11:10-47 An account is given of David's worthies, the great men who served him. Yet David reckoned his success, not as from the mighty men that were with him, but from the mighty God, whose presence is all in all. In strengthening him, they strengthened themselves and their own interest, for his advancement was theirs. We shall gain by what we do in our places for the support of the kingdom of the Son of David; and those that are faithful to Him, shall find their names registered much more to their honour, than these are in the records of fame.

Verse 13. - Pas-dammim. This word, הַפַּס דַּמִּים, appears in 1 Samuel 17:1 as אֶפֶס דַּמִּים, and is supposed to mean, in either form, "the boundary of blood;" it was the scene of frequent conflicts with the Philistines, and was the spot where they were encamped at the time of Goliath's challenge to Israel. It was near Shocoh, or Soech, in Judah, some fourteen miles south-west of Jerusalem. Full of barley. The Authorized Version reading in the parallel passage (2 Samuel 23:11) is "full of lentiles," the Hebrew for "barley" is שְׂעורִים, for "lentiles" עֲדָשִׁים. Possibly the words should be the same, one being here spelt, by accident, wrongly for the other (so Kennicott). The first Bible mention of "barley" occurs in Exodus 9:31, 32, from which verses we learn that it, together with "flax," was an earlier crop than "rye" and "wheat." It was not only used for food for man (Numbers 5:15; Judges 7:13; Ezekiel 4:12), but also for horses (1 Kings 4:28). That it was nevertheless of the less-valued grain, we have significant indications, in its being prescribed for the "jealousy offering" (Numbers 5:15, comp. with Leviticus 2:1), and in its being part of the purchase price of the adulteress (Hosea 3:2). Its derivation in the Hebrew, from a verbal root signifying "to bristle," is in noticeable analogy with the Latin hordeum, from horreo. Gesenius's observation, that the singular of the word given above in the Hebrew marks the "growing crop," and the plural the "grain" itself, seems hardly corroborated by this single passage at all events. The lentile, on the other hand, was a species of bean, and used much for soup, of which Egyptian tomb-paintings furnish illustration (Genesis 25:29-34; 2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9). Sonnini, in his 'Travels' (translation of Hunter, 3:288), tells us that still the Egyptian poor eat lentile-bread, but, what is more apropos of this passage, that in making it they prefer to mix a little "barley" with it. This apparent discrepancy between the parallel accounts not only counts in itself for very little, but may easily be surmounted by supposing that, though it be written that the "parcel" of ground was "full of lentiles," and again "full of barley," the description may only amount to this, that such parcels were in close juxtaposition. But if not, our allusion above to the possible error in the Hebrew words will sufficiently explain the variation.

13. He was with David at Pas-dammim—It was at the time when he was a fugitive in the wilderness, and, parched with thirst under the burning heat of noonday, he wistfully thought of the cool fountain of his native village [2Sa 23:15; 1Ch 11:17]. This is a notice of the achievement, to which Eleazar owed his fame, but the details are found only in 2Sa 23:9-11, where it is further said that he was aided by the valor of Shammah, a fact corroborated in the passage before us (1Ch 11:14), where it is recorded of the heroes, that "they set themselves in the midst of that parcel." As the singular number is used in speaking of Shammah (2Sa 23:12), the true view seems to be that when Eleazar had given up from exhaustion, Shammah succeeded, and by his fresh and extraordinary prowess preserved the field.

barley—or lentils (2Sa 23:11). Ephes-dammim was situated between Shocoh and Azekah, in the west of the Judahite territory. These feats were performed when David acted as Saul's general against the Philistines.

1 Chronicles 11:13 Parallel Commentaries

1 Chronicles 11:13 NIV
1 Chronicles 11:13 NLT
1 Chronicles 11:13 ESV
1 Chronicles 11:13 NASB
1 Chronicles 11:13 KJV

Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible