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1 Chronicles 11

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David Anointed King Over All Israel 1–3

1
Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. ​
2
In times past, even when Saul was king, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and Jehovah thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt be shepherd of my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over my people Israel. ​
3
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of Jehovah by Samuel. ​

The Conquest of Jerusalem 4–9

4
And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ​
5
And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. ​
6
And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. ​
7
And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David.
8
And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about; and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
9
And David waxed greater and greater; for Jehovah of hosts was with him. ​

The List of David's Mighty Men 10–14

10
Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who showed themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. ​
11
And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them at one time. ​
12
And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.
13
He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
14
And they stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and Jehovah saved them by a great victory. ​

The Exploit of the Three 15–25

15
And three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim. ​
16
And David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem.
17
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!
18
And the three brake 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 David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Jehovah,
19
and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men. ​
20
And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three. ​
21
Of the three, he was more honorable than the two, and was made their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three.
22
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he slew the twosons of Ariel of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow. ​
23
And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; 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.
24
These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men.
25
Behold, he was more honorable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard. ​

The Thirty Captains 26–47

26
Also the mighty men of the armies: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem, ​
27
Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,
28
Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,
29
Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,
30
Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,
31
Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,
32
Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,
33
Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
34
the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite,
35
Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,
36
Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,
37
Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,
38
Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,
39
Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
40
Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
41
Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ​
42
Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,
43
Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,
44
Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,
45
Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,
46
Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,
47
Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Chronicles 11

Verse 1

thy bone and thy flesh — The words are those of 2 Sam 5:1. Etsem, bone, and basar, flesh, state kinship, as Laban said to Jacob, 'Surely thou art my bone and my flesh' (Gen 29:14). The law said a king must be 'one from among thy brethren' (Deut 17:15). At Hebron the men of Judah had earlier anointed David over their own house (2 Sam 2:4).

Verse 2

feed my people Israel — Raah is to tend a flock, the work from which the LORD took David, 'to feed Jacob his people' (Ps 78:70–71). 'In time past' is two Hebrew words, temol shilshom, 'yesterday, the day before'. 'Ruler' is nagid, a leader in front, the word of 1 Sam 13:14, 'captain over his people'.

Verse 3

made a covenant — Karath berith, literally to cut a covenant; 2 Sam 5:3 calls it a 'league'. It was made 'before the LORD', and the anointing was 'according to the word of the LORD by Samuel', who had first anointed him among his brethren (1 Sam 16:13). This is the third anointing, after Judah's (2 Sam 2:4).

Verse 4

Jebus — The name Jerusalem bore under the Jebusites: 'Jebus, which is Jerusalem' (Judg 19:10). Neither Judah nor Benjamin had driven them out (Josh 15:63; Judg 1:21), so the Jebusites, 'the inhabitants of the land', still held the city. Yebus is from a root meaning 'trodden', a threshing-place.

Verse 5

the castle of Zion — Metsudah is a stronghold, a fastness. The Jebusites said 'Thou shalt not come hither', and David took it, and it became 'the city of David'. The name carries on: Solomon brought the ark of the covenant up 'out of the city of David, which is Zion' (1 Kgs 8:1).

Verse 6

Joab the son of Zeruiah — David offered the headship, rosh and sar, 'chief and captain', to the first man to strike the Jebusites. Joab's mother Zeruiah was a sister of David's brothers, and her three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel (1 Chr 2:16). Joab was later 'over the host' (2 Sam 8:16).

Verse 9

waxed greater and greater — Literally 'David went, going and great'. 2 Sam 5:10 reads, 'David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him'. Tsaba, 'hosts', is the armies. It matches the word given through Nathan, 'I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked' (1 Chr 17:8).

Verse 10

strengthened themselves with him — Chazaq is to grip or be strong; the mighty men took hold with David in his kingdom. At Hebron the men of war 'came with a perfect heart… to make David king over all Israel' (12:38). The reason given, 'according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel', matches v.3, 'according to the word of the LORD by Samuel'.

Verse 11

Jashobeam, an Hachmonite — 2 Sam 23:8 opens the same list with a man who is 'chief among the captains' and lifts up his spear at one time. 'Captains' is shalish. 1 Chr 27:2 puts Jashobeam over the first course for the first month, with twenty and four thousand in his course.

Verse 14

a great deliverance — Teshuah is rescue or victory; the LORD 'saved' (yasha) them. The field was 'a parcel of ground full of barley' at Pasdammim (v.13), where 'the people fled from before the Philistines'. The psalm says of David, 'Great deliverance giveth he to his king' (Ps 18:50), and Proverbs, 'safety is of the LORD' (Prov 21:31).

Verse 15

the cave of Adullam — The cave to which David escaped from Saul, and where his brethren and his father's house came to him (1 Sam 22:1). The valley of Rephaim, where the Philistines were encamped, lies by Jerusalem (Josh 15:8, 'the valley of the giants'); they come there again in 14:9.

Verse 19

the blood of these men — 'Lives' and 'jeopardy of their lives' are both nephesh, the soul or life. David counts the water as the men's own lives. 'The life of the flesh is in the blood' (Lev 17:11), and, as v.18 says, he 'poured it out to the LORD' rather than drink. 'Forbid' is chalilah, 'far be it', as in 2 Sam 23:17, 'Be it far from me, O LORD'.

Verse 20

Abishai the brother of Joab — One of Zeruiah's three sons (1 Chr 2:16). 'Chief of the three' is clarified in v.21: 'he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three'. He was at David's side in Saul's camp (1 Sam 26:6), and his spear against three hundred matches v.11.

Verse 22

two lionlike men of Moab — Ariel, 'lion of God', a heroic man; the word is found only here and in the parallel 2 Sam 23:20. Benaiah's father came from Kabzeel, a city in the south of Judah toward Edom (Josh 15:21). The lion in the pit was slain 'in a snowy day'. He later stood 'over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites' (2 Sam 8:18).

Verse 25

over his guard — Mishma'ath is the royal court, those who obey a bidding; it is rendered 'guard' only here and in 2 Sam 23:23. The title 'honourable' is kabad, weighty. The Cherethites and Pelethites were under Benaiah (2 Sam 20:23).

Verse 26

Asahel the brother of Joab — The list of vv.26–47 largely corresponds to 2 Sam 23:24–39. Asahel 'was as light of foot as a wild roe' (2 Sam 2:18) and fell to Abner's spear (2 Sam 2:23). Elhanan 'the son of Dodo of Bethlehem' stands beside him, as in 2 Sam 23:24.

Verse 41

Uriah the Hittite — A Hittite named among the valiant men of Israel; his name, Uriyah, means 'flame of Jah'. The Hittites are among the peoples of the land promised to Abram (Gen 15:20). 2 Sam 11:3 calls Bathsheba 'the wife of Uriah the Hittite', and 1 Kgs 15:5 excepts 'the matter of Uriah the Hittite' from David's righteousness.