The Coming of the King
Contents:
1. The Genealogy of David: Precedents.
2. History. Saul.
3. History. Ziklag.
4. The Wives and Children of David.
5. The Top 3 and the Upper 30.
5. The Top 3 and the Upper 30.
6. Two Captains.
7 The Two Lists of 30.
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1. The Genealogy of David: Precedents.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob gave rise to the Israelite Nation.
Jacob was renamed Israel. He had 12 sons who fathered 13 Tribes since Joseph was divided into two, Ephraim and Menasseh.
One of the sons of Jacob was Judah. Perez was a son of Judah.
David was a descendant of Perez.
The genealogy of David is given in the Book of Ruth.
Ruth was a Moabite woman. She married Boaz the great-grandfather of David.
Ruth 4:
18 AND THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF PEREZ: PEREZ BEGOT HEZRON.
19 AND HEZRON BEGOT RAM, AND RAM BEGOT AMMINADAB.
20 AND AMMINADAB BEGOT NAHSHON, AND NAHSHON BEGOT SALMAH.
21 AND SALMAH BEGOT BOAZ, AND BOAZ BEGOT OBED.
22 AND OBED BEGOT JESSE, AND JESSE BEGOT DAVID.
The children of Jesse were David, Eliab, Abinadab, Shimma, Nethaneel, Raddai, Ozem, and the girls Zeruiah, and Abigail. Altogether Jesse had 8 sons, and at least 2 daughters. The family was centred in Beth-Lehem in the territory of Judah. The girls were Zeruiah and Abigail, The sons of Zeruiah served in the armies of David.
A son of Abigail, Amasa, was later attached to Absalom who was a son of David and rival to Solomon.
The Bible does not name the mother of David. The Talmud (Baba Batra 91a) identifies her as "Nitzevet", a daughter of a man named Adael. When David was fleeing from Saul he feared for the safety of his parents. He therefore placed them in the care of the King of Moab (1-Samuel 22:3-4) who later had them killed.
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2. History. Saul
The first king of Israel was Saul from the Tribe of Benjamin.
The Almighty was displeased with Saul. The prophet, and Judge, Samuel was sent to secretly anoint David as the future king. This took place while Saul still reigned. Meanwhile, David became renowned as a musician and as a warrior. He was made the armor-bearer to King Saul. The Philistines were art war with Israel. They were represented by a giant named Goliath who was killed by David. The jealousy of Saul was aroused by David who increasing became famous as a warrior. Meanwhile Jonathan (Yehonatan), the son of Saul and David had become friends. Jonathan warned David that Saul was plotting against him so he fled. Michal the wife of David and the daughter of Saul had also helped save David from the ire of Saul.
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3. History. Ziklag
David fled to the city of Nob in Judah. Saul pursued him and when he failed to catch him massacred all the priests at the sanctuary of Nob. David was pursued. On two occasion he could have slain Saul but refrained from doing so. King Saul was at war against the Philistines. David presented himself to the Philistines as a refugee fleeing from King Saul. The Philistines did not trust him but King Achish, the Philistine leader, gave him and his men the settlement of Ziklag to dwell in.
At Ziklag David was joined by other Israelites who came to him.
1-Chronicles (TCB) 12:
1 AND THESE ARE THE ONES WHO CAME TO DAVID TO ZIKLAG, WHILE HE WAS STILL HIDING FROM SAUL THE SON OF KISH, AND THEY WERE AMONG THE MIGHTY MEN WHO AIDED THE WAR.
2 ARMED WITH BOWS, SHOOTING WITH THE RIGHT AND LEFT HANDS, WITH STONES AND WITH ARROWS IN THE BOW, OF SAUL'S BRETHREN OF BENJAMIN.
3 THE CHIEF, AHIEZER, AND JOASH, THE SONS OF HASHEMAAH THE GIBEATHITE, AND JEZIEL, AND PELET, THE SONS OF AZMAVETH AND BERACHAH, AND JEHU THE ANATHOTHITE.
4 AND ISHMAIAH THE GIBEONITE, THE MIGHTIEST OF THE THIRTY AND OVER THE THIRTY.
5 AND JEREMIAH, AND JAHAZIEL, AND JOHANAN, AND JOZABAD THE GEDERATHITE, ELEUZAI, AND JERIMOTH, AND BEALIAH, AND SHEMARIAH, AND SHEPHATIAH THE HARUPHITE.
All of the above appear to pertain to the Tribe of Benjamin.
6 ELKANAH, AND ISHIAH, AND AZAREL, AND JOEZER, AND JASHOBEAM, THE KORAHITES.
These may have been from Korah of the tribe of Levi.
7 AND JOELA, AND ZEBADIAH, THE SONS OF JEROHAM OF GEDUD.
These appear to be from Judah.
