This record emphasizes the supernatural character of the victories David was able to enjoy because God fought for him by using various men in his army.
"The lists of heroes and heroic exploits that frame the poetic centre-piece represent human instrumentality, but not the underlying reality, which is Yahweh."300
The pericope may describe what happened when David was fighting the Philistines early in his reign (cf. 5:18-25), probably right after he became king of all Israel in 1004 B.C.301However it is really impossible to tell how the incidents recorded here relate to others mentioned in the book or even if they do.
"The giant"(vv. 16, 18, 20, 22) appears to have been the father or ancestor of all four of the huge Philistine warriors mentioned in this passage. However the Hebrew word translated "giant"(raphah) is a collective term for the Rephaim. The Rephaim were the mighty warriors who originally inhabited the Canaanite coastal plain (cf. Gen. 15:19-21; Deut. 2:11; 3:11, 13). They terrified ten of the 12 spies that Joshua sent out from Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13:33).
"The lamp of Israel"(v. 17) refers to David, the source of Israel's human guidance, prosperity, and well-being--its leading light. As God was a light to His people, so the king was a light as His vice-regent.
". . . when a man dies his lamp is extinguished (Jb. 18:6; Pr. 13:9); David's death would be tantamount to the extinction of the life of the community (cf. La. 4:20). The figure of the lamp. which came to symbolize the Davidic dynasty as maintained by Yahweh (1 Ki. 15:4; Ps. 132:17), possibly derives from the world of the sanctuary, in which a lamp was kept burning continually' (see on 1 Sa. 3:3)."302
Gob (v. 18) was evidently another name for Gezer (1 Chron. 20:4).
The reference in verse 19 to Elhanan killing Goliath the Gittite (i.e., a resident of Gath) seems to contradict 1 Samuel 17. However 1 Chronicles 20:5 says that Elhanan killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Evidently that is the correct reading.303Sometimes David was able to slay his enemies personally, but at other times he had to rely on the help of others (v. 17).
The point of this brief section is that God blessed David with military victories far beyond anyone's normal expectations because he was God's faithful anointed servant. Yahweh brought blessing through him to Israel militarily as well as agriculturally (vv. 1-14). The first incident (vv. 1-14) in the appendix illustrates that breaking covenants reduces fertility, but this one (vv. 15-22) shows that God's favor results in supernatural victories.
