A famine lasting three years strikes Israel, and when David seeks the LORD, he learns it is because of Saul's bloodguilt against the Gibeonites -- a people Israel had sworn by oath to protect. David asks the Gibeonites what will make atonement, and they demand seven of Saul's male descendants. David hands them over but spares Mephibosheth son of Jonathan because of his covenant oath. The seven are executed and exposed on a hill before the LORD. Rizpah daughter of Aiah, mother of two of the dead, keeps a harrowing vigil over the bodies, driving away birds and beasts from the start of barley harvest until the rains come. When David hears of her faithfulness, he retrieves the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead, gathers the bones of the seven executed men, and buries them all in the tomb of Kish in the land of Benjamin. God responds to the plea for the land. The chapter closes with four accounts of Philistine warriors of enormous stature who are killed by David's men, including one with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Rizpah's vigil is one of the most haunting scenes in the Hebrew Bible. She is a concubine with no political power, yet her silent, relentless protection of the dead shames the king into action. The narrator gives no speech to Rizpah -- she simply spreads sackcloth on the rock and stays. Her endurance through months of exposure, fending off vultures by day and jackals by night, is an act of faithful love that the text allows to speak entirely through action. David's response -- recovering Saul's and Jonathan's bones from Jabesh-gilead and burying them properly alongside the seven -- is prompted not by prophetic word or political calculation but by a grieving mother's refusal to let the dead be dishonored. The chapter also raises the deeply uncomfortable question of collective punishment: seven men die for Saul's sin against the Gibeonites, and the text presents God as accepting this resolution. The tension between corporate guilt and individual justice runs throughout without easy resolution. The Philistine giant-killer episodes at the chapter's end form an appendix to the David story, cataloguing warriors who finished what David started against Goliath -- the era of the giants is ending.
Translation Friction
The primary friction is theological: how does the execution of Saul's descendants satisfy divine justice? The text says the famine came because of Saul's bloodguilt (dam, 'blood') against the Gibeonites, and the Gibeonites' demand for seven men to be 'hanged before the LORD' (hoqa'nu, a rare verb meaning to expose or impale) raises questions about human sacrifice, vicarious punishment, and the limits of covenant obligation. The verb yaqa (Hiphil, hoqi'anu) in verse 6 is notoriously difficult -- it may mean 'to hang, to expose, to impale, to dislocate' -- and its exact mode of execution is uncertain. We render it as 'execute and expose' to capture the dual sense of killing and public display. The Gibeonite covenant from Joshua 9 is the legal foundation: Saul violated a sworn oath, and blood-debt requires blood-payment. Another friction point: David's exemption of Mephibosheth 'because of the oath of the LORD between them' (verse 7) shows covenant loyalty operating alongside a system of corporate accountability -- David honors one oath (to Jonathan) while fulfilling another (to the Gibeonites). The relationship between these competing obligations is left unresolved.
Connections
The Gibeonite covenant from Joshua 9:3-27 is the backstory -- Israel swore an oath to let the Gibeonites live, and Saul violated it. The execution of Saul's descendants connects back to the warning in 1 Samuel 2:31-33 that Eli's house would be cut off, establishing a pattern where dynastic sin brings dynastic consequences. David's protection of Mephibosheth echoes his oath to Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20:14-17 and 2 Samuel 9, where he showed faithful love to Jonathan's son. Rizpah appeared earlier in 2 Samuel 3:7, where Abner's taking of her provoked a crisis with Ish-bosheth -- she is consistently a figure caught in the machinery of royal politics. The recovery of Saul's and Jonathan's bones from Jabesh-gilead completes the narrative arc begun in 1 Samuel 31:11-13, where the men of Jabesh rescued the bodies from the wall of Beth-shan. The Philistine giant-killers in verses 15-22 connect to the Goliath narrative in 1 Samuel 17 and to the phrase 'born to the raphah' (the giant), creating a frame around David's military career: it began with one giant and ends with four.
There was a famine during David's reign -- three years, one year after another. David sought the face of the LORD, and the LORD said, "It is because of Saul and his house of bloodshed, because he put the Gibeonites to death."
