שמואל ב, פרק כ״ג, פסוק ט׳

King David's military campaigns were spearheaded by a select group of elite warriors who fought alongside him with absolute dedication. Among these ranks was Eleazar the son of Dodo, an Ahohite. The phrase "son of Dodo" functions as his full proