Abishai was a military leader under the biblical King

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

. He was the eldest son of David's sister

Zeruiah Zeruiah ( sometimes transliterated Tzruya or Zeruya) was a sister of King David. According to both the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian Talmud, Zeruiah was a daughter of Jesse and sister of Abigail, to whom reference is made in 1 Chronicles () ...

. According to Josephus (

Antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean such as the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt, and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures such as Ancient Persia (Iran). Artifact ...

, VII, 1, 3) his father was called Suri. The meaning of his name is "Father of a gift". He was the brother of

Joab Joab (; ), the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army according to the Hebrew Bible. Name The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric—derived from Yahweh (), the name of the God of Israel, ...

and

Asahel Asahel (, , Latin ''Asael'') was a military leader under King David and the youngest son of David's sister Zeruiah. Asahel thus was the nephew of David and the younger brother of David's general, Joab, Asahel is mentioned in Books of Samuel, 2 Sa ...

. Abishai was the only one who accompanied David when he went to the camp of

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

and took the spear and water bottle from Saul as he slept. After a battle between Judah and Israel, his brother Asahel chased the northern army's general Abner, and was killed by the back of Abner's spear. Joab and Abishai were enraged at the death of Asahel, and later murdered Abner. David disowned responsibility for the murder, led a national lament for Abner, and pronounced a curse on Joab and Abishai, saying, "these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me; the LORD reward the evildoer according to his wickedness." Abishai had the command of one of the three divisions of David's army at the battle with

Absalom Absalom ( , ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was an Israelite prince. Born to David and Maacah, who was from Geshur, he was the only full sibling of Tamar. He is described in the Hebrew Bible as being exceptionally beautiful, as is his siste ...

. He was the commander and "most honoured" of the second rank of David's officers, below the three "mighty men". On one occasion, he withstood 300 men and slew them with his own spear. Abishai slew the

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

Ishbi-benob, who threatened David's life. In the

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

, this incident is elaborated with miraculous details. The

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

tractate in the Talmud says that

Orpah Orpah ( ''ʿOrpā'', meaning "neck" or "fawn") is a woman mentioned in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...

and Ishbi-benob) was killed by

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

's general Abishai, the son of

, with her own spindle.

Other people with the name Abishai

Abisha or Abishai is also the name of the Semitic chief who offers gifts to the lord of Beni-Hassan in an inscription at that site in

Middle Egypt Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis, Egypt, Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, ...

. Bard, Kathryn A. ''An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt.'' Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Ltd, 2008. p. 190.

References

https://sarata.com/bible/chapter/Chronicles-1.2.html#2:16 ;Attribution {{Authority control David's Mighty Warriors