2 Samuel23chapter 23

2 Samuel 23:1

“The last words of David - i. e., his last Psalm, his last “words of song” 2Sa 22:1. The insertion of this Psalm, which is not in the Book of Psalms, was probably suggested by the insertion of the long Psalm in 2 Sam. 22. David the son of Jesse said ... - The original word for “said” is used between 200 and 300 times in the phrase, “saith the Lord,” designating the word of God in the mouth of the prophet.”

2 Samuel 23:1

“Now these be the last words of David--Various opinions are entertained as to the precise meaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from the compiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as there is no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, this introduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of the preceding song.”

2 Samuel 23:1

“We have upon record the last words of Jacob and Moses, and here of David, designed, as those, for a legacy to those that were left behind. Whose last will and testament this is. This is related either, or is usual, by the testator himself, or rather, by the historian,”

2 Samuel 23:2

“The Spirit of the Lord spake by me--Nothing can more clearly show that all that is excellent in spirit, beautiful in language, or grand in prophetic imagery, which the Psalms of David contain, were owing, not to his superiority in natural talents or acquired knowledge, but to the suggestion and dictates of God's Spirit.”

2 Samuel 23:3

“The Rock of Israel - The Fountain whence Israel was derived. He that ruleth over men must be just - More literally, מושל באדם צדיק moshel baadam tsaddik, He that ruleth in man is the just one; or, The just one is the ruler among men. Ruling in the fear of God - It is by God’s fear that Jesus Christ rules the hearts of all his followers; and he who has not the fear of God before his eyes, can never be a Christian.”

2 Samuel 23:3-4

“And so here is, First, The duty of magistrates enjoined them. When a king was spoken to from God he was not to be complimented with the height of his dignity and the extent of his power, but to be told his duty. "Must is for the king," we say.”

2 Samuel 23:4

“He shall be as the light of the morning - This verse is very obscure, for it does not appear from it who the person is of whom the prophet speaks. As the Messiah seems to be the whole subject of these last words of David, he is probably the person intended. One of Dr. Kennicott’s MSS.”

2 Samuel 23:5

“Although my house ... - The sense of this clause (according to the the King James Version) will be that David comparing the actual state of his family and kingdom during the later years of trouble and disaster with the prophetic description of the prosperity of the righteous king, and seeing how far it falls short, comforts himself by the terms of God’s covenant 2Sa 7:12-16 and looks forward to Messiah’s kingdom.”

2 Samuel 23:5

“It is ordered, well ordered in all things; admirably well, to advance the glory of God and the honour of the mediator, together with the holiness and happiness of believers. It is sure, and therefore sure, because well-ordered: the promised mercies are sure, on the performance of the conditions.”

2 Samuel 23:6

“But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns - There is no word in the text for sons; it is simply Belial, the good-for-nothing man, and may here refer - first to Saul, and secondly to the enemies of our Lord. As thorns thrust away - A metaphor taken from hedging; the workman thrusts the thorns aside either with his bill or hand, protected by his impenetrable mitten or glove, till, getting a fair blow at the roots, he cuts them all down.”

2 Samuel 23:8

“These be the names of the mighty men - This chapter should be collated with the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 11:11-47; and see Kennicott’s First Dissertation on the printed Hebrew text, pages 64-471. The Tachmonite that sat in the seat - Literally and properly, Jashobeam the Hachmonite. See 1Ch 11:11. The same was Adino the Eznite - This is a corruption for he lift up his spear. See 1Ch 11:11. Eight hundred, whom he slew at one time - Three hundred is the reading in Chronicles, and seems to be the true one.”

2 Samuel 23:8

“Eleazar seems to have been left to fight the Philistines alone; and on his achieving the victory, they returned to the spoil. In like manner Shammah was left to stand alone in his glory, when the Lord, by him, wrought a great victory. It is not very easy to determine whether the exploits that are afterwards described were performed by the first or the second three.”

2 Samuel 23:9

“Gone away - Rather, went up to battle (2Sa 5:19; 2Ki 3:21, etc.) against them. These words and what follows as far as “troop” 2Sa 23:11 have fallen out of the text in Chronicles. The effect of this is to omit EIeazar’s feat, as here described, to attribute to him Shammah’s victory, to misplace the flight of the Israelites, and to omit Shammah altogether from the list of David’s mighty men.”

