1 Chronicles 11:13

He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) He was with David at Pas-dammim.—Or Ephes-dammim, between Shochoh and Azekah in the Mountains of Judah, where David encountered Goliath. The name does not now appear in 2Samuel 23:5, being probably concealed under the word rendered “when they defied.”

And there the Philistines were gathered together to battle.—After these words several lines have been lost, as may be seen by comparison of 2Samuel 23:9-10. The text may be restored thus: “He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines had gathered to the battle; and the men of Israel went up (perhaps, up the mountain side, in retreat). And he stood his ground, and smote the Philistines until his hand was benumbed, and clave to the sword. And Iahweh wrought a great victory on that day. And the people began returning (from flight) behind him only to spoil (the slain). And after him (was) Shammah ben Agê, an Hararite. And the Philistines gathered together unto Lehi (Judges 15:9). And there there was a parcel, etc.,” 1Chronicles 11:13. The cause of this serious omission was perhaps the double occurrence of the phrase “the Philistines gathered together.” The eye of some copyist wandered from one to the other. What was originally told of Eleazar the second hero, was that his prowess turned the flight at Pas-dammim into a victory.

Where was a parcel of ground full of barley.—The scene of the exploit of the third hero, Shammah, son of Agê. Perhaps the Philistines were intent on carrying off the crop (1Samuel 23:1). Samuel reads lentils. The Hebrew words for barley and lentils are very similar. We cannot tell which text is right.

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

13. He was with David at Pas-dammim—It was at the time when he was a fugitive in the wilderness, and, parched with thirst under the burning heat of noonday, he wistfully thought of the cool fountain of his native village [2Sa 23:15; 1Ch 11:17]. This is a notice of the achievement, to which Eleazar owed his fame, but the details are found only in 2Sa 23:9-11, where it is further said that he was aided by the valor of Shammah, a fact corroborated in the passage before us (1Ch 11:14), where it is recorded of the heroes, that "they set themselves in the midst of that parcel." As the singular number is used in speaking of Shammah (2Sa 23:12), the true view seems to be that when Eleazar had given up from exhaustion, Shammah succeeded, and by his fresh and extraordinary prowess preserved the field.

barley—or lentils (2Sa 23:11). Ephes-dammim was situated between Shocoh and Azekah, in the west of the Judahite territory. These feats were performed when David acted as Saul's general against the Philistines.

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

He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. at Pasdammim] The same place under the name “Ephes-dammim” is mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:1 as the gathering-place of the Philistines. It was in the S.W. of Judah.

a parcel of ground] R.V. a plot of ground. The same use of “parcel” occurs Genesis 33:19; Ruth 4:3; John 4:5 (even in R.V.).

barley] Samuel “lentils.” The two words resemble each other in Heb. and might be confused by an unwary scribe.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Pas-dammim. This word, הַפַּס דַּמִּים, appears in 1 Samuel 17:1 as אֶפֶס דַּמִּים, and is supposed to mean, in either form, "the boundary of blood;" it was the scene of frequent conflicts with the Philistines, and was the spot where they were encamped at the time of Goliath's challenge to Israel. It was near Shocoh, or Soech, in Judah, some fourteen miles south-west of Jerusalem. Full of barley. The Authorized Version reading in the parallel passage (2 Samuel 23:11) is "full of lentiles," the Hebrew for "barley" is שְׂעורִים, for "lentiles" עֲדָשִׁים. Possibly the words should be the same, one being here spelt, by accident, wrongly for the other (so Kennicott). The first Bible mention of "barley" occurs in Exodus 9:31, 32, from which verses we learn that it, together with "flax," was an earlier crop than "rye" and "wheat." It was not only used for food for man (Numbers 5:15; Judges 7:13; Ezekiel 4:12), but also for horses (1 Kings 4:28). That it was nevertheless of the less-valued grain, we have significant indications, in its being prescribed for the "jealousy offering" (Numbers 5:15, comp. with Leviticus 2:1), and in its being part of the purchase price of the adulteress (Hosea 3:2). Its derivation in the Hebrew, from a verbal root signifying "to bristle," is in noticeable analogy with the Latin hordeum, from horreo. Gesenius's observation, that the singular of the word given above in the Hebrew marks the "growing crop," and the plural the "grain" itself, seems hardly corroborated by this single passage at all events. The lentile, on the other hand, was a species of bean, and used much for soup, of which Egyptian tomb-paintings furnish illustration (Genesis 25:29-34; 2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9). Sonnini, in his 'Travels' (translation of Hunter, 3:288), tells us that still the Egyptian poor eat lentile-bread, but, what is more apropos of this passage, that in making it they prefer to mix a little "barley" with it. This apparent discrepancy between the parallel accounts not only counts in itself for very little, but may easily be surmounted by supposing that, though it be written that the "parcel" of ground was "full of lentiles," and again "full of barley," the description may only amount to this, that such parcels were in close juxtaposition. But if not, our allusion above to the possible error in the Hebrew words will sufficiently explain the variation. 1 Chronicles 11:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

