Verse 1

Now these be the last words of David,.... Which refer not to the psalm in the preceding chapter, but to what follows; not the last words he spoke, for he said many things afterwards; for the advice he gave to Solomon, and the instructions to him about building the temple, were delivered after this time; but these were the last after he had finished the book of Psalms; or the last that he spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or that he delivered out by way of prophecy; though the Jews (f) will not allow him to speak by the spirit of prophecy; they own he spoke by the Holy Spirit, which they distinguish from prophecy; but the Targum calls these words a prophecy, and takes them to be a prophecy of the Messiah, and of things to come, as undoubtedly they are, paraphrasing them thus;"these are the words of the prophecy of David, which he prophesied concerning the end of the world, concerning the days of consolation that should come;''this is observed to excite attention, the last words of dying men being usually regarded and remembered: David the son of Jesse said; he began with his descent, which was comparatively mean, in order to illustrate the distinguishing goodness of God to him in his exaltation: and the man who was raised up on high; from a low estate to an high one, from the sheepfold to the throne, to be king over all the tribes of Israel, and a conqueror, and head of the nations round about him: the anointed of the God of Jacob; who was anointed king by Samuel by the order of the God of Jacob; and which was an instance of his being the God of Jacob or Israel, and of his care of them, and regard unto them, that he anointed such a man to be king over them, as well as it was an honour to David: and the sweet psalmist of Israel; who composed most of the psalms and hymns of praise for the people of Israel; invented and set the tunes to them to which they were to be sung, and the instruments of music on which they were sung; and appointed singers to preside, and lead them in that part of divine worship, singing psalms and hymns; and very sweet were the psalms he composed as to the matter of them, and very sweet and delightful to the ear was the music in the manner of singing them: it may be rendered, who was "sweet" or "pleasant in the songs of Israel" (g), his warlike exploits and victories being the subject of them, Sa1 18:6, said; as follows; for all that goes before are the words of the penman of this book, drawing the character of David; in which he was a type of Christ, a branch out of the root of Jesse, highly exalted, and chosen from among the people, anointed to be prophet, priest, and King; and who sweetly expounded the psalms concerning himself, and ordered them to be sung in the churches, and of which he is the subject, and may be said to be sweetly held forth in them, see Luk 24:44. (f) Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. (g) "jucundus psalmis", Montanus; "suavis in canticis", Vatablus; "amoenus psalmis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Verse 2

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,.... The psalms and songs he composed were not the fruits of his own genius, but were written by him under the inspiration of the Spirit of God; by whom holy men of God, the penmen of the Scriptures, spoke, even as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, of whom David was one, being a prophet; see Act 1:16 Act 2:30; so the Targum here,"David spoke by the spirit of prophecy of the Lord:''or spake "in me" (h); what he spoke was first internally impressed upon his mind by the Spirit of God, and then he expressed it with his tongue, as follows: and his word was in my tongue; not only the matter of his psalms was indited by the Spirit of God, and suggested to his mind; but the very words in which they are delivered were given to him, and he was directed to make use of them, and did. (h) "in me", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.

Verse 3

The God of Israel said,.... To David, or by him; he who was the covenant God of Israel literally considered, and is the covenant God and Father of the whole spiritual Israel, and who is owned, believed in, and worshipped by them: the Rock of Israel spake to me; the same with the God of Israel in other words, who is the strength and security of Israel; or the second divine Person, the Son and Word of God, is meant, who is often called a rock in Scripture; and is the rock on which the Israel or church of God is built, and in whom it remains safe and firm, the gates of hell not being able to prevail against it; and so here is an instance and proof of a trinity of persons in the Godhead; the God of Israel, Jehovah the Father; the Rock of Israel, Jehovah the Son; and the Spirit of Jehovah, as in Sa2 23:2, who is Jehovah the Spirit: now what was said by these three divine Persons to David, and by him, and concerning himself as a type of the Messiah, follows: he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God; which is a character every king among men ought to have, administering justice to their subjects; ruling not only according to the laws of the land, but according to the law of God; having his fear before their eyes, and acting with a view to his honour and glory, whose vicegerents they are, and to whom they are accountable; they should rule with gentleness and humanity, considering they are men, and not brutes, they rule over. Agamemnon in Homer is often called "king of men". This character, in all respects, was found in David, Sa2 8:15; and may be here given as an instruction to his son and successor, Solomon; and is in all respects applicable to the Messiah, who is a "ruler" or King by the designation of his father; a ruler "over men", even over all men, yea, over the greatest of men, King of kings, and Lord of lords, and especially, and in an eminent sense, King of saints; and he is "just", a King that reigns in righteousness, righteous in all his ways and works, and particularly just as a King, as well as in all his other characters, see Jer 23:5; and upon whom, as man and Mediator, the Spirit of "the fear of the Lord" rests, and under the influence of which, as such, he has acted, Isa 11:1; so the Targum applies these words to the Messiah thus,"the true Judge said, he would appoint to me a King, who is the Messiah, who shall arise and rule in the fear of the Lord:''and they may be rendered, there shall be "a ruler over men, just, ruling in the fear of God"; or ruling, appointing, ordering, and directing the worship of God, and the ordinances of it under the Gospel dispensation, as Christ did, see Mat 28:18.

Verse 4

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds,.... That is, such a ruler that rules in righteousness, and in the fear of God; he is the light and glory of his people, who guides and directs them, makes them cheerful and comfortable; his administrations are pleasant and delightful, and promise a growing and increasing happiness to them, like the morning light and rising sun; and there are no clouds, nor forebodings of dark times, affliction and distress, coming upon them, but all the reverse: and with Christ these metaphors well suit, who is the true light that shines, Joh 1:9; the morning star, Rev 22:16; the dayspring from on high, Luk 1:78; the sun of righteousness, Mal 4:2; and light of the world, Joh 8:2; his going forth or appearance in human nature, at his incarnation, was as the morning, Hos 6:3; the first discovery him to Adam, after sin had brought a night of darkness on the world, was as the dawn of the morning; and this light like that of the morning increased, fresh and clearer discoveries of him being made to the patriarchs afterwards; and though as yet the sun was not up, and it was not a morning without clouds, yet the discoveries then made brought joy with them, as to Abraham and others, and were a sure sign of the sun rising. When Christ appeared in the flesh, the sun of righteousness then arose, and scattered the darkness of the night, both in the Jewish and Gentile world; introduced the light of the Gospel to a greater degree than it was under the legal dispensation, and made the Gospel day; which was not only like the morning light, growing and increasing, but was as a morning without clouds, without the darkness of the ceremonial law, the shadows of which now disappeared; and without the storms and tempests of the moral law, its curses being bore and removed by Christ; and without the frowns of divine wrath, reconciliation and satisfaction being made by him: and this is all applicable particularly to the government of Christ, which is delightful and grateful to his people, serviceable and beneficial to them, under which they enjoy great peace and prosperity; and which will more and more increase, and stilt be more glorious and illustrious, see Psa 72:7. A learned writer (i) has observed, that in an ancient manuscript the word "Jehovah" is inserted and read thus,"and as the light of the morning shall arise Jehovah the sun,''which clearly points to Christ the sun of righteousness; and be it an interpolation, it gives the true sense of the words: a glorious, beautiful, and illustrious person is described in Ovid (k) by the same figure as here: as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain; which springs up the faster, and is more flourishing after a shower of rain, and when upon that the sun breaks out and shines clearly: or "from clear shining from rain" (l); that is, the springing of the tender grass out of the earth is owing partly to the rain which falls in the night, and partly to the sun rising in the morning, and the clear shine of it: this may denote the fruitful and flourishing estate which a good and righteous ruler over men is the happy instrument of bringing his people into; and may be applied both to the incarnation of Christ, when he grew up as a tender plant, or as the tender grass, mean in his original and descent, weak in himself as man; and yet this fruit of the earth was excellent and comely, beautiful and glorious, and the springing of it owing to the favour and good will of God, and his coming was as the latter and former rain to the earth, Hos 6:3; and to the government of Christ, and the benefits of it to his church and people; who flourish under it the light of his grace and favour, and through rains of Gospel doctrines they are blessed with: or "than clear shining, than rain"; Christ is more beneficial to his people, who are comparable to grass for their meanness, and weakness, and number, than the sun and rain are to the grass in the field. (i) Dr. Kennicott's State of the Hebrew Text, Dissert. 1. p. 468. (k) "Talisque apparuitilli", &c. Metamorph. l. 14. Fab. 16. ver. 767. (l) "a splendore, a pluvia germen de terra", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

