These are the names of the mighty men whom David had Joseb-Bassebeth, Tachkemonite the chief of the captains he was Adino the Eznite; he [fought] against eight hundred, slain [by him] at one time.
This verse opens the roll call of David's mighty men. It gives a name that is hard to read, a spear, and eight hundred enemies killed at one time — details God chose to keep.
The same man appears in 1 Chronicles under a different name. One reference work lists the options without forcing a solution:
In 1 Chronicles 11:11 the chief of the captains is Jashobeam a Hachmonite, or son of Hachmoni. It is difficult to reconcile the two passages. Some think that Jashobeam and Josheb-basshebeth are the same name, varied by a copyist. Others take the passage in Samuel to be incorrect, and make "Adino the Eznite" not a proper name but 'he swung his spear.' The two passages may refer to different persons. Note that Jashobeam is said to have killed three hundred men, and Adino killed eight hundred. Jashobeam is also named when David came into power, and Adino in connection with 'the last words of David.' So Jashobeam may have died, and Adino become chief in his place.
Another writer gives up on settling the wording and looks for help elsewhere:
Out of all this it is hard to gather any meaning we can fully rely on. The spiritual meaning is what should give us the largest help among difficulties as great and as many as we find here.
He holds first place for more than the size of the victory. He also refused to stop:
The first, Josheb-basshebeth, had brandished his spear against eight hundred men. He killed them at one time. He did not stop until there were no opponents left. Hence his pre-eminence, for his name translated means: "He who sits in the first place."
The name can also be read as "one sitting in the seat." That reading points to where a believer's strength in conflict comes from:
The picture here is of Christian warfare at its highest. For an account of that warfare we must go to the letter to the Ephesians. First, Ephesians brings us into the place itself — the very place of the conflict. God "has raised us up" with Christ from the dead, says the apostle, and "seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." This is beyond doubt the "sitting in the seat" that the highest warfare, the Christian warfare, requires. Keeping this place — abiding in it — is the great necessity for spiritual triumph. The place every believer has. The practical abiding in it — how little is this to be seen!
One writer traces their staying power back to a single fact:
Where did their perseverance come from? Alone, they would have weakened. But all three were "with David" and under his eyes during the fight. He inspired them with courage and patience in their efforts.
David's army commander does not appear on this list at all:
Joab held the top position as head of the army until the end of David's reign. Yet the list of David's mighty men leaves him out. He may have performed more brilliant actions than all the others. He showed much courage, and even a certain outward devotion to the king. But these qualities in themselves do not give anyone a place in God's register. What marked David's mighty men was this: grace had joined them to the Lord's anointed. Joab served David for his own interest, and his actions never sprang from fellowship with his head. His name is passed over in silence.
The record is exact: the weapon, the number, the one occasion. That exactness carries a promise:
His service stands out in all its worth, and the detail is exact. The record gives the exact character of his victories. And no doubt one day we will see this: many servants of Christ have defeated many hard-hearted enemies of God by the power of the gospel. They have brought them as willing captives to the feet of Jesus. All this service and its detail will not be forgotten.
- Seated first — the chief man's name means "he who sits in the first place." He kept fighting until no enemy was left.
- Still seated — read as "sitting in the seat," the name points to the place God has already given every believer. Holding it is what makes victory possible.
- With David — the three did not weaken because they fought under the king's eye. Nearness to him was the source of their courage.
- Not brilliance — Joab may have outdone them all, yet the list leaves him out. Success without fellowship with the king earns no place in God's register.
- Written down — the weapon, the number, the one occasion. God keeps the details of service, and they will not be forgotten.
And after him, Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite he was one of the three mighty men with David, when they had defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone up.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave to the sword; and Jehovah wrought a great deliverance that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
David's list of mighty men gives one sentence to Eleazar. He kept fighting after everyone else had left the field. The verse holds three things worth weighing: a hand worn out, a hand that could not let go, and a victory that goes to the Lord, not the swordsman.
Verse 9 says the men of Israel had gone away. He stood with no one beside him. One commentator notes what God does with faith like that.
Eleazar holds the second place of honour (vv. 9-10). He did not retreat when the rest of Israel retreated. He carried on the battle with the Philistines alone, and for so long that his hand stuck to the sword he was using. By his energy of faith the Lord accomplished a great victory. The Lord honours the faith of a man who will not let the enemy frighten him, even when no one else stands with him.
One writer points to where Eleazar's confidence came from, and to where his strength ran out.
He expected no help from the men of Israel, because he did not count on man's strength. Being with David (v. 9) was enough for him to defy the Philistines. He struck them and did not stop until "his hand was weary" (v. 10). There may be limits in the fight of faith, because God uses imperfect instruments, and they can reach the limits of their strength. But Eleazar kept on until "his hand clung to the sword" (v. 10). It was impossible to separate him from the weapon he was using. May Eleazar's victory be ours as well! Our weapons are not the weapons of the flesh; we have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Let us use it in such a way that we are, so to speak, one with it even after the battle.
A hand fused to a hilt also pictures what long use of Scripture does to a person.
The same is true of any faithful and devoted follower of Christ. Through long experience in the ways of God, and by sticking closely to His word, he answers the arguments of men and defeats the enemies of God's people. The more he uses "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," the more sure he is that it is enough for every situation. His delight in the law of the Lord will match his desire for it. He feels its worth more each day. His heart keeps the mark of the word of God, just as the hilt of the sword left its mark in Eleazar's hand.
The verse does not end with the swordsman. The Lord works the victory, and Eleazar's own name points the same way.
His very name, "God is help," turns from the man to God. What could he do on his own against the enemy's whole army? His arm grows weary, but the weary hand clings to the good sword. We no longer see the weak arm of a man. We see the power of God behind that weary arm, carving out victory with that sword. The man has become one with the sword, and God can use a man like that.
The last line of the verse belongs to the men who left. They came back for the spoil once the fighting was won, and one writer sees the same pattern now.
The Spirit records his persevering faithfulness. We are told that he "struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword." It is also noted that he won a great victory, and that because of him others came after only "to strip the slain." So it is now. At times almost all have turned away from standing for the truth. Then some brave servant of the Lord has stood against the enemy, his hand clinging to the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and has won a great victory. Many a child of God coming after him has reaped precious fruit from it.
The same picture appears again in Paul — deserted and writing from prison.
There is no greater sight than Paul — deserted, alone, in prison — keeping by grace his confidence in the Lord and in the truth entrusted to him. Though faint, he was still pressing on; and though he was weary in his lonely fight, his hand still clung to his sword (see 2 Sam. 23:10).
- Alone. The men of Israel had gone away. God honours the faith of a man who will not fear the enemy, even when nobody stands with him.
- Weary. The fight of faith has limits. God uses imperfect people, and their strength does run out.
