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Old 12-28-2005, 11:15 AM   #1
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Default Who killed Goliath?

Nota bene: this thread continues a discussion in another thread of a somewhat obscure title. I would not be surprised to learn that this topic has arisen on more than one previous occasion.

Who killed Goliath? The familiar story from 1 Samuel 17 has the young David, armed with only a slingshot, vanquishing the behemoth Philistine. However, according to a separate account in 2 Samuel 21, it is not David but Elhanan, one of David's mighty men, who kills Goliath. And just to complicate matters, in 1 Chronicles 20:5 it is written that Elhanan kills Goliath's brother! Let's look at these three texts:
Quote:
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. (1 Sam 17:49)
Quote:
And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. (2 Sam 21:19)
Quote:
And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. (1 Chr 20:5)
How can we make sense out of these different texts? Was it David or Elhanan who killed Goliath? Or did Elhanan kill Goliath’s brother? What was the name of Elhanan’s father? Clearly all this is major trouble for fundamentalists who maintain that “scripture� is “inerrant.� In order to harmonize these accounts, they generally resort to one of three positions: (i) David is to be identified with Elhanan, (ii) there is more than one Goliath, or (iii) 2 Sam 21:19 contains scribal error, and the correct statement is found in 1 Chr 20:5.

We can dismiss (i) right away, for two good reasons. First, the patronym of Elhanan in 2 Sam 21:19 shows that he is not the son of Jesse, hence he cannot be David. Further identification of David’s father Jesse with Elhanan’s father Jaare-Orgim is grasping at straws. Furthermore, at the beginning of this pericope in 2 Sam 21:15-17, David, who is elderly in this account, is almost killed, and his men forbid him from further entering into battle. So David is not Elhanan.

Alternative (iii) holds for scribal error in 2 Sam 21:19, essentially replacing it with 1 Chr 20:5. Indeed there is reason to suspect some scribal error in 2 Sam 21:19, but not of the nature that is needed to eliminate the contradiction. (Both 1 and 2 Samuel are among the more corrupt books of the Hebrew Bible, in terms of accreted transmission errors.) At any rate, it is also problematic for a fundamentalist to rely upon scribal error to solve a textual problem, as it admits imperfections in the notionally divine text. In what follows, a more coherent and compelling interpretation of the textual data will be presented.

Incidentally, the King James Bible deliberately mistranslates 2 Sam 21:19 :
Quote:
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 Sam 21:19; KJV)
The words “the brother of� do not appear in the original Hebrew (and, accordingly, are italicized in the KJV). The KJV translators “corrected� 2 Sam 21:19 in light of 1 Chr 20:5, about which we shall have more to say below.

The third alternative is (ii) multiple Goliaths. This is untenable because of the confluence of descriptors used in the different accounts. Both speak of a Philistine named Goliath who is from Gath and who does battle with David (or his men) and of whom it is said, �the shaft of his spear was as a weaver’s beam.� This last very particular descriptive phrase, v’eitz chanito kim’nor orgim in Hebrew, is found in all three accounts (1 Sam 17:7, 2 Sam 21:19, 1 Chr 20:5). If we were to read a story which spoke of a reindeer named Rudolf who is from the North Pole and who works with Santa Claus and of whom it is said, �his red nose was as a bright light,� none of us would have any trouble discerning to whom this description refers. The “multiple goliaths� theory strains credulity.

Some have tried to claim that “Goliath� (Heb. galyat) is not a proper name, but rather a descriptor, like “superman.� This is again grasping at straws. Everywhere the name appears in the Hebrew Bible, Goliath appears as either galyat hagiti (Goliath the Gittite = Goliath of Gath, one of the five cities in the Philistine pentapolis) or galyat haplishti (Goliath the Philistine). There is no cause to presume that the lexical range of galyat within the HB (= Hebrew Bible) includes anything other than a proper name. And finally, there is the clincher:
Quote:
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines – Goliath was his name -- from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. (1 Sam 17:4)
The Hebrew reads galyat sh’mo, which literally means “galyat his name� = “his name was Goliath.�

Furthermore, observe how absurd is the fundamentalist’s position here. He must posit that there are two (or more) Goliaths, Philistine warriors, from Gath, who battle against David, and of whom it is said, “the shaft of his spear was as a weaver’s beam.� Furthermore, he must believe that two characters named Elhanan, one the son of Jair and the other the son of Jaare-Orgim, each killed a Goliath. Or rather one killed a Goliath, just not David’s Goliath, and the other killed the brother of a Goliath (either David’s Goliath or the other Elhanan’s Goliath – we can’t be absolutely sure which, since both these Goliaths were famous for their thick spears) – and that he too was likely a Goliath. This is all comically convoluted.

What does modern scholarship have to say about all this? First of all let’s look a little closer at the pericope in 2 Sam 21:15-22. Therein Goliath is one of four sons of the “Giant of Gath� (Heb. harafa b’gat, cf. 2 Sam 21:22), each of whom is killed by one of David’s mighty men. (Here we see how a descriptive noun like “giant� (Heb. rafa) appears with the definite article (ha-).) Scholars generally believe that the account in 2 Sam 21:15-22 is older than the familiar story in 1 Sam 17.

Indeed, there are several problems with the familiar David and Goliath story in 1 Sam 17, if we try to read it in context. David’s arrival at Saul’s court is described in 1 Sam 16:14-23 :
Quote:
And Saul said unto his servants: 'Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.' Then answered one of the young men, and said: 'Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in affairs, and a comely person, and Yahweh is with him.' Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said: 'Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.' And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying: 'Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight.' And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him. (1 Sam 16:18-23)
Here we note several important data: (i) David is a “mighty man of valor� (Heb. gibbor chayil) and a “man of war� (Heb. ish milchamah); (ii) Saul knows that Jesse is David’s father – indeed Saul directly addresses Jesse in 26:22 regarding David; (iii) David became Saul’s armor bearer (16:21) and court musician (16:23). David was well-known to Saul.

In chapter 17, however, there is a sudden and jarring change. David is not the mighty warrior of 16:18, but is instead a simple shepherd boy, pressed by his father into delivering food supplies to the fighting men at Efes Damim (17:17-18). He is rebuked by his eldest brother (17:28) for leaving his sheep to come and “see the battle.� He is but a youth:
Quote:
And Saul said to David: 'Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he (i.e. goliath) a man of war from his youth.' (1 Sam 17:33)
Unfamiliar with the tools of a warrior (17:39), and armed with only a slingshot, David proceeds to vanquish the Philistine champion. After this impressive display, Saul is curious:
Quote:
And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Avner, the captain of the host: 'Avner, whose son is this youth?' And Avner said: 'As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.' And the king said: 'Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.' And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Avner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him: 'Whose son art thou, thou young man?' And David answered: 'I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.' (1 Sam 17:55-58)
Thus David, the king’s armor bearer and favorite musician in 16:21-23, is suddenly totally unknown to both King Saul and Avner, the commander of the army. Saul, who had explicitly written to David’s father Jesse in 16:22 now enquires, �Whose son are you, young man? in 17:58.

Something is not right. The internal evidence suggests that the story here is both conflate as well as secondary. That is, it is an amalgamation of two versions as well as being a later addition to the biblical text. That the text is conflate seems upon disentangling the narrative into two separate accounts. The discussion of why the text is conflate is somewhat involved and here I want to focus on why it is secondary. We see that the contradictions – suddenly David is a youth again and Saul does not know him – mitigate against a unified composition. Furthermore, in 18:6 the women sing a ditty:
Quote:
And the women sang one to another in their play, and said: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (1 Sam 18:7)
Perhaps the reference to riv’vot (= ten thousand / very large amount) is figurative and refers solely to Goliath. But given the jarring contradictions in the text, it seems quite likely that something else is going on here. That is, the David and Goliath story in 1 Sam 17 (which is, again, composite within the Masoretic Text) has displaced an earlier account in which the mighty and valorous warrior David from 16:22 vanquished ten thousand or more Philistines.

It is interesting to note that the Goliath of 1 Sam 17 seems to be somewhat of a composite figure, encompassing characteristics of several of the sons of the Giant of Gath described in the original account in 2 Sam 21:15-22. The description of the weight of Goliath’s spear and his armor in 1 Sam 17:5-7 is derived from the weaponry of Ishbi benov in 2 Sam 21:16. Goliath’s name and the precise description of his spear in 1 Sam 17:4,7 are taken from the description of Goliath in 2 Sam 21:19. Goliath’s stature in chapter 17 derives from his genealogy in 2 Sam 21 – he and his brothers are yildei harafa b’gat – sons of the Giant of Gath.