Verse 5

Although my house be not so with God,.... So bright, and flourishing, and prosperous as the government of the just ruler before described; or is not "right" (m) with God, meaning his family, in which great sins were committed, and great disorders and confusions brought into it, as the cases of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah showed; or "not firm" or "stable" (n), through the rebellion of one, the insurrection of another, and the usurpation of a third; yet he believed it would be firm and stable in the Messiah that should spring from him, promised in the everlasting covenant; though the Jewish writers understand this of the firmness and stability of his kingdom and government: "but my house is not so", &c. like the morning light, which increases by little and little, and like the morning, which sometimes is not cloudy, and sometimes is; sometimes the sun shines clearly, and sometimes not; or like the tender grass, which is sometimes flourishing, and after withers; but so is not my kingdom, it is a perpetual one, given and secured by an everlasting covenant; and such certainly is or will be the kingdom of the Messiah: yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; or, "for (o) he hath made", &c. the covenant by which the kingdom was settled on David and his seed was a covenant that would continue for ever, and would be kept, "observed", and "preserved" (p) in all the articles of it, and so be sure to his seed, particularly to the Messiah that should spring from him, in whom it was fulfilled, Luk 1:32; and the covenant of grace made with David's antitype, with Christ the head of the church, and the representative of it, and so with all his people in him, is an everlasting one: it was made with Christ from everlasting, as appears from the everlasting love of God, the source and spring of it; the earliness of the divine counsels on which it is formed, and blessings and promises of it, with which it is filled, which were before the world was; and from Christ being set up as the Mediator of it from everlasting: and it will continue to everlasting; it is a covenant that cannot be broken, will never be removed, nor give way to or be succeeded by another: it is "ordered in all things": to promote and advance the glory of all the three Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit; to secure the persons of the saints, and to provide everything needful for them for time and eternity: and it is "sure"; it stands upon a sure basis, the unchangeable will and favour of God, and is in the hands of Christ, the same today, yesterday, and for ever; its mercies are the sure mercies of David, and its promises are yea and amen in Christ, and are sure to all the seed. Though things may not be with them God-ward, as they desire, and could be wished for; though they may be attended with many sins and infirmities, the temptations of Satan, divine desertions, and various afflictions, and be guilty of many backslidings, yet covenant interest always continues; and so, though in the kingdom and interest of Christ in the world, there are, and may be, many things disagreeable; it may be attended with persecutions, heresies, scandals, &c. yet it shall continue and increase, and spread, and be an everlasting kingdom: for this is all my salvation: all depends upon this covenant; the safety of David's family, and the security of the kingdom in it, and to his seed, till the Messiah came, depended on the covenant made with him respecting that; and the spiritual and eternal salvation of the Lord's people depends upon the covenant of grace; which was contrived, formed, and settled in it, in which the Saviour is provided, and the persons to share in his salvation are taken into it and secured, with all blessings both of grace and glory: and all my desire; to see it fulfilled; as it is the desire of good men to be led more and more into it, to see their interest in it, to have the blessings and promises of it applied unto them, and to be saved by it, and not by the covenant of works; and there is all that in it that a believer can desire to make him comfortable here, or happy hereafter; and it is what gives him delight and pleasure in all his troubles: it may be supplied he is, as well as "this is", and be applied to Christ, the ruler over men, described, Sa2 23:3; with whom the covenant of grace is made, in whom is the salvation of men; he is the author and the only author of it; in whom it is complete and perfect; "all" salvation is in him, and which they can claim as theirs; to whom is "all their desire"; and in whom is "all their delight", as it may be rendered; on account of the glory of his person, the fulness of his grace, and his suitableness as a Saviour; whom they desire to know more of, and have more communion with: although he made it not to grow; though there may not be at present any growth of outward prosperity, or of inward grace, or even of the produce of the earth, Hab 3:17; though the horn of David is not yet made to bud, or his family in growing and flourishing circumstances, or the Messiah, the man, the branch, does not yet shoot forth, though he certainly would; or, "for shall he not bud forth" he shall, Jer 23:5. (m) "non recta", Cocceius. (n) "Non est re firma", Vitringa in Jesaiam, c. xi. 1. (o) "quia", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator. (p) "scrvatum", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "conservatum", Junius & Tremellius.

Verse 6

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away,.... Not like the tender grass that springs up, and flourishes after rain, and the sunshine upon that; but like thorns, useless, hurtful, and pernicious, and fit only for burning: this is true of wicked men in general, that cast off the yoke of the Lord, and become unprofitable, as Belial signifies; and of wicked governors in particular, who, instead of being helpful, are harmful to a commonwealth; and instead of being the joy and comfort of their subjects, and of giving pleasure to them, and making them cheerful and prosperous, give pain and trouble, and cause grief and sorrow; and are, if possible, to be thrust away, and deposed from government: because they cannot be taken with hands; thorns cannot be handled and gently dealt with, but some instrument must be used to put them away with force; so wicked men, and especially wicked rulers, are untractable, and not to be managed in a gentle way, and therefore violent ones must be taken.

Verse 7

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear,.... To remove these thorns, or sons of Belial, out of the way, or to defend himself against them; or weapons of war must be made use of to conquer and destroy them, according to the sense of Ben Gersom, and which De Dieu follows; a man that meddles with them must expect to be as much hurt and wounded by them, all over the body, as if not only the point or iron head of a spear, but the wood or handle of the spear, were thrust up in him; but the former sense seems best: and they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place: where the thorns grew, or whither they are removed, or are sitting; where persons are sitting to warm themselves by them: and this may be understood of the destruction of wicked rulers, when their kingdom is taken from them, and they are consumed root and branch; and was true not only of Saul, and his posterity, as some apply it, and of Jeroboam, and those like to him, as the above Jewish writer; but of the wicked Jews, and their rulers, those sons of Belial, who rejected the yoke of Christ, and would not have him to rule over them; to whom the Lord sent the Roman armies fenced with swords and spears, and burnt their city, and destroyed them in the same place; and may take in antichrist, and antichristian states, those sons of Belial, of the wicked and lawless one, the son of perdition, whose city, Rome, shall be burnt with fire; and even all wicked men, at the great day of judgment, to which the Targum refers these words; when they, whose end, like thorns, is to be burnt, will be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.

Verse 8

These be the names of the mighty men whom David had,.... Besides Joab his general, who is not mentioned; for these were all military men under him, which are distinguished into three classes; the first and highest consisted of three only, who were general officers; and the second also of three, who perhaps were colonels of regiments; and the third of thirty, who were captains of thousands and hundreds: the Tachmonite that sat in the seat, the chief among the captains: not in the chief seat in the sanhedrim, and was the head of that, and so had the name of Tachmonite, from his wisdom, as the Jewish writers say; but in the council of war, where he presided under the general, or in his absence, and was, perhaps, lieutenant general, and so over all the captains; and therefore was neither David nor Joab, to whom some of the Rabbins apply these words, as observed by Kimchi; or rather he was the chief of the three to whom he belonged; his name, in Ch1 11:11, is Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, or the son of an Hachmonite, the same as in Ch1 27:2; and here it may be as well read Josheb-bashebeth the Tachmonite, the same name, with a little variation; which seem to be names given him, taken from his character and office; for his proper name was as follows: the same was Adino the Eznite: so called either from the family he was of, or from the place of his birth; though a learned man thinks it should be read as in the following supplement (q): he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time; which, though a very extraordinary exploit, yet not more strange, or so strange as that of Shamgar's slaying six hundred men with an ox goad, Jdg 3:31, or as that of Samson's killing a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, Jdg 15:15, in Ch1 11:11, the number is only three hundred, which some attempt to reconcile by observing, that not the same person is meant in both places; here he is called Joshebbashebeth, there Jashobeam; here the Tachmonite, there the son of an Hachmonite; nor is he there called Adino the Eznite; but yet it seems plain that in both places the chief of the three worthies of David is meant, and so the same man: others observe, that he engaged with eight hundred, and slew three hundred of them, when the rest fled, and were pursued and killed by his men; and he routing them, and being the occasion of their being slain, the slaying of them all is ascribed to him; or he first slew three hundred, and five hundred more coming upon him, he slew them also: but what Kimchi offers seems to be best, that there were two battles, in which this officer was engaged; at one of them he slew eight hundred, and at the other three hundred; for so what is omitted in the books of Samuel, and of the Kings, is frequently supplied in the books of Chronicles, as what one evangelist in the New Testament omits, another records. The above learned writer (r) conjectures, that being the first letter of the words for three and eight, and the numeral letter being here reduced to its word at length, through a mistake in the copier, was written "eight", instead of "three": the Septuagint version is,"he drew out his spear against eight hundred soldiers at once,''and says nothing of slaying them; and seems to be the true sense of the word, as the same learned writer (s) has abundantly shown. (q) Kennicott's Dissert. 1. so Hillerus in Onomastic. Sacr. p. 230, 231, renders it, "the glory of the spear or spearmen stood against eight hundred", &c. and Weemse, "his delight was to lift up his spear". Exercitat. 16. p. 137. (r) P. 96. (s) P. 103.

Verse 9

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,.... Or the son of Ahohi, perhaps the same with Ahoah, a descendant of Benjamin, Ch1 8:4; this Eleazar was the next to the Tachmonite, the second worthy of the first class: one of the three mighty men with David; the second of the three valiant men that were with David in his wars, and fought with him, and for him: when they defied the Philistines; clapped their hands at them, gloried over them, daring them to come and light them; so did David and his mighty men, as Goliath had defied them before: that were there gathered together to battle; at Pasdammim, as appears from Ch1 11:13, and the men of Israel were gone away; fled when they saw the Philistines gather together to fight them, notwithstanding they had defied them; and so David, and his three mighty men, were left alone to combat with the Philistines.

