Hello, my friends.

While listening to some online teaching through 2 Samuel, I noticed something that can be confusing for believers — especially new ones.

In 2 Samuel 21:19, some modern translations say that a man named Elhanan killed Goliath. But we know from 1 Samuel 17 that it was David who killed Goliath with his sling and a stone.

So what’s going on?

The King James Version helps us here. It reads:

“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…” (2 Samuel 21:19)

The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 20:5 makes it even clearer:

“And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite…”

Some modern translations unfortunately leave out the words “the brother of.” This can be very confusing if someone is reading straight through the Bible.

My friends, this is a good reminder of why it’s helpful to compare translations. I often encourage people to use the King James Version alongside their regular Bible. The KJV is remarkably accurate and has stood the test of time.

The Bible is the very Word of God, and we want to understand it rightly. Little things like this show us how important it is to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Let’s keep studying the Scriptures carefully, comparing verse with verse, and asking the Holy Spirit to be our Teacher. He will guide us into all truth.

Keep Bible Strong,

Peter