‏ 1 Chronicles 12:1-22

CHAPTER 12

1Ch 12:1-22. The Companies That Came to David at Ziklag.

1-7. Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag--There are three lists given in this chapter, arranged, apparently, according to the order of time when the parties joined the standard of David.

while he yet kept himself close because of Saul--that is, when the king's jealousy had driven him into exile from the court and the country.

Ziklag--(See on 1Sa 27:6). It was during his retirement in that Philistine town that he was joined in rapid succession by the heroes who afterwards contributed so much to the glory of his reign.

8-13. of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David--that is, from the service of Saul and from the rest of the Gadites who remained steadfast adherents of his cause.

into the hold--or fortress, that is, of Ziklag, which was in the wilderness of Judah.

whose faces were like the faces of lions, &c.--A fierce, lion-like countenance (2Sa 1:23), and great agility in pursuit (2Sa 2:18), were qualities of the highest estimation in ancient warfare.

14. one of the least was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand--David, while at Ziklag, had not so large an amount of forces as to give to each of these the command of so many men. Another meaning, therefore, must obviously be sought, and excluding was, which is a supplement by our translators, the import of the passage is, that one of the least could discomfit a hundred, and the greatest was worth a thousand ordinary men; a strong hyperbole to express their uncommon valor.

15. These are they that went over Jordan in the first month--that is, in spring, when the swollen river generally fills up the banks of its channel (see on Jos 3:14; Jos 4:19; Jos 5:10).

they put to flight all them of the valleys--This was probably done at the time of their separating themselves and their purpose being discovered, they had to cut their passage through the opposing adherents of Saul, both on the eastern and western banks. The impossibility of taking the fords at such a time, and the violent rapidity of the current, make this crossing of the Jordan--in whatever way these Gadites accomplished it--a remarkable feat.

16. the children of Benjamin and Judah--It is probable that the Benjamites invited the Judahites to accompany them, in order to prevent David being suspicious of them. Their anticipations, as the result showed, were well founded. He did suspect them, but the doubts of David as to their object in repairing to him, were promptly dispelled by Amasai or Amasa, who, by the secret impulse of the Spirit, assured him of their strong attachment and their zealous service from a unanimous conviction that his cause was owned and blessed of God (1Sa 18:12-14).

19-22. there fell some of Manasseh--The period of their accession is fixed as the time when David came with the Philistines against Saul to battle.

but they helped them not--(See on 1Sa 29:4).