2 Samuel 1:27

1:27 How the warriors have fallen!

The weapons of war ¹  are destroyed!

2 Samuel 1:19

1:19 The beauty ²  of Israel lies slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

2 Samuel 22:26

22:26 You prove to be loyal ³  to one who is faithful; ⁴ 

you prove to be trustworthy ⁵  to one who is innocent. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 1:25

1:25 How the warriors have fallen

in the midst of battle!

Jonathan lies slain on your high places!

2 Samuel 10:7

10:7 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:22

23:22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoida, who gained fame among the three elite warriors.

2 Samuel 1:22

1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of warriors,

the bow of Jonathan was not turned away.

The sword of Saul never returned ⁸  empty.

2 Samuel 16:6

16:6 He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

2 Samuel 20:7

20:7 So Joab’s men, accompanied by the Kerethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors, left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.

2 Samuel 23:17

23:17 and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ⁹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ¹⁰  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹² 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ¹³ 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ¹⁴ 

2 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ¹⁵  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

2 Samuel 17:10

17:10 If that happens even the bravest soldier – one who is lion-hearted – will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave.

2 Samuel 23:8-9

David’s Warriors

23:8 These are the names of David’s warriors:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. ¹⁶  He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. ¹⁷  23:9 Next in command ¹⁸  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ¹⁹  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 23:16

23:16 So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

¹ sn The expression weapons of war may here be a figurative way of referring to Saul and Jonathan.

² sn The word beauty is used figuratively here to refer to Saul and Jonathan.

³ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 26-30 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 26-28) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 29-30). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

⁴ tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A חָסִיד (khasid, “faithful follower”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

⁵ tn Or “innocent.”

⁶ tc Heb “a warrior of innocence.” The parallel text in Ps 18:25 reads, probably correctly, גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”) instead of גִּבּוֹר (gibor, “warrior”).

⁴ tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

⁵ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is used here to indicate repeated past action.

⁶ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

⁷ tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

⁸ tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”

⁷ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

⁸ tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

⁹ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

⁸ tc The LXX (with the exception of the recensions of Origen and Lucian) repeats the description as follows: “Just as a female bear bereft of cubs in a field.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew word is sometimes rendered as “the three,” but BDB is probably correct in taking it to refer to military officers (BDB 1026 s.v. שְׁלִישִׁי). In that case the etymological connection of this word to the Hebrew numerical adjective for “three” can be explained as originating with a designation for the third warrior in a chariot.

¹⁰ tc The translation follows some LXX mss (see 1 Chr 11:11 as well) in reading הוּא עוֹרֵר אֶת־חֲנִיתוֹ (hu’ ’orer ’et khanito, “he raised up his spear”) rather than the MT’s הוּא עֲדִינוֹ הָעֶצְנִי (hu’ ’adino ha’etsni [Kethib = הָעֶצְנוֹ, ha’etsno]; “Adino the Ezenite”). The emended text reads literally “he was wielding his spear against eight hundred, [who were] slain at one time.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “after him.”

¹¹ tc This follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading דֹּדוֹ (dodo) rather than the Kethib of the MT דֹּדַי (dodai; cf. ASV, NIV, NLT). But see 1 Chr 27:4.

¹² tn Heb “went up.”