Person
Abishai
Mentioned in 24 verses across 3 books, first in 1 Chronicles 2:16. The verses below are the ones linked to this person (the Theographic dataset, with our sourced corrections).
In the Bible
All 5 verses in 1 Chronicles, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
1 Chronicles
- 1 Chronicles 2:16
Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.
- 1 Chronicles 11:20
Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.
- 1 Chronicles 18:12
Moreover, Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
- 1 Chronicles 19:11
And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.
- 1 Chronicles 19:15
When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Joab’s brother Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. The entry is for the name and can describe more than one person who bore it. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Father of (i.e., “desirous of”) a gift, the eldest son of Zeruiah, David’s sister. He was the brother of Joab and Asahel (2 Sam. 2:18; 1 Chr. 2:16). Abishai was the only one who accompanied David when he went to the camp of Saul and took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster (1 Sam. 26:5-12). He had the command of one of the three divisions of David’s army at the battle with Absalom (2 Sam. 18:2, 5, 12). He slew the Philistine giant Ishbi-benob, who threatened David’s life (2 Sam. 21:15-17). He was the chief of the second rank of the three “mighties” (2 Sam. 23:18, 19; 1 Chr. 11:20, 21); and on one occasion withstood 300 men, and slew them with his own spear (2 Sam. 23:18). Abishai is the name of the Semitic chief who offers gifts to the lord of Beni-Hassan. See illustration facing page 10.