II. THE NUMBER OF THE WARRIORS WHO MADE DAVID KING IN HEBRON AFTER SAUL’S DEATH (1 Chronicles 12:23-40).
(23) And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war. — Literally, And these are the numbers of the heads of the equipped for warfare. “Heads” may mean (1) polls, or individuals, as in Judges 5:30, though “skull” (gulgôleth) is more usual in this sense; or (2) it may mean “totals,” “bands,” as in Judges 7:16. The latter seems preferable here. The Vulg. and LXX. render “chiefs of the army”; but no chiefs are named in the list, except those of the Aaronites (1 Chronicles 12:27-28); and we cannot suppose, on the strength of a single ambiguous term in the heading, that the character of the entire list has been altered by the chronicler. The Syriac version omits the whole verse.
And came to David. — “And” is wanting in the Heb. “They came to David at Hebron,” &c., is a parenthesis, unless the relative has fallen out.
To turn the kingdom. — Literally, to bring it round out of the direct line of natural heredity (1 Chronicles 10:14).
According to the word. — Literally, mouth (1 Chronicles 11:3; 1 Chronicles 11:10). What Jehovah had spoken by Samuel was virtually the word of his own mouth.