2 Samuel 23:11-21

11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. Then the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. And the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem
15 And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"
16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.
17 And he said, "Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.
18 Now Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three.
19 Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three
20 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
21 And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear

2 Samuel 23:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 23

In this chapter are recorded the last words of David under a divine inspiration, 2Sa 23:1-7; and an account is given of his great men, famous for warlike exploits, particularly of three mighty men who did very marvellous things, 2Sa 23:8-17; and of two others next unto them, which belonged to another class of three, 2Sa 23:18-23; and then of thirty one more, 2Sa 23:24-39; who are all mentioned by name.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Vulgate; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac read thirty; Targum reads the mighty men.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.