1 Chronicles 11:22

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22-25) Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.—Captain of the royal guard (1Chronicles 18:17) and third “captain of the host” (1Chronicles 27:5-6).

Son of a valiant man.—“Son” is probably a spurious addition here, as elsewhere. The Syriac has “Benaiah son of Joiada, a strong warrior.” The LXX., however, reads, “son of a mighty man.”

Kabzeel.—A town of southern Judah, site unknown (Joshua 15:21); Nehemiah 11:25 (Jekabzeel).

Who had done many acts.—The margin is correct. This poetic phrase only occurs in this and the parallel passage.

He slew two lionlike men of Moab.—See 1Chronicles 18:2. So the Syriac: “He slew two giants of Moab.” The Hebrew has, “He smote the two Ariel of Moab.” Ariel, “lion of God”—a title of heroes with the Arabs and Persians—appears to be used as an appellative (Isaiah 33:7): “Lo, the heroes (‘arîêlîm) cry without!” (Heb.) The LXX. of 2Samuel 23:20 reads, “The two sons of Ariel of Moab;” whence some think that Ariel denotes here the king of Moab; but the former sense is better.

Also he went down and slew a lion.—Literally, And he (it was who) went down and smote the lion in the middle of the cistern in the day of snow. The article pointedly refers to some well-known feat of Benaiah’s.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:10-47 An account is given of David's worthies, the great men who served him. Yet David reckoned his success, not as from the mighty men that were with him, but from the mighty God, whose presence is all in all. In strengthening him, they strengthened themselves and their own interest, for his advancement was theirs. We shall gain by what we do in our places for the support of the kingdom of the Son of David; and those that are faithful to Him, shall find their names registered much more to their honour, than these are in the records of fame.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare this passage with 2 Samuel 23:9-10.

Barley - In 2 Samuel 23:11, "lentiles." The words for barley and lentils are so similar in the Hebrew that we may fairly explain the diversity by an accidental corruption.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Benaiah … of Kabzeel—a town in the south of Judah (Jos 15:21; Ne 11:25). It is said that "he had done many acts," though three only are mentioned as specimens of his daring energy and fearless courage.

slew two lionlike men of Moab—literally, "lions of God," that is, great lions or champions. This gallant feat was probably achieved in David's hostile invasion of Moab (2Sa 8:2).

also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day—probably a cave into which Benaiah had taken refuge from the snowstorm, and in which he encountered a savage lion which had its lair there. In a spacious cave the achievement would be far greater than if the monster had been previously snared or cabined in a pit.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it was accounted as if he inquired not at all, 1 Samuel 28:6 the Targum adds another reason of his death, because he killed the priests of Nob; but that is not in the text:

therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:

and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.

Geneva Study Bible

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Benaiah] See 2 Samuel 8:18; 1 Kings 1:8 ff; 1 Kings 2:25-35.

Kabzeel] It was in the south of Judah; Joshua 15:21.

done many acts] R.V. done mighty deeds.

he slew two lionlike men of Moab] R.V. “the two sons of Ariel of Moab” (so LXX. of 2 Samuel 23:20). The phrase however is very difficult to interpret. Another translation is “he slew the two champions of Moab.” A fourth (perhaps the best) is “he smote the two altar-pillars of Moab,” i.e. he overthrew the two high columns on which the sacred fire of the Moabites was kept (Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, Additional Note L). To injure or deile the sacred place of an enemy was a common practice in ancient war.

in a snowy day] R.V. in time of snow.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Benaiah, His father Jehoiada was chief priest (1 Chronicles 27:5). Benaiah was, therefore, a Levite by tribe, though Kabzeel (Joshua 15:21) was in Judah far south. He was "captain of the host for the third month... and in his course were twenty and four thousand" (1 Chronicles 27:5). When in our ver. 25 it is said that "David set him over his guard," the allusion probably is to his uniform and prolonged command of "the Cherethites and Pelethites" (2 Samuel 8:18; 2 Samuel 20:23; 1 Kings 1:38; 1 Chronicles 18:17). His fidelity and influence remained into Solomon's time (1 Kings 1:8, 10, 32, 38, 44; 1 Kings 2:35; 1 Kings 4:4). 1 Chronicles 11:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

