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Battles against Philistine Giants

15 Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. 16 Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants[a]; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds,[b] and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

18 After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.

19 During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair[c] from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath.[d] The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

20 In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man[e] with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. 21 But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.[f]

22 These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

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Footnotes

  1. 21:16a Or a descendant of the Rapha; also in 21:18, 20, 22.
  2. 21:16b Hebrew 300 [shekels] [3.4 kilograms].
  3. 21:19a As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads son of Jaare-oregim.
  4. 21:19b As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads killed Goliath of Gath.
  5. 21:20 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:6; Hebrew reads a Midianite.
  6. 21:21 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:7; Hebrew reads Shimei, a variant spelling of Shimea.

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”