- Welded. His hand clung to the sword. He kept on until nothing could part him from it, and the hilt left its mark in his hand.
- Won. The credit goes past the swordsman to God — even his name, "God is help," turns attention away from the man.
- Wealth. Others returned only to strip the slain. Later believers still reap fruit from ground won by those who stayed and fought.
And after him, Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite the Philistines were gathered into a troop, and there was there a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people had fled before the Philistines;
Tucked into the roll of David's warriors is a farmer's field. The Philistines massed for a raid and Israel's army ran. One man stayed, alone in a bean patch. Why was that small piece of ground worth a life?
The verse names a soldier no one would otherwise know, and a crop no one would think to fight over. Lentils were cheap, everyday food.
The small seeds of different kinds of vetch used for food. When ground, the meal can be made into a tasty red stew. Genesis 25:34; 2 Samuel 23:11. Lentils were part of the food supply for David and his followers when Absalom rebelled. 2 Samuel 17:28. They were also used in a time of scarcity, and among the poor, as an ingredient in their bread.
The size of the prize is the point — a scrap of land, and the food growing on it.
The thing they were fighting over was "a plot of ground full of lentils." It was a very small part of the inheritance that God had given Israel, but it held food for the people. The enemy was trying to take the field and its crop away from them. Shammah stood in the middle of the field and kept it for God's people. This deed speaks to our consciences. Our inheritance and our "plot of ground" are heavenly. We must defend them, and our heavenly food too — the Word which God has entrusted to us. God's people run from the enemy like cowards, admitting to their shame that unbelief has the right to treat the Word of God as nothing.
Shammah's deed differs from the two exploits just before it. Adino attacked; Eleazar fought for spoil; Shammah refused to move.
In the conflicts of the Lord's people we see these different forms of service. There are times when the Lord calls for an attack on the forces of evil, as with Adino. There are times when there is spoil to be gained through conflict, as on the day of Eleazar's victory. And there are times when we are called to stand our ground and act on the defensive, as on the day of Shammah's mighty deed.
The people fled; he stayed. Writers make this faithfulness at its hardest — staying where others have given up.
Shammah "remained behind." Shammah "endured." There are perhaps few things harder than to endure. When others have given up, staying behind is not easy. I suppose Shammah's friends and fellow soldiers told him it was hopeless. They would say that staying where he was meant certain death, and that a field of lentils was not worth remaining behind for. And you and I have been given a field of lentils to defend, and our Lord has placed us in the middle of it. Our field of lentils may be our home, or the office, or the shop. It may be the small, weak company of two or three gathered to our Lord's own Name, that others have despised and left for something bigger and more attractive.
Writers trace the same pattern into the New Testament: the others give way, and one man holds the ground alone.
Peter had failed. Even Barnabas, who had stood so bravely with Paul in Jerusalem, had turned aside through fear. Paul is left to fight the battle single-handed. It reminds us of Shammah in 2 Samuel 23:11-12. All the people of Israel were afraid and ran away as the Philistines came. But Shammah stood in a piece of ground full of lentils, and he defended it all alone, single-handed: "and the Lord worked a great victory."
Shammah was defending David's claim, not his own patch. And when the record honours what he did, it hands the credit elsewhere.
Shammah's service could not go unnoticed either. It was only a piece of ground full of lentils that he defended and secured for David, yet he was determined not to yield even that right of David to the enemy. It is worth noticing that the courage and faithfulness of this man came out at a time when the people, instead of standing firm, actually "fled from the Philistines." But in both verse 10 and verse 12 the Holy Spirit carefully records that "the Lord worked a great victory." God accepts the brave deeds of His servants and puts them to their account. Yet it is all done in His strength, and by the grace He gives, so that all the glory is due to Him.
- Small ground. A lentil patch was a scrap of Israel's inheritance — but it was the people's food, and the enemy wanted it.
- Stand, don't chase. Attacking, gaining spoil, and holding ground are all service. Shammah's was defence.
- Stay put. The people fled; the whole exploit was that one man remained behind and endured.
- Your patch. Home, work, or a small gathering of believers may be the ground the Lord has set you in to defend.
- His victory. Shammah held David's ground, and the record gives the Lord the great victory. The strength was His; the glory is His.
and he stood in the midst of the plot and delivered it, and smote the Philistines, and Jehovah wrought a great deliverance.
Shammah was one of David's mighty men, and the army around him had just fled from the Philistines. He stayed in a small field of lentils and held it, yet the verse gives the great victory to the LORD, not to him.
A field of lentils looks too small to fight over. Its size was not what mattered.
The object they were contesting was "a plot of ground full of lentils," a very little part of the inheritance that God had given Israel, but one containing food for the people. The enemy was seeking to deprive them of the field and its crop. Shammah stood in the middle of the field and preserved it for God's people. This deed speaks to our consciences. Our inheritance and our "plot of ground" are heavenly, and we must defend them as well as our heavenly food, the Word which God has entrusted to us.
The same reading is applied directly to the life of a church:
This illustrates the faithfulness of a believer in fighting to keep the food of the word of God from being stolen from God's people. May we stand firmly and decidedly against anything that will deprive the saints of God of the food of His word that is so necessary for their sustenance.
Not every battle calls for an advance. One writer compares Shammah's stand with the work of the two men named before him.
In the conflicts of the Lord's people we see these different forms of service. There are times when the Lord calls for an attack upon the forces of evil, as in the case of Adino. There are occasions when there is spoil to be gained through conflict, as in the day of Eleazar's victory. So too there are times when the Lord calls us to stand our ground, and act on the defensive, as it was in the day of Shammah's mighty deed.
Holding ground brings a danger of its own:
Shammah, one of David's mighty men, stood in the middle of a plot of lentils and delivered it out of the enemy's hand. He withstood the enemy, secured the plot, part of God's inheritance given to His people, and stood there in possession. In this warfare there is no chance to take off our armour; our foes are cunning and watchful... if we overcome him in the Lord's strength, we should watch in case he tries to win back from us the ground he was forced to give up.
One writer imagines what Shammah's friends said as they left him there.
Shammah "remained behind." Shammah "endured." There are, perhaps, few things more difficult than to endure. When others have given up, to remain behind, is not easy. I suppose Shammah's friends and fellow-soldiers told him it was hopeless, it was certain death to stay where he was, and anyway for a field of lentils it was not worth remaining behind... And you and I have been given a field of lentils to defend... Our field of lentils may be our home, or the office, or the shop. It may be the small, weak gathering of two or three in our Lord's own Name, which others have looked down on and left for something greater and more attractive.
The crop itself carries a lesson. One writer sets Shammah's watchfulness beside two later calls to guard the truth.
