2 Samuel 23:8-23

1. Selected adventures of outstanding warriors 23:8-23

There were three warriors who received higher honor than all the rest (2 Samuel 23:8-12): Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. What their relationship to The Thirty was is hard to determine. [Note: B. Mazar, "The Military Elite of King David," Vetus Testamentum 13 (1963):310-20.] One writer assumed they were over The Thirty. [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., p. 282.] Three unnamed men from The Thirty received special mention (2 Samuel 23:13-17). Two others also received great esteem (2 Samuel 23:18-23): Abishai, and Benaiah. This was evidently the same Benaiah who became the head of David’s bodyguard (2 Samuel 20:23), a position similar to the one that David had occupied in Saul’s army (1 Samuel 22:14).

Josheb-basshebeth is an example of a spiritual warrior with exceptional strength (cf. Ephesians 6:10). Eleazar demonstrated unusual stamina and persistence (cf. Isaiah 40:31). Shammah’s greatness lay in his supernatural steadfastness (cf. Ephesians 6:14). The three warriors who took David’s wish for water as their command and took a calculated risk (not wild recklessness) showed remarkable sacrifice, dedication, and loyalty (cf. Matthew 6:33). These are all qualities necessary in, and available to, spiritual warriors of all ages by God’s grace. Perhaps the writer also mentioned the feats of Abishai and Benaiah because they feature in the preceding narrative. As Jesus had his circles of intimates (Peter, James, and John, the Twelve, and the Seventy), so did David.