the three mighty men] i.e. the three who were with David on the occasion mentioned in 2 Samuel xxiii. 9.
¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim[¹], and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
[¹] In 1 Samuel xvii. 1, Ephes-dammim.
13. at Pas-dammim] Perhaps the same place as “Ephes-dammim” which is mentioned in 1 Samuel xvii. 1 as the gathering-place of the Philistines. It was in the south-west of Judah.
barley] Samuel “lentils.” The two words resemble each other in Hebrew and might be confused by an unwary scribe.
¹⁴And they stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great victory[¹].
[¹] Hebrew salvation.
14. they stood] The subject of the verb in 2 Samuel xxiii. 12 is Shammah, here David and Eleazar together.
¹⁵And three of the thirty chief went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
15. to the rock] Samuel “in the harvest-time.” Probably both readings are wrong, and the original form of the verse was perhaps And three of the thirty went down at the beginning of harvest to David, etc. (see Driver, Notes on Hebrew text of Samuel², p. 366).