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1 Chronicles 11:20

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 1 Chronicles 11:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three.
1 Chronicles 11:20 — American Standard Version

Context — 1 Chronicles 11

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!
18And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Jehovah,
19and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.
20And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three.
21Of the three, he was more honorable than the two, and was made their captain: howbeit he attained not to the [first] three.
22Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he slew the two [sons of] Ariel of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.
23And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian`s hand was a spear like a weaver`s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian`s hand, and slew him with his own spear.
← 1 Chronicles 11:191 Chronicles 11:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Abishai: Ch1 2:16; Sa1 26:6; Sa2 2:18, Sa2 3:30, Sa2 18:2, Sa2 20:6, Sa2 21:17, Sa2 23:18, 19-39 1 Chronicles 11:21”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“In Ch1 11:20-25 the second class of heroes, to which Abshai (Abishai) and Benaiah belonged, cf. Sa2 23:18-23, is spoken of. They were not equal to the preceding three in heroic deeds, but yet stood higher than the list of heroes which follows in Ch1 11:26 and onwards. אבשׁי, as Ch1 2:16 and Sa2 10:10, while in Sa2 23:18 and elsewhere he is called אבישׁי, was one of the three sons of Zeruiah ( Ch1 2:16). It is difficult to explain השׁלושׁה ראשׁ, "he was the chief of the three," instead of which we find in Sa2 23:23 השׁלשׁי, i.e., השּׁלשׁי, "chief of the body-guard" (knights). But owing to the succeeding שׁם (ולו) בּשּׁלושׁה ולא, where Samuel also has בּשּׁלשׁה, and to the recurrence of…”
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