1 Tawarikh 11:20-25

11:20 Abishai the brother of Joab was head of the three ¹  elite warriors. He killed three hundred men with his spear ²  and gained fame along with the three elite warriors. ³  11:21 From ⁴  the three he was given double honor and he became their officer, even though he was not one of them. ⁵ 

11:22 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab; ⁶  he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day. 11:23 He even killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet ⁷  tall. The Egyptian had a spear as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom; Benaiah attacked ⁸  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 11:24 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who gained fame along with the three elite warriors. 11:25 He received honor from ⁹  the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

[11:20]  ¹ tc The Syriac reads “thirty” here and at the beginning of v. 21; this reading is followed by some English translations (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:20]  ² tn Heb “he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain.”

[11:20]  ³ tn Heb “and to him [reading with the Qere] there was a name among the three.”

[11:21]  ⁴ tn Or “more than.”

[11:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “of the three.”

[11:22]  ⁶ tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אֲרִיאֵל (’ari’el) is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בְּנֵי (bÿney, “sons of”) has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שְׁנֵי, shÿney).

[11:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, this individual would be 7.5 feet (2.3 m) tall.

[11:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “went down to.”

[11:25]  ⁹ tn Or “more than.”