The Gibeonites and David’s Mighty Men

After this, when the country was severely afflicted by famine, David begged God to have mercy on the people and to reveal to him the cause of it and how a remedy for that plague might be found. The prophets answered that God wanted the Gibeonites avenged, whom King Saul had been so wicked as to betray to slaughter, without keeping the oath that Joshua the general and the council of elders had sworn to them. If, then, God said, the king would allow such vengeance to be taken for those who were killed as the Gibeonites wanted, he promised he would be reconciled to them and free the people from their miseries. So as soon as the king understood that this was what God required, he sent for the Gibeonites and asked them what they wanted to have. When they asked to have seven sons of Saul’s family handed over to them to be punished, the king sought them out and handed them over, but spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan. When the Gibeonites had received the men, they punished them as they pleased. At this God began to send rain, and to restore the earth to bearing its fruits as usual and free it from the earlier drought, so that the country of the Hebrews flourished again. [a]

A little later the king made war on the Philistines. When he had joined battle with them and put them to flight, he was left alone as he pursued them, and when he was utterly exhausted, one of the enemy saw him. His name was Achmon, the son of Araph, and he was one of the sons of the giants. He had a spear whose shaft weighed about seven and a half pounds, a breastplate of chain mail, and a sword. He turned back and ran fiercely to kill their enemies’ king, for David was completely worn out with his labor. But Abishai, Joab’s brother, suddenly appeared, protected the king with his shield as he lay on the ground, and killed the enemy. The people were very uneasy at these dangers of the king and that he had come so close to being killed; and the rulers made him swear that he would no longer go out with them to battle, so that he might not meet some great misfortune through his courage and daring, and so deprive the people of the benefits they now enjoyed through him, and of those they might enjoy hereafter by his living a long time among them.

When the king heard that the Philistines had gathered at the city of Gezer, he sent an army against them. Then Sobochai the Hittite, one of David’s bravest men, conducted himself so as to earn great praise, for he killed many of those who boasted that they were descendants of the giants and prided themselves highly on it, and so became the cause of victory for the Hebrews. After that defeat the Philistines made war again; and when David had sent an army against them, Ephan, his kinsman, fought a single combat with the strongest of all the Philistines and killed him, and put the rest to flight; many of them were also killed in the fight. A little while after this the Philistines pitched their camp at a city not far from the borders of the Hebrews’ country. They had a man about nine feet tall, who had one more toe on each foot and one more finger on each hand than men naturally have. The man David sent against them out of his army was Jonathan, the son of Shimea, who fought this man in single combat and killed him; and since he was the one who turned the battle, he won the greatest name for courage in it. This man too boasted that he was one of the sons of the giants. After this fight the Philistines made war no more against the Israelites. [d]

And now David, freed from wars and dangers and enjoying deep peace from then on, composed songs and hymns to God in meters of several kinds; some of those he made were in trimeters, and some in pentameters. He also made musical instruments and taught the Levites to sing hymns to God, both on what is called the Sabbath day and on the other festivals. The instruments were made like this. The lyre had ten strings and was struck with a plectrum; the harp had twelve notes and was played with the fingers; the cymbals were broad, large instruments made of bronze. Let this much be said by us about these instruments, so that readers may not be entirely ignorant of their nature. [h]

All the men around David were men of courage. The most distinguished and famous of them for their deeds were thirty-eight. I will relate the exploits of only five of them, for these will be enough to make plain the virtues of the others as well; for these were strong enough to subdue countries and conquer great nations. First, then, was Jesebaal, the son of Achamani, who often charged the enemy’s ranks and did not stop fighting until he had brought down nine hundred of them. After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, who was with the king at Arasam. Once, when the Israelites were terrified at the number of the Philistines and were running away, this man stood alone and fell on the enemy and killed many of them, until his sword stuck to his hand with the blood he had shed, and until the Israelites, seeing the Philistines give way because of him, came down from the mountains and pursued them. At that time they won an astonishing and famous victory, while Eleazar killed the men and the people followed and stripped their dead bodies. The third was Sheba, the son of Ilus. In the wars against the Philistines, when they had pitched their camp at a place called Lehi and the Hebrews were again afraid of their army and would not stand, he stood his ground alone, like an army and a whole body of men; some of them he brought down, and others, who could not withstand his strength and force, he pursued. These are the deeds of hand and of fighting that these three performed. [j]

Once, when the king was at Jerusalem and the Philistine army came against him to fight him, David went up to the top of the citadel, as we have already said, to inquire of God about the battle, while the enemy’s camp lay in the valley that stretches to the city of Bethlehem, which is two and a half miles from Jerusalem. David said to his companions, “We have excellent water in my own city, especially that in the cistern near the gate.” He was wondering whether anyone would bring him some of it to drink; and he said he would rather have it than a great deal of money. When these three men heard what he said, they ran off at once, broke through the middle of the enemy camp and came to Bethlehem. When they had drawn the water, they came back through the enemy camp to the king, and the Philistines were so astonished at their boldness and zeal that they kept quiet and did nothing against them, as if they despised their small number. But when the water was brought to the king, he would not drink it, saying that it had been brought at the risk and the blood of men, and that for that reason it was not right to drink it. Instead he poured it out to God and thanked him for the safety of the men.

Next to these was Abishai, Joab’s brother, for in one day he killed six hundred. The fifth of these was Benaiah, a priest by descent. Challenged by distinguished brothers in the country of Moab, he overcame them by his valor. Moreover, there was a man, an Egyptian by nation, of enormous size, who challenged him; yet Benaiah, unarmed, killed the armed man by striking him with his own spear; for he wrenched the weapon away from him, stripped him while he was still alive and fighting, and killed him with his own weapons. One may also add this to the deeds of the same man already mentioned, either as the chief of them in daring or as like the rest. When God sent a snow, a lion slipped and fell into a pit, and because the mouth of the pit was narrow, it was plain he would perish, shut in by the snow. So when he saw no way to get out and save himself, he roared. When Benaiah heard the wild beast (he happened to be on a journey at the time), he went toward the noise, went down into the mouth of the pit, struck him as he struggled with the stick he had in his hand, and killed him on the spot. The other thirty-three were like these in valor too.