Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

Brian:

Have you ever considered that there may have been two different giants with 
the same name?

In 1 Samuel 17 the giant was called "Goliath the Philistine".

In 2 Samuel 21 a list of four giants from Gath are mentioned, one of whom was 
named "Goliath of Gath". Not only is this second Goliath given a different 
handle, but the battle in which he is killed is different, in time, place, 
and circumstance.

Thus there is no need to try to conflate David with Elhanen.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Roberts" <formoria AT carolina.rr.com>

> 
> Uri,
> 
> Thanks for the timely reply. Given that so many characters' names 
> in the Hebrew Bible were fluid, changing to fit their mission or 
> reputation, it would not surprise me if such turned out to be the 
> case in both David AND Solomon's lives. "David" meaning "champion" 
> and "Solomon" meaning "peace" certainly sound to me like 
> reputations or titles both had acquired after certain events in 
> their lives had transpired. It has the appearance of seeming 
> reasonable here, at least to this amateur.
> 
> Best Salaams,
> 
> Brian
> 
> 
> On Tuesday, January 25, 2005, at 11:57  AM, Uri Hurwitz wrote:
> 
> >  Brian, we're shifting here to guessing games, e.g. that both are 
> > really one person, or ,as someone cited, that David's name was 
> > not really David.
> >  
> >   The simplest way to understand this is that we are indeed 
> > dealing with two individuals. Elhanan was remembered for the feat 
> > of slaying Goliath. Later on, when more and more stories were 
> > added for the glorification of David, Elhanan achievement was 
> > attributed to him.
> >  
> >   This would be a fine example of the reconstruction of important 
> > biblical personalties. By that I do not mean to imply that such 
> > personalities did not exist historically.
> >  
> >  Uri
> >
> > Brian Roberts <formoria AT carolina.rr.com> wrote:
> >
> > Has anyone seriously given attention to the possibility that David and
> > El-hanan (both variously said to have slain Goliath) could be one and
> > the same person? I've read online looking for papers, but I find nothing
> > more probing than the assertion in the Encyclopedia Judaica that Elhanan
> > was David's original name. This would seem to be a natural avenue to
> > explore, given the ancient Hebrews' penchant for evolving names over
> > time. In a cursory look, it could be argued that II Sam. 11:19
> > represents the first recording of Elhanan, while I Chron. 20:5 is a
> > later writer's attempt to understand the two stories and avoid
> > confusion. Was "David" a title (champion) used elsewhere for others?) Is
> > ja'are an error for ja'ir and are both errors for Jesse?
> >
> > yr[y ry[y r[y r[yy'y
> >
> > Best SAlaams,
> >
> > Brian Roberts
-- 
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