KJV Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
בֵּית הַדָּמִיםbeit ha-damim
"house of bloodshed"—house of blood, bloodstained house, bloodguilty house, murderous dynasty
The phrase beit ha-damim brands Saul's entire household with the guilt of spilled blood. The plural damim ('bloods') intensifies the charge -- this is not a single killing but a campaign of violence against a protected people. The concept of corporate bloodguilt means the consequences extend beyond the perpetrator to his descendants and even to the land itself, which will not produce until the debt is addressed.
Translator Notes
The phrase shanah acharei shanah ('year after year') emphasizes the relentless, cumulative nature of the famine -- this was not a single bad harvest but a sustained crisis that finally drove David to inquire of the LORD. The expression beit ha-damim ('house of bloodshed' or 'bloodstained house') is a compound noun marking Saul's dynasty with the stain of unprovoked violence. The Gibeonites were a Hivite people who secured a peace treaty with Israel through deception (Joshua 9), but once the oath was sworn, it was binding. Saul's attack on them -- unrecorded elsewhere in the narrative -- violated this ancient covenant, and the land itself bears the consequence.
So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites but survivors of the Amorites, and the Israelites had sworn an oath to them. But Saul had tried to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
KJV And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The narrator interrupts the dialogue with a parenthetical explanation, signaling that the original audience needed reminding about who the Gibeonites were and why this mattered. The phrase yeter ha-Emori ('remnant of the Amorites') identifies them as indigenous Canaanite inhabitants -- 'Amorite' is used broadly here for pre-Israelite peoples. The critical legal fact is nishbe'u lahem ('they had sworn to them'): the oath was binding regardless of how it was obtained (Joshua 9). Saul's qin'ah ('zeal') is presented ambiguously -- it may have been genuine nationalistic fervor or a pretext for ethnic violence. Either way, the narrator frames it as a violation of sworn covenant.
David said to the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you? How can I make atonement, so that you will bless the LORD's inheritance?"
KJV Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
אֲכַפֵּרakapper
"make atonement"—to cover, to atone, to make expiation, to ransom, to purge
The root kipper is the central verb of Israel's sacrificial system. Its basic sense is 'to cover over' a wrong so that its consequences are neutralized. Here David applies ritual language to a political negotiation, treating the Gibeonite grievance as a matter requiring not merely compensation but sacred resolution. The famine will not lift until the blood-debt is properly covered.
Translator Notes
David's question is remarkably open-ended -- he does not propose terms but asks the wronged party to name their price. The verb kipper ('to atone') carries heavy ritual weight: it is the word used for the high priest's actions on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) and for ransom payments that cover bloodguilt (Exodus 30:15-16). David treats the Gibeonite grievance as a sacred debt requiring formal expiation. The phrase nachalat YHWH ('inheritance of the LORD') refers to the people and land of Israel -- the famine affects the entire covenant community, and only the Gibeonites' satisfaction can lift it.
The Gibeonites said to him, "Our dispute with Saul and his house is not about silver or gold, and it is not for us to put anyone in Israel to death." David said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you."
KJV And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Gibeonites' first statement rejects monetary compensation -- ein li kesef ve-zahav ('there is no silver or gold for me') means this is not a debt that money can settle. Their second statement, ein lanu ish lehamit be-Yisra'el ('it is not for us to kill a man in Israel'), acknowledges their limited standing: as non-Israelites they cannot execute an Israelite on their own authority. They are positioning David to offer what they cannot demand. David's response -- mah attem omrim e'eseh lakhem ('whatever you say I will do for you') -- is an extraordinary blank check from a king, effectively ceding judicial authority to a subject people.
They said to the king, "The man who consumed us and who plotted against us so that we would be wiped out, with no foothold anywhere in the territory of Israel --
KJV And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Gibeonites describe Saul with two verbs: killanu ('he consumed us, he finished us off') from kalah, meaning total destruction, and dimmah lanu ('he plotted against us, he devised for us') from damah, suggesting deliberate planning rather than spontaneous violence. The phrase nishmadnu mehityatsev ('we would be annihilated from having a standing place') reveals the scope of Saul's campaign: it was not a single incident but an attempt at complete elimination. The word hityatsev ('to station oneself, to have standing') carries both physical and legal connotations -- Saul wanted to remove the Gibeonites from any recognized place in Israel's territory.
let seven men from among his descendants be given to us, and we will execute and expose them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the LORD's chosen one." The king said, "I will give them."
