Names in the Bible have meanings. Sometimes, knowing what the names in a passage mean can give us a deeper revelation of the passage, or even unearth a message that the Holy Spirit has hidden there for us to discover.
Indeed, the Bible says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2)
You and I are kings in Christ (1 Peter 2:9), and we are going to search out a matter (through the study of Bible names) that God has hidden in the following passage:
2 Samuel 21:15-22, NASB
15 Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.
16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel ."
18 Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant.
19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant.
21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
It is a long passage, so I am going to summarise it for you: Basically, there were four Philistine giants who were destroyed by David's men.
What are the names of the giants and what do they mean?
Likewise, who are the men who killed the giants and what do their names mean?
First giant -- Ishbi-benob
Ishbi-benob means "his dwelling or seat is in Nob" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon).
Nob was a town in ancient Israel in the vicinity of Jerusalem, near the Mount of Olives. In the Bible, Nob was the place David fled to and met the high priest Ahimelech, from whom he received bread and Goliath's sword, which had been kept there. (Read 1 Samuel 21 and 22 for more on what happened at Nob.)
Nob means "high place" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon). It is pronounced nobe in the Hebrew. Interestingly, the English word "noble", which means "high born", is pronounced almost the same way.
So the first giant's name, Ishbi-benob, means "his dwelling or seat is in a high place".
Sometimes, our enemy may be one whose "dwelling is in a high place". Perhaps he is someone who has a seat in the high places of society or government -- a powerful person with powerful connections, influence, authority, wealth and so on.
Indeed, the passage tells us that Ishbi-benob had powerful weapons -- a spear that weighed three hundred shekels of bronze as well as a new sword.
Now, I am not saying that the enemies here are all human in nature. No, you could also see them as demons, sicknesses, addictions or other forces of darkness.
When we face such a lofty and formidable enemy, we can't help but think that he is beyond our reach, an "untouchable". And we feel helpless and frustrated because we who are "ordinary folks" are no match for him.
Abishai destroys Ishbi-benob
Abishai means "my father is Jesse" or "my father is a gift" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon). It can also mean "the present of my father" (Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary) or "the gift of my father".
Let's go with the second meaning. What is "the gift of my father"? Well, what is the gift of your heavenly Father?
There are many gifts or blessings from our heavenly Father. But if we are talking about the gift of gifts, then it must be Jesus. After all, we are talking about personalities here.
This is most apt too because it takes one whose seat or dwelling is in a higher place to destroy one whose seat or dwelling is in a high place.
Indeed, the Bible says that God raised Jesus from the dead and...
Ephesians 1:20-21
20 ... seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
It also says of Jesus:
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So it does not matter how "high up there" your enemy is. Jesus your "friend in high places" will bring him down because He is seated at the right hand of Almighty God Himself, "far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named"!
Second giant -- Saph
Saph simply means "tall" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Smith's Bible Dictionary).
Have you ever tried to knock down a tall person? Your fists can't reach his face! You are just throwing punches into thin air and tiring yourself out.
Sometimes, our enemy is just too tall for us, like a high mountain that it very difficult to climb and conquer. It is an uphill task and we never seem to be able to reach the top.
Wouldn't it be nice, if we could just cut down the enemy, like how Jack chopped down the beanstalk and the giant came tumbling down!
Sibbecai destroys Saph
Sibbecai means "weaver" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon). A weaver is someone who makes cloth by interlacing the threads of the weft and the warp on a loom. His skill would undoubtedly involve cutting threads and cloths.
In fact, in the book of Isaiah, King Hezekiah said:
Isaiah 38:12
12 My life span is gone, taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night you make an end of me.
Isn't it apt then, that God chose a weaver to cut down a tall enemy?
Also, if you study where the word "weaver" appears in the Bible (NKJV), you will find that other than in Isaiah 38:12, it only appears six more times in Exodus. And each time, it is in reference to a highly skilled weaver of blue, purple and scarlet thread, and of fine linen, for the screen (door) of the tabernacle and the priestly garments (Exodus 26:36, 27:16, 35:35, 36:37, 38:23, 39:29).
We know that the details in the construction of the tabernacle of Moses speak of Jesus, His work at the cross and His love for the church. There are many websites that talk about this. See www.domini.org/tabern/outrdoor.htm for instance.
So where the weaver of blue, purple and scarlet thread is concerned, blue speaks of God's grace -- Jesus coming down from heaven (the blue skies) in love to save us and not condemn us. It also speaks of Jesus as being fully God because He is from heaven.
Scarlet or red speaks of the humanity of Jesus because red symbolises blood, and the first man, Adam, means "red earth". Scarlet also speaks of the blood of Jesus shed for us.
So Jesus came down as Man. Though fully God, He was also fully Man so that He could identify with our infirmities, and represent and redeem man.
Purple is a royal colour and it speaks of Jesus' kingship. He is the King of kings.
What about the fine linen? Linen is white in colour so it speaks of Jesus' absolute purity and righteousness. He is the spotless Lamb without blemish, without sin.
A lot more can be said about the colours and what they represent, but the main thing to grasp here is that they all speak of Jesus and His work.
I said earlier that it is apt that a weaver cuts down a tall enemy. But what is so special about this weaver?
Well, he interlaces the different coloured threads into a beautiful piece of cloth.
To me, he is someone who is able to understand and present the different aspects of Jesus coherently, harmoniously and beautifully. In short, a skilled preacher of Jesus, His beauty and His work.
What am I trying to say?
