New Defender's Study Bible Notes
23:1 last words of David. This assertion seems to suggest that Psalm 18, which is substantially identical to II Samuel 22, was slightly modified by David shortly before his death. The revised version is incorporated here by the anonymous author of II Samuel. Since both versions are divinely inspired, there must be some reason for the inclusion of both the original and revised versions of Psalm 18 in the Biblical canon. See the notes appended to Psalm 18.
23:6 sons of Belial. “Belial” means, literally, “worthlessness” or “wickedness.” The term “son of Belial” was an extreme epithet, later coming to mean “son of the wicked one” and finally being used even as a name for a “son of Satan.”
23:8 sat in the seat. This phrase is actually a proper name, “Josheb-basshebeth.” See I Chronicles 11:11-47 for the parallel listing of David’s mighty men.
23:8 eight hundred. I Chronicles 11:11 says that this first man mentioned in the list of the mighty men (called Jashobeam in I Chronicles) slew three hundred men instead of eight hundred. The correct number is believed to be eight hundred, as given here, thus warranting Jashobeam’s position as “chief among the captains.” Abishai, in the second trio of mighty men, had slain three hundred. The number in I Chronicles 11:11 probably represents a copyist’s error, but it is also possible that he slew eight hundred on one occasion and three hundred on another occasion.
23:39 Uriah the Hittite. It is striking to note that Uriah the Hittite had been one of David’s “mighty men” (II Samuel 23:8,23-30), yet Uriah was the man whom David murdered after committing adultery with his wife.
23:39 thirty and seven. Evidently the “mighty men” were considered as two eminent groups of three each (II Samuel 23:8-23), one of whom was not named, and thirty-one others (II Samuel 23:24-39). It is noteworthy, however, that there are a number of differences in the names as listed in I Chronicles 11:10-47. Also the latter list includes about fifty-five names. The apparent discrepancy reflects different scribes and different sources. Possibly the second list, written later, includes the names of various men who replaced different men in the first group from time to time.