KJV Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
וְהוֹקַעֲנוּםvehoqa'anum
"execute and expose them"—to hang, to impale, to dislocate, to expose publicly, to execute by exposure
The root yaqa in the Hiphil occurs only seven times in the Hebrew Bible, mostly in this chapter and in Numbers 25:4 (where the LORD commands a similar public execution after the Baal-Peor incident). The precise method of death remains uncertain, but the emphasis is on public display 'before the LORD' -- the bodies serve as visible evidence that the blood-debt has been paid. The rarity of the word suggests an archaic legal practice outside the normal categories of Israelite execution.
Translator Notes
The verb hoqa'nu (Hiphil of yaqa) is one of the most debated in the Hebrew Bible. Its precise meaning is uncertain -- proposals include 'to hang, to impale, to dislocate, to expose' -- but the context demands a public execution followed by display of the bodies. The phrase la-YHWH ('before the LORD') gives the act a ritual dimension: this is not mere revenge but a sacral reckoning performed in the LORD's presence. The location, giv'at Sha'ul ('Gibeah of Saul'), is Saul's own hometown and capital -- the execution takes place on his home ground. The phrase bechir YHWH ('the LORD's chosen one') is deeply ironic: it could refer to Saul (once chosen, now rejected) or to David. The ambiguity stings either way. David's reply -- ani etten ('I myself will give them') -- is three words of devastating finality.
But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD that was between them -- between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
KJV But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb chamal ('to spare, to have compassion') indicates emotional restraint as much as legal exemption -- David felt the pull to include Mephibosheth but held back because of the oath. The threefold identification -- Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul -- underscores the tension: Mephibosheth is simultaneously a member of the guilty house and a beneficiary of David's covenant with Jonathan. The phrase shevuat YHWH ('the oath of the LORD') elevates the agreement between David and Jonathan beyond personal friendship into the realm of sacred obligation. This oath was established in 1 Samuel 20:42 and already honored in 2 Samuel 9 when David brought Mephibosheth to his table.
The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul -- Armoni and Mephibosheth -- and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
KJV But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse names the seven: two sons of Rizpah (Saul's concubine) and five sons attributed to Michal. The textual problem is significant: 1 Samuel 18:19 says Adriel married Merab, not Michal, and 2 Samuel 6:23 says Michal died childless. Many Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac Peshitta read 'Merab' here instead of 'Michal,' and this is likely the original reading. We retain 'Michal' as it stands in the Masoretic Text but note the probable textual corruption. The Meholathite designation connects Adriel to Abel-meholah, in the Jordan Valley. Note that this Mephibosheth (son of Rizpah) is a different person from the Mephibosheth (son of Jonathan) spared in verse 7.
He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed and exposed them on the hill before the LORD. The seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the start of the barley harvest.
KJV And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase vayyippelu shiv'atam yachad ('the seven of them fell together') uses naphal ('to fall') -- the same verb used for Saul's death by falling on his sword in 1 Samuel 31:4. Saul's descendants fall just as he fell. The timing -- techillat qetsir se'orim ('the beginning of barley harvest') -- places the execution in late April or early May, at the start of the dry season. This is significant because the bodies will be exposed through the entire summer until the early rains come (verse 10), meaning Rizpah's vigil will last months. The barley harvest also connects to the book of Ruth (Ruth 1:22), creating an intertextual link between two very different stories set in the same season.
Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock. From the start of harvest until rain poured down on them from the sky, she did not allow the birds of the sky to settle on the bodies by day or the wild animals to come near by night.
KJV And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This is one of the most powerful images in all of Scripture, conveyed entirely without dialogue. Rizpah performs three actions: she takes sackcloth (the garment of mourning and protest), she spreads it on the rock (making the execution site her dwelling), and she keeps vigil (driving off scavengers). The phrase mittechillat qatsir ad nittakh mayim alehem min ha-shamayim ('from the start of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky') spans from late April to the early rains in October or November -- potentially five to six months of continuous vigil. The verb nittakh ('was poured out') suggests a heavy, decisive rain, perhaps understood as a sign that God had accepted the atonement and ended the drought-famine. Rizpah's endurance is staggering: she guards decomposing bodies against vultures during the heat of day and against jackals and wild dogs through the night, for months, alone, with no authority to change anything -- only the power to refuse to abandon the dead.
