(12) Eleazar the son of Dodo.--For Dodo the LXX. has Dodai; so 1 Chronicles 27:4, and the Hebrew text of Samuel; but Syriac and Vulgate "his uncle," a translation of dodo.
The Ahohite--i.e., of the clan Ahoah; perhaps the Benjamite house of this name (1 Chronicles 8:4).
Who was one of the three mighties.--"He was among the three heroes," i.e., one of the first or leading trio of warriors, whose names were Jashobeam (Eshbaal), Eleazar, and Shammah (2 Samuel 23:11).
Verse 12. - Eleazar. Perhaps the same as Azareel in the list at 1 Chronicles 12:6, in which Jashobeam is also found. Dodo. This name is found in three forms, the Chethiv being Dodi; the Keri, Dodo; and Dodai being found in 1 Chronicles 27:4. He is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 27:4 as "over the course of the second month... in his course likewise twenty and four thousand." The Ahohite. In the parallel passage (2 Samuel 23:9), for הָאְחַוחִי here, we find בֶןאּאֲחוחִי. Ahohite is the patronymic of the Ahoah, who (1 Chronicles 8:4) was given among the sons of Bela, the firstborn of Benjamin. The three mighties. Who is the third? We have here but two - Jashobeam and Eleazar. The parallel passage supplies the omission by the name of Shammah the Hararite (2 Samuel 23:11, 33; comp. our ver. 27). And a careful comparison of the passages suggests how the omission came about, and that it was but part of a larger omission. Between the sentences, "and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle," and "where was a parcel of ground full of barley" (in our next verse, 13) there is an hiatus of two verses (viz. those found in 2 Samuel 23, as latter half of ver. 9, ver. 10, and former half of ver. 11), and this hiatus was occasioned probably by the recurrence of the expression," and the Philistines were gathered together," in the remaining half of ver. 11 (see Kennicott's Bible, and 'Speaker's Commentary,' in loc.).
11:10-47 An account is given of David's worthies, the great men who served him. Yet David reckoned his success, not as from the mighty men that were with him, but from the mighty God, whose presence is all in all. In strengthening him, they strengthened themselves and their own interest, for his advancement was theirs. We shall gain by what we do in our places for the support of the kingdom of the Son of David; and those that are faithful to Him, shall find their names registered much more to their honour, than these are in the records of fame.
And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it was accounted as if he inquired not at all, 1 Samuel 28:6 the Targum adds another reason of his death, because he killed the priests of Nob; but that is not in the text:
therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:
and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.
The Ahohite--i.e., of the clan Ahoah; perhaps the Benjamite house of this name (1 Chronicles 8:4).
Who was one of the three mighties.--"He was among the three heroes," i.e., one of the first or leading trio of warriors, whose names were Jashobeam (Eshbaal), Eleazar, and Shammah (2 Samuel 23:11).
therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:
and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.