1 Chronicles 12:18

18 And the spirit clothed Amasai, the prince among (the) thirty, and he said, O! David, we be thine, and thou, son of Jesse, we shall be with thee; peace, peace to thee, and peace to thine helpers, for thy Lord God helpeth thee. Therefore David received them, and made [them] princes of the company. (And the spirit clothed Amasai, later the leader of The Thirty, and he said, O! David, we be thine, and thou, son of Jesse, we shall be with thee; peace, peace to thee, and peace to thine helpers, for the Lord thy God helpeth thee. And so David received them, and 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (hvbl) "induit", Pagninus, Montanus

1 Chronicles 12:18 In-Context

16 And also (some) men of Benjamin and of Judah came to the stronghold, wherein David dwelled (where David lived).
17 And David went out against them, and said, If ye come peaceable to me, for to help me, mine heart be joined to you; forsooth if ye set ambush to me for mine adversaries, since I have not wickedness in the hands, God of our fathers see and deem. (And David went out to meet them, and said, If ye have come in peace to me, yea, to help me, my heart shall be joined to you; but if ye set ambush against me for my adversaries, since I have no wickedness in my hands, let the God of our fathers see and judge.)
18 And the spirit clothed Amasai, the prince among (the) thirty, and he said, O! David, we be thine, and thou, son of Jesse, we shall be with thee; peace, peace to thee, and peace to thine helpers, for thy Lord God helpeth thee. Therefore David received them, and made [them] princes of the company. (And the spirit clothed Amasai, later the leader of The Thirty, and he said, O! David, we be thine, and thou, son of Jesse, we shall be with thee; peace, peace to thee, and peace to thine helpers, for the Lord thy God helpeth thee. And so David received them, and made them leaders in his army.)
19 And (some) men of Manasseh fled over to David, when he came with Philistines to fight against Saul, and he fought not with them; for after that the princes of Philistines had taken counsel, they sent him again, and said, With peril of our head, he shall turn again to Saul his lord. (And some men of Manasseh fled over to David, when he came with the Philistines to fight against Saul, though he did not fight with them; for after that the princes, or the leaders, of the Philistines had taken counsel, they sent him away, for they said, He shall return to his lord Saul, at the peril of our own heads.)
20 Therefore when David turned again into Ziklag, men of Manasseh fled over to him, Adnah, and Jozabad, Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, princes of knights in Manasseh. (And so when David returned to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh fled over to him; Adnah, and Jozabad, Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai; each of them was a leader of a thousand horsemen in Manasseh.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.