The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

who did Elhanan kill. To which the an
swer would probably be, who is Elhanan?
A good many Biblical scholars believe
that Elhanan was the slayer Of Goliath.
and that the story crediting Devid with
the feat was . pretty romance. We all
know that II II common enough when q
man becomes great to credit him with
saying and doing many things Of which
he was not the author.
Nine-tenths of the funny stories at
tributed to Lincoln. for example. were old
when Lincoln was q boy. There ID also
the example of Washington and the cher
ry tree. Critics tell US that Washington
did not chop the tree down At all. and
there Il probably no way Of knowing.
However, all that We know Of David
and Goliath and Elhanan worth knowing
we can find in the Bible, and the trouble
about this authority is that It credits
both David and Elhanan with the staying
Of Goliath. The main thing. the really
satisfactory thing. Il that Goliath IL
dead. says the Toronto Mail and Empire.
There Is probably nobody who can read
English who has not read the verses IN
the seventeenth chapter Of Samuel:
Thus Reads Scripture.
And there went out . champion out Of
the camp OF the Philistinea, named Co
Hath. Of Gath. whose height vas stx
cubits and Q span.
''And DAVID put bis hand IN his baS.
and took thence G~stone. and slang II,
and smote the Philistine In his forehead.
that the stone sank into his forehead;
and he fell upon his face to the earth.
80 David prevailed over the Philis-
tine with Q sling and with Q stone and
smote the Philistine. and slew him; but
fhara 2vnrd IN fhA hanA ~
David.
Therefore David ran, and stood upon
the Philistine, and took his sword and
drew II out Of tho sheath thereof, and
slew him and cut OF his head Herewith.
And when the Philistines saw their cham
pion was dead they fed"
And having read this in the King
James version. nobody would be suspi-
cious when reading the verse in the twen-
ty-hrst chapter Of II Samuel:
And there was again Q battle IN Cob
with the Philistines, where Elhanan, the
son Of Jaare-oregfm. q Bethlehemite,
slew the brother Of Goliath the Gittite,
the staff Of whose spear was like q weav-
ers beam"
Words In Italics.
The words ''the brother Of" are IN ital-
les, and in the revised version Of the
standard edition It IL somewhat Of q |
shock to fnd these three words omitted, |
and the statement definitely made that
Elhanan slew Goliath. Further confu- |
sion is produced by the Douay version, In |
which the account Of the killing of Co |
uath by David is not materially different |
from the account In the King james
Bible. but in which no mention is made |
Of Elhanan, and a third person Is cred |
tied with the staying Of the giant. :. In the |
Douay Bible, II Kings, nineteenth verse, |
we read:
And there was . third battle In Cob |
against the Philistines, In which Adeo- |
datus, the son Of the Forrest, an en-
broiderer. Of Bethlehem. slew Goliath the |
Gethite, the shaft Of whose spear was
like q weaver's beam"
Still another account Is given alike in |
the King James and the revised version
In Chronicles. twentieth chapter:
"And there was war again with the
Philistines, and Elhanan, the son of Jair.
slew Lahmi, the brother Of Goliath the
Gettite, whose spear was like Q weaver's
beam"
Finally In the Douay version we read:
Another battle was also fought against /
the Gittites. In which Adeodatus, the con
of Satus, Bethehemite. slew the broth
er of Goliath the Gettite, the stan Of
whose spear was like q weaver's BEAM"
The only fact agreed upon in all these
accounts IL that the staff of Goliath'sl
5pear was like q weaver's BEAM ana this /
We may consider to have been estab-I
ished. About all other details we are
eft somewhat confused. Several Chicago
,lergymen. to whom the problem was
submitted by q writer for the Chicago
admitted that there was
! discrepancy
There Were Two.
One Of them, the Rev. william d. Holt.
assistant pastor Of the Emmanuel Bap-i
list Church. said that there were two
7oliaths, and that David killed one and
Elhanan the other. This view, he said,
vas held by most unbiased investigators,
'ome Of whom. indeed. appear to think
hat Goliath was not the name Of an In
iividual but the name OF a race, Just as
Herod was a name not restricted to one
Individual.
Rev. Prof. z. A. B. Mercer, Of the
Western Theological Seminary Of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, 10 inclined
% believe that the real slayer Of Goliath
vas Eihanan, the verses in Samuel and
Chronicles representing one original He
rev text He says that critics agree
hat the story In II Samuel. which credits
he deed to Elhe&an. ID the older Of the
wc accounts, md that the attempt to
i've David credit for the exploit wasl
made after he had become a great man.
This effort on the part Of critics to de- /,
MA 1Ax - q