְמִי (lakhmi, “Lachmi”) was originally בֵּית (bet), and that אֶת־לַחְמִי (ʾet lakhmi) should be emended to בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי bet hallakhmi, “the Bethlehemite”) The Samuel text appears to have misread the word for “brother” (אַח, ʾakh) as the accusative sign (אֵת, ʾet), thereby giving the impression that Elhanan, not David, killed Goliath. Thus in all probability the original text read, “Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath.” NET NOTE on - Heb “Jaare-Oregim,” but the second word, which means “weavers,” is probably accidentally included. It appears at the end of the verse. The term is omitted in the parallel account in 1 Chr 20:5, which has simply “Jair.” Walter Kaiser - Page 185 in Hard Sayings of the Bible - Who Killed Goliath? In 1 Samuel 17 and 1Sa 21:9 it is claimed that David is the one who killed Goliath; however, in 2 Samuel 21:19 it says that Elhanan killed him. Both cannot be right, can they? And who was Lahmi, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 20:5? While some have tried to resolve the contradiction by suggesting that Elhanan may be a throne name for David, a reference to David, under any name, in a summary of exploits by David’s mighty men appears most peculiar. The bottom line on this whole dispute is that David is the one who slew Goliath and Elhanan slew the brother of Goliath, as it says in 1 Chronicles 20:5. The problem, then, is with the 2 Samuel 21:19 text. Fortunately, however, we can trace what the original wording for that text was through the correctly preserved text in 1 Chronicles 20:5. The copyist of the 2 Samuel 21:19 text made three mistakes: (1) He read the direct object sign that comes just before the name of the giant that Elhanan killed, namely Lahmi, as if it were the word “Beth,” thereby getting “the Bethlehemite,” when the “Beth” was put with “Lahmi.” (2) He also misread the word for “brother” (Hebrew ˒āḥ) as the direct object sign (Hebrew ˒eṯ) before Goliath, thereby making Goliath the one who was killed, since he was now the direct object of the verb, instead, as it should have been, “the brother of Goliath.” (3) He misplaced the word “Oregim,” meaning “weavers,” so that it yielded “Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim,” a most improbable reading for anyone: “Elhanan the son of the forests of weavers.” The word for “weavers” should come as it does in 1 Chronicles 20:5 about the spear being “a beam/shaft like a weaver’s rod.”5 Elhanan gets the credit for killing Lahmi, the brother of Goliath; but David remains the hero who killed Goliath. 2 Samuel 21:20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant. There was war: 1Ch 20:6-7 the giant: or, Rapha, 2Sa 21:16,18 2 Samuel 21 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 1 Chronicles 20:6-7 (Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. Map of Cities in 2 Samuel SIX DIGITED GIANT FREAK OF NATURE There was war at Gath again - Note the repetition of "war...again" (2Sa 21:15, 18, 19, 20). Gath (see map above) of course was Goliath's hometown and he could be the giant repeatedly referred to in this chapter (2Sa 21:16,18,20,22). It would not be unreasonable, that if Goliath had sons, they would seek to avenge their father's death at the hands of David. Where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant - These extra digits indicate congenital malformations, suggesting he may have had abnormal development in other organ systems. Again he is the progeny of the giant, the same father (2Sa 21:22) in each of 4 uses (2Sa 21:16, 18, 20, 22).