This verse and the one that follows constitute a kind of summary statement of what has been said about Benaiah. But the structure may be unnatural if followed literally in other languages. Some versions such as Contemporary English Version combine the two verses, since there is a reordering of elements. However, the final sentence of verse 23 is not really a part of the summary. It is rather the result of Benaiah’s proven bravery.

As indicated by the difference between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, the confusion between three and “thirty” continues. The traditional Hebrew text has the number three (so, for example, New Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), but in addition to Good News Translation the following versions and commentators feel that the original reading was probably “thirty”: New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised English Bible, and Anderson. This is comparable to the same problem in verse 19. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, recommends “three,” giving the Masoretic Text a {B} rating.

Won a name beside the three …: this is taken by the same versions as in verse 18 to mean “just as famous as the Three.” But as in verse 18, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente translates this as “in the group of three Warriors,” and this seems to be the best translation of the Hebrew.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .