1Ch 12:2 | KD | STEP | קשׁת נשׁקי, “those preparing bows,” i.e., those armed with bows, synonymous with קשׁת דּרכי ( ); cf. ; Psa 78:9. “With the right and left hand practised upon stones,” i.e., to hurl stones, cf. Jdg 20:16; “and in arrows on the bow,” i.e., to shoot therewith. שׁאוּל מאחי, of Saul’s brethren, i.e., of the men of the tribe, not “of his nearer relatives,” and consequently of Benjamin, has been added as an explanation; cf. , where בנימן בּני and שׁאוּל אחי are synonyms. - In 1Ch 12:3. we have the names. הראשׁ, the head, i.e., the leader of this host of warriors; compare , 1Ch 5:12. הגּבעתי, cf. Gibeah of Saul or Benjamin, cf. ; and for its situation, see on Jos 18:28. הענתתי, from the priests’ city Anathoth, now Anata; see on Jos 18:24. In the Gibeonite Ismaiah is called “hero among the thirty, and over the thirty,” - words which can hardly have any other sense than that Ismaiah belonged also to David’s corps of thirty heroes (1 Chron 11), and was (temporarily) their leader, although his name does not occur in 1 Chron 11. It is probable that the reason of the omission was, that at the time when the list was prepared he was no longer alive. הגּדרתי, of Gedera, a city of the tribe of Judah in the Shephelah , which, according to Van de Velde ( Reise, ii. S. 166), was probably identical with the village Ghedera, which lies to the left of the road Tel-es-Safieh to Akir, about an hour to the south-west of Jabne. In any case, it corresponds well with the statements of the Onom. As to Gedrus, or Gaedur, see on Jos 15:36. Immediately afterwards in Gedor is mentioned, a city in the mountains of Judah, to the westward of the road which leads from Hebron to Jerusalem (see on ); and from that fact Bertheau imagines we must conclude that the men of Judah are enumerated as well as the Benjamites. But this conclusion is not valid; for from the very beginning, when the domains and cities were assigned to the individual tribes under Joshua, they were not the exclusive possession of the individual tribes, and at a later period they were still less so. In course of time the respective tribal domains underwent (in consequence of wars and other events) many alterations, not only in extent, but also in regard to their inhabitants, so that in Saul’s time single Benjamite families may quite well have had their home in the cities of Judah.

‏ 1 Chronicles 12:2

1Ch 12:2-4 קשׁת נשׁקי, “those preparing bows,” i.e., those armed with bows, synonymous with קשׁת דּרכי (1Ch 8:40); cf. 2Ch 17:17; Psa 78:9. “With the right and left hand practised upon stones,” i.e., to hurl stones, cf. Jdg 20:16; “and in arrows on the bow,” i.e., to shoot therewith. שׁאוּל מאחי, of Saul’s brethren, i.e., of the men of the tribe, not “of his nearer relatives,” and consequently of Benjamin, has been added as an explanation; cf. 1Ch 12:29, where בנימן בּני and שׁאוּל אחי are synonyms. - In 1Ch 12:3. we have the names. הראשׁ, the head, i.e., the leader of this host of warriors; compare 1Ch 5:7, 1Ch 5:12. הגּבעתי, cf. Gibeah of Saul or Benjamin, cf. 1Ch 11:31; and for its situation, see on Jos 18:28. הענתתי, from the priests’ city Anathoth, now Anata; see on Jos 18:24. In 1Ch 12:4 the Gibeonite Ismaiah is called “hero among the thirty, and over the thirty,” - words which can hardly have any other sense than that Ismaiah belonged also to David’s corps of thirty heroes (1 Chron 11), and was (temporarily) their leader, although his name does not occur in 1 Chron 11. It is probable that the reason of the omission was, that at the time when the list was prepared he was no longer alive. הגּדרתי, of Gedera, a city of the tribe of Judah in the Shephelah, which, according to Van de Velde (Reise, ii. S. 166), was probably identical with the village Ghedera, which lies to the left of the road Tel-es-Safieh to Akir, about an hour to the south-west of Jabne. In any case, it corresponds well with the statements of the Onom. As to Gedrus, or Gaedur, see on Jos 15:36. Immediately afterwards in 1Ch 12:7 Gedor is mentioned, a city in the mountains of Judah, to the westward of the road which leads from Hebron to Jerusalem (see on Jos 15:58); and from that fact Bertheau imagines we must conclude that the men of Judah are enumerated as well as the Benjamites. But this conclusion is not valid; for from the very beginning, when the domains and cities were assigned to the individual tribes under Joshua, they were not the exclusive possession of the individual tribes, and at a later period they were still less so. In course of time the respective tribal domains underwent (in consequence of wars and other events) many alterations, not only in extent, but also in regard to their inhabitants, so that in Saul’s time single Benjamite families may quite well have had their home in the cities of Judah.