Abishai was the most famous of the Thirty and was their commander, though he was not one of the Three.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wasn’t he most honorable of the three? therefore he was made their captain. However he wasn’t included as one of the three.
- KJV Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three.
- BSB Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.
- NKJV Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.
- NASB He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though most honored of his group and made their commander, Abishai did not rank among the elite three.
Overview
The text carefully distinguishes ranks of honor without diminishing Abishai's worth. This precision teaches that God assigns differing measures of gifting and recognition, and each servant is honored in his proper place within the whole.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 13:8Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.
- Matt 13:23What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”
- 2 Sam 23:16The three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh.
- 2 Sam 23:13Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
- 1 Cor 15:41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
- 1 Chr 11:25Behold, he was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the three; and David set him over his guard.
- 2 Sam 23:9After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away.
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 23:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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