Who killed Goliath
Whether Elhanan killed Goliath or, as Chronicles reads, the brother of Goliath.
2 Samuel 21:19
19There was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite’s brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
1 Chronicles 20:5
5Again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
The source states that original traditions credited Elhanan with Goliath’s death. Once David became the central heroic figure, that deed was attributed to David instead, and Elhanan was credited with killing Lahmi, Goliath’s brother. The Targum arbitrarily harmonizes this by identifying Elhanan with David and reading “oregim” literally as “who wove the curtains for the Temple.”
Emil G. Hirsch, Gerson B. Levi, Elhanan (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906) — Article 'Elhanan', on II Sam. xxi. 19
Patristic
No sourced position found. Checked ANF/NPNF corpus; the only patristic notice traced is Jerome's Quaestiones Hebraicae on 2 Samuel 21:19 ('Elhanan... another name of David', cited in JFB), which has no public-domain English translation — Latin only. No fetchable public-domain patristic text stating the position found.
Catholic
Haydock holds that Elhanan is not the same as David, as some infer from the mention of Goliath’s death, but is the son of Jair, uncle of Joab, born at Bethlehem. He says the Paralipomenon verse less correctly suggests the giant’s name was Lechem, because the copyist wrote ath instead of bith.
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — On 2 Samuel 21:19
Orthodox
No sourced position found. Checked archive.org (2026-09-14) — no public-domain English commentary on Samuel (Theophylact/Euthymius English only modern and copyrighted; Greek/Latin only); CCEL ANF/NPNF (no Eastern treatment of 2 Samuel 21); pravoslavieto.com (no English verse commentary); Philaret and the Synod of Jerusalem (doctrinal only). No Eastern comment on Elhanan and Goliath found.
Reformed / Protestant
Gill reads 2 Samuel 21:19 as saying Elhanan son of Jaareoregim slew Goliath's brother, supplying "brother" from 1 Chronicles 20:5, where he is named Lahmi. He says Goliath was not slain there, though some take Elhanan as David, like Jarchi and Targum. Goliath died in the valley of Elah, not Gob, and David had no such name as Elhanan.
John Gill, John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible — On 2 Samuel 21:19
Evangelical
The word 'irgiym is spurious, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say, having been introduced by a transcriber's eye catching the end of the following line, where oregim (weavers) stands. Once that word is rejected, the clause is identical with the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 20:5.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible — On 2 Samuel 21:19