{"id":17401,"date":"2026-04-09T23:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mudbloodcatholic\/?p=17401"},"modified":"2026-04-09T23:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:49:27","slug":"the-gospel-of-john-sukkot-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mudbloodcatholic\/2026\/04\/the-gospel-of-john-sukkot-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gospel of John: Sukkot, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

You can find my two-part introduction to the Gospel of John at\u00a0these<\/a>\u00a0two\u00a0links<\/a>, and my index\/outline for it\u00a0here<\/a>; for the previous installment on John 7:1-31, go here<\/a>. (My apologies for getting this out so late, and with no Patreon sponsor early version! I was without a working laptop charger for a couple of days, which set me back quite a bit work-wise.)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Gospel of John: Sukkot<\/em>, Part II (John 7:32-52)<\/h3>\n

The theme of Yeshua\u2019s cross-examination again grows prominent: questions dart back and forth among the throng of worshipers, the Levitic nobility, the educated <\/em>Pryshaya, and the templar police.<\/em><\/p>\n

A point made in last week\u2019s post, but there relegated to a footnote, is worth reiterating here. There are four plants prescribed for use in <\/em>Sukkot by the Torah, and they grow in four distinct habitats in the Holy Land. They are: the \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05b0\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d2<\/big><\/span> [<\/em>\u2018ethroug], or citron, a tree bearing a lemon-like fruit, which grows best on the coastal plains in the center-west of Canaan; the \u05dc\u05d5\u05bc\u05dc\u05b8\u05d1<\/big><\/span> [<\/em>l\u00fal\u00e2v], or date palm, which thrives especially in the arid reaches of the south; the \u05d4\u05b2\u05d3\u05b7\u05e1<\/big><\/span> [<\/em>h\u00e0dhas], or myrtle, which likes the east-central hills; and the \u05e2\u05b2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4<\/big>.<\/small><\/small><\/span><\/span>[<\/em>3\u00e0r\u00e2v\u00e2h], or willow, found mostly in the cool, mountain-watered north. (The last three are bound together for use in the processions of <\/em>Sukkot, and the three-in-one boughs that result are often known simply as <\/em>lulavim, \u201cpalm branches\u201d\u2014in the case of the citron, a fruit rather than a branch was used, carried in the other hand.) Every worshiper needed to have all four to celebrate <\/em>Sukkot appropriately, so they would have needed to gather extra of the species available to them and then trade their surplus for the other three species when they gathered in Yrushalem.<\/em><\/p>\n

Most of note d is a complete digression, and is accordingly in small print for those who prefer to skip it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Second Temple as represented in the<\/small>
\nHolyland Model of Jerusalem (completed in 1966,<\/small>
\nby Michael Avi-Yonah); photo by Ariely, used via<\/small>
\na CC BY-SA 3.0 license (source<\/a>).<\/small><\/p>\n

John 7:32-52, RSV-CE<\/h4>\n

The Pharisees heard the crowd thus muttering about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, \u201cI shall be with you a little longer, and then I go to him who sent me; you will seek me and you will not find me; where I am you cannot come.\u201d The Jews said to one another, \u201cWhere does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeksa<\/sup><\/strong> and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, \u2018You will seek me and you will not find me,\u2019 and, \u2018Where I am you cannot come\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the last day of the feast, the great day,b<\/sup><\/strong> Jesus stood up and proclaimed, \u201cIf any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, \u2018Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.\u2019\u201dc<\/sup><\/strong> Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.<\/p>\n

When they heard these words, some of the people said, \u201cThis is really the prophet.\u201d Others said, \u201cThis is the Christ.\u201d But some said, \u201cIs the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David,d<\/sup><\/strong> and comes from Bethlehem,d<\/sup><\/strong> the village where David was?\u201d So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.<\/p>\n

The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, \u201cWhy did you not bring him?\u201d The officers answered, \u201cNo man ever spoke like this man!\u201d The Pharisees answered them, \u201cAre you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.\u201de<\/sup><\/strong> Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, \u201cDoes our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?\u201d They replied, \u201cAre you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.\u201df, <\/sup><\/strong>g<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unripe dates growing on a date palm.<\/small>
\nPhoto by Mohamed Toorani, used via<\/small>
\na CC BY-SA 4.0 license (source<\/a>).<\/small><\/p>\n

