2 Samuel 23:39

• The very last name mentioned is Uriah the Hittite. There is an earlier reference to his father-in-law, Eliam, father of Bathsheba (2 Samuel 23:34; see 11:3). The writer of Chronicles never mentioned David’s sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. The author of 2 Samuel not only described the sins but also emphasized Uriah’s name by placing it at the end of the list (1 Chronicles 11:10–47). Uriah was not an ordinary soldier. He was a loyal member of David’s elite guard. This makes David’s betrayal of him even more serious.

• There were thirty-seven in all: Only thirty-six names appear, assuming:

  • "Shammah … from Harar" (2 Samuel 23:11) is different from "Shammah from Harod" (2 Samuel 23:25), and

  • "Benaiah son of Jehoiada" (2 Samuel 23:20) is different from "Benaiah from Pirathon" (2 Samuel 23:30)

  The thirty-seventh warrior might be Joab. He is mentioned only briefly (2 Samuel 23:18, 37) and is missing from the list of names. Many believe he is excluded because he was David’s chief military leader and did not need to be added. The omission might also reflect David’s complicated relationship with Joab, who was executed when Solomon followed David’s last wishes (1 Kings 2:5–6, 28–34).

• This section lists David's top warriors by name, highlighting their notable achievements. These warriors were like "iron tools" that God used to defeat the godless (2 Samuel 23:7).

• The list is divided into the Three and the Thirty. Some Hebrew scholars suggest that the Thirty could mean "Officers." If true, the Three might have originally referred to a specific military role.

The final chapters of 2 Samuel form a coda (a concluding section). This section brings together and summarizes the main themes from earlier chapters.

These chapters are thematic, not chronological (arranged by topic, not by time). Because of this, not all the events happened at the end of David’s reign (for example, 2 Samuel 22:1).

The material is arranged using a common Hebrew literary pattern called a chiasm (a mirror-like structure). In a chiasm, the first and last sections match, and the middle section is the focus.

The structure of this chiasm is as follows:

• A: Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites and the punishment that affected the whole community (2 Samuel 21:1–14)

  • B: David’s warriors and their heroic deeds (2 Samuel 21:15–22)

    • C: David’s Psalm (2 Samuel 22:1–51)

    • C′: David’s Psalm (2 Samuel 23:1–7)

  • B′: David’s warriors and their heroic deeds (2 Samuel 23:8–39)

• A′: David’s sin involving the census and the punishment that affected the whole community (2 Samuel 24:1–25)

A chiasm draws attention to the center section. Here, the center is David’s hymns. These hymns do not focus on David himself. Instead, they focus on David’s God.