And the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought with the Philistines. And David was exhausted.
The famine of this chapter is over, and war with the Philistines breaks out again. This time David, the giant-killer of his youth, runs out of strength mid-battle — so why does an old enemy come back, and what happens when strength fails?
David's story ends where it started — in front of a giant. But it is not the same giant:
After this (2 Sam. 21:15), David had one more war with the Philistines. At the end of his course, just as at the beginning, he meets a giant — not the same giant, for what we have once really conquered we have no need to conquer again. But other giants rise up to test our strength. They make us feel that what is easy to faith is dangerous to someone walking without faith's exercise. They make us feel too that if our dependence on God is less, our ability is less, whatever our experience and attainments may be.
The same pattern appears in the life of the Lord. Rossier sets the wilderness temptation beside Gethsemane:
The end of David's history has the same character as its beginning. Goliath seems to come to life again. So it was for the Lord also. After the temptation in the wilderness Satan left Him for a time. He reappeared at Gethsemane, seeking to terrify Him so that He would abandon His work. His efforts were in vain, and at Gethsemane as well as in the wilderness Jesus won the victory.
The man who once went out alone against Goliath now needs rescuing. Leslie Grant reads the weariness as a lesson in limits:
War again takes place after this, and now the men of David's kingdom prove stronger than David. This is a great reversal from David's bold faith in going against Goliath when no one else would think of it. Of course physical strength had faded with age. He must learn his limitations while others become stronger. He had become faint, not able to move quickly and effectively.
Note where the courage of the younger men came from — not from David's present strength, but from the memory of his faith:
The faith of David in the first place in going against Goliath had no doubt had a lasting effect in encouraging his men to face these giants boldly. When we too see the Lord Jesus going fearlessly against the power of His enemies… does this not stimulate our courage of faith to meet enemies boldly?
David is worn out, and Abishai saves his life. Rossier asks what that means for us:
He had gone down with his servants, taking neither his age nor his strength into account: "David grew weary" (v. 15). Ishbibenob, one of the children of the giant… thinks to take advantage of the king's apparent weakness. But "Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him." So this servant of David faces the test. He does not abandon his master in danger, and he has the honour of saving David. Is it not the same with us? … In the power of the Spirit of God, it is up to us now to strike the giant's son. We must defeat Christ's attackers and keep His name and His word intact against the enemy who would destroy them.
David's men decided his fighting days were over, and he did not argue. One writer sees integrity in that silence:
We don't read of David protesting against the decision of his men. Apparently he knew their decision was right. His honesty and uprightness enabled him to assess his position and to agree that his fighting days had come to an end. There was no disgrace in David's feeling the weight of his years… He would retire with honour.
It is a fatal mistake for believers to hold on to a service when everyone concerned can see their ability to serve has ended.
These battles come at the end of the book. Frederick W. Grant explains why it does not close in distress:
The book is not allowed to close in mere distress. Even present evil is not without its good, for God is good, and Master in every scene and circumstance… Not only is it God who overcomes, but man also, wherever he is taught of Him. Faith is the spirit of the overcomer. It is the assurance of victory: "this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith." In the middle of difficulties and trials such as sin has caused, faith finds its exercise and its opportunity.
- Again — the war returns, and so does a giant. What we truly conquer stays conquered, but new giants rise to test whether we are still depending on God.
- Faint — David's strength failed with age. The man who once faced Goliath alone had to learn his limits while younger men grew stronger.
- Helped — Abishai does not abandon his king in danger, and gains the honour of saving him. In the Spirit's power it is now our turn to strike at Christ's attackers and keep His name intact.
- Handed on — David accepted his men's verdict without protest and retired with honour. Holding a service after the ability to serve has gone is a serious mistake.
- Overcoming — the book refuses to end in distress. Faith is the spirit of the overcomer, and it finds its opportunity in the trouble that sin has caused.
