2 Samuel 21:15-17

Contemporary English Version

The Descendants of the Rephaim

(1 Chronicles 20.4-8)

¹⁵One time David got very tired when he and his soldiers were fighting the Philistines. ¹⁶One of the Philistine warriors was Ishbibenob, who was a descendant of the Rephaim,^[a] and he tried to kill David. Ishbibenob was armed with a new sword,^[b] and his bronze spearhead^[c] alone weighed about three and a half kilograms. ¹⁷^(A) But Abishai^[d] came to the rescue and killed the Philistine.

David's soldiers told him, “We can't let you risk your life in battle anymore! You give light to our nation, and we want that flame to keep burning.”

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Footnotes

21.16 Rephaim: This may refer to a group of people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites and who were famous for their large size.
21.16 new sword: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
21.16 spearhead: Or “helmet.”
21.17 Abishai: David's nephew, the brother of Joab.