2 Samuel 23:31 Meaning and Explanation
“Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Lists of unfamiliar names tempt us to skim. Yet this one sits at the close of David's life, right after his last words, and it answers a question the whole book has been raising: who actually carried the kingdom while David sang and fought and failed? Two men in this verse are part of that answer, and Scripture keeps their names.
Two more names appear in the roll of David's mighty men, Abialbon and Azmaveth, each tagged with the place he came from. The list preserves ordinary soldiers by name alongside the famous three.
The Context of 2 Samuel 23:31
2 Samuel 23 opens with the last words of David, then turns to a catalogue of his warriors. Verses 8 through 12 honour the first three, verses 13 through 17 tell of the water from the well of Bethlehem, and verses 18 through 23 set out the deeds of Abishai and Benaiah. From verse 24 the chapter moves into a rapid roll call of the thirty, beginning with Asahel the brother of Joab. Verse 31 falls in the middle of that roll, between Benaiah the Pirathonite with Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash and Eliahba the Shaalbonite. The total given in verse 39 is thirty and seven.
What Does 2 Samuel 23:31 Mean?
Each man in this roll carries two pieces of information, a personal name and a place name, and verse 31 gives us both twice over. Abialbon is called the Arbathite, a form built on Arabah, the deep rift valley running south from the Jordan. Azmaveth is called the Barhumite, a spelling close to Bahurim, a village on the road east out of Jerusalem. The parallel list in 1 Chronicles 11:32 and 33 records the same pair with slight variations, Abiel the Arbathite and Azmaveth the Baharumite. Small differences of this kind are common when ancient rolls are copied, and they leave the substance untouched: real men, real towns, remembered.
The roll call performs a quiet correction to how kingdoms are usually remembered. David's last words in verse 3 declare that the one who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and the chapter then shows the human cost and support of such rule. Thirty and seven men are counted, and the final name is Uriah the Hittite, whose place in this honour roll recalls David's worst hour. Scripture keeps the loyal and the wronged on the same page. Naming the obscure alongside the celebrated matches a pattern that runs from the tribal registers of Numbers to the genealogies that open the Gospels.
Nothing is recorded of what Abialbon or Azmaveth did in battle. Their whole memorial is a name and a hometown in the register of a king they served. That is itself a promise worth resting in, since the God who moved men to write these names keeps a fuller record still. Jesus told disciples returning from a mission to rejoice that their names are written in heaven, and the Revelation speaks of a book of life in which names are kept. The register of David's men is a small, earthly instance of that keeping. Faithful service under an anointed king is seen, counted, and written down.
2 Samuel 23:31 in the Original Language
Arbathi (עַרְבָתִי), 'Arbathite' -- a gentilic form marking a man from the Arabah, the low valley region along the Jordan rift. The ending simply says where he belonged, the same way the next word ties Azmaveth to his own village.
Bible Verses Related to 2 Samuel 23:31
“Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,”
- 1 Chronicles 11:32
“Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,”
- 1 Chronicles 11:33
“Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.”
- 2 Samuel 23:39
“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
- Luke 10:20
Where 2 Samuel 23:31 Echoes in Scripture
1 Chronicles 11:33 carries this verse forward into the postexilic record. Writing for a community rebuilding after the exile, the chronicler repeats the roll of David's warriors, keeping Azmaveth the Baharumite in place beside his neighbours. Generations after these men died, their names were still being copied out for people who had lost almost everything else. The persistence of a list like this shows how seriously Israel took the memory of those who stood with the king in hard days.
How to Apply 2 Samuel 23:31 Today
Most of the work that holds a family, a church, or a town together is done by people whose deeds will never be described. This verse gives us permission to be one of them without resentment. We can serve where we are, under leaders who may never learn what it cost us, trusting that the accounting is kept elsewhere. It also nudges us to say names out loud: to thank the volunteer, the caretaker, the neighbour who shows up. Keeping a record of others is a small imitation of what God does, and it costs us little to begin.
Reflection & Prayer
Whose faithfulness in my life has gone unnamed for too long, and how might I honour it this week? A prayer: Father, you know every name and every hidden labour. Keep me content to serve where no story will be told, and give me eyes for the people around me who are holding things up quietly. Let my life be written into your good work.