17 He said, “Far be it from me before Yahweh that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty warriors did.
18 Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was himself the leader of the thirty. He was wielding his spear against three hundred slain and gained a name among the thirty.
19 Among the thirty, is it not that he was honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three.
20 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of Ish-Hai, was a great man of deeds from Kabzeel. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.
21 He also killed a good-looking Egyptian man, in whose hand was a spear. He went down against him with the staff and snatched the spear from the hand of the Egyptian and killed him with his spear.
22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and gained a name for himself among the three mighty warriors.
23 He was honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.