2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:1 The “last words of David” are a song praising God for establishing his house as the ruler; the song recalls God’s promise in 2 Samuel 7:8. It contrasts the just ruler and worthless men. The righteous ruler is like the morning light at sunrise; worthless men are like up... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:2 THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD SPEAKS BY ME. David describes himself as a prophet, whose songs and wise sayings come from God (see Acts 1:16; Acts 4:25). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:4 LIKE THE MORNING LIGHT, LIKE THE SUN... LIKE RAIN are images for bringing health and life. HE in this verse refers to the just ruler of the previous verse. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:5 This verse refers to the covenant God made with David in ch. 2 Samuel 7:1 (see also Psalms 89:29; Psalms 132:12). ORDERED IN ALL THINGS AND SECURE is probably a legal term. It stresses the validity of God’s covenant with David. ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:8 This list of David’s mighty men is divided into two groups: THE THREE (vv. 2 Samuel 23:8), and THE THIRTY (vv. 2 Samuel 23:18). Together, these two groups include THIRTY-SEVEN IN ALL (v. 2 Samuel 23:39). Actually, the list of the “thirty” includes 34 names. This could... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:11 SHAMMAH is remembered for defending a garden against the PHILISTINES. Compare the Philistines’ robbing the threshing floors in 1 Samuel 23:1. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:13 The THREE men remembered in these verses were apparently not the “three” of vv. 2 Samuel 23:8 but rather members of the “thirty” listed in vv. 2 Samuel 23:18. This episode may have occurred while David was fleeing Saul, or possibly during one of the Philistine attacks... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:16 When his men actually brought David WATER from Bethlehem, HE WOULD NOT DRINK OF IT. HE POURED IT OUT TO THE LORD. David realized that the water represented the very BLOOD of his men, for they had risked their lives to get it. By pouring it out, David was saying that h... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:18 This is the list of David’s THIRTY men. Some of the names appear as officers in 1 Chronicles 27:1. Most appear in the list in 1 Chronicles 11:20, which is an expansion of this list but is not labeled as being a list of “the thirty” (compare 2 Samuel 23:24 and 1 Chroni... [ Continue Reading ]
2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 SAMUEL 23:32 The SONS OF JASHEN probably refers to two men, possibly twins. In the list, however, they seem to be counted as one item. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]