אֲבִישַׁי

1 Samuel 26:6 אֲבִישַׁ֨י אֲבִישַׁ֔י Abishai

And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” “I will go with you,” answered Abishai.

1 Samuel 26:7 וַאֲבִישַׁ֥י׀ and Abishai

That night David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the troops were lying around him.

1 Samuel 26:8 אֲבִישַׁי֙ Abishai

Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

Here: David's nephew, son of his sister Zeruiah and brother of Joab. He volunteered for this raid (v.6) and is known throughout Samuel for quick violence on David's behalf (2 Sam 16:9; 19:21).

1 Samuel 26:9 אֲבִישַׁ֖י Abishai

But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

Here: Abishai, son of David's sister Zeruiah and brother of Joab. In Samuel the "sons of Zeruiah" stand for quick, violent solutions that David repeatedly holds back (2 Sam 3:39; 16:9–10; 19:22).

2 Samuel 2:18 וַאֲבִישַׁ֖י and Abishai

The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

Here: Name probably means 'my father is Jesse' or 'father of a gift'. A fierce warrior who earlier offered to kill the sleeping Saul (1 Sam 26:8).

2 Samuel 2:24 וַאֲבִישַׁ֖י and Abishai

But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

2 Samuel 3:30 וַאֲבִישַׁ֣י and Abishai

(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

2 Samuel 10:10 אַבְשַׁ֣י Abishai

And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 10:14 אֲבִישַׁ֔י Abishai

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 16:9 אֲבִישַׁ֤י Abishai

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

2 Samuel 16:11 אֲבִישַׁי֙ Abishai

Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so.

Here: Joab's brother and David's nephew, one of the 'sons of Zeruiah' (v. 10). He is a fierce warrior who has just called Shimei a 'dead dog' and wants to kill him on the spot.

2 Samuel 18:2 אֲבִישַׁ֤י Abishai

He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”

2 Samuel 18:5 אֲבִישַׁ֤י Abishai

Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:12 אֲבִישַׁ֤י Abishai

The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’

2 Samuel 19:21 אֲבִישַׁ֤י Abishai

But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?”

2 Samuel 20:6 אֲבִישַׁ֔י Abishai

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

2 Samuel 20:10 וַאֲבִישַׁ֣י and Abishai

Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

2 Samuel 21:17 אֲבִישַׁ֣י Abishai

But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”

2 Samuel 23:18 וַאֲבִישַׁ֞י and Abishai

Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.

1 Chronicles 2:16 אַבְשַׁ֛י Abshai

Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.

Here: The shorter spelling Chronicles prefers for Abishai. Its meaning is debated: 'father of a gift' or 'my father exists'. He was David's loyal and hot-tempered warrior and chief of 'the Three' or 'the Thirty' (1 Chronicles 11:20).

1 Chronicles 11:20 וְאַבְשַׁ֣י and Abishai

Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.

Here: David's nephew, son of David's sister Zeruiah (1 Chr 2:16). Chronicles uses the short spelling Avshai (Samuel has Avishai). Placing the name first, before the verb, shifts attention to him: "As for Abishai...". This begins a new entry in the roster of David's warriors.

1 Chronicles 18:12 וְאַבְשַׁ֣י and Abishai

Moreover, Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1 Chronicles 19:11 אַבְשַׁ֣י Abishai

And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

1 Chronicles 19:15 אַבְשַׁ֣י Abishai

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Joab’s brother Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.