These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time. And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, …. and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day, … And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. …. he took his stand … the LORD worked a great victory…..
And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem ..(David).. poured it out to the LORD and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
Now Abishai,… wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three….. And Benaiah …. struck down two ariels of Moab…. and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen,,and an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah,,,, killed him with his own spear….. Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty…..and… and …. and Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
Comment: As you can see I have cut out a lot of the people mentioned in this otherwise quite long passage of names which on the whole we don’t know or use. I have put in italics and underlined some which stand out. The first three are named for personal bravery and then they together showed a loving act of concern which some would say David wasted by pouring out the water. I’m sure that they saw David’s act as a devotion to God and showing his praise for their action. Then, Asahel is mentioned. He was brave but headstrong and in his heroic enthusiasm acted against advice and ended dead which resulted in a long drawn out enmity and problem. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned for balancing enthusiasm and wisdom! Lastly Uriah the husband whom David had had murdered to cover his own sin with Uriah’s wife. I doubt if David had proofread this record that it wouldn’t have been easy for him to recognize that others saw through his murder. Surely shame would have risen up. Thank God he had been forgiven (PS 51).
Prayer: There are so many lessons for me to learn. Help me, Lord, to learn them well, please.
As I read it! 