WHO KILLED GOLIATH, REALLY? (PART II)

“Goliath and His Four Giant Kinsmen”

By Akin Ojumu

Considering the attempts that have been made throughout history to eradicate the Bible, it is a sheer miracle that the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies sold and distributed over the last 1,500 years. The fact it remains the most sought-after piece of literary work in the world even today is evidence of the resilience of the Holy Scripture and the Omnipotence of the One to whom it belongs. 

Take for instance the following three examples, borrowed from the Way of Life Bible College website, of pledges and predictions that influential people in history have made concerning the demise of the Bible and extinction of Christianity.

In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to stop Christians from worshipping Jesus Christ and to destroy their Scriptures. Every official in the empire was ordered to raze the churches to the ground and burn every Bible found in their districts (Stanley Greenslade, Cambridge History of the Bible). Twenty-five years later Diocletian’s successor, Constantine, issued another edict ordering fifty Bibles to be published at government expense (Eusebius).

In 1778, the French enlightenment writer, philosopher, satirist, historian, and infidel, Voltaire, boasted that in 100 years Christianity would cease to exist, but within 50 years the Geneva Bible Society used his press and house to publish Bibles (Geisler and Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, 1986, pp. 123, 124).

Robert Ingersoll, aka the “Great Agnostic,” was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism. He once boasted, “Within 15 years I’ll have the Bible lodged in a morgue.” But Ingersoll is dead, and the Bible is alive and well.

Above all other books combined, the Bible has been hated, vilified, ridiculed, criticized, restricted, banned, and destroyed, but it has been to no avail. As one writer rightly said, “We might as well put our shoulder to the burning wheel of the sun, and try to stop it on its flaming course, as an attempt to stop the circulation of the Bible” (Sidney Collett, All About the Bible, p. 63).

The fact that all those who have attempted to stop the publishing and reading of the Bible have all, figuratively, gotten burned, hasn’t stopped others from trying. In societies where the burning or outlawing the Bible is not an option, modern-day descendants of Diocletian, Voltaire, and Ingersoll continue in their quixotic effort to discredit the Bible by combing through its pages to identify what they perceive to be inconsistencies.

This commentary series addresses one of the Bible stories that critics have attempted to use to discredit the Bible. With stony hearts and spiritual blindness, they say there are contradictions in the accounts of the killing of Goliath as told in 1 Samuel 17 compared to what we have in 2 Samuel 21. In the former, they say, David killed Goliath. But in the latter, a different person is said to kill Goliath.

2 Samuel 21:19

“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.”

There, they say, is the contradiction. They argue that it was Elhanan, and not David, who actually killed Goliath. Sadly, there are folks who would read the 2 Samuel 21:19 and come to the same conclusion as these ignorant skeptics.

To entertain the thought that there are contradictions between in 1 Samuel 17 and 2 Samuel 21:19 accounts of the killing of Goliath is to lack a good grasp of Scripture. Anyone who holds such an opinion doesn’t understand some of the basic principles of Biblical hermeneutics. Those believe there’s an inconsistency in these two accounts most certainly don’t know that Scripture interprets Scripture. Such individuals are pretty much denying the inerrancy (i.e., free from error) and infallibility (incapable of being wrong) of Scripture.

On the contrary, the faithful student of the Bible is fully persuaded there are no inconsistencies between the account of the slaying of Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 and 2 Samuel 21. His persuasion is not the result of willfully overlooking glaring evidence by suspending his disbelief. Rather, it is because he knows that there are a few things those who want to discredit the Bible choose to ignore or fail to see in these two accounts of the killing of Goliath.

First off, 2 Samuel 21:19 is the account of a different war between Israel and the Philistines. This particular battle took place in Gob which is not the same place as the Valley of Elah where David faced off with and killed Goliath. 

Secondly, when the battle at Gob was fought, David was no longer the young shepherd boy who brought provisions from his father to his brothers on the battlefront during the reign of king Saul. At the time of this particular war, David was now the king of Israel, he was much older and nearing the end of his life.

Some of you may be asking, if indeed, 2 Samuel 21 is the account of another war with the Philistines, how come there is a mention of a Philistine giant named Goliath who is said to have been killed by Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite? Is it that Goliath didn’t die in 1 Samuel 17? Did Goliath miraculously grow his head back? Were there multiple giants named Goliath in the land of the Philistines? Or is Elhanan another name for David?

These are all great and important questions to ask, if the intention is to gain knowledge of Scripture and not simply to cast aspersion on its accuracy or consistency. To answer the questions, we have to turn to the Bible and allow it to explain what, on face value, appears to be a contradiction. For that, we’ll have to go to another Bible passage that talks about this  war that later broke out between Israel and the Philistines.

1 Chronicles 20:5

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

As you can see, the “Goliath” that Elhanan killed in 2 Samuel 21:19 was actually Lahmi who was the brother of the Goliath killed by David in 1 Samuel 17. Another evidence that supports the fact that it was Goliath’s brother, and not Goliath himself, that was killed by Elhanan in 2 Samuel 21:19 is to read the passage in other Bible translations.

2 Samuel 21:19 (KJV)

“And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.”

2 Samuel 21:19 (NKJV)

“Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.”

2 Samuel 21:19 (NIV)

“In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.”

2 Samuel 21:19 (NLT)

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

As you can see, the person killed by Elhanan was the brother of Goliath. And, according to 1 Chronicles 20:5, his name was Lahmi. 

Additionally, what Bible evidence shows is that the Goliath killed by David was not the only Philistine giant in the Bible. In fact, there are four Philistine giants you’d find mentioned in 2 Samuel 21. These are their names:

2 Samuel 21:16 – Ishbi-Benob

“Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.”

2 Samuel 21:18 – Saph (Sippai)

“Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.”

2 Samuel 21:19 – Goliath’s Brother, Lahmi

“Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.”

2 Samuel 21:20 – Unnamed Giant

“Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.”

All the aforementioned giants are described as sons of the giant. And they were all slayed by either David or his men.

2 Samuel 21:22

“These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.”

The point of all of this is to remind all those who call themselves Believers in Christ the importance of being Biblically adept. True Christians don’t have the luxury of waiting around till next Church service to hear Scripture read to them. The Christian life cannot subsist on a Sunday-Sunday dose of God’s Word.  

As Paul did mention in Romans 1:18, there are forces out there who are working overtime to suppress the truth of God. Their mission is to confuse Christians by sowing seeds of doubts in the Church on the sufficiency, inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture. They do this for the purpose of pushing their destructive heresies and doctrines of demons on church folks.

Furthermore, Christians must realize that the enemies of God are not primarily or principally atheists and unbelievers outside the Church. The fiercest and most effective assault on the Word of God today is emanating right from inside the Church. As the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ rightly predicted, the onslaught on God’s truth is coming from those who profess to be Christians and who are ministers of the Gospel.

2 Peter 2:1

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”

Believers in Christ must be ready to confront the enemies of the Gospel, inside and outside the Church, by refuting and exposing their errors with Scriptures.

Ephesians 5:6-11

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

1 Peter 3:15

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

However, there is no way Christians can confidently and effectively refute destructive heresies and doctrines of demons if they themselves do not even have a good grasp of Scripture. Without a sound knowledge of what the Bible teaches, it is impossible to discern truth from error. It’s for this reason all Christians must diligently study and be solidly grounded in the Word of God.

2 Timothy 2:15

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”

My prayer is that God would grant the reader understanding. As they endeavor to study God’s Word, I pray that the scales will fall from their eyes to see the truth and that boldness will fill their hearts to confront those who make a habit of peddling destructive heresies and doctrines of demons.