Jashobeam
JASHOBEAM (ja-shō'bē-ăm, Heb. yāshōv‘ām, the people return)
One of the heroic men who went to Ziklag to aid David in his struggle against Saul (1Chr.12.6). He was a Korahite.One of David’s chieftains who was a ruler of captains. He killed three hundred during one battle (1Chr.11.11; or eight hundred, 2Sam.23.8). The LXX usually gives the name as Ishbaal. He is called Josheb-Basshebeth in 2Sam.23.8 (but cf. footnote; kjv Adino). The difference in the report of the number killed has been explained by supposing that some scribe confused the words for three and eight when he copied the record in Samuel. Jashobeam is supposed to have been one of the three who brought David water from the well of Bethlehem (1Chr.11.15-1Chr.11.19).One who commanded a division of twenty-four thousand men of Israel (1Chr.27.2-1Chr.27.3). This man may be the same as no. 2; if so, Hacmonite was an official title.
JASHOBEAM jə shō’ bĭ əm (יָֽשָׁבְעָ֖ם). 1. A Hachmonite, chief of the “thirty,” who killed 300 men in one battle (1 Chron 17:11). The parallel passage (2 Sam 23:8) speaks of the Tahchemonite, Jashub-basshebeth KJV (“the one who sat on the seat”) chief of the “three” (KJV “captains”) [two unknown words] who slew 800 men in one battle. Tahchemonite is apparently a corruption of Hachmonite. The “three” appear to have been the inner circle (cf. 1 Chron 11:15-17) of David’s select bodyguard, the “thirty.” The Heb. words for 300 and 800 begin with the same letter, making a copyist’s error possible. It has been suggested (Kennicott) that Jashubbasshebeth resulted when basshebeth was copied from the line above (v. 7) in place of the correct -am. Most scholars, following the LXX (2 Sam ̓Ιεβοσθε, 1 Chron ̓Ιεσβααλ), have seen the name Ishbaal (Ishbosheth arising when the word shame was substituted for the hated name Baal) as being the original while both Jashubbasshebeth and Jashobeam are later corruptions.
2. A Korhite who came out from Benjamin to join David in exile at Ziklag (1 Chron 12:6). Whether he is the same as 1. hinges on the meaning of the two appellatives. If both are regarded as family names, then two different individuals must be referred to. If one or both are some other title, e.g., a divisional name, a guild name, etc., the two references could well be to one man. (But note LXX ̓Ιεσβοαμ, here vs. ̓Ιεσβααλ, in 11:11.)
3. Captain of one of the twelve divisions in David’s army, the son of Zabdiel (1 Chron 27:2) (LXX ̓Ιεσβοαμ). Again, if this person is the same as 2., and perhaps 1., Korhite and Hachmonite must be regarded as titles and/or larger family names.
Bibliography
G. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel (1890), 279, 280.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
Jashobeam is mentioned in three passages (1Ch 11:11; 12:6 (Hebrew 7); 27:2 f), but opinions vary as to the number of persons erred to. In 1Ch 11:11 he is called "the son of a Hachmonite" (reference unknown) and "the chief of the three" ("three," the best reading; the Revised Version (British and American) "thirty"; the King James Version, the Revised Version margin "captains"), mighty men of David. He is said to have slain 300 (800 in 2Sa 23:8) at one time, i.e. one after another.
The gibborim, or heroes, numbered 600 and were divided into bands of 200 each and subdivided into smaller bands of 20 each, with a captain for each company large and small. Jashobeam had command of the first of the three bands of 200 (see Ewald, HI, III , 140 f; Stanley, HJC, II, 78). From the indefiniteness of the description, "three of the thirty chief," he can hardly be regarded as one of the three mighty men who broke through the ranks of the Philistines, and brought water from the well of Bethlehem to David on the hill-fortress of Adullam (1Ch 11:15-17), and the fact that "the thirty" have not yet been mentioned would seem to indicate that this story is not in its proper place. But "Jashobe am" here (1Ch 11:11) is probably an error for "Ishbaal," the reading of many of the manuscripts of the Septuagint (HPN, 46, note).
In the parallel passage (2Sa 23:8) he is called "Joshebbasshebeth, a Tahchemonite." This verse, however, is probably corrupt (Revised Version margin), and the text should be corrected in accordance with Ch to "Ishbaal, the Hachmonite." In 1Ch 27:2 f Jashobeam is said to have been "the son of Zabdiel," of the family of Perez, and the commander-in-chief of the division of David’s army which did duty the first month. The army consisted of 12 divisions of 24,000 each, each division serving a month in turn. In 1Ch 12:6 (Hebrew 7) Jashobeam is mentioned among those who joined David at Ziklag in the time of Saul, and is described as a Korahite, probably one belonging to a family of Judah (compare 2:43).