Note 466 — Chapter VI · THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY (continued 2)

It is difficult to say whether the number of the gibbôrîm or ‘heroes’ was actually restricted to thirty, or whether thirty was an ideal number which was elastic in practice. In 2 Sam. xxiii. thirty-seven ‘heroes’ are named, but some of these may have been appointed to supply the place of others who had died or fallen in war. To be included among the thirty was equivalent to receiving a Victoria Cross.