Verse 10

He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary,.... He rose up when the Israelites fled, and stood his ground alone, and fought with the Philistines, and smote them with his sword, until his hand was weary with smiting: and his hand clave unto the sword; which was contracted by holding it so long, and grasping it so hard, that it could not easily be got out of it; or through the quantity of blood which ran upon his hand, as it was shed, so Josephus (t); and which being congealed, and dried, caused his hand to stick to the hilt of his sword, so that they were, as it were, glued together by it; or the sense may be only, that though weary, he did not drop his sword, but held it fast till he had destroyed the enemy: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; for to him it must be ascribed, and not to the strength and valour of the man: and the people returned after him only to spoil; they that fled, when they saw what a victory was obtained by him, returned and came after him; not to help him in smiting, but to spoil those that were slain, and strip them of what they had. (t) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

Verse 11

And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite,.... One who was of the mountainous country, as the Targum, the hill country of Judea, of Hebron, or the parts adjacent; this was the third of the first three; there was one of this name among the thirty, Sa2 23:33, and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop; but so they were no doubt at first; R. Isaiah takes it to be the name of a place called Chiyah; as the Targum, Chayatha; and which Kimchi says was a village, an unwalled town; and Ben Melech observes, that it is said in the Arabic language, a collection of houses is called Alchai: it may be the same with Lehi, where Samson slew a thousand with the jawbone of an ass, Jdg 15:17, whence it had its name; and Josephus (u) says, the place where the Philistines were gathered together was called "the Jawbone": but perhaps the sense of Ben Gersom may be best of all, that they gathered together in this place for provision, for food and forage, to support the life of them and their cattle: since it follows: where was a piece of ground full of lentiles; a sort of pulse, which was eaten in those countries, and the pottage of which was delicious food, see Gen 25:30, and the people fled from the Philistines; as they did before under Eleazar, Sa2 23:9. (u) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

Verse 12

But he stood in the midst of the ground,.... The field of lentiles: and defended it; the field, so that the Philistines could not ravage it, and get food and forage from it: and slew the Philistines; made a great slaughter among them, entirely routed them, so that they that escaped his sword were obliged to flee: and the Lord wrought a great victory; to whom the glory of it belonged; a similar fact is ascribed to Eleazar before mentioned in Ch1 11:13; and, indeed, it seems to be the same, and in which they were both concerned; for it is plain from the account that there were more than one engaged in this action, since it is there said, "and they set themselves in the midst of that parcel"; and though that parcel of ground is said there to be full of barley, it may easily be reconciled by observing, that one part of it might be sowed with barley, and the other part with lentiles; so the Targum in Ch1 11:13; for it was half lentiles and half barley; and Eleazar might be placed to defend the one, and Shammah the other; from whence it appears it was about March when this action was, at the latter end of which barley harvest began.

Verse 13

And three of the thirty chiefs went down,.... Or three that were chief of the thirty, superior to them; which some understand of the three before mentioned, so Josephus (w); and that having related some particular exploits of theirs, here observes one, in which they were all concerned; and others think the three next are meant, of whom Abishai was the chief, Benaiah the next, and the third Asahel; but the first sense is best: and came to David in the harvest time, unto the cave of Adullam; not when he was there, upon his flight from Saul, Sa1 22:1; but after he was king, when engaged in war with the Philistines; perhaps wheat harvest is here meant: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim; the army of the Philistines, as the Targum; of the valley of Rephaim; see Gill on Jos 15:8. (w) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

Verse 14

And David was then in an hold,.... In a strong hold; the strong hold of Zion, as Josephus (x), or one on a rock near the cave of Adullam, see Ch1 11:15, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem; which was about six miles from Jerusalem; the valley of Rephaim lay between that and Bethlehem; so far had they got into the land of Judea, and such footing in it, as to have a garrison so near its metropolis. (x) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

Verse 15

And David longed, and said,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty: oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say (y). It is said to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the road (z); and that there is now near Rachel's grave a good rich cistern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets, and a line, as usual in those countries (a); but Mr. Maundrell (b) says it is a well, or rather a cistern, supplied only with rain, without any excellency in its waters to make them desirable; but it seems, he adds, David's spirit had a further aim. Some think he meant by this to get Bethlehem out of the hands of the Philistines, and obtain the possession of it; others, as Jarchi, that he intended to ask some question of the sanhedrim that sat there; and others, that his desire was after the law of God, called waters, as in Isa 55:1; and some Christian writers, both ancient and modern (c), are of opinion, that not literal but spiritual water was desired by him, and that he thirsted after the coming of the Messiah, to be born at Bethlehem, and the living water which he only can give, Joh 4:10. (y) Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 363. (z) Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 52. p. 204. (a) Rauwolff's Travels, part 3. p. 317, 318. (b) Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 90. (c) Ambros. Apolog. David l. 1. c. 7. gloss. ordinar. & Schmidt in loc. Pfeiffer. Difficil. Loc. Script. cent. 2. loc. 91. Horn. Dissert. de desiderio David. sect. 10.

Verse 16

And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines,.... Which lay in the valley of Rephaim, between the hold in which David was and the well of Bethlehem; these three men hearing David express himself in the above manner, though without any view that any should risk their lives to obtain it, only in a general way said, oh for a draught of the water of the well of Bethlehem! immediately set out, and made their way through the army of the Philistines to the well: and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; in a vessel which they probably carried with them for that purpose: nevertheless he would not drink thereof; because, say they who take these words in a spiritual sense, it was not this water, but spiritual water, he desired: but the reason is given in Sa2 23:17, but poured it out unto the Lord; as a libation to him, it being rather blood than water, being fetched at the hazard of men's lives, and therefore more fit to be offered as a sacrifice to God than to be drank by him; and this he might do in thankfulness to God for preserving the lives of the men. Gersom thinks it was now the feast of tabernacles, which was the feast of ingathering the fruits of the earth, when great quantities of water were drawn and poured out at the altar, which was done to obtain the blessing of the former rain; See Gill on Joh 7:37 and See Gill on Joh 7:38.

Verse 17

And he said, be it far from me, O Lord, that one should do this,.... Drink of the water these men had brought him: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? who risked the shedding of their blood, and went in danger of their lives to get it: therefore he would not drink it: some compare with this the story of Alexander (d) to whom a vessel of water was offered when in extreme thirst, which he refused, because he could not bear to drink it alone, and so small a quantity could not be divided among all about him; but the reasons are not the same: these things did these three mighty men; which made them very famous. (d) Curt. Hist. l. 7. c. 5.

Verse 18

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among the three,.... Another triumvirate, of which he was the head: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them; Josephus (e) says six hundred; this seems to confirm the reading of Sa2 23:8, that the number eight hundred is right, for if it was only three hundred, Abishai would have been equal to one, even the first, of the former three; which yet is denied him in Sa2 23:19, and had the name among three; of which he was one; and he had the chief name among them, or was the most famous of them. (e) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

Verse 19

Was he not most honourable of three?.... He was; who, besides the exploit here mentioned, did many other things; he went down with David into Saul's camp, and took away his spear and cruse, which were at his bolster, Sa1 26:6; he relieved David when in danger from Ishbibenob the giant, Sa2 21:16; he beat the Edomites, and slew eighteen thousand of them in the valley of salt, Ch1 18:12, therefore he was their captain; of the other two, or was head over them, took rank before them: howbeit he attained not unto the first three; for fortitude, courage, and warlike exploits, namely, to the Tachmonite, Eleazar, and Shammah.

Verse 20

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel,.... A city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:21; the father of this man was a man of great vivacity, valour, and strength, so that it was like father like son. Procopius Gazaeus says Benaiah was David's brother's son, and a grandson of Jesse: who had done many acts; which may refer either to the father of Benaiah or to Benaiah himself; and indeed the Syriac and Arabic versions refer the preceding character, "a valiant man", not to the father, but the son: he slew two lionlike men of Moab; two princes of Moab, as the Targum, or two giants of Moab, as the Syriac and Arabic versions; men who were comparable to lions for their strength and courage; for this is not to be understood of two strong towers of Moab, as Ben Gersom, which were defended by valiant men like lions, or which had the form of lions engraved on them: nor of Moabitish altars, as Gussetius (f), the altar of the Lord, being called by this name of Ariel, the word used; but of men of uncommon valour and fortitude: he went down also, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow; not Joab, Kg1 2:34, as is the tradition (g), but a real lion, the strongest among the beasts; and that in a pit where he could not keep his distance, and turn himself, and take all advantage, and from whence he could not make his escape; and which indeed might quicken his resolution, when he must fight or die; and on a snowy day, when lions are said to have the greatest strength, as in cold weather, or however are fiercer for want of food; and when Benaiah might be benumbed in his hands and feet with cold. Josephus (h) represents the case thus, that the lion fell into a pit, where was much snow, and was covered with it, and making a hideous roaring, Benaiah went down and slew him; but rather it was what others say, that this lion very much infested the places adjacent, and did much harm; and therefore, for the good of the country, and to rid them of it, took this opportunity, and slew it; which one would think was not one of the best reasons that might offer; it seems best therefore what Bochart (i) conjectures, that Benaiah went into a cave, for so the word used may signify, to shelter himself a while from the cold, when a lion, being in it for the same reason, attacked him, and he fought with it and slew it; or rather it may be an hollow place, a valley that lay between Acra and Zion, where Benaiah, hearing a lion roar, went down and slew it (k). (f) Ebr. Comment p. 95. (g) Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 80. C. (h) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.) (i) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 4. col. 758. (k) See the Universal History, vol. 4. p. 227.