2 Samuel 23:9-10

“IN David's muster-roll we find the names of many mighties and they are honored by being found there. These men came to David when his fortunes were at the lowest ebb and he, himself, was regarded as a rebel and an outlaw. And they remained faithful to him throughout their lives. Happy are they who can follow a good cause in its worst estate, for theirs is true glory. Weary of the evil government of Saul, they struck out a path for themselves in which they could best serve their country and their God.”

2 Samuel 23:9

“The surnames here given them are taken, as it should seem, from the places of their birth or habitation, as many surnames with us originally were. From all parts of the nation, the most wise and valiant were picked up to serve the king. Several of those who are named we find captains of the twelve courses which David appointed, one for each month in the year, 1 Chron. xxvii .”

2 Samuel 23:11

“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.”

2 Samuel 23:11

“A piece of ground full of lentiles - In 1Ch 11:13 it is a parcel of ground full of barley. There is probably a mistake of עדשים adashim, lentiles, for שעורים seorim, barley, or vice versa. Some think there were both lentiles and barley in the field, and that a marauding party of the Philistines came to destroy or carry them off, and these worthies defeated the whole, and saved the produce of the field. This is not unlikely.”

2 Samuel 23:12

“Notice, the victory was the Lord’s doing, but Shammah had to take his stand and defend the crop. He had a part to play! For us, this will always be the case.”

2 Samuel 23:13

“The feat at Bethlehem by three of the thirty was the occasion of their being formed into a distinct triad; Abishai 2Sa 23:18, Benaiah 2Sa 23:20, and a third not named, were probably the three. In the harvest time - An error for “to the rock” (compare the marginal reference). The troop of the Philistines - The word rendered “troop” occurs in this sense only here (and, according to some, in 2Sa 23:11), and perhaps in Psa 68:11. In 1 Chr. 11, as in 2Sa 23:16 the reading is “host” or “camp,” which may be the true reading here.”

2 Samuel 23:14

“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 23:14

“In an hold - In “the hold” 1Ch 11:16 close to the cave of Adullam (marginal reference note). It shows the power and daring of the Philistines that they should hold a post so far in the country as Bethlehem.”

2 Samuel 23:15

“What I say is excessive, unless I confirm these things from testimonies of sacred Scripture. The Law of the Old Testament certainly forbids coveting another's wife, but it does not punish a king for commanding brave deeds of soldiers, or for desiring water. And we all know that David, pierced by the sword of concupiscence, both coveted and took away another man's wife. Fitting scourges followed his fault, and he corrected the evil he had perpetrated through the lamentations of penance.”

2 Samuel 23:15

“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).”

2 Samuel 23:15

“A cistern of deep, clear, cool water, is called by the monks, David’s Well, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of Bethlehem. Possibly the old well has been filled up since the town was supplied with water by the aqueduct.”

2 Samuel 23:15

“Said - Being hot and thirsty, he expresses how acceptable a draught of that water would be to him; but was far from desiring, or expecting that any of his men should hazard their lives to procure it.”

2 Samuel 23:15

“It was harvest-time; the weather was hot; he was thirsty; perhaps good water was scarce, and therefore he earnestly wished, "O that I could but have one draught of the water of the well of Bethlehem!" With the water of that well he had often refreshed himself when he was a youth, and nothing now will serve him but that, though it is almost impossible to come at it.”

2 Samuel 23:16

“When long afterward David sat against the battle lines of enemies, he wished from desire to drink water from the cistern of Bethlehem. His chosen soldiers, breaking through the midst of the opposing forces, brought back unharmed the water the king had desired. But the man instructed by scourges immediately reproached himself for having desired water at the peril of his soldiers, and pouring it out, he offered it to the Lord, as it is written there: He poured it out to the Lord.”

2 Samuel 23:16

“Poured it out unto the Lord - To make libations, both of water and wine, was a frequent custom among the heathens.”

2 Samuel 23:16

“Poured it - As a kind of drink offering, and acknowledgment of God's goodness in preserving the lives of his captains in so dangerous an enterprize; and to shew, that he esteemed it as a sacred thing, which it was not fit for him to drink.”

2 Samuel 23:17

“Finally, whom among men shall we consider better and stronger than the holy David, who could not take for himself the water he desired from the Bethlehem lake, which was cut off by the enemy army, but could he mitigate it? For we cannot find that it was lacking for others.”

