II Samuel 21 Continued

15. When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.

Another war develops with the Philistines. You would think that they would have had enough of being defeated by David, as he had defeated them so thoroughly back in II Samuel 5 and 8 and took away part of their territory. Yet perhaps they still remembered their victory over Israel at the time of the death of Saul and hoped that they could again get a victory. They must have known little, of course, of the LORD’s anger against Saul or the reason He had not helped Israel. They wanted to believe that with the force of their arms and the help of their idolatrous gods, they might this time get the upper hand.

David goes down from Jerusalem with his servants in order to fight against the Philistines. David is now sixty years old, however, and cannot handle the strain of battle as he did earlier in life. He grows faint, which is a dangerous condition when your life depends on your actions!

16. Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.

One of the Philistines notices David’s condition, and he is not one to take lightly! This man, if we can call him a man, is Ishbi-Benob, meaning “His Dwelling is at Nob” (Nob means “the High Place”). This man is described as one of the sons of the giant, which in Hebrew refers to the sons of Rapha. Rapha means “Healed” or “Invigorated,” not “giant,” though it is well-known that the descendents of Rapha were indeed giant men, a post-flood outbreak of the Nephilim. This man is of the same kind of size and strength as the Nephilim, for he is described as having a giant spear, the bronze head of which weighed three hundred shekels, which is probably almost twelve pounds! He was well-armed overall, for he also was armed with a new sword.

This giant Ishbi-Benob, with his great size and his impressive weaponry, sees David become faint and decides this is his chance. He thinks he can kill David, and it seems that he says so aloud, making his threat. This would surely have been a great blow to Israel indeed, if their famous giant-killer David, who had slain Goliath, were to be killed by a giant now!

17. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”

Yet this incident is not to be David’s end, for Abishai the son of Zeruiah David’s older sister comes to aid his uncle. Though he was younger than David he must have been getting up in years himself, for Joab and Abishai have been with David since he was much younger than this. Yet he still has his strength, and so he strikes the giant Philistine and kills him. Thus David proves to be not the only giant-killer in his family! Abishai was an impressive man overall, though hotheaded and prone to violence. He would have been a better man than he was if he was not influenced by his ambitious and bloodthirsty brother Joab. In spite of his faults he ended his life as a faithful warrior of David’s and is honored as part of David’s mighty men.

When the battle is over, it seems everyone is disturbed by what almost happened to David. As great a warrior as he was, he could not deny that age was catching up with him. Thus, David’s men swear to him that he will not go out with them to battle again. He is the lamp of Israel, they claim, and so they cannot afford to see him quenched in war due to his old age. We do not read what David thought about this, but he must have agreed to it. Indeed, all of us as we get older must use wisdom in avoiding things that we can no longer do that we once could. The Holy Spirit may have been with David, but he still was growing old and heading for death like all men. It will wait for his life in the kingdom to come for his strength to last perpetually!

18. Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.

It seems that this battle with the Philistines was not decisive, and another takes place at Gob, which means “Cistern.” It seems another giant named Saph or “Tall” is there with the Philistines. Could the help of these giant warriors have been part of the reason the Philistines were bold enough to attack Israel after their previous defeats? These giants were doubtless associated with the gods and the aid of the gods, though in truth they were a Satanic perversion. Yet this giant too does not end up ultimately aiding them. For a man named Sibbechai the Hushathite attacks this giant Saph. Sibbechai means “Weaver,” and a Hushathite means an “Inhabitant of Hushah,” Hushah meaning “Haste.” We know nothing about Hushah or where it was located, except that of course it was in Israel. This Sibbechai slays Saph, and so becomes one of the class of giant-killers, along with David and Abishai.

Sibbechai, it should not surprise us, was one of David’s mighty men, just as Abishai was. In II Samuel 23:27, his name is called “Mebunnai the Hushathite” in the list of David’s mighty men. Mebunnai means “Building of Jehovah.” That this is the same as Sibbechai seems clear from the parallel list in I Chronicles 11:29, where his name is given as it is here, Sibbechai the Hushathite. Moreover, Mebunnai and Sibbechai appear in the same place on both lists, after Abiezer the Anathothite. The name before is Zalmon the Ahohite in II Samuel 23:28 and Ilai the Ahohite in I Chronciles 11:29, but it seems clear that this is another case of the same man with two different names. The lists are parallel, and these two are obviously the same.

In I Chronicles 20:4, it is said that, “Now it happened afterward that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines, at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Sippai, who was one of the sons of the giant. And they were subdued.” It seems unlikely that Sibbechai killed two giants, one named Saph or “Tall” at Gob or “Cistern,” and one named Sippai or “Threshold” at Gezer or “Portion.” This could have happened, of course, but we would suspect that this is another case of multiple names for the same giant and for the same location. Gob and Gezer might well have been located near each other, and the battle was in the vicinity of both. We have plenty of examples of one person carrying more than one name in the Bible. This is probably a description of the same event.

