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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - 2 Samuel 23:8 - 23:8
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The following list of David's heroes we also find in 1 Chron 11:10-47, and expanded at the end by sixteen names (1Ch 11:41-47), and attached in 1Ch 11:10 to the account of the conquest of the fortress of Zion by the introduction of a special heading. According to this heading, the heroes named assisted David greatly in his kingdom, along with all Israel, to make him king, from which it is evident that the chronicler intended by this heading to justify his appending the list to the account of the election of David as king over all the tribes of Israel (1Ch 11:1), and of the conquest of Zion, which followed immediately afterwards. In every other respect the two lists agree with one another, except that there are a considerable number of errors of the text, more especially in the names, which are frequently corrupt in both texts, to that the true reading cannot be determined with certainty. The heroes enumerated are divided into three classes. The first class consists of three, viz., Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah, of whom certain brave deeds are related, by which they reached the first rank among David's heroes (2Sa 23:8-12). They were followed by Abishai and Benaiah, who were in the second class, and who had also distinguished themselves above the rest by their brave deeds, though they did not come up to the first three (2Sa 23:18-23). The others all belonged to the third class, which consisted of thirty-two men, of whom no particular heroic deeds are mentioned (vv. 24-39). Twelve of these, viz., the five belonging to the first two classes and seven of the third, were appointed by David commanders of the twelve detachments into which he divided the army, each detachment to serve for one month in the year (1 Chron 27). These heroes, among whom we do not find Joab the commander-in-chief of the whole of the forces, were the king's aides-de-camp, and are called in this respect הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (2Sa 23:8), though the term הַשְּׁלשִׁים (the thirty, 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, 2Sa 23:24) was also a very customary one, as their number amounted to thirty in a round sum. It is possible that at first they may have numbered exactly thirty; for, from the very nature of the case, we may be sure than in the many wars in which David was engaged, other heroes must have arisen at different times, who would be received into the corps already formed. This will explain the addition of sixteen names in the Chronicles, whether the chronicler made us of a different list from that employed by the author of the books before us, and one belonging to a later age, or whether the author of our books merely restricted himself to a description of the corps in its earlier condition.
2Sa 23:8-12
Heroes of the first class. - The short heading to our text, with which the list in the Chronicles also beings (1Ch 11:11), simply gives the name of these heroes. But instead of “the names of the mighty men,” we have in the Chronicles “the number of the mighty men.” This variation is all the more striking, from the fact that in the Chronicles the total number is not given at the close of the list as it is in our text. At the same time, it can hardly be a copyist's error for מִבְחַר (selection), as Bertheau supposes, but must be attributable to the fact that, according to 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, and 2Sa 23:24, these heroes constituted a corps which was named from the number of which it originally consisted. The first, Jashobeam, is called “the chief of the thirty” in the Chronicles. Instead of יָשָׁבְעָם (Jashobeam), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here בַּשֶּׁבֶת ישֶׁב (Josheb-basshebeth), unquestionably a spurious reading, which probably arose, according to Kennicott's conjecture, from the circumstance that the last two letters of ישׁבעם were written in one MS under בַּשֶּׁבֶת in the line above (2Sa 23:7), and a copyist took בשׁבת from that line by mistake for עם. The correctness of the reading Jashobeam is established by 1Ch 27:2. The word תַּחְכְּמֹנִי is also faulty, and should be corrected, according to the Chronicles, into בֶּן־חַכְמֹונִי (Ben-hachmoni); for the statement that Jashobeam was a son (or descendant) of the family of Hachmon (1Ch 27:32) can easily be reconciled with that in 1Ch 27:2, to the effect that he was a son of Zabdiel. Instead of הַשְּׁלשִׁים רֹאשׁ (head of the thirty), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here הַשָּׁלִשִׁי רֹאשׁ (head of the three). Bertheau would alter our text in accordance with the Chronicles, whilst Thenius proposes to bring the text of the Chronicles into accordance with ours. But although the many unquestionable corruptions in the verse before us may appear to favour Bertheau's assumption, we cannot regard either of the emendations as necessary, or even warrantable. The proposed alteration of הַשָּׁלִשִׁי is decidedly precluded by the recurrence of הַשָּׁלִשִׁי רֹאשׁ in 2Sa 23:18, and the alteration of הַשְּׁלשִׁים in the Chronicles by the repeated allusion to the שְׁלֹשִׁים, not only in 2Sa 23:15, 42; 2Sa 12:4, and 1Ch 27:6 of the Chronicles, but also in 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, and 2Sa 23:24 of the chapter before us. The explanation given of שָׁלִשִׁי and שָׁלִשִׁים, as signifying chariot-warriors, is decidedly erroneous;
(Note: This explanation, which we find in Gesenius (Thes. and Lex.) and Bertheau, rests upon no other authority than the testimony of Origen, to the effect that an obscure writer gives this interpretation of τριστάτης, the rendering of שָׁלִישׁ, an authority which is completely overthrown by the writer of the gloss in Octateuch. (Schleussner, Lex. in lxx t. v. p. 338), who gives this explanation of τριστάτας: τοὺς παρὰ χεῖρα τοῦ βασιλέως ἀριστερὰν τρίτης μοίρας ἄρχοντας. Suidas and Hesychius give the same explanation (s. v. τριστάται). Jerome also observes (ad Ezek 23): “It is the name of the second rank next to the king.”)
