1 Chronicles 12:18

18 Then the spirit clothed himself in Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, For thee, O David, and with thee, thou son of Jesse. Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy helpers; for thy God helps thee. Then David received them and put them among the captains of the band.

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 Likewise, some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David, to the fortress.
17 And David went out to meet them and answered and said unto them, If you are come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if you are come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is no violence in my hands, let the God of our fathers look thereon and rebuke it.
18 Then the spirit clothed himself in Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, For thee, O David, and with thee, thou son of Jesse. Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy helpers; for thy God helps thee. Then David received them and put them among the captains of the band.
19 And some of Manasseh passed over to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, although they did not help them, for the cardinals of the Philistines, upon counsel, sent him away, saying, He will pass over to his master Saul with our heads.
20 As he went to Ziklag, there passed over to him of Manasseh, Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zilthai, heads of the thousands that were of Manasseh.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010