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Complete Jewish Bible
2 Samuel 21:20
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At Gath there was still another battle. A huge man was there with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He, too, was descended from the giant.
There was again war at Gat, where was a man of great stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the Rafa.
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
Once again there was battle at Gath, and there was a man of great size. The fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet were six and six, twenty-four in number. He was also born to the Raphah.
And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.
At Gath another battle took place. A huge man was there; he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four fingers and toes in all. This man also was one of the sons of Rapha.
Yet another battle occurred in Gath. On that occasion there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.
There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants.
And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant.
Afterward there was also a battel in Gath, where was a man of a great stature, and had on euerie hand sixe fingers, and on euerie foote sixe toes, foure and twentie in nomber: who was also the sonne of Haraphah.
Then there was war at Gath again, and there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giants.
There was another war, this time in Gath. One of the enemy soldiers was a descendant of the Rephaim. He was as big as a giant and had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
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.
There was another battle at Gath. There was a very large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He had 24 fingers and toes in all. This man was also one of the giants.
And there was again war in Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had on each hand six fingers and on each foot six toes, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giants.
Then there was another battle at Gath, where there was a giant who loved to fight. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
And again the battle was in Gath, and there was a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands were six, and the fingers of his feet six, twenty four in number. And he also had been born to Rapha.
And there arose yet warre at Gath, where there was a cotencious man, which had sixe fyngers on his handes, and sixe toes on his fete, that is foure and twety in the nombre, and he was borne also of Rapha.
And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
And again there was war at Gath, where there was a very tall man, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet; he was one of the offspring of the Rephaim.
And there was yet another battaile in Geth, wher was a man of a great stature, and had on euery hand sixe fingers, & on euery foote sixe toes, foure & twentie in number, and was borne also of the kindred of the giauntes in Geth.
And there was again war at Gath, where was a champion, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
And there was yet a battell in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on euery hand sixe fingers, and on euery foote sixe toes, foure and twenty in number, and he also was borne to the Gyant.
And there was yet a battle in Geth: and there was a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands and the toes of his feet were six on each, four and twenty in number: and he also was born to Rapha.
And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
And there was still another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot-twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,
The fourthe batel was in Geth; where ynne was an hiy man, that hadde sixe fyngris in the hondis and feet, that is, foure and twenti; and he was of the kyn of Arapha;
And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands [are] six, and the toes of his feet [are] six, twenty and four in number, and he also hath been born to the giant,
And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of [great] stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
There was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.
In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants.
There was war at Gath again. There was a very tall man there who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number. He was one of the sons of the very tall and strong people also.
There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great size, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he too was descended from the giants.
And there was yet again a battle in Gath; when there was a man of stature, with six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also, having been born to the giant;
A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.
And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was descended from the giants.
Still another fight broke out in Gath. There was a giant there with six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet—twenty-four fingers and toes! He was another of those descended from Rapha. He insulted Israel, and Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.
There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
yet a battle: 1 Chronicles 20:6
the giant: or, Rapha, 2 Samuel 21:16, 2 Samuel 21:18, *marg.
Reciprocal: Numbers 13:32 - men of a great stature Numbers 13:33 - saw the giants Isaiah 45:14 - men of stature
Cross-References
He was a mighty hunter before Adonai — this is why people say, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Adonai ."
He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, living his life at odds with all his kinsmen."
But as for Yishma‘el, I have heard you. I have blessed him. I will make him fruitful and give him many descendants. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Sarah conceived and bore Avraham a son in his old age, at the very time God had said to him.
Avraham called his son, born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitz'chak.
Therefore, swear to me here by God that you will never deal falsely with me or with my son or grandson; but according to the kindness with which I have treated you, you will treat me and the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.
Avraham said, "I swear it."
Now Avraham had complained to Avimelekh about a well which Avimelekh's servants had seized.
The boys grew; and ‘Esav became a skillful hunter, an outdoorsman; while Ya‘akov was a quiet man who stayed in the tents.
Therefore, please take your hunting gear — your quiver of arrows and your bow; go out in the country, and get me some game.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And there was yet a battle in Gath,.... Besides the battles in the above place or places; for this does not necessarily suppose that one of the said battles had been there, only that this, which was another battle, had been there:
where was a man of [great] stature; for so the sense of the word appears to be from 1 Chronicles 20:6; though here it signifies a man of strife and contention, a man of war, and both were true of him:
that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; twelve fingers on his two hands, and twelve toes on his two feet. Pliny a speaks of one M. Curiatius, a patrician, who had two daughters that had six fingers on an hand, and were called "Sedigitae", six-fingered; and of Volcatius, a famous poet, called "Sedigitus", or six-fingered, for the same reason; and elsewhere, from other writers b he makes mention of a people that had eight toes each foot; so Ctesias c speaks of a people in the mountains of India, which have eight fingers on each hand, and eight toes on each foot, both men and women:
and he also was born to the giant; a son of a giant.
a Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 43. b Megasthenes apud ib. l. 7. c. 2. c In Indicis, c. 31.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 2 Samuel 21:20. On every hand six fingers — This is not a solitary instance: Tavernier informs us that the eldest son of the emperor of Java, who reigned in 1648, had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. And Maupertuis, in his seventeenth letter, says that he met with two families near Berlin, where sedigitism was equally transmitted on both sides of father and mother. I saw once a young girl, in the county of Londonderry, in Ireland, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, but her stature had nothing gigantic in it. The daughters of Caius Horatius, of patrician dignity, were called sedigitae, because they had six fingers on each hand. Volcatius, a poet, was called sedigitus for the same reason. See Pliny's Hist. Nat., lib. xi., cap. 43.