for the singular הַשָּׁלִישׁ is used in all the passages in which the word occurs to signify the royal aide-de-camp (2Ki 7:2, 2Ki 7:17, 2Ki 7:19; 2Ki 9:25; 2Ki 15:25), and the plural שָׁלִישִׁים the royal body-guard, not only in 2Ki 15:25, but even in 1Ki 9:22, and Exo 14:7; Exo 15:4, from which the meaning chariot-warriors has been derived. Consequently הַשָּׁלִשִׁי רֹאשׁ is the head of the king's aides-de-camp, and the interchange of הַשָּׁלִשִׁי with the הַשְּׁלשִׁים of the Chronicles may be explained on the simple ground that David's thirty heroes formed his whole body of adjutants. The singular שָׁלִשִׁי is to be explained in the same manner as הַכְּרֵתִי (see at 2Sa 8:18). Luther expresses the following opinion in his marginal gloss with regard to the words which follow (הָעֶצְנֹו עֲדִינֹו הוּא עֲדִינֹו): “We believe the text to have been corrupted by a writer, probably from some book in an unknown character and bad writing, so that orer should be substituted for adino, and ha-eznib for eth hanitho:” that is to say, the reading in the Chronicles, “he swung his spear,” should be adopted (cf. 2Sa 23:18). This supposition is certainly to be preferred to the attempt made by Gesenius (Lex.) and v. Dietrich (s. v. עָדִין) to find some sense in the words by assuming the existence of a verb עִדֵּן and a noun עֵצֶן, a spear, since these words do not occur anywhere else in Hebrew; and in order to obtain any appropriate sense, it is still necessary to resort to alterations of the text. “He swung his spear over eight hundred slain at once.” This is not to be understood as signifying that he killed eight hundred men at one blow, but that in a battle he threw his spear again and again at the foe, until eight hundred men had been slain. The Chronicles give three hundred instead of eight hundred; and as that number occurs again in 2Sa 23:18, in the case of Abishai, it probably found its way from that verse into this in the book of Chronicles.
