1 Chronicles 20:5

Read 2 Sam. 21:19.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. Elhanan the son of Jair] 2Sa 21:19. The Targum says, "David, the son of Jesse, a pious man, who rose at midnight to sing praises to God, slew Lachmi, the brother of Goliath, the same day on which he slew Goliath the Gittite, whose spear-staff was like a weaver's beam."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) There was war again.—Samuel adds, “in Gob.” The proper name is probably a transcriber’s repetition; the Syriac and Arabic there are without it.

Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite.—The Hebrew text and LXX. of Samuel have the very different statement: “And Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite slew Goliath the Gittite.” There are good critics who maintain that we must recognise here a proof that popular traditions fluctuated between David and the less famous hero Elhanan as slayer of Goliath: an uncertainty, supposed to be faithfully reflected in the two accounts preserved by the compiler of Samuel (1 Samuel 17; 2Sa_21:19). Other not less competent scholars believe that the text of Samuel should be corrected from the Chronicles. As regards the name Jaarê-oregim (forests of weavers—an absurdity), this is plausible. Whether we proceed further in the same direction must depend on the general view we take of the chronicler’s relation to the Books of Samuel. It is easy, but hardly satisfactory, to allege that he felt the difficulty, which every modern reader must feel, and altered the text accordingly. The real question is whether he has done this arbitrarily, or upon the evidence of another document than his MS. of Samuel. Now, it is fair to say that (1) hitherto we have observed no signs of arbitrary alteration; (2) we have had abundant proof that the chronicler actually possessed other sources besides Samuel. There is no apparent reason why “Lahmi” (i.e., Lahmijah) should not be a nomen individui. (Comp. Assyrian Lahmû, the name of a god, Tablet I., Creation Series.) It is, however, quite possible that Elhanan is another, and, in fact, the original name of David. The appellative David. “the beloved” (comp. Dido), may have gradually supplanted the old Elhanan in the popular memory. Solomon we know was at first named Jodidiah, and it is highly probable that the true designation of the first king of Israel has been lost, the name Saul (“the asked”) having been given in allusion to the fact that the people had ashed for a king. We may compare, besides, the double names Jehoahaz-Shallum, Mattaniah-Zedekiah, and perhaps Uzziah-Azariah. The Targum on Samuel partly supports this suggestion (see the Note there). I would add that Jaare in Hebrew writing is an easy corruption of Jesse; so that the original reading of 2Sa_21:19 may have been, “And Elhanan the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, slew Goliath,” &c. In that case, the reading of Chronicles must be considered an unsuccessful emendation, due probably to the compiler whose work the chronicler followed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. Elhanan … slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath] In 2Sa_21:19 Elhanan … the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath (R.V.). The difference between the two sentences in Heb. is very small, and the Chronicler, or any copyist, might feel that he was making a certain emendation in substituting the brother of Goliath for Goliath himself, who, according to 1 Samuel 17, was slain by David before he became king. But it is not certain that there is a discrepancy between 2 Samuel 21 and 1 Samuel 17, for Goliath may be, not a personal name, but a descriptive title of some kind; e.g. “Goliath the Gittite” might mean “the Gittite champion.” “Tartan,” “Rabsaris” and “Rabshakeh” (2Ki_18:17) were once taken as proper names, but are now known to be descriptions of Assyrian officers.

whose spear staff) R.V. the staff of whose spear.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adeodatus. Hebrew, "Elchanan, the son of Jair, of Lehem;" or, "slew Lechemi, brother of Goliath;" or equal to him in strength. (Calmet) --- Brother is here supplied, as it is wanting, 2 Kings. (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Elhanan the son of Jair. In Samuel Jair appears as Jaare. This Elhanan is probably different from him of 1Ch_11:26. There is a strange confusion in the reading of this and its parallel verse. If our present verse is to stand corrected by accepting from its parallel "the Bethlehemite" in place of our Lamhi, then either we have no name given for the brother of Goliath, the Gittite; or, if we drop the word "brother" (changing the yja of Chronicles into the tae of Samuel), and make Goliath the Gittite the man slain by Elhanan, then of such a Goliath we know nothing, and it is a most unlikely coincidence of name with the conquered of David"s sling.. Kennicott"s seventy-eighth dissertation is occupied, and ably, with the pros and cons of this question; and the curiosities of Jerome on the passage may be found in his "Quaestiones Hebraicae." There seems no sufficient reason to depart from our reading here, to which it were preferable to adjust the reading in the parallel place, which exhibits almost certainly a glaring corruption of text in another respect.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Elhanan the son of Jair smote He was one of David’s mighty men.

Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, and the staff of his spear was as [thick as] a weavers’ beam like the round stick about which they wrap the cloth while weaving. Jonathan translated that verse in Samuel: And David the son of Jesse, the weaver of the dividing curtain of the Temple, slew. He interprets Jair (יָעִיר) as being similar to the Lebanon forest (יַעַר). He was paid in kind: Let David, whose mother wove the dividing curtain for the Temple with a weavers’ beam, slay Goliath, whose spear staff was as thick as a weavers’ beam. Now why does Scripture call him Elhanan? Because God favored him (ה' חֲנָנוֹ). I believe that Goliath the Gittite is not identical with Goliath the Philistine. One reason is that there [I Sam. 17:23] he called him Goliath the Philistine. Another reason is that above it is written: “... then Sibbecai the Hushathite smote Sippai of the sons of Rapha,” and also below it is written: “and he too was born to Raphah.” Since he does not mention that Goliath the Gittite was a son of Rapha, it proves that he [Goliath the Gittite] was not her son

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.