In 1 Chronicles 11, we'll read verses 10 through 47. We have a catalog of David's mighty men and some of their mighty deeds. Hear now the word of almighty God inspired by his spirit and profitable for us. 1 Chronicles 11, starting at verse 10. These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had. Jehoshabim and Hachmanite, the chief of the captains, He lifted up his spear against 300 slain by him at one time. And after him was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. He was with David at Pastamim, 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. And they set themselves in the midst of that parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines. And the Lord saved them by a great deliverance. Now three of the 30 captains went down to a rock to David, into the cave of Adullam. And the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the hold. And the Philistines garrison was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate. And the three break through the host 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 David would not drink of it. But poured it out to the Lord and said, my God forbid it me that I should do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? For with the jeopardy of their lives, they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest. And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three. For lifting up his spear against 300, he slew them, and had a name among the three. Of the three, he was more honorable than the two, for he was their captain. Howbeit, he attained not to the first three. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabziel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab. Also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high. And in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam. And he went down to him with a staff and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and slew him with his own spear. These things did Banea the son of Jehoiada and had the name among the three mighties. Behold, he was honorable among the 30, but attained not to the first three, and David set him over his guard. Also, the valiant men of the armies were Azahel, the brother of Joab, Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shamoth, the Hararite, Helez, the Pelonite, Ira, the son of Ikesh, the Tekoite, Abiezer, the Antothite, Sibachai, the Hushethite, Ilai, the Ahohite, Mahariai, the Netophethite, Heled, the son of Baena, the Netophethite, Ithai, the son of Ribai, of Gibeah, that pertain to the children of Benjamin, Baneah, the Pirathonite, Hurriah of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel, the Arbethite, Asmaveth, the Bahuromite, Eliabah, the Shealbonite, the sons of Hashem, the Gizanite, Jonathan, the son of Shage, the Hararite, Ahiam, the son of Sakar, the Hararite, Eliphal, the son of Ur, Hefer, the Mecharithite. Ahijah, the Pelonite. Hezro, the Carmelite. Nehariah, the son of Ezbei. Joel, the brother of Nathan. Mibhar, the son of Hageri. Zelech, the Ammonite. Nehariah, the Barothite. The armor bearer of Joab, the son of Zeruiah. Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and 30 with him, Hanan the son of Maaka, and Josaphat the Mithnite, Uzziah the Ashterithite, Shammah and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite, Jadaiel the son of Shimri, and Johah his brother the Tizite, Eliel the Mahavite, and Jerobai and Joshaviah the sons of El Naam, and Ithma the Moabite, Eliel and Obed, and Jaziel the Mesobaite. Thus far, the reading of God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word from 1 Chronicles 11, verses 10 through 47. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his word, and now to the consideration of its teaching. This entire catalog of mighty men down through verse 40 is recorded for us in 2 Samuel 23 verses 8 through 39. Verses 41 and following record one part that's recorded there concerning Uriah the Hittite. The rest is new details granted by the Spirit of God to this book of remembrances where the fragments are gathered up and presented to us. Here we have in verse 10, these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had. This means that these were just a sampling of the top dogs, so to speak, the summit as this word chief can be translated. There were more, but these are the most important. We're told here that these strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom and with all Israel to make him king. We are not told this in the book of 2 Samuel 23, verse 8. This information was saved by the Spirit of God until now. These mighty men, we could maybe conclude, we could guess, that they helped make David king. Here it's made explicit. They were part of the restoration of David to the kingdom. Now verse 11 refers to a man called Jehoshabim and Hachmanite. Now in 2 Samuel 23 verse 8 he is called the Tachmonite and his name is given as Adino the Esnite. 2 Samuel 23 verse 8. Now, as we have discussed before, you will find in the ancient world and in the Hebrew Bible that there are many names given to one man. And sometimes the name is what his dad or his mom called him. Sometimes it refers to his father or his city. Sometimes it refers to his function or his character or his nickname, you might say, like Simon, who is also called what? Petros, Peter. Petras has to do with his confession of faith, Simon is his given name, but he was surnamed by our Lord Peter, so here. Jeshobiam means he who is sitting in a seat. In other words, it's a contraction of what is stated in 2 Samuel 23, verse eight, of this Adino the Esnite, who was the one seated. That's what that means. Jeshobiam is a contraction of a phrase, the one who is seated, who sits in the chair, who gives counsel and advice. That's what senators do. They sit down. That's what a session does. They sit, they rule. So he had reign and rule among David's mighty men. That's the idea. Now the word taqmanite or haqmanite is translated by Jerome in his Vulgate as sapientissimus, the most wise one. And that's the idea of a haqmanite. It's a man who's filled with wisdom and counsel. Adeno then is his given name. Eznight refers to the tribe or the family he belongs to. Takmanight means he's a man of great wisdom. And then Jashobiam means he's the one who's seated as a ruler. You see, he has several names referring to one person. We're told in verse 11 concerning him lifting up his spear against 300, slain by him at one time. Now in 2 Samuel 23 verse 8, it refers to an occasion on which Adino slew 800 men at one time. And this could be the same occasion. This is how the Bible does it when it reckons up these numbers. If Adino is fighting and he kills 300 men, and then the other 500 run away, and Adino's men come and kill them, the Bible can attribute that all to Adino. because he's the beginning of the fight. He's the one who turned the tides. He killed 300 with his own hands. Then his men ran after and killed 500 more. Who's attributed with the death of those 800 men? Adino. How many did he kill with his own hands? 