Verse 21

And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man,.... A person of good countenance and shape, very large and tall; in Ch1 11:28, he is said to be a man of great stature, and five cubits high, and so wanted a cubit and a span of the height of Goliath, Sa1 17:4, and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; as large as Goliath's; for in Ch1 11:23, it is said to be like a weaver's beam, as Goliath's was; see Gill on Sa1 17:7, and he went down to him with a staff; with a walking staff only, having no other weapon: and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand; and therefore must be a man very nimble and dexterous, as well as bold and courageous: and slew him with his own spear; as David cut off Goliath's head with his own sword. This is supposed (l) to be Shimei, the son of Gera, Kg1 2:46. (l) Hieron. Trad. Heb. ut supra. (in. 2 Reg. fol. 80. C.)

Verse 22

These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,.... Slew a lion, and two lion-like men of Moab, and an Egyptian of a gigantic stature, Sa2 23:20, and had the name among three mighty men; of which he was one, and Abishai another, the third Asahel, one of the thirty; or was over them, Sa2 23:24, since thirty are reckoned without him. Abarbinel thinks that the third was Adina, the son of Shiza, the Reubenite, Ch1 11:42; since thirty were with him, and he at the head of them.

Verse 23

He was more honourable than the thirty,.... Whose names are after recorded: but he attained not to the first three; the first triumvirate, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; he was not equal to them for fortitude, courage, and military exploits: and David set him over his guard; his bodyguard, the Cherethites and Pelethites, Sa2 8:18; who are called in the Hebrew text "his hearing" (m), because they hearkened to his orders and commands, and obeyed them. (m) "ad auditum suum", Pagninus, Montanus.

Verse 24

Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty,.... Or rather over the thirty (n), who are next mentioned; since there are thirty reckoned besides him, and the Arabic version calls him the prince of the thirty; Joab is not named at all, because he was general of the whole army, and so not to be reckoned in any of the three classes: Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem: a townsman of David. (n) "supra triginta istos", Junius & Tremellius.

Verse 25

Shammah the Harodite,.... Called Shammah the Harorite in Ch1 11:27; by a change of the letters "R" and "D", which is frequent: Elika the Harodite; or who was of Harod, as the Targum; these both were from one place: mention is made of the well of Harod, Jdg 7:1.

Verse 26

Helez the Paltite,.... Who was of a place called Pater, as the Targum; in Ch1 11:27, he is called the Pelonite: Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; who was of the city of Tekoah, the native place of Amos the prophet, famous for oil, about twelve miles from Jerusalem; See Gill on Amo 1:1.

Verse 27

Abiezer the Anethothite,.... He was of Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin, Jos 21:18, the birthplace of Jeremiah the prophet, Jer 1:1, Mebunnai the Hushathite; the same with Sibbecai, Ch1 11:29; this man had two names, and was a descendant of Hushah, who came of Judah, Ch1 4:4.

Verse 28

Zalmon the Ahohite,.... The same with Ilai, Ch1 11:29; a descendant of Ahoah, a grandson of Benjamin, Ch1 8:4, Maharai the Netophathite, who was of Netophah, a city of the tribe of Judah, mentioned along with Bethlehem, Neh 7:26; a place of this name is spoken of in the Misnah (o), famous for artichokes and olives. (o) Misn. Peah, c. 7. sect. 1. Sheviith, c. 9. sect. 5.

Verse 29

Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite,.... Called Heled, Ch1 11:30, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin: sometimes called Gibeah of Benjamin, Jdg 20:10, and Gibeah of Saul, Sa1 11:4, being a city in the tribe of Benjamin, and the birth place of Saul king of Israel; and this man is distinguished hereby from Ittai the Gittite, Sa2 15:19.

Verse 30

Benaiah the Pirathonite,.... Who was of Pirathon, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, Jdg 12:15. Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash; which perhaps ran by the hill Gaash, and was also in the tribe of Ephraim, Jos 24:30. This man is called Hurai, Ch1 11:32.

Verse 31

Abialbon the Arbathite,.... A native of Betharabah, either in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:6, or in the tribe of Benjamin, Jos 18:18; he is called Abiel in Ch1 11:32, Azmaveth the Barhumite; or Bachurimite, the letters transposed, an inhabitant of Bachurim or Bahurim, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Sa2 16:5.

Verse 32

Eliahba the Shaalbonite,.... Of Shaalboa or Shaaiabin, a city in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:42; perhaps the Silbonitis of Josephus (p): of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan; in Ch1 11:34, it is, the sons of Hashem the Gizonite: sons are spoken of, though but one, as in Gen 46:23. (p) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 3. sect. 3.

Verse 33

Shammah the Hararite,.... From the mountainous country, as the Targum; the Arabic and Syriac versions say, from the mount of Olives: Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite: from the high mountain, as the Targum; in Ch1 11:35, he is called the son of Sacar.

Verse 34

Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite,.... In Ch1 11:35, he is called Eliphal the son of Ur: Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite; David's counsellor, that went off to Absalom, Sa2 15:12; Eliam his son is supposed, by the Jews, to be the father of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, Sa2 11:3; according to Hillerus (q), he is the same with Ahijah the Pelonite, Ch1 11:36. (q) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 906.

Verse 35

Hezrai the Carmelite,.... Of Mount Carmel; or from Carmela, as the Targum, see Sa1 25:2; he is called Hezro, Ch1 11:37, Paarai the Arbite; or from Arab, as the Targum, a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:52; according to Hillerus (r), the same with "Naarai the son of Ezbai", in Ch1 11:37. (r) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 499.

Verse 36

Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah,.... kingdom in Syria, Sa2 8:3; according to Hillerus (s) the same with Joel, Ch1 11:38, Bani the Gadite; who was of the tribe of Gad, as the Targum; in the room of this stands "Mibhar, the son of Haggeri", in Ch1 11:38. (s) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 856.

Verse 37

Zelek the Ammonite,.... Who was so either by birth, and became a proselyte; so the Targum says, he was of the children of Ammon; or is so called, because he had sojourned some time in their land, or had done some exploits against them; unless he was of Chepharhaammonai, a city of the tribe of Benjamin, Jos 18:24, Naharai the Beerothite; native of Beeroth, a city in the same tribe, Jos 18:25, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah; Joab had ten of them, this perhaps was the chief of them, Sa2 18:15; who was advanced to be a captain, and therefore has a name and place among the thirty, very likely for some military, exploits performed by him; he is in the list of David's worthies, though not Joab his master, as before observed; the reason of Joab being left out is either because he was over them all, as before noted; according to Josephus (t), Uriah the Hittite, after mentioned, was an armourbearer to Joab. (t) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 7. sect. 1.

Verse 38

Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite. These were of Jether, as the Targum, a descendant of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, Ch1 2:50 Ch1 4:15. 2 Samuel 23:39

