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having a helmet upon his head, and a coat of mail of five thousand shekels of bronze and iron, and bronze greaves upon his legs, and the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the spearhead upon it was of six hundred shekels of iron, and a bronze shield between his shoulders. And for this reason, having become the son-in-law of Saul, and being envied on account of the dancing women, he flees from him, at which time he also ate the shewbread, and Saul killed the three hundred and fifty priests, and he struck the whole city of Nob with the sword, from man to beast, and there was not left from 1.151 them except Abiathar, son of Abimelech, who fled to David. This murderous deed of Saul was more impious than all his other sins. And he spared Agag, and everything that was desirable; but when his anger was stirred, he destroyed the three hundred and fifty priests and the whole city with its people. And often the most inhuman Saul, pursuing the most gentle David, fell into David's hands once and twice. But David, not repaying him evil for evil, rather said to him, "Why do you pursue, O king, to take my life? May the Lord judge between us." And the house of David went on and grew stronger, but the house of Saul went on and grew weaker. And Saul died in his iniquities, shot by the foreigners in the abdomen; and not dying, he became his own murderer, falling on his sword, lest the foreigners mock him.

And after Saul, David reigned for forty years, who did all the will of God, according to what was said, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will." And David went on, advancing and becoming great, and the Lord Almighty was with him. And he had thirty-seven mighty men, such that the least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand. Of whom these are the names. Sibbechai; this one struck Saph, the son of Rapha, a descendant of the giants. Elhanan; this one killed a mighty Hittite man, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's 1.152 beam. Jonathan; this one slew a mighty and very large man, who had six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet. Adino; this one drew his sword against eight hundred soldiers in one company. Jeshebeab; this one drew his sword at one time against three hundred wounded men. Shammah; this one, when the foreigners came and wanted to seize the portion of the field that was full of lentils, and the people fled, stood alone, and pursued the foreigners, and protected the portion of the field. Eleazar; this one, when there was a portion of barley, and the foreigners came, and the people fled, stood his ground alone, and routed the foreigners, and saved the barley; for he struck so many among the foreigners that his hand grew weary and clung to the sword, and the people returned after him to plunder. Benaiah; this one performed many deeds, and he also struck the two sons of Ariel of Moab, and going down on a snowy day into a pit, he killed a lion. He also killed an Egyptian man, seven cubits tall, who had a wooden beam like a spear; for having snatched the beam from him, he killed him with it. Abishai, the brother of Joab; this one struck six hundred men and Ishbi-benob, who wanted to kill David (and Ishbi-benob was a descendant of Rapha), who had a spear weighing three hundred shekels. And when Abishai ran, he was like a gazelle on the mountains. And three of the other mighty men, when the foreigners had once surrounded Bethlehem and David 1.153 desired to drink from the well in Bethlehem, the three broke through the camp of the foreigners and brought water to David from the well. But he, marveling at their courage, did not drink the water, but poured it out to the Lord,

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περικεφαλαίαν ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ θώρακα ἁλυσιδωτὸν πέντε χιλιάδων σίκλων χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδή ρου, καὶ κνημῖδας χαλκᾶς ἐπὶ τὰ σκέλη αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ δόρατος αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀντίον ὑφαινόντων, καὶ ἡ ἐπ' αὐτὸ λόγχη ἑξα κοσίων σίκλων σιδήρου, καὶ ἀσπὶς χαλκῆ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπιγαμβρευθεὶς τῷ Σαούλ, καὶ φθονηθεὶς προφάσει τῶν χορευτριῶν, ἀποδιδράσκει ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, ὅτε καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προσθέσεως ἔφαγε, καὶ τοὺς τριακοσίους πεντήκοντα ἱερεῖς ἀνεῖλε Σαούλ, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν ἐπάταξε Νομβᾶν ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους, καὶ οὐχ ὑπελείφθη ἐξ αὐ 1.151 τῶν εἰ μὴ Ἀβιάθαρ υἱὸς Ἀβιμέλεχ, φυγὼν πρὸς ∆αβίδ. αὕτη τοῦ Σαοὺλ ἡ μιαιφονία πάντων τῶν ἄλλων ἁμαρτημάτων δυσσε βεστέρα. καὶ τὸν μὲν Ἄγαγ διέσωσε, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἦν ἀξιό κτητα· τοῦ δὲ θυμοῦ κεκινηκότος τοὺς τριακοσίους πεντήκοντα ἱερεῖς καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν αὔτανδρον διέφθειρε. πολλάκις δὲ καταδιώκων τὸν πραότατον ∆αβὶδ ὁ ἀπανθρωπότατος Σαοὺλ εἰς χεῖρας ∆αβὶδ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς ἐμπέπτωκε. μὴ ἀνταποδιδοὺς δὲ ὁ ∆αβὶδ αὐτῷ κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ μᾶλλον ἔλεγε πρὸς αὐτόν "ἵνα τί καταδιώκεις βασιλεῦ λαβεῖν τὴν ψυχήν μου; δικάσαι κύριος μέσον ἡμῶν." καὶ ὁ μὲν οἶκος ∆αβὶδ ἐπορεύετο καὶ ἐκραταιοῦτο, ὁ δὲ οἶκος Σαοὺλ ἐπορεύετο καὶ ἠσθένει. καὶ ἀπέθανε Σαοὺλ ἐν ταῖς ἀνομίαις αὐτοῦ, τοξευθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων εἰς τὰ ὑποχόνδρια· καὶ μὴ ἀποθνήσκων αὐτὸς γέγονεν αὐτοφονευτής, ἐπιπεσὼν ἐπὶ τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ, μή πως ἐμπαίξωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι.

