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2 Samuel 23:8-39
New American Standard Bible

David’s Mighty Men

8 (A)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the [a]captains; he was called Adino the Eznite because of eight hundred who were killed by him at one time. 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of (B)Dodo the (C)Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had [b]withdrawn. 10 (D)He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and [c]it clung to the sword, and (E)the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.

11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a (F)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered [d]into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and (G)the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the (H)cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in (I)the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then (J)in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And (K)David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” 16 (L)So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it, but (M)poured it out as an offering to the Lord; 17 and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! (N)Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18 Now (O)Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was (P)chief of the [e]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred [f]and killed them, and had a name [g]as well as the three. 19 He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.

20 Then (Q)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of (R)Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, [h]killed the [i]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21 And he [j]killed an Egyptian, [k]an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things (S)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name [l]as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

24 (T)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 (U)Shammah the (V)Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the (W)Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the (X)Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the (Y)Netophathite, 29 (Z)Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of (AA)Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a (AB)Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of (AC)Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the (AD)Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the (AE)Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 (AF)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of (AG)the Maacathite, (AH)Eliam the son of (AI)Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 (AJ)Hezro the (AK)Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of (AL)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the (AM)Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the (AN)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and (AO)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:8 Or three
  2. 2 Samuel 23:9 Lit gone up
  3. 2 Samuel 23:10 Lit his hand
  4. 2 Samuel 23:11 Or possibly, at Lehi
  5. 2 Samuel 23:18 As in two Heb mss and Syriac; MT three
  6. 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit slain ones
  7. 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit among the
  8. 2 Samuel 23:20 Lit struck
  9. 2 Samuel 23:20 Or two warriors of Moab
  10. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit struck
  11. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit a man of appearance
  12. 2 Samuel 23:22 Lit among the
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2 Samuel 23:8-39
International Standard Version

David’s Elite Soldiers(A)

8 Here’s a list of the names of David’s special forces: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahkemonite[a] was head of the Three;[b] he was nicknamed Adino the Eznite[c] because he killed 800 men in a single battle engagement.

9 Next was Dodai[d] the Ahohite’s son Eleazar. Eleazar, who also was one of the Three, was with David when they challenged the Philistines. When the Philistines had assembled in battle array, the Israeli army retreated, 10 but Eleazar remained standing right where he was and fought so hard against the Philistines that he became exhausted—he couldn’t even let go of his sword! The Lord magnificently delivered them that day. After Eleazar had won the battle, the other soldiers returned, but only to strip the weapons and armor from the dead.[e]

11 Next was Shammah, Agee the Hararite’s son. One time the Philistines assembled to fight[f] in a field where lentils had been growing. Israel’s army retreated from the Philistines, 12 but Shammah stood his ground in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. And the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 One day while the Philistine army was camping in the valley of giants,[g] three of the 30 leaders joined David at the cave of Adullam. 14 David was living in that stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was then at Bethlehem.

15 David expressed his longing, “Oh, how I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the Bethlehem well that’s by the city gate!” 16 So the Three elite warriors broke through the Philistine ranks, drew some water from the Bethlehem well that was next to the city gate, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out in the Lord’s presence, 17 and said, “The Lord forbid that I drink this—this is the blood of men who endangered their own lives!” The Three elite warriors did these things.

David’s Other Valiant Soldiers(B)

18 Zeruiah’s son Abishai, Joab’s brother, was the lieutenant[h] in charge of the platoons.[i] He used his spear to fight and kill 300 men, gaining a reputation distinct from the Three. 19 He was more well-known than the Three, and became their commander, but he never measured up to[j] the Three.

20 Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, who was a valiant man, accomplished great things. He was from Kabzeel. He killed two men named[k] Ariel from Moab[l] and then he also went down into a pit and struck down a lion during a snow storm one day. 21 He also killed a soldier[m] from Egypt. Of handsome appearance, the Egyptian carried a spear, but Benaiah attacked him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 Benaiah did things like this and gained a reputation comparable to the Three warriors. 23 He was well known among the platoons, but he didn’t measure up to[n] the Three. David placed him in charge of his security detail.

24 Among the Thirty were Joab’s brother Asahel, Dodo’s son Elhanan of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah from Harod; Elika from Harod, 26 Helez the Paltite,[o] Ikkesh’s son Ira from Tekoa, 27 Abiezer from Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, 29 Baanah’s son Heleb from Netophah, Ribai’s son Ittai from Gibeah of the descendants of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah from Pirathon, Hiddai from the Gaash creeks area,[p] 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth from Bahurim, 32 Eliahba from Shaalbon, Jashen’s sons, 33 Shammah’s son from Harar, Sharar the Hararite’s son Ahiam, 34 Ahasbai the Maacathite’s son Eliphelet, Ahithophel the Gilonite’s son Eliam,[q] 35 Hezro from Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Nathan’s son Igal from Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai from Beeroth (the armor-bearer for Zeruiah’s son Joab), 38 Ira the Ithrite,[r] Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and Uriah the Hittite—for a total of 37.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:8 Cf. 1Chr 11:11, where this individual is named Hachmoni’s son Jashobeam
  2. 2 Samuel 23:8 I.e. a group of three distinguished officers who served David, and so throughout the chapter; cf. 1Chr 11:12
  3. 2 Samuel 23:8 The two Heb. names comprise a word play that roughly translates as Thin as a Spear
  4. 2 Samuel 23:9 Cf. 1Chr 11:12, where this individual is named Dodo
  5. 2 Samuel 23:10 The Heb. lacks the weapons and armor from the dead
  6. 2 Samuel 23:11 Or assembled at Lehi
  7. 2 Samuel 23:13 Or the Rephaim Valley
  8. 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit. chief
  9. 2 Samuel 23:18 So Syr; MT reads Three
  10. 2 Samuel 23:19 Or never attained the stature of
  11. 2 Samuel 23:20 The Heb. lacks men named
  12. 2 Samuel 23:20 The Heb. name Ariel means lion
  13. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit. man
  14. 2 Samuel 23:23 Or he never attained the stature of
  15. 2 Samuel 23:26 Cf. 1Chr 11:27, where he is named Helez the Pelonite
  16. 2 Samuel 23:30 The Heb. lacks area; i.e. a region in Gaash containing numerous seasonal streams
  17. 2 Samuel 23:34 Bathsheba’s father was Eliam; her grandfather was Ahithophel; cf. 2Sam 11:3; 15:12
  18. 2 Samuel 23:38 Cf. 2Sam 20:26, where he is also known as Ira the Jairite
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