Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued. Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David's brother Shimei killed him. So these descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David's brother Shimei killed him. So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
Significance
These are parallel accounts cataloguing the defeat of four Philistine giants, all identified as יְלִידֵי הָרָפָה (yelidei haraphah, "descendants of the giant") from Gath. Both texts name the same warriors and their opponents: Sibbecai killed Saph/Sippai, Elhanan killed Lahmi/Goliath's brother, and Jonathan son of Shimei killed the giant with six fingers on each hand. The Chronicler places this unit immediately after the fall of Rabbah, creating a seamless military narrative, while Samuel locates it in an appendix (chs. 21-24). A notable textual difference: 2 Samuel 21:19 says Elhanan killed "Goliath the Gittite" while 1 Chronicles 20:5 clarifies he killed "Lahmi the brother of Goliath" — a variant that has generated extensive text-critical discussion about whether the Samuel text suffered scribal corruption.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — Samuel's appendix on the Gittite giants is relocated into the Chronicler's continuous war narrative: the last of the Rephaim-descended warriors fall to David's men, completing on the forward line of the story what began with Goliath — the king's servants subduing the land's remaining terrors as the kingdom is established.
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