And Ishbibenob, who was of the children of Raphah -- the weight of his lance was three hundred shekels of bronze, and he was girded with new [armour] -- thought to smite David.
David's last recorded battle with the Philistines finds him old and worn out. A giant's son sees an easy kill in the tired king, and the scene asks what happens when strength fails and old enemies return.
The Philistine belongs to a family line. One reference work explains the name behind the word "giant":
Rapha appears in the margin of 2 Samuel 21:16, 18, 20 and 1 Chronicles 20:4, where the text reads "the giant." An ancestor of certain warriors.
The verse lists his gear in detail. One writer shows what the giant was counting on:
David had gone down with his servants, taking neither his age nor his strength into account. Ishbibenob was one of the children of the giant. His weapon was formidable: his lance weighed three hundred shekels of bronze. The new armour he wore made him safe from harm. He thinks he can take advantage of the king's apparent weakness.
The man who once ran at Goliath alone is now the one needing rescue. That reversal is the point of the scene:
War breaks out again after this, and now the men of David's kingdom prove stronger than David. This is a great reversal from David's bold faith in going against Goliath when no one else would think of it. Of course physical strength had faded with age. He must learn his limitations while others become stronger. He had become faint and could not move fast or well. So Ishbi-Benob, son of the giant, was ready to kill him. No doubt he would have done so if Abishai had not been near to come to his rescue.
The near miss showed the limit of David's strength. One writer turns that into a warning for anyone who has served God a long time:
It is a fatal mistake for believers to hold on to a service when it is obvious to everyone concerned that their ability to serve has ended. Old age often brings reduced ability to discern and to act with spiritual intelligence. Honesty and uprightness would make way for those who have ability and energy and are faithful.
David killed a giant in his youth. That old victory did not cover him now. One writer explains what changes and what does not:
At the end of his course, just as at the beginning, he meets a giant. It is not the same giant. What we have once truly conquered we have no need to conquer again. But other giants rise up to test our strength. They make us feel that what is easy to faith is dangerous to someone who is not exercising faith. And if our dependence on God is less, our ability is less, whatever our experience and attainments may be.
Commentators also read the giant as a picture, and size itself carries the meaning:
The idea of a giant in Scripture is always tied to evil. It stands for man lifting himself up against God. The giant is the symbol of pride and self-sufficiency, and of oppressive power as well. He is the opposite of the little and the lowly, the humble in heart, with whom God delights to dwell.
Translations differ over the giant's new gear: ESV reads a new sword, others new armour. The same writer sets that new sword against another sword:
No wonder that when Abishai comes to help in the fight, Ishbibenob's "new" sword proves useless! It is freshly forged, for all the age it boasts of, and it is not "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." It cannot and dare not handle that sword.
Abishai fought for his king when the king could not fight. One writer draws the line forward to Christ, who never grows weary, yet gives His people a part in the fight:
Our David is never weary like the David of this history... But He wants to test and strengthen our faith, to encourage our hearts in conflict, and to cheer them with victory and reward. So He loves to put Himself in a place toward His own people where He, the victor over Satan, seems to need our help. What a privilege to fight for Him!
The same writer names the work this leaves to us:
It is up to us now, in the power of the Spirit of God, to strike down the giant's son, to conquer Christ's attackers, and to keep His name and His word intact against the enemy who would destroy them.
- Faint. David's strength failed before his enemy did. Age took what faith had once made easy.
- Giant. The Philistine came from the line of Rapha. Commentators read such enemies as a picture of pride and power lifted up against God.
- Again. A giant beaten in youth stays beaten. But new giants rise. The danger is not their size; it is that we lean less on God.
- Rescued. Abishai was near, and the king lived. One man's weakness became another man's call to fight.
- Retired. Holding on to a service after the ability to serve has gone is a fatal mistake. Making way for others is integrity, not disgrace.
And Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.
