719 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the man [that] shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear,.... To remove these thorns, or sons of Belial, out of the way, or to defend himself against them; or weapons of war must be made use of to conquer and destroy them, according to the sense of Ben Gersom, and which De Dieu follows; a man that meddles with them...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These [be] the names of the mighty men whom David had,.... Besides Joab his general, who is not mentioned; for these were all military men under him, which are distinguished into three classes; the first and highest consisted of three only, who were general officers; and the second also of three, who perhaps were colonels of regiments; and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,.... Or the son of Ahohi, perhaps the same with Ahoah, a descendant of Benjamin, 1 Chronicles 8:4; this Eleazar was the next to the Tachmonite, the second worthy of the first class: [one] of the three mighty men with David; the second of the three valiant men that were with David in his wars,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary,.... He rose up when the Israelites fled, and stood his ground alone, and fought with the Philistines, and smote them with his sword, until his hand was weary with smiting: and his hand clave unto the sword; which was contracted by holding it so long, and grasping it so hard, that it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And after him [was] Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite,.... One who was of the mountainous country, as the Targum, the hill country of Judea, of Hebron, or the parts adjacent; this was the third of the first three; there was one of this name among the thirty, 2 Samuel 23:33; and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop; but so they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he stood in the midst of the ground,.... The field of lentiles: and defended it; the field, so that the Philistines could not ravage it, and get food and forage from it: and slew the Philistines; made a great slaughter among them, entirely routed them, so that they that escaped his sword were obliged to flee: and the Lord wrought a great...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And three of the thirty chiefs went down,.... Or three that were chief of the thirty, superior to them; which some understand of the three before mentioned, so Josephus (w); and that having related some particular exploits of theirs, here observes one, in which they were all concerned; and others think the three next are meant, of whom Abishai was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David [was] then in an hold,.... In a strong hold; the strong hold of Zion, as Josephus (x), or one on a rock near the cave of Adullam, see 1 Chronicles 11:15; and the garrison of the Philistines [was] then [in] Bethlehem; which was about six miles from Jerusalem; the valley of Rephaim lay between that and Bethlehem; so far had they got into...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David longed, and said,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty: oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which [is] by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines,.... Which lay in the valley of Rephaim, between the hold in which David was and the well of Bethlehem; these three men hearing David express himself in the above manner, though without any view that any should risk their lives to obtain it, only in a general way said, oh for a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, be it far from me, O Lord, that one should do this,.... Drink of the water these men had brought him: [is not this] the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? who risked the shedding of their blood, and went in danger of their lives to get it: therefore he would not drink it: some compare with this the story of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among the three,.... Another triumvirate, of which he was the head: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred, [and] slew [them]; Josephus (e) says six hundred; this seems to confirm the reading of 2 Samuel 23:8, that the number eight hundred is right, for if it was only three...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Was he not most honourable of three?.... He was; who, besides the exploit here mentioned, did many other things; he went down with David into Saul's camp, and took away his spear and cruse, which were at his bolster, 1 Samuel 26:6; he relieved David when in danger from Ishbibenob the giant, 2 Samuel 21:16; he beat the Edomites, and slew eighteen...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel,.... A city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:21; the father of this man was a man of great vivacity, valour, and strength, so that it was like father like son. Procopius Gazaeus says Benaiah was David's brother's son, and a grandson of Jesse: who had done many acts; which may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man,.... A person of good countenance and shape, very large and tall; in 1 Chronicles 11:28, he is said to be a man of great stature, and five cubits high, and so wanted a cubit and a span of the height of Goliath, 1 Samuel 17:4; and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; as large as Goliath's; for in 1 Chronicles...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These [things] did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,.... Slew a lion, and two lion-like men of Moab, and an Egyptian of a gigantic stature, 2 Samuel 23:20: and had the name among three mighty men; of which he was one, and Abishai another, the third Asahel, one of the thirty; or was over them, 2 Samuel 23:24, since thirty are reckoned without him....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He was more honourable than the thirty,.... Whose names are after recorded: but he attained not to the [first] three; the first triumvirate, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; he was not equal to them for fortitude, courage, and military exploits: and David set him over his guard; his bodyguard, the Cherethites and Pelethites, 2 Samuel 8:18; who are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Asahel the brother of Joab [was] one of the thirty,.... Or rather over the thirty (n), who are next mentioned; since there are thirty reckoned besides him, and the Arabic version calls him the prince of the thirty; Joab is not named at all, because he was general of the whole army, and so not to be reckoned in any of the three classes: Elhanan the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Shammah the Harodite,.... Called Shammah the Harorite in 1 Chronicles 11:27; by a change of the letters ר "R" and ד "D", which is frequent: Elika the Harodite; or who was of Harod, as the Targum; these both were from one place: mention is made of the well of Harod, Judges 7:1.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Helez the Paltite,.... Who was of a place called Pater, as the Targum; in 1 Chronicles 11:27, he is called the Pelonite: Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; who was of the city of Tekoah, the native place of Amos the prophet, famous for oil, about twelve miles from Jerusalem; [See comments on Amos 1:1].