The vigilance of Shammah in defending the piece of ground full of lentils recalls the anxiety of the apostle of the Gentiles that the truth of the gospel should remain with them, and his zeal in defending it (Gal. 2:5). It recalls the warning of Jude also to believers, "to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints," a needful warning even in that day; for the enemy was already in the field. And is there not a voice for us in this too? What "the piece of ground" produced in such quantity, lentils, is the same food that Esau ate when he was faint. He then revived, "rose up, and went his way" (Gen. 25:30).
The verse ends with another name. One writer points out where the same words appear two verses earlier.
It is worth noting also that the courage and faithfulness of this man came out at a time when the people, instead of standing true, actually "fled from the Philistines." But in both verse 10 and verse 12 the Holy Spirit carefully notices that "the LORD worked a great victory." God does accept the brave deeds of His servants, and puts them to their account. Yet it is all done in His strength, and by the grace He gives, so that to Him all the glory is due.
Another sees the added name as the real headline of the whole list:
After this a name is added of far more importance than all the rest, and with it the secret of the warrior's success: "And the LORD worked a great victory." ... It also shows how He identifies Himself with His servants, and lends His strength to those who fight His battles against the enemy.
- The ground — a small plot, but part of God's inheritance and the food of His people; that is why the enemy wanted it.
- The stand — not attack, not spoil, but holding ground; and once you hold it, guard it, because the enemy comes back.
- The loneliness — the crowd fled first. Staying behind when others call it hopeless is the hardest courage of all.
- The application — your field may look ordinary: a home, a workplace, a small gathering, the truth handed to you. Defend it anyway.
- The credit — the LORD worked the victory, not Shammah. God counts the servant's brave deeds, but He supplies the strength, so the glory goes back to Him.
And three of the thirty chiefs went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, when the troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
Three of David's thirty chief men leave the harvest behind and go down to a cave, with a Philistine force camped nearby. Why trade the richest season of the year for a hiding place with a rejected man?
David had killed Goliath and saved Israel. Now he was disowned and hiding, and only a few men still wanted to be where he was.
David was in the cave of Adullam at this time, rejected and disowned, though he was the conqueror of Goliath and the deliverer of Israel. There are a few, and only a few, who care so much for David that they will tie their future to his. And they do so at a moment when, at least to the eye, everything is as dark as it can be. How does it show? Where he is, there they will be. David is the one they are thinking of; they want to be near him. They refuse everything except what connects them with him. If they are to share his triumphs and honours later, they will share his reproach and shame now.
The timing matters. They came when the fields were full.
These three mighty men "came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam" (13). It seems as if they left the world in the day of its plenty, to identify themselves with David in the day of his poverty and reproach.
The cave was not a place of disgrace for those who went there. It was where greatness was produced — and one famous name is missing from the record.
David is now the outcast, hidden in the cave of Adullam. Will Jonathan join him there and own him in the day of his rejection? Sadly, Jonathan's name is missing from the record of those whose loyalty and devotion drew them to David in the cave! ... The men who gathered to David in Adullam were, it is true, a mixed group. But they gathered to the right person, and in the right place, as the outcome proved. The cave gave birth to the mighty men of renown who are recorded in 2 Samuel 23.
David did more than gather men there. He remade them.
David is able to create, to form, the most wretched beings in his own image. The reflection of his moral beauty falls on those who have nothing to bring him but their misery. In the dark cave of Adullam the light shining out from David shines on these four hundred men around him. In the day of glory, which is already approaching, every eye will recognize and every mouth will acclaim what grace made of them in the day of trouble.
The verse counts these three men but never names them. One writer finds a reason for that silence.
Why this remarkable leaving out of their names in the account of their exploit? It is because here it is no longer a matter of energy and perseverance, but one of the devotion of faith. And this devotion springs naturally from the hearts of servants who know and value their Master. By its very nature devotion is something obscure. What man has the right to boast of devotion? ... Danger did not frighten them when they went to draw water from the well at Bethlehem. The one they loved was thirsty here at harvest time. ... God records this devotion in His book.
Coming down to the cave was not the famous act — but it was the act that made the famous one possible. Only men inside the cave could hear what David said next, and what he said was not an order.
It is not a command that demands obedience; it is not a call for service; it is only the expression of his longing desire. And yet this spoken desire calls out this devoted act of love in a way that no command would have done.
The Philistines in verse 13 are not scenery. They held the ground the three would have to cross.
The garrison of the Philistines had taken possession of Bethlehem while David was in exile in the cave of Adullam. Saul did not have the energy to drive the Philistines out of Bethlehem, which means the house of bread. David expressed the longing for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem.
- Person. They went down because David had eclipsed everything else in their affections. The pull was a person, not a cause.
- Price. They came at harvest, leaving the world in its season of plenty to share a rejected man's poverty and reproach.
- Place. The cave looked like the end of a career. It became the birthplace of the mighty men. Jonathan stayed away, and his name is missing from the list.
- Position. Standing near David let them hear a longing he never turned into a command. Devotion answers a desire; duty waits for an order.
- Proof. The record leaves their names out, because devotion by its nature is obscure. But God writes it in His book, and the day of glory will acclaim what the cave produced.
And David was then in the stronghold; and the Philistines' garrison was then at Bethlehem.
This verse fixes two points on a map. Israel's anointed king is shut up in a stronghold, while enemy troops hold the town he was born in.
Israel had a king on the throne, and he was not David. Every man in the land had to choose between the two.
The choice lay between Saul and David — Saul a picture of the natural, fleshly man, and David a picture of Christ. Saul is in the palace. He sits on the throne. The kingdom is at his feet. David is in the cave of Adullam. A band of men has gathered round him. Affection draws them, and they are devoted to his cause.
Rejection is not the same as failure.
David was in the cave of Adullam, rejected and disowned at this time, though he was the conqueror of Goliath and the deliverer of Israel. There are a few, and only a few, who care so much for David that they will link their destiny with his. And they do it at a moment when, to all appearances, everything is as dark as it can be.
The second half of the verse reports an occupation. Enemy soldiers held David's home town, and the king on the throne left them there.
The garrison of the Philistines had taken possession of Bethlehem while David was in exile in the cave of Adullam. Saul did not have the energy to drive the Philistines out of Bethlehem (the house of bread). And David expressed the longing for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem.
The town's name matters as much as its position.
David was anointed in the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite. So Bethlehem was apparently the place of David's birth. This explains why Luke 2:11 calls it the city of David. It was also the birthplace of Jesus. Though the town was little among the clans of Judah, that fitted His humiliation better. Bethlehem means "house of bread." It is a very fitting name for a place from which the Saviour should come as a man — He who was the living bread that came down from heaven.
Reaching David cost these men something.
These three mighty men came "about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam." It seems they left the world in the day of its plenty. They chose to identify themselves with David in the day of his poverty and reproach.
Their aim was not a cause but a person.
They want to be with him. They refuse everything except what connects them with him. And while all around outside is dark, they within will keep him company. They are in the place to know his wishes. Had they not been in the cave with David, they never would have heard his longing for water from the well of Bethlehem.