John 7:32-52, my translation<\/h4>\n

The Pryshaya<\/em> heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the high priests and Pryshaya<\/em> sent subordinates in order to seize him.<\/p>\n

Then Yeshua said: \u201cA little time yet I am among you, and I depart to the [one who] dispatched me. You will search for me but not find, and where I am you cannot come.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Jews said to each other, \u201cWhere is this man going to journey to that we will not find him? He is not going to journey into the dispersion of the Greeksa<\/sup><\/strong> and teach the Greeks, [is he]? What is this word which he said: \u2018You will search for me but not find, and where I am you cannot come\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the last day, [which is] the great day of the feast,b<\/sup><\/strong> Yeshua stood up and cried out, saying, \u201cIf anyone is thirsty, come to me, and if he has faith in me, drink. Just as the Writ says, rivers of living water will flow from inside him.\u201dc<\/sup><\/strong> (This he said about the Spirit which those who have faith in him were going to receive; but the Spirit was not [there] yet, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.)<\/p>\n

Then those of the crowd who heard these words were saying, \u201cThis man is truly the prophet\u201d; others were saying, \u201cThis is the Anointed\u201d; but they were saying, \u201cBut the Anointed does not come from the Galilee? Doesn\u2019t the Writ say that [he is] of the seed of Dawid,d<\/sup><\/strong> and from the village of Beyt Lechem,d<\/sup><\/strong> where Dawid was, comes the Anointed?\u201d So there came to be a tear in the crowd because of him. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid their hands on him.<\/p>\n

Then the subordinates came to the high priests and Pryshaya<\/em>, and they said to them: \u201cWhy did you not bring him?\u201d<\/p>\n

The subordinates responded, \u201cNo person ever spoke like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Pryshaya<\/em> responded, \u201cYou have not been led astray too, [have you]? Not a man of the princes or of the Pryshaya<\/em> have had faith in him, [have they]? But this crowd, which do not know the Law, are damned.\u201de<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nikodemos says to them (who came to him before), being one of them: \u201cOur Law does not judge a person except it first hears from him and knows what he does, [surely]?\u201d<\/p>\n

But they told him in response, \u201cAre you not from the Galilee too? Investigate and see that no prophet arises from the Galilee.\u201df, g<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Textual Notes<\/h4>\n

a. the Dispersion among the Greeks\/the dispersion of the Greeks | \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u1f70\u03bd \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f19\u03bb\u03bb\u03ae\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd [t\u0113n diasporan t\u014dn Hell\u0113n\u014dn<\/em>]:<\/strong> The dispersion, or diaspora (a transliteration of the Greek), refers to the Jewish population that already lived outside Palestine, but especially\u2014as the text indicates\u2014those in the greater Mediterranean, whose native language was Greek. There were also Jews elsewhere, and had been for centuries. Bavel, known to us as Babylon, was at this time under the control of the Iranian Arsacid dynasty (better known as the Parthian Empire), and was a major center of Jewish life. Not all of the exiles had chosen to return to the Holy Land; indeed, by some lights, Bavel was a more important center of Jewry, from a purely cultural perspective, than was Yrushalem itself. There were also Jewish communities even further to the east, at least as far as Cochin (modern Kochi) in the south of India. Arch\u00e6ological evidence for the Jewish presence in the Horn of Africa goes further back than the destruction of the First<\/em> Temple. This may lend color to the tradition that the Queen of Sheba,1<\/sup> who famously visited Solomon, converted to Judaism: this could preserve, either literally or in simplified form, a real conversion or group of conversions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Persian miniature (c. 1595) of the Queen<\/small>
\nof Sheba.<\/small><\/p>\n