Verse 1

The psalm of thanksgiving, in which David praised the Lord for all the deliverances and benefits that he had experienced throughout the whole of his life, is followed by the prophetic will and testament of the great king, unfolding the importance of his rule in relation to the sacred history of the future. And whilst the psalm may be regarded (2 Samuel 22) as a great hallelujah, with which David passed away from the stage of life, these "last words" contain the divine seal of all that he has sung and prophesied in several psalms concerning the eternal dominion of his seed, on the strength of the divine promise which he received through the prophet Nathan, that his throne should be established for ever (2 Samuel 7). These words are not merely a lyrical expansion of that promise, but a prophetic declaration uttered by David at the close of his life and by divine inspiration, concerning the true King of the kingdom of God. "The aged monarch, who was not generally endowed with the gift of prophecy, was moved by the Spirit of God at the close of his life, and beheld a just Ruler in the fear of God, under whose reign blessing and salvation sprang up for the righteous, and all the wicked were overcome. The pledge of this was the eternal covenant which God had concluded with him" (Tholuck: die Propheten and ihre Weissagungen, p. 166). The heading "these are the last words of David" serves to attach it to the preceding psalm of thanksgiving. Sa2 23:1-2 1 Divine saying of David the son of Jesse, Divine saying of the man, the highly exalted, Of the anointed of the God of Jacob, And of the lovely one in the songs of praise of Israel. 2 The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through me, And His word is upon my tongue. This introduction to the prophetic announcement rests, both as to form and substance, upon the last sayings of Balaam concerning the future history of Israel (Num 24:3, Num 24:15). This not only shows to what extent David had occupied himself with the utterances of the earlier men of God concerning Israel's future; but indicates, at the same time, that his own prophetic utterance was intended to be a further expansion of Balaam's prophecy concerning the Star out of Jacob and the Sceptre out of Israel. Like Balaam, he calls his prophecy a נאם, i.e., a divine saying or oracle, as a revelation which he had received directly from God (see at Num 24:3). But the recipient of this revelation was not, like Balaam the son of Beor, a man with closed eye, whose eyes had been opened by a vision of the Almighty, but "the man who was raised up on high" (על, adverbially "above," is, strictly speaking, a substantive, "height," used in an adverbial sense, as in Hos 11:7, and probably also Sa2 7:16), i.e., whom God had lifted up out of humiliation to be the ruler of His people, yea, even to be the head of the nations (Sa2 22:44). Luther's rendering, "who is assured of the Messiah of the God of Jacob," is based upon the Vulgate, "cui constitutum est de Christo Dei Jacob," and cannot be grammatically sustained. David was exalted on the one hand as "the anointed of the God of Jacob," i.e., as the one whom the God of Israel had anointed king over His people, and on the other hand as "the lovely one in Israel's songs of praise," i.e., the man whom God had enabled to sing lovely songs of praise in celebration of His grace and glory. זמיר = זמרה does not mean a song generally, but a song of praise in honour of God (see at Exo 15:2), like מזמור in the headings to the psalms. As David on the one hand had firmly established the kingdom of God in an earthly and political respect as the anointed of Jehovah, i.e., as king, so had he on the other, as the composer of Israel's songs of praise, promoted the spiritual edification of that kingdom. The idea of נאם is explained in Sa2 23:2. The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through him; his words are the inspiration of God. The preterite דּבּר relates to the divine inspiration which preceded the utterance of the divine saying. בּ דּבּר, literally to speak into a person, as in Hos 1:2. The saying itself commences with Sa2 23:3. Sa2 22:3 3 The God of Israel saith, The Rock of Israel speaketh to me: A Ruler over men, just, A Ruler in the fear of God. 4 And as light of the morning, when the sun rises, As morning without clouds: From shining out of rain (springeth) green out of the earth. 5 For is not my house thus with God? For He hath made me an everlasting covenant, Provided with all, and attested; For all my salvation and all good pleasure, Should He then not cause it to grow? As the prophets generally preface their saying with "thus saith the Lord," so David commences his prophetic saying with "the God of Israel saith," for the purpose of describing it most emphatically as the word of God. He designates God "the God" and "The Rock" (as in Sa2 22:3) of Israel, to indicate that the contents of his prophecy relate to the salvation of the people of Israel, and are guaranteed by the unchangeableness of God. The saying which follows bears the impress of a divine oracle even in its enigmatical brevity. The verbs are wanting in the different sentences of Sa2 23:3 and Sa2 23:4. "A ruler over men," sc., "will arise," or there will be. בּאדם does not mean "among men," but "over men;" for בּ is to be taken as with the verb משׁל, as denoting the object ruled over (cf. Gen 3:16; Gen 4:7, etc.). האדם does not mean certain men, but the human race, humanity. This ruler is "just" in the fullest sense of the word, as in the passages founded upon this, viz., Jer 23:5; Zac 9:9, and Psa 72:2. The justice of the ruler is founded in his "fear of God." אלהים יראת is governed freely by מושׁל. (On the fact itself, see Isa 11:2-3.) The meaning is, "A ruler over the human race will arise, a just ruler, and will exercise his dominion in the spirit of the fear of God." Sa2 23:4 Sa2 23:4 describes the blessing that will proceed from this ruler. The idea that Sa2 23:4 should be connected with Sa2 23:3 so as to form one period, in the sense of "when one rules justly over men (as I do), it is as when a morning becomes clear," must be rejected, for the simple reason that it overlooks Nathan's promise (2 Samuel 7) altogether, and weakens the force of the saying so solemnly introduced as the word of God. The ruler over men whom David sees in spirit, is not any one who rules righteously over men; nor is the seed of David to be regarded as a collective expression indicating a merely ideal personality, but, according to the Chaldee rendering, the Messiah himself, the righteous Shoot whom the Lord would raise up to David (Jer 23:5), and who would execute righteousness and judgment upon earth (Jer 33:15). Sa2 23:4 is to be taken by itself as containing an independent thought, and the connection between it and Sa2 23:3 must be gathered from the words themselves: the appearance (the rise) of this Ruler will be "as light of the morning, when the sun rises." At the same time, the Messiah is not to be regarded as the subject to בּקר אור (the light of the morning), as though the ruler over men were compared with the morning light; but the subject compared to the morning light is intentionally left indefinite, according to the view adopted by Luther in his exposition, "In the time of the Messiah it will be like the light of the morning." We are precluded from regarding the Messiah as the subject, by the fact that the comparison is instituted not with the sun, but with the morning dawn at the rising of the sun, whose vivifying effects upon nature are described in the second clause of the verse. The words שׁמשׁ יזרח are to be taken relatively, as a more distinct definition of the morning light. The clause which follows, "morning without clouds," is parallel to the foregoing, and describes more fully the nature of the morning. The light of the rising sun on a cloudless morning is an image of the coming salvation. The rising sun awakens the germs of life in the bosom of nature, which had been slumbering through the darkness of the night. "The state of things before the coming of the ruler resembles the darkness of the night" (Hengstenberg). The verb is also wanting in the second hemistich. "From the shining from rain (is, comes) fresh green out of the earth." נגהּ signifies the brightness of the rising sun; but, so far as the actual meaning is concerned, it relates to the salvation which attends the coming of the righteous ruler. ממּטר is either subordinate to מנּגהּ, or co-ordinate with it. In the former case, we should have to render the passage, "from the shining of the sun which proceeds out of rain," or "from the shining after rain;" and the allusion would be to a cloudless morning, when the shining of the sun after a night's rain stimulates the growth of the plants. In the latter case, we should have to render it "from the shining (and) from the rain;" and the reference would be to a cloudless morning, on which the vegetation springs up from the ground through sunshine followed by rain. Grammatically considered, the first view (? the second) is the easier of the two; nevertheless we regard the other (? the first) as the only admissible one, inasmuch as rain is not to be expected when the sun has risen with a cloudless sky. The rays of the sun, as it rises after a night of rain, strengthen the fresh green of the plants. The rain is therefore a figurative representation of blessing generally (cf. Isa 44:3), and the green grass which springs up from the earth after the rain is an image of the blessings of the Messianic salvation (Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8). In Psa 72:6, Solomon takes these words of David as the basis of his comparison of the effects resulting from the government of the true Prince of peace to the coming down of the rain upon the mown grass. Sa2 23:5 In Sa2 23:5, the prophecy concerning the coming of the just ruler is sustained by being raced back to the original promise in 2 Samuel 7, in which David had received a pledge of this. The first and last clauses of this verse can only be made to yield a meaning in harmony with the context, by being taken interrogatively: "for is not my house so with God?" The question is only indicated by the tone (לא כּי = הלא כּי: Sa2 19:23), as is frequently the case, even before clauses commencing with לּא (e.g., Hos 11:5; Mal 2:15 : cf. Ewald, 324, a.). לא־כן (not so) is explained by the following clause, though the כּי which follows is not to be taken in the sense of "that." Each of the two clauses contains a distinct thought. That of the first is, "Does not my house stand in such a relation to God, that the righteous ruler will spring from it?" This is then explained in the second: "for He hath made an everlasting covenant with me." David calls the promise in Sa2 7:12., that God would establish his kingdom to his seed for ever, a covenant, because it involved a reciprocal relation-namely, that Jehovah would first of all found for David a permanent house, and then that the seed of David was to build the house of the Lord. This covenant is בכּל ערוּכה, "equipped (or provided) with all" that could help to establish it. This relates more especially to the fact that all eventualities were foreseen, even the falling away of the bearers of the covenant of God, so that such an event as this would not annul the covenant (Sa2 7:14-15). וּשׁמוּרה, "and preserved," i.e., established by the assurance that even in that case the Lord would not withdraw His grace. David could found upon this the certainty, that God would cause all the salvation to spring forth which had been pledged to his house in the promise referred to. כּל־ישׁעי, "all my salvation," i.e., all the salvation promised to me and to my house. כּל־חפץ, not "all my desire," but "all the good pleasure" of God, i.e., all the saving counsel of God expressed in that covenant. The כּי before לא is an energetic repetition of the כּי which introduces the explanatory thought, in the sense of a firm assurance: "for all my salvation and all good pleasure, yea, should He not cause it to spring forth?" Sa2 23:6-7 6 But the worthless, as rejected thorns are they all; For men do not take them in the hand. 7 And the man who touches them Provides himself with iron and spear-shaft, And they are utterly burned with fire where they dwell. The development of salvation under the ruler in righteousness and the fear of God is accompanied by judgment upon the ungodly. The abstract בליּעל, worthlessness, is stronger than בליּעל אישׁ, the worthless man, and depicts the godless as personified worthlessness. מנד, in the Keri מנּד, the Hophal of נוּד or נדד, literally "scared" or hunted away. This epithet does not apply to the thorns, so well as to the ungodly who are compared to thorns. The reference is to thorns that men root out, not to those which they avoid on account of their prickles. כּלּהם, an antiquated form for כּלּם (see Ewald, 247, d.). To root them out, or clean the ground of them, men do not lay hold of them with the bare hand; but "whoever would touch them equips himself (ימּלא, sc., ידו, to 'fill the hand' with anything: Kg2 9:24) with iron, i.e., with iron weapons, and spear-shaft" (vid., Sa1 17:7). This expression also relates to the godless rather than to the thorns. They are consumed בּשּׁבת, "at the dwelling," i.e., as Kimchi explains, at the place of their dwelling, the place where they grow. For בּשּׁבת cannot mean "on the spot" in the sense of without delay. The burning of the thorns takes place at the final judgment upon the ungodly (Mat 13:30).

