21 And they helped David in his expeditions; for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.
And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire; and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way. And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly recover. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind. And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink, and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights. And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what [belongs] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop. And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.
And these were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher, and Jishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses.
Of the three he was more honourable than the two, and he was their captain; but he did not attain to the [first] three. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, great in exploits, of Kabzeel: he it was that smote two lions of Moab; and he went down and smote a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
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Commentary on 1 Chronicles 12 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 12
1Ch 12:1-22. The Companies That Came to David at Ziklag.
1-7. Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag—There are three lists given in this chapter, arranged, apparently, according to the order of time when the parties joined the standard of David.
while he yet kept himself close because of Saul—that is, when the king's jealousy had driven him into exile from the court and the country.
Ziklag—(See on 1Sa 27:6). It was during his retirement in that Philistine town that he was joined in rapid succession by the heroes who afterwards contributed so much to the glory of his reign.
2. of Saul's brethren of Benjamin—that is, of the tribe of Benjamin (compare 1Ch 12:29), but some of them might be relatives of the king. This movement to which the parties were led, doubtless by the secret impulse of the Spirit, was of vast importance to the cause of David, as it must have been founded on their observation of the evident withdrawal of God's blessing from Saul, and His favoring presence with David, to whom it was universally known the Divine King of Israel had given the crown in reversion. The accession of the Benjamites who came first and their resolution to share his fortunes must have been particularly grateful to David. It was a public and emphatic testimony by those who had enjoyed the best means of information to the unblemished excellence of his character, as well as a decided protest against the grievous wrong inflicted by causelessly outlawing a man who had rendered such eminent services to his country.
4. Ismaiah the Gibeonite—It appears that not only the Canaanites who were admitted into the congregation (Jos 9:1-27), but people of the tribe of Benjamin, were among the inhabitants of Gibeon. The mention of "the Gederathite," probably from Gederah (Jos 15:36), in the lowlands of Judah; of the Korhites (1Ch 12:6), from Korah (1Ch 2:43), and of Gedor (1Ch 12:7), a town in Judah, to the southwest of Beth-lehem (compare 1Ch 4:4), shows that this first list contains men of Judah as well as Benjamin [Bertheau].
8-13. of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David—that is, from the service of Saul and from the rest of the Gadites who remained steadfast adherents of his cause.
into the hold—or fortress, that is, of Ziklag, which was in the wilderness of Judah.
whose faces were like the faces of lions, &c.—A fierce, lion-like countenance (2Sa 1:23), and great agility in pursuit (2Sa 2:18), were qualities of the highest estimation in ancient warfare.
14. one of the least was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand—David, while at Ziklag, had not so large an amount of forces as to give to each of these the command of so many men. Another meaning, therefore, must obviously be sought, and excluding was, which is a supplement by our translators, the import of the passage is, that one of the least could discomfit a hundred, and the greatest was worth a thousand ordinary men; a strong hyperbole to express their uncommon valor.
15. These are they that went over Jordan in the first month—that is, in spring, when the swollen river generally fills up the banks of its channel (see on Jos 3:14; Jos 4:19; Jos 5:10).
they put to flight all them of the valleys—This was probably done at the time of their separating themselves and their purpose being discovered, they had to cut their passage through the opposing adherents of Saul, both on the eastern and western banks. The impossibility of taking the fords at such a time, and the violent rapidity of the current, make this crossing of the Jordan—in whatever way these Gadites accomplished it—a remarkable feat.
16. the children of Benjamin and Judah—It is probable that the Benjamites invited the Judahites to accompany them, in order to prevent David being suspicious of them. Their anticipations, as the result showed, were well founded. He did suspect them, but the doubts of David as to their object in repairing to him, were promptly dispelled by Amasai or Amasa, who, by the secret impulse of the Spirit, assured him of their strong attachment and their zealous service from a unanimous conviction that his cause was owned and blessed of God (1Sa 18:12-14).
19-22. there fell some of Manasseh—The period of their accession is fixed as the time when David came with the Philistines against Saul to battle.
but they helped them not—(See on 1Sa 29:4).
20. As he went to Ziklag—If those Manassites joined him on his return to Ziklag, after his dismissal from the Philistine army, then their arrival took place before the battle of Gilboa could have been fought (compare 1Sa 29:11). Convinced of the desperate state of Saul's affairs, they abandoned him, and resolved to transfer their allegiance to David. But some learned men think that they came as fugitives from that disastrous field [Calmet and Ewald].
captains of the thousands … of Manasseh—Those seven were commanders of the large military divisions of their tribe.
21, 22. they helped David against the band—that is, the Amalekites who had pillaged Ziklag in David's absence. This military expedition was made by all his men (1Sa 30:9), who, as David's early helpers, are specially distinguished from those who are mentioned in the latter portion of the chapter.
22. the host of God—that is, a great and powerful army.
1Ch 12:23-40. The Armies That Came to Him at Hebron.
23. these are the numbers of the bands … that came to David to Hebron—after the death of Ish-bosheth (see on 2Sa 5:1).
to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord—(1Ch 10:14; 11:3, 10). The account commences with the southern tribes, Levi being associated with Judah and Simeon, as the great majority of the leading men in this tribe resided in Judah; and, after recounting the representatives of the northern tribes, it concludes with those on the east of Jordan.
27. Jehoiada, the leader of the Aaronites—not the high priest, for that was Abiathar (1Sa 23:9), but the leader of the Aaronite warriors, supposed to be the father of Benaiah (1Ch 11:22).
29. Benjamin … three thousand—This small number shows the unpopularity of the movement in this tribe; and, indeed, it is expressly stated that the mass of the population had, even after Ish-bosheth's death, anxiously endeavored to secure the crown in the family of Saul.
32. children of Issachar, … that had understanding of the times, &c.—Jewish writers say that the people of this tribe were eminent for their acquirements in astronomical and physical science; and the object of the remark was probably to show that the intelligent and learned classes were united with the military, and had declared for David.
33. Zebulun … could keep rank—that is, were more disciplined soldiers than the rest.
not of double heart—Though their numbers were large, all were in a high degree well affected to David.
38. all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king—that is, entertained a unanimous desire for his elevation.
39, 40. there they were with David three days, eating and drinking—According to the statements made in the preceding verses, the number of armed warriors assembled in Hebron on this occasion amounted to three hundred thousand. Supplies of provisions were abundantly furnished, not only by the people of the neighborhood, but from distant parts of the country, for all wished the festivities to be on a scale of liberality and magnificence suitable to the auspicious occasion.