2 Samuel 23:11

11 Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled,

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 in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled.
10 He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the LORD gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!
11 Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled,
12 but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.
13 Once during the harvest, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty—an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there.
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