Put the two halves of the verse together and an obstacle appears. The water David wanted lay behind enemy lines.
The Philistine army camped in tight ranks between the hold and the well. These three devoted men did not count the cost of the simple act of satisfying David's desire. They wanted to please David. Nothing pleased them so much as pleasing him.
Commentators see David's rejection as a picture of Christ's place today.
Next we find him in the cave of Adullam, a name meaning a witness. Here a strange company gathers around the rejected king. It was made up of 400 men, and he became their captain. Some of them were in distress, others in debt, and others discontented. It was a blessed scene, pointing forward to Him to whom all can come who are in distress, who feel their debt, their sinfulness, their sorrow and their need. And a greater One than David is here. Our Lord is rejected, but those who admit their need acknowledge Him, and He has power to meet it all in the riches of His grace. They and their captain, the Lord's anointed, were outside the camp. Such a place there is today for all who know Him, who is rejected by men. "Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured" (Hebrews 13:13). And later those who had gathered around David in the cave, and suffered with him, were remembered in a special way (2 Samuel 23:8-39). "If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12).
- Stronghold — David is the anointed king, yet he hides while another man sits on the throne. Every Israelite had to choose between the two.
- Garrison — enemy troops hold Bethlehem, the "house of bread." It is David's birthplace, and later the birthplace of Jesus. Saul had no energy to drive them out.
- Nearness — three men came down to the hold at harvest time and traded plenty for reproach. Being inside is how they heard what David longed for.
- Cost — the Philistine army stood between the hold and the well. The three did not count the cost, because nothing pleased them like pleasing David.
- Crown — the rejected king still gathers the distressed today. Those who suffered with David in the cave are the names honoured in this chapter.
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate!
Philistine troops hold Bethlehem, the town David grew up in. David himself is shut up in a stronghold. A memory of the water by the town gate draws a sigh out of him. Three men overhear it. What they do with a sigh, not an order, makes this small scene one of Scripture's clearest pictures of devotion.
Nothing in David's words obliges anyone. That is exactly the force of them.
David was in the stronghold, while a Philistine garrison held the place of David's early home. David thinks of the well by the gate of Bethlehem. He had no doubt often drawn water from it in his youth, and now he expresses his longing for a refreshing drink from that well. "Oh," he says, "that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!" It is no command that needs obedience. It is no call for service. It is only the expression of his longing desire. And yet this expressed desire calls forth this devoted act of love in a way that no command would have done.
The wish hung in the air, addressed to no one.
There was no command issued. No one in particular was singled out and commissioned to go. There was the simple utterance of the desire, and this it was which gave the opportunity for genuine affection and true devotedness.
These men wanted David himself — his shame now, not just his honours later.
David was in the cave of Adullam, rejected and disowned at this time, though he was the conqueror of Goliath and the deliverer of Israel. David is the one they are thinking of; they want to be with him. If they are to share his triumphs and honours later on, they will share his reproach and shame now... If they had not been in the cave with David, they never would have heard his longing for water from the well of Bethlehem. And they never would have been in Adullam at all, if David had not overshadowed everything else in their affections.
The earlier victories in this chapter had the good of the whole nation in view. This one did not.
When we come to the three mighty men who drew the water from the well, we have a very different form of service. If the victories we have considered had the blessing of the people in view, this touching act of service was wholly for the benefit of the King.
A cooler head would have pointed out that the errand was unnecessary.
Prudence would have said that water taken from some other spot would have satisfied David's thirst just as well. That would have been quite true. Water is water wherever it is, and there was no special virtue in the water of the well of Bethlehem.
David would not drink it. That refusal was not ingratitude.
This is a refreshing picture of the faith that delights to please the Lord in a spirit of willing self-sacrifice. David, however, valued their devotion more than he wanted the water. He judged that he was not worthy of such great devotion. So he poured the water out as a drink offering to God, who alone is worthy of such sacrifices.
Scripture leaves the three unnamed in this deed.
Why this remarkable omission of their names in the account of their exploit? It is because here it is no longer a matter of energy and perseverance, but one of the devotion of faith. This devotion flows naturally from the hearts of servants who know and appreciate their Master. By its very nature devotion is something obscure. What man has the right to boast of devotion?
Yet the deed itself was not lost.
Little did those three mighty men imagine that God would record their act of loving devotion on the eternal page of inspiration, for millions to read there. They never thought of this... Had they acted to get a name or place for themselves, it would have robbed their act of all its charm.
One writer turns from David to the Lord Himself.
The three mightiest needed no command! David desired the water, that was enough! Is there not something He desires from our hearts? Should we not stand with those who share His rejection? That may mean being in "the cave," to use the picture — the place where His mighty men learn in His company what He longs for.
- Nearness first. The three heard David's wish only because they had already joined him in the cave. Distance would have kept them ignorant of it.
- Desire, not duty. David gave no order. A wish spoken aloud drew out what a command never could have.
- Devotion, not calculation. Other water would have quenched his thirst just as well; they wanted the well he named, whatever it cost.
- Poured out, not consumed. David judged the gift too costly for himself and gave it to the Lord as a drink offering.
- Hidden, yet kept. They sought no name, and the record leaves their names out — but the deed itself stands written for millions to read.
And the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; however he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Jehovah.
Philistines hold Bethlehem, David's childhood town, and three of his men cross enemy lines to bring him a drink from its well. What follows is stranger than the raid itself: the king will not touch the water, but pours it out before the LORD.
Everything in this scene turns on how David asked:
No command went out. David singled out no one and sent no one. He simply said what he wanted, and that opened the way for genuine affection and true devotion. A direct command would only have given someone a chance for ready obedience. The spoken desire drew out that deep attachment to David himself, which is so lovely to see.
That difference carries over to how Christ speaks to His own:
David's expressed wish was never a command, and was never meant to be. If we are to reach any worthy thoughts at all, we must tell two things apart in the same way. There are commands laid on us, and such commands do exist. And there is His "word," which shows us what is in His heart. In receiving it we come into intelligent communion with Himself. The Lord makes this same distinction plainly in His last words to His disciples (John 14:21, 23). Commands may be given to servants only, and servants are never let into the secrets of the heart. But words spoken to friends also ask for a response, and the truly devoted will give it. Attachment to His Person does not ask, "What must I do?" but "What may I do?"
The earlier feats in this chapter won battles and saved Israel. This one won a cup of water:
Such mighty deeds matter greatly in their own time and place. But whether in David's day or in ours, one thing marks them: they benefit people, as well as bringing glory to the King. The three mighty men who drew the water show us a very different kind of service. The victories we have looked at had the blessing of the people in view. This touching act of service was wholly for the benefit of the King.