Verse 8

The following list of David's heroes we also find in 1 Chron 11:10-47, and expanded at the end by sixteen names (Ch1 11:41-47), and attached in Ch1 11:10 to the account of the conquest of the fortress of Zion by the introduction of a special heading. According to this heading, the heroes named assisted David greatly in his kingdom, along with all Israel, to make him king, from which it is evident that the chronicler intended by this heading to justify his appending the list to the account of the election of David as king over all the tribes of Israel (Ch1 11:1), and of the conquest of Zion, which followed immediately afterwards. In every other respect the two lists agree with one another, except that there are a considerable number of errors of the text, more especially in the names, which are frequently corrupt in both texts, to that the true reading cannot be determined with certainty. The heroes enumerated are divided into three classes. The first class consists of three, viz., Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah, of whom certain brave deeds are related, by which they reached the first rank among David's heroes (Sa2 23:8-12). They were followed by Abishai and Benaiah, who were in the second class, and who had also distinguished themselves above the rest by their brave deeds, though they did not come up to the first three (Sa2 23:18-23). The others all belonged to the third class, which consisted of thirty-two men, of whom no particular heroic deeds are mentioned (vv. 24-39). Twelve of these, viz., the five belonging to the first two classes and seven of the third, were appointed by David commanders of the twelve detachments into which he divided the army, each detachment to serve for one month in the year (1 Chron 27). These heroes, among whom we do not find Joab the commander-in-chief of the whole of the forces, were the king's aides-de-camp, and are called in this respect השּׁלשׁי (Sa2 23:8), though the term השּׁלשׁים (the thirty, Sa2 23:13, Sa2 23:23, Sa2 23:24) was also a very customary one, as their number amounted to thirty in a round sum. It is possible that at first they may have numbered exactly thirty; for, from the very nature of the case, we may be sure than in the many wars in which David was engaged, other heroes must have arisen at different times, who would be received into the corps already formed. This will explain the addition of sixteen names in the Chronicles, whether the chronicler made us of a different list from that employed by the author of the books before us, and one belonging to a later age, or whether the author of our books merely restricted himself to a description of the corps in its earlier condition. Sa2 23:8-12 Heroes of the first class. - The short heading to our text, with which the list in the Chronicles also beings (Ch1 11:11), simply gives the name of these heroes. But instead of "the names of the mighty men," we have in the Chronicles "the number of the mighty men." This variation is all the more striking, from the fact that in the Chronicles the total number is not given at the close of the list as it is in our text. At the same time, it can hardly be a copyist's error for מבחר (selection), as Bertheau supposes, but must be attributable to the fact that, according to Sa2 23:13, Sa2 23:23, and Sa2 23:24, these heroes constituted a corps which was named from the number of which it originally consisted. The first, Jashobeam, is called "the chief of the thirty" in the Chronicles. Instead of ישׁבעם (Jashobeam), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here בּשּׁבת ישׁב (Josheb-basshebeth), unquestionably a spurious reading, which probably arose, according to Kennicott's conjecture, from the circumstance that the last two letters of ישׁבעם were written in one MS under בּשּׁבת in the line above (Sa2 23:7), and a copyist took בשׁבת from that line by mistake for עם. The correctness of the reading Jashobeam is established by Ch1 27:2. The word תּחכּמני is also faulty, and should be corrected, according to the Chronicles, into בּן־חכמוני (Ben-hachmoni); for the statement that Jashobeam was a son (or descendant) of the family of Hachmon (Ch1 27:32) can easily be reconciled with that in Ch1 27:2, to the effect that he was a son of Zabdiel. Instead of השּׁלשׁים ראשׁ (head of the thirty), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ (head of the three). Bertheau would alter our text in accordance with the Chronicles, whilst Thenius proposes to bring the text of the Chronicles into accordance with ours. But although the many unquestionable corruptions in the verse before us may appear to favour Bertheau's assumption, we cannot regard either of the emendations as necessary, or even warrantable. The proposed alteration of השּׁלשׁי is decidedly precluded by the recurrence of השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ in Sa2 23:18, and the alteration of השּׁלשׁים in the Chronicles by the repeated allusion to the שׁלשׁים, not only in Sa2 23:15, 42; Sa2 12:4, and Ch1 27:6 of the Chronicles, but also in Sa2 23:13, Sa2 23:23, and Sa2 23:24 of the chapter before us. The explanation given of שׁלשׁי and שׁלשׁים, as signifying chariot-warriors, is decidedly erroneous; (Note: This explanation, which we find in Gesenius (Thes. and Lex.) and Bertheau, rests upon no other authority than the testimony of Origen, to the effect that an obscure writer gives this interpretation of τριστάτης, the rendering of שׁלישׁ, an authority which is completely overthrown by the writer of the gloss in Octateuch. (Schleussner, Lex. in lxx t. v. p. 338), who gives this explanation of τριστάτας: τοὺς παρὰ χεῖρα τοῦ βασιλέως ἀριστερὰν τρίτης μοίρας ἄρχοντας. Suidas and Hesychius give the same explanation (s. v. τριστάται). Jerome also observes (ad Ezek 23): "It is the name of the second rank next to the king.") for the singular השּׁלישׁ is used in all the passages in which the word occurs to signify the royal aide-de-camp (Kg2 7:2, Kg2 7:17, Kg2 7:19; Kg2 9:25; Kg2 15:25), and the plural שׁלישׁים the royal body-guard, not only in Kg2 15:25, but even in Kg1 9:22, and Exo 14:7; Exo 15:4, from which the meaning chariot-warriors has been derived. Consequently השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ is the head of the king's aides-de-camp, and the interchange of השּׁלשׁי with the השּׁלשׁים of the Chronicles may be explained on the simple ground that David's thirty heroes formed his whole body of adjutants. The singular שׁלשׁי is to be explained in the same manner as הכּרתי (see at Sa2 8:18). Luther expresses the following opinion in his marginal gloss with regard to the words which follow (העצנו עדינו הוּא עדינו): "We believe the text to have been corrupted by a writer, probably from some book in an unknown character and bad writing, so that orer should be substituted for adino, and ha-eznib for eth hanitho:" that is to say, the reading in the Chronicles, "he swung his spear," should be adopted (cf. Sa2 23:18). This supposition is certainly to be preferred to the attempt made by Gesenius (Lex.) and v. Dietrich (s. v. עדין) to find some sense in the words by assuming the existence of a verb עדּן and a noun עצן, a spear, since these words do not occur anywhere else in Hebrew; and in order to obtain any appropriate sense, it is still necessary to resort to alterations of the text. "He swung his spear over eight hundred slain at once." This is not to be understood as signifying that he killed eight hundred men at one blow, but that in a battle he threw his spear again and again at the foe, until eight hundred men had been slain. The Chronicles give three hundred instead of eight hundred; and as that number occurs again in Sa2 23:18, in the case of Abishai, it probably found its way from that verse into this in the book of Chronicles. Sa2 23:9-10 "After him (i.e., next to him in rank) was Eleazar the son of Dodai the Ahohite, among the three heroes with David when they defied the Philistines, who had assembled there, and the Israelites drew near." The Chethib דדי is to be read דּודי, Dodai, according to Ch1 27:4, and the form דּודו (Dodo) in the parallel text (Ch1 11:12) is only a variation in the form of the name. Instead of בּן־אחחי (the son of Ahohi) we find העחחי (the Ahohite) in the Chronicles; but the בּן must not be struck out on that account as spurious, for "the son of an Ahohite" is the same as "the Ahohite." For גּבּרים בּשׁלשׁה we must read הגּבּרים בּשׁלשׁה, according to the Keri and the Chronicles. שׁלשׁה is not to be altered, since the numerals are sometimes attached to substantives in the absolute state (see Ges. 120, 1). "The three heroes" are Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah (Sa2 23:11), who reached the first rank, according to Sa2 23:19, among the heroes of David. Instead of בּפּלשׁתּים בּחרפם (when they defied the Philistines), we find in the Chronicles והפּלשׁתּים דּמּים בּפּס, "at Pas-dammim," i.e., most probably Ephes-dammim (Sa1 17:1), where the Philistines were encamped when Goliath defied the Israelites. Thenius, Bertheau, and Bttcher therefore propose to alter our text so as to make it correspond to that of the Chronicles, and adduce as the reason the fact that in other passages חרף is construed with the accusative, and that שׁם, which follows, presupposes the previous mention of the place referred to. But the reasons are neither of them decisive. חרף .evisiced is not construed with the accusative alone, but also with ל (Ch2 32:17), so that the construction with ב is quite a possible one, and is not at variance with the idea of the word. שׁם again may also be understood as referring to the place, not named, where the Philistines fought with the Israelites. The omission of אשׁר before נעספוּ is more difficult to explain; and והפּלשׁתּים, which we find in the Chronicles, has probably dropped out after בּפּלשׁתּים. The reading in the Chronicles דּמּים בּפּס (בּאפס) is probably only a more exact description of the locality, which is but obscurely indicated in our text by בּפּלשׁתּים בּחרפם; for these words affirm that the battle took place where the Israelites had once been defied by the Philistines (Sa1 17:10), and where they repaid them for this defiance in a subsequent conflict. The Philistines are at any rate to be regarded as the subject to נעספוּ, and these words are a circumstantial clause: the Philistines had assembled together there to battle, and the Israelites had advanced to the attack. The heroic act of Eleazar is introduced with "he arose." He arose and smote the Philistines till his hand was weary and clave to his sword, i.e., was so cramped as to be stiffened to the sword. Through this Jehovah wrought a great salvation for Israel on that day, "and the people (the soldiers) turned after him only to plunder," sc., because he had put the enemy to flight by himself. אחריו שׁוּב does not mean to turn back from flight after him, but is the opposite of מאחרי שׁוּב, to turn away from a person (Sa1 15:11, etc.), so that it signifies "to turn to a person and follow behind him." Three lines have dropped out from the parallel text of the Chronicles, in consequence of the eye of a copyist having wandered from נעספוּ פלשׁתּים in Sa2 23:9 to פלשׁתּים ויּעספוּ in Sa2 23:11. Sa2 23:11-12 The third leading hero was Shammah, the son of Age the Hararite (הררי is probably contracted from ההררי, Sa2 23:33). He also made himself renowned by a great victory over the Philistines. The enemy had gathered together לחיּה, "as a troop," or in a crowd. This meaning of היּה (here and Sa2 23:13, and possibly also in Psa 68:11) is thoroughly established by the Arabic (see Ges. Thes. p. 470). But it seems to have fallen into disuse afterwards, and in the Chronicles it is explained in Sa2 23:13 by מלחמה, and in Sa2 23:15 by מחנה. "On a portion of a field of lentils there," sc., where the Philistines had gathered together, the people (of Israel) were smitten. Then Shammah stationed himself in the midst of the field, and יצּילה, "wrested it," from the foe, and smote the Philistines. Instead of עדשׁים, lentils, we find in the Chronicles שׁלעורים, barley, a very inconsiderable difference. Sa2 23:13-15 To this deed there is appended a similar heroic feat performed by three of the thirty heroes whose names are not given. The Chethib שׁלשׁים is evidently a slip of the pen for שׁלשׁה (Keri and Chronicles). The thirty chiefs are the heroes named afterwards. As שׁלשׁה has no article either in our text or the Chronicles, the three intended are not the three already mentioned (Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah), but three others out of the number mentioned in Sa2 23:24. These three