300. You see, so these two are reconciled very easily. It could also be a second occasion in which he slew 300 rather than 800 with his own hands. We don't know for sure, but they're easily reconciled. It tells us in verse 13, concerning this Eliezer, the son of Dodo the Ahohite, that he was with David at Pas Damim. Now this word Dam in Hebrew means blood. Do you remember Hasel Damah? The field of blood. Hasel is a field. Damah means blood. Pas Damim means the boundaries of blood. He was there at the boundaries of blood, a location not named in 2 Samuel 23 verse 9. This field or boundary of blood was where a parcel full of barley was. Now barley, if you understand the economy of the Old Testament, is your livestock feed, the grain that you feed to your livestock. It's a more coarse grain. The wheat you feed to humans, called corn. The barley you feed, unless you're starving, then you eat the barley. Then you eat your animals' feed. But under ordinary circumstances, this is the feed for your animals. This parcel was filled with barley. If this field is stolen by the Philistines who intend to do this, what happens to your livestock? What happens to your humans? No feed for the animals, no feed for the humans, sickness and death. So what do they do? They stand fast in the field that feeds the livestock, the parcel of ground full of barley, the border of blood. They will not move. They stand fast. And the Philistines, who have come to spoil the people of God in their cruelty and greed, apparently at harvest time to take it for themselves, they resist. He sets himself in this parcel immovably, verse 14 tells us. They set themselves in the midst of that parcel and delivered it and slew the Philistines. And the Lord saved him by a great deliverance. Now, if you remember, this is the man whose sword was cloven, or he claved to his sword. He would not let it go. It's as if it became an extension of his arm, 2 Samuel 23, verse 10 tells us. In verse 19, there is a slight difference here. It is recorded in 2 Samuel 23, 17, concerning the waters of Bethlehem, that David said, be it far from me, O Lord. Here, the inspired prophet gives additional words that David said. My God, forbid it me. May it never be to me after this order. May God not allow this to take place. And why is that? Verse 19, David says, For with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Now here, David's assertion is recorded. In 2 Samuel 23, verse 17, he asks a question. Should I do this since these men jeoparded their lives? Here he asserts, I'm not going to do it because they did. Here's the reason I won't drink. Now put yourself in David's shoes. You've been fighting. You're thirsty. You cry out, Oh God, may I have some water? Oh, that's one would go and get me some water from this particular well in Bethlehem by the gate. Then somebody brings you the water. What should you do? What does David do? Does he drink it? Oh, that's exactly what I wanted. No, he says this. I am so thankful for these men jeoparding their life that I will not even take it. It would be like drinking their blood. They have risked themselves for my sake, and therefore I will not lightly partake of it. Let us learn with David to be grateful, to have a respect for other people's time, for their talents, for their treasures, and for their lives. You see, if we think of ourselves very highly, and other people do things for us, what do we think? Well, you should have done more. You know, I'm such an important person. Of course you should do these good things for me. I'm great. You should exalt me. But if we're little in our own eyes, if we're humble as we ought to be, and someone does something for you, what should you think? I don't deserve this. What a kindness this is to me. These men put their life at risk so that I could have water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. I'm not going to drink it. Their lives are too precious to me. When people risk their safety, their time, their money, their life for you, do not take it for granted. Do not treat what they give up for your sake as a small thing. Do not be ungrateful. David was grateful. Verse 23 tells us about this Egyptian man. Bnei the son of Jehoiada slew this Egyptian. Now in the ancient world, people were short. In fact, some races of men are still short. But when you think of a man who is five cubits high, what do you think? Well, if the cubit is approximately 18 inches, that would be somewhere around seven and a half feet. Seven foot, five inches. That's another foot and five inches taller than me. And then imagine your average man is about this tall. He can't beat that man, can he? Yes, he can. He's one of David's mighty men. He is Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. He trusts in the Lord. He keeps his commandments. He is courageous and fierce. And he comes upon this big, tall Egyptian who has something in his hands as big as a weaver's beam, massive in its scope. And he defeats him. He slays him. This detail is not given concerning his height in 2 Samuel 23, 21, it is mentioned here. Verse 26, also the valiant men of the armies, where there it's referring to the Azahel and so forth, those words the valiant men of the armies is not mentioned though it is implied in 2 Samuel 23. Now there are a few differences in names, this is for informational purposes, if you care to look them up. Verse 27, Shamoth the Hararite is called Shammah the Harodite in 2 Samuel 23 verse 25, two names, one person. Verse 29 refers to Sibachi, he is called Mebunei in 2 Samuel 23, 27. Eilei is called Zalman in 2 Samuel 23, 28 in verse 29. In verse 32, Hurai is called Hidai in 2 Samuel 23, verse 30. Also in verse 32, Abiel is called Abi-al-bon in 2 Samuel 23, 31. Verse 34, Hashem is called Jashen. Hashem called Jashen in verse 32. of 2 Samuel 23, Jonathan the son of Shaggi the Hororite, the Westminster Annotations comment, they say, Jonathan was the son of Shaggai of the family of the Hororites, but reckoned among the sons of Hashem the Gizanite. Shaggai was his immediate father, Hashem either his father-in-law or one of his former predecessors. and thus far the exposition of the word of Almighty God from the book of First Chronicles chapter 11, verses 10 through 47. Let us join together in prayer to the Lord.