El reino unidoWarriorCommanderOne of David's heroesMilitary leaderc. 1040–970 BC
Abishai (also known as Abshai) was the son of Zeruiah, David's sister, and brother to Joab and Asahel. He belonged to the inner circle of David's most trusted warriors and distinguished himself throughout his career by extraordinary bravery and unwavering loyalty to the king. Abishai is counted among David's mighty men and received special recognition for his feat of striking down 300 enemies with a spear. At the same time, he was known for his fiery temper – on several occasions he wanted to take the lives of David's opponents, something the king had to restrain him from doing. He played a central role in several of David's most important military operations, from the battle against the Ammonites to the decisive battle against Absalom's rebel army in the forest of Ephraim, where he led one third of the army. Abishai's career illustrates the tension between unconditional military loyalty and the restraint that David's kingdom required.
Abishai followed David into Saul's camp where the king was sleeping. Abishai offered to kill Saul with his own spear, but David refused to lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Instead, they took Saul's spear and water jug.
6David turned to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and asked, "Who will go down with me to Saul, into the camp?" Abishai said, "I will go down with you."
7So David and Abishai came to the troops by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp's circle, his spear stuck in the ground by his head, with Abner and the troops lying around him.
8Abishai said to David, "Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Now let me pin him to the ground with the spear—one stroke; I won't need a second."
Abishai was recognized as the most prominent among David's heroes (excluding the very foremost) because he swung his spear against 300 men and killed them. He gained great honor and was the most esteemed among the Thirty, although textual traditions vary in how his rank is described.
18Abishai the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. He raised his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and he won a name alongside the three.
11Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and rescue you.
14When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and withdrew into the city. So Joab broke off the attack against the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.
When the Philistine giant Ishbi-Benob threatened to kill David, Abishai came to his rescue and struck down the Philistine. After this, David's men asked him not to go out into battle anymore, so that the lamp of Israel would not be extinguished.
16Then Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of the Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, intended to kill David.
17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine down, and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished."
2He sent the army out in three divisions: a third under Joab, a third under Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, "I myself will surely march out with you."
3But the men said, "You must not go out. If we are put to flight, no one will care about us; even if half of us die, no one will care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better now that you stand ready to help us from the city."
4The king said to them, "I will do whatever seems best to you." So the king stood beside the gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
5The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." And all the troops heard the king give this order to all the commanders concerning Absalom.
When Shimei cursed David while he was fleeing from Absalom, Abishai wanted to cut off his head, but David forbade it and showed restraint, leaving the matter to the Lord. This episode illustrates the contrast between Abishai's decisiveness and David's mercy.
10But the king said, "What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse, for the LORD has told him, 'Curse David.' Who then can ask, 'Why have you done this?'"
11And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood, is seeking my life. How much more, then, this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.