It is interesting to note that the text of 1 Sam 17 was evidently not completely stable in the late centuries BCE. The Septuagint (LXX) version is much shorter – it is missing some 39 of the 88 verses of the story. Furthermore, scholars such as P. Kyle McCarter Jr. and especially Emanuel Tov have concluded that the LXX version is not simple a shortened version of that found in the MT, but rather a distinct coherent account. Pre-Christian, Hebrew scrolls of 1 Samuel, which predominantly agree with the LXX over the MT, have been found at Qumran. The three cave 4 scrolls 4QSam(a), 4QSam(b), and 4QSam(c) are older by a millennium than any extant masoretic exemplar. These scrolls, as recognized by Frank Moore Cross, are widely at variance with the MT but consistently close to what one would get by retroverting the LXX to Hebrew.

Finally, the discussion here gives us insight into why the postexilic author of Chronicles modified 2 Sam 21:19, replacing it with
Quote:
And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. (1 Chr 20:5)
Here, as elsewhere, Chronicles harmonizes difficulties in the Deuteronomistic History (the books of the Hebrew Bible from Joshua through 2 Kings). There are many examples of this and if people are interested we can open a discussion of this in a new thread. In this particular case, the conflict between 1 Sam 17 and 2 Sam 21 proved embarrassing, so the Chronicler "corrected" 2 Sam 21:19 by inventing the character of Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. The origin of lahmi is probably the term beit hallahmi (= "Bethlehemite") in 2 Sam 21:19. The Chronicler has also corrected Elhanan's patronym. Indeed, yaarei-orgim (= "forests of weavers") is a bizarre name for Elhanan's father, and it is natural to suspect that the resh and yod in the familiar name yair were at one point accidentally interchanged, by scribal error. The reference to orgim is particularly interesting, since this term also appears in the description of Goliath's weaponry. Some scholars think the text is corrupt here, but the evidence is not quite compelling, as it is in the cases discussed above.
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Old 12-28-2005, 11:50 AM   #2
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It doesn't matter who killed Goliath. It's a myth! Why would one waste so much time and effort to tease out the details of a myth?
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Old 12-28-2005, 11:56 AM   #3
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Yes, that is very much a possibility. Still, the text presents us with some difficulties, and I believe it is possible to make some progress in addressing them.
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Old 12-28-2005, 12:39 PM   #4
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It was a sling, not a slingshot.
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Old 12-28-2005, 01:32 PM   #5
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I have split the Goliath posts from the NT errors thread out here.

I can merge them with this thread if needed.
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Old 12-28-2005, 02:15 PM   #6
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I don't know who deserves the credit for this. I cut and psted it from theologyweb, but I have seen it on various discussion forums for some time.

I think I originally saw it posted by a guy "named" Christopher Elwood (?) who used to post on some forums but I think he may have got it from some other scholar.

Quote:
The biblical story below has been separated into CAPS and normal font.
The words which from the LXX version are NOT in caps.
THE WORDS OF THE OTHER VERSION(S) ARE IN CAPS.


