Lives of Scripture

Saph (also called Sippai in the parallel account, 1 Chronicles 20:4) was a Philistine warrior identified as a descendant of "the giant" -- likely Rapha, ancestor of the Rephaim, a line associated elsewhere in Scripture with Goliath and other outsized enemy champions. During renewed fighting between Israel and the Philistines at Gob, Saph was killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite, one of David's elite mighty men (2 Samuel 21:18). His death is recorded alongside three other notable Philistine casualties in the same short passage: Goliath's brother, killed by Elhanan, and a six-fingered, six-toed giant, killed by Jonathan, David's nephew (21:19-22). The narrator's summary line is pointed: these four giants "fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants" (21:22) -- a reminder that Israel's ongoing victories over intimidating enemies, even after David's own youthful battle with Goliath, were consistently credited to God working through David's men, not merely to superior individual might.