2 Samuel 21:16

2Sa 21:16 And Ishbibenob, which [was] of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear [weighed] three hundred [shekels] of brass in weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to have slain David.

Ver. 15. Which was of the sons of the giant.] Such as were those before the flood, and the Zamzummims, {Deu 2:20} and that Gabbara in Pliny brought out of Arabia, under the empire of Claudius, who was nine feet and nine inches high.

Thought to have slain David.] This happened, saith Josephus, when the enemies being put to flight, David pursued them before all others.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:16 a descendant of the giants: Cp. Gen 14:5; Deut 2:10-11, 20-21; 3:11.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which amount to nine pounds three quarters.

That is, of the race of giants.

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

Verse 16. Being girded with a new sword] As the word sword is not in the original, we may apply the term new to his armour in general; he had got new arms, a new coat of mail, or something that defended him well, and rendered him very formidable: or it may mean a strong or sharp sword.

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

(16) Ishbi-benob.—The name is a strange one, and it is generally thought that some error has crept into the text, but none of the suggested emendations are free from difficulty. Perhaps the most probable is that in the Speaker’s Commentary, by which for Ishbi (the Hebrew margin) they halted is read, and benob, by a very slight change in one letter, becomes at Gob; then a clause is supplied, there was a man, so that the whole reads, “David waxed faint, and they halted at Gob. And there was a man which was of the sons,” &c.; 2Sa_21:18 (as well as 2Sa_21:19) seems to imply a previous battle in Gob.

Three hundred shekels.—About eight pounds; just half the weight of Goliath’s spear-head (1Sa_17:7).

Girded with a new sword.—The word sword is not in the original, and its omission, where intended, is unusual. Either it should be girded with new armour, or else the word for new is intended to denote some otherwise unknown weapon.

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

16. Ishbi-benob] Perhaps = “dweller on a height,” a name given him because he lived in some inaccessible castle. But there are good reasons for suspecting that there is some corruption in the text, and that the giant’s real name has been lost.

of the sons of the giant] The word for sons is one specially used of the progeny of the giant races of Canaan (Num_13:22; Num_13:28; Jos_15:14). Râphâh, or with the article ha-Râphâh, translated “the giant,” may be a quasi proper-name for the father of the four giants here mentioned, or, more probably, for the founder of the tribe of Rephaim. The Vulg. has Arapha, and hence comes Harapha, the name of the giant introduced in Milton’s Samson Agonistes.

three hundred shekels] About nine pounds: half the weight of Goliath’s spear head.

brass] See note on ch. 2Sa_8:8.

with a new sword] There is no substantive expressed in the Hebrew: the Vulg. supplies sword: others suit of armour: the Sept. reads a mace instead of the word new, and this suggests the probability that the original reading was some rare word, denoting a specially formidable kind of weapon.

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.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him,.... Observing him in danger, made haste to his relief:

and smote the Philistine, and killed him; it seems as if Abishai engaged with the Philistine, and killed him; but inasmuch as it will bear to be interpreted of David, and since the four giants here and hereafter mentioned are said to fall by the hand of David and his servants, Sa2 21:22, it may be thought that this man fell by his hand; seeing it is clear that all the rest fell by the hands of his servants:

then the men of David sware unto him; after they had observed the danger he was exposed unto, and how narrowly he escaped with his life:

saying, thou shalt go no more with us to battle; they had persuaded him not to go to the battle with Absalom; they had suffered him to go with them now, he being, no doubt, forward and pressing to it; but now they were resolute, and determined he should never go more:

that thou quench not the light of Israel; signifying that their glory and prosperity depended on his life, and that, should he be taken away, they should be in affliction and adversity, their honour and their happiness would be at an end; the Targum is,"thou mayest not extinguish the kingdom of Israel,''the light and glory of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ishbi-benob - A corrupt reading. The whole passage should perhaps run thus: “And David waxed faint. So they halted in Gob (as in 2Sa 21:18-19). And there was a man (in Gob) which was of the sons of the giant, etc.”