16:17 So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me."
18 One of the young men answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, a man of valour, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him."
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me your son David who is with the sheep."
20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul.
21 And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer.
22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for he has found favour in my sight."
23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.
17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
2 Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines.
3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, ...
10 And the Philistine said, "Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together."
11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12 NOW DAVID WAS THE SON OF AN EPHRATHITE OF BETHLEHEM IN JUDAH, NAMED JESSE, WHO HAD EIGHT SONS. IN THE DAYS OF SAUL THE MAN WAS ALREADY OLD AND ADVANCED IN YEARS.
13 THE THREE ELDEST SONS OF JESSE HAD FOLLOWED SAUL TO THE BATTLE; THE NAMES OF HIS THREE SONS WHO WENT TO THE BATTLE WERE ELIAB THE FIRSTBORN, AND NEXT TO HIM ABINADAB, AND THE THIRD SHAMMAH.
14 DAVID WAS THE YOUNGEST; THE THREE ELDEST FOLLOWED SAUL,
15 BUT DAVID WENT BACK AND FORTH FROM SAUL TO FEED HIS FATHER'S SHEEP AT BETHLEHEM.
16 FOR FORTY DAYS THE PHILISTINE CAME FORWARD AND TOOK HIS STAND, MORNING AND EVENING.
17 JESSE SAID TO HIS SON DAVID, "TAKE FOR YOUR BROTHERS AN EPHAH OF THIS PARCHED GRAIN AND THESE TEN LOAVES, AND CARRY THEM QUICKLY TO THE CAMP TO YOUR BROTHERS;
18 ALSO TAKE THESE TEN CHEESES TO THE COMMANDER OF THEIR THOUSAND. SEE HOW YOUR BROTHERS FARE, AND BRING SOME TOKEN FROM THEM."
19 NOW SAUL, AND THEY, AND ALL THE MEN OF ISRAEL, WERE IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, FIGHTING WITH THE PHILISTINES.
20 DAVID ROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING, LEFT THE SHEEP WITH A KEEPER, TOOK THE PROVISIONS, AND WENT AS JESSE HAD COMMANDED HIM. HE CAME TO THE ENCAMPMENT AS THE ARMY WAS GOING FORTH TO THE BATTLE LINE, SHOUTING THE WAR CRY.
21 ISRAEL AND THE PHILISTINES DREW UP FOR BATTLE, ARMY AGAINST ARMY.
22 DAVID LEFT THE THINGS IN CHARGE OF THE KEEPER OF THE BAGGAGE, RAN TO THE RANKS, AND WENT AND GREETED HIS BROTHERS.
23 AS HE TALKED WITH THEM, THE CHAMPION, THE PHILISTINE OF GATH, GOLIATH BY NAME, CAME UP OUT OF THE RANKS OF THE PHILISTINES, AND SPOKE THE SAME WORDS AS BEFORE. AND DAVID HEARD HIM.
24 ALL THE ISRAELITES, WHEN THEY SAW THE MAN, FLED FROM HIM AND WERE VERY MUCH AFRAID.
25 THE ISRAELITES SAID, "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN WHO HAS COME UP? SURELY HE HAS COME UP TO DEFY ISRAEL. THE KING WILL GREATLY ENRICH THE MAN WHO KILLS HIM, AND WILL GIVE HIM HIS DAUGHTER AND MAKE HIS FAMILY FREE IN ISRAEL."
26 DAVID SAID TO THE MEN WHO STOOD BY HIM, "WHAT SHALL BE DONE FOR THE MAN WHO KILLS THIS PHILISTINE, AND TAKES AWAY THE REPROACH FROM ISRAEL? FOR WHO IS THIS UNCIRCUMCISED PHILISTINE THAT HE SHOULD DEFY THE ARMIES OF THE LIVING GOD?"
27 THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM IN THE SAME WAY, "SO SHALL IT BE DONE FOR THE MAN WHO KILLS HIM."
28 HIS ELDEST BROTHER ELIAB HEARD HIM TALKING TO THE MEN; AND ELIAB'S ANGER WAS KINDLED AGAINST DAVID. HE SAID, "WHY HAVE YOU COME DOWN? WITH WHOM HAVE YOU LEFT THOSE FEW SHEEP IN THE WILDERNESS? I KNOW YOUR PRESUMPTION AND THE EVIL OF YOUR HEART; FOR YOU HAVE COME DOWN JUST TO SEE THE BATTLE."
29 DAVID SAID, "WHAT HAVE I DONE NOW? IT WAS ONLY A QUESTION."
30 HE TURNED AWAY FROM HIM TOWARD ANOTHER AND SPOKE IN THE SAME WAY; AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM AGAIN AS BEFORE.
31 WHEN THE WORDS THAT DAVID SPOKE WERE HEARD, THEY REPEATED THEM BEFORE SAUL; AND HE SENT FOR HIM.
32 David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with THIS Philistine."
33 Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth."
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock,
35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it.
36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and THIS uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God."
37 DAVID SAID, "The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine." So Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you!"
38 Saul clothed David with his armour; he put a bronze helmet on his HEAD AND CLOTHED HIM WITH A COAT OF MAIL.
39 David strapped Saul's sword over the armour, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them." So he DAVID removed them.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 THE PHILISTINE CAME ON AND DREW NEAR TO DAVID, WITH HIS SHIELD-BEARER IN FRONT OF HIM...
48 When the Philistine began to come and draw nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
50 SO DAVID PREVAILED OVER THE PHILISTINE WITH A SLING AND A STONE, STRIKING DOWN THE PHILISTINE AND KILLING HIM; THERE WAS NO SWORD IN DAVID'S HAND.
51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, DREW IT OUT OF ITS SHEATH, and WITH IT killed him; then he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52 The troops of Israel and Judah rose up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
53 The Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
