22 Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 the son H1121 of a valiant H2428 man H376 of Kabzeel, H6909 who had done many H7227 acts; H6467 he slew H5221 two H8147 lionlike men H739 of Moab: H4124 also he went down H3381 and slew H5221 a lion H738 in H8432 a pit H953 in a snowy H7950 day. H3117
And the uttermost H7097 cities H5892 of the tribe H4294 of the children H1121 of Judah H3063 toward the coast H1366 of Edom H123 southward H5045 were Kabzeel, H6909 and Eder, H5740 and Jagur, H3017
And Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada H3077 was over both the Cherethites H3774 and the Pelethites; H6432 and David's H1732 sons H1121 were chief rulers. H3548
Then went H3381 Samson H8123 down, H3381 and his father H1 and his mother, H517 to Timnath, H8553 and came H935 to the vineyards H3754 of Timnath: H8553 and, behold, a young H3715 lion H738 roared H7580 against H7125 him. And the Spirit H7307 of the LORD H3068 came mightily H6743 upon him, and he rent H8156 him as he would have rent H8156 a kid, H1423 and he had nothing H3972 in his hand: H3027 but he told H5046 not his father H1 or his mother H517 what he had done. H6213
And David H1732 said H559 unto Saul, H7586 Thy servant H5650 kept H7462 his father's H1 sheep, H6629 and there came H935 a lion, H738 and a bear, H1677 and took H5375 a lamb H7716 H2089 out of the flock: H5739 And I went out H3318 after H310 him, and smote H5221 him, and delivered H5337 it out of his mouth: H6310 and when he arose H6965 against me, I caught H2388 him by his beard, H2206 and smote H5221 him, and slew H4191 him. Thy servant H5650 slew H5221 both the lion H738 and the bear: H1677 and this uncircumcised H6189 Philistine H6430 shall be as one H259 of them, seeing he hath defied H2778 the armies H4634 of the living H2416 God. H430
And Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 the son H1121 of a valiant H2428 man, H376 H381 of Kabzeel, H6909 who had done many H7227 acts, H6467 he slew H5221 two H8147 lionlike men H739 of Moab: H4124 he went down H3381 also and slew H5221 a lion H738 in the midst H8432 of a pit H953 in time H3117 of snow: H7950 And he slew H2026 an Egyptian, H4713 a goodly H4758 man: H376 and the Egyptian H4713 had a spear H2595 in his hand; H3027 but he went down H3381 to him with a staff, H7626 and plucked H1497 the spear H2595 out of the Egyptian's H4713 hand, H3027 and slew H5221 him with his own spear. H2595 These things did H6213 Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 and had the name H8034 among three H7969 mighty men. H1368 He was more honourable H3513 than the thirty, H7970 but he attained H935 not to the first three. H7969 And David H1732 set H7760 him over his guard. H4928
But Zadok H6659 the priest, H3548 and Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 and Nathan H5416 the prophet, H5030 and Shimei, H8096 and Rei, H7472 and the mighty men H1368 which belonged to David, H1732 were not with Adonijah. H138
So Zadok H6659 the priest, H3548 and Nathan H5416 the prophet, H5030 and Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 and the Cherethites, H3774 and the Pelethites, H6432 went down, H3381 and caused Solomon H8010 to ride H7392 upon king H4428 David's H1732 mule, H6506 and brought H3212 him to Gihon. H1521
And Benaiah H1141 came H935 to the tabernacle H168 of the LORD, H3068 and said H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the king, H4428 Come forth. H3318 And he said, H559 Nay; but I will die H4191 here. And Benaiah H1141 brought H7725 the king H4428 word H1697 again, H7725 saying, H559 Thus said H1696 Joab, H3097 and thus he answered H6030 me.
So Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada H3077 went up, H5927 and fell H6293 upon him, and slew H4191 him: and he was buried H6912 in his own house H1004 in the wilderness. H4057 And the king H4428 put H5414 Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada H3077 in his room over the host: H6635 and Zadok H6659 the priest H3548 did the king H4428 put H5414 in the room of Abiathar. H54
And of the Gadites H1425 there separated H914 themselves unto David H1732 into the hold H4679 to the wilderness H4057 men H1368 of might, H2428 and men H582 of war H6635 fit for the battle, H4421 that could handle H6186 shield H6793 and buckler, H7420 whose faces H6440 were like the faces H6440 of lions, H738 and were as swift H4116 as the roes H6643 upon the mountains; H2022
The third H7992 captain H8269 of the host H6635 for the third H7992 month H2320 was Benaiah H1141 the son H1121 of Jehoiada, H3077 a chief H7218 priest: H3548 and in his course H4256 were twenty H6242 and four H702 thousand. H505 This is that Benaiah, H1141 who was mighty H1368 among the thirty, H7970 and above the thirty: H7970 and in his course H4256 was Ammizabad H5990 his son. H1121
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
1Ch 11:1-3. David Made King.
1. Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron—This event happened on the death of Ish-bosheth (see on 2Sa 5:1). The convention of the estates of the kingdom, the public and solemn homage of the representatives of the people, and the repeated anointing of the new king in their presence and by their direction, seem to have been necessary to the general acknowledgment of the sovereign on the part of the nation (compare 1Sa 11:15).
1Ch 11:4-9. He Wins the Castle of Zion from the Jebusites by Joab's Valor.