When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine, had done,
KJV And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The passive vayyuggad ('it was told') leaves the informant unnamed -- someone brought word to David of Rizpah's vigil. The narrator identifies her one final time as pilegesh Sha'ul ('Saul's concubine'), reminding the reader of her lowly status: she was not a wife but a secondary partner, with minimal standing in the royal household. Yet her act of faithfulness is what moves the king to act. The verse is a hinge -- everything that follows (the recovery of Saul's and Jonathan's bones, the proper burial) flows from David's learning of Rizpah's vigil.
David went and retrieved the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the leaders of Jabesh-gilead, who had taken them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul on Gilboa.
KJV And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse reaches back to 1 Samuel 31:11-13, completing an arc that spans two books. The men of Jabesh-gilead had conducted a daring nighttime raid to recover the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, burned them, and buried the bones under a tamarisk tree. The verb ganvu ('they stole') characterizes their act as a covert operation -- they took what the Philistines considered war trophies. David now reclaims these bones for a royal burial in the ancestral tomb. The phrase ba'alei Yavesh Gil'ad ('the lords/citizens of Jabesh-gilead') uses ba'alim in its civic sense of leading citizens or elders. Beth-shan (later Scythopolis) sat at the junction of the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys -- a strategic Philistine outpost where they displayed conquered enemies.
He brought the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan up from there, and they also gathered the bones of those who had been executed and exposed.
KJV And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb vayya'al ('he brought up') carries the sense of elevation -- both physical (transporting bones from the Jordan Valley up to the Benjamin hill country) and honorific (restoring dignity to the dead). The phrase ha-muqa'im ('those who had been exposed/executed') uses the passive participle of the same rare verb yaqa from verse 6, linking the seven executed descendants back to the Gibeonite demand. David's act encompasses both sets of remains: the old bones of Saul and Jonathan, and the recently exposed bones of the seven. All of Saul's dead are gathered together.
They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, at Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish. They did everything the king commanded. And after that, God responded to the plea for the land.
KJV And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The burial at Zela (tsela, a town in Benjamin mentioned in Joshua 18:28) in the tomb of Kish brings Saul home to his father's grave -- a final act of dynastic honor. The phrase vayye'ater Elohim la-arets ('God was entreated for the land') is the theological resolution of the entire chapter: the famine ends because God accepts the atonement. The verb atar (Niphal, 'to be entreated, to let oneself be prevailed upon') implies that God was moved by the totality of what happened -- the Gibeonite justice, Rizpah's vigil, David's act of honorable burial. The word acharei-khen ('after that') marks the turning point: everything before was crisis, everything after is restoration.
The Philistines went to war against Israel again. David went down with his men and fought the Philistines, and David grew exhausted.
KJV Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The narrative shifts abruptly from the Gibeonite episode to a collection of Philistine battle accounts. The verb vayya'af ('he grew faint, he was exhausted') signals David's physical decline -- the giant-killer of chapter 17 is now aging and vulnerable. This detail sets up the near-death experience in the next verse and the decision in verse 17 that David must no longer go into battle. The phrase vayyered David ('David went down') indicates descent from the hill country to the Philistine lowlands.
Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the Raphah, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was strapped with a new weapon, declared he would strike David down.
KJV And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, and he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The name Yishbo be-Nov may mean 'his dwelling is in Nob' or may be a corrupted personal name -- the text is difficult. The phrase bilidei ha-Raphah ('among the born-ones of the Raphah') identifies him as descended from the Raphah, an ancient race of giants (Rephaim). His spear weighs three hundred shekels of bronze (roughly seven to eight pounds for the head alone), which is half the weight of Goliath's spear (1 Samuel 17:7, at six hundred shekels of iron). The word chadashah ('new') modifies his weapon -- he came equipped for the kill. The verb amar ('he said, he declared') with the infinitive leha-kkot ('to strike') indicates stated intention: this warrior publicly announced he would kill the aging king.
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David's men swore an oath to him: "You must never go out with us to battle again -- you must not extinguish the lamp of Israel."
KJV But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
נֵר יִשְׂרָאֵלner Yisra'el
"lamp of Israel"—lamp, light, candle, luminary
The metaphor of the king as Israel's lamp carries both practical and theological weight. In the ancient world, a lamp was the difference between life and darkness in a household. To call David the 'lamp of Israel' is to say that his death would plunge the nation into darkness. This image becomes a dynasty-wide promise: God will always maintain a 'lamp' for David in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36), ensuring the Davidic line endures.