Μετὰ δὲ Σαοὺλ ἐβασίλευσε ∆αβὶδ ἔτη τεσσαράκοντα, ὃς ἐποίησε τὰ θελήματα τοῦ θεοῦ πάντα, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον "εὗρον τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ ∆αβὶδ ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου, ὃς ποιήσει πάντα τὰ θελήματά μου." καὶ ἐπορεύετο ∆αβὶδ πορευόμενος καὶ μεγαλυνόμενος, καὶ κύριος παντοκράτωρ μετ' αὐτοῦ. εἶχε δὲ καὶ δυνατοὺς ἄνδρας τριακονταεπτὰ τοιούτους ὥστε τὸν μικρὸν αὐτῶν ποιεῖν πρὸς ἑκατόν, τὸν δὲ μέγαν πρὸς χιλίους. ἐξ ὧν ἐστὶ τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα. Σεβοχᾶ· οὗτος ἐπάταξε τὸν Σὲφ τὸν τοῦ Ῥαφᾶ, ἀπόγονον τῶν γιγάντων. Ἐλεανᾶν· οὗτος ἀνεῖλεν ἄνδρα δυνατὸν Χετταῖον, οὗ ἦν τὸ ξύλον τοῦ δόρατος ὡς ἀντίον 1.152 ὑφαινόντων. Ἰωανάθαν· οὗτος ἐφόνευσεν ἄνδρα δυνατὸν καὶ παμμεγέθη, ἔχοντα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ τοῖς ποσὶν ἀνὰ δακτύλους ἕξ. Ἀδίνων· οὗτος ἐσπάσατο τὴν ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ ὀκτακο σίων στρατιωτῶν εἰς μίαν παρεμβολήν. Ἰεσεβαδᾶ· οὗτος ἐσπά σατο τὴν μάχαιραν αὐτοῦ ἐν καιρῷ ἑνὶ ἐπὶ τραυματιῶν τριακο σίων. Μαρᾶ· οὗτος τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐπελθόντων καὶ βουλομέ νων ἁρπάσαι τὴν μερίδα τοῦ ἀγροῦ πλήρη οὖσαν φακῆς, καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ φυγόντος, μόνος ἔστη, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀλλοφύλους ἐδίωξε, τὴν δὲ μερίδα τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἐφύλαξεν. Ἐλεάζαρ· οὗτος μερίδος οὔσης κριθῶν, καὶ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐπελθόντων, καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ φυγόντος, μόνος ἐστηλώθη, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀλλοφύλους ἔτρεψε, τὴν δὲ κριθὴν διέσωσε· τοσούτους γὰρ ἐπάταξεν ἐν τοῖς ἀλλοφύ λοις, ἕως ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ κοπιάσασα προσεκολλήθη τῇ μαχαίρᾳ, καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἐπέστρεψεν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ σκυλεύειν. Μαναίας· οὗτος πολλὰ μὲν ἐποίησεν ἔργα, ἐπάταξε δὲ καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἀριὴλ τοῦ Μωάβ, καὶ καταβὰς ἐν ἡμέραις χιόνος εἰς λάκκον ἐφόνευσε λέοντα. ἀνεῖλε δὲ καὶ ἄνδρα Αἰγύπτιον ἑπτάπηχυν, ἔχοντα ξύ λον διαβάθρας ὡς δόρυ· ἁρπάσας γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὸ ξύλον ἐν αὐτῷ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν. Ἀβεσᾶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἰωάβ· οὗτος ἐπάταξεν ἄνδρας ἑξακοσίους καὶ τὸν Ἰεσβὰν θέλοντα φονεῦσαι τὸν ∆αβίδ (ἦν δὲ ὁ Ἰεσβὰν ἔκγονος τοῦ Ῥαφάν), δόρυ ἔχοντασταθμοῦ σίκλων τριακοσίων. ἡνίκα δὲ ἔτρεχεν ὁ Ἀβεσᾶ, ἦν ὡς δορκὰς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι. τρεῖς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν δυνατοί, περι κυκλωσάντων ποτὲ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων τὴν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ 1.153 ἐπιθυμήσαντος πιεῖν ἐκ τοῦ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ φρέατος, διέρρηξαν οἱ τρεῖς τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἤνεγκαν τῷ ∆αβὶδ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος. ὁ δὲ θαυμάσας τὴν ἀνδρίαν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔπιε τὸ ὕδωρ, ἀλλ' ἔσπεισεν αὐτὸ τῷ κυρίῳ,