1 Chronicles 11:18-20
New English Translation
18 So the three elite warriors[a] broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate. They carried it back to David, but David refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord 19 and said, “God forbid that I should do this![b] Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?”[c] Because they risked their lives to bring it to him, he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors.[d]
20 Abishai the brother of Joab was head of the three[e] elite warriors. He killed 300 men with his spear[f] and gained fame along with the three elite warriors.[g]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Chronicles 11:18 tn Heb “the three,” referring to the three elite warriors mentioned in v. 12.
- 1 Chronicles 11:19 tn Heb “Far be it to me from my God from doing this.”
- 1 Chronicles 11:19 tn Heb “with their lives.” The same expression occurs later in this verse.
- 1 Chronicles 11:19 tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”
- 1 Chronicles 11:20 tc The Syriac reads “thirty” here and at the beginning of v. 21; this reading is followed by some English translations (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
- 1 Chronicles 11:20 tn Heb “he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain.”
- 1 Chronicles 11:20 tn Heb “and to him [reading with the Qere] there was a name among the three.”
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