1 Chronicles 11:21 should be translated: honoured before the three as two; i.e., doubly honoured-he became to them prince, leader. With regard to בשּׁנים, which, as meaningless, Bertheau would alter so as to make it correspond with הכי (Sam.), cf. Ew. Lehrb. 269, b. For Benaiah and his exploits, 1 Chronicles 11:22-25, see the commentary on 2 Samuel 23:20-23.

No special deeds of the heroes enumerated in vv. 26-47 are related, so that we may regard them as a third class, who are not equal to the first triad, and to the second pair, Abishai and Benaiah, and consequently occupied a subordinate place in the collective body of the royal body-guards. In 2 Samuel 23 thirty-two names are mentioned, which, with the above-mentioned three and two of the first and second classes, amount in all to thirty-seven men, as is expressly remarked in 2 Samuel 23:39 at the conclusion. In the text of the Chronicle no number is mentioned, and the register is increased by sixteen names (1 Chronicles 11:41-47), which have been added in the course of time to the earlier number. The words החילים וגבּורי, 1 Chronicles 11:26, are to be regarded as a superscription: And valiant heroes were, etc.; equivalent to, But besides there, there remain still the following valiant heroes. The words החילים גּבּורי are not synonymous with החילים שׂרי, leaders of the host, 1 Kings 15:20; Jeremiah 40:7, (Berth.), but signify heroes in warlike strength, i.e., heroic warriors, like חילים גּבּורי (1 Chronicles 7:5, 1 Chronicles 7:7,1 Chronicles 7:11, 1 Chronicles 7:40). That חילים has here the article, while it is not found in the passages quoted from the seventh chapter, does not make any difference in the meaning of the words. The article is used, here, as with הגּבּורים, 1 Chronicles 11:10, 1 Chronicles 11:11, because the heroes of David are spoken of, and לדויד אשׁר is to be mentally supplied from 1 Chronicles 11:10. As to the names in vv. 26-41, which are also found in the register in the book of Samuel, see the commentary to 2 Samuel 23:24-39. This list, which is common to both books, begins with Asahel, a brother of Joab, who was slain by Abner in the war which he waged against David (2 Samuel 2:19-23), and concludes in the book of Samuel with Uriah the Hittite, so well known from 2 Samuel 11:3. (1 Chronicles 11:41), with whose wife David committed adultery. But to the continuation of the register which is found in 1 Chronicles 11:41-47 of our text, there is no parallel in the other writings of the Old Testament by which we might form an idea as to the correctness of the names. The individual names are indeed to be met with, for the most part, in other parts of the Old Testament, but denote other men of an earlier or later time. The names ידיעאל, 1 Chronicles 11:45, and אליאל, 1 Chronicles 11:46., are found also in 1 Chronicles 12:20, 1 Chronicles 12:11, among those of the valiant men who before Saul's death went over to David, but we cannot with any certainty ascertain whether the persons meant were the same. The expression שׁלשׁים ועליו (1 Chronicles 11:42) is also obscure, - "and to him in addition," i.e., together with him, thirty, - since the thought that with Adina the chief of the Reubenites, or besides him, there were thirty (men), has no meaning in this register. The lxx and the Vulgate read עליו, while the Syriac, on the contrary, makes use of the periphrasis, "And even he was a ruler over thirty heroes;" and Bertheau accordingly recommends the emendation השּׁלשׁים על, and thence concludes that the tribe of Reuben had thirty leaders in its army-a conjecture as bold as it is improbable. Were השּׁלשׁים על to be read, we could not but refer the words to the thirty heroes of 1 Chronicles 11:11, and hold Adina to be their leader, which could not be easily reconciled with 1 Chronicles 11:11. See on 1 Chronicles 12:4.