2 Samuel 23:28 — Word Study
WLCצַלְמוֹן֙ הָֽאֲחֹחִ֔י מַהְרַ֖י הַנְּטֹפָתִֽי׃ ס
BSAZalmonTsalmôwn [shady, a place in Palestine] the AhohiteʼĂchôwchîy [a descendant of Ahoach, from the tribe of Benjamin] MaharaiMahăray [a brave warrior, one of David's mighty men] the NetophathiteNᵉṭôphâthîy [an inhabitant of Netophah, near a spring or dropping place]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| צַלְמוֹן֙ | Zalmon | Noun proper masculine |
| הָֽאֲחֹחִ֔י | the Ahohite | Particle, noun gentilic masculine singular absolute |
| מַהְרַ֖י | Maharai | Noun proper masculine |
| הַנְּטֹפָתִֽי׃ ס | the Netophathite | Particle, noun gentilic masculine singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| KJV | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| ASV | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| YLT | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| WEB | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| BBE | Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
All translations agree on the names and their meanings in this verse.
The verse consists of a single main clause listing two individuals and their designations.
4 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — 2 Samuel 23:28
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Mighty Men of Davidgenerated
2 Samuel 23:28 introduces Zalmon the Ahohite and Maharai the Netophathite as part of the elite group of warriors serving King David. This section emphasizes the bravery and lineage of David's mighty men, who played crucial roles in his military successes. Their names and backgrounds reflect the diverse origins of those who supported David during his reign.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Chronicles 11:30 | Maharai the Netophathite, Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite, |
| 2 | 1 Chronicles 27:13 | The tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai the Netophathite, a Zerahite. There were 24,000 men in his division. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — צַלְמוֹן, tzal.mOngenerated
The name צַלְמוֹן (tzal.mOn) means 'shady' and refers to a location in Palestine as well as a person known for bravery. It is a proper masculine noun, indicating both a geographical feature and a warrior's name.
In biblical texts, צַלְמוֹן is associated with a mountain near Shechem, described as shady, and is also the name of one of David's warriors, highlighting the dual significance of the term.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In the Berean Standard Bible, the names are rendered consistently as Zalmon and Maharai, which is echoed in the KJV, ASV, YLT, WEB, and BBE.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse consists of a series of noun phrases listing Zalmon and Maharai, each followed by their respective designations. The structure emphasizes the importance of each warrior's identity and lineage.
The order of the names reflects a traditional Hebrew naming convention, linking each warrior to their heritage and role within David's mighty men.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates צַלְמוֹן as σελμων, maintaining the connection to the original Hebrew name while adapting it to Greek phonetics. This choice retains the identity of the figure while making it accessible to Greek-speaking audiences.
The translation of הָֽאֲחֹחִ֔י as αωίτης also reflects the same intention, preserving the familial connection implied in the Hebrew.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
2 Samuel 23:28 lists Zalmon the Ahohite and Maharai the Netophathite as part of David's mighty men. Zalmon is noted for being brave and is associated with a place called Zalmon, while Maharai is recognized as a warrior from Netophah. Both names reflect their origins and roles in supporting King David.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Zalmon and Maharai were warriors who served King David, known for their bravery and their lineage as part of David's mighty men.
The name Zalmon means 'shady' and refers to both a person and a geographical location in Palestine.
An Ahohite is a descendant of Ahoach, indicating a familial lineage from the tribe of Benjamin, and is associated with bravery in battle.
The Netophathites were inhabitants of Netophah, a place likely known for its springs, and they are recognized in the Bible as part of the community that supported King David.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What qualities do you admire in warriors like Zalmon and Maharai, and how can you apply those qualities in your own life?
- How does understanding the backgrounds of David's mighty men enhance your appreciation of their contributions?
- In what ways can you honor the legacy of those who have bravely supported leaders in your community?
- What lessons can we learn from the loyalty and bravery of David's warriors in our own relationships and commitments?
Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 2 Samuel 23:28 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleZalmon the Ahohite,.... The same with Ilai, 1 Chronicles 11:29; a descendant of Ahoah, a grandson of Benjamin, 1 Chronicles 8:4; Maharai the Netophathite, who was of Netophah, a city of the tribe of
Read John Gill on 2 Samuel 23 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryZalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, Zalmon the Ahohite , [ Tsalmown (H6756), shady]. He is called, 1 Chronicles 11:29, Ilai the Ahohite, which, according to Kennicott ('Dissertation,' p. 187), is the correct reading.
Read Robert Jamieson on 2 Samuel 23 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(28) Zalmon.—In Chronicles Ilai. Maharai.—He commanded the tenth division of the army (1 Chronicles 27:13).
Read Charles John Ellicott on 2 Samuel 23 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges28. Zalmon the Ahohite] Chron. has Ilai. Whether the difference is original, or due to corruption of the text, it is impossible to decide. On Ahohite see 2 Samuel 23:9. Maharai the Netophathite] Of Netophah, perhaps the modern Umm Toba, three miles N.E. of Beth-lehem, a place inhabited by Levites (1 Chronicles 9:16), and mentioned in the accounts of the Return from the Captivity (Ezra 2:22; Nehemiah 7:26). Maharai commanded the tenth division of the army, and, like Sibbechai, was a Zarhite.
Read Cambridge on 2 Samuel 23 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Tyndale line
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite;
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon an Ahohite: Maharai the Netophathite:
Strictly literal
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Achochite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite;
From the Latin
Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Simplified
Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai the Netophahite;
Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the names and designations of Zalmon and Maharai, with no significant variations in the wording. This consistency highlights the reliability of the transmission of these names across different textual traditions.
צַלְמוֹן֙ הָֽאֲחֹחִ֔י מַהְרַ֖י הַנְּטֹפָתִֽי׃ ס
4 of the 4 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in 2 Samuel 23:28
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
צַלְמוֹן (Tsalmown) refers to both a mountain and a person in biblical texts. The mountain, likely located near Shechem, is described as shady and possibly snow-capped. The name also belongs to a hero of David, mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:28, who is identified as an Ahohite and also referred to as Ilai in 1 Chronicles.
צַלְמוֹן n.pr.mont.
near Shechem, not identif.
snow-capped mt., prob. E. of Jordan
base
צַלְמוֹן n.pr.m. a hero of David 2 S 23:28
ref
H6756a צַלְמוֹן n. pr. mont. . near Shechem, not identif.
. snow-capped mt., prob. E. of Jordan
H6756b צַלְמוֹן a hero of David
6756 Tsalmown tsal-mone'
from 6754; shady; Tsalmon, the name of a place in Palestine
and of an Israelite:--Zalmon.
see HEBREW for 06754
צַלְמוֹן (tsal.mon) — (Mount) Zalmon.
Zalmon = "shady"
a wooded hill in Samaria near Shechem
Another name of e.val (עֵיבָל "(Mount )Ebal" H5858C)
צַלְמוֹן (tsal.mon) — Zalmon.
A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.23.28; also called Ilai at 1Ch.11.29;
Also named: i.lay (עִילַי "Ilai" H5866)
§ Zalmon = "shady"
an Ahohite, one of David's mighty warriors
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
zal'-mon (tsalmon; Selmon, oros Ermon; the King James Version Salmon (Ps 68:14)):
(1) From the slopes of Mt. Zalmon, Abimelech and his followers gathered the wood with which they burned down "the stronghold of the house of El-berith," which may have been the citadel of Shechem (Jud 9:46). The mountain therefore was not far from the city; but no name resembling this has yet been recovered in Mt. Ephraim. It is just possible that in the modern Arabic name of Mt. Ebal, es-Sulemiyeh, there may be an echo of Zalmon. It is precisely to this mountain, especially to the western slopes, that one would expect Abimelech and his people to go for the purpose in view. The name occurs again in Ps 68:14, a passage of admitted difficulty. Snow…
Zalmon
Shady. (1.) One of David’s warriors, called the Ahohite (2 Sam. 23:28); called also Ilai (1 Chr. 11:29).