2Sa 23:9-10
“After him (i.e., next to him in rank) was Eleazar the son of Dodai the Ahohite, among the three heroes with David when they defied the Philistines, who had assembled there, and the Israelites drew near.” The Chethib דדי is to be read דֹּודַי, Dodai, according to 1Ch 27:4, and the form דֹּודֹו (Dodo) in the parallel text (1Ch 11:12) is only a variation in the form of the name. Instead of בֶּן־אֲחֹחִי (the son of Ahohi) we find הָעֲחֹחִי (the Ahohite) in the Chronicles; but the בֶּן must not be struck out on that account as spurious, for “the son of an Ahohite” is the same as “the Ahohite.” For גִּבֹּרִים בִּשְׁלשָׁה we must read הַגִּבֹּרִים בִּשְׁלשָׁה, according to the Keri and the Chronicles. שְׁלשָׁה is not to be altered, since the numerals are sometimes attached to substantives in the absolute state (see Ges. §120, 1). “The three heroes” are Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah (2Sa 23:11), who reached the first rank, according to 2Sa 23:19, among the heroes of David. Instead of בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּחָֽרְפָם (when they defied the Philistines), we find in the Chronicles וְהַפְּלִשְׁתִּים דַּמִּים בַּפַּס, “at Pas-dammim,” i.e., most probably Ephes-dammim (1Sa 17:1), where the Philistines were encamped when Goliath defied the Israelites. Thenius, Bertheau, and Böttcher therefore propose to alter our text so as to make it correspond to that of the Chronicles, and adduce as the reason the fact that in other passages חֵרֵף is construed with the accusative, and that שָׁם, which follows, presupposes the previous mention of the place referred to. But the reasons are neither of them decisive. חֵרֵף .evisiced is not construed with the accusative alone, but also with לְ (2Ch 32:17), so that the construction with ב is quite a possible one, and is not at variance with the idea of the word. שָׁם again may also be understood as referring to the place, not named, where the Philistines fought with the Israelites. The omission of אֲשֶׁר before נֶעֶסְפוּ is more difficult to explain; and וְהַפְּלִשְׁתִּים, which we find in the Chronicles, has probably dropped out after בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים. The reading in the Chronicles דַּמִּים בַּפַּס (בְּאֶפֶס) is probably only a more exact description of the locality, which is but obscurely indicated in our text by בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּחָֽרְפָם; for these words affirm that the battle took place where the Israelites had once been defied by the Philistines (1Sa 17:10), and where they repaid them for this defiance in a subsequent conflict. The Philistines are at any rate to be regarded as the subject to נֶעֶסְפוּ, and these words are a circumstantial clause: the Philistines had assembled together there to battle, and the Israelites had advanced to the attack. The heroic act of Eleazar is introduced with “he arose.” He arose and smote the Philistines till his hand was weary and clave to his sword, i.e., was so cramped as to be stiffened to the sword. Through this Jehovah wrought a great salvation for Israel on that day, “and the people (the soldiers) turned after him only to plunder,” sc., because he had put the enemy to flight by himself. אַחֲרָיו שׁוּב does not mean to turn back from flight after him, but is the opposite of מֵאַחֲרֵי שׁוּב, to turn away from a person (1Sa 15:11, etc.), so that it signifies “to turn to a person and follow behind him.” Three lines have dropped out from the parallel text of the Chronicles, in consequence of the eye of a copyist having wandered from נֶעֶסְפוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים in 2Sa 23:9 to פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיֵּעָסְפוּ in 2Sa 23:11.
2Sa 23:11-12
The third leading hero was Shammah, the son of Age the Hararite (הָרָרִי is probably contracted from הַהֲרָרִי, 2Sa 23:33). He also made himself renowned by a great victory over the Philistines. The enemy had gathered together לַחַיָּה, “as a troop,” or in a crowd. This meaning of הַיָּה (here and 2Sa 23:13, and possibly also in Psa 68:11) is thoroughly established by the Arabic (see Ges. Thes. p. 470). But it seems to have fallen into disuse afterwards, and in the Chronicles it is explained in 2Sa 23:13 by מִלְחָמָה, and in 2Sa 23:15 by מַחֲנֶה. “On a portion of a field of lentils there,” sc., where the Philistines had gathered together, the people (of Israel) were smitten. Then Shammah stationed himself in the midst of the field, and יַצּילֶהָ, “wrested it,” from the foe, and smote the Philistines. Instead of עֲדָשִׁים, lentils, we find in the Chronicles שׁלעֹורִים, barley, a very inconsiderable difference.
