Elhanan

Two men named Elhanan appear among David's warriors. One is associated with a Philistine slaying parallel to David's combat with Goliath; the other is listed simply among the elite "thirty."

The Slayer of the Gittite

In the renewed Philistine wars after David's reign begins, a warrior named Elhanan strikes down a giant. The Samuel narrative reports: "And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jari the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam" (2Sa 21:19). The Chronicles parallel records the same event with a different name for the slain giant: "And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam" (1Ch 20:5). The shared "weaver's beam" formula and the Philistine setting tie the two accounts to a single combat.

Son of Dodo, One of the Thirty

A second Elhanan, of Bethlehem, is named in the rosters of David's elite warriors. Samuel's list places him alongside Asahel: "Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem" (2Sa 23:24). The Chronicles roster gives the same pairing: "Also the mighty men of the armies: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem" (1Ch 11:26). Both accounts trace him to Bethlehem and to Dodo's line, marking him out from the slayer of the Gittite.