But we are most concerned with the Roman-world diaspora. Mediterranean, Greek-speaking Jews, or \u201cHellenists,\u201d were especially concentrated along the margins of the eastern Mediterranean and the \u00c6gean, particularly in Anatolia. The city of Antioch,3<\/sup> formerly the capital of the Seleucid Empire, had a Jewish quarter housing tens of thousands. There were also conspicuously large Jewish \u201ccolonies\u201d in Alexandria and Rome. As long-time readers may recall, the Septuagint, the first complete Greek edition of the Tanakh (plus several \u201cbonus\u201d volumes<\/a>) was originally produced in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

b. On the last day of the feast, the great day\/On the last day, [which is] the great day of the feast | \u1f18\u03bd \u03b4\u1f72 \u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f10\u03c3\u03c7\u03ac\u03c4\u1fc3 \u1f21\u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u1fb3 \u03c4\u1fc7 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u1fc3 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u1f11\u03bf\u03c1\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 [en de t\u0113 eschat\u0113 h\u0113mera t\u0113 megal\u0113 t\u0113s heort\u0113s<\/em>]:<\/strong> There are basically two possible ways of reading this phrase. The first is that it might mean Shemini Atzeret<\/em> (\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05e2\u05b2\u05e6\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05ea<\/span>\u200e<\/big> [Sh\u2019myny 3\u00e0tzereth<\/em>], \u201c[Day] Eight [of] Assembly\u201d), a holiday held on 22nd Tishrei<\/em>. This concludes Sukkot<\/em>, and sort of both is and isn\u2019t part of it; Shemini Atzeret<\/em> is mentioned a couple of times in Leviticus, but they really are just passing mentions, with no explained significance within the text. Within the Holy Land,4<\/sup> Shemini Atzeret<\/em> is also the date of the celebration of Simchat Torah<\/em> (\u05e9\u05b4\u05c2\u05de\u05b0\u05d7\u05b7\u05ea \u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4<\/span>\u200e<\/big>\u200e [\u0160im\u2019chath Tour\u00e2h<\/em>], \u201cthe joy of the Law\u201d or \u201crejoicing in the Law\u201d), another festive occasion, which at the time was when<\/a> the triennial cycle of readings from the Torah concluded.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, this could be in reference to the seventh day of Sukkot<\/em> proper on 21st Tishrei<\/em>. This day is known as Hoshana Rabbah<\/em> (\u05d4\u05d5\u05b9\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05e2\u05b0\u05e0\u05b8\u05d0 \u05e8\u05b7\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4<\/span>\u200e<\/big> [Housha3\u2019n\u00e2\u2019 Rab\u00e2h<\/em>], \u201cGreat Hosanna<\/em>\u201d or \u201cGreat Supplication\u201d). On the first six days of Sukkot<\/em>, worshipers partook in a single procession around the altar, carrying their citrons and lulavim<\/em>; on Hoshana Rabbah<\/em>, the procession instead made seven circuits around the altar. (After the destruction of the Second Temple, this custom was transferred to each synagogue\u2019s bimah<\/em>, i.e. the lectern from which Torah readings are intoned.) Today, Hoshana Rabbah<\/em> is linked with the high holy days, Rosh ha-Shanah<\/em> and Yom Kippur<\/em>, on which God\u2019s judgment of the earth for the preceding year is said to be decided. Unluckily, I wasn\u2019t able to determine how far back this custom goes, so I don\u2019t know whether it was already the case in the first century (though I get the impression that Hoshana Rabbah<\/em> is a conservative holiday, so to speak).<\/p>\n

c. If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, \u2018Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.\u2019\/If anyone is thirsty, come to me, and if he has faith in me, drink. Just as the Writ says, rivers of living water will flow from inside him. | \u1f18\u03ac\u03bd \u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c8\u1fb7 \u1f10\u03c1\u03c7\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03c9 \u03c0\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c0\u03b9\u03bd\u03ad\u03c4\u03c9.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>\u1f41 \u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bc\u03ad, \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u1f7c\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd \u1f21 \u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ae, \u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b1\u03bc\u03bf\u1f76 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bb\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1fe5\u03b5\u03cd\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f55\u03b4\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b6\u1ff6\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2. [ean tis dipsa erchesth\u014d pros me kai pinet\u014d. ho pisteu\u014dn eis eme, kath\u014ds eipen h\u0113 Graf\u0113, potamoi ek t\u0113s koilias auton rheusousin h\u00fcdatos z\u014dntos.<\/em>] -OR- \u1f18\u03ac\u03bd \u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c8\u1fb7 \u1f10\u03c1\u03c7\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03c9 \u03c0\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c0\u03b9\u03bd\u03ad\u03c4\u03c9<\/span>\u00a0\u1f41 \u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bc\u03ad. \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u1f7c\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd \u1f21 \u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ae, \u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b1\u03bc\u03bf\u1f76 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bb\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1fe5\u03b5\u03cd\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f55\u03b4\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b6\u1ff6\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2. [ean tis dipsa erchesth\u014d pros me, kai pinet\u014d ho pisteu\u014dn eis eme. kath\u014ds eipen h\u0113 Graf\u0113, potamoi ek t\u0113s koilias auton rheusousin h\u00fcdatos z\u014dntos.<\/em>]:<\/strong> There are two segments to this note: one (i) is textual and therefore translation-related, and the other (ii) is related only to translation.<\/span><\/p>\n