came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam (see at Sa1 22:1), when a troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim, and David was on the mountain fortress, and a Philistian post was then in Bethlehem. And David longed for water, and said, "Oh that one would bring me water to drink out of the well of Bethlehem at the gate!" The encampment of the Philistines in the valley of Rephaim, and the position of David on the mountain fortress (בּמּצוּדה), render it probable that the feat mentioned here took place in the war with the Philistines described in Sa2 5:17. Robinson could not discover any well in Bethlehem, "especially none 'by the gate,' except one connected with the aqueduct on the south" (Palestine, vol. ii. p. 158). בּשּׁער need not be understood, however, as signifying that the well was in or under the gate; but the well referred to may have been at the gate outside the city. The well to which tradition has given the name of "David's well" (cisterna David), is about a quarter of an hour's walk to the north-east of Bethlehem, and, according to Robinson's description, is "merely a deep and wide cistern or cavern now dry, with three or four narrow openings cut in the rock." But Ritter (Erdk. xvi. p. 286) describes it as "deep with clear cool water, into which there are three openings from above, which Tobler speaks of as bored;" and again as a cistern "built with peculiar beauty, from seventeen to twenty-one feet deep, whilst a house close by is pointed out to pilgrims as Jesse's house." Sa2 23:16-17 The three heroes then broke through the camp of the Philistines at Bethlehem, i.e., the outpost that occupied the space before the gate, fetched water out of the well, and brought it to David. He would not drink it, however, but poured it out upon the ground to the Lord, as a drink-offering for Jehovah. "He poured it out upon the earth, rendering Him thanks for the return of the three brave men" (Clericus). And he said, "Far be it from me, O Jehovah, to do this! The blood of the men who went with their lives (i.e., at the risk of their lives)," sc., should I drink it? The verb אשׁתּה is wanting in our text, but is not to be inserted according to the Chronicles as though it had fallen out; the sentence is rather to be regarded as an aposiopesis. יהוה after לי חלילה is a vocative, and is not to be altered into מיהוה according to the מאלחי of the Chronicles. The fact that the vocative does not occur in other passages after לי חלילה proves nothing. It is equivalent to the oath יהוה חי (Sa1 14:45). The chronicler has endeavoured to simplify David's exclamation by completing the sentence. בּנפשׁותם, "for the price of their souls," i.e., at the risk of their lives. The water drawn and fetched at the risk of their lives is compared to the soul itself, and the soul is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Drinking this water, therefore, would be nothing else than drinking their blood. Sa2 23:18-19 Heroes of the second class. - Sa2 23:18, Sa2 23:19. Abishai, Joab's brother (see Sa1 26:6), was also chief of the body-guard, like Jashobeam (Sa2 23:8 : the Chethib השּׁלשׁי is correct; see at Sa2 23:8). He swung his spear over three hundred slain. "He had a name among the three," i.e., the three principal heroes, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. The following words, מן־השּׁלשׁה, make no sense. השּׁלשׁה is an error in writing for השּׁלשׁים, as Sa2 23:23 shows in both the texts (Sa2 23:25 of the Chronicles): an error the origin of which may easily be explained from the word שׁלשׁה, which stands immediately before. "He was certainly honoured before the thirty (heroes of David), and became their chief, but he did not come to the three," i.e., he was not equal to Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. הכי has the force of an energetic assurance: "Is it so that," i.e., it is certainly so (as in Sa2 9:1; Gen 27:36; Gen 29:15). Sa2 23:20-23 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, "Jehoiada the priest" according to Ch1 27:5, possibly the one who was "prince for Aaron," i.e., of the family of Aaron, according to Ch1 12:27, was captain of the Crethi and Plethi according to Sa2 8:18 and Sa2 20:23. He was the son of a brave man, rich in deeds (חי is evidently an error for חיל in the Chronicles), of Kabzeel in the south of Judah (Jos 15:21). "He smote the two Ariels of Moab." The Arabs and Persians call every remarkably brave man Ariel, or lion of God (vid., Bochart, Hieroz. ii. pp. 7, 63). They were therefore two celebrated Moabitish heroes. The supposition that they were sons of the king of the Moabites is merely founded upon the conjecture of Thenius and Bertheau, that the word בּני (sons of) has dropped out before Ariel. "He also slew the lion in the well on the day of the snow," i.e., a lion which had been driven into the neighbourhood of human habitations by a heavy fall of snow, and had taken refuge in a cistern. The Chethib האריה and בּאר are the earlier forms for the Keris substituted by the Masoretes הארי and הבּור, and consequently are not to be altered. He also slew an Egyptian of distinguished size. According to the Keri we should read מראה אישׁ (instead of מראה fo daetsni( א אשׁר), "a man of appearance," i.e., a distinguished man, or a man of great size, ἄνδρα ὀρατόν (lxx); in the Chronicles it is simplified as מדּה אישׁ, a man of measure, i.e., of great height. This man was armed with a spear or javelin, whereas Benaiah was only armed with a stick; nevertheless the latter smote him, took away his spear, and slew him with his own weapon. According to the Chronicles the Egyptian was five cubits high, and his spear like a weaver's beam. Through these feats Benaiah acquired a name among the three, though he did not equal them (Sa2 23:22, Sa2 23:23, as in Sa2 23:18, Sa2 23:19); and David made him a member of his privy council (see at Sa1 22:14). Sa2 23:24-25 Heroes of the third class. - Sa2 23:24. "Asahel, the brother of Joab, among the thirty," i.e., belonging to them. This definition also applies to the following names; we therefore find at the head of the list in the Chronicles, החילים וגבּורי, "and brave heroes (were)." The names which follow are for the most part not further known. Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, is a different man from the Bethlehemite of that name mentioned in Sa2 21:19. Shammah the Harodite also must not be confounded with the Shammahs mentioned in Sa2 23:11 and Sa2 23:33. In the Chronicles we find Shammoth, a different form of the name; whilst ההרורי is an error in writing for החרדי, i.e., sprung from Harod (Jdg 7:1). This man is called Shamhut in Ch1 27:8; he was the leader of the fifth division of David's army. Elika or Harod is omitted in the Chronicles; it was probably dropped out in consequence of the homoioteleuton החרדי. Sa2 23:26 Helez the Paltite; i.e., sprung from Beth-pelet in the south of Judah (Jos 15:27). He was chief of the seventh division of the army (compare Ch1 27:10 with Ch1 11:27, though in both passages הפּלטי is misspelt הפּלני). Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoah in the desert of Judah (Sa2 14:2), chief of the sixth division of the army (Ch1 27:9). Sa2 23:27 Abiezer of Anathoth (Anata) in Benjamin (see at Jos 18:24), chief of the ninth division of the army (Ch1 27:12). Mebunnai is a mistake in spelling for Sibbechai the Hushathite (compare Sa2 21:18 and Ch1 11:29). According to Ch1 27:11, he was chief of the eighth division of the army. Sa2 23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, i.e., sprung from the Benjaminite family of Ahoah, is not further known. Instead of Zalmon we find Ilai in the Chronicles (Sa2 23:29); but which of the two names is the correct one it is impossible to decide. Maharai of Netophah: according to Ezr 2:22 and Neh 7:26, Netophah was a place in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, but it has not yet been discovered, as Beit Nattif, which might be thought of, is too far from Bethlehem (vid., Rob. Pal. ii. p. 344, and Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, pp. 117-8). According to Ch1 27:13, Maharai belonged to the Judahite family of Serah, and was chief of the tenth division of the army. Sa2 23:29 Cheleb, more correctly Cheled (Ch1 11:30; or Cheldai, Ch1 27:15), also of Netophah, was chief of the twelfth division of the army. Ittai (Ithai in the Chronicles), the son of Ribai of Gibeah of Benjamin, must be distinguished from Ittai the Gathite (Sa2 15:19). Like all that follow, with the exception of Uriah, he is not further known. Sa2 23:30 Benaiah of Phir'aton in the tribe of Ephraim, a place which has been preserved in the village of Fer'ata, to the south-west of Nablus (see at Jdg 12:13). Hiddai (wrongly spelt Hudai in the Chronicles), out of the valleys of Gaash, in the tribe of Ephraim by the mountain of Gaash, the situation of which has not yet been discovered (see at Jos 24:30). Sa2 23:31 Abi-Albon (written incorrectly Abiel in the Chronicles) the Arbathite, i.e., from the place called Beth-haarabah or Arabah (Jos 15:61 and Jos 18:18, Jos 18:22) in the desert of Judah, on the site of the present Kasr Hajla (see at Jos 15:6). Azmaveth of Bahurim: see at Sa2 16:5. Sa2 23:32-33 Eliahba of Shaalbon or Shaalbin, which may possibly have been preserved in the present Selbit (see at Jos 19:42). The next two names, יהונתן ישׁן בּני and ההררי שׁמּה (Bneyashen Jehonathan and Shammah the Hararite), are written thus in the Chronicles (Sa2 23:34), ההררי בּן־שׁגא יונתן הגּזוני השׁם בּני: "Bnehashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Sage the Hararite," The text of the Chronicles is evidently the more correct of the two, as Bne Jashen Jehonathan does not make any sense. The only question is whether the form השׁם בּני is correct, or whether בּני has not arisen merely through a misspelling. As the name does not occur again, all that can be said is that Bne hashem must at any rate be written as one word, and therefore should be pointed differently. The place mentioned, Gizon, is unknown. שׁמּה for בּן־שׁגא probably arose from Sa2 23:11. Ahiam the son of Sharar or Sacar (Chron.) the Ararite (in the Chronicles the Hararite). Sa2 23:34 The names in Sa2 23:34, Eliphelet ben-Ahasbai ben-Hammaacathi, read thus in the Chronicles (Sa2 23:35, Sa2 23:36): Eliphal ben-Ur; Hepher hammecerathi. We see from this that in ben-Ahasbai ben two names have been fused together; for the text as it lies before us is rendered suspicious partly by the fact that the names of both father and grandfather are given, which does not occur in connection with any other name in the whole list, and partly by the circumstance that בּן cannot properly be written with המּעכתי, which is a Gentile noun. Consequently the following is probably the correct way of restoring the text, המּעכתי חפר בּן־אוּר אליפלט, Eliphelet (a name which frequently occurs) the son of Ur; Hepher the Maachathite, i.e., of Maacah in the north-east of Gilead (see at Sa2 10:6 and Deu 3:14). Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, the clever but treacherous counsellor of David (see at Sa2 15:12). This name is quite corrupt in the Chronicles. Sa2 23:35 Hezro the Carmelite, i.e., of Carmel in the mountains of Judah (Sa1 25:2). Paarai the Arbite, i.e., of Arab, also in the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:52). In the Chronicles we find Naarai ben-Ezbi: the latter is evidently an error in writing for ha-Arbi; but it is impossible to decide which of the two forms, Paarai and Naarai, is the correct one. Sa2 23:36 Jigal the son of Nathan of Zoba (see at Sa2 8:3): in the Chronicles, Joel the brother of Nathan. Bani the Gadite: in the Chronicles we have Mibhar the son of Hagri. In all probability the names inf the Chronicles are corrupt in this instance also. Sa2 23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Nacharai the Beerothite (of Beeroth: see at Sa2 4:2), the armour-bearer of Joab. Instead of נשׂאי, the Keri and the Chronicles have נשׂא: the latter reading is favoured by the circumstance, that if more than one of the persons named had been Joab's armour-bearers, their names would most probably have been linked together by a copulative vav. Sa2 23:38 Ira and Gareb, both of them Jithrites, i.e., sprung from a family in Kirjath-jearim (Ch1 2:53). Ira is of course a different man from the cohen of that name (Sa2 20:26). Sa2 23:39 Uriah the Hittite is well known from Sa2 11:3. "Thirty and seven in all." This number is correct, as there were three in the first class (Sa2 23:8-12), two in the second (Sa2 23:18-23), and thirty-two in the third (vv. 24-39), since Sa2 23:34 contains three names according to the amended text.