55 WHEN SAUL SAW DAVID GO OUT AGAINST THE PHILISTINE, HE SAID TO ABNER, THE COMMANDER OF THE ARMY, "ABNER, WHOSE SON IS THIS YOUNG MAN?" ABNER SAID, "AS YOUR SOUL LIVES, O KING, I DO NOT KNOW."
56 THE KING SAID, "INQUIRE WHOSE SON THE STRIPLING IS."
57 ON DAVID'S RETURN FROM KILLING THE PHILISTINE, ABNER TOOK HIM AND BROUGHT HIM BEFORE SAUL, WITH THE HEAD OF THE PHILISTINE IN HIS HAND.
58 SAUL SAID TO HIM, "WHOSE SON ARE YOU, YOUNG MAN?" AND DAVID ANSWERED, "I AM THE SON OF YOUR SERVANT JESSE THE BETHLEHEMITE."
18:1 ...
2 Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.
3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armour, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
5 David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.
6 As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, SINGING AND DANCING, TO MEET KING SAUL, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
7 ...
8 SAUL WAS VERY ANGRY, for this saying displeased him. He said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; WHAT MORE CAN HE HAVE BUT THE KINGDOM?"
9 So Saul eyed David from that day on.
10 THE NEXT DAY AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD RUSHED UPON SAUL, AND HE RAVED WITHIN HIS HOUSE, WHILE DAVID WAS PLAYING THE LYRE, AS HE DID DAY BY DAY. SAUL HAD HIS SPEAR IN HIS HAND;
11 AND SAUL THREW THE SPEAR, FOR HE THOUGHT, "I WILL PIN DAVID TO THE WALL." BUT DAVID ELUDED HIM TWICE.
12 Saul was afraid of David, BECAUSE THE LORD WAS WITH HIM BUT HAD DEPARTED FROM SAUL.
13 So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army.
14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the LORD was with him.
15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him.
16 But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
17 THEN SAUL SAID TO DAVID, "HERE IS MY ELDER DAUGHTER MERAB; I WILL GIVE HER TO YOU AS A WIFE; ONLY BE VALIANT FOR ME AND FIGHT THE LORD'S BATTLES." FOR SAUL THOUGHT, "I WILL NOT RAISE A HAND AGAINST HIM; LET THE PHILISTINES DEAL WITH HIM."
18 DAVID SAID TO SAUL, "WHO AM I AND WHO ARE MY KINSFOLK, MY FATHER'S FAMILY IN ISRAEL, THAT I SHOULD BE SON-IN-LAW TO THE KING?"
19 BUT AT THE TIME WHEN SAUL'S DAUGHTER MERAB SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO DAVID, SHE WAS GIVEN TO ADRIEL THE MEHOLATHITE AS A WIFE.
20 Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. Saul was told, and the thing pleased him.
21 Saul thought, "Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." THEREFORE SAUL SAID TO DAVID A SECOND TIME, "YOU SHALL NOW BE MY SON-IN-LAW."
22 Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David in private and say, 'See, the king is delighted with you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king's son-in-law.'"
23 So Saul's servants reported these words to David in private. And David said, "Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and of no repute?"
24 The servants of Saul told him, SAYING, "This is what David said."
25 Then Saul said, "Thus shall you say to David, 'The king desires no marriage present except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged on the king's enemies.'" Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26 When his servants told David these words, David was well pleased to be the king's son-in-law. BEFORE THE TIME HAD EXPIRED,
27 David rose and went, along with his men, and killed one hundred of the Philistines; and DAVID brought their foreskins, WHICH WERE GIVEN IN FULL NUMBER to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife.
28 But when Saul saw AND REALISED that the LORD was with David, and that Saul's daughter Michal loved him,
29 He SAUL was still more afraid of David. SO SAUL WAS DAVID'S ENEMY FROM THAT TIME FORWARD.
So we see that two stories ahve merged into one.
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Old 12-29-2005, 11:49 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Apikorus
Who killed Goliath? The familiar story from 1 Samuel 17 has the young David, armed with only a slingshot, vanquishing the behemoth Philistine. However, according to a separate account in 2 Samuel 21, it is not David but Elhanan, one of David's mighty men, who kills Goliath. And just to complicate matters, in 1 Chronicles 20:5 it is written that Elhanan kills Goliath's brother! Let's look at these three texts: <snip>
Another factor which increases the likelihood that Elhanan was originally Goliath's slayer is that in the David and Goliath narrative, the name Goliath only appears in vv 4 and 23; elsewhere David's opponent is simply referred to as "the Philistine."

Also note how repetitive even these two verses are:

Quote:
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath...
23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name...
Such repetition is understandable since verse 23 is missing from the LXX version of the story.
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Old 12-30-2005, 09:58 AM   #8
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References to the sword of Goliath the Philistine also appear in 21:9 and 22:10. The Goliath story in 1 Sam has a couple more stitches in it.

Incidentally, the Hebrew of 1 Sam 17:23 would better be translated as "...Goliath the Philistine (was) his name, from Gath, from the ranks of the Philistines..."
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