This verse closes a battle scene: a Philistine giant nearly kills the worn-out David, until one of the king's own men steps in. His soldiers then bind him with an oath: the king must stay home, so that Israel's lamp is not put out.
David's men call their king Israel's lamp. Other Scriptures use the same picture for the man God anoints.
In the Old Testament, anointing and the lamp appear together: "I have prepared a lamp for my anointed" (Ps. 132:17); "that David my servant may always have a lamp before me" (1 Kings 11:36). David himself was spoken of as "the lamp of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17); and, in a far higher sense, our Lord Jesus declares Himself "the light of the world" (John 8:12).
This is the second time David's men refuse to let him take the field. The first time, they told him he was worth ten thousand of them.
What a loved man he was! And rightly so, I am sure. He was, I believe, one of the most attractive men who ever lived… "You shall not go out," the people answered, "for if we flee they will not care about us… but you are worth ten thousand of us." Later, when he was risking his life in battle with the Philistines, his men swore to him, saying, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel." And indeed he was their light, their gladness, and their leader, the honoured and loved one of his day.
David began his public life by killing a giant. Near the end he meets another one and almost dies. Commentators read this as a lesson about dependence rather than about experience.
At the end of his course, just as at the beginning, he meets a giant. It is not the same giant. What we have truly conquered once, we never need to conquer again. But other giants rise up to test our strength. They make us feel that what is easy to faith is dangerous to anyone who walks without using faith. If our dependence on God is less, our ability is less, however great our experience and attainment may be.
Others put the weight on plain physical decline. The men around David were now stronger than their king.
Of course his physical strength had faded with age. He had to learn his limits while others grew stronger. He had become faint, and could not move quickly or well. So Ishbi-Benob, son of the giant, was ready to kill him. No doubt he would have done so if Abishai had not been near to rescue him.
David went out to fight without weighing his age or his strength. The rescue that follows becomes a test of the servant who makes it.
He had gone down with his servants, taking neither his age nor his strength into account: "David grew weary." … But "Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him." So this servant of David is put to the test. He does not abandon his master in danger, and he has the honour of saving David.
David does not argue with the oath. One writer reads that silence as self-knowledge, not disgrace.
We don't read of David protesting against the decision of his men. It seems he knew their decision was right. His honesty and integrity let him judge his position and agree that his fighting days were over. There was no disgrace in David's feeling the weight of his years… He would retire with honour.
The oath does more than hold David back. It commits the men to do the fighting, and Rossier turns the picture toward the Lord Himself, who never grows weary.
And so each one's faith is put to the test. They realise that they must fight themselves, each in his own rank. The light of God's people must not go out; it must keep shining in all its splendour. No doubt our David is never weary like the David of this history: "The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth… He does not faint or grow weary" (Isa. 40:28). But to test and strengthen our faith, He loves to take a place toward His own people where He, the victor over Satan, seems to need our help. What a privilege to fight for Him!
- Lamp. David is called the lamp of Israel. Psalm 132 and 1 Kings use the same picture, and it points on to Christ, the light of the world.
- Faint. Strength fades. The giant moves in on a weakened king, and David must learn his limits while younger men grow stronger.
- Rescue. Abishai's test is loyalty in his master's danger, and he wins the honour of saving David's life.
- Retire. David makes no protest. He judged his own position and stepped back with honour.
- Relay. The oath hands the fighting to the men, so the light keeps shining. It is a privilege to fight for the One who never grows weary.
And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines, at Gob; then Sibbechai the Hushathite smote Saph, who was of the children of Raphah.
The giant Ishbi-benob had nearly killed an exhausted David. His men then swore the king would never go out to battle again. So at Gob the giant falls to a servant, Sibbecai the Hushathite, and not to the king.
