The Honors List: Given the extent to which David’s fortunes were influenced by his supportive soldiers, it was appropriate to include a military honors list. It is possible that the information about these names came from the same kind of military records as did 21:15–22. The list appears to come largely from the first part of David’s reign; a more extensive list in 1 Chronicles 11 and 12 probably covers a wider time period. “The Thirty” seems to have been the name of the finest troop of David’s soldiers, indicating its fixed number of members. It is possible that the Israelite army was following an Egyptian model. When a member of the Thirty died or retired, he would have been replaced. This explains why there are more than thirty names on the list in this chapter and a further sixteen na…