2 Samuel 21:21

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

2 Samuel 21:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:21

And when he defied Israel
The armies of Israel, as Goliath had done some years ago, ( 1 Samuel 17:10 ) ;

Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him;
this brother of David is called Shammah, ( 1 Samuel 16:9 ) ; and Shimma, ( 1 Chronicles 2:13 ) ; this son of his is another man from Jonadab his son, who was famous for his subtlety as this was for his valour, ( 2 Samuel 13:3 ) . The Jews say ^F4 this was Nathan the prophet, a son of Shammah.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Hieron. Trad. Heb. fol. 76. D.

2 Samuel 21:21 In-Context

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.

22 So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

Footnotes

• [a]. Shimei is a variant of Shammah, Shimeah, and Shimea; see 1 Samuel 16:9, 2 Samuel 13:3, and 1 Chronicles 2:13.