2Sa 23:13-15
To this deed there is appended a similar heroic feat performed by three of the thirty heroes whose names are not given. The Chethib שׁלשׁים is evidently a slip of the pen for שְׁלשָׁה (Keri and Chronicles). The thirty chiefs are the heroes named afterwards. As שְׁלשָׁה has no article either in our text or the Chronicles, the three intended are not the three already mentioned (Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah), but three others out of the number mentioned in 2Sa 23:24. These three came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam (see at 1Sa 22:1), when a troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim, and David was on the mountain fortress, and a Philistian post was then in Bethlehem. And David longed for water, and said, “Oh that one would bring me water to drink out of the well of Bethlehem at the gate!” The encampment of the Philistines in the valley of Rephaim, and the position of David on the mountain fortress (בַּמְּצוּדָה), render it probable that the feat mentioned here took place in the war with the Philistines described in 2Sa 5:17. Robinson could not discover any well in Bethlehem, “especially none 'by the gate,' except one connected with the aqueduct on the south” (Palestine, vol. ii. p. 158). בַּשַּׁעַר need not be understood, however, as signifying that the well was in or under the gate; but the well referred to may have been at the gate outside the city. The well to which tradition has given the name of “David's well” (cisterna David), is about a quarter of an hour's walk to the north-east of Bethlehem, and, according to Robinson's description, is “merely a deep and wide cistern or cavern now dry, with three or four narrow openings cut in the rock.” But Ritter (Erdk. xvi. p. 286) describes it as “deep with clear cool water, into which there are three openings from above, which Tobler speaks of as bored;” and again as a cistern “built with peculiar beauty, from seventeen to twenty-one feet deep, whilst a house close by is pointed out to pilgrims as Jesse's house.”
2Sa 23:16-17
The three heroes then broke through the camp of the Philistines at Bethlehem, i.e., the outpost that occupied the space before the gate, fetched water out of the well, and brought it to David. He would not drink it, however, but poured it out upon the ground to the Lord, as a drink-offering for Jehovah. “He poured it out upon the earth, rendering Him thanks for the return of the three brave men” (Clericus). And he said, “Far be it from me, O Jehovah, to do this! The blood of the men who went with their lives (i.e., at the risk of their lives),” sc., should I drink it? The verb אֶשְׁתֶּה is wanting in our text, but is not to be inserted according to the Chronicles as though it had fallen out; the sentence is rather to be regarded as an aposiopesis. יְהֹוָה after לִי חָלִילָה is a vocative, and is not to be altered into מֵיהֹוָה according to the מֵאלֹחֵי of the Chronicles. The fact that the vocative does not occur in other passages after לִי חָלִילָה proves nothing. It is equivalent to the oath יְהֹוָה חַי (1Sa 14:45). The chronicler has endeavoured to simplify David's exclamation by completing the sentence. בְּנַפְשֹׁותָם, “for the price of their souls,” i.e., at the risk of their lives. The water drawn and fetched at the risk of their lives is compared to the soul itself, and the soul is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Drinking this water, therefore, would be nothing else than drinking their blood.
2Sa 23:18-19
Heroes of the second class. - 2Sa 23:18, 2Sa 23:19. Abishai, Joab's brother (see 1Sa 26:6), was also chief of the body-guard, like Jashobeam (2Sa 23:8 : the Chethib הַשָּׁלִשִׁי is correct; see at 2Sa 23:8). He swung his spear over three hundred slain. “He had a name among the three,” i.e., the three principal heroes, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. The following words, מִן־הַשְּׁלשָׁה, make no sense. הַשְּׁלשָׁה is an error in writing for הַשְּׁלשִׁים, as 2Sa 23:23 shows in both the texts (2Sa 23:25 of the Chronicles): an error the origin of which may easily be explained from the word שְׁלשָׁה, which stands immediately before. “He was certainly honoured before the thirty (heroes of David), and became their chief, but he did not come to the three,” i.e., he was not equal to Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. הֲכִי has the force of an energetic assurance: “Is it so that,” i.e., it is certainly so (as in 2Sa 9:1; Gen 27:36; Gen 29:15).
