(42) A captain of the Reubenites (or, chief; Heb., head) and thirty with him (besides him).--Literally, upon him. So LXX. Syriac reads "and he was commanding thirty men," which gives the apparent meaning of the verse. If, as seems likely, the "thirty" were the officers of David's guard of six hundred warriors (1Samuel 23:13; 1Samuel 30:10; 2Samuel 15:18), called "the mighty men," or heroes (2Samuel 10:7; 2Samuel 20:7; 1Kings 1:8). each captain would lead about twenty men. Adina's corps is mentioned perhaps as being larger than usual.

Verse 42. - Thirty with him. The Hebrew preposition here translated "with" appears thus, זְעָלָיו, and will naturally translate "and in addition to him." As he was a captain, this addendum may probably refer to those over whom he was captain, and whom he brought in his train, and who were possibly themselves officers. As the writer of Chronicles indicates no difference, nor any sense of a change of persons enumerated, when he has reached (ver. 41) Uriah the Hittite, it would all the rather be consistent with his own superscription when (ver. 26) he proposes to set forth simply "the valiant men of the armies" without confining their number to the "thirty."

11:10-47 An account is given of David's worthies, the great men who served him. Yet David reckoned his success, not as from the mighty men that were with him, but from the mighty God, whose presence is all in all. In strengthening him, they strengthened themselves and their own interest, for his advancement was theirs. We shall gain by what we do in our places for the support of the kingdom of the Son of David; and those that are faithful to Him, shall find their names registered much more to their honour, than these are in the records of fame.And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it was accounted as if he inquired not at all, 1 Samuel 28:6 the Targum adds another reason of his death, because he killed the priests of Nob; but that is not in the text:

therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:

and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.