2 Samuel 23:17

“Fifthly, Thus he would honour God and give glory to him. The water purchased at this rate he thought too precious for his own drinking and fit only to be poured out to God as a drink-offering. If it was the blood of these men, it was God's due, for the blood was always his.”

2 Samuel 23:20

“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.”

2 Samuel 23:20

Two lion-like men of Moab - Some think that two real lions are meant; some that they were two savage gigantic men; others, that two fortresses are meant. The words שני אראל מואב sheney ariel Moab may signify, as the Targum has rendered it, ית תרין רברבי מואב yath terein rabrebey Moab, “The two princes of Moab.”

2 Samuel 23:20

“Pit - Where he put himself under a necessity, either of killing, or being killed. Of snow - When lions are most fierce, both from the sharpness of their appetite in cold seasons, and from want of provisions.”

2 Samuel 23:20

“Benaiah did many great things. [1.] He slew two Moabites that were lion-like men, so bold and strong, so fierce and furious. [2.] He slew an Egyptian, on what occasion it is not said; he was well armed but Benaiah attacked him with no other weapon than a walking staff, dexterously wrested his spear out of his hand, and slew him with it,”

2 Samuel 23:21

“He slew an Egyptian - This man in 1Ch 11:23 is stated to have been five cubits high, about seven feet six inches. He went down to him with a staff - I have known men who, with a staff only for their defense, could render the sword of the best practiced soldier of no use to him. I have seen even a parallel instance of a man with his staff being attacked by a soldier with his hanger; he soon beat the weapon out of the soldier’s hand, and could easily have slain him with his own sword.”

2 Samuel 23:22

“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 23:23

“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) אל משמעתו "ad auditum suum", Pagninus, Montanus.”

2 Samuel 23:23

“David set him over his guard - “Made him of his privy council,” would be a better rendering. See 1Sa 22:14 note. This position, distinct from his office as captain of the Cherethites and Pelethites, is clearly indicated 1Ch 27:34.”

2 Samuel 23:24

“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) בשלישים "supra triginta istos", Junius & Tremellius.”

2 Samuel 23:24

“Asahel - was one of the thirty - Asahel was one of those officers, or troops, called the shalishim. This Asahel, brother of Joab, was the same that was killed by Abner, 2Sa 2:23.”

2 Samuel 23:25

“Shammah the Harodite,.... Called Shammah the Harorite in 1Ch 11:27; by a change of the letters ר "R" and ד "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.”

2 Samuel 23:25

“That David had more worthies than those here mentioned; and as some of these were slain in the former part of David's reign, as Asahel was; so others came up in their stead; and some were added to this number, as appears from 1 Chron. xi, 10-47, where they are named, but not numbered, as they were here; and where there is a greater number than is here expressed.”

2 Samuel 23:26

“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 Amo 1:1.”

2 Samuel 23:27

“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 23:28

“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, 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.”

2 Samuel 23:29

“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, Jdg 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 23:30

“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, 1Ch 11:32.”

2 Samuel 23:31

“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 23:32

“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 in Gen 46:23. (p) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 3. sect. 3.”

2 Samuel 23:33

“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 23:34

“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 23:34

“Christ, the Son of David, has his worthies too, who like David's, are influenced by his example, fight his battles against the spiritual enemies of his kingdom, and in his strength are more than conquerors. Christ's apostles were his immediate attendants, did and suffered great things for him, and at length came to reign with him.”

2 Samuel 23:35

“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 23:36

“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 23:36

“It is remarkable that we have several foreigners at this part of the list: Igal of Zobah, Zelek the Ammonite, Uriah the Hittite, and perhaps Nahari the Beerothite. The addition of Zelek to the mighty men was probably the fruit of David’s war with Ammon 2Sa 8:12; 10; 2Sa 12:26-31.”

2 Samuel 23:38

“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 23:39

“Uriah the Hittite,.... The husband of Bathsheba; of whom See 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.”

2 Samuel 23:39

“Thirty and seven in all - This reckoning is correct, though only 36 “names” are given, the names of only two of the second triad being recorded, but 31 names are given from 2Sa 23:24 to the end, which, added to the two triads, or six, makes 37. Joab as captain of the whole host stands quite alone.”