How did David Kill Goliath?

[Mike Hall]

I prefer the KJV as it clearly states the record of events.

46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Here is a clear example of faith in the power of God and HIS ability to deliver.

This verse depicts a direct hit to the forehead of the giant. I personally have seen these slings in action and have seen a aircraft hanger firedoor impacted resulting in a 3" diameter, 1" deep dent from a round stone about the size of an average thumb. So the blow most likely knocked out the giant and since it was the front lobe of the brain would be the equivalent of a frontal lobotomy. So there was a possibility of the giant waking up, but with the frontal lobe damaged he would be the equivalent of a zombie.
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

Since David did not carry a sword into battle, (not his weapon of experience), he used the giants own sword to decapitate the giant.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

I apologize for skipping over the over posts as the possibility exists that this explanation was given. Maybe if I have time I will break down the Hebrew language of the event.

 

[rsr]

BTW, "Goliath" is a HEBREW word which means "splendor", and was likely an Israeli handle for that giant. That explains, in part, why the giant that Elhanan killed years later was also called "Goliath" by some writers. Also, the other name Scripture calls this 2nd giant, "Lahmi", is also a Hebrew word beaning "my bread". (Perhaps Doc Cas can clarify the meanings of those Hebrew words.) Scripture & secular history are silent about the PHILISTINE names of those giants.

Another explanation is that the passage in II Samuel 21:19 (and to a lesser extent in I Chronicles) is based on corruptions in the Hebrew, which has been posited for centuries (See, for example, Benjamin Kennicott, The State of the Printed Hebrew text of the Old Testament considered, 1753; Adam Clarke's Commentary, etc.

And it appears that Lahmi may not actually be the name of Goliath's brother, having resulted from a misplacement of a few characters.

Here's the NET note:

The Hebrew text as it stands reads, “Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite.” Who killed Goliath the Gittite? According to 1 Sam 17:4-58 it was David who killed Goliath, but according to the MT of 2 Sam 21:19 it was Elhanan who killed him. Many scholars believe that the two passages are hopelessly at variance with one another. Others have proposed various solutions to the difficulty, such as identifying David with Elhanan or positing the existence of two Goliaths. But in all likelihood the problem is the result of difficulties in the textual transmission of the Samuel passage; in fact, from a text-critical point of view the books of Samuel are the most poorly preserved of all the books of the Hebrew Bible. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 20:5 reads, “Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath.” Both versions are textually corrupt. The Chronicles text has misread “Bethlehemite” (בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי, bet hallakhmi) as the accusative sign followed by a proper name אֶת לַחְמִי (’et lakhmi). (See the note at 1 Chr 20:5.) The Samuel text misread the word for “brother” (אַח, ’akh) as the accusative sign (אֵת, ’et), thereby giving the impression that Elhanan, not David, killed Goliath. Thus in all probability the original text read, “Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath.”

 

[Deacon]

Another explanation is that the passage in II Samuel 21:19 (and to a lesser extent in I Chronicles) is based on corruptions in the Hebrew, which has been posited for centuries

A dated but free source supporting this is:
Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel [LINK]
by Samuel Driver (1913)
He's the "D" of the BDB Hebrew Lexicon (A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament)

Bible Study Magazine had an article about this awhile back that may interest some as well

Clash of the Manuscripts: Goliath & the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament [LINK]

Rob

 

[rsr]

A dated but free source supporting this is:
Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel [LINK]
by Samuel Driver (1913)
He's the "D" of the BDB Hebrew Lexicon (A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament)

Bible Study Magazine had an article about this awhile back that may interest some as well

Clash of the Manuscripts: Goliath & the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament [LINK]

Rob

"Clash of the Manuscripts" is a good read (with visuals). You have to be paying very close attention to see the problem with the Chronicles text.

Kennicott's book (scanned PDF) is at A Dissertation in two parts, part the First compares I Chron XI with 2 Sam. V and XXIII; and part the Second contains Observations on seventy hebrew Mss. : with .... Pages 78 ff.

 

[robycop3]

I still believe the stone to the forehead killed Goliath. Dave decapitated him to prove to the Philistines G was dead.