In I Chronicles 27:1, we learn that David divided Israel’s military into divisions, each of which served for one month out of the year. And the children of Israel, according to their number, the heads of fathers’ houses, the captains of thousands and hundreds and their officers, served the king in every matter of the military divisions. These divisions came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, each division having twenty-four thousand. The eighth of these captains was this Sibbechai, as we learn from verse 11. The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbechai the Hushathite, of the Zarhites; in his division were twenty-four thousand. Here we learn of Sibbechai that he was a Zarhite, which means he was of the family of Zerah or “Rising.” Zerah and the Zarhites were of the tribe of Simeon, the tribe that had its inherited territory within the territory inherited by Judah, and so this tribe was often closely associated with Judah. Sibbechai, then, was of the tribe of Simeon, and he was one of the twelve captains over Israel trusted by David to lead the military. We can see why from this story, for he must have been a valiant man who trusted in the LORD, like David did, in order to take on this giant and succeed in killing him.

19. Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

Again there is another battle with the Philistines in the same city of Gob. In this battle, another giant appears and another mighty warrior among David’s men earns the title of a giant-slayer. This time the hero of the story is Elhanan, which means “Whom God Gave.” He is son of Jaare-Oregim, which means “Forests of Weavers.” Therefore he is not to be confused with the Elhanan listed second among David’s mighty men, who is called “the son of Dodo of Bethlehem.” Jaare-Oregim is called merely “Jair” or “Forested” in I Chronicles 20:5, which tells of this same event.

5. Again there was war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

So Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim slays a giant who is actually the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the giant whom David slew in I Samuel 17. This giant’s name is not given here, but in I Chronicles 20:5 he is called Lahmi, which means “My Bread.” He must have been of similar size to his brother Goliath, since Goliath too used a spear whose shaft was like a weaver’s beam, as we can see if we compare this verse with I Samuel 17:7. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Thus Elhanan also slew an impressive giant indeed, and earned his place in this record of David’s most mighty warriors.

20. Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.

There is yet again another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gath. Gath means “Winepress,” and was one of the royal cities of the Philistines. Here the Israelites encounter yet another Rephaim, described as a man of great stature. We are not given exact numbers, but perhaps he was even more impressive in size than some of these other giants. He also has a noteworthy deformity: he has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, for a total of twenty-four digits, whereas most people have only twenty. He also, we are told, was born to Rapha.

21. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

This huge man also defies Israel, as Goliath had done. This time it is another of David’s relatives, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, who steps up to kill him and deliver Israel from his reproach. Jonathan means “Whom Jehovah Gave,” and Shimea means “Rumor” or “Fame.” Shimea was the third oldest brother of David, remember with David being the eighth and youngest. This Jonathan had a brother named Jonadab whom we have already met, and not in a good light. Jonadab is the one who came up with the wicked scheme that Amnon used to rape his sister Tamar. He was not a good man, but his brother Jonathan is among David’s giant-slayers, and so is an honorable figure in his family. Thankfully, he showed himself a mighty warrior for the LORD and for his land, whereas his brother only showed himself to be clever and unscrupulous.

22. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

All four of these giant men were born to Rapha in Gath, the Philistine city. This probably does not mean that Rapha was their father, but that they were born into the family of Rapha, the Rephaim, or the giants who were born post-flood. (Remember that the pre-flood giants were called Nephilim, after one Nephil.) All of these Rephaim fell by the power of David and his servants.

What can we learn from this? Remember that, at the time that David became a giant-killer and slew Goliath, he was the only one in Israel brave enough to do it. As we read of Goliath in I Samuel 17:11, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” There was no one in Saul’s army who had the Godly courage to face this mighty foe. It took David, filled with the Spirit of God, to face and defeat this mighty challenger.

Yet consider that at this time, during the latter part of David’s reign, things are different. Four other men, mighty men of David’s army, become giant-killers, and join with David in proving their courage against the mighty Rephaim of the Philistines. Whether it is David’s nephews, Abishai and Jonathan, or one of the famous mighty men of David’s army, like Sibbechai the Hushathite, or merely a mighty warrior in David’s army, like Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite, David is now surrounded by men who show the courage and the faith in God to defeat and slay these mighty giants. How did things change in Israel from the cowardice in the days of Saul to the courage in the days of David? I think there can be little doubt but that it was the Godly courage and faith of David that changed things.

David started it when he boldly killed the giant Goliath himself. His confidence in God and reliance on Him communicated itself to his men, and the best among them learned to trust in the God of Israel just as their commander did. Thus by the time David’s reign was drawing to a close, four men proved themselves courageous enough to slay a giant themselves. And we cannot imagine that these four were the only ones brave enough, for in chapter 23 we will read of the exploits of David’s mighty men, and many of them performed feats of courage and faith that proved that they were in no way inferior to these brave men. The issue was not that there were only four men in David’s army capable of killing a giant, but rather that there were only four giants for them to kill. The rest of the mighty men had to perform other courageous deeds, but there simply were not enough giants to go around to all the brave and faithful men of David’s army.

So we see how the courageous and believing attitude of one man changed the whole mindset of a nation. David showed the way, and many others followed it. Thus it is that one man can change the course of history, if he will draw his strength from God. Israel under David achieved a golden age, and it was in large part due to David’s own example. Who today will be an example to others of courageous faith in the Lord? Are there today giant slayers like David and his men?