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1 Chronicles 12 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

David’s First Supporters
(1Sa 22:1, 2 )
1Ch 12:1

The following were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still banned from the presence of Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who helped him in battle.

1Ch 12:2

They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin:

1Ch 12:3

Their chief was Ahiezer son of Shemaah the Gibeathite.

Then there was his brother Joash;

Jeziel and Pelet sons of Azmaveth;

Beracah, Jehu the Anathothite;

1Ch 12:4

Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a warrior among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty;

Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite;

1Ch 12:5

Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite;

1Ch 12:6

Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

1Ch 12:7

and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

1Ch 12:8

Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were valiant warriors, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.

1Ch 12:9

Ezer was the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third,

1Ch 12:10

Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth,

1Ch 12:11

Attai sixth, Eliel seventh,

1Ch 12:12

Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth,

1Ch 12:13

Jeremiah tenth, and Machbannai eleventh.

1Ch 12:14

These Gadites were army commanders; the least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest of them for a thousand.

1Ch 12:15

These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month[fn] when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys to the east and to the west.

1Ch 12:16

Other Benjaminites and men from Judah also went to David at the stronghold.

1Ch 12:17

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

1Ch 12:18

Then the Spirit enveloped[fn] Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:

We are yours, David,

we are with you, son of Jesse!

Peace, peace to you,

and peace to him who helps you,

for your God helps you.

So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

1Ch 12:19

Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers sent David away after a discussion. They said, “It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”

1Ch 12:20

When David went to Ziklag, some men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

1Ch 12:21

They helped David against the raiders, for they were all valiant warriors and commanders in the army.

1Ch 12:22

At that time, men came day after day to help David until there was a great army, like an army of God.[fn]

David’s Soldiers in Hebron
1Ch 12:23

The numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, according to the LORD’s word, were as follows:

1Ch 12:24

From the Judahites: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

1Ch 12:25

From the Simeonites: 7,100 valiant warriors ready for war.

1Ch 12:26

From the Levites: 4,600

1Ch 12:27

in addition to Jehoiada, leader of the house of Aaron, with 3,700 men;

1Ch 12:28

and Zadok, a young valiant warrior, with 22 commanders from his ancestral family.[fn]

1Ch 12:29

From the Benjaminites, the relatives of Saul: 3,000 (up to that time the majority of the Benjaminites maintained their allegiance to the house of Saul).

1Ch 12:30

From the Ephraimites: 20,800 valiant warriors who were famous men in their ancestral families.[fn]

1Ch 12:31

From half the tribe of Manasseh: 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king.

1Ch 12:32

From the Issacharites, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their relatives under their command.

1Ch 12:33

From Zebulun: 50,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, with one purpose to help David.[fn]

1Ch 12:34

From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear.

1Ch 12:35

From the Danites: 28,600 trained for battle.

1Ch 12:36

From Asher: 40,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle.

1Ch 12:37

From across the Jordan ​— ​from the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: 120,000 men equipped with all the military weapons of war.

1Ch 12:38

All these warriors, lined up in battle formation, came to Hebron wholeheartedly determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of Israel was also of one mind to make David king.

1Ch 12:39

They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.

1Ch 12:40

In addition, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came and brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen ​— ​abundant provisions of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine and oil, herds, and flocks. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.

CSB Footnotes
= Nisan (March–April)
Lit clothed ; Jdg 6:34; 2Ch 24:20
Or like the ultimate army
Lit the house of his father
Lit the house of their fathers
LXX; MT omits David
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