2 Samuel 23:10
Ver. 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. 2 Samuel 23:11Ver. 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, 2Sa 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, Jud 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 Ge 25:30;and the people fled from the Philistines; as they did before under Eleazar, 2Sa 23:9.{u} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4. 2 Samuel 23:12Ver. 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 in1Ch 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 1Ch 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. 2 Samuel 23:13Ver. 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, 1Sa 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. 2 Samuel 23:14Ver. 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 1Ch 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. 2 Samuel 23:15Ver. 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. 2 Samuel 23:16Ver. 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 2Sa 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". 2 Samuel 23:17Ver. 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. 2 Samuel 23:18Ver. 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 of2Sa 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 2Sa 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. 2 Samuel 23:19Ver. 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, 1Sa 26:6; he relieved David when in danger from Ishbibenob the giant, 2Sa 21:16; he beat the Edomites, and slew eighteen thousand of them in the valley of salt, 1Ch 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. 2 Samuel 23:20Ver. 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, 1Ki 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. 2 Samuel 23:21Ver. 21. And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man,.... A person of good countenance and shape, very large and tall; in 1Ch 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, 1Sa 17:4;and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; as large as Goliath's; for in1Ch 11:23, it is said to be like a weaver's beam, as Goliath's was,See Gill on "1Sa 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, 1Ki 2:46.{l} Hieron. Trad. Heb. ut supra. (in. 2 Reg. fol. 80. C.) 2 Samuel 23:22Ver. 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, 2Sa 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, 2Sa 23:24, since thirty are reckoned without him. Abarbinel thinks that the third was Adina, the son of Shiza, the Reubenite, 1Ch 11:42; since thirty were with him, and he at the head of them. 2 Samuel 23:23Ver. 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, 2Sa 8:18; who are called in the Hebrew text "his hearing" {m}, because they hearkened to his orders and commands, and obeyed them.{m} wtemvm la "ad auditum suum", Pagninus, Montanus. 2 Samuel 23:24Ver. 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} Myvylvb "supra triginta istos", Junius & Tremellius. 2 Samuel 23:25Ver. 25. Shammah the Harodite,.... Called Shammah the Harorite in1Ch 11:27; by a change of the letters r "R" and d "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, Jud 7:1. 2 Samuel 23:26Ver. 26. Helez the Paltite,.... Who was of a place called Pater, as the Targum; in 1Ch 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 "Am 1:1". 2 Samuel 23:27Ver. 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, 1Ch 11:29; this man had two names, and was a descendant of Hushah, who came of Judah, 1Ch 4:4. 2 Samuel 23:28Ver. 28. Zalmon the Ahohite,.... The same with Ilai, 1Ch 11:29; a descendant of Ahoah, a grandson of Benjamin, 1Ch 8:4;Maharai the Netophathite, who was of Netophah, a city of the tribe of Judah, mentioned along with Bethlehem, Ne 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. 2 Samuel 23:29Ver. 29. Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite,.... Called Heled, 1Ch 11:30;Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin: sometimes called Gibeah of Benjamin, Jud 20:10, and Gibeah of Saul, 1Sa 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, 2Sa 15:19. 2 Samuel 23:30Ver. 30. Benaiah the Pirathonite,.... Who was of Pirathon, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, Jud 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, 1Ch 11:32. 2 Samuel 23:31Ver. 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 1Ch 11:32;Azmaveth the Barhumite; or Bachurimite, the letters transposed, an inhabitant of Bachurim or Bahurim, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, 2Sa 16:5. 2 Samuel 23:32Ver. 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 1Ch 11:34, it is, the sons of Hashem the Gizonite: sons are spoken of, though but one, as inGe 46:23.{p} De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 3. sect. 3. 2 Samuel 23:33Ver. 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 1Ch 11:35, he is called the son of Sacar. 2 Samuel 23:34Ver. 34. Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite,.... In 1Ch 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, 2Sa 15:12; Eliam his son is supposed, by the Jews, to be the father of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, 2Sa 11:3; according to Hillerus {q}, he is the same with Ahijah the Pelonite, 1Ch 11:36.{q} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 906. 2 Samuel 23:35Ver. 35. Hezrai the Carmelite,.... Of Mount Carmel; or from Carmela, as the Targum, see 1Sa 25:2; he is called Hezro, 1Ch 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 1Ch 11:37.{r} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 499. 2 Samuel 23:36Ver. 36. Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah,.... kingdom in Syria, 2Sa 8:3; according to Hillerus {s} the same with Joel, 1Ch 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 1Ch 11:38.{s} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 856. 2 Samuel 23:37Ver. 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, 2Sa 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. 2 Samuel 23:38Ver. 38. Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite. These were of Jether, as the Targum, a descendant of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, 1Ch 2:50 1Ch 4:15. 2 Samuel 23:39Ver. 39. Uriah the Hittite,.... The husband of Bathsheba; of whomSee Gill on "2Sa 11:3";thirty and seven all; reckoning the three mighty men of the first class, the three of the second, and the third class consisting of thirty men, whose names are as above, and Joab the general and head of them all. In 1Ch 11:41, Zabad the son of Ahlai follows Uriah as one of this catalogue; he succeeding in honour one that soon died, particularly Elika, 2Sa 23:25, who is omitted in Chronicles, where a list of fifteen more is given, 1Ch 11:42; at the head of which stands Adina a Reubenite, "and thirty" are said to be "with him", according to our version; but should be rendered, as by Junius and Tremellius, "but the thirty were superior to him", that is, the above thirty; for these fifteen, though brave men, were of lesser note.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.