Lives of Scripture

Jashobeam, son of a Hachmonite (or, by another reading, of Zabdiel), was chief among "the three," the top tier of David's elite mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:11; 27:2). Scripture records a single staggering feat: "he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time" (1 Chronicles 11:11) -- rendered in 2 Samuel 23:8 with a different name form and a count of eight hundred; Scripture does not explain the difference between the two accounts. Whatever the precise number, both texts agree he stood at the very top of David's fighting men, part of the small circle whose loyalty and battlefield courage helped secure David's kingdom during years of conflict with Israel's enemies and rivals for the throne. Beyond this feat of arms, 1 Chronicles 27:2 records that Jashobeam went on to hold formal command: he was appointed captain over the first of David's twelve monthly military divisions, each numbering 24,000 men, showing that his standing was not only a matter of past heroics but ongoing trusted leadership within David's kingdom. Jashobeam represents a figure common in David's story -- a warrior whose singular courage in a moment of crisis becomes the foundation for a lifetime of entrusted responsibility.