📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 11:15
What does 1 Chronicles 11:15 mean?
"Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim."
— 1 Chronicles 11:15 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.
He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
They stood in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines; and Yahweh saved them by a great victory.
Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem at that time.
David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; but David would not drink any of it, but poured it out to Yahweh,
Explanation
This verse opens a well-known episode in the account of David's "mighty men," the elite warriors who supported him during both his years as a fugitive and his early reign as king. In plain terms, it describes three of David's thirty chief warriors making a dangerous trip down to where David was hiding — a rocky stronghold near the cave of Adullam — while a Philistine army was camped nearby in the Valley of Rephaim. The verse sets the scene for the famous story that follows, in which these three men risk their lives to bring David a drink of
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