Elhanan
“Whom God has graciously given”
Summary
A distinguished warrior in David's army who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, and also the name of one of David's thirty mighty men.
☩The Slaying of Lahmi
Elhanan was a distinguished warrior who performed a memorable exploit against the Philistines. According to 1 Chronicles 20:5, 'Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.' The parallel passage in 2 Samuel 21:19 has textual difficulties, appearing to say Elhanan killed 'Goliath.' Most scholars believe the Chronicles reading is more accurate, with the Samuel passage having suffered scribal corruption—the word 'Oregim' (weavers) seeming to have been accidentally duplicated from the description of the spear. This resolves any apparent contradiction with the account of David killing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
☩Elhanan, Son of Dodo
A second Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, was one of David's thirty mighty men, listed first among that distinguished group. Some scholars suggest there was only one Elhanan who was the son of Dodo of the clan of Jair, though the biblical text appears to distinguish two men.
References
- 1.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Elhanan," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 2.George Morrish, "Elhanan," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Elhanan," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).