A register of the heroes who stood by him in the establishment of his kingdom. The greater part of this register is found in 2 Samuel 23:8-39 also, though there are many divergences in the names, which for the most part have found their way into one or other of the texts by errors of transcription. The conclusion (1 Chronicles 11:41-47 of the Chronicle) is not found in 2 Samuel 23, either because the author of the Chronicle followed another and older register than that used by the author of the book of Samuel, or because the latter has not communicated all the names contained in his authority. The former of these is the more probable supposition. In the Chronicle the superscription of the register is enlarged by the insertion in 1 Chronicles 11:10, before the simple superscription in 1 Chronicles 11:11, cf. 2 Samuel 23:8, of a further superscription informing us of the design which the chronicler had in introducing the register at this place. "These are the chiefs of David's heroes who stood by him strongly (עם התחזּק, as Daniel 10:21) in his kingdom, with the whole of Israel to make him king, according to the word of Jahve, over Israel." The collocation הגּבּרים ראשׁי is accounted for by the fact that הגּבּור is a designation of a valiant or heroic man in general, without reference to his position, whether co-ordinate with or subordinate to others. Among David's גּבּרים who helped to establish his kingdom, are not merely those who are mentioned by name in the following register, but also, as we learn from 1 Chronicles 12, the great number of valiant men of all the tribes, who, even during his persecution by Saul, crowded round him, and immediately after Saul's death came to him in Hebron to hail him king. The enumeration in our passage contains only the chiefs, ראשׁים, of those valiant men, i.e., those who held the first rank among them, and who were in great part leaders in the army of David, or became so. להמליכו is not to be confined to the mere appointment to the kingship, but includes also his establishment in it; for there follows an account of the heroic deeds which the men enumerated by name performed in the wars which David waged against his enemies in order to maintain and increase his kingly power. יהוה דּבר יהוה .rewop concerning Israel is the word of the Lord, the import of which is recorded in 1 Chronicles 11:3, that David should feed His people Israel, and be ruler over them. The ipsissima verba are not found in the earlier history of David, but the substance of them has been deduced from 1 Samuel 16:13 and 1 Samuel 15:28; cf. herewith the remarks on 2 Samuel 3:18. The enumeration of these heroes is introduced in 1 Chronicles 11:11 by a short supplementary superscription, "these the number of the heroes." That מספּר should be used instead of the שׁמות of Samuel is surprising, but is explained by the fact that these heroes at first constituted a corps whose designation was derived from their number. They originally amounted to thirty, whence they are still called the thirty, השּׁלשׁים; cf. 1 Chronicles 11:12, and the discussion on 2 Samuel 23:8. In both narratives three classes are distinguished.

Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah hold the first place, and specially bold and heroic deeds performed by them are recorded, 1 Chronicles 11:11-14, and 2 Samuel 23:8-12. For details as to themselves and their deeds, see on the last cited passage. There we have already remarked, that in 1 Chronicles 11:13 of the text of the Chronicle, the three lines which in Samuel come between שׁם נאספוּ בּפּלשׁתּים (2 Samuel 23:9) and פלשׁתּים ויּעספוּ, 1 Chronicles 11:11, have been, through wandering of the copyist's eye, omitted; and with them the name of the third hero, שׁמּה, has also been dropped, so that the heroic deed done by him, 1 Chronicles 11:13, 1 Chronicles 11:14, appears, according to our present text, to have been performed by Eleazar. In place of the words, "And the Philistines had gathered themselves together there to battle, and there was a parcel of ground full of barley," 1 Chronicles 11:13, the text, according to the narrative in 2 Samuel 23:11, must have stood originally thus: "The Philistines had gathered themselves together there to battle, and the men of Israel went up (sc., retreating from the Philistines up the mountain); he, however, stood firm, and smote the Philistines till his hand was wearied, and cleaved unto the sword (i.e., clung crampedly to his sword through fatigue): there wrought Jahve a great deliverance on that day, and the people returned (from their flight) behind him only to spoil. And after him was Shammah the son of Aga the Hararite, and the Philistines had gathered themselves together to battle," etc. In 1 Chronicles 11:14 the plural forms יתיצּבוּ, ויּצּילוּה, ויּכּוּ, are incorrect, and should be changed into singulars, as in 2 Samuel 23:12, since only the deed of the hero Shammah is here spoken of. The plurals were probably introduced into the text after the missing lines had been dropped out by a reader or copyist, who, on account of the דּייד עם היה הוּא (1 Chronicles 11:13), understood the three clauses of 1 Chronicles 11:14 to refer to Eleazar and David. ויּושׁע, on the contrary, is here perfectly appropriate, and is not to be altered to suit the ויּעשׂ of Samuel, 1 Chronicles 11:14, for the καὶ ἐποίησε of the lxx is not of itself a sufficient reason for doing so.