GOD IS OUR FORTRESS, AN EVER PRESENT HELP IN TIME OF NEED

  47  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 1  Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! 2  For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. 3  He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. 4  He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah 5  God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 6  Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! 7  For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! 8  God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. 9  The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!  ( Psalm 47 )
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Tackling Tradition 101: Who Was Killed, Goliath Or His Brother?

And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ( 1 Chronicles 20)


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. (2 Samuel 21)


So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. (1 Samuel 17)


According to Got Questions,  


Why the discrepancy? Why does 2 Samuel 21:19say that Elhanan killed Goliath? One viable theory is that, somewhere in the chain of copying the text, a scribe made a mistake. The Hebrew word for “the brother of” was miswritten, which changed the grammar of the sentence and led to a problematic sentence structure for the next scribe. The second scribe’s attempt to solve the syntactical puzzle produced a reading that omitted the important detail of Goliath’s brother.


Fortunately, we have 1 Chronicles 20:5, which contains the correct Hebrew wording and informs us, through implication, that 2 Samuel 21:19 is missing the words the brother of. We can be confident that David killed Goliath. Elhanan later killed Goliath’s brother.


Further, the context of 2 Samuel 21:19 makes it clear that it is describing an entirely separate event from David’s slaying of Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:50. Second Samuel 21:11–14 puts the passage after the death of Saul, who was alive when David killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:31–39, 55–58). Second Samuel 21:15–17 indicates that Elhanan killed “Goliath” when David was the king of Israel, not when he was a servant of King Saul.


Because the Bible teaches a species of Continuationism, not Cessationism, the Bible is, therefore, a Continuationist document, & in light of the fact that God has promised that preserve His Word (Psalm 12:6-7) & that His Word does not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11) I’d like to suggest a 3rd theory that does a better job of harmonizing these texts. 


First of all, the existence of one or more (alleged) scribal errors doesn’t necessarily mean that the text itself, if the resulting translation prefers the (alleged) the resulting translation is errant in relation to a translation that prefers a different reading of one or more manuscripts.  


Second, I think that the best & most efficient way to answer critics of the Bible itself &/or one or more particular translations of the manuscripts that underwrite our modern & not so modern translations is good old fashioned Hebrew Naming Conventions. 


With that in mind, let’s compare these 3 texts in light of what the names in these texts mean. 


I Chronicles 20

And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. 


  • And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan (GRACE OF GOD, GOD IS GRACIOUS, WHOM GOD HAS BESTOWED) the son of Jair (HE SHINES, HE BESTOWS LIGHT,  HE ENLIGHTENS) struck down Lahmi MY BREAD, MY WAR) the brother of Goliath (DESTROYER, DESTROYING SPIRIT)  Gittite (FROM GATH), the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. 


RESULT: And there was again war with the Philistines, and HE UPON WHOM GOD HAS BESTOWED HIS GRACE the son of HE WHO SHINES FORTH GOD’s GLORY struck down Lahmi (MY WAR) the brother of Goliath (MY DESTROYER)  the Gittite (FROM GATH) the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.


2 Samuel 21

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. (2 Samuel 21)


  • And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan HE UPON WHOM GOD HAS BESTOWED HIS GRACE the son of Jaare-oregim (FOREST/WOODED PLACE OF THE WEAVERS) the Bethlehemite (OF/FROM BETHLEHEM, HOUSE OF BREAD, struck down Goliath (THE DESTROYER) the Gittite (OF/FROM GATH) the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. (2 Samuel 21)


RESULT: And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and HE UPON WHOM GOD HAS BESTOWED HIS GRACE the son of HE WHO IS (OF/FROM) A/THE FOREST &/OR THE WOODED PLACE OF THE WEAVERS the ONE WHO IS OF/FROM THE HOUSE OF BREAD, struck down THE DESTROYER the ONE FROM GATH the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. (2 Samuel 21)



I Samuel 17

  • So David (HE WHO IS CHERISHED) prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. (1 Samuel 17)


CONCLUSION:  There is no discrepancy.   


David & Elkhanon are one & the same individual.   David is his proper name.  Elkhanon is one of his covenant names.   Taken together, David, the HE UPON WHOM GOD HAS BESTOWED HIS GRACE, son of Jesse, HE WHO IS (OF/FROM) A/THE FOREST &/OR THE WOODED PLACE OF THE WEAVERS the ONE WHO IS OF/FROM THE HOUSE OF BREAD & HE WHO SHINES FORTH GOD’s GLORY, is he who killed Goliath, THE DESTROYER FROM/OF GATH, who, like the legendary Nephilim, who were said to be giants, is identified as brother of “MY WAR” & “DESTROYER” insofar as in the Ancient Near East, men of renown were known to identify as sons & other kinsmen & kinsmen protectors of not only THE LORD Himself but also any number of territorial spirits/pseudodeities, some or all of whom &/or their servants answered to those name.   


This is the Way! This is our prayer!

O LORD, Hear Our Prayer(s). 

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