2 Samuel 23:39
in 2 Samuel 23and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
KJV
Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseUriah 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.
This site's exposition
thirty and seven in all
The roll of David's faithful ends on Uriah the Hittite, the man David killed, one chapter before the book ends. The narrator adds nothing, and the placement carries the whole weight: every reader who has come through chapter 11 reads the last name and hears it. Scripture keeps the record of the wronged where the king must see it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the first three--The mighty men or champions in David's military staff were divided into three classes--the highest, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; the second class, Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class, the thirty, of which Asahel was the chief.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all - To these the author of 1Ch 11:41 adds Zabad son of Ahlai. 1Ch 11:42 - Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and thirty with him. 1Ch 11:43 - Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 1Ch 11:44 - Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite, 1Ch 11:45 - Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 1Ch 11:46 - Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 1Ch 11:47 - Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel the Mesobaite. The 4th and 5th verses are very obscure; L. De Dieu gives them a good meaning, if not the true one: - “The perpetuity of his kingdom David amplifies by a comparison to three natural things, which are very grateful to men, but not constant and stable. For the sun arises and goes down again; the morning may be clear, but clouds afterwards arise; and the tender grass springs up, but afterwards withers. Not so, said he, is my kingdom before God; it is flourishing like all these, but perpetual, for he has made an everlasting covenant with me, though some afflictions have befallen me; and he has not made all my salvation and desire to grow.” De Dieu repeats כ ke, the note of similitude, thrice; and the following is his version: - “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake unto me, (or concerning me): The just man ruleth among men; he ruleth in the fear of God. And, as the sun ariseth with a shining light; as the morning is without clouds by reason of its splendor; as, from rain, the tender grass springeth out of the earth; truly so is not my house with God: because he hath made an everlasting covenant with me; disposed in all things, and well kept and preserved in that order. […]
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֽוּרִיָּה֙ | ʾuriyah | Uriah | H223 → | 39 times |
| הַֽחִתִּ֔י | hachiti | the Hittite | H2850 → | 48 times |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | sheloshim | [were] thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וְשִׁבְעָֽה׃ פ | veshivah | and seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
אֽוּרִיָּה֙Uriah
ʾuriyahH223 →39 times
הַֽחִתִּ֔יthe Hittite
hachitiH2850 →48 times
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים[were] thirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
וְשִׁבְעָֽה׃ פand seven
veshivahH7651 →394 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Kings 15:5For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:8
I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you were not like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart,…
- 2 Samuel 11:15–17
In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
- 2 Chronicles 34:2
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Psalms 51:1
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- 1 Kings 14:8
Through
2 Samuel 11:3So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 3:5
and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.
- 1 Chronicles 3:5
Through
2 Samuel 12:9Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:19
So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
- Psalms 139:1–2
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- 1 Samuel 15:19
Through
Matthew 1:6and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:5
For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of…
- 1 Kings 15:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The Second Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).