2 Samuel 23:19

19 He was the most famous of the Thirty. He became their commander, but he wasn't 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 "The LORD forbid that I should do that," he said. "Isn't this the blood of men who risked their lives?" So he refused to drink it. These were the kinds of things the three warriors did.

18 Now Zeruiah's son Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty. He raised his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and made a name for himself along with the Three.

19 He was the most famous of the Thirty. He became their commander, but he wasn't among the Three

20 Jehoiada's son Benaiah was a hero from Kabzeel who performed great deeds. He killed the two sons of Ariel from Moab. He once went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day.

21 He also killed a giant Egyptian who had a spear in his hand. Benaiah went against him armed with a staff. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear

Footnotes

• [a]. Syr; cf 1 Chron 11:25; MT Wasn’t he the most famous of the Three?