Commentary - 2 Samuel 23:20-23

Bird's-eye view

This brief account of Benaiah's exploits is not just an ancient warrior's resume tucked away in the appendix of Samuel. It is a portrait of a particular kind of masculine courage that the kingdom of God requires. These verses are set within the context of David's "mighty men," the hard cases who established his throne. Benaiah stands out, not quite reaching the top three, but renowned and honored for his spectacular deeds. Each feat described is a microcosm of godly courage: confronting terrifying enemies, facing impossible odds, and doing so with a kind of audacious faith. The narrative is intentionally stark and vivid, a man, a lion, a pit, a snowy day. This is not just history; it is theology written in blood and snow. It provides a concrete picture of the kind of man who serves the Lord's anointed, and in doing so, it offers a type, a foreshadowing, of the ultimate Mighty Man, the Lord Jesus, who descended into the ultimate pit to slay the ultimate lion.

The central theme is that faithfulness to God is not a passive, abstract affair. It involves a glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility, often in situations that look like certain death. Benaiah's resume is a list of impossibilities overcome. He fights lion-like men, a lion in a pit, and a giant Egyptian with his own weapon. This is the kind of raw, physical courage that our effeminate age is embarrassed by, but which the Bible holds up to honor. It is a reminder that the kingdom is built by men of valor, mighty in deeds, who do not flinch from the fight. Benaiah's story is a permanent rebuke to a risk-averse, domesticated, and careful Christianity.

Outline

Context In 2 Samuel

This passage comes at the very end of 2 Samuel, in a section that functions as an appendix to the life of David. After the main narrative of David's reign, with its triumphs and tragedies, the author gives us a collection of materials that summarize and reflect on the nature of his kingdom. We have a song of deliverance (chapter 22), David's last words (23:1-7), and this list of his mighty men (23:8-39). This is the honor roll. These are the men through whom God established David's throne. Their stories are recorded to show that David's kingdom was not built by David alone, but by a company of loyal, ferocious warriors. Benaiah's entry is one of the longest and most detailed, highlighting his particular importance. He would go on to be the commander of Solomon's guard, a key figure in securing the transition of the kingdom. So this is not just a nostalgic look back; it's an explanation of how the kingdom was won and how it would be secured, through the faithfulness of valiant men.

Key Issues

Not Careful Men

We live in an age that prizes carefulness. We are told to be cautious, prudent, and to manage risk. But the men God uses to build his kingdom are rarely "careful" men in that sense. Desperate times call for faithful men, not for careful men. The careful men come later and write the biographies of the faithful men, lauding them for their courage. Benaiah was not a careful man. A careful man does not go down into a pit on a snowy day to fight a lion. A careful man does not attack an Egyptian giant armed with a spear when all he has is a club. Benaiah was a man of valor, mighty in deeds.

This is the kind of faith that God honors because it is faith in action. It is not a matter of sitting in a study and having correct thoughts about God's sovereignty. It is a matter of seeing God's enemy, whether it be a Moabite, a lion, or a giant, and moving toward the sound of the guns. Benaiah's faith was not in his own strength, but in the God of Israel who gives strength to His servants. He gladly assumed sacrificial responsibility, and as a result, authority and honor flowed to him. This is a pattern. The men who are willing to look foolish, to risk everything for the sake of the king, are the men who are given charge over the king's guard. This is a standing principle for the church. God is looking for men who will stop calculating the odds and start obeying His commands, no matter how daunting the foe.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab.

The account begins with Benaiah's lineage. He is the son of Jehoiada, a valiant man himself. Courage is often a legacy, passed down from father to son. He was from Kabzeel, a town in the south of Judah. And he was mighty in deeds. This is a summary of his character before we even get to the specifics. His first recorded deed is striking down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. The word "Ariel" likely means "lion of God," which was a title for a great champion or hero. So Benaiah killed two of Moab's fiercest warriors, their lion-men. Moab was a perennial enemy of Israel, and in dispatching their champions, Benaiah was defending the honor of God's people and the security of David's kingdom.

He also went down and struck down a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.

This is the most famous of his exploits, and for good reason. Every detail here is freighted with meaning. It was a lion, the epitome of ravenous, terrifying strength. The lion was in a pit, which means Benaiah had to "go down" to engage him. This was not a defensive action in an open field; this was a deliberate, offensive move into the enemy's territory, a confined space where the lion had every advantage. And it was on a snowy day. The snow would make the footing treacherous and slippery. Everything about the situation screamed "stay away." It was a fool's errand. But Benaiah went down anyway. This is courage that looks like folly to the world. It is a picture of what Christ would later do, descending into the pit of death to grapple with that roaring lion, the devil, and defeat him in his own domain.

21 He had also struck down an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

Here we have another David and Goliath-type story. The enemy is an Egyptian, an "impressive man," which likely means he was a giant, a man of great stature. The Egyptian is heavily armed with a spear, the superior military weapon. Benaiah, by contrast, goes down to him with a simple club or staff. He is completely outmatched by every worldly standard. But Benaiah's faith is not in the tools of war. He closes with the giant, disarms him, and then, in a beautiful stroke of poetic justice, kills the enemy with his own weapon. He turns the enemy's strength against himself. This is what David did with Goliath's sword, and it is what the cross of Christ did to Satan. The very instrument of death that Satan wielded was the means of his own destruction.

22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.

The text summarizes his achievements. These were not one-off flukes. This was the character of the man. Because of these deeds, he "had a name," meaning he earned a great reputation. His renown was on par with that of the top three mighty men, Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah. He was in their league, even though he was not formally one of them. In the kingdom of God, honor is not arbitrary; it is the public recognition of faithful, courageous service. God sees to it that such men get a name.

23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.

This verse clarifies his rank. Among the larger group of elite warriors known as "the thirty," Benaiah was preeminent. He was the most honored among them. But he never quite broke into that innermost circle of the top three. There are ranks and distinctions even among the faithful. But his valor did not go unrewarded. David, recognizing his loyalty and his utter fearlessness, gave him the most trusted position possible: commander of his personal bodyguard, the Cherethites and Pelethites. The man who was willing to go down into a pit to kill a lion was the man David wanted protecting his own life. The lesson is plain: the man who proves himself faithful in the face of terrifying enemies is the one who will be brought close to the king.

Application

The story of Benaiah is a summons to a robust and courageous Christianity. We are not called to fight lions in snowy pits, but we are called to confront the lions of our own day, the cultural orthodoxies that roar against Christ, the personal sins that seek to devour us, the spiritual apathy that threatens to freeze our hearts. The spirit of Benaiah is the spirit of gladly assuming sacrificial responsibility. It is the spirit that says, "Here is an enemy of God; I will go down and fight him."

Fathers are to cultivate this kind of valor in their sons. We are not raising boys to be safe; we are raising them to be dangerous, dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. We must teach them that true masculinity is not about bluster or machismo, but about a willingness to lay down one's life for the king and his people. The church needs fewer committee members and more men like Benaiah. We need men who will snatch the spear out of the enemy's hand and use his own arrogant philosophies against him.

And ultimately, Benaiah's story points us to Christ. Jesus is the true son of a valiant man. He is the one who was mighty in deeds. He confronted the lion-like champions of sin and death. He descended into the pit of the grave on the cold day of His death. He faced the giant of God's wrath, armed with nothing but His own obedience, and disarmed the principalities and powers, killing death with death itself. Because He did this, He has been given the highest name and the highest honor. And He has been appointed by the Father as the captain of the guard, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. To follow Him is to walk in the way of Benaiah, the way of faith that is not afraid of the pit or the lion.