When you face a tall giant, get a weaver, a preacher of Jesus, His beauty and His work. Hear him and let him cut down your tall giant. Don't listen to preachers who talk about you, your ugliness and what you must do, making you focus on you. No, listen to preachers who will point you to Jesus and His beauty, and what He has done for you!
Third giant -- Goliath
Goliath means "splendour" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon). And splendour means having the quality of being grand, magnificent, glorious -- outshining the usual.
Our enemies may be huge and powerful, as well as magnificently attractive. People are attracted to them. They have fame, beauty, brains and brawn.
Next to them, you feel inferior, overshadowed, overlooked. You can't hold a candle next to such an enemy! He outshines you. The people love him. He has favour with them, but you do not because you are just a face in the crowd compared to him.
Have you ever felt that way?
David must have. He might have been handsome, but he was conveniently ignored and left out of the picture when Samuel the prophet came to his father's house to anoint the next king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13). His father and brothers obviously did not think much of him.
What about Esther? Although a beautiful girl, she must have felt plain in the midst of all the other beautiful young virgins. Being a Jewess did not help either, and she had to conceal her race (Esther 2:1-18).
Then there is Gideon. He was so afraid of the Midianites that he threshed wheat in the winepress to hide it from them. And when the Lord appeared to him and called him "a mighty man of valour", and told him to deliver Israel from the hands of the Midianites, he told the Lord, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." He even asked the Lord for a sign. (Judges 6:11-21)
But when God's anointing and grace came upon these people, they overcame their enemies and became very successful.
Elhanan destroys Goliath
Elhanan means "God has been gracious" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon). His name speaks of the grace of God, which can be defined as the unmerited, unearned favour of God.
The grace of God is higher than mercy. Mercy means not getting the punishment you deserve. Grace means not only not getting the punishment you deserve, but getting the blessings you don't deserve! That is grace. That is the unmerited favour of God.
So when God's favour is on you, you don't get the bad things you deserve, and you get the good things you don't deserve. You may be nowhere as smart and beautiful as the other person, but when God's favour is on you, people choose you. They offer you the job. They give you the promotion. They want to do business with you.
You, may even have done something wrong, but people are willing to look past the mistake and still give you the votes. In short, you have favour with people and you become very successful in life without having to work hard for it. Besides David, Esther and Gideon, consider Joseph too. He went from being a naked slave to the second most important man in Egypt because God was with him and God gave him favour.
Isn't it apt then, that you outshine and snuff out the splendour of your enemy when God's grace or favour is on you?
Fourth giant -- unnamed
There is no name given for the fourth giant. He is simply called "a man of great stature".
Stature means "height" or "an achieved status". So this unnamed giant, having a great stature, is like a combination of the first two giants -- Ishbi-benob (his dwelling is in a high place) and Saph (tall). This enemy is both tall as well as high up there in the hierarchy.
But what is more interesting is that he has 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot, 24 (6x4) in total. The norm is to have 5 fingers on each hand and 5 toes on each foot.
6 in the Bible is the number of man. It speaks of fallen man and his fleshly self-efforts. 5 is the number of grace. It speaks of God's grace, His undeserved favour. So having 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot, instead of 5, means that grace is replaced by human effort -- and the result is a mutation, a freakish creation of man. Incidentally, 4 (limbs) is the number of creation in the Bible. Having 6s on the hands and feet also speak of works and a walk that is born out of human effort rather than God's grace. (For more on Bible numerics visit www.vic.australis.com.au/hazz/Introduction.html)
The fact that this enemy has no name is also interesting. Sometimes, you can't put a finger on the problem. You don't know what is wrong. You have no idea what is making you depressed. It could be an unknown disease, a new mutated virus that has no name or cure, or a financial or marital problem you have never faced before.
How can you defeat such an enemy when you don't even know who or what it is? He or it is nothing like you have ever encountered before -- 6 digits on each limb instead of the normal 5.
When an unknown enemy throws you a curve ball, when the challenge you face is new and you are not sure what to do, the answer is faith.
Jonathan destroys the unnamed giant
Jonathan means "Jehovah (Yahweh) has given" (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon).
To me, the name speaks of faith because faith is saying that "God has given". It is saying that you already have what you asked God for even though you do not see it yet.
Mark 11:22-24
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Hebrews 11:1
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I am reminded of the story in Numbers 13 and 14. God had given the children of Israel the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. But their unbelief caused them not to possess the land. They saw the giants there and were afraid.
Instead of trusting God's promise that He had given them the land, they doubted. And because of their spirit of unbelief, they could not enter the land, but wandered for 40 years in the desert, finally perishing there.
Only Caleb and Joshua, and the younger generation, could enter the land because they had a different spirit -- a spirit of faith. They believed that God had already given them the land and victory over the giants there.
So when we face an enemy who is not only tall and high up there, but also unknown and new to us, we need faith. We need to simply trust God that He has already given us the victory. Don't go by what you see or don't see, go by faith!
Where is David?
There is no mention of David helping his men destroy the four giants. He was probably just watching the battle from a distance or resting in his palace.
This tells me that the battle does not belong to us but the Lord. It is He who will fight our battles and deliver us from our enemies. It is not our smarts or strength. We are to simply stand still and see the salvation of our Lord.
2 Chronicles 20:17
17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!'
But isn't it interesting that at the end of it, the Holy Spirt gives credit to David too?
2 Samuel 21:22
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
The Lord is gracious. He fights our battles for us, then He says well done!
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