2 Samuel 21:19

19 Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair ^[a] the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath ^[b] the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

2 Samuel 21:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:19

And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines
Another battle with them in the same place:

where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew [the brother
of] Goliath the Gittite;
the word "brother" is rightly supplied from ( 1 Chronicles 20:5 ) ; where his name is said to be Lahmi, for not Goliath himself was slain, though some so interpret it, and take Elhanan to be David; so Jarchi, and with which agrees the Targum; but he was slain not at Gob, but in the valley of Elah, nor had David any such name as Elhanan; he was one of David's worthies, ( 2 Samuel 23:24 ) ; where he is called the son of Dodo, and in ( 1 Chronicles 20:5 ) , the son of Jair; and Lahmi there may not be the name of Goliath's brother, but, as here, the country name of Elhanan; for the words ^F26 there may be rendered,

``and Elhanan the son of Jair, the Lehemite (i.e. the Bethlehemite), slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite,''

and so perfectly agrees, with this:

the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam;
not of Goliath's brother, but of Goliath himself, ( 1 Samuel 17:7 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Vid. Buxtorf. Anticritic. par. 2. c. 2. p. 421.

2 Samuel 21:19 In-Context

17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”

18 Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

19 Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20 And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,

21 and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

Footnotes

• [a]. See 1 Chronicles 20:5; Hebrew Jaare-oregim
• [b]. See 1 Chronicles 20:5; Hebrew does not include the brother of.