But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory. But ShammahThe name "Shammah" in Hebrew means "astonishment" or "desolation." Shammah was one of David's mighty warriors, a group of elite fighters who were renowned for their bravery and skill in battle. His inclusion in this passage highlights the importance of individual courage and faithfulness in the face of overwhelming odds. Shammah's actions serve as a reminder that God often uses seemingly ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats. took his stand
The phrase "took his stand" indicates a deliberate and courageous decision to hold one's ground. In the Hebrew context, this implies a firm resolve and unwavering commitment. Shammah's decision to stand his ground in the face of the enemy is a powerful metaphor for spiritual steadfastness. It encourages believers to stand firm in their faith, even when faced with challenges or opposition. in the middle of the field
The "middle of the field" suggests a place of vulnerability and exposure. Fields were often the sites of agricultural activity, and during times of conflict, they became battlegrounds. Shammah's position in the middle of the field symbolizes being at the heart of the conflict, where the battle is most intense. This can be seen as a call for Christians to engage actively in spiritual warfare, standing firm in the center of God's will. He defended it
The act of defending the field signifies protection and preservation. In the Hebrew context, defending one's land was not only a matter of personal honor but also a duty to one's community and God. Shammah's defense of the field can be seen as an allegory for defending the faith and upholding God's truth in a world that often opposes it. and struck down the Philistines
The Philistines were a perennial enemy of Israel, representing opposition and hostility. Shammah's victory over them is symbolic of overcoming spiritual adversaries. The act of striking down the Philistines can be interpreted as the triumph of good over evil, a theme that resonates throughout the Bible. It serves as an encouragement to believers that, with God's help, they can overcome any spiritual battles they face. and the LORD brought about a great victory
This phrase attributes the victory not to Shammah's strength or skill, but to the LORD. The Hebrew word for "victory" here can also be translated as "deliverance" or "salvation," emphasizing that true victory comes from God. This underscores a central tenet of the Christian faith: that God is the ultimate source of strength and success. It is a reminder that, while human effort is important, it is ultimately God who grants victory. This encourages believers to rely on God's power and grace in all their endeavors. Persons / Places / Events 1. ShammahOne of David's mighty warriors, known for his bravery and faithfulness. He is highlighted for his courageous stand against the Philistines. 2. The FieldThe location where Shammah made his stand. It symbolizes a place of confrontation and testing, where faith and courage are put into action. 3. The PhilistinesA perennial enemy of Israel, representing opposition and challenges to God's people. 4. The LORD's VictoryThe ultimate source of triumph in the battle, emphasizing that success comes from God. Teaching Points Courage in the Face of AdversityShammah's stand teaches us the importance of courage when facing challenges. We are called to stand firm in our faith, even when we feel outnumbered or overwhelmed. Faithfulness in Small ThingsThe field may seem insignificant, but Shammah's defense of it shows that God values our faithfulness in all areas of life, no matter how small they may seem. Divine EmpowermentThe victory is attributed to the LORD, reminding us that our strength and success come from God. We must rely on His power rather than our own. Spiritual WarfareJust as Shammah defended the field, we are called to defend our spiritual ground against the enemy. This involves putting on the full armor of God and standing firm in our convictions. Legacy of FaithShammah's account is part of a larger account of faith and courage. Our actions today can inspire future generations to trust in God's power and faithfulness. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Shammah's courage inspire you to stand firm in your own life challenges? 2. In what areas of your life do you need to be more faithful, even if they seem insignificant? 3. How can you rely more on God's strength rather than your own in your daily battles? 4. What "fields" in your life require you to take a stand against spiritual opposition? 5. How can the legacy of faith seen in Shammah's account encourage you to leave a lasting impact on those around you? Connections to Other Scriptures Ephesians 6:13This verse speaks about standing firm in the face of spiritual battles, similar to Shammah's physical stand against the Philistines. 1 Samuel 17:47David's declaration that the battle belongs to the LORD, paralleling the divine victory seen in Shammah's account. Hebrews 11:32-34The faith of the heroes of the Old Testament, including those who "became mighty in war," connects to Shammah's faith-driven courage. People Abialbon, Abiel, Abiezer, Abishai, Adino, Agee, Ahasbai, Ahiam, Ahithophel, Anathoth, Ariel, Asahel, Azmaveth, Baanah, Bani, Benaiah, Benjamin, Benjaminites, David, Dodai, Dodo, Eleazar, Elhanan, Eliahba, Eliam, Elika, Eliphelet, Gareb, Heldai, Heleb, Helez, Hezrai, Hezro, Hiddai, Igal, Ikkesh, Ira, Ithai, Ittai, Jacob, Jashen, Jehoiada, Jesse, Joab, Jonathan, Maharai, Mebunnai, Naharai, Nahari, Nathan, Paarai, Ribai, Shammah, Sharar, Sibbecai, Uriah, Zalmon, Zelek, ZeruiahPlaces Adullam, Anathoth, Bahurim, Beeroth, Bethlehem, Carmel, Gaash, Gath, Gibeah, Gilo, Harod, Jerusalem, Kabzeel, Lehi, Maacah, Moab, Netophah, Pirathon, Tekoa, Valley of Rephaim, ZobahTopics Attack, Bit, Defended, Deliverance, Delivered, Delivereth, Field, Ground, Kept, Killed, Middle, Midst, Overcame, Philistines, Plot, Portion, Salvation, Slew, Smiteth, Smote, Stand, Stationeth, Stood, Struck, Victory, Worked, Worketh, WroughtDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Samuel 23:12 5572 sword 2 Samuel 23:8-12 5208 armies 2 Samuel 23:8-21 5776 achievement 2 Samuel 23:8-23 1652 numbers, 3-5 2 Samuel 23:8-39 5544 soldiers 2 Samuel 23:11-12 4404 food Library The Dying King's Last vision and Psalm
'Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. 3. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 4. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureA Libation to Jehovah
'And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16. And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. 17. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Royal Jubilee
[Footnote: Preached on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.] '... He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 4. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.'--2 SAMUEL xxiii. 3, 4. One of the Psalms ascribed to David sounds like the resolves of a new monarch on his accession. In it the Psalmist draws the ideal of a king, and says such …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture David's Dying Song
We shall notice first, that the Psalmist had sorrow in his house--" Although my house be not so with God." Secondly, he had confidence in the covenant--" yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant." And thirdly, he had satisfaction in his heart, for he says--" this is all my salvation, and all my desire. I. The Psalmist says he had sorrow in his house--"Although my house be not so with God." What man is there of all our race, who, if he had to write his history, would not need to use a great …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855 Covenanting Sanctioned by the Divine Example.
God's procedure when imitable forms a peculiar argument for duty. That is made known for many reasons; among which must stand this,--that it may be observed and followed as an example. That, being perfect, is a safe and necessary pattern to follow. The law of God proclaims what he wills men as well as angels to do. The purposes of God show what he has resolved to have accomplished. The constitutions of his moral subjects intimate that he has provided that his will shall be voluntarily accomplished …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Christian's Book
Scripture references 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21; John 5:39; Romans 15:4; 2 Samuel 23:2; Luke 1:70; 24:32,45; John 2:22; 10:35; 19:36; Acts 1:16; Romans 1:1,2; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; James 2:8. WHAT IS THE BIBLE? What is the Bible? How shall we regard it? Where shall we place it? These and many questions like them at once come to the front when we begin to discuss the Bible as a book. It is only possible in this brief study, of a great subject, to indicate the line of some of the answers. …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian Thoughts Upon the Appearance of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, or the Beatifick vision.
SO long as we are in the Body, we are apt to be governed wholly by its senses, seldom or never minding any thing but what comes to us through one or other of them. Though we are all able to abstract our Thoughts when we please from matter, and fix them upon things that are purely spiritual; there are but few that ever do it. But few, even among those also that have such things revealed to them by God himself, and so have infinitely more and firmer ground to believe them, than any one, or all their …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life The Truth of God
The next attribute is God's truth. A God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.' Deut 32:4. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.' Psa 57:10. Plenteous in truth.' Psa 86:15. I. God is the truth. He is true in a physical sense; true in his being: he has a real subsistence, and gives a being to others. He is true in a moral sense; he is true sine errore, without errors; et sine fallacia, without deceit. God is prima veritas, the pattern and prototype …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prophets and Apostles.
The work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets is an entirely distinctive work. He imparts to apostles and prophets an especial gift for an especial purpose. We read in 1 Cor. xii. 4, 8-11, 28, 29, R. V., "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.... For to one is given through the Spirit wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Deity of the Holy Spirit.
In the preceding chapter we have seen clearly that the Holy Spirit is a Person. But what sort of a Person is He? Is He a finite person or an infinite person? Is He God? This question also is plainly answered in the Bible. There are in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments five distinct and decisive lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit. I. Each of the four distinctively Divine attributes is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. What are the distinctively Divine attributes? Eternity, omnipresence, …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Thoughts Upon the Mystery of the Trinity.
THOUGH there be many in the World that seem to be Religious, there are but few that are so: One great Reason whereof is, because there are so many Mistakes about Religion, that it is an hard matter to hit upon the true Notion of it: And therefore desiring nothing in this World, so much as to be an Instrument in God's Hand to direct Men unto true Religion, my great Care must, and, by the Blessing of God, shall be to instil into them right Conceptions of him, that is the only Object of all Religious …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life The Covenant of Grace
Q-20: DID GOD LEAVE ALL MANKIND TO PERISH 1N THE ESTATE OF SIN AND MISERY? A: No! He entered into a covenant of grace to deliver the elect out of that state, and to bring them into a state of grace by a Redeemer. 'I will make an everlasting covenant with you.' Isa 55:5. Man being by his fall plunged into a labyrinth of misery, and having no way left to recover himself, God was pleased to enter into a new covenant with him, and to restore him to life by a Redeemer. The great proposition I shall go …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Samuel 23:12 NIV2 Samuel 23:12 NLT2 Samuel 23:12 ESV2 Samuel 23:12 NASB2 Samuel 23:12 KJV
2 Samuel 23:12 Commentaries
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