THERE are evidently many places in this chapter in which the text has suffered much from the ignorance or carelessness of transcribers; and indeed I suspect the whole has suffered so materially as to distort, if not misrepresent the principal facts. It seems as if a Gibeonite has had something to do with the copies that are come down to us, or that the first fourteen verses have been inserted from a less authentic document than the rest of the book. I shall notice some of the most unaccountable, and apparently exceptionable particulars: -
1. The famine, 2 Samuel 21:1, is not spoken of anywhere else, nor at all referred to in the books of Kings or Chronicles; and, being of three years' duration, it was too remarkable to be omitted in the history of David.
2. The circumstance of Saul's attempt to exterminate the Gibeonites is nowhere else mentioned; and, had it taken place, it is not likely it would have been passed over in the history of Saul's transgressions. Indeed, it would have been such a breach of the good faith by which the whole nation was bound to this people, that an attempt of the kind could scarcely have failed to raise an insurrection through all Israel.
3. The wish of David that the Gibeonites, little better than a heathenish people, should bless the inheritance of the Lord, is unconstitutional and unlikely.
4. That God should leave the choice of the atonement to such a people, or indeed to any people, seems contrary to his established laws and particular providence.
5. That he should require seven innocent men to be hung up in place of their offending father, in whose iniquity they most likely never had a share, seems inconsistent with justice and mercy.
6. In 2 Samuel 21:8, there is mention made of five sons of Michal, which she bore (×××× yaledah) unto Adriel. Now, 1. Michal was never the wife of Adriel, but of David and Phaltiel. 2. She never appears to have had any children, see 2 Samuel 6:23; this I have been obliged to correct in the preceding notes by putting Merab in the place of Michal.
7. The seven sons of Saul, mentioned here, are represented as a sacrifice required by God, to make an atonement for the sin of Saul. Does God in any case require human blood for sacrifice? And is it not such a sacrifice that is represented here? Dr. Delaney and others imagine that these seven sons were principal agents in the execution of their father's purpose; but of this there is no proof. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, certainly had no hand in this projected massacre, he was ever lame, and could not be so employed; and yet he would have been one of the seven had it not been for the covenant made before with his father: But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan - because of the Lord's oath that was between them, 2 Samuel 21:7.
8. The circumstance of Rizpah's watching the bodies of those victims, upon a rock, and probably in the open air, both day and night, from March to October, or even for a much less period, is, as it is here related, very extraordinary and improbable.
9. The hanging the bodies so long was against an express law of God, which ordained that those who were hanged on a tree should be taken down before sunset, and buried the same day, lest the land should be defiled, (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). Therefore, 1. God did not command a breach of his own law. 2. David was too exact an observer of that law to require it. 3. The people could not have endured it; for, in that sultry season, the land would indeed have been defiled by the putrefaction of the dead bodies; and this would, in all likelihood, have added pestilence to famine.
10. The story of collecting and burying the bones of Saul and Jonathan is not very likely, considering that the men of Jabesh-gilead had burned their bodies, and buried the remaining bones under a tree at Jabesh, 1 Samuel 31:12-13; yet still it is possible.
11. Josephus takes as much of this story as he thinks proper, but says not one word about Rizpah, and her long watching over her slaughtered sons.
12. Even the facts in this chapter, which are mentioned in other places, (see 1 Chronicles 20:4, c.,) are greatly distorted and corrupted for we have already seen that Elhanan is made here to kill Goliath the Gittite, whom it is well known David slew; and it is only by means of the parallel place above that we can restore this to historical truth.
That there have been attempts to remove some of these objections, I know; and I know also that these attempts have been in general without success.
Till I get farther light on the subject, I am led to conclude that the whole chapter is not now what it would be, coming from the pen of an inspired writer; and that this part of the Jewish records has suffered much from rabbinical glosses, alterations, and additions. The law, the prophets, and the hagiographa, including Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, c., have been ever considered as possessing the highest title to Divine inspiration and therefore have been most carefully preserved and transcribed; but the historical books, especially Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, have not ranked so high, have been less carefully preserved, and have been the subjects of frequent alteration and corruption. Yet still the great foundation of God standeth sure and is sufficiently attested by his own broad seal of consistency, truth, and holiness.
