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Battles With the Philistine Giants

15 War occurred again between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his troops and fought against the Philistines. David became very tired. 16 Ishbi Benob was one of the descendants of Rapha the giant.[a] His bronze spear weighed more than seven pounds,[b] and he was equipped with a new weapon. He said that he was going to kill David. 17 Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid. He attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You are not to go out to battle with us anymore, so that you do not put out the lamp of Israel.”

18 After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, in which Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was also descended from Rapha the giant.

19 There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Elhanan son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[c] whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.

20 There was war again in Gath. There was a very tall man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha the giant. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,[d] the brother of David, killed him. 22 These four were descended from Rapha the giant in Gath. They fell at the hand of David and his servants.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:16 Literally the Rapha. Rapha was the ancestor of a group of very tall men who lived among the Philistines. They are called the Rephaim, and the valley where some of these battles were fought was named after them.
  2. 2 Samuel 21:16 Hebrew three hundred shekels
  3. 2 Samuel 21:19 The Hebrew text here reads Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite. This reading does not agree with the account of David killing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. The translation above follows the reading of the parallel text in 1 Chronicles 20:5.
  4. 2 Samuel 21:21 There are several different Hebrew spellings of the name of this brother of David, also known as Shimea, Shimei, and Shammah. Such inconsistency in the spelling of personal names is common.

Battles with the Philistines Recounted

15 There was war again for the Philistines with Israel, and David and his servants with him went down, and they fought the Philistines, and David grew weary. 16 Now Yishbi in Nob, who was among the descendents of Raphah[a] (now the weight of his spearhead was three hundredweight of bronze, and he was newly armed), said that he would kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and he attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out with us any longer to the battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.”

18 It happened afterward that there was again battle at Gob with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph who was among the descendants of the Raphah.

19 There was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. And Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath[b] the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of a weaver.

20 Once again there was battle at Gath, and there was a man of great size.[c] The fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet were six and six, twenty-four in number. He was also born to the Raphah. 21 He taunted Israel but Jonathan the son of Shimei, the brother of David, killed him. 22 These four were born for the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:16 The descendants of Raphah (i.e., the Rephaim) were thought to be giants
  2. 2 Samuel 21:19 In view of the account of David and Goliath in 1 Sam 17, it is likely that Elhanan actually killed the brother of Goliath, Lahmi, in 1 Chr 20:5
  3. 2 Samuel 21:20 Literally “a man of measurement”