Thanks to Jim Goodroe for sharing a little Benaiah research with me. I did alot of research on Benaiah before writing In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day but I had forgotten much of it. So I retraced Benaiah’s steps through the Bible and made a few fascinating discoveries.
Benaiah is even more heroic than I realized. His heroism isn’t limited to his physical prowess–chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killing it. His heroism translated into the relational and spiritual dimensions of life as well.
Benaiah was a BC renaissance man. He was a worship leader; played a mean trumpet; and doubled as a priest–I Chr 16:4-6.
That has pretty cool connotations! Benaiah wasn’t just a warrior. Benaiah wasn’t just a priest. Benaiah was a warrior priest! I like that combination! Wonder twin powers activate. Form of a priest. Form of a warrior.
There are other nuances to Benaiah that are awfully inspiring as well. Benaiah was loyal to the death. Read I Kings 1:8. Adonijah tries to seize the throne, but Benaiah stays loyal. And his loyalty is rewarded by Solomon with the position as Commander-in-Chief over Israel’s army–I Kings 2:35. Love the combination of bravery and loyalty that I see in Benaiah.
And just for the record, Benaiah was a PK–Priest’s kid (I Chr 27:5).
The more I learn about Benaiah the more I like this guy. He’s one of the great unsung heroes of Scripture. We fixate on David. Probably the most celebrated Old Testament hero. But Benaiah was his right-hand man. He wasn’t just his bodyguard. He was his confidant. He was his prayer partner. He was his worship leader. He was his priest.
One footnote.
The story of David and Benaiah reminds me of Braveheart.
Hollywood didn’t capture this detail in their version of Braveheart. But I’ve read some fascinating biographies. William Wallace never went anywhere without his boyhood friend and personal chaplain–John Blair. For what it’s worth, Wallace also carried a copy of the Scriptures with him at all times. It was his faith in God that enabled Wallace to live and die with such courage.
Not sure William Wallace would have done what he did without the support of his sidekick John Blair. I think the same could be said of David and Benaiah.
Here is a counterfactual question: As David’s bodyguard, how many times did Benaiah save the life of the king?