Verse 1

23:1-7 This passage comes from the end of David’s career and reflects on his experience as king, even as ch 22 reflects on his experience before becoming king.

23:1 David’s last words were not necessarily the last words he actually spoke (see 1 Kgs 1:16, 29-30, 33-35; 2:1-9) but his final public expression of worship to God as king (cp. 1 Sam 12:1-25). • David . . . speaks: The language indicates that he was about to utter an oracle, a revelation from God (2 Sam 23:2). • the sweet psalmist of Israel: For other references to David as musician and poet, see 1 Chr 23:5; 2 Chr 29:26, 27; Neh 12:36; Amos 6:5.

Verse 2

23:2 The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me: David spoke of God, and in the process, God spoke through David.

Verse 5

23:5 my family . . . everlasting covenant: David is referring to the prophecy Nathan made about David and his descendants (7:12-16). Jesus is the everlasting king who is the “descendant of David” (Matt 1:1).

Verse 6

23:6 Cp. Ps 1:4-5.

Verse 8

23:8-39 This section is a listing of David’s elite warriors by name, the most prominent of whom are listed with a notable accomplishment. These warriors were some of the “iron tools” that God used to “chop down” the godless (23:7). • The list divides into the Three and the Thirty. Some Hebrew scholars have suggested that the Thirty be translated as “Officers.” If that is correct, then it is possible that the Three was originally a term for a specific military office.

Verse 10

23:10 to collect the plunder: Cp. 1 Sam 30:9-10, 21-25.

Verse 13

23:13 The cave of Adullam was a place of refuge for David from Saul (see 1 Sam 22:1). • The valley of Rephaim was located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem (see 2 Sam 5:17-25).

Verse 15

23:15-16 remarked longingly: This Hebrew verb elsewhere carries the idea of excessive desire (see Num 11:4, “began to crave”; Ps 106:14, “desires ran wild”). It is unclear whether David’s craving for water was excessive, but it certainly led to dangerous exploits. • well by the gate: David had memories from his younger days of growing up in Bethlehem. The location of the well is unknown.

Verse 17

23:17 This water . . . these men: When David poured the hard-won water on the ground, it did not signal ingratitude. Rather, he regarded the water as equivalent to the warriors’ blood; it represented life that only God was worthy to receive (Lev 17:10-13; Deut 12:23-24).

Verse 18

23:18-23 Here are examples of the prowess of Abishai and Benaiah. Elsewhere, Abishai was intensely combative toward David’s enemies, especially Saul (1 Sam 26:6-9) and Saul’s kinsman Shimei (2 Sam 16:9-11). Abishai had saved David’s life during one of the Philistine wars (21:16-17). • Benaiah appeared first as the commander of the mercenaries who served as David’s bodyguard, independent of the regular army (8:18; 20:23). He was also the leader of a 24,000-man division of the regular army that served the king in the third month of every year (1 Chr 27:5-6). He played a major role in Solomon’s ascension to the throne (1 Kgs 1:32-49) and became the commander of Solomon’s army, as Joab was for David.

Verse 24

23:24 Asahel, David’s nephew, was killed by Abner during the war between David and Ishbosheth (2:18-32). Asahel’s inclusion here suggests that parts of these lists go back to the beginning of David’s career. • Elhanan son of Dodo should not be confused with Elhanan son of Jair (21:19; 1 Chr 20:5).

Verse 39

23:39 The very last name mentioned is Uriah the Hittite. There is an earlier reference to his father-in-law, Eliam, father of Bathsheba (23:34; see 11:3). By contrast, the Chronicler, who never mentioned David’s sins against Bathsheba and Uriah, placed Uriah’s name inconspicuously in the middle of the list of David’s mighty men (1 Chr 11:10-47). This author not only described the sins (2 Sam 11:1-27) but puts emphasis on Uriah’s name by placing it at the end of this list. Uriah was no ordinary conscript but a loyal member of David’s elite guard, which makes David’s treachery against him all the worse. • There were thirty-seven in all: Only thirty-six names are mentioned, assuming that “Shammah . . . from Harar” (23:11) is different from “Shammah from Harod” (23:25), and that “Benaiah son of Jehoiada” (23:20) is different from “Benaiah from Pirathon” (23:30). Perhaps the thirty-seventh warrior was Joab, who is mentioned only peripherally (23:18, 37) and is absent from the list of names. Many commentators say that he is excluded because he was David’s chief military leader and did not need to be included. The omission could also represent David’s long and troubled association with Joab, who was eventually executed when Solomon carried out David’s deathbed command (1 Kgs 2:5-6, 28-34).