That love did not stop to weigh the risk against the prize. One writer asks where such devotion is found today:
They did not calculate or hesitate. Once they knew David's desire, meeting it was the only thing in their minds. There may have been objectors; some may have said, "Why this waste?" That meant nothing to them. Carrying out David's desire was their only thought. Yet look around and ask, "Where do I see this?" and the honest answer troubles you. Too many believers, if not most, are only benefactors of people. They neither know the desires of Christ nor seek to know them. They are thinking of man and his good, not of Christ and His glory.
Refusing the water was not ingratitude. David valued it too highly to swallow it:
It was a sacrifice too costly for any except the LORD Himself. So David would not let the sweet fragrance of it be interrupted on its way up to the throne of God.
The act has a name in Israel's worship — the offering that is poured out and kept back from the offerer entirely:
David however appreciated their devotion more than he desired the water. He considered that he was not worthy of so great devotion, and he poured the water out as a drink offering to God, who alone is worthy of such sacrifices.
Anyone who acts in this spirit today will find the road still blocked:
If we act in this spirit — if we have this spirit — we shall find the world a hostile world to Christ. And not the world only. Right in the way, blocking the road to the well of Bethlehem, we shall find the Philistine camp: the crowd of natural men who have pushed their way into spiritual things. We must be ready to break through the defences of tradition, formality and worldliness dressed up as religion, if we are to satisfy the Lord's longing for us.
David could not accept what was offered. One greater than David can, and does:
His act of piety revealed two things. He judged the water too valuable for himself, and fitting for the LORD alone. It showed too that the fear of the LORD was always before him. But One greater than David does drink the springing water brought to Him now. He is the Son of God, David's Son according to the flesh, and He drinks it before He takes the throne of His glorious kingdom and dominion.
- Desire heard. David gave no order. He spoke a longing, and love that was listening acted on it.
- Devotion unasked. Earlier exploits helped the nation. This one helped nobody but the king — service for his pleasure alone.
- Danger crossed. They did not weigh the cost. The enemy army was just an obstacle between David and what he wanted.
- Drink refused. David judged the gift too costly for himself. He poured it out to God as a drink offering, since God alone is worthy of such sacrifice.
- David's greater Son. Tradition and worldliness still block the road to the well. But the One we break through for drinks what we bring Him.
And he said, Be it far from me, Jehovah, that I should do this thing! is it not the blood of the men that went at the risk of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.
David and his men are in hiding, and a Philistine force holds Bethlehem. Three of his soldiers cut through the enemy to fetch him water from the well there — and this verse tells us why he would not drink it.
The water had cost three men the risk of their lives. David treated it as a gift fit only for God:
It was a sacrifice too costly for anyone except the Lord Himself. So David would not let anything interrupt its sweet smell as it rose to the throne of God.
David does not call the water a gift or a favour. He calls it blood, because of what the men had already been willing to lose:
The waters won this way were too precious for their gracious and loving master to drink. He calls the water their blood, or their life, because they had not counted their lives dear to themselves. The waters were as their life to him.
The same king who drew out such devotion refused to consume it. What his men gave him, he handed straight on to God:
God records this devotion in His book. The king valued it, but did not want to take advantage of it: "Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?" He draws out the devotion of his men, yet his own character is to devote himself for them. The water offered to him only passes through his hands. He presents it as a drink offering "to the Lord," for whatever is done for Christ is done for God. God accepts it, offered up by Christ, as an excellent sacrifice. A simple cup of water given to "one of these little ones" for Christ's sake passes from His heart to the heart of God Himself.
One writer points past the courage of the three to what David did with the cup:
I am not thinking now of the brave men who broke through the Philistine army and brought David the water of Bethlehem he longed for. I speak of the grace that refused to touch it once they brought it. I speak of the faith that could look at that water, much as he had longed for it, and see the blood of those mighty men who had risked their lives. Oh for more of this self-renouncing power of faith!
The verse credits "the three mighty men" but gives no names. One writer finds the reason in the kind of act it was:
Why is there this striking omission of their names in the account of what they did? It is because here it is no longer a matter of energy and perseverance, but of the devotion of faith. By its very nature devotion is something hidden. What man has the right to boast of devotion?
Some service wins no battle and takes no ground. It answers nothing but the desire of the one who is loved:
When we answer that desire, we are not fighting the Lord's battles. We are not gaining spoil. We are not defending the truth. We are doing something wholly for Christ. We are ministering to His heart by responding to His love. May we know better what it is to draw water from the well and pour it out before the Lord for the joy of His heart.
Poured out, the water was gone; yet the men who fetched it lost nothing. What decided their standing was not the size of the deed but what moved them to do it:
No wonder this simple act stirred David's heart. No wonder he poured the water out to the Lord as a drink offering. The three had won it at the risk of their lives, and it showed the devotion of these dear men. What turned that simple act into something greater was the motive behind it. It set those three men at the very top of the kingdom's roll of honour, when the fighting was over, the kingdom was secure, and the day of rewards had come.
- Costly — three men risked their lives, so the water arrived carrying a worth no ordinary drink ever has.
- Blood — David names it their blood. The men had not counted their lives dear, so the cup held their life, not just water.
- Poured — too costly for a man to drink, it was the right gift for God, so it passed through David's hands to the Lord.
- Refused — the striking act is not the courage of the three but the grace that would not touch what it had wanted.
- Recorded — the water was gone, but the deed stayed. It set those three at the top of the kingdom's roll on the day of rewards.
And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was the chief of three; and he brandished his spear against three hundred and slew them; and he had a name among the three.
David's roll of warriors names Abishai first by his family: brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah. Then it tells what he did alone against three hundred men. So what earns a name in the king's record — family, or devotion?
The verse ties Abishai to Joab before it mentions his spear. One writer finds both a likeness and a difference between the two men.
Abishai is called "the brother of Joab" because he was like him in many ways and showed the same traits. Even if he shared his brother's graceless hardness of heart, he was still ready to obey David's word. That obedience kept him from most of Joab's mistakes. So although he did not reach the first three, honour and distinction are given to him without reserve.
That readiness to obey faced a hard test. Abishai believed God had handed David's enemy to him, and only a word held him back.
Abishai listened to the word, and it kept him from this sin, though he thought God had delivered David's enemy into his hand. We may face a similar test today, but the word of the Lord will preserve us.
Abishai was closely related to the king, and brother to the commander of the army. Neither fact put him in this chapter.
He might have claimed a place of special distinction because of his family ties. He was brother to Joab, the commander of the army, and a close relative of the king. But family ties do not secure a place in the kingdom for him, or for us. Abishai secures his distinguished place by his own courage... We cannot reach the faithfulness and spiritual power that marked the Apostle Paul and other great servants of the Lord. But the same divine grace can mark us with the same spirit, in our own measure.
Joab is named here only as a marker for his brother. He never appears in the honour roll himself, and one writer gives the reason.
