How does 2 Samuel 21:19 reconcile with 1 Chronicles 20:5 regarding Goliath's death? Passages in Question “Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.” “There was another battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.” Initial Apparent Difficulty At first glance 2 Samuel credits Elhanan with killing Goliath, whereas 1 Chronicles states that Elhanan killed Lahmi, Goliath’s brother. Because Scripture is self-consistent, the task is to discover why the Samuel wording appears different. Probable Scribal Phenomena 1. Mis-division of words. Hebrew was originally written without vowels or spacing. “Bēth-hal-laḥmî” (“Bethlehemite”) may have been a mis-reading of “beth-Lachmî” (“Lachmi”), which with the following word ʾăḥî (“brother of”) yields the Chronicles sense. 2. Haplography. A copyist’s eye may have skipped the short word ʾăḥî (“brother of”), especially between two similar consonantal clusters, causing “brother of Goliath” to drop out. 3. Conflation of patronym. “Yaʿrê ʾōrēgîm” (“foresters of weavers”) is likely a dittographic expansion of “Yāʾîr.” The Masoretic vocalization can preserve either reading. Early Witnesses Supporting ‘Brother of’ • Septuagint (LXX, Codex Vaticanus): 2 Samuel 21:19 includes τὸν ἀδελφὸν Γολιὰθ (“the brother of Goliath”). • Syriac Peshitta and Targum Jonathan also read “brother of.” • Dead Sea Scroll 4QSama is fragmentary at this verse but shows spacing consistent with an omitted element, matching a scribal skip. These independent lines indicate that the original 2 Samuel text agreed with 1 Chronicles but a later textual accident removed “brother of” and distorted the personal details. Ancient Names Corroborated Archaeologically An ostracon from Tell es-Safi (ancient Gath) dated to the Iron Age contains the Philistine names “ʼLWT” and “WLT,” consonantally close to Golyat, demonstrating the authentic historicity of the name Goliath in that setting (Aren Maeir, 2005 dig report). The Elhanan episode therefore sits firmly in the known cultural milieu. Chronicles as Inspired Clarification Chronicles, written later, frequently updates wording, supplies fuller genealogies, and sidesteps copying slips that had entered Samuel-Kings. By Spirit-guided composition the Chronicler preserved the fuller wording: Elhanan killed Lahmi, not David’s giant. Translation Practices Today Most conservative English translations (KJV, NASB 1995, ESV) insert “the brother of” in 2 Samuel 21:19, marking it in italics or footnotes, reflecting the superior combined manuscript weight. Berean Standard Bible preserves the uncorrected Hebrew for transparency yet annotates the parallel in Chronicles. Unified Historical Sequence 1. David killed Goliath of Gath (1 Samuel 17). 2. Years later, Elhanan son of Jair slew Lahmi, Goliath’s brother, at Gob (2 Samuel 21 / 1 Chronicles 20). 3. A scribal omission in one line of transmission of 2 Samuel created the superficial contradiction, which is resolved by earlier and cross-canonical evidence. Practical Takeaways for the Believer and Skeptic 1. Apparent contradictions frequently disappear with careful textual investigation. 2. The very process of textual criticism demonstrates divine providence in preserving Scripture. 3. Confidence in the Bible’s minutiae paves the way to confidence in its central message: the sinless Son executed, buried, raised, and appearing alive “on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). |
    |