i.<\/strong> We have two possible readings of the Greek here, due to some minor ambiguities about punctuation. Punctuation was not fully systematized in Classical Antiquity; even spacing between words lay hundreds of years in the future. Proto-versions of the comma, colon, and period did exist, they were more aids for the public reading or recitation of a text than punctuation in the modern sense, which frequently carries strictly grammatical functions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An anonymously-written Russian ikon<\/small>
\n(18th c.) of the prophet Ezekiel.<\/small><\/p>\n

I have, hesitantly, chosen to differ with the Greek text adopted by the Society for Biblical Literature (my usual source), and also from the Nestle-Aland text that I have in hard copy. I think the punctuation I\u2019ve adopted5<\/sup> makes slightly better sense of the text\u2014it gives it a psalm-like parallelism that\u2019s very reminiscent of certain parts of his other discourses, like \u201che who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who has faith in me will never thirst,\u201d or \u201cMy flesh is a true dinner, and my blood is a true drink.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It also changes the suggestions that attach to the phrase about \u201crivers of living water.\u201d In the RSV-CE, that is definitely about the believer, which reflects its take on the Greek correctly. In my version, the Greek is ambiguously capable of applying either to the believer or to Christ himself, so the English is too. It is much easier to see how it applies to Christ; to some commentators that would be reason enough to adopt it. I don\u2019t take that view. I rather think the ambiguity is deliberate, and that this is foreshadowing the momentous assertion of 14:12. We have seen already, less than halfway through the book, how John\u2019s style of introducing themes is very like Charles Williams\u2019 description of Abraham\u2019s prayer for Sodom in Genesis 18: it \u201cdances and retreats and salaams and dances again,\u201d6<\/sup> weaving in and out like Celtic knot-work. There are a handful of other phrases that suggest an identity between what Yeshua does and what his students are doing or will do: the first and faintest (that I can think of) occurs in 4:35-38<\/a>, and 6:5<\/a> can be read that way; I take 9:4<\/a>7<\/sup> and 11:16<\/a> to be driving in the same direction more openly, and on the reading I\u2019ve adopted, vv. 37-38 are part of the same increasingly explicit pattern.<\/span><\/p>\n

ii.<\/strong> I also wanted to address what \u201cthe Writ\u201d says, again in two ways: in terms of what the Lord is referencing, and in terms of one of the divergences between my rendering and the RSV\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The latter is easy to describe: although the RSV says heart<\/em>, the term \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03b4\u03af\u03b1 [kardia<\/em>] is not in the Greek. The word it uses, rather, is \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bb\u03af\u03b1, which equates more with something like bowels<\/em> or viscera<\/em> (or, when used of women, womb<\/em>). Now, I find the words bowels<\/em> and viscera<\/em> some of the most unattractive in the English language. I admit it isn\u2019t specifically my aim to produce a euphonious translation; still, I\u2019d prefer not to produce one that makes me faintly queasy if I can find a way around it that doesn\u2019t stretch the linguistics too far! Besides, especially given the gender variability in the meaning of \u03ba\u03bf\u03b9\u03bb\u03af\u03b1, those two words aren\u2019t very satisfactory, really. I eventually hit on insides<\/em>, or some near-equivalent phrase that uses inside<\/em> in its prepositional sense, as a better rendering.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The relief of Ur-Nanshe (late 26th c.\u00a0BC<\/small>), with<\/small>
\nthe oldest extant reference to Dilmun yet<\/small>
\ndiscovered (see the second paragraph below).<\/small>
\nPhoto by Marie-Lan Nguyen.<\/small><\/p>\n

