Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 23:9

And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, [one] of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines [that] were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

9. Dodo ] The Kthbh may be read Dodai, as the name is given in 1Ch 27:4, where we learn that Dodai, as next in rank to Jashobeam, was general of the second division of the army.

the Ahohite ] A patronymic derived from Ahoah, the son of Benjamin’s eldest son Bela (1Ch 8:4). Perhaps Dodo, like Jashobeam, was one of the Benjamites who joined David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:1-2).

that were there gathered together ] There implies the previous mention of the name of some place, and certain anomalies of construction also indicate that the text is defective. 1Ch 11:13 reads: “Eleazar one of the three mighty men. He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle.” Pas-dammim, or Ephesdammim, where David slew Goliath, was in the valley of Elah, between Shochoh and Azekah. The name, signifying “boundary of blood,” was probably due to its being the scene of frequent skirmishes with the Philistines. See 1Sa 17:1.

were gone away ] Rather, went up to battle. The words “and the people fled from before the Philistines,” which appear to correspond to this in 1Ch 11:13, really belong to Shammah’s exploit ( 2Sa 23:11). Several lines have been lost from the text there.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Gone away – Rather, went up to battle (2Sa 5:19; 2Ki 3:21, etc.) against them. These words and what follows as far as troop 2Sa 23:11 have fallen out of the text in Chronicles. The effect of this is to omit EIeazars feat, as here described, to attribute to him Shammahs victory, to misplace the flight of the Israelites, and to omit Shammah altogether from the list of Davids mighty men.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 9. When they defied the Philistines that were there gathered] This is supposed to refer to the war in which David slew Goliath.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The Ahohite; of the children of Ahoah, 1Ch 8:4.

One of the three, i. e. one of the first three, 2Sa 23:19.

Mighty men with David; who were with David at this time, or who usually attended upon David.

When they defied the Philistines; when he either in the name of all the Israelites, or with the countenance and help of some of them, challenged the Philistines to fight. Or, when some of, or among, the Philistines defied them, i. e. the Israelites, according to their manner, and the example of their great Goliath, 1Sa 17:25,36. Or, in Harpam (for some make it a proper name of a place) among the Philistines. Gone away, i. e. fled away, 1Ch 11:13, being dismayed at the approach of their enemies. Heb. ascended, i. e. vanished away like smoke, which ascends, and so disappears, as that verb is oft used.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,…. Or the son of Ahohi, perhaps the same with Ahoah, a descendant of Benjamin, 1Ch 8:4; this Eleazar was the next to the Tachmonite, the second worthy of the first class:

[one] of the three mighty men with David; the second of the three valiant men that were with David in his wars, and fought with him, and for him:

when they defied the Philistines; clapped their hands at them, gloried over them, daring them to come and light them; so did David and his mighty men, as Goliath had defied them before:

[that] were there gathered together to battle; at Pasdammim, as appears from 1Ch 11:13;

and the men of Israel were gone away; fled when they saw the Philistines gather together to fight them, notwithstanding they had defied them; and so David, and his three mighty men, were left alone to combat with the Philistines.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(9) Dodo the Ahohite.So in the Hebrew margin here, and so also in 1Ch. 11:12; the text here has Dodai, as in 1Ch. 27:4, where he is mentioned as the general for the second month. The name is the same under slightly differing forms. Ahohite is a patronymic derived from Ahoah, son of Bela, Benjamins son (1Ch. 8:4).

When they defied . . . there gathered.The words there gathered require the mention of some place, and the construction of the word for defied is unusual. The parallel passage in Chronicles reads, He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines, &c. The difference between the two readings is not great in the original, and the latter is better. Pas-dammim is the Ephes-dammim of 1Sa. 17:1, where Goliath defied the armies of Israel, and was slain by David.

Were gone awayRather, were gathered to battle. So it is translated in the LXX., Vulg., and Syriac, and so the Hebrew requires. The error is a curious one, and seems to have arisen in this way: In 1Ch. 11:13 the mention of the battle in which Shammah was engaged (2Sa. 23:11) is altogether omitted, and the expression the people fled from before the Philistines therefore becomes connected with this battle. Josephus follows that text, and our translators were probably misled by him. Several lines have dropped out from the text in Chronicles.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

9. Of the three mighty men Referring, doubtless, to the three of this first class, namely, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah.

When they defied the Philistines According to Chronicles this encounter took place at Pas-dammim, doubtless the same as Ephes-dammim of 1Sa 17:1, but it was not the same battle as there described.

The men of Israel were gone away Retreated from him, so that he was left singlehanded before the enemy.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2Sa 23:9 And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, [one] of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines [that] were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

Ver. 9. When they defied the Philistines, ] viz., At Pasdammim. 1Ch 11:13

And the men of Israel were gone away. ] Fled, and forsook their captains; a shame to forsake such a captain, of whom it might be said, as was once of Fabius Maximus,

“ Hic patria est, murique urbis stant pectore in uno. ” – Silius.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)