Lexicon :: Strong's H6635 - ṣāḇā'

[fn] When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner? ”

“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

At that time, the Philistines gathered their military units into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army[fn] with me.”

Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth[fn][fn] and moved him to Mahanaim.

When Joab and his whole army arrived, Joab was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, the king dismissed him, and he went in peace.”

David became more and more powerful, and the LORD God of Armies was with him.

He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah.[fn] The ark bears the Name, the name of the LORD of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.

“So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel.

Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

David heard about it and sent Joab and all the elite troops.

Now Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra[fn] the Israelite;[fn] Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash.[fn] Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

“And tell Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood?[fn] May God punish me and do so severely if you don’t become commander of my army from now on instead of Joab! ’ ”

Joab commanded the whole army of Israel;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

“He has lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the king’s sons, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army, but he did not invite your servant Solomon.

“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.[fn]

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, in charge of the army;

Zadok and Abiathar, priests;

Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.

When these troops heard that Zimri had not only conspired but had also struck down the king, then all Israel made Omri, the army commander, king over Israel that very day in the camp.

Then Elijah said, “As the LORD of Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand.

Elisha responded, “By the life of the LORD of Armies, before whom I stand: If I did not have respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I wouldn’t look at you; I would not take notice of you.

Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? ’ ”

She answered, “I am living among my own people.”

Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a man important to his master and highly regarded because through him, the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was a valiant warrior, but he had a skin disease.

They abandoned all the commands of the LORD their God. They made cast images for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served Baal.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them.

Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the LORD’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

From the city he took a court official[fn] who had been appointed over the warriors; five trusted royal aides[fn] found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common people[fn] who were found within the city.

The descendants of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors who could serve in the army ​— ​men who carried shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for war.

Along with them, they had 36,000 troops for battle according to the family records of their ancestral families, for they had many wives and children.

David steadily grew more powerful, and the LORD of Armies was with him.

Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were valiant warriors, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.