2 Samuel 23:21

And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
slew	וַיַּהַרְגֵ֖הוּ vai.ya.har.Ge.hu	H2026	to smite with deadly intent · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Egyptian	מִצְרִ֜י mitz.Ri	H4713	a Mitsrite · noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
goodly	מַרְאֶ֗ה mar.'Eh	H4758	a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
man	אִ֨ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Egyptian	הַמִּצְרִי֙ ha.mitz.Ri	H4713	a Mitsrite · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
spear	חֲנִ֔ית cha.Nit	H2595	a lance (for thrusting · noun, common feminine singular absolute
hand	וּבְיַ֤ד u.ve.Yad	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · conjunction + preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
down	וַיֵּ֥רֶד vai.Ye.red	H3381	to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
staff	בַּשָּׁ֑בֶט ba.Sha.vet	H7626	a scion · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
plucked	וַיִּגְזֹ֤ל vai.yig.Zol	H1497	to pluck off · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
spear	הַחֲנִית֙ ha.cha.Nit	H2595	a lance (for thrusting · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Egyptian’s	הַמִּצְרִ֔י ha.mitz.Ri	H4713	a Mitsrite · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
hand	מִיַּ֣ד mi.Yad	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
slew	הִכָּה֩ hi.Kah	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
spear	בַּחֲנִיתֽוֹ ba.cha.ni.To	H2595	a lance (for thrusting · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 17:51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his…
1 Chronicles 11:23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went…
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 23:21

He slew an Egyptian - This man in Ch1 11:23 is stated to have been five cubits high, about seven feet six inches. He went down to him with a staff - I have known men who, with a staff only for their defense, could render the sword of the best practiced soldier of no use to him. I have seen even a parallel instance of a man with his staff being attacked by a soldier with his hanger; he soon beat the weapon out of the soldier's hand, and could easily have slain him with his own sword. We have a good elucidation of this in a duel between Dioxippus the Athenian and Horratas a Macedonian, before Alexander: "The Macedonian, proud of his military skill, treated the naked Athenian with contempt, and…

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John Gill on 2 Samuel 23:21

And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man,.... A person of good countenance and shape, very large and tall; in 1 Chronicles 11:28, he is said to be a man of great stature, and five cubits high, and so wanted a cubit and a span of the height of Goliath, 1 Samuel 17:4, and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; as large as Goliath's; for in 1 Chronicles 11:23, it is said to be like a weaver's beam, as Goliath's was; see Gill on 1 Samuel 17:7, and he went down to him with a staff; with a walking staff only, having no other weapon: and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand; and therefore must be a man very nimble and dexterous, as well as bold and courageous: and slew him with his own spea…

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Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 23:8–end

The following list of David's heroes we also find in 1 Chron 11:10-47, and expanded at the end by sixteen names (Ch1 11:41-47), and attached in Ch1 11:10 to the account of the conquest of the fortress of Zion by the introduction of a special heading. According to this heading, the heroes named assisted David greatly in his kingdom, along with all Israel, to make him king, from which it is evident that the chronicler intended by this heading to justify his appending the list to the account of the election of David as king over all the tribes of Israel (Ch1 11:1), and of the conquest of Zion, which followed immediately afterwards. In every other respect the two lists agree with one another, ex…

Dictionary and topics

Arms, Armor — The subject naturally divides itself into— I. Offensive weapons: Arms. II. Defensive weapons: Armor. I. Offensive weapons.—
Benaiah — Built up by Jehovah. (1.) The son of Jehoiada, chief priest (1 Chr. 27:5). He was set by David over his body-guard of Cherethites and Pelethites (2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kings 1:32; 1 Chr. 18:17). His…
Giants — (1.) Heb. nephilim, meaning “violent” or “causing to fall” (Gen. 6:4). These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. The word may also be derived from a root signifying…
Benaiah · .A distinguished warrior — .A distinguished warrior

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 23:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 23:21

John Gill on 2 Samuel 23:21

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 23:8–end

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 23:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 23:21

John Gill on 2 Samuel 23:21

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 23:8–end

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 23:18-23

Rashi on 2 Samuel 23:20