2 Samuel 23:17-19

23:17 and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ⁴  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ⁵  23:19 From ⁶  the three he was given honor and he became their officer, even though he was not one of the three.

[23:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

[23:17]  ² tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

[23:17]  ³ tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”

[23:18]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hashÿlosa, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalisi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”

[23:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”

[23:19]  ⁷ tn Or “more than.”