2 Samuel 21:20

And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
battle	מִלְחָמָ֖ה mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Gath	בְּגַ֑ת be.Gat	H1661	Gath · preposition + proper noun, a place name
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
stature	מָד֗וֹן ma.din	H4067	extensiveness · noun, masculine singular absolute
hand	יָדָיו֩ ya.Dav	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
six	שֵׁ֣שׁ shesh	H8337	six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the h… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
fingers	וְאֶצְבְּעֹ֣ת ve.'etz.be.'Ot	H676	something to sieze with · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
foot	רַגְלָ֜יו rag.Lav	H7272	a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
six	וָשֵׁ֗שׁ va.Shesh	H8337	six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the h… · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
toes	וְאֶצְבְּעֹ֨ת ve.'etz.be.'Ot	H676	something to sieze with · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct
four	וְאַרְבַּע֙ ve.'ar.Ba'	H702	four · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
twenty	עֶשְׂרִ֤ים 'es.Rim	H6242	twenty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
number	מִסְפָּ֔ר mis.Par	H4557	a number · noun, common masculine singular absolute
born	יֻלַּ֥ד yu.Lad	H3205	to bear young · verb, pual perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
giant	לְהָרָפָֽה le.ha.ra.Fah	H7497	a giant · preposition + definite article + proper noun, a title

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

2 Samuel 21:16 And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being gi…
2 Samuel 21:18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which wa…
1 Chronicles 20:6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and si…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:15

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…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:20

On every hand six fingers - This is not a solitary instance: Tavernier informs us that the eldest son of the emperor of Java, who reigned in 1648, had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. And Maupertuis, in his seventeenth letter, says that he met with two families near Berlin, where sedigitism was equally transmitted on both sides of father and mother. I saw once a young girl, in the county of Londonderry, in Ireland, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, but her stature had nothing gigantic in it. The daughters of Caius Horatius, of patrician dignity, were called sedigitae, because they had six fingers on each hand. Volcatius, a poet, was called sedig…

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…
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…
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…
Championship · .Representatives of the Philistines land David’s armies — .Representatives of the Philistines land David’s armies
Feet, The · Parts of, mentioned in scripture: Toes — Parts of, mentioned in scripture: Toes
Finger · Six on one hand — Six on one hand
Goliath · His — His
Hands, The · Parts of, mentioned: The fingers — Parts of, mentioned: The fingers
Philistines · Men of great strength and stature amongst — Men of great strength and stature amongst
Rapha · 3. An ancestor of certain Philistine warriors, (margins) — 3. An ancestor of certain Philistine warriors, (margins)
Rephaim, Or Giants, The · The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors — The last of, destroyed by David and his warriors

2 Samuel 21:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:15

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:20

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 21:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:15

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:20

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Samuel 21:20

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 21:15–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 21:19

Rashi on 2 Samuel 21:20