2 Samuel 21:18

_AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THIS, THAT THERE WAS AGAIN A BATTLE WITH THE PHILISTINES AT GOB: THEN SIBBECHAI THE HUSHATHITE SLEW SAPH, WHICH WAS OF THE SONS OF THE GIANT._ There was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob х_ Bª-GOWB_ (H1359), a pit or cistern]. The word is used here apparently as the name of a place which is called (1 Chronicles 20:4) Gezer, or (cf. Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 7:, ch. 12:, sec. 2) Gazara. [The Septuagint has: kai egeneto hoti polemos en Geth, in Gath.] SIBBECHAL THE HUSHATHITE, х_ CIBªKAY_ (H5444) = cªkak Yaah, thicket of Yah(weh) - i:e., crowd of God's people (Gesenius) (see the notes at 2 Samuel 23:27)] - called "the Hushathite,...

15-22 These events seem to have taken place towards the end of David's reign. David fainted, but he did not flee, and God sent help in the time of need. In spiritual conflicts, even strong saints sometimes wax faint; then Satan attacks them furiously; but those who stand their ground and resist him, shall be relieved and made more than conquerors. Death is a Christian's last enemy, and a son of Anak; but through Him that triumphed for us, believers shall be more than conquerors at last, even over that enemy....

Verse 2 Samuel 21:18. _A BATTLE - AT GOB_] Instead of _Gob_, several editions, and about _forty_ of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS., have _nob_; but _Gezer_ is the name in the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 20:4....

A BATTLE IN GOB - In the parallel passage (marginal reference), “Gezer” is named as the field of this battle. However, Gath is named 2 Samuel 21:20, 2 Samuel 21:22 in a way to make it probable that Gath was the scene of all the battles. The Septuagint in this verse has “Gath.”...

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 21:1 THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE DAYS OF DAVID; Hebrew, _and there was. _There is an entire absence of any mark of time to show in what part of David's reign this famine took place. It does not even follow, from the mention of Mephibosheth's name, that it must have happened at a time subsequent to the sending for that prince from Machir's house; for it may have been the search after the descendants of Saul which made David remember the son of his old friend. The burial, however, of the bones of Saul and Jonathan as an act of respect to the slaughtered king makes it probable that the narrative belongs to the early part of David's reign, as also does the apparent fact that the seven victims were all young and unmarried. Mephibosheth, we read, had a young son when David sent for him. Now, he was five years old whe

AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THIS,.... After the former battle: THAT THERE WAS AGAIN A BATTLE WITH THE PHILISTINES AT GOB; in 1 Chronicles 20:4 it is called Gezer; either the place had two names, or these two places were near each other; so that the battle may be said to be fought both at the one and at the other, being fought equally near to both: THEN SIBBECHAI THE HUSHATHITE SLEW SAPH, WHICH [WAS] OF THE SONS OF THE GIANT; who is called Sippai, 1 Chronicles 20:4; he had his name from the lintel of a door, being as high as one, so tall that he could scarce go under one. Sibbechai was one of David's worthies, 1 Chronicles 11:29; perhaps a desc

IV. THE APPENDIX TO THE HISTORY OF DAVID 1. The Famines and the Wars with the Philistines CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The Famine and the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1)_ 2. The Wars with the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:15) The fourth section of the second book of Samuel is an appendix to the history of David. When the great famine happened in the days of David we do not know. After the famine had returned year after year, for three years, David inquired of the Lord. Why did he not inquire in the first year? It is an evidence of the low spiritual state which prevailed at that time. The answer which David received revealed the cause of the judgment which rested upon the land. It was Saul and the blood-guilt in having slain the Gibeonites. The story of the Gibeonites is recorded in...

DAVID'S HEROES (first section). _Cf._ above. (J). These verses are probably from the same source as 2 Samuel 23:8 ff., and the source is no doubt ancient. The events in 2 Samuel 21:15 ff. and 2 Samuel 23:8 ff. belong to various periods in the life of David. 2 SAMUEL 21:15. ABISHAI RESCUES DAVID. The text of 2 Samuel 21:16 is corrupt; the general sense seems to have been: At Gob, some place otherwise unknown, David was in danger from a giant whose name has been lost through corruption of the text....

GOB. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read "Nob"....

Heroic exploits in the Philistine wars This section is quite unconnected with the preceding narrative. It is perhaps a fragment from some "book of golden deeds" recording the exploits of David and his warriors. From such a chronicle may also be derived ch. 2 Samuel 23:8-39, possibly ch. 2 Samuel 5:17-25, and some other sections of the book. 2 Samuel 21:18 are also preserved in Chronicles, where they are placed immediately after the capture of Rabbah (1 Chronicles 20:4-8)....