4. David and all Israel went to … Jebus—(See on 2Sa 5:6).
8. Joab repaired the rest of the city—David built a new town to the north of the old one on Mount Zion; but Joab was charged with a commission to restore the part that had been occupied by the ancient Jebus, to repair the breaches made during the siege, to rebuild the houses which had been demolished or burned in the sacking of the town, and to preserve all that had escaped the violence of the soldiery. This work of reconstruction is not noticed elsewhere [Calmet].
1Ch 11:10-47. A Catalogue of His Worthies.
10. These … are the chief of the mighty men—(See on 2Sa 23:8). They are here described as those who held strongly with him (Margin) to make him king, &c. In these words the sacred historian assigns a reason for introducing the list of their names, immediately after his account of the election of David as king, and the conquest of Jerusalem; namely, that they assisted in making David king. In the original form of the list, and the connection in which it occurs in Samuel, there is no reference to the choice of a king; and even in this passage it is only in the clause introduced into the superscription that such a reference occurs [Keil].
11-13. Jashobeam, an Hachmonite—or, "son of Hachmoni." He is called also son of Zabdiel (1Ch 27:2), so that, strictly speaking, he was the grandson of Hachmoni (compare 1Ch 27:32).
lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time—The feat is said (2Sa 23:8) to have been a slaughter of eight hundred in one day. Some endeavor to reconcile the statements in that passage and in this by supposing that he slew eight hundred on one occasion and three hundred on another; while others conjecture that he attacked a body of eight hundred, and, having slain three hundred of them, the rest fled [Lightfoot].
12. the three mighties—Only two are mentioned; namely, Jashobeam and Eleazar—the third, Shammah (2Sa 23:11), is not named in this passage.
13. He was with David at Pas-dammim—It was at the time when he was a fugitive in the wilderness, and, parched with thirst under the burning heat of noonday, he wistfully thought of the cool fountain of his native village [2Sa 23:15; 1Ch 11:17]. This is a notice of the achievement, to which Eleazar owed his fame, but the details are found only in 2Sa 23:9-11, where it is further said that he was aided by the valor of Shammah, a fact corroborated in the passage before us (1Ch 11:14), where it is recorded of the heroes, that "they set themselves in the midst of that parcel." As the singular number is used in speaking of Shammah (2Sa 23:12), the true view seems to be that when Eleazar had given up from exhaustion, Shammah succeeded, and by his fresh and extraordinary prowess preserved the field.
barley—or lentils (2Sa 23:11). Ephes-dammim was situated between Shocoh and Azekah, in the west of the Judahite territory. These feats were performed when David acted as Saul's general against the Philistines.
15-19. David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink … of the well of Beth-lehem—(See on 2Sa 23:15). This chivalrous act evinces the enthusiastic devotion of David's men, that they were ready to gratify his smallest wish at the risk of their lives. It is probable that, when uttering the wish, David had no recollection of the military posted at Beth-lehem. It is generally taken for granted that those who fought a way to the well of Beth-lehem were the three champions just mentioned [see on 1Ch 11:13]. But this is far from being clear. On the contrary, it would seem that three different heroes are referred to, for Abishai (1Ch 11:20) was one of them. The camp of the Philistines was in the valley of Rephaim (1Ch 11:15), which lay on the west of Jerusalem, but an outpost was stationed at Beth-lehem (1Ch 11:16), and through this garrison they had to force a passage.
21. howbeit he attained not to the first three—(See on 2Sa 23:19).
22. Benaiah … of Kabzeel—a town in the south of Judah (Jos 15:21; Ne 11:25). It is said that "he had done many acts," though three only are mentioned as specimens of his daring energy and fearless courage.
slew two lionlike men of Moab—literally, "lions of God," that is, great lions or champions. This gallant feat was probably achieved in David's hostile invasion of Moab (2Sa 8:2).
also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day—probably a cave into which Benaiah had taken refuge from the snowstorm, and in which he encountered a savage lion which had its lair there. In a spacious cave the achievement would be far greater than if the monster had been previously snared or cabined in a pit.
23. he went down—the ordinary phraseology for expressing an engagement in battle. The encounter of Benaiah with this gigantic Egyptian reminds us, in some respects, of David's combat with Goliath. At least, the height of this giant, which was about eight feet, and his armor, resembled his of Gath.
with a staff—that is, having no other weapon in his hand than his walking stick.
25. David set him over his guard—the Cherethites and Pelethites that composed the small bodyguard in immediate attendance on the king.
26. Also the valiant men of the armies—This was the third degree of military rank, and Asahel was their chief; the names of few of those mentioned are historically known.
27. Shammoth—Between this name and Hebez, that of Elikah has evidently fallen out, as we may see (2Sa 23:25, 26) [Bertheau].
30. Maharai—chief of the detachment of the guards who attended on the king in the tenth month, January (1Ch 27:13; 2Sa 23:28).
39. Naharai—armorbearer to Joab (2Sa 23:37). The non-occurrence of Joab's name in any of the three catalogues is most probably to be accounted for by the circumstance that his office as commander-in-chief raised him to a position superior to all these orders of military knighthood.
41. Uriah the Hittite—The enrolment of this name in such a list, attesting, as it does, his distinguished merits as a brave and devoted officer, aggravates the criminality of David's outrage on his life and honor. The number of the names at 1Ch 11:26-41 (exclusive of Asahel and Uriah, who were dead) is thirty, and at 1Ch 11:41-47 is sixteen—making together forty-eight (see on 1Ch 27:1-34). Of those mentioned (1Ch 11:26-41), the greater part belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; the sixteen names (1Ch 11:41-47) are all associated with places unknown, or with cities and districts on the east of the Jordan. The northern tribes do not appear to have furnished any leaders [Bertheau].