2 Samuel 23:18

18 Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.

2 Samuel 23:18 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 23:18

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was
chief among the three
Another triumvirate, of which he was the head:

and he lifted up his spear against three hundred, [and] slew [them];
Josephus ^F5 says six hundred; this seems to confirm the reading of ( 2 Samuel 23:8 ) , that the number eight hundred is right, for if it was only three hundred, Abishai would have been equal to one, even the first, of the former three; which yet is denied him in ( 2 Samuel 23:19 ) :

and had the name among three;
of which he was one; and he had the chief name among them, or was the most famous of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.

2 Samuel 23:18 In-Context

16 The three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh.

17 He said, Be it far from me, Yahweh, that I should do this: [shall I drink] the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

18 Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.

19 Wasn't he most honorable of the three? therefore he was made their captain: however he didn't attain to the [first] three

20 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he killed the two [sons of] Ariel of Moab: he went down also and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.