Gob had already been a battlefield, and the king is not on the field this time. One writer turns both facts into encouragement:
It does not matter that our David is absent, as in the two battles at Gob. The same Spirit that drove Him on is still with us. Perhaps we may be alone, as Sibbecai the Hushathite was alone against Saph — for the struck-down giant always reappears in another form. What does that matter? Perhaps — a discouraging situation — Gob, the place where he was defeated, will become a battlefield for us a second time. What does it matter if we must retrace the same steps when we thought we had finished with a treacherous struggle?
The man killed here belongs to a family line, not just an army. Chronicles records him under a different name:
One described as "of the sons of the giant" (or Rapha), killed by Sibbecai. 2 Sam. 21:18. He is called SIPPAI in 1 Chr. 20:4.
Writers offer several meanings for the name Saph. One traces it back to a root with two opposite senses, and finds a warning in it:
Saph, as commonly used in Hebrew, means "basin," or "door, threshold," and this, I suppose, is commonly accepted as the meaning of the second giant's name. Young, however, gives "preserver," while Simonis, comparing the Ethiopic, translates it "extended, long, tall." If it comes from saphah, however, a meaning appears that agrees so completely with the context here that we cannot hesitate to prefer it. Saphah has two meanings, opposed to one another and yet in perfect spiritual harmony: it means either "to add" or "to take away." Saph may in this way stand for "addition" or "subtraction." So Saph stands for adding, from time to time, to the authoritative standard of Christian truth. No one taught in the Word can doubt that such "additions" are really "subtractions" from the authority of Scripture. They are used to overturn some of its plainest teachings.
David is absent, yet the chapter is full of victories. One writer ties the strength of the servants to the place their king holds:
Now that David is restored to his true position, grace so overflows that his servants become mighty men. Their brave deeds only proclaim who is on the throne. Notice that the Spirit turns to look at the servants only after David is firmly settled on the throne and doing judgment and justice. Until then the Spirit speaks only of David... The Lord uses men, and honours them by using them as His servants now; but we are not necessary to His power. But David is more than an honoured servant. As a type he must be on the throne. Then there is no limit to the outflow of grace. The servants are mighty because David is on the throne, and they kill giants.
The same writer contrasts the Philistines with Israel's other enemies:
We do not read here of giants among the Ammonites and Syrians. Those enemies stand instead for the outside forces of the Enemy — for us, the world, with its hatred, persecutions, and killing of the saints. But when Israel faces the Philistines, it finds giants, and these are more an enemy inside the borders... they were the most persistent of all. The Israelites do not subdue them with one victory. Not even these famous warriors scare them off. Israel may beat them again and again, and yet war comes again. And they come with increased power.
Sibbecai does what his king once did against Goliath. One writer traces that courage back to David, and then to us:
David's men were able to win significant victories over various giants. David's own faith, when he first went out against Goliath, had no doubt left a lasting effect. It encouraged his men to face these giants boldly. We too see the Lord Jesus going without fear against the power of His enemies, in His life on earth and in everything surrounding the cross. Does this not stir up our courage of faith to meet enemies boldly?
- Throne first. The servants grow mighty because their king sits secure on the throne. Their victories announce who reigns, not how strong they are.
- Courage borrowed. David's stand against Goliath is what gives men like Sibbecai courage to face giants of their own.
- Same ground again. Gob has to be fought over twice. An old enemy returning in another form is normal, and no reason for discouragement.
- Persistent breed. The Philistine giants picture the enemy nearest home — beaten again and again, yet returning with more power.
- Named and numbered. Saph, also called Sippai, belongs to a family line of giants; writers suggest different meanings for his name, and one reads it as "addition" — adding to God's truth, which is really subtraction from it.
And there was again a battle at Gob with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, smote Goliath the Gittite; now the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
At first reading, this verse gives Goliath's death to Elhanan — the same giant, spear and all, that David had already killed. How can both be true? And why does Scripture record these later battles against the giant's family at all?
Critics use this verse to argue that the account in 1 Samuel 17 never happened. One writer sets the two records side by side.
