2 Samuel 21:18

21:15-22 These events seem to have taken place towards the end of David's reign. David fainted, but he did not flee, and God sent help in the time of need. In spiritual conflicts, even strong saints sometimes wax faint; then Satan attacks them furiously; but those who stand their ground and resist him, shall be relieved and made more than conquerors. Death is a Christian's last enemy, and a son of Anak; but through Him that triumphed for us, believers shall be more than conquerors at last, even over that enemy.

And it came to pass after this,.... After the former battle: that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob; in 1 Chronicles 20:4 it is called Gezer; either the place had two names, or these two places were near each other; so that the battle may be said to be fought both at the one and at the other, being fought equally near to both: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant; who is called Sippai, 1 Chronicles 20:4; he had his name from the lintel of a door, being as high as one, so tall that he could scarce go under one. Sibbechai was one of David's worthies, 1 Chronicles 11:29; perhaps a descendant of Hushah, who sprung from Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:4.

(18) At Gob. —Comp. 2Samuel 21:19 . The place is otherwise unknown. 1Chronicles 20:4 reads “Gezer,” and the LXX. substitutes “Gath.” (Comp. 2Samuel 21:20 .) It is not at all remarkable that the names of many small places should be lost after the lapse of three thousand years, nor that the locality of the hamlet should be marked in the later chronicles by the better known neighbouring town of Gezer. Sibbechai the Hushathite.—Comp. 1Chronicles 20:4. He is also mentioned in the list of heroes (1Chronicles 11:29); but in 2Samuel 23:27 the name is changed into “Mebunnai the Hushathite by a slight alteration in the letters of the original. He was captain of the eighth division of the army (1Chronicles 26:11). The giant whom he slew is called “Sippai” in the parallel place in Chronicles, and it is there said that the Philistines were subdued.

2 Samuel 21:18 . After this — After the battle last mentioned. There was again a battle at Gob — Or in Gezer, as in 1 Chronicles 20:4 , whereby it seems Gob and Gezer were neighbouring places, and the battle was fought in the confines of both. Sibbechai the Hushathite — One of David’s worthies, 1 Chronicles 11:29 ; slew Saph — One of the same race of Rephaims, descended from the Anakims.

18 . at Gob ] A place mentioned only here and in 2 Samuel 21:19 . The Sept. reads Gath , the parallel passage in Chron. Gezer ; and we must suppose that Gob is either a corruption of the text, or some otherwise unknown place perhaps in the neighbourhood of Gezer, for which see note on ch. 2 Samuel 5:25 . Sibbechai the Hushathite ] One of David’s heroes ( 1 Chronicles 11:29 ), general of the eighth division of the army ( 1 Chronicles 27:11 ). See note on ch. 2 Samuel 23:27 . Saph ] Written Sippai in Chron., where it is added that the Philistines were subdued.

Verse 18. - Gob . In the parallel passage ( 1 Chronicles 20:4 ) this place is called Gezer , and the Septuagint has Gath. It was probably some unimportant spot, except as being the site of this battle, and the scribes, knowing nothing about it, made corrections at their fancy. Sibbechai the Hushathite. The name is spelt in the same way in 1 Chronicles 11:29 and 1 Chron 20:4, but in the list of the mighties he is called Mebunnai ( 2 Samuel 23:27 ). In 1 Chronicles 27:11 we find that he had the command of the eighth division of the army, consisting of twenty-four thousand men. He is called "the Hushathite," as being a descendant of Hushah, of the family of Judah, in 1 Chronicles 4:4 . Saph, which was of the sons of the giant; Hebrew, of the Raphah: He is called Sippai in 1 Chronicles 20:4 . 2 Samuel 21:18

15-22. Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel—Although the Philistines had completely succumbed to the army of David, yet the appearance of any gigantic champions among them revived their courage and stirred them up to renewed inroads on the Hebrew territory. Four successive contests they provoked during the latter period of David's reign, in the first of which the king ran so imminent a risk of his life that he was no longer allowed to encounter the perils of the battlefield.

(compare 1 Chronicles 20:4 ). In a second war, Sibbechai and Hushathite slew Saph the Rephaite at Gob. According to 1 Chronicles 27:11 , Sibbechai, one of the gibborim of David ( 1 Chronicles 11:29 ), was the leader of the eighth division of the army (see at 2 Samuel 23:27 ). החשׁתי is a patronymic from חוּשׁה in 1 Chronicles 4:4 . The scene of conflict is called Gob in our text, and Gezer in the Chronicles. As Gob is entirely unknown. Thenius supposes it to be a slip of the pen for Gezer; but this is improbable, for the simple reason that Gob occurs again in 2 Samuel 21:19 . It may possibly have been a small place somewhere near to Gezer, which some suppose to have stood on the site of el Kubab, on the road from Ramleh to Yalo (see at Joshua 10:33 ). The name Saph is written Sippai in the Chronicles.

[Bible] 21:13. And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were crucified, 21:14. And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed mercy again to the land after these things. 21:15. And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint, 21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword, attempted to kill David. 21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David's men swore unto him saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel. 21:18. There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines: then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family of the giants. 21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Adeodatus the son of the Forrest... So it is rendered in the Latin Vulgate, by giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are Elhanan the son of Jaare. 21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha. 21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the brother of David slew him. 21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the hand of David, and of his servants. King David's psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his enemies.