There were also quite a few from the Tribe of Gad east of the Jordan.
8 AND SOME OF THE GADITES WERE SEPARATED TO DAVID TO THE STRONGHOLD OF THE DESERT, VALIANT WARRIORS, SOLDIERS FOR BATTLE, WHO COULD HANDLE SHIELD AND SPEAR, AND WHOSE FACES WERE [LIKE] THE FACES OF LIONS, AND AS SWIFT AS GAZELLES ON THE MOUNTAINS.
9 EZER THE CHIEF, OBADIAH THE SECOND, ELIAB THE THIRD.
10 MISHMANNAH THE FOURTH, JEREMIAH THE FIFTH.
11 ATTAI THE SIXTH, ELIEL THE SEVENTH.
12 JOHANAN THE EIGHTH, ELZABAD THE NINTH.
13 JEREMIAH THE TENTH, MACHBANNAI THE ELEVENTH.
14 THESE WERE SOME OF THE SONS OF GAD, THE HEADS OF THE ARMY; THE SMALLEST ONE [COULD PURSUE] A HUNDRED, AND THE GREATEST A THOUSAND.
There were also some very important military leaders from the tribe of Manasseh who defected to David.
=Eventually representatives of all of the Tribes came to assist David. A listing is given in 2-Chronciles ch.12.
David remained at Ziklag until Saul and his sons (including Jonathan) were killed by the Philistines at Mount Gilboa.
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4. The Wives and Children of David.
The Book of Chronicles lists the sons of David from his various wives and concubines. In Hebron, David had six sons: Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah (1-Chronicles 3:13). By Bathsheba, his sons were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. More sons born in Jerusalem born in Jerusalem of his other wives included Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama and Eliada (2-Samuel 5:14-16). Jerimoth, who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of his sons in 2- Chronicles 11:18. His daughter Tamar, by Maachah, was raped by her half-brother Amnon. David fails to bring Amnon to justice for his violation of Tamar, because he is his firstborn and he loves him, and so Absalom (the full brother of Tamar) killed Amnon in revenge.
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5. The Top 3 and the Upper 30.
At Ziklag David had began to create a framework for the future.
He created a Hierarchy based on military prowess. The top 3 were:
Josheb-Basshebeth: Chief of the Three, famously known for slaying 800 enemy men in a single battle using his spear.
Eleazar: The son of Dodo. He once fought the Philistines so fiercely and relentlessly that his hand grew tired and physically cramped, freezing onto his sword.
Shammah: The son of Agee. He single-handedly defended a field of lentils from an entire Philistine army when his fellow soldiers fled.
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6. Two Captains.
Above the thirty but beneath the top three sat two elite captains:
Abishai: Brother of Joab and nephew of David. He had lifted his spear and defeated 300 men in battle. He was from the Tribe of Judah. Another understanding identifies him as a son of Saul and therefore from Tribe of Benjamin.
Benaiah: He was a legendary warrior and also a Cohen from the Tribe of Levi.
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7 The Two Lists of 30.
Wikipedia has an article on the Chosen Warriors of David.
David's Mighty Warriors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The article points out that "there are a few places where it is uncertain whether one person is referred to or if it is two people."
It also gives two lists of the warriors comparing 2-Samuel 23:8-39 to 1-Chronicles 11:10-47. It is obvious that in most cases the same personages are spoken of though their names are rendered slightly different. Rabbi Abraham Iben Ezra commenting on differences in names for the same person says that on occasion Scripture uses a different name for the same person when both names had the same or similar meanings. Here however the names are sometimes different and their meanings are not always the same. It may also be the case that over time the Listing of the Top Thirty Warriors changed with some retiring or passing away. There are actually listed 37 warriors possibly due to the overlap of personnel changes.
We have allocated these members of the Thirty Mighty Warriors of King David mainly according to Yehudah Kiel who compares them with the parallel list of administrators in the Book of Chronicles. Where no parallel exists, Yehudah Kiel has relied on place names.
Even allowing for mistaken of Tribal allocations here and there the impression is that most of the Thirty Warriors came from the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin followed by some Ephraimites and a few of the other Tribes. The List also includes the names of three who may have been of foreign origin. One may have been an Ammonite, another Moabite, and Uriah the Hittite. A Midrash identifies Uriah as commander of the Thirty (Midrash Bamidbar Rabah 26:13). No other source confirms this but it is based on an alternate reading of the Hebrew text. Uriah may also have been named Ahimelech.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Ziklag was a small city gifted to David by King Achish of Gath during David�s flight from King Saul. Biblical accounts tell that from Ziklag, David raided the towns of the northern Negev, suffered attacks from the Amalekites, and restored great wealth to the people of Judah (1 Samuel 27�30). Ziklag was also the place where David received the news of Saul and Jonathan�s demise (2 Samuel 1:17).