Translator Notes
Abishai, David's nephew and one of his most fierce warriors, rescues the king from the giant. The aftermath is a solemn oath: David's men forbid him from further combat. The phrase ner Yisra'el ('the lamp of Israel') is a metaphor for the king as the source of national life and hope. If David dies, the light goes out for the entire nation. The image of a lamp (ner) connects to the promise of a perpetual 'lamp' for David's dynasty (1 Kings 11:36, 15:4, 2 Kings 8:19) -- the men intuitively grasp that David's life is not his own but belongs to the nation and to the covenant future. The verb tekhabeh ('you will extinguish') treats David's death in battle as an act that would quench the nation's fire.
After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. On that occasion Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the Raphah.
KJV 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 was of the sons of the giant.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Gob is an otherwise unknown location, possibly a corruption of Gath or a small settlement in the Shephelah. Sibbecai (also spelled Sibbechai) the Hushathite was one of David's elite warriors, listed among the Thirty in 1 Chronicles 11:29. The Hushathite designation connects him to Hushah, a town in Judah. Saph (called Sippai in 1 Chronicles 20:4) is another descendant of the Raphah -- the giant clan. Each of these battle notices follows the same pattern: a Philistine giant is named, his lineage from the Raphah is noted, and an Israelite warrior kills him.
There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This is one of the most discussed verses in Samuel. The Hebrew states plainly that Elhanan killed Goliath the Gittite, yet 1 Samuel 17 credits David with that feat. The parallel in 1 Chronicles 20:5 harmonizes by reading 'Elhanan son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath.' The KJV inserts 'the brother of' to match Chronicles, but the Hebrew of 2 Samuel has no such phrase. Several explanations have been proposed: (1) Elhanan and David are the same person (Elhanan being David's birth name); (2) this is a different Goliath; (3) the text of Chronicles preserves the original and Samuel is corrupted; (4) there were multiple giant warriors called 'Goliath' as a title. The phrase ya'arei oregim ('forests of weavers') is likely a textual corruption -- Chronicles reads simply ya'ir ('Jair'). The spear 'like a weaver's beam' (kimenor oregim) matches the description of Goliath's spear in 1 Samuel 17:7, reinforcing the connection.
There was still another battle, at Gath. A man of enormous size was there who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot -- twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Raphah.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The location shifts to Gath itself, the Philistine city most associated with giants (it was Goliath's hometown). The unnamed warrior's polydactyly -- six digits on each extremity, twenty-four total -- is reported as a physical marker of his giant lineage. The condition (hexadactyly) is a real genetic trait, and its mention here may preserve an authentic detail about the Raphah clan. The phrase ish madon (or middin/madin) is textually uncertain; it may mean 'a man of strife/contention' or be a corruption of middah ('measure, stature'). The parallel in 1 Chronicles 20:6 reads ish middah ('a man of great size'). The refrain gam hu yullad le-ha-Raphah ('he too was born to the Raphah') links all four giant episodes together.
When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, struck him down.
KJV And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb charaph ('to taunt, to defy, to reproach') is the same word used for Goliath's defiance of Israel in 1 Samuel 17:10, 25, 26, 36, 45. The pattern repeats: a giant taunts Israel, and an Israelite champion answers. Jonathan (Yehonatan) son of Shimeah (also called Shammah in 1 Samuel 16:9) is David's nephew -- the giant-killing vocation has passed to the next generation. The name Jonathan ('the LORD has given') is the same as Saul's son Jonathan, creating a quiet echo: the name that belonged to David's beloved covenant-brother now belongs to a warrior in David's family who carries on the fight against Philistine giants.
These four were all descended from the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his men.
KJV These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The summary verse ties all four giant episodes together with a concluding formula. The phrase yulledu le-ha-Raphah be-Gat ('they were born to the Raphah in Gath') confirms that Gath was the stronghold of this giant clan. The final phrase -- vayyippelu ve-yad David u-ve-yad avadav ('they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants') -- credits David even though his men did most of the actual killing. This is royal attribution: the king's victories include his warriors' victories. The verb naphal ('they fell') echoes throughout the chapter: Saul's seven descendants fell (verse 9) and now the four Philistine giants fall. The era of the giants ends not with a single heroic duel but with a team effort, as David's generation of warriors completes the work he began as a shepherd boy with a sling.