2 Samuel 21:18

REGARDING THE SLAUGHTER OF THE GIANTS OF GATH

"After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, the Bethlehemire, slew Goliath the Gitrite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was war again 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 descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother slew him. These four were descended from the giants in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants."

"Elhanan killed Goliath" (2 Samuel 21:19). The great difficulty here is that the Hebrew text is apparently a flat contradiction of 1 Samuel 17, where it is stated that David killed Goliath. For any who might be interested in a more detailed discussion of this, D. F. Payne in The New Bible Commentary (Revised) devotes a special appendix to the problem,[23] Bearing in mind the admitted corruption evident in this chapter, the Christian should have no difficulty with the problem. There are a number of ways to resolve the matter: (1) The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 20:5 states that, "Elhanan ... slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath." (2) Elhanan and David were names of the same individual, just as Solomon was also named Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24d). (3) "It is also possible that Goliath was a name worn by more than one Philistine giant, or that it was a Philistine title, or that it described a certain type of Philistine soldier."[24] It is perfectly silly for any Christian to be upset about this type of difficulty. "There is simply not enough information for anyone to be dogmatic about the problem."[25] As Payne stated it, "In view of the textual problems, it is a precarious argument to insist that 2 Samuel 21:19 contradicts 1 Samuel 17."[26]

"These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants" (2 Samuel 21:22). It is significant that David is here mentioned as one who had a hand in killing these giants, and that certainly harmonizes with 1 Samuel 17.