1 Chronicles 12:18

18 God's spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of "The Thirty," and he called out, "David son of Jesse, we are yours! Success to you and those who help you! God is on your side." David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.

1 Chronicles 12:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 12:18

Then the spirit came upon Amasai
Or "clothed" ^F6 him; a spirit of fortitude, as the Targum, of strength, courage, and presence of mind, with which he was endowed, covered, and clothed as with a garment; this was a sister's son of David's, see ( 2 Samuel 17:25 )

who was chief of the captains;
of them that came at this time with him to David; he was afterwards Absalom's general, and designed to be David's, but was murdered by Joab:

and he said, thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse;
which being spoken in this short and concise manner, as the supplement shows, denotes the vehemency with which he spake, and is expressive of their cordial fidelity to him, and their resolution to abide by him at all events:

peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers;
wishing all prosperity, temporal and spiritual, to him and all his confederates and auxiliaries, among whom they reckoned themselves:

for thy God helpeth thee;
which they perceived by the remarkable deliverances of him out of the hand of Saul, when in imminent danger; the Targum is,

``for the Word of the Lord is for thy help:''

then David received them;
into the hold, and admitted them as his friends:

and made them the captains of the band;
they brought with them; or in later times, when he came to the throne.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (hvbl) "induit", Pagninus, Montanus

1 Chronicles 12:18 In-Context

16 Once a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went out to the fort where David was.

17 David went to meet them and said, "If you are coming as friends to help me, you are welcome here. Join us! But if you intend to betray me to my enemies, even though I have not tried to hurt you, the God of our ancestors will know it and punish you."

18 God's spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of "The Thirty," and he called out, "David son of Jesse, we are yours! Success to you and those who help you! God is on your side." David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.

19 Some soldiers from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David's side when he was marching out with the Philistines to fight King Saul. Actually he did not help the Philistines, for their kings were afraid that he would betray them to his former master Saul, so they sent him back to Ziklag.

20 These are the soldiers from Manasseh who went over to David's side when he was returning: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. In Manasseh they had all commanded units of a thousand men.