2 Samuel 23
23
David’s Last Song
1Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
The man who was raised on high declares,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
2“The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3“The God of Israel,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘He who rules over men righteously,
Who rules in the fear of God,
4Is like the morning light when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the fresh grass springs out of the earth
Through sunshine after rain.’
5“Truly is not my house so [blessed] with God?
For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Ordered in all things, and secured.
For will He not cause to grow and prosper
All my salvation and my every wish?
Will He not make it grow and prosper?
6“But the wicked and worthless are all to be thrown away like thorns,
Because they cannot be taken with the hand;
7But the man who touches them
Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they are utterly burned and consumed by fire in their place.”
His Mighty Men
8These are the names of the mighty men (warriors) whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the #23:8 The exploits of these three warriors are outlined in vv 8-11.captains, also called Adino the Eznite (spear) because of the #23:8 1 Chr 11:11 lists the number as three hundred, and the number here is thought by some to be a textual error or exaggeration. But there is nothing in the text to suggest a scribal error, and if 800 slain by one man seems incredible, 300—though a much smaller number—still strains credibility. Perhaps divine intervention is the explanation (cf v 12), or Josheb was actually commanding other men but was credited with the victory as if he were alone, a common way to describe military victories.eight hundred men killed [by him] at one time. [1 Chr 11:11] 9Next to him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three mighty men with David when they taunted and defied the Philistines assembled there for battle, and the men of Israel had gone. 10Eleazar stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; the people returned after him only to take the spoil [of the slain].
11Next to Eleazar was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines were gathered into an army where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people [of Israel] fled from the Philistines. 12But he took his stand in the center of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time in the cave of Adullam, while an army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” 16So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate, and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink it, but poured it out [in worship] to the Lord. 17And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should drink this. [Is it not the same as] the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the #23:17 I.e. Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah.three mighty men did.
18Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was chief of the #23:18 So two Hebrew mss and Syriac; MT three.thirty. He wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and gained a reputation beside the three. 19He was the most honored of the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three.
20Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many notable acts, killed two [famous] warriors of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21And he killed an Egyptian, an impressive and handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed the man with his own spear. 22These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and gained a reputation beside the three mighty men. 23He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three. David appointed him over his guard.
24Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; then Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, 26Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, 27Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, 29Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites, 30Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32Eliahba of Shaalbon, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Giloh, 35Hezro (Hezrai) of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.
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2 Samuel 23
23
1These are David's last words. The divine message of David son of Jesse, the divine message of the man made great by God, the one anointed by the God of Jacob, the wonderful psalm-writer of Israel:
2“The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; my tongue gave his message.
3Israel's God spoke; Israel's Rock told me, ‘He who rules the people justly, he who rules respecting God, 4is like the light of the morning sunrise on a cloudless dawn; like the shining of raindrops on the new grass growing from the earth.’
5Isn't this how my family is with God? For he has made an everlasting agreement with me, set out in detail and with every part guaranteed. He will make sure to save me and to give me all I want.
6But evil people are like thorns to be thrown aside; they can't be held in the hand. 7The only way to deal with them is to use an iron tool or the handle of a spear. They are completely burned up right where they are.”
8These are the names of the leading warriors who supported David: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, leader of the Three. Using his spear, he once killed eight hundred men in a single battle.
9After him came Eleazar, son of Dodai, the Ahohite, one of the Three leading warriors. He was with David when they defied the Philistines gathered for battle at Pas-dammin. The Israelites retreated, 10but Eleazar took his stand and went on killing Philistines until his hand stuck to his sword. The Lord saved them by granting them a great victory. The Israelite army did return, but only to strip the dead.
11After him came Shammah, son of Agee, the Hararite. When the Philistines gathered at Lehi, in a field full of lentils, the Israelite army ran away from them, 12but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defending it and killing the Philistines. The Lord gave them a great victory.
13At harvest-time, the Three, who were part of the Thirty leading warriors, went down to meet David when he was at the cave of Adullam. The Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. 14At the time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was in Bethlehem. 15David was feeling really thirsty, and he said, “If only someone could bring me a drink of water from the well beside the entrance gate to Bethlehem!”
16The Three leading warriors broke through the Philistine defenses, took some water from the well at Bethelehem's gate, and brought it back to David. But David refused to drink it, and poured it out as an offering to the Lord. 17“Lord, never let me do this!” he said. “Isn't it like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives?” So he did not drink it. These are just some of the things the Three leading warriors did.
18Abishai, Joab's brother, was leader of the second Three.#23:18. However, Jashobeam has already been mentioned as leader of the Three (11:11), and the killing of 300 by his spear has also been mentioned. Some suggest a confusion of names or alternate spelling, or that this refers to another person altogether as leader not of the Three but the Thirty, or that there was another “Three.” Using his spear, he once killed 300 men, and became famous among the Three. 19He was the most highly regarded of the Three and was their commander, though he was not one of the first Three.#23:19. Identifying a first and second Three seems to be the simplest solution to what are confusing verses.
20Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, a strong warrior from Kabzeel, did many amazing things. He killed two sons of Ariel of Moab.#23:20. Septuagint understanding; it may refer to two fighting champions of Moab. He also went after a lion into a pit in the snow and killed it. 21Another time he killed a huge Egyptian. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand but Benaiah attacked him with just a club. He grabbed the spear from the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22These were the kind of things Benaiah did that made him as famous as the Three leading warriors. 23He was the most highly regarded of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. David put him in charge of his personal bodyguard.
24Included in the Thirty were:
Asahel, Joab's brother; Elhanan, son of Dodo, from Bethlehem; 25Shammoth the Harorite; Elika the Harodite, 26Helez the Paltite; Ira, son of Ikkesh, from Tekoa; 27Abiezer from Anathoth; Mebunnai the Hushathite; 28Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai the Netophahite; 29Heleb, son of Baanah the Netophahite; Ittai, son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites; 30Benaiah the Pirathonite; Hiddai from the streams of Gaash; 31Abi-albon the Arbathite; Azmaveth the Baharumite; 32Eliahba the Shaalbonite; the sons of Jashem; Jonathan, 33son of#23:33. The Hebrew does not have “son of.” Shagee the Hararite; Ahiam, son of Sachar the Hararite; 34Eliphelet, son of Ahasbai, son of the Maacathite, Eliam, son of Ahithophel, the Gilonite, 35Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36Igal, son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab, son of Zeruiah, 38Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite; 39and Uriah the Hittite; a total of thirty-seven.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com