2nd Samuel Chapter 15 verse 18 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - All the Gittites, air hundred men which came after him from Gath. The Septuagint reads "Gibborim," and without doubt these are the persons meant; but while they were styled Gibborim, the "mighties," for honour's sake, because of their prowess, they probably were popularly called David's Gittites, because they were the six hundred men who had formed his little army when he sought refuge with Achish, King of Gath (l 1 Samuel 27:2; 1 Samuel 30:9). They were not Philistines, but Israelites of desperate fortune (1 Samuel 22:2); and it is a proof of David's great ability, and of the moral influence of his character, that he was successful, not only in controlling them and maintaining discipline, but also in forming them into as noble a set of heroes as ever existed, and who were faithful to him in all his fortunes. To their number belonged the thirty-seven champions end-merated in ch. 23, and possibly the title "Gibborim" strictly belonged to them only. As they are still called "the six hundred," it is probable that the corps was maintained at this number by new appointments, and that they had special privileges which made their position very desirable. Certainly David would never forget men who had shared all his fortunes, and been so true and so useful to him; and it is evident, from Hushai's counsel (2 Samuel 17:8), that Absalom feared their resolute valour, and hesitated to attack without overwhelming numbers. Thenius compares these veterans to Napoleon's Old Guard.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) Cherethites . . . Pelethites.--See Note on 2Samuel 8:18.Gittites.--This word in its form would naturally mean men of Gath, and it has therefore been understood by some commentators of a body of Philistines in David's service. But the term is distinctly explained here as meaning the "six hundred men which came after him from Gath," and called "Gittites" for that reason, a body of men with whom the previous history of David has made us very familiar. They had gathered to him during his outlawry (1Samuel 22:1-2), had been with him at Keilah (1Samuel 23:13), in the wilderness of Paran (1Samuel 25:13), and at Gath (1Samuel 27:3), "came after him from Gath" to Ziklag, and shared with him in his life and exploits there (1Samuel 27:8; 1Samuel 29:2; 1Samuel 30:1-9), and went up with him to Hebron (2 Samuel 23), and thence to Jerusalem (2Samuel 5:6). They are generally supposed to have afterwards constituted the body of "heroes" or "mighty men," to whom frequent reference is made (2Samuel 10:7; 2Samuel 16:6; 2Samuel 20:7; 1Kings 1:8). The Vatican LXX. here, as often, adds considerably to the text. . . .