Almost all modern critics treat the story of this chapter as unhistorical. One of their leading arguments is the statement in 2 Sam. 21:19 that Goliath's killer was Elhanan the son of Jair-oregim, a Bethlehemite. But if we consult still another passage we find that Elhanan slew the brother of Goliath. "And Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite" (1 Chron. 20:5). It is therefore no discrepancy at all. If the account in 1 Sam. 17 were untrue, Saul's jealousy of David would make no sense.
The names themselves point the same way. One writer weighs the wording:
In Samuel, "Jaare-oregim" means "forests of the weavers," which does not look like the name of a man. In Chronicles, Elhanan is the "son of Jair," and the word "oregim" ("weavers") may have crept in from later in the sentence… Also, "Beth-halahmi," "the Bethlehemite," in the one passage comes strikingly close to "eth Lahmi" — Lahmi, as the object of the verb — in the other. On the whole, Chronicles seems to give the correct text, though the Septuagint keeps both.
The spear "like a weaver's beam" makes this giant look like the one David had already beaten. One writer speaks straight to Elhanan:
Look now! Goliath, that old enemy, reappears on this ground… This Goliath, this Gittite, is a false Goliath. He bears a deceptive name, a lying name. He is only Lahmi, Goliath's brother. Yes, but he has the same spear, like a weaver's beam, doesn't he? Ask him, Elhanan, where his sword is. His sword is in David's hands, and it will stay there forever. You are sure of victory, Elhanan!
The same pattern runs through the chapter's other giants:
They may be defeated, again and again, and yet again there is war. And they come with increased power. There is a man of great size, beyond anything normal. But he was the son of the giant, and the killing of Goliath is the pledge of his own.
The man's name matters. Set beside another name in this chapter, it says something about God:
Elhanan (v.19) means "God is a gracious giver." That stands in great contrast to the way formal religion presents God, as dealing with people on a legal, bargaining basis. Jonathan (v.21) was a nephew of David, and his name means much the same as Elhanan: "Jehovah is giver." So we may think of God as the great Originator of all things, or look at Him as Jehovah in His dealings with people. Either way, He is always a giver. He is not a merchant seeking gain from others.
David is not named in this battle. The fighting goes on without him, on ground already fought over once.
It does not matter if our David is absent as in the two battles at Gob. The same Spirit that urged Him on is still with us… for the stricken giant is always reappearing in another form. What does that matter? Perhaps — and this is discouraging — Gob, the place where he was beaten, will become a battlefield for us a second time. What does it matter if we must go over the same ground again, when we thought we had finished a treacherous fight?
Here the giant-killers are servants, not the king. Their strength says something about him:
Now that David holds his true position again, grace so overflows that his servants become mighty men. Their brave deeds only proclaim who is on the throne… The Lord uses men now, and honours them by using them as His servants. But we are not necessary to His power… As a type, he must be on the throne. Then there is no limit to the outflow of grace. The servants are mighty because David is on the throne, and they kill giants.
- No contradiction — the parallel record names the man Elhanan killed as Lahmi, Goliath's brother. Chronicles seems to give the clearer text, and "the Bethlehemite" stands close in Hebrew to "eth Lahmi."
- No true Goliath — the spear like a weaver's beam makes a look-alike. But the real Goliath's sword stays in David's hands, so this giant had already lost before the fight began.
- No bargain — Elhanan means "God is a gracious giver," against every idea that God trades with people instead of giving to them.
- No wasted ground — the beaten enemy keeps coming back in new forms. Gob must be fought over a second time, and going over old ground again does not matter.
- No need of us — the servants grow strong because their king sits on the throne. Their victories proclaim who reigns, not who fought.
And there was again a battle, at Gath; and there was a man [there] of great stature, that had on each hand six fingers, and on each foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to Raphah.
