Who was Benaiah in the bible

Benaiah was the captain of David’s Bodyguard. Benaiah was from Kabzeel, a town in southern Judah, and he was the son of a man named Jehoiada. The only other information we know about Benaiah is about what he himself did.

As one of David’s bravest warriors, he killed two of Moab’s best men. The story continues as he went down into a pit and killed a lion. Once he even disarmed a large Egyptian and killed him with his own weapon (2 Samuel 23:20–23)

Probably as a reward for his bravery and wholehearted devotion, David put Benaiah in charge of his bodyguard, where Benaiah continued to demonstrate his loyalty to David. When Adonijah set himself up as king, Benaiah and his bodyguard unit were not invited to the coronation —probably because Adonijah knew that David had not authorized the event, and Benaiah would always side with David.

Benaiah’s loyalty to David continued even under Solomon, whom David had appointed to be the next king. Benaiah faithfully and bravely carried out Solomon’s orders to strike down Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei for their disloyalty to David, and he replaced Joab as the commander over the whole army.

David’s bodyguard was comprised of men from the Kerethites and Pelethites, who lived near the Philistines and may have been related to them. David may have gained their loyalty during the time that he sought refuge from Saul among the Philistines and lived at Ziklag.