1 All Israel joined David at Hebron and said, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood!tn Heb “look, your bone and your flesh [are] we.”

2 In the past, even when Saul was king, you were Israel’s commanding general.tn Heb “you were the one who led out and the one who brought in Israel.” The Lord your God said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over my people Israel.’”

3 When all the leaderstn Heb “elders.” of Israel came to the king at Hebron, David made an agreementtn Or “covenant.” with them in Hebron before the Lord. They anointedtn Or “They poured olive oil on David to designate him as king.” David king over Israel, just as the Lord had announced through Samuel.tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Samuel.”

4 David and the whole Israelite armytn Heb “all Israel.” advanced to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus).sn Jebus was an older name for the city of Jerusalem (cf. Josh 15:8; Judg 1:21).map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. (The Jebusites, the land’s original inhabitants, lived there.)tn Heb “and there [were] the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land.”

5 The residents of Jebus said to David, “You cannot invade this place!” But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

6sn Verse 6 inserts into the narrative parenthetical information about Joab’s role in the conquest of the city. Verse 7 then picks up where v. 5 left off. David said, “Whoever attackstn Or perhaps “strikes down.” the Jebusites first will become commanding general!”tn Heb “head and officer.” So Joab son of Zeruiah attackedtn Heb “went up.” first and became commander.tn Heb “head.”

7 David lived in the fortress; for this reason it is called the City of David.

8 He built up the city around it, from the terrace to the surrounding walls;tn Heb “to that which surrounds.” On the referent here as “the surrounding walls,” see HALOT 740 s.v. סָבִיב. Joab restored the rest of the city.

9 David’s power steadily grew, for the Lord who commands armies was with him.tn Heb “and David went, going and becoming great, and the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, Lord of hosts] was with him.”

10 These were the leaders of David’s warriors who helped establish and stabilize his rule over all Israel, in accordance with the Lord’s word.tn Heb “and these were the heads of the warriors who were David’s, who held strongly with him in his kingdom and with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord, over Israel.”

11 This is the list of David’s warriors:tn Heb “and these are the number of the warriors who were David’s.”

12 Next in commandtn Heb “after him.” was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was one of the three elite warriors.

13 He was with David in Pas Dammimtc Some read here “Ephes Dammim.” See 1 Sam 17:1. when the Philistines assembled there for battle. In an area of the field that was full of barley, the army retreated before the Philistines,

14 but then they made a stand in the middle of that area. They defended ittn Heb “delivered it.” and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.tn Heb “and the Lord delivered [with] a great deliverance.”

15 Three of the thirty leaders went down to David at the rocky cliff at the cave of Adullam, while a Philistine force was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

16 David was in the stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was in Bethlehem.map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

17 David was thirsty and said, “How I wish someone would give me some water to drinktn Heb “Who will give me water to drink?” On the rhetorical use of מִי (mi) here, see BDB 566 s.v. f. from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate!”

18 So the three elite warriorstn Heb “the three,” referring to the three elite warriors mentioned in v. 12. broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate. They carried it back to David, but David refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

19 and said, “God forbid that I should do this!tn Heb “Far be it to me from my God from doing this.” Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?”tn Heb “with their lives.” The same expression occurs later in this verse. Because they risked their lives to bring it to him, he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors.tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”

20 Abishai the brother of Joab was head of the threetc The Syriac reads “thirty” here and at the beginning of v. 21; this reading is followed by some English translations (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). elite warriors. He killed three hundred men with his speartn Heb “he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain.” and gained fame along with the three elite warriors.tn Heb “and to him [reading with the Qere] there was a name among the three.”

21 Fromtn Or “more than.” the three he was given double honor and he became their officer, even though he was not one of them.tn Heb “of the three.”

22 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab;tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אֲרִיאֵל (’ari’el) is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בְּנֵי (bÿney, “sons of”) has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שְׁנֵי, shÿney). he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day.

23 He even killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feettn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, this individual would be 7.5 feet (2.3 m) tall. tall. The Egyptian had a spear as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom; Benaiah attackedtn Heb “went down to.” him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

24 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who gained fame along with the three elite warriors.

25 He received honor fromtn Or “more than.” the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

26 The mighty warriors were:

27 Shammoth the Harorite,tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:25 has the variant spelling of “Shammah.”

28 Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

29 Sibbekaitn In 2 Sam 23:27 this individual’s name is given as “Mebunnai.” the Hushathite,

30 Maharai the Netophathite,

31 Ithaitn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:29 has the variant spelling “Ittai.” son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjaminite territory,

32 Huraitn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:28 has the variant spelling “Hiddai.” from the valleys of Gaash,

33 Azmaveth the Baharumite,tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:31 has the variant spelling “Barhumite.”

34 the sons of Hashemtn In 2 Sam 23:32 this individual’s name is given as “Jashen.” the Gizonite,

35 Ahiam son of Sakartn In 2 Sam 23:33 this individual’s name is given as “Sharar.” the Hararite,

36 Hepher the Mekerathite,

37 Hezrotn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:35 has the variant spelling “Hezrai.” the Carmelite,

38 Joel the brother of Nathan,tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 23:36 has the variant “Igal son of Nathan from Zobah.”

39 Zelek the Ammonite,

40 Ira the Ithrite,

41 Uriah the Hittite,

42 Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, leader of the Reubenites and the thirty warriors with him,

43 Hanan son of Maacah,

44 Uzzia the Ashterathite,

45 Jediael son of Shimri,

46 Eliel the Mahavite,

47 Eliel,