Sons of the giant - The “giant” here 2Sa 21:18, 2Sa 21:20, 2Sa 21:22 is “ha-Raphah,” whence, the “Rephaim” Gen 14:5; Deu 2:11. The sons of Ha-raphah, or Rephaim, are different from the “Nephilim,” or Giants Gen 6:4; Num 13:33. The sons of Anak were not strictly Rephaim, but Nephilim.

Three hundred shekels of brass - About eight pounds. Goliath’s spear’s head weighed “six hundred shekels of iron.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jesbibenob may signify, "Jesbi, the son of Ob." Septuagint, "Jesbe, of Nob, who was of the race of the giants." Arapha seems to have been one of great fame, (ver. 18, 21, 22) who had several children; unless other giants assumed his name. (Calmet) --- Ounces. Hebrew, "sicles of brass, in weight." Sicles is only understood, as on similar occasions. Neither is sword expressed; (Haydock) so that some think he had on a new suit of armour. Symmachus, "a sword." Roman Septuagint, "a club." The weight of the whole spear is specified in Hebrew, Septuagint, &c., (Calmet) as weighing "300---of brass," (Haydock) of which metal it seems to have been formed, as the Jews had no such money till the captivity. (Calmet)

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).

The giant; so called by way of eminency. Or, of Rapha, a giant so called.

The weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels: see 1Sa 17:5.

With a new sword, or rather, with a new girdle or belt; for, first, This was the usual habit of soldiers, 1Sa 18:4; 2Sa 18:11; 1Ki 2:5; Isa 5:27, and when it was of an extraordinary fashion and price, an ensign of dignity and command in the army, Eze 23:15. So this may be mentioned to note that this was the first time either of his going out to fight, or of his advancement to some eminent place in the army; which made him desirous to signalize himself with some great action. Secondly, This supplement is more natural and usual, the word girdle being easily supplied from the word

being girded; such ellipses of conjugate words being frequent in the Hebrew tongue, as Num 11:14; Psa 76:12; Mat 20:12. Thirdly, The newness of the sword seems to have no emphasis nor significancy for the present purpose, seeing an old and tried sword would seem more considerable for his encouragement than one new and unproved.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Ishbi-benob — The name means, his dwelling on the hill, and was perhaps given him on account of some high citadel or castle which he occupied.

Sons of the giant — Or, sons of Raphah. On the ancient giant race, Rephaim, compare Gen_14:5; Gen_15:20; and Deu_3:11. The word Raphah (or Rapha, as in 1Ch_20:4) seems to have been the proper name of the father of a race of giants that dwelt among the Philistines, but he was doubtless related to the more ancient Rephaim.

Weight of whose spear — The reference is doubtless to the metal head of his spear.

Three hundred shekels — About nine pounds, half the weight of Goliath’s. See 1Sa_17:7.

New sword — Better to supply the word armour in place of sword. His entire military garb was new.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ishbi-benob. The Hebrew has Ishbo-benob, which Gesenius interprets as meaning "dweller upon the height." But surely the man"s name would not be Hebrew; he was a Raphah, and we shall not be able to explain his name until we know the language of the Rephaim. Of the sons of the giant; Hebrew, of the children of the Raphah; that is, he belonged to the race of the Rephaim, the word not signifying "sons," but the members of a stock. It is translated "children" in Num_13:22, Num_13:28, etc. (For the Rephaim, see note on 2Sa_5:18) "The Raphah" may be the mythic progenitor of the Rephaim, but more probably it is simply the singular of "Rephaim," and "children of the Raphah" a more poetic way of describing the race. Three hundred shekels. It weighed, therefore, about eight pounds; the spearhead of Goliath was just twice as heavy. (1Sa_17:7) Girded with a new. The Vulgate supplies "sword," which the Authorized Version has adopted. The Septuagint reads a "mace" instead of "new;" others think that he had a new suit of armour. If the narrator had thought it of sufficient importance to let us know that the article was new, he would scarcely have left the thing itself unspecified. It is evident, however, that the Septuagint did not read hadasha, "new," but the name of some strange warlike instrument, which being unknown to the scribes, they substituted for it a word which they did know, but which makes no sense. We cannot, however, depend upon the translation of the Septuagint, "mace." The want of special knowledge on the part of the translators of the Septuagint, though partly accounted for by the long absence from Palestine of its authors, and their having to depend entirely upon such knowledge of their language as survived at Alexandria, is more than we should have expected or can quite understand. Here, however, there is nothing remarkable in their not knowing the exact meaning of this carious weapon of the Rephaite; but plainly it could not be a mace, but must have been something that could be gift upon him. The Authorized Version, moreover, gives a look of probability to the insertion of "sword," which is wanting in the Hebrew; for it does not connect his purpose of killing David with the hadasha. The Hebrew is, "And Ishbo-benob, who was a Rephaite, and whose spear weighed three hundred shekels, and who was girt with a hadasha; and he thought to smite David.