This verse ends a short list of Philistine giants killed in David's wars. The last of them has no name. Scripture describes his body instead: great size, and twenty-four fingers and toes. The battle is at Gath, Goliath's own town. Writers ask two things of the verse. What does such a figure stand for, and who brought him down?
He "was descended from the giants" — the line writers call Rapha. Size in Scripture carries a moral meaning.
The first set of victories here is over the seed of Rapha, the giant. These were the relatives of Goliath of Gath. They were met and overcome in the wars with the Philistines, just as he was. In Scripture the idea of a giant is always tied to evil. He is man lifting himself up against God. He is the symbol of pride and self-sufficiency, and of oppressive power. He is the opposite of the little and the lowly, the humble in heart, with whom God delights to dwell.
His fingers and toes come in sixes. One writer traces that number through the whole Philistine family.
Seven is the number of completeness and perfection. Six is the number of human incompleteness and imperfection. It is striking that six is a number stamped on the Philistine giants — see 1 Samuel 17:4-7; 2 Samuel 21:20. Goliath's height was six cubits and a span. The record lists six pieces of his armour. His spear's head weighed six hundred shekels.
The same writer sets these giants beside the beast of Revelation.
His brother had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Yet the giants fell like ninepins before David and his warriors. The imposing beast, whose number is six three times over, will fall in the same way before the presence of the Lord.
The extra fingers and toes are not random. Hands and feet each stand for something.
The hands speak of work, the feet of walk. In both there is something extra, like a sixth finger or a sixth toe. The number five is the feeble creature (four) together with the almighty Creator (one). Hands and feet in their normal condition bear witness to this. But this six destroys the relation. The creature no longer walks with his Creator. He is subject to every kind of human, invented rule, and conscience is not before God but before man.
This giant taunted Israel, as Goliath had. One writer notes that the Philistine giants kept coming back, and that the taunt sealed his end.
When Israel comes to face the Philistines, it finds giants, and these are more of an internal enemy… They were the most persistent of all. The Israelites do not subdue them by one victory. They may be defeated again and again, and yet again there is war. And they come with increased power. But this man of great stature was the son of the giant, and the killing of Goliath is the pledge of his own. This man defied Israel like Goliath. It was his death-warrant.
The same article names what such an enemy answers to in a believer's life.
This man of great stature is a fitting picture of the flesh. The world and the flesh both serve the devil, yet the flesh seems more powerful than either. To the Christian it is an enemy more to be feared, more to be watched against, because it has its home in the old heart. At times its attack is so terrible that it appears as a giant with six fingers and six toes. But the faith that killed Goliath also gives us the victory over this man, however terrible he looks.
David does not kill this one. Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimeah, does.
The last enemy, a monstrous, intimidating man, is not named, but he too was born to the giant. As Goliath once did, so he defies Israel. In Christ's absence we must fight for Him as well as for His people. To defy the one is to defy the other… Let us stand in the breach like Jonathan the son of Shimeah. Like him, by grace, let us show that we bear the name "David's brothers."
These victories follow David's restoration. One writer sees meaning in that order.
David is restored to his true position. Grace now overflows so much that his servants become mighty men. Their brave deeds only announce who is on the throne… The servants are mighty because David is on the throne, and they kill giants.
- Giant — Size in Scripture pictures pride and self-sufficiency — man lifted up against God. It is the opposite of the lowly heart God dwells with.
- Six — Six is the number of human incompleteness. It marks Goliath's height, armour and spear, and this man's twenty-four fingers and toes. Six three times over returns in Revelation's beast.
- Deformity — The extra fingers and toes fall on hands and feet — work and walk. Five is the weak creature with the Creator. Six breaks that.
- Defiance — He taunted Israel as Goliath had. Goliath's fall already promised his own. His defiance was his death-warrant.
- Throne — He fell to David's kinsman, not to David. Servants are mighty because their king reigns. So we fight for Christ while He is away, and the same faith that beat Goliath beats the flesh.
And he defied Israel; but Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother smote him.
