1 Chronicles 12:18

18 The Spirit of God came on Amasai. He was chief of the Thirty. He said, "David, we belong to you! Son of Jesse, we're on your side! May you have great success. May those who help you also have success. Your God will help you." So David welcomed them. He made them leaders 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 Some men from the territories of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his usual place of safety.

17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, "Have you come to me in peace? Have you come to help me? If you have, I'm ready to have you join me. But suppose you have come to hand me over to my enemies when I haven't even harmed anyone. Then may the God of our people see it and judge you."

18 The Spirit of God came on Amasai. He was chief of the Thirty. He said, "David, we belong to you! Son of Jesse, we're on your side! May you have great success. May those who help you also have success. Your God will help you." So David welcomed them. He made them leaders in his army.

19 Some men of Manasseh went over to David's side when he marched out with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men didn't help the Philistines. That's because after all of the Philistine rulers had discussed the matter, they sent him away. They said, "Suppose he deserts to his master Saul. Then our heads will be cut off!"

20 So David went to Ziklag. Here are the men of Manasseh who went over to his side. They were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. They were leaders of companies of 1,000 men in Manasseh.