AboutBrenton Hepburn Expertise I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I can answer questions on the reliability of the NWT, the so called mind control problems, so called prophecies, and general practices and history of Jehovah’s Witnesses.....
>>>>WARNING<<<<<< ....Please be aware that there are at least ... 3 .... people here who ARE NOT practicing JWs and, (at other times there have been as many as 5.) These ones will, at times, appear to have an agenda against JWs., and will often give answers that are not correct in regard to JW teachings and practices. If you are after a answer from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, please read some of the answers that the various experts have published before choosing someone. If you want to ask them a question that is fine, but if you want a balancing view after asking one of the NON JWs, ask a JW the same question
Experience I have been a publisher since 1964. When I first went on the internet I found a lot of negative information dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses covering prophecy, mind control and what many said was a very bad translation of the Bible known as the NWT. It shook my faith. After may hours researching these topics I could see why some felt that way, but, I was also able to explain why there were these misleading views. I can now set matters straight for anyone that has negative information about Jehovah’s Witness to show them that such information is at best misleading and at worst dangerous lies.
Education/Credentials I have been a student of the Bible for many years, am trying to teach myself Biblical Greek.
Was a public tax accountant for many yrars untill SEP 2009 when I gave it up.
Question I'm sure that someone has pointed 2 Samuels 21:19 and 1 Chronicles 20:5 out to you before where these two verses seem to contradict each other. The King James Bible does not have a problem with the verses in question because the italics is supplied in 1 Samuel 20:5 in the KJV.
So, did Elhanan slay Goliath the Gitite or did David slay Goliath the Gitite?
Yours truly,
Independent Thinker
Answer Hello Independent Thinker.
Thank you for your question.
No, No one has pointed out the difference in those two texts to me before, and I do not ever remember seeing that difference before.
You are correct, the KJV does put some words in italics.
The KJV renders 2 Samuels 21:19 “and there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam” The words “the brother of” are in italics in the KJV.
The NWT renders that verse this way
“19 And war arose once again with the Phi·lis´tines at Gob, and El·ha´nan the son of Ja´a·re-or´e·gim the Beth´le·hem·ite got to strike down Go·li´ath the Git´tite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of loom workers” The NWT misses the italics “the brother of”.
The words “the brother of” do not appear in any know ancient manuscripts. There are three possible explanation for this.
1 it is a copyist’s error
2 there were 2 soldiers known as Goliath
3 Goliaths brother Lahmi took on the name of his brother after Goliaths death
But before I explore those options lets look 1 Chronicles 20:5 in both the KJV andnthe NWT
KJV
“5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.”
NWT
“5 And there came to be war again with the Phi·lis´tines; and El·ha´nan the son of Ja´ir got to strike down Lah´mi the brother of Go·li´ath the Git´tite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of loom workers.”
First I will cut and past some information from a Bible dictionary by John Gill in 1809
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Quote
the word "brother" is rightly supplied from #1Ch 20:5; where his name is said to be Lahmi, for not Goliath himself was slain, though some so interpret it, and take Elhanan to be David; so Jarchi, and with which agrees the Targum; but he was slain not at Gob, but in the valley of Elah, nor had David any such name as Elhanan; he was one of David’s worthies, #2Sa 23:24; where he is called the son of Dodo, and in #1Ch 20:5, the son of Jair; and Lahmi there may not be the name of Goliath’s brother, but, as here, the country name of Elhanan; for the words {z} there may be rendered,
“and Elhanan the son of Jair, the Lehemite (i.e. the Bethlehemite), slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite,”
and so perfectly agrees, with this:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> End Quote
I now would like to cut and past several pieces from another Bible dictionary “Insight on the Scriptures” by the WTBTS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>QUOTE
Several suggestions have been made for an explanation of the problem. The Targum preserves a tradition that Elhanan is to be identified with David. The Soncino Books of the Bible, edited by A. Cohen (London, 1951, 1952), comment that there is no difficulty in the assumption that there were two Goliaths, commenting also that Goliath may have been a descriptive title like 'Pharaoh,' 'Rabshakeh,'
'Sultan.' The fact that one text refers to “Jaare-oregim,” whereas the other reads “Jair,” and also that only the account in Second Samuel contains the term “Bethlehemite [Heb., behth hal·lach·mi´],” while the Chronicles account alone contains the name “Lahmi [´eth-Lach·mi´],” has been suggested by the majority of commentators to be the result of a copyist’s error
(Lah´mi)
The brother of Goliath the Gittite. The account at 1 Chronicles 20:5 reads, in part, “Elhanan the son of Jair got to strike down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite,” during a war with the Philistines. However, in a parallel text at 2 Samuel 21:19 the reading is: “Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite got to strike down Goliath the Gittite.” In the latter text it appears that ´eth-lach·mi´ (in English, “Lahmi,” the Hebrew term ´eth merely denoting that Lahmi is the object of a verb) was misread by a copyist to be behth hal·lach·mi´ (“Bethlehemite”). Therefore the original probably read, “got to strike down Lahmi,” just as the parallel text at 1 Chronicles 20:5 reads. This would make the two texts harmonize on this point. Lahmi, then, was evidently the brother of the Goliath that David killed. On the other hand, it is possible that there were two Goliaths
(Ja´a·re-or´e·gim)
A name appearing only at 2 Samuel 21:19. It is generally believed that scribal error has given rise to this name and that the correct reading is preserved in the parallel text at 1 Chronicles 20:5. “Jaare” is considered to be an alteration of “Jair,” and “oregim” (´o·reghim´, “weavers” or “loom workers”) is thought to have been copied inadvertently from a line below in the same verse.
(El·ha´nan)
The son of Jair who, in war with the Philistines, struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite. (1Ch 20:5) In 2 Samuel 21:19 Elhanan is identified as “the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite,” and it is said that he struck down Goliath. However, many scholars think that the original reading of 2 Samuel 21:19 corresponded to 1 Chronicles 20:5, the differences in the two texts having arisen through scribal error
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>End Quote
As can be seen there are several explanations as to the difference. However scholars are convinced that it was in deed David that struck down Goliath.
I hope this has answered your question
Please feel free to ask an other questions
