David of course. What Christian child doesn’t know the story of David and Goliath? 1 Samuel 17 very clearly states that David killed Goliath with a shot to his head with a stone:

ESV 1 Samuel 17:48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

But then why does 2 Samuel 21:19 say this:

ESV 2 Samuel 21:19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

A clue to what might have happened can be found in:

ESV 1 Chronicles 20:5 And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

Here’s an article that attempts to explain the differences between 2 Samuel 21:19 and 1 Chronicles 20:5, blaming it on a scribal error.


I find it odd though that a scribe wouldn’t know that Goliath was killed by David. Wouldn’t he have caught such a glaring mistake as that?
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