2 Samuel 23:11

11 Next to him [was] Shamma, the son of Agee the Hararite. When [the] Philistines assembled at Lehi, a plot of the field was there filled with lentils, and the army fled there from the presence of [the] Philistines.

2 Samuel 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 23:11

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 were no doubt at first; R. Isaiah takes it to be the name of a place called Chiyah; as the Targum, Chayatha; and which Kimchi says was a village, an unwalled town; and Ben Melech observes, that it is said in the Arabic language, a collection of houses is called Alchai: it may be the same with Lehi, where Samson slew a thousand with the jawbone of an ass, ( Judges 15:17 ) , whence it had its name; and Josephus F21 says, the place where the Philistines were gathered together was called "the Jawbone": but perhaps the sense of Ben Gersom may be best of all, that they gathered together in this place for provision, for food and forage, to support the life of them and their cattle: since it follows,

where was a piece of ground full of lentiles;
a sort of pulse, which was eaten in those countries, and the pottage of which was delicious food, see ( Genesis 25:30 Genesis 25:34 ) ;

and the people fled from the Philistines;
as they did before under Eleazar, ( 2 Samuel 23:9 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

2 Samuel 23:11 In-Context

9 Next to him Eleazar, the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite, [was] among the three mighty warriors with David when they defied the Philistines and they gathered there for the battle and the men of Israel withdrew.
10 He stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand grew tired and his hand clung to the sword, and Yahweh brought about a great victory on that day. Then the army returned back to him only for stripping [the dead].
11 Next to him [was] Shamma, the son of Agee the Hararite. When [the] Philistines assembled at Lehi, a plot of the field was there filled with lentils, and the army fled there from the presence of [the] Philistines.
12 But he took a stand in the middle of the plot of land and defended it. He killed [the] Philistines, and Yahweh brought about a great victory.
13 Then three of the thirty leaders went down and came to David {at the time of the harvest} to the cave of Adullam, while a group of [the] Philistines [were] camping in the valley of [the] Rephaim.
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