A nameless giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot taunts Israel, and David's nephew Jonathan cuts him down. Goliath was already dead, so why does this enemy keep coming back, and who answers him now?
The taunt is not new. One writer notes whose son he was, and what his defiance cost him:
They may be defeated again and again, and still there is war. And they come back with greater power. Here is a man of great size, not normal; he has twenty-four fingers and toes. But he was the son of the giant, and the killing of Goliath is the pledge that he will fall too. This man defied Israel as Goliath did (1 Sam. 17:10). That was his death sentence.
Giants are never neutral figures in Scripture. Their size carries a moral meaning:
In Scripture the idea of a giant is always tied to evil. He is man lifting himself up against God, the symbol of pride and self-sufficiency, and of oppressive power as well. He is the opposite of the small and the lowly, the humble in heart, with whom God delights to dwell.
Commentators differ on what this particular giant pictures. One sees in his huge shape a picture of the flesh — the old nature in us — and points back to the faith that felled Goliath:
This man of great size pictures the flesh well. The world and the flesh are both servants of the devil, yet the flesh looks stronger than either. To the Christian it is the enemy more to be feared and more to be guarded against, because it is at home in the old heart. Its attack is so terrible that at times it appears as a giant "with six fingers and six toes on each hand and foot." But the faith that killed Goliath also gives us the victory over this man, however terrible he looks. And because our David — the Lord Jesus — is exalted and on the throne, we conquer in His Name.
David meets a giant at the end of his course as he did at the beginning — but the writer is careful to say it is a different one:
At the end of his course, just as at the beginning, he meets a giant — not the same giant, for what we once truly conquer we never have to conquer again. But other giants rise up and test our strength. We come to feel that what is easy to faith is a crisis for anyone who walks without using it. If our dependence on God is less, our strength is less, however great our experience and progress may be.
David himself is not in this fight. That absence is the point of the application:
He defies Israel, just as Goliath once did (v. 21; 1 Sam. 17:10). While Christ is away we must fight for Him as well as for His people. To defy the one is to defy the other... Let us stand in the gap like Jonathan the son of Shimeah, and let us show that by grace we bear the name "David's brothers" as he did (cf. v. 21). Like him, may we have the interests of His people at heart.
This writer starts with the extra fingers and toes, then reads the names. (The ESV spells the father's name Shimei.)
The hands speak of work; the feet of walk. In both there is something extra, like a sixth finger or a sixth toe... So again, what destroys this twisting of nature is what brings in God and His goodness to His creatures, a goodness He never takes back — Jonathan, "Jehovah" — the Unchangeable — "has given"; and he is the son of Shimea, "hearing" — obedience to God alone. Here the line of giants, and of those who overcame them, comes to an end.
Another writer suggests where the young man's courage came from:
What a joy young Jonathan must have been to his Uncle David in 2 Sam. 21:21, when he killed the giant with six fingers and six toes on each hand and foot. Very likely it was his Uncle David's example that had given him the courage to do it.
One writer sets the whole struggle between Satan's servants and David's:
Satan has to learn that his own servants, however frightening, were nothing before the mighty men of David. The sons of the giant are killed, and the kingdom grows all the stronger through the war in which the best servants of each side meet face to face.
- Defiance — The giant repeats Goliath's challenge to Israel. That defiance is what marks him for death.
- Pride — In Scripture a giant pictures man lifting himself up against God. He is the opposite of the lowly heart God dwells with.
- Return — Not the same giant, but another. What faith truly conquers stays conquered, yet new giants keep testing our dependence on God.
- Stand-in — David is off the field, so his servants fight for him. To defy Christ is to defy His people, and those who stand in the gap bear the name of David's brothers.
- Victory — The giant's killer is named "Jehovah has given," son of "hearing." Satan's servants are nothing before David's men, and the kingdom comes out of the war stronger.
These four were born to Raphah, in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
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