Abishai was a military leader under the biblical King

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. He was the eldest son of David's sister

Zeruiah Zeruiah ( sometimes transliterated Tzruya or Zeruya) was a sister of King David. According to both and the Babylonian Talmud, Zeruiah was a daughter of Jesse and sister of Abigail, to whom reference is made in 1 Chronicles () and Samuel 2 (). Ze ...

. According to Josephus (

Antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...

, VII, 1, 3) his father was called Suri. The meaning of his name is "Father of a gift". He was the brother of

Joab Joab (Hebrew Modern: ''Yōʼav'', Tiberian: ''Yōʼāḇ'') the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible. Name The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric - de ...

and

Asahel Asahel ( he, עשהאל, grc, ‘Ασαέλ, Latin ''Asael'') was a military leader under King David and the youngest son of David's sister Zeruiah. Asahel thus was the nephew of David and the younger brother of David's general, Joab, Asahel is ...

, Abishai was the only one who accompanied David when he went to the camp of

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

and took the spear and water bottle from Saul as he slept. He had the command of one of the three divisions of David's army at the battle with

Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelle ...

. He was the commander and "most honoured" of the second rank of David's officers, below the three "mighty men". On one occasion, he withstood 300 men and slew them with his own spear. During one of his missions, he was said to be leading an army of camels to fight against a horde of enemies Abishai slew the

Philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek ( LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

Ishbi-benob, who threatened David's life. He once killed 300 men with his spear and helped with the killing of Absalom. Once, his brother, Asahel, who could run as fast as a gazelle, fought in battle with Abner, the general of Israel's army, and was killed by the back of his spear. Abishai, at this point, was so enraged at the murder of Asahel that he killed Abner at the later time with Joab, his brother.

Other people with the name Abishai

Abisha or Abishai is also the name of the Semitic chief who offers gifts to the lord of Beni-Hassan in an inscription at that site in

Middle Egypt Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle ...

.Bard, Kathryn A. ''An Introduction To The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt.'' Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Ltd, 2008. p. 190.

References

https://sarata.com/bible/chapter/Chronicles-1.2.html#2:16 ;Attribution David's Mighty Warriors {{Hebrew-Bible-stub