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Journey of a Passage

2 Samuel 21:19

Who killed Goliath?

The Hebrew says Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite. 1 Samuel 17 says David killed him; 1 Chronicles 20:5 says Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, Goliath's brother. The KJV adds "the brother of" in italics.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original SamuelUnknown (debated)
  2. 1 Chronicles (parallel account)Composed c. 4th century BC
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel
Greek
  1. Septuagint, 2 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BC; revised (kaige) from 11:2Translated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Explanations

Copying error in Samuel
"Beit ha-lahmi" (the Bethlehemite) and "Lahmi" share letters; "oregim" was copied twice. Chronicles preserves or reconstructs the better text.
Two Goliaths
Goliath was a name or title borne by more than one Gittite champion.
A transferred deed
Some scholars think Elhanan's deed was later attributed to David.
Chronicles harmonized
The Chronicler adjusted Samuel to agree with 1 Samuel 17.

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Samuel

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Composed c. 4th century BC

    1 Chronicles (parallel account)

    ✓ Contains this passage

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    וַיַּךְ אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן־יָעִיר אֶת־לַחְמִי אֲחִי גָּלְיָת הַגִּתִּי

    and Elhanan son of Jair struck Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite (1 Chr 20:5)

    A parallel account.

  3. Translated c. 2nd century BC; revised (kaige) from 11:2

    Septuagint, 2 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Éléanan, fils d'Ariorgim de Bethléem, tua Goliath le Géthéen

    Goliath. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical edition.

  4. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    percussit Adeodatus filius Saltus polymitarius Bethlehemites Goliath Gethæum

    Adeodatus son of the forest, a weaver, a Bethlehemite, struck Goliath the Gittite

    Jerome translates Elhanan ("God gave") and Jaare-oregim ("forests of weavers").

  5. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    וַיַּךְ אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן־יַעְרֵי אֹרְגִים בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי אֵת גָּלְיָת הַגִּתִּי וְעֵץ חֲנִיתוֹ כִּמְנוֹר אֹרְגִים

    and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck Goliath the Gittite, and the shaft of his spear was like a weavers' beam

    "Oregim" (weavers) appears twice, a sign of possible copying error.

  6. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite

    Added in italics from Chronicles.

What changed, and why

The Masoretic reading of Samuel is shown as it stands before any explanation. 1 Chronicles is a separate book, not a manuscript of Samuel.

What the evidence shows

Sources

Related lessons

  • Rizpah's Vigil and the Giants of Gath →A three-year famine is traced to Saul's killing of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites demand seven of Saul's descendants; David hands over two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul, and they are executed. Rizpah guards their bodies from birds and beasts from harvest until the rains. Moved, David buries the bones of Saul and Jonathan. Then four battles against giants of Gath, including Elhanan's killing of "Goliath the Gittite." Content warning: executions.
  • Investigation: Samuel and Chronicles, When Two Histories Differ →1 Chronicles retells much of 2 Samuel, centuries later, with its own emphases. It leaves out Bathsheba, Amnon and Absalom; it names Satan where Samuel names the LORD; its numbers and names differ. These are differences between two biblical books, not copying errors in one.
  • How 2 Samuel Came to Us →2 Samuel is the second half of the Hebrew book of Samuel. It contains one of the most admired narratives of the ancient world, the "Court History" of David, plus older poems and an appendix arranged by theme. Its Greek is especially complicated: from 11:2 the main Greek manuscripts carry a revision toward the Hebrew (kaige), so the older Greek must be recovered from other witnesses.
  • Rabbah and the Philistine Giants →Joab takes Rabbah of Ammon; David takes its king's heavy crown. Three Philistine champions of the race of the giants are killed: Sippai, Lahmi "the brother of Goliath" (killed by Elhanan), and a giant with six fingers on each hand. Chronicles leaves out David's sin with Bathsheba entirely.