after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. 13He was with David at [1]Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. 14And they stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved them by a great [2]victory. 15And three of the thirty chief went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16And David was then in the hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. 17And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the
Chron., two incidents are confounded, and the name of a hero (Shammah) is omitted, his exploit being ascribed to Eleazar.
12. Eleazar the son of Dodo] Probably to be identified with "Dodai the Ahohite," the commander of the second "course"; xxvii. 4.
the three mighty men] i.e. the three who were with David on the occasion mentioned in 1 Sam. xxiii. 9.
13. at Pas-dammim] Perhaps the same place as "Ephes-dammim" which is mentioned in 1 Sam. xvii. 1 as the gathering-place of the Philistines. It was in the S.W. of Judah.
barley] Sam. "lentils." The two words resemble each other in Heb. and might be confused by an unwary scribe.
14. they stood] The subject of the verb in 2 Sam. xxiii. 12 is Shammah, here David and Eleazar together.
15. to the rock] Sam. "in the harvest-time." Probably both readings are wrong, and the original form of the verse was perhaps And three of the thirty went down at the beginning of harvest to David, etc. (see Driver, Notes on Heb. text of Samuel2, p. 366).
the cave of Adullam] So also in 1 Sam. xxii. 1; 2 Sam. xxiii. 13. In ver. 16 below, and in 1 Sam. xxii. 4 it is called the "hold." Probably "the 'hold' was a tangle of hill and forest, in the centre of which the 'cave of Adullam' served as David's headquarters" (Barnes, Expositor, Jan. 1914): the whole forming an admirable retreat for men acquainted with its intricacies. An identification with a commanding hill in the Shephelah, called "Aid-el-ma," has been suggested (see G. A. Smith, Hist. Geog. pp. 229, 230, note).
the valley of Rephaim] Probably the broad depression traversed by the road from Jerusalem to Beth-lehem. See Josh. xv. 8 ("vale of Rephaim" R.V.; "valley of the giants" A.V.).
16. in the hold] Cp. note on the cave of Adullam (ver. 15).
