2 Samuel 23:9

9 Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo ^[a] the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated,

2 Samuel 23:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 23:9

And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite
Or the son of Ahohi, perhaps the same with Ahoah, a descendant of Benjamin, ( 1 Chronicles 8:4 ) ; this Eleazar was the next to the Tachmonite, the second worthy of the first class:

[one] of the three mighty men with David;
the second of the three valiant men that were with David in his wars, and fought with him, and for him:

when they defied the Philistines;
clapped their hands at them, gloried over them, daring them to come and light them; so did David and his mighty men, as Goliath had defied them before:

[that] were there gathered together to battle;
at Pasdammim, as appears from ( 1 Chronicles 11:13 ) ;

and the men of Israel were gone away;
fled when they saw the Philistines gather together to fight them, notwithstanding they had defied them; and so David, and his three mighty men, were left alone to combat with the Philistines.

2 Samuel 23:9 In-Context

7 The man who touches them must be armed with iron or with the shaft of a spear. The fire burns them to ashes in the place where they lie.”

8 These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

9 Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated,

10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck the Philistines until his hand grew weary and stuck to his sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops returned to him, but only to plunder the dead.

11 And after him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines had banded together near a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dodo is a variant of Dodai; see 1 Chronicles 27:4.