2 Samuel 21:22
in 2 Samuel 21So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
KJV
These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThese four were born to the giant in Gath,.... Not to Goliath, for one of them was his brother, but to some giant or another of that place, for which it was famous; they were all of them of the race of the giants; and so the Septuagint version, they were"the offspring of the giants in Gath, whose family was Repha;''and this Repha, or Arepha, as the Vulgate Latin version, according to Abarbinel, was a woman of the daughters of the giants; the Talmudists (e) make her to be the same with Orpah, Rth 1:
This site's exposition
fell by the hand of David
The chapter closes a count that opened at Gath a generation before: four men born to the giant, and all four now fallen, one by David's own hand at the valley of Elah and three by the hands of his servants here. Henry reads the pairing as deliberate, David began his conquest with one giant and this record closes it with four, the hardest enemies kept for the last conflict. The line of Anakim left in Gath at Joshua 11:22 runs through Goliath to these four and ends in this verse, the last giants named in the historical books.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the L ORD . And the L ORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:90%@v1
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Four - Not necessarily meaning that they were brothers, but that they were all of the race of the Giant, all Rephaim. The word “four” is omitted in the parallel passage, only the three last being mentioned in that chapter.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַרְבַּ֥עַת | ʾarbaat | four | H702 → | |
| אֵ֛לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| יֻלְּד֥וּ | yuledu | they were born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| לְהָרָפָ֖ה | leharafah | to the Raphah | H7497 → | 25 times |
| בְּגַ֑ת | begat | in Gath | H1661 → | 32 times |
| וַיִּפְּל֥וּ | vaiyipelu | and they fell | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בְיַד־ | veyad- | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| דָּוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וּבְיַ֥ד | uveyad | and by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֲבָדָֽיו׃ פ | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַרְבַּ֥עַתfour
ʾarbaatH702 →
אֵ֛לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
יֻלְּד֥וּthey were born
yuleduH3205 →496 times
לְהָרָפָ֖הto the Raphah
leharafahH7497 →25 times
בְּגַ֑תin Gath
begatH1661 →32 times
וַיִּפְּל֥וּand they fell
vaiyipeluH5307 →435 times
בְיַד־by [the] hand of
veyad-H3027 →1618 times
דָּוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וּבְיַ֥דand by [the] hand of
uveyadH3027 →1618 times
עֲבָדָֽיו׃ פservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
it leads to
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 1 John 4:4
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the…
- Psalms 118:6
Through
Jeremiah 9:23This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–29
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- Isaiah 5:21
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11
I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor…
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.