2 Samuel 23:19

19 Was he not more honored than the Three? ^[a] And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

2 Samuel 23:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 23:19

Was he not most honourable of three?
&c.] He was; who, besides the exploit here mentioned, did many other things; he went down with David into Saul's camp, and took away his spear and cruse, which were at his bolster, ( 1 Samuel 26:6-12 ) ; he relieved David when in danger from Ishbibenob the giant, ( 2 Samuel 21:16 2 Samuel 21:17 ) ; he beat the Edomites, and slew eighteen thousand of them in the valley of salt, ( 1 Chronicles 18:12 ) :

therefore he was their captain;
of the other two, or was head over them, took rank before them:

howbeit he attained not unto the [first] three;
for fortitude, courage, and warlike exploits, namely, to the Tachmonite, Eleazar, and Shammah.

2 Samuel 23:19 In-Context

17 saying, “Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.

19 Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

20 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.

21 He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; Syriac the Thirty