Abishai, the brother of Joab, has a significant place as chief of these three men. Sadly, this final summary of David's mighty men gives Joab himself no honor at all. He was a capable warrior who gained many victories, but his one fatal flaw was that his motives proved selfish. It was not God's honor that he sought, but his own.
The verse gives Abishai a high place and a limit in the same breath. Where the ESV says "chief of the thirty", the older translation reads "chief of three". The writers quoted here take him as head of a second group of three. One writer compares him with the man listed just before him.
These three men's deeds of valor did not attain to those of the first three. First there is Abishai. Like Joseb-Bassebeth, he brandished his spear against three hundred men and killed them. But he did not have the same perseverance of faith.
The differences between these men are part of the record itself.
Out of the many thousands of Israel... only a few stood out by personal devotedness and wholehearted consecration. Even among those few there were marked differences. There were "the thirty," "the three," and "the first three." Each gets his own specific place... according to what he was or what he had done. We are also told exactly what each one did and how he did it. Nothing is forgotten. It is all recorded faithfully, and no one can ever get another's place.
Reputation now is not the final word.
Right now we know very little about how far people are true to the Lord. But the time will come when everyone will be shown for what they are... Some who are thought much of now may be missing then from the list of the faithful. Many whose service is valued little now may shine out then to the abundant praise and honour of the Lord Jesus... At the end the worthy men appear, each according to the real worth of his service and the character of his devotedness to David.
One writer sets the deed beside the reward.
He faced no fewer than three hundred of David's enemies alone! He did not stop until he had killed them all! After the hardship and trial he went through with David during the time when David was rejected, we may be sure he learned much and enjoyed a place near the king in his glory. David might well say to him, as another will say to His mighty men one day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
- Not by likeness. Abishai was much like Joab, but he obeyed David's word, and that obedience kept him from Joab's mistakes.
- Not by blood. Close family ties to the king and to the commander secured him nothing. His own deeds did.
- Not by rank. Joab outranked everyone, yet the roll leaves him out, because he sought his own honour, not God's.
- Not by equal measure. Abishai led the second three, yet never reached the first three. He lacked their perseverance of faith.
- But by record. Nothing is forgotten, each gets his own place, and no one can ever take another's.
Was he not most honourable of three? and he was their captain; but he did not attain to the [first] three.
Abishai led the second group of David's warriors, honoured above the thirty and set over them. So why did a man of such courage stop short of the first three, and what won him the honour he did receive?
Abishai was Joab's brother and a relative of the king. One writer asks what that family tie secured for him, and what it did not.
After the first three, we have Abishai. He might have claimed a place of special distinction because of his family ties. He was Joab's brother, and Joab was the commander of the army. He was also a close relative of the king. But natural relationships do not secure for him, or for us, a place in the kingdom. Abishai secures his distinguished place because of his own prowess. His great feat did not reach the height of the Tachmonite's. Even so, he was marked by the same spirit of power. We cannot reach the faithfulness and spiritual power that marked the Apostle Paul and other great servants of the Lord. But the same divine grace can mark us with the same spirit, in our own measure. Another mighty deed of Abishai's appears in 2 Samuel 21:16-17. He rescued David when one of the giants tried to kill him, and he killed the giant.
So what kept Abishai out of the first three? One commentator points not to strength, but to something that has to last.
These three men's deeds of valour did not reach those of the first three. First there is Abishai. Like Joseb-Bassebeth, he brandished his spear against three hundred men and killed them. But he did not have the same perseverance of faith.
Scripture names Abishai as Joab's brother, and the likeness ran deeper than blood. Another writer traces his honour to one habit.
Abishai, "the brother of Joab", is so described because he was like him in many ways, showing similar traits. But even if he shared his brother's graceless hardness of heart, he was still ready to obey David's word. That obedience kept him from most of Joab's mistakes. So although he "did not attain to the first three", the record gives him honour and distinction without reserve. He was chief of the three (that is, the second three), we are told, and he was "more honourable" than the other two. This was the result of heeding the word of David while staying close to him. When a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ heeds His word and keeps near to Him, there may still be a great deal to try him. Even so, his service will hold much that pleases God.
Translations differ on one word here. The ESV calls Abishai "the most renowned of the thirty". Older versions read "most honourable of three", so the writer above compares him with the other two men in his group.
One name is missing from this list of honoured men. Its absence makes Abishai's place stand out.
Abishai, the brother of Joab, has a significant place as chief of these three men. Sadly, Joab himself is not mentioned as being given any honour at all in this final summing up of David's mighty men. He was a capable warrior who won many victories. But he had one fatal flaw: his motives proved selfish. He did not seek God's honour, but his own. David knew this, and told Solomon that Joab must be put to death (1 Kings 2:5-6). Joab's treachery could not be overlooked because of his many victories.
The chapter ranks servants and records their honour. One writer asks what place rewards should have in our own service.
It is not a question of working for rewards, for a crown or for a place, though we fully believe in the doctrine of rewards. No! The very moment we make rewards our object, we are below the mark. We believe that service rendered with the eye on the reward would be defective. But we also believe that Christ will reward every bit of true service in the day of His glory. Each servant will get his place in the record and his place in the kingdom, according to the measure of his personal devotedness here.
- Honour named. The record puts Abishai first among the second three. His limit never cancels his distinction.
- Honour earned. Being Joab's brother and the king's nephew secured nothing; his place came from what he himself did.
- Honour bounded. His deed matched the first three in daring. One commentator finds him short in perseverance of faith.
- Honour kept. He heeded David's word and stayed close to him. That obedience spared him the mistakes that ruined his brother.
- Honour recorded. Joab's many victories won him no mention, because his motives were selfish. God weighs service by devotedness, not by results.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, son of a valiant man, great in exploits, of Kabzeel he it was that smote two lions of Moab; and he went down and smote a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
The verse gives three names: the man, his father, and his hometown. One writer reads them together as a portrait of the fighter God prepares.
We must be very careful when we interpret the meaning of Scripture names. Yet they often hold very instructive lessons. In this passage the combination of the different names is remarkable. Benaiah means "Whom God has built"; Jehoiada, "The Lord knows"; and Kabzeel, "God has gathered." Put these meanings together, and we learn this. Benaiah was the son of one whom the Lord knew ("I know my sheep"). He had been built up in the truth by God Himself. And he knew his place in God's assembly.
Commentators see the believer's three great opponents in the foes Benaiah met.
He is specially singled out for his victories over (1) two men of Moab; (2) a lion; and (3) an Egyptian. How these three remind us of (1) the flesh; (2) Satan; and (3) the world. It is a great day when, in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ, we accept the condemnation of the cross upon sin in the flesh. From then on we walk and war after the Spirit.
Translators have read the phrase behind "two ariels of Moab" in more than one way. Older translations rendered it "two lion-like men."