2Sa 23:20-23
Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, “Jehoiada the priest” according to 1Ch 27:5, possibly the one who was “prince for Aaron,” i.e., of the family of Aaron, according to 1Ch 12:27, was captain of the Crethi and Plethi according to 2Sa 8:18 and 2Sa 20:23. He was the son of a brave man, rich in deeds (חַי is evidently an error for חַיִל in the Chronicles), of Kabzeel in the south of Judah (Jos 15:21). “He smote the two Ariels of Moab.” The Arabs and Persians call every remarkably brave man Ariel, or lion of God (vid., Bochart, Hieroz. ii. pp. 7, 63). They were therefore two celebrated Moabitish heroes. The supposition that they were sons of the king of the Moabites is merely founded upon the conjecture of Thenius and Bertheau, that the word בְּנֵי (sons of) has dropped out before Ariel. “He also slew the lion in the well on the day of the snow,” i.e., a lion which had been driven into the neighbourhood of human habitations by a heavy fall of snow, and had taken refuge in a cistern. The Chethib הָאַרְיֵה and בְּאֵר are the earlier forms for the Keris substituted by the Masoretes הָאֲרִי and הַבֹּור, and consequently are not to be altered. He also slew an Egyptian of distinguished size. According to the Keri we should read מַרְאֶה אִישׁ (instead of מַרְאֶה fo daetsni( אִ אֲשֶׁר), “a man of appearance,” i.e., a distinguished man, or a man of great size, ἄνδρα ὀρατόν (lxx); in the Chronicles it is simplified as מִדָּה אִישׁ, a man of measure, i.e., of great height. This man was armed with a spear or javelin, whereas Benaiah was only armed with a stick; nevertheless the latter smote him, took away his spear, and slew him with his own weapon. According to the Chronicles the Egyptian was five cubits high, and his spear like a weaver's beam. Through these feats Benaiah acquired a name among the three, though he did not equal them (2Sa 23:22, 2Sa 23:23, as in 2Sa 23:18, 2Sa 23:19); and David made him a member of his privy council (see at 1Sa 22:14).
2Sa 23:24-25
Heroes of the third class. - 2Sa 23:24. “Asahel, the brother of Joab, among the thirty,” i.e., belonging to them. This definition also applies to the following names; we therefore find at the head of the list in the Chronicles, הַחֲיָלִים וְגִבֹּורֵי, “and brave heroes (were).” The names which follow are for the most part not further known. Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, is a different man from the Bethlehemite of that name mentioned in 2Sa 21:19. Shammah the Harodite also must not be confounded with the Shammahs mentioned in 2Sa 23:11 and 2Sa 23:33. In the Chronicles we find Shammoth, a different form of the name; whilst הַהְרֹורִי is an error in writing for הַחֲרֹדִי, i.e., sprung from Harod (Jdg 7:1). This man is called Shamhut in 1Ch 27:8; he was the leader of the fifth division of David's army. Elika or Harod is omitted in the Chronicles; it was probably dropped out in consequence of the homoioteleuton הַחֲרֹדִי.
2Sa 23:26
Helez the Paltite; i.e., sprung from Beth-pelet in the south of Judah (Jos 15:27). He was chief of the seventh division of the army (compare 1Ch 27:10 with 1Ch 11:27, though in both passages הַפַּלְטִי is misspelt הַפְּלֹנִי). Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoah in the desert of Judah (2Sa 14:2), chief of the sixth division of the army (1Ch 27:9).
2Sa 23:27
Abiezer of Anathoth (Anata) in Benjamin (see at Jos 18:24), chief of the ninth division of the army (1Ch 27:12). Mebunnai is a mistake in spelling for Sibbechai the Hushathite (compare 2Sa 21:18 and 1Ch 11:29). According to 1Ch 27:11, he was chief of the eighth division of the army.
2Sa 23:28
Zalmon the Ahohite, i.e., sprung from the Benjaminite family of Ahoah, is not further known. Instead of Zalmon we find Ilai in the Chronicles (2Sa 23:29); but which of the two names is the correct one it is impossible to decide. Maharai of Netophah: according to Ezr 2:22 and Neh 7:26, Netophah was a place in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, but it has not yet been discovered, as Beit Nattif, which might be thought of, is too far from Bethlehem (vid., Rob. Pal. ii. p. 344, and Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, pp. 117-8). According to 1Ch 27:13, Maharai belonged to the Judahite family of Serah, and was chief of the tenth division of the army.
2Sa 23:29
Cheleb, more correctly Cheled (1Ch 11:30; or Cheldai, 1Ch 27:15), also of Netophah, was chief of the twelfth division of the army. Ittai (Ithai in the Chronicles), the son of Ribai of Gibeah of Benjamin, must be distinguished from Ittai the Gathite (2Sa 15:19). Like all that follow, with the exception of Uriah, he is not further known.
2Sa 23:30
Benaiah of Phir'aton in the tribe of Ephraim, a place which has been preserved in the village of Fer'ata, to the south-west of Nablus (see at Jdg 12:13). Hiddai (wrongly spelt Hudai in the Chronicles), out of the valleys of Gaash, in the tribe of Ephraim by the mountain of Gaash, the situation of which has not yet been discovered (see at Jos 24:30).
