2 Samuel 23:25

Study note

Setting — The narrator continues listing warriors who served under King David, recording two specific names within the roster of the Thirty. The passage functions as a direct continuation of the military roll call begun in the preceding verse.

The words — שַׁמָּה (Shammah) carries the literal sense of "desolation" or "waste," while חֲרֹדִי (Harodite) identifies a person from the place named Harod. אֱלִיקָא (Elika) appears only as a proper name without etymological annotation in the text.

The thread — The place name Harod resurfaces in Judges 7:1 at the spring where Gideon camps, and the territorial designation Harorite/Harodite reappears in 1 Chronicles 11:27 within parallel warrior lists. These references anchor the names to known geographic and historical markers in the biblical record.

Why it lands — The text simply preserves two names to document the composition of David’s elite military unit. It requires the reader to accept the recorded service of these individuals without adding theological or moral commentary.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.