(2.) A wood near Shechem, from which Abimelech and his party brought boughs and “put them to the hold” of Shechem, “and set the hold on fire” (Judg. 9:48). Probably the southern peak of Gerizim, now called Jebel Sulman. (See SALMON.)
(shady), an Ahohite one of David’s guard. (2 Samuel 23:28)
his shade; his image
אֲחוֹחִי (Achowchiy) refers to an Ahohite, a descendant of Ahoah, a figure from the tribe of Benjamin. This term is used in 2 Samuel 23:9, where it identifies a member of the clan of Ahoah, meaning 'brother of rest.' The word is built from the root word for Ahoah, indicating a familial connection.
אֲחוֹחִי (אֲחֹחִי) adj.gent. 2 S 23:9
base
H266 אֲחוֹחִי, אֲחֹחִי
266 'Achowchiy akh-o-khee'
patronymic from 264; an Achochite or descendant of
Achoach:--Ahohite.
see HEBREW for 0264
אֲחוֹחִי (a.cho.chi) — Ahohite.
Someone descended from Ahoah, a man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at 2Sa.23.9;
son of: Bela (H1106A);
brother of: Ard (H0714H), Naaman (H5283H), Ezbon (H0675H), Uzzi (H5813I), Uzziel (H5816I), Jerimoth (H3406), Iri (H5901), Addar (H0146H), Gera (H1617I), Abihud (H0031) and Abishua (H0050H); also called Ahoah at 1Ch.8.4;
Group of a.cho.ach (אֲחוֹחַ "Ahoah" H0265)
§ Ahohite = "brother of rest"
one of the clan of Ahoah
Art | Ngmsa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ngmsa
a-ho'-hit ('achochi): A patronymic employed in connection with the descendants of AHOAH (which see) such as Doda (2Sa 23:9) or Dodo (1Ch 11:12), Ilai (29) or Zalmon (2Sa 23:28), and also Eleazar, son of Dodo (1Ch 11:12). The family must have been fond of military affairs, for all the above were officers in David and Solomon's armies.
Ahohite
An epithet applied to Dodo, one of Solomon’s captains (1 Chr. 27:4); to his son Eleazar, one of David’s three mightiest heroes (2 Sam. 23:9; 1 Chr. 11:12); and to Zalmon, one of the thirty (2 Sam. 23:28; 1 Chr. 11:29), from their descent from Ahoah.
[AHOAH]
מַהֲרַי (Maharay) refers to a man from the tribe of Judah, known as one of David's mighty warriors. The name is derived from a root meaning 'hasty' or 'impetuous.' Maharai is first mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:28, indicating his significance during the time of the United Monarchy.
מַהֲרַי n.pr.m. one of David’s heroes
base
H4121 מַהֲרַי
4121 Maharay mah-har-ah'-ee
from 4116; hasty; Maharai, an Israelite:--Maharai.
see HEBREW for 04116
מַהֲרַי (ma.ha.ray) — Maharai.
A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.23.28
§ Maharai = "impetuous"
an inhabitant of Netophah in the tribe of Judah and one of David's mighty warriors
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
(impetuous), (2 Samuel 23:28; 1 Chronicles 11:30; 27:13) an inhabitant of Netophah in the tribe of Judah, and one of David’s captains.
hasting; a hill; from a hill
נְטֹפָתִי (Ntophathiy) refers to a Netophathite, an inhabitant of Netophah, a place whose name suggests 'dropping.' The word is derived from נְטֹפָה (Netophah, H5199). The entries consistently identify it as a patronymic term without significant disagreement.
נְטֹפָתִי, נְטוֹפָתִי adj.gent. the Neṭophathite; Neṭophathites
base
H5200 נְטֹפָתִי
5200 Ntophathiy net-o-faw-thee'
patronymic from 5199; a Netophathite, or inhabitant of
Netophah:--Netophathite.
see HEBREW for 05199
נְטֹפָתִי (ne.to.pha.ti) — Netophathite.
Group of ne.to.phah (נְטֹפָה "Netophah" H5199)
§ Netophathite, of Netophath "dropping"
an inhabitant of Netophah
Art | Ngmsa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ngmsa
an inhabitant of Neophah.