In 2 Samuel 23:20 and 1 Chronicles 11:22 we read that Benaiah killed two "lion-like men." Some prefer to translate this "two sons of Ariel." The Hebrew is literally "two lions of God."
The same writer draws out what each enemy stands for.
Moab means "progeny." That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Since these men were lion-like, this was the flesh under full Satanic power. He also killed a lion in the middle of a pit in the time of snow. Peter compares Satan to a roaring lion, and so Benaiah was able to overcome Satan himself on his own ground.
The snow tells you the odds. One writer sets that against the first battle ever lost.
Benaiah's killing of the lion in the pit surely speaks to us of one who has overcome the wicked one... This happened on a snowy day. The circumstances of the fight were all against Benaiah, yet he was victorious. When Adam fell, the circumstances of Eden were all in his favour. But when Christ met the foe — in the temptations, in Gethsemane, at the cross — how different the circumstances were from those of the first man when he fell before the enemy.
Benaiah did not wait for the lion to come out. He went down into the pit — and writers see Christ in that descent.
He went down into a pit to kill a lion. This is surely a lovely picture of the One who descended into the lower parts of the earth, having gone down into death... When Benaiah went down into the pit it was "the time of snow." Everything was in the grip of winter, without a trace of life anywhere. So it was with the blessed Lord Jesus when He went down into death to destroy the one who had the power of death... Benaiah came up out of the pit victorious, having killed the lion. In the same way the blessed Lord rose out of death, having burst its iron gates and destroyed its power for ever.
One writer brings Benaiah's fight into the present.
He did not hesitate on a snowy day to go down into a pit and kill a lion. He is like the faithful today. They sometimes have to enter into the closest conflict with Satan under the most distressing circumstances, and overcome him by the sword of the Spirit.
Benaiah's deeds copy his king's own history. One writer notes what that walk earned him.
Benaiah walks faithfully in his master's steps. His great affection for David leads him to copy his model's traits. Such a walk finds its reward: "David set him in his council" — a place of confidence, intimacy and communion. Benaiah shares his master's secrets, is told his plans, and sees the king's face at all times.
- Built — the name Benaiah means "whom God has built." God gave the strength this verse celebrates.
- Three — Moab, the lion, the Egyptian stand for the flesh, Satan and the world. Believers meet the same three, and overcome by the sword of the Spirit.
- Snow — the worst possible conditions. Adam fell with everything in his favour; Christ won with everything against Him.
- Down — Benaiah did not wait at the edge. He went down into the pit, onto the enemy's own ground, as Christ went down into death.
- Council — the reward of copying the king was nearness to him: a seat in his confidence, and his face always in view.
He also smote the Egyptian, an imposing man and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
David's list of mighty men gives this soldier a fuller record. Benaiah goes down against an armed Egyptian with nothing but a staff, and kills the man with his own weapon. Commentators read the scene as a picture of victory over the world, won through what looks like weakness.
The record opens with three names: Benaiah, his father Jehoiada, and his home town Kabzeel. One writer reads them together as a description of the man:
Benaiah means "Whom God has built"; Jehoiada, "Jehovah knows"; and Kabzeel, "God has gathered." Put these meanings together, and we learn this. Benaiah was the son of one whom the Lord knew ("I know my own"). God Himself had built him up in the truth. And he knew his place in God's assembly (Kabzeel).
Why does the verse name the man's nation instead of just calling him an enemy? One writer answers from what Egypt stood for, and links this fight to a victory Christ had already won:
The third exploit we see here is Benaiah's victory over the Egyptian. Do we not see the glory of the world, and its bondage for the people of God in Egypt? But we read of One Who said, "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)... Benaiah kills the Egyptian with his own spear, just as we read of the Lord's great triumph in Hebrews: "that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death" (Heb. 2:14). If the Lord has overcome the world, He can enable us to overcome it also.
The verse sets the two weapons side by side. One writer sizes up that mismatch and links Benaiah's bare staff to the cross:
The Egyptian was a huge man, and he carried a spear like a weaver's beam. Yet Benaiah defeated him with only a staff in his hand... We get the victory over the world through the cross of Christ. It comes by faith in the Son of God, who makes the Father's love known to us. The world lifted up its hand against Christ. Yet the death He died defeated the world for faith.
Benaiah does not bring a weapon of his own; he takes the enemy's. Commentators compare this with David beheading Goliath with the giant's sword, and see in the spear what death itself became in God's hands:
He also killed an Egyptian, a handsome man — the picture of the world at its most attractive... The spear, like the sword, is a symbol of the power of death. As another writer has remarked, "Death is the best weapon in the arsenal of God when it is wielded by the power of life." This was Benaiah's experience in his conflict with the world (the Egyptian).
The detail of the captured spear is not left in the past. One writer reads it as something believers may still watch unfold:
He also killed an Egyptian with the Egyptian's own spear. We can sometimes see the same thing now. A worldly man opposes God's servants and God's truth, and the very weapon he used against them defeats him. So God turns the wrath of man to praise Him.
Benaiah does not invent his tactic. He fights the way David fought, and that likeness brings him a reward:
He killed the Egyptian just as David had struck down Goliath. David took the giant's own sword and cut off his head; in the same way, Benaiah put the Egyptian to death with his own spear. Benaiah walks faithfully in his master's steps, and his deep love for David leads him to copy the traits of the man he follows. Such a walk finds its reward: "David set him in his council" (v. 23), a place of confidence, intimacy, and communion.
- Built — Benaiah's name means "Whom God has built." God built him up in the truth before he ever fought.
- Faced — the Egyptian pictures the world: its glory, its beauty, and its power to hold God's people in bondage.
- Weak — he went down with a staff against a spear like a weaver's beam. The victory comes through the cross, not through strength.
- Turned — the enemy's own spear killed him. Death is the best weapon in God's arsenal when the power of life wields it.
- Rewarded — Benaiah fought as David fought, so David set him in his council. Likeness to the master ends in nearness to him.
These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he had a name among the three mighty men.
Benaiah's record closes with a summary: everything he had done won him a name. Yet that name stands beside the three mighty men, not among them. So what was it worth? And why write down a lion, a pit and a snowy day at all?
Each of Benaiah's exploits has a twin in David's own life. One writer reads them that way, and follows where such copying led.
Next we find Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. He fought the enemies from outside, Moab and Egypt. He killed two Moabite heroes. Like David, he fought a lion all by himself. He killed the Egyptian just as David had struck down Goliath. David had cut off the giant's head with the giant's own sword, and in the same way Benaiah put the Egyptian to death with his own spear. Benaiah walks faithfully in his master's steps, and his great love for David leads him to reproduce his model's traits. Such a walk finds its reward: a place of confidence, closeness and fellowship. Benaiah shares his master's secrets, knows his plans, and sees the king's face at all times. If we love the Lord Jesus, and obey and serve Him, we will be rewarded with a nearness like that of John, the beloved disciple, whose place was at Jesus' side.