Vers. 16-22.

Giant killers.

These huge monsters were dangerous enemies. To slay them was to do valuable service to king and country. To assail them required much courage. Those who killed any of them gained great renown; and their names and deeds were recorded in the chronicles of the kingdom, and, as to some of them, have found a place in the Book of books.

I SOME GIANT FOES OF THE DIVINE KING AND KINGDOM THAT NEED TO BE DESTROYED. We may name superstition, whether pagan, papal, or protestant; infidelity; selfishness; pride; tyranny, ecclesiastical or political; slavery; sensuality; intemperance; war; mammon. Singly, or in partial union, they assail the subjects of Christ, and oppose them in their endeavours to extend his kingdom. And behind lie the devil and his angels, ever active and formidable. (Eph_6:11, Eph_6:12)

II TO BATTLE AGAINST THESE MONSTERS IS THE DUTY OF ALL CHRIST"S SERVANTS.

1. It is involved in their Christian calling. The new nature which is given to them is instinctively hostile to Satan and his works. The endeavour to serve God and benefit men necessarily brings them into conflict with these powers of darkness. The attacks made on themselves compel them to fight in self-defence. (1Pe_5:8, 1Pe_5:9)

2. They are supplied with arms and armour for the purpose. (Eph_6:11-17)

1. The enslaved and degraded condition to which these giant evils have reduced their victims appeals to and stimulates them.

2. Their own happy condition under the reign of Christ supplies them witha powerful motive.

3. Regard for him impels and strengthens them. Loyalty, desire for his glory, the hope of his approval, and of the honours and rewards he bestows.

III HEROES IN THE FIGHT ATTAIN TO DISTINCTION AND REWARD.

1. Who are the heroes? Not those who engage these giants (nominally) as a profession and for the sake of earthly rewards. But such as

(1) renounce for themselves their service, which all who profess to oppose them do not;

(2) show great zeal in contending against them;

(3) cheerfully expose themselves to hardship and peril in doing so, displaying conspicuous courage and endurance. Those faithful in times of persecution, confessors, martyrs. Those who bear the gospel to savages, or encounter dangerous climates in seeking its extension.

2. Their honours and rewards.

(1) In many cases, success; not, alas! in killing these giants they are not dead yet but in preserving themselves, and rescuing others from their power, and in diminishing their dominions.

(2) Enrolment in the Divine records. Many illustrious names are written in human records; more have been overlooked; but all are in the "book of remembrance written before" God. (Mal_3:16)

(3) Final promotion to honour, power, and blessedness (see 2Ti_4:7, 2Ti_4:8; and the promises made in Revelation 2. and 3. to "him that overcometh"). G.W.

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

A spear case weighing. It is like a case that is at the top of spear's handle that is called aristuille in O.F., and it is made like a hat There is something comparable to it in Maseches Zevochim, "What were the pomegranates of the tunic similar to? They were like the caps on babies' heads" The caps [are called] hemles in O.F.

Who was armed. Armed with a new sword. I heard [an explanation] that on that day he was intitiated into the wearing of battle dress and it is the manner of those so initiated to [try to] be successful and mighty on the day of their initiation to make a name for themselves. That is why, he said he was going to kill Dovid.

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.