About this song
About this song
This song belongs to the 2 Samuel collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.
- Collection
- 2 Samuel
Mighty Men
Mighty Men
Mighty Men of David
In the years of the kingdom
When the wars were not done
Thirty men stood with David
Every battle hard won
They were not born to comfort
They were not bred for ease
They were forged in the wilderness
Hardened by blood and by grief
And the king knew their names
Every scar, every stone, every field where they stood
When they stood there alone
David's mighty men, men who would not break
They walked into the fire for their king's sake
Blood on the ground, snow in the pits
The Lord gave the victory, they refused to quit
Mighty men, mighty men
David's mighty man
Eleazar stood his ground
When the army fell back
His hand locked on his sword
Through the length of the attack
Shammah held a field of lentils
When Israel turned and ran
Sometimes the ground beneath your feet
Is where God makes it stand
And the king knew their names
Every scar, every stone, every field where they stood
When they stood there alone
David's mighty men, men who would not break
They walked into the fire for their king's sake
Blood on the ground, snow in the pit
The Lord gave the victory, they refused to quit
Mighty men, mighty men
David's mighty men
Benaiah went down into the pit in the snow
No sword and no spear
Just a man and his God below
The lion found out
What a righteous man is
When the Lord of hosts
Says the victory's his
He came up from the pit
He came up from the cold
He came up with the lion dead And a story worth being told
Mighty men, mighty men Down in the pit, he would not quit
Mighty men, mighty men, mighty men David's mighty men
David's mighty men, men who would not break
They walked into the fire for their king's sake
Blood on the ground, snow in the pit
The Lord gave the victory, they refused to quit
Mighty men, mighty men
David's mighty men
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Lyrics transcribed from this recording. Word-for-word review is pending.
Named in this songDavid
About the passage
2 Samuel 23: The final oracle and the names behind the reign
The chapter begins with an oracle and then fills the page with names. David's "last words" describe just rule as morning light after rain and place the future of his house in an everlasting covenant. The ideal is luminous, but the Book of 2 Samuel has already shown how far royal households can fall short of their ideals, which gives the covenant language its weight. The mighty men then refuse to let David's greatness become solitary. Eleazar's hand clings to his sword, Shammah stands in a lentil field others have abandoned, and Benaiah's exploits are remembered with enough specificity to include snow in a pit. Three men risk their lives to bring David water from Bethlehem, and he refuses to drink what has become too costly for an ordinary thirst. The final list widens the reign into a network of service, then ends with Uriah the Hittite. That last name will not let honor erase betrayal.
Study 2 Samuel 23 in depth →
