Komentarz do Diwrej ha-jamim I 12:45

when he was still hiding - Heb. עָצוּר, hiding.

Armed with bows armed with a bow and with arrows and shooting in front of them and behind them. And they would even place stones on the bowstring and shoot. I personally saw many like these.

of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin Since they were all descended from one man, from Benjamin, they are all called brethren, and in honor of David’s greatness, the Chronicler says, “of Saul’s brethren,” [saying] that even Saul’s brethren came to him while Saul was still living.

and over the thirty the chief of the thirty.

to the stronghold of the desert to the strongholds of the desert where he hid from Saul, as it is written (I Sam. 23:24): “And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul, and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain,” and it is written (ibid. 24:1): “And David went up from there, and he stayed in the strongholds of En-Gedi.”

and whose faces were [like] the faces of lions Their faces were frightful like lions.

and as swift as gazelles on the mountains They were swift in their running, for it is customary for gazelles to run on the mountains when people hunt them.

these were some of the sons of Gad as is written above (v. 8): “And some of the Gadites separated to David.”

the smallest one a hundred The smallest of them could pursue a hundred.

and the greatest a thousand And the greatest of them could pursue a thousand. This is an actualization of the verse (Lev. 26:8): “Five of you will pursue one hundred, and one hundred of you, etc.”

These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month in Nissan, when the snows had already melted.

and they put all the valley-dwellers to flight to the east and to the west They crossed the Jordan and with their shields split all the depths of the water to the east and to the west and crossed on dry land. Some say that ויַּבְרִיחוּ אֶת כָּל הָעֲמָקִִים refers to the people dwelling in the valleys.

And there came some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah up to the stronghold, to David to the stronghold where David was hiding from Saul. And they took David’s sister’s son with them, because the sons of Benjamin were concerned that David might think that the sons of Benjamin had come to bind him and deliver him into Saul’s hands. Therefore, they took Amasa with them to David, and also some of David’s kinsmen from the rest of Judah, as it is written, “some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah,” in order that David would see that they came with them in good faith, so that he should not suspect them of anything.

And David came out before them from the stronghold.

my heart will be upon you as one My heart and your heart will be like one heart.

but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries although there is no injustice in my hands for what have I done to Saul that he is stalking my soul to take it for nothing?

And a spirit enwrapped Amasai - Heb. רוּחַ, talent, a will or desire, not a spirit of prophecy; i.e., this desire and will enwrapped him so that he sprang first to speak before the sons of Benjamin and Judah who came with him. A similar instance is (Jud. 11:29): “And a spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah” and he said: To you, David You say, “Have you come to me in peace?” We have surely come to you in peace. and with you, O son of Jesse We wish to be with you and at your assistance.

peace, peace to you and peace to your helper And you ask me to help you? We have surely come to help you, but you need not thank us because it is from the Lord, and that is the meaning of “for your God has helped you.”

and David received them those sons of Benjamin and placed them at the head of his troop.

And from Manasseh there defected to David to help him.

when he came with the Philistines against Saul in battle in that war in which Saul was slain.

but they did not help them God forbid that they helped the Philistines, but with a counsel the chiefs of the Philistines sent him away. The chiefs of the Philistines took counsel to send him home because they said, “With our heads he will defect to his master,” an expression similar to “defected to David”

against the troop of Amalekites when his wives were captured; it was at that time, for when he went to Ziklag when the chiefs of the Philistines sent him away and he came to Ziklag, they had already been captured.

For from day to day [men] came to David to help him The meaning is: What is the purpose of continuing to recount who came to him? The final analysis is that at all times people were coming to David.

until it became a huge camp, like the camp of God The meaning is that David’s camp should not have been so large, but from God the camp was so large, because they came to him by the counsel of God. And that is the meaning of “like the camp of God.” A similar instance of this is (Gen. 32: 2): “the camp of God” of Jacob. We can also say that because of the magnitude of his armies, it was called “the camp of God.”

to turn Saul’s kingdom to him from Saul’s sons. A similar instance is (I Kings 2:15): “...but the kingdom turned about.”

The sons of Judah, bearing shield and spear, six thousand and eight hundred Do not wonder that the smallest number of all the [people from] the tribes that came to him were from Judah, because it was not necessary for anyone to come to him from Judah to crown him since the sons of Judah had already crowned him in Hebron. But the remaining tribes, who had been with Saul’s sons until now - had to come to Hebron to crown him.

armed men of the army - Heb. חֲלוּצֵי צָבָא, those taken out of the people, and a similar case is found in חֲלוּצֵי צָבָא, of the Portion מַטּוֹת. Some say that חֲלוּצִים means armed, like רְצֵה וְהַחֲלִיצֵנוּ: be pleased and strengthen us.

And Jehoiada was the ruler of Aaron He is the father of Benaiah.

the ruler of Aaron who would lead them out and bring them in.

three thousand and seven hundred all of them were descendants of Aaron the Priest, and Jehoiada, who was in the time of Joash, was the son of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.

And Zadok was a youth Therefore, do not wonder that he was not the ruler.

and his father’s house had twenty-two officers This is a great honor; therefore, they took the high priesthood from Ebiathar and gave it to Zadok the Priest.

And of the sons of Benjamin, Saul’s brethren, etc. Do not wonder that only three thousand came to him, because “heretofore their majority kept the watch of the house of Saul,” to help them.

those who had an understanding of the times They knew how to give counsel appropriate to the incident; David had to take counsel on how to strengthen the kingdom against the sons of Saul.

their chiefs were two hundred besides the rest.

and all their brethren obeyed their word on their counsel.

wage war וְלַעֲדר, an expression of digging, like (Isa. 7:25): “And all the mountains that will be dug with a spade (בַּמַעְדֵּר יֵעָדֵרוּן),” and as a result, those who set up the battle array will stand there. Some say that לַעֲדוֹר is like לַעֲרֹך, to set up a battle array.

of double heart It is explained in Genesis Rabbah (Lev. Rabbah 25:2): “... whether with intention or without intention, they would be victorious.”

and also the entire remnant of Israel was of one heart to crown David even though they did not come to Hebron. For this reason, שֵׁרִית is missing an “aleph,” to imply that there was not even a remnant. Only a few remained, for they all came to Hebron joyfully.

And they were there with David for three days And do not wonder where this whole army obtained so much food and drink that sufficed them, because their brethren had prepared it for them beforehand.

for there was joy in Israel that they had a prosperous and wise king.