Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ¹  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ² 

From ¹  the three he was given honor and he became their officer, even though he was not one of the three.

After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he remained there for three years.

Absalom had ¹  three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman. ² 

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

Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together for me in three days, ¹  and you be present here with them too.”

Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven ¹  years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide ²  what I should tell the one who sent me.”

The three sons of Zeruiah were there – Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.)

In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem ¹  he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family. ¹ 

He received honor from ¹  the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.’”

At the time of ¹  the harvest three ²  of the thirty leaders went down to ³  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.

Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹ 

During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ¹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ²  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

Next in command ¹  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ²  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, ³ 

Now Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, ¹  had a spear ²  that weighed three hundred bronze shekels, ³  and he was armed with a new weapon. ⁴  He had said that he would kill David.

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 

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

When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight.