Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

2 Samuel 23:18

in 2 Samuel 23

Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three.

KJV

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three.

⋯

This verse in 2 Samuel 23

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Abishai, the brother of Joab

on 2 Samuel 23:18-19

Abishai heads the second rank of three, honourable above the thirty and short of the first three, and the list says both without embarrassment. Joab himself, commander of the whole army, appears in this roll only as his brothers' relative and his armourbearer's master, and the narrator leaves that silence unexplained.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among the three,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Three - “The three” 2Sa 23:22. It was Abishai’s prowess on this occasion that raised him to be chief of this triad.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַאֲבִישַׁ֞יand Abishai

    vaavishaiH52 →25 times

  • אֲחִ֣י׀[the] brother of

    ʾachiH251 →630 times

  • יוֹאָ֣בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • צְרוּיָ֗הZeruiah

    tzeruyahH6870 →26 times

  • ה֚וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • רֹ֣אשׁ[was] [the] chief

    roshH7218 →599 times

  • הַשְּׁלֹשָׁ֔הof the three

    hasheloshiH7969 →432 times

  • וְהוּא֙and he

    vehu'H1931 →1879 times

  • עוֹרֵ֣רhe wielded

    orerH5782 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חֲנִית֔וֹspear his

    chanitoH2595 →47 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שְׁלֹ֥שׁthree

    sheloshH7969 →432 times

  • מֵא֖וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967 →581 times

  • חָלָ֑ל[one] slain

    chalalH2491 →94 times

  • וְלוֹ־and [belonged] to <the> him

    velo-

  • שֵׁ֖םa name

    shemH8034 →864 times

  • בַּשְּׁלֹשָֽׁה׃among the three

    basheloshahH7969 →432 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Samuel 10:14When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.4 works2 Samuel 10:10And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.4 works1 Chronicles 11:20–21Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.3 works2 Samuel 18:2He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”3 works1 Chronicles 2:16Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.2 works2 Samuel 3:30(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)2 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Samuel 26:6–8And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” “I will go with you,” answered Abishai.2 works2 Samuel 2:18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,2 works2 Samuel 20:10Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.2 works1 Chronicles 18:12Moreover, Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.2 works2 Samuel 17:8He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.2 works2 Samuel 20:21That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”2 works2 Samuel 20:6And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 18:2

    He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will…

    it leads to

    • Judges 7:16

      And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.

    • 2 Samuel 15:19–22

      Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your…

    • 2 Samuel 10:7–10

      On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men.

    • Psalms 27:1–3

      The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?

    • Judges 7:19

      Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the…

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 2:16

    Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 26:6

      And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” “I will go with you,” answered Abishai.

    • 2 Samuel 2:18–23

      The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

    • 2 Samuel 16:9–11

      Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel.

Read on in 2 Samuel 23 →