“Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory” (2 Samuel 23:11-12).

The passage above describes the valiant efforts of Shammah, one of King David’s “mighty men” (2 Samuel 23:8).* The notable event recorded about him was his defense of a piece of farmland. He “took his stand” and refused to back down, even though he had to fight alone. Of course, he was not truly alone even though “the people fled.” The text makes it clear that “the Lord brought about a great victory” on that day, but he had to be willing to stand his ground and fight.

What is interesting about this passage is that there is no indication given as to the location of this plot of ground. There is no mention of who owned it, what city was nearby, or the region in which it was located. The only information that is given about this land, besides what was grown there, was the fact that the Philistines had gathered in that place to fight. Because the enemy was there, that was the place where Shammah took his stand to fight.Continue Reading