The Bible Says That!? - Who Killed Goliath
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Intro
Today, we’re talking about a textual issue within the stories of David and Goliath. Specifically, who killed Goliath?; and How tall was Goliath?
Based on what you know, who killed Goliath? Based on what passage/knowledge/experience can you say that with confidence?
Who Killed Goliath?
Read 1 Sam 16:1-13
Who is the one chosen by God to become the next King over Israel after Saul?
David = Son of Jesse of Bethlehem
The Lord spoke to Samuel to talk to David
Samuel inspected the Sons of Jesse
David was chosen
Read 1 Sam 17: 4-7, 32-50
According to this passage, who killed Goliath at the battle with the Philistines? à
Based on vv. 4-7 what are some unique characteristics about Goliath and his armor/weapons? From “Gath,” 6 cubits tall, bronze helmet, scaled bronze armor, “Spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod,” iron point weighing 600 shekels.
Read: 2 Sam 21:19
According to this passage, who killed Goliath at the battle with the Philistines? 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.
Does anyone have a text note next to “the brother of”? What does it say?
It says to check out 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew does not have “the brother of.”
Does anyone have a text note next to “Jair”? We’ll use this note for the next passage.
It says to check out 1 Chron 20:5 and that the Hebrew here says “Jaare-Oregim."
Read: 1 Chron. 20:5
It says that “Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.”
What is going on here? What are your thoughts? What are some possibilities?
There are a couple of possibilities:
There are two Goliaths
However, this is a very rare name. So to have two identical men, each 4-6 cubits tall, with a rod like a weaver’s beam, and named Goliath, and a Philistine, and the same time period, and fighting the Israelites, and killed by the same guy, all that the same time is extremely
Elhanan is a throne name for David
However, Elhanan is the son of Jaare-oregim in one passage, and the son of Jair in the other text.
Plus, David was the son of who? Jesse. And nowhere is Jesse ever referred to Jair or Jaare-oregim.
A spelling mistake
A spelling mistake made in one of the manuscripts between the Definite direct object marker and the Hebrew word for “brother”
1 Chron 20:5 - אֶת-לַחְמִי אֲחִי גָּלְיָת
2 Sam 21:19 - בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי אֵת גָּלְיָת
All that would need to happen is the Tav in the Definite Direct Object maker to be turned into a Het and the Bet in “Bethlehem” to be changed to an alef to make it “brother of Lahmi”
Yet several questions still remain
Why are Jair and Jaare-oregim different?
Since Chronicles came later than 2 Sam, its possible and even likely that it tried to bring some clarification to this passage as to who this character was as well as potentially fix the “Bethlehemite” vs “Brother of Lachmi” issue.
Since Chronicles does its very very best to whitewash David, it definitely has a bias to make David look as good as possible. So Chronicles could be trying to fix the issue of who killed Goliath by making Elhanan kill Goliaths brother, thus leaving David as the one who killed Goliath.
If this is true, then what do we do with the conflicting texts that still remain in our Bibles?
However, if this isn’t the case, then who killed Goliath? David or Elhanan?
How tall was Goliath?
Read: 1 Sam 17:4
How tall was Goliath based on this passage? 6 cubits and a span. About 9 feet 9 inches
However, this passage is based upon our Masoretic text. What do the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint say?
The DSS of 4QSamuel A says that Goliath was 4 cubits and a span.
The LXX says that he was 4 Cubits and a span. Note that the LXX is likely the version of the Bible that Jesus read.
Josephus (Antiquities 6.9.1) says that he was 4 cubits and a span
However, note that the LXX is about 40 verses shorter than the Masoretic text – Omitting 1 Sam 17:12-41, 50, 55-58, the sections about David’s background and all of David’s prep before the fight, and the actual verses (vv. 50, 57) that says that David killed Goliath.
So which one is correct? Or is there something else going on here? What do you think?
What is likely happening with both of these questions of who killed Goliath and how tall was he is this: Since David is seen is the first good, real, and best King of God’s people – the Israelites, it’s possible that a guy named Elhanan the son of Jair killed a Philistine of great stature named Goliath around the time of Saul and David’s rise to power. But over time, the story of Elhanan’s victory attached itself to David to give his rise to power authority, legitimacy, and awe. Essentially, any heroic action by any of his men/ armies/etc. would have attached themselves to David.
HOWEVER, this is not for certain. It is simply an attempt to try and understand the author's intent of whitewashing David, providing heroic narratives for his rise to the Kingship, and the material that inevitably attached itself to David along the same lines as “a man after God’s own heart,” kind of stuff.
The size of Goliath could very depending on how big a cubit is, and could also be like a fishing story. “I caught a fish thiiiiis big,” and each time you tell the story, it gets bigger and bigger. This was again to pump David up as a mighty warrior on his rise to power. Regardless, Goliath was a huge guy and a formidable opponent and he was defeated.
Take Away
How has this conversation shifted your perspective of the David Narrative and his rise to power?
How has this conversation help you understand the complexities of Scripture?
How can you use this lesson to teach someone the truth of Scripture rather than hiding from things that are confusing or difficult for us to explain?