1 Tawarikh 12:1

Warriors Who Joined David at Ziklag

12:1 These were the men who joined David in Ziklag, when he was banished ¹  from the presence of Saul son of Kish. (They were among the warriors who assisted him in battle.

1 Tawarikh 12:8-15

12:8 Some of the Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the desert. They were warriors who were trained for battle; they carried shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions and could run as quickly as gazelles across the hills. ²  12:9 Ezer was the leader, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third, 12:10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, 12:11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12:12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 12:13 Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai the eleventh. 12:14 These Gadites were military leaders; the least led a hundred men, the greatest a thousand. ³  12:15 They crossed the Jordan River ⁴  in the first month, ⁵  when it was overflowing its banks, and routed those living in all the valleys to the east and west. ⁶ 

1 Tawarikh 12:37-38

12:37 From the other side of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 men armed with all kinds of weapons.

12:38 All these men were warriors who were ready to march. ⁷  They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel by acclamation; ⁸  all the rest of the Israelites also were in agreement that David should become king. ⁹ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Heb “kept from.”

[12:8]  ² tn Heb “warriors, men of battle for war, prepared with shield and spear, and [like] the face of a lion were their faces, and like gazelles on the hills to hurry.”

[12:14]  ³ tn Heb “one for a hundred the small, and the great for a thousand.” Another option is to translate the preposition -לְ (lamed) as “against” and to understand this as a hyperbolic reference to their prowess: “the least could stand against a hundred, the greatest against a thousand.”

[12:15]  ⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[12:15]  ⁵ sn That is, March-April.

[12:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they chased all the valleys to the east and to the west.”

[12:38]  ⁷ tc Heb “all these [were] men of war, helpers of the battle line.” The present translation assumes an emendation of עֹדְרֵי (’odÿrey, “helpers of”) to עֹרְכֵי, (’orÿkhey, “prepared for”).

[12:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “with a complete heart they came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel.”

[12:38]  ⁹ tn Heb “and also all the rest of Israel [was of] one mind to make David king.”