Lahmi

Biblical Account

Lahmi appears in 1 Chronicles 20:4–8. This passage briefly collects episodes from David's wars with the Philistines in which Israelite warriors struck down descendants of "the giant." According to 1 Chronicles 20:5, "Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam." A weaver's beam was the thick rod used in weaving cloth. This single verse is all that the Bible says about Lahmi, and nothing else is known of his life.

Significance Within Scripture

The account of Lahmi is connected to the story of David and Goliath. It belongs to a narrative showing that the Philistine threat continued even after David killed Goliath and that David's servants defeated the descendants of the giant one after another: "These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants" (1 Chronicles 20:8). Lahmi is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

Lahmi draws attention chiefly because of a discrepancy between 1 Chronicles and the parallel passage in 2 Samuel 21:19. In the Hebrew Masoretic Text, 2 Samuel 21:19 reads literally that "Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite." This reading appears to conflict with the account of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Translations render the verse in different ways. The Revised New Korean Standard Version follows the Hebrew text as it stands, while the King James Version and the Korean Revised Version tradition are understood to harmonize it with 1 Chronicles by reading "the brother of Goliath."

Several interpretations have been proposed to account for this discrepancy:

• Scribal error: Commentators in the conservative Presbyterian and evangelical traditions who hold to biblical inerrancy generally maintain that the text of 2 Samuel was corrupted in the course of copying and that 1 Chronicles preserves the original reading.
• Similarity of spelling: Many scholars note that the Hebrew spelling of "the Bethlehemite" (bêt hallaḥmî) in 2 Samuel overlaps with that of "Lahmi" in 1 Chronicles. Opinions differ, however, as to which reading is original.
• Identification of Elhanan with David: Some Jewish traditions interpret Elhanan as another name for David.
• Critical view: Some scholars hold that the Goliath story was originally told as an exploit of Elhanan and was later attributed to David.

As for Lahmi's appearance and lineage, the text states only the thickness of his spear staff and that he was "the brother of Goliath." Any further description should be regarded as extrabiblical speculation.

In the Korean Church

Sermons and Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Lahmi are rare. He is mentioned mainly alongside 2 Samuel 21:19 in discussions of biblical inerrancy or in answers to questions about textual differences in Scripture.