The reference is harder, for a slightly mystifying reason. There isn\u2019t one. That is, there isn\u2019t a word-for-word quotation\u2014and expecting that, as opposed to a mere allusion, may be the answer. In other words, we created a problem that didn\u2019t exist by asking what Christ was \u201cquoting\u201d when he wasn\u2019t! This appears to be a paraphrase of something from the prophets, maybe even from multiple prophets. (A similar issue pops up\u00a0 about Matthew 27:9-10.) Ezekiel 47<\/a> is a possible allusion; there, the prophet describes a stream of water flowing out of the restored Temple of his vision and becoming a deep river that flows eastward \u201cto the sea.\u201d An even likelier referent, since this chapter mentions Sukkot<\/em> explicitly in v. 16, is Zechariah 14<\/a>. Zechariah is one of the most apocalyptic of the prophets, as much so as Ezekiel or the latter half of Daniel, and chapter 14 describes God intervening in Israel with a series of vivid images. He stands on Mount Olivet and causes the mountain to split in two, and his luminosity overwhelms the old cycle of day and night. Notably, v. 8 says that \u201cliving waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea\u201d\u2014that is, both westward and eastward.<\/p>\n

The sea to the west is the Mediterranean. That to the east, in both Ezekiel and Zechariah, might be the Dead Sea; however, I think it\u2019s possible it actually refers to the Persian Gulf. Whichever of the two is meant, they both lead to the same place, i.e. the Indian Ocean. The Dead Sea of course does not flow<\/em> into the Indian Ocean, but it still leads that way.7<\/p>\n

The Persian Gulf has its own global importance now, but in the Ancient Near East\u2014especially back in the Bronze Age, which was fabled antiquity even by the time Ezekiel was being composed\u2014it was a place of considerable cultural and literary significance. Its coastline used to be quite different, even within the last few thousand years. Some modern commentators speculatively link the primordial Sumerian goddess Tiamat with the Persian Gulf. Be that as it may, the remains of some of the most ancient cities of Sumer now lie drowned beneath its waters; the land of Dilmun\u2014a prosperous center of the copper trade, located somewhere between Mesopotamia and pre-Indo-Aryan India, but now known only from references in early Sumerian tablets\u2014may have been located in what is now Bahrain. Some ruins there could plausibly belong to it; or, most or all of it may also lie underneath the inflow of the sea. But the point is, if the Persian Gulf is what these references mean by \u201cthe sea\u201d to the east, it\u2019s as romantic an allusion as the Mediterranean itself. We\u2019re being given a picture of a triumphant messianic age in which the fresh water that flows from the fountain of the restored Temple encircles the world.<\/p>\n

d. David \u2026 Bethlehem\/Dawid \u2026 Beyt Lechem | \u0394\u03b1\u03c5\u1f76\u03b4 \u2026 \u0392\u03b7\u03b8\u03bb\u03ad\u03b5\u03bc [D<\/em>auid \u2026 B\u0113thleem<\/em>]:<\/strong> My translation features my best attempts at readable transliterations of the Aramaic forms. The original Hebrew words were \u05d3\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05d3<\/span>\u200e<\/big> [Doudh<\/em>], \u201cBeloved,\u201d and \u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05d9\u05ea \u05dc\u05b6\u05d7\u05b6\u05dd<\/span>\u200e<\/big> [B\u00eayth Lechem<\/em>], \u201cHouse of Bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bethlehem on Christmas Day in 1898<\/small>
\n(photographer unknown).<\/small><\/p>\n

Incidentally, it\u2019s possible that David<\/em> was not a personal but a<\/span> regnal name<\/a>. David\u2019s confrontation with Goliath of Gath is his first claim to fame, yet II Samuel 21:19 attributes Goliath\u2019s death to one \u201cElhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite.\u201d This is rather puzzling, and has been for many centuries: the discrepancy was noticed at least since the first century, and probably far longer. At least two solutions are possible:<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n