2Sa 23:31
Abi-Albon (written incorrectly Abiel in the Chronicles) the Arbathite, i.e., from the place called Beth-haarabah or Arabah (Jos 15:61 and Jos 18:18, Jos 18:22) in the desert of Judah, on the site of the present Kasr Hajla (see at Jos 15:6). Azmaveth of Bahurim: see at 2Sa 16:5.
2Sa 23:32-33
Eliahba of Shaalbon or Shaalbin, which may possibly have been preserved in the present Selbit (see at Jos 19:42). The next two names, יְהֹונָתָן יָשֵׁן בְּנֵי and הַהֲרָרִי שַׁמָּה (Bneyashen Jehonathan and Shammah the Hararite), are written thus in the Chronicles (2Sa 23:34), הַהֲרָרִי בֶּן־שָׁגֵא יֹונָתָן הַגִּזֹונִי הָשֵׁם בְּנֵי: “Bnehashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Sage the Hararite,” The text of the Chronicles is evidently the more correct of the two, as Bne Jashen Jehonathan does not make any sense. The only question is whether the form הָשֵׁם בְּנֵי is correct, or whether בְּנֵי has not arisen merely through a misspelling. As the name does not occur again, all that can be said is that Bne hashem must at any rate be written as one word, and therefore should be pointed differently. The place mentioned, Gizon, is unknown. שַׁמָּה for בֶּן־שָׁגֵא probably arose from 2Sa 23:11. Ahiam the son of Sharar or Sacar (Chron.) the Ararite (in the Chronicles the Hararite).
2Sa 23:34
The names in 2Sa 23:34, Eliphelet ben-Ahasbai ben-Hammaacathi, read thus in the Chronicles (2Sa 23:35, 2Sa 23:36): Eliphal ben-Ur; Hepher hammecerathi. We see from this that in ben-Ahasbai ben two names have been fused together; for the text as it lies before us is rendered suspicious partly by the fact that the names of both father and grandfather are given, which does not occur in connection with any other name in the whole list, and partly by the circumstance that בֵּן cannot properly be written with הַמַּעֲכָתִי, which is a Gentile noun. Consequently the following is probably the correct way of restoring the text, הַמַּעֲכָתִי חֵפֶר בֶּן־אוּר אֱלִיפֶלֶט, Eliphelet (a name which frequently occurs) the son of Ur; Hepher the Maachathite, i.e., of Maacah in the north-east of Gilead (see at 2Sa 10:6 and Deu 3:14). Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, the clever but treacherous counsellor of David (see at 2Sa 15:12). This name is quite corrupt in the Chronicles.
2Sa 23:35
Hezro the Carmelite, i.e., of Carmel in the mountains of Judah (1Sa 25:2). Paarai the Arbite, i.e., of Arab, also in the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:52). In the Chronicles we find Naarai ben-Ezbi: the latter is evidently an error in writing for ha-Arbi; but it is impossible to decide which of the two forms, Paarai and Naarai, is the correct one.
2Sa 23:36
Jigal the son of Nathan of Zoba (see at 2Sa 8:3): in the Chronicles, Joel the brother of Nathan. Bani the Gadite: in the Chronicles we have Mibhar the son of Hagri. In all probability the names inf the Chronicles are corrupt in this instance also.
2Sa 23:37
Zelek the Ammonite, Nacharai the Beerothite (of Beeroth: see at 2Sa 4:2), the armour-bearer of Joab. Instead of נֹשְׂאֵי, the Keri and the Chronicles have נֹשֵׂא: the latter reading is favoured by the circumstance, that if more than one of the persons named had been Joab's armour-bearers, their names would most probably have been linked together by a copulative vav.
2Sa 23:38
Ira and Gareb, both of them Jithrites, i.e., sprung from a family in Kirjath-jearim (1Ch 2:53). Ira is of course a different man from the cohen of that name (2Sa 20:26).
2Sa 23:39
Uriah the Hittite is well known from 2Sa 11:3. “Thirty and seven in all.” This number is correct, as there were three in the first class (2Sa 23:8-12), two in the second (2Sa 23:18-23), and thirty-two in the third (vv. 24-39), since 2Sa 23:34 contains three names according to the amended text.