well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 18And 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 the LORD, 19and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men [1]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. 20And [2]Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for he lifted up his spear against three hundred [3]and slew them, and had a name among the three. 21[4]Of the three, he was more honourable than the two, and was made their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three. 22Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a
18. brake through the host] or camp. The word "host" in the Hebrew regularly means a host encamped, not a host embattled. Perhaps this exploit took place by night; compare the deed of David and Abishai (1 Sam. xxvi. 6—12).
poured it out] i.e. as a libation-offering.
20. chief of the three] In 2 Sam. xxiii. 18 (Kethīb) Abishai is called by the same title (Heb. rōsh hasshālīshi) as Josheb-basshebeth (ib. ver. 8). This title probably means chief of the third part [of the army]; cp. ver. 11, note. Chief of the three is a faulty reading: it certainly ought not to be taken in connection with the three mighty men—Jashobeam (Ishbaal), Eleazar and <Shammah>—referred to in vv. 10 ff. Probably a reading "chief of the thirty," for which there is some MS. authority, is correct; but the references here and in the following verse are obscure (see Driver, Samuel2, pp. 367, 368).
had a name among the three] Cp. ver. 24, where the same thing is said of Benaiah. The three meant are either the three of vv. 15—19 or else an unknown three; cp. next note.
21. Of the three, he was more honourable than the two] mg. "Of the three in the second rank he was the most honourable." Neither of these renderings is satisfactory, and the text is certainly corrupt (cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 19), and should be corrected. Read perhaps: He was more honourable than the three, or perhaps, than the thirty. The verse probably comes from a lost poem. What is meant by the three and by the first three cannot be determined owing to the loss of the context.
22. Benaiah] See 2 Sam. viii. 18; 1 Kin. i. 8 ff., ii. 25—35.
