Benaiah son of Jehoiada בניהו בן יהוידע
killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day; under Solomon he became head of the army
He was captain of the Cherethites and Pelethites — David's personal guard — and stood "over the bodyguard." In the roll of David's mighty men he is described at greater length than the rest: he struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab; he went down into a pit and killed a lion there on a snowy day; and he killed an Egyptian of great size who had a spear in his hand — "he went down to him with a staff, wrenched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear."
On the night of Solomon's anointing he was on David's side and answered the king briefly: amen, so may the LORD say. He went with Zadok and Nathan to Gihon and was among those who set Solomon on the king's mule.
Under Solomon he became the executor of sentences: he killed Adonijah, killed Joab at the horns of the altar, killed Shimei son of Gera. And he took command of the army in Joab's place, as Zadok took the priesthood in Abiathar's place.
His father Jehoiada is not the high priest who saved Joash: two centuries separate them. Repeated names are ordinary in the Tanakh, and it is noted here deliberately.
On the timeline
Sources
Tanakh
- Shmuel II 23:20–23 — the two Moabites, the lion in the pit, the Egyptian
- Melachim I 1:38–40 — at the Gichon for Shlomo's anointing
- Melachim I 2:35 — set over the army in Yoav's place
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.