Biblical figure, killer of Goliath according to 2 Samuel 21:19
Elhanan, son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite (Hebrew:אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן־יַעְרֵי אֹרְגִים בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי,romanized: ʾElḥānān ben-Yaʿrē ʾOrəgīm Bēṯ halLaḥmī) appears in2 Samuel 21:19, where he is credited with killingGoliath: "There was another battle with thePhilistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim theBethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam."[1] In1 Chronicles 20:5, he is calledElhanan, son of Jair (אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן־יָעִירʾElḥānān ben-Yāʿīr), indicating thatJaare-oregim is a garbled corruption of the nameJair and the word for "beam" used in the verse (ʾorəgim).[2] The passage in 2 Samuel 21:19 poses difficulties when compared with the story ofDavid and Goliath in1 Samuel 17, leading scholars to conclude "that the attribution of Goliath's slaying to David may not be original,"[3] but rather "an elaboration and reworking of" an earlier Elhanan story, "attributing the victory to the better-known David."[4]
Crediting Goliath's death to David instead of Elhanan results in inconsistency.[5] Some harmonistic solutions have been offered by later writers and translators within both Jewish and Christian traditions:
The 4th century BCEBooks of Chronicles resolved it by describing how "Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite" (1 Chronicles 20:5). The nameLahmi is thought bybiblical source critics to be a construction from the last portion of the word "Bethlehemite".[5]
TheTargum Jonathan, a translation of the Hebrew scriptures intoAramaic, identified Elhanan with David as both were from Bethlehem (Targum Jonathan 2 Samuel 21:19), although this creates yet another problem in that Elhanan is listed as one of David's followers and the killings occur in different places.[6]
TheKing James Version harmonized 2 Samuel 21:19 with 1 Chronicles 20:5 by supplying the wordsthe brother of (in smaller text, replaced in later printings with italic text) to make it read as if Elhanan had slain Goliath's brother: "And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare–oregim, a Bethlehemite, slewthe brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spearwas like a weaver's beam."[7]
Other evangelical translations, such as theNew International Version andNew English Translation, have followed the King James Version in modifying 2 Samuel 21.19, with the latter offering an apologetic argument that the text had become corrupt in transmission.[8]
Some commentators believe that the Goliath killed by Elhanan was different than the Goliath killed by David.[9] They argue that Goliath was a nickname for Lahmi, similar to howJohn the Baptist was nicknamed asElias, or that Lahmi adopted Goliath as a second name after the real Goliath's death.[10]
Avalos, Hector I. (1993)."Goliath". In Metzger, Bruce M.; Coogan, Michael D. (eds.).The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195046458.
McKenzie, Steven L. (2007)."1 Samuel". In Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Newsom, Carol A.; Perkins, Pheme (eds.).The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Hendrickson Publishers.ISBN9781598560329.
