2 Samuel 21:19 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Samuel 21:19
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.
a battle (i.e. the engagement) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Gob
בְּג֖וֹבbe.Gov
H1359
Gob · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Philistines
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑יםpe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
Elhanan
אֶלְחָנָן֩'el.cha.Nan
H445
Elchanan · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jaare-oregim
יַעְרֵ֨יya'.Rei
H3296
Jaare-Oregim · proper noun, a man's name
Beth-lehemite
בֵּ֣יתbeit
H1022
a Beth-lechemite · noun, common masculine singular construct
slew
וַיַּ֡ךְvai.Yakh
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Goliath
גָּלְיָ֣תgal.Yat
H1555
Goljath · proper noun, a man's name
Gittite
הַגִּתִּ֔יha.gi.Ti
H1663
a Gittite or inhabitant of Gath · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
staff
וְעֵ֣ץve.'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
spear
חֲנִית֔וֹcha.ni.To
H2595
a lance (for thrusting · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
weaver’s
אֹרְגִֽים'o.re.Gim
H707
to plait or weave · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
beam
כִּמְנ֖וֹרkim.Nor
H4500
a yoke (properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Chronicles 20:5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff w…
1 Samuel 17:4-11 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
1 Chronicles 11:26 Also the valiant men of the armies were, Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:15–end
We have here the story of some conflicts with the Philistines, which happened, as it should seem, in the latter end of David's reign. Though he had so subdued them that they could not bring any great numbers into the field, yet as long as they had any giants among them to be their champions, they would never be quiet, but took all occasions to disturb the peace of Israel, to challenge them, or make incursions upon them.
I. David himself was engaged with one of the giants. The Philistines began the war yet again, Sa2 21:15. The enemies of God's Israel are restless in their attempts against them. David, though old, desired not a writ of ease from the public service, but he went down in person…
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel--Although the Philistines had completely succumbed to the army of David, yet the appearance of any gigantic champions among them revived their courage and stirred them up to renewed inroads on the Hebrew territory. Four successive contests they provoked during the latter period of David's reign, in the first of which the king ran so imminent a risk of his life that he was no longer allowed to encounter the perils of the battlefield.
The song contained in this chapter is the same as the eighteenth Psalm, where the full commentary will be given [see on Psa 18:1, &c.]. It may be sufficient simply to remark that Jewish writers have noticed…
Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim - slew - Goliath the Gittite - Here is a most manifest corruption of the text, or gross mistake of the transcriber; David, not Elhanan, slew Goliath. In Ch1 20:5, the parallel place, it stands thus: "Elhanan, the son of Jair, slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear-staff was like a weaver's beam." This is plain; and our translators have borrowed some words from Chronicles to make both texts agree. The corruption may be easily accounted for by considering that ארגים oregim, which signifies weavers, has slipped out of one line into the other; and that בית הלחמי beith hallachmi, the Beth-lehemite, is corrupted from את לחמי eth Lachmi; then the…
Dictionary and topics
Anakim — The descendants of Anak (Josh. 11:21; Num. 13:33; Deut. 9:2). They dwelt in the south of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of Hebron (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 15:13). In the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:5, 6) they…
Arms, Armor — The subject naturally divides itself into— I. Offensive weapons: Arms. II. Defensive weapons: Armor. I. Offensive weapons.—
Elhanan — Whom God has graciously bestowed. (1.) A warrior of the time of David famed for his exploits. In the Authorized Version (2 Sam. 21:19) it is recorded that “Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a…
Giants — (1.) Heb. nephilim, meaning “violent” or “causing to fall” (Gen. 6:4). These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying…
Gob — A pit, a place mentioned in 2 Sam. 21:18, 19; called also Gezer, in 1 Chr. 20:4.
Goliath — Great. (1.) A famous giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone from a sling (1 Sam. 17:4). He was probably descended from the…
Jaare-oregim — Forests of the weavers, a Bethlehemite (2 Sam. 21:19), and the father of Elhanan, who slew Goliath. In 1 Chr. 20:5 called JAIR.
Jaareoregim — (forests of the weavers), (2 Samuel 21:19) a Bethlehemite, and the father of Elhanan who slew Goliath. In the parallel passage, (1 Chronicles 20:5) Jair is found instead of Jaare, and Oregim is…
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
Weaving, weavers — Weaving was an art practised in very early times (Ex. 35:35). The Egyptians were specially skilled in it (Isa. 19:9; Ezek. 27:7), and some have regarded them as its inventors. In the wilderness, the…
And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines,.... Another battle with them in the same place:
where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite; the word "brother" is rightly supplied from 1 Chronicles 20:5; where his name is said to be Lahmi, for not Goliath himself was slain, though some so interpret it, and take Elhanan to be David; so Jarchi, and with which agrees the Targum; but he was slain not at Gob, but in the valley of Elah, nor had David any such name as Elhanan; he was one of David's worthies, 2 Samuel 23:24; where he is called the son of Dodo, and in 1 Chronicles 20:5, the son of Jair; and Lahmi there may not be the name o…
Heroic Acts Performed in the Wars with the Philistines. - The brief accounts contained in these verses of different heroic feats were probably taken from a history of David's wars drawn up in the form of chronicles, and are introduced here as practical proofs of the gracious deliverance of David out of the hand of all his foes, for which he praises the Lord his God in the psalm of thanksgiving which follows, so that the enumeration of these feats is to be regarded as supplying a historical basis for the psalm.
Sa2 21:15-16
The Philistines had war with Israel again. עוד (again) refers generally to earlier wars with the Philistines, and has probably been taken without alteration from the chron…
Some traditions identify Elhanan as David, principally because Elhanan was also from Bethlehem and because David killed Goliath (1 Sam 17:48-51). But it is more likely that the words brother of were omitted from the Masoretic Text by scribal error.
Rashi on 2 Samuel 21:19
Elchonon. Dovid.24We know that it was Dovid who killed Golias in Shmuel I, 17:51, consequently this Elchonon must be Dovid.
The son of Yari [whose family] were weavers. His family weaved the partition curtain of the Beis Hamikdosh that is [also] called a forest.25The Beis Hamikdosh is called a forest because it was made with planks of acacia wood, see Shmos 26:15.
Like that of the weaver's rod. [Yonoson translates:] "Like the weaver's rod," that is called "ensouple" in O.F. Let a weaver come and stand up against a weaver['s instrument].
Championship · .Representatives of the Philistines land David’s armies — .Representatives of the Philistines land David’s armies
Elhanan · the brother of Goliath, the Gittite — the brother of Goliath, the Gittite
Goliath · His — His
Jaare-Oregim · Father of Elhanan — Father of Elhanan
Judah, The Tribe Of · Remarkable persons of: Elhanan — Remarkable persons of: Elhanan
Lahmi · (Brother of Goliath) -Killed by Elhanan — (Brother of Goliath) -Killed by Elhanan
Philistines · Men of great strength and stature amongst — Men of great strength and stature amongst
Rephaim, Or Giants, The · The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors — The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors
Weaving · Beam — Beam
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