One writer reads the victories as a picture of the enemies a believer faces. Moab stands for the flesh. Satan is the lion, waiting in his own stronghold.
Satan acts upon the flesh, and the two men of Moab were "lion-like", but the one who was "with David" killed them both. The lion himself lived in a pit, and no doubt went about looking for what he could devour when he was not in his stronghold. Benaiah would win the gratitude of many for his victory on that snowy day.
The Egyptian stands for the third enemy: the world. The same writer traces the pattern of that fight into the Lord's own triumph, and then into ours.
Do we not see the glory of the world, and its slavery for the people of God, in Egypt? The Egyptian is killed with his own spear. We read the same in the Lord's great triumph in Hebrews: "that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death" (Heb. 2:14). If the Lord has overcome the world, He can enable us to overcome it also. Of this we have divine assurance in 1 John 5:4-5.
The weather is not decoration. Everything was against Benaiah that day. One writer sets that beside Adam's day in Eden.
A good many years ago, I remember a well-known man saying this: "You see Benaiah going down to where the lion was. The Lord Jesus went down into death in the same way, to meet the power of the enemy. Who is going to be triumphant? Who is coming up out of the pit? Is it to be Benaiah or the lion? It was Benaiah! So it was with Christ: He rose triumphant from the grave, and He annulled the power of the enemy." It happened on a snowy day. Everything about the fight was against Benaiah, yet he won. When Adam fell, everything in Eden was in his favour. But when Christ met the foe — in the temptations, in Gethsemane, at the cross — the circumstances were nothing like those of the first man when he fell before the enemy.
Benaiah's name stands beside the three without joining them. One writer makes the same point about Abishai, who ranked below the top three.
Abishai secures his distinguished place by his own courage and skill. His great feat did not reach the height of the Tachmonite's, yet the same spirit of power still marked him. We cannot attain to the faithfulness and spiritual power that marked the apostle Paul and other great servants of the Lord. But the same divine grace can mark us with the same spirit, in our own measure.
No human record keeper would have saved a fight in a pit on a snowy day. The list exists because the King remembers.
David's men had to bear much toil and weariness because they belonged to him. But love made it all light and easy to them. Their names and deeds were written down and faithfully remembered when David was at rest in his kingdom. None were forgotten… These acts may not be seen, known, or thought of by men; but Jesus knows them, and will publicly declare them from the throne of His glory. Who would ever have known the acts of David's worthy men if the Holy Spirit had not recorded them? Who would have known of the slaying of a lion in a pit, in the time of snow?
- Love copies. Benaiah's exploits mirror David's own — the lion, the giant, the enemy's weapon turned back on him. Love for a person reproduces that person's character — and it brought Benaiah close to the king.
- Love fights. The three victories answer the three enemies: the flesh, Satan, the world.
- Love wins on bad days. The snow marks a day when everything was against him. Eden was the opposite. Christ went down into death and came up.
- Love has its measure. A name beside the three is real honour. No one has to match Paul; grace can mark us with the same spirit.
- Love is recorded. The Holy Spirit wrote down deeds no one else would have heard of. The King will declare them from His throne.
He was honoured above the thirty, but he did not attain to the [first] three. And David set him in his council.
Benaiah's record ends with a ranking and a promotion, not with another exploit. Two questions follow: why do some servants rise higher than others, and what was the post David gave him?
The chapter grades David's heroes. It keeps the second group of three clear of the first.
Benaiah is another one of the second three, a man who showed unusual courage whether he fought men or beasts. We are not told the name of the third man in this group. But verse 23 reminds us that the first three receive higher honour than the second three or all that follow them.
The gap is not about raw achievement. Abishai matched a first-three feat and still fell short:
These three men's brave deeds did not match those of the first three. First there is Abishai. Like Joseb-Bassebeth, he raised his spear against three hundred men and killed them. But he did not have the same perseverance of faith.
Benaiah did not just fight bravely. He fought the way David fought.
Like David, he fought a lion all by himself. He killed the Egyptian just as David had struck down Goliath, and just as David had taken the giant's sword to cut off his head, so Benaiah put the Egyptian to death with the Egyptian's own spear. Benaiah walks faithfully in his master's steps and his great affection for David leads him to reproduce his model's traits. Such a walk finds its reward: "David set him in his council" (v. 23), a place of confidence, intimacy, and communion. Benaiah shares his master's secrets, hears his plans, and sees the king's face at all times. What a blessed portion! If we love the Lord Jesus, obey Him and serve Him, He will reward us with a nearness like John's — the disciple Jesus loved, whose place was close to His heart.
Rossier's version reads "in his council" where the ESV has "over his bodyguard". Benaiah never climbed over anyone to reach that place.
Still, this man has no ambition except to stay faithful to his king and to imitate him. He is not like Joab who takes the stronghold of Zion to win first place. No, he is humble, because his whole purpose is to reproduce David in the way he lives.
Translations split on the last phrase: a seat in the king's council, or command of the royal bodyguard. The word behind it has a telling root:
Mishmaath, from a word for "obedience": a bodyguard. 2 Sam. 23:23; 1 Chr. 11:25.
Either way, David gave the post to a man he had tested for years.
Benaiah was with David when many were against him, and he was with him when the crowds acknowledged him as king and bowed before him. His fellowship with God's anointed seems never to have broken. It held in hard times and in good, in the cave and on the throne, in wars with countless enemies and in the governing of God's people. No wonder David set him over his guard. He would be glad to have such a man close to himself.
The bodyguard post was not Benaiah's ceiling. It was his proving ground.
"With David" in his rejection and his battles. "With David" as captain of his bodyguard. "With David" in his kingdom in positions of honour. Now he was raised higher still, to be captain of the army of Israel with David's son Solomon, sharing his glorious reign when the wars were over. Tried and proved trustworthy, he reaped a rich and blessed reward.
A verse that ranks servants raises a question: is God's love rationed too? No:
Each will receive his own reward according to his own labour (1 Corinthians 3:8). In the kingdom, as the parable teaches (Luke 19), one is to have authority over ten cities, another over five. But the Father's house rises far above such differences, and His children share it alike with Christ. It is the answer, not to their services, but to His redemption, His infinite love and His glory.
- Ranked — verse 23 puts the first three above the second three and all who follow. Courage alone does not close the gap.
- Perseverance — Abishai matched a feat of the first three, but not their perseverance of faith. The list rewards staying power, not one great day.
- Imitation — Benaiah fought a lion and killed a champion as David had. Love for his master shaped him, and he reached for no first place of his own.
- Nearness — that walk won him a place of confidence, intimacy and communion. He saw the king's face at all times.
- Forever — tested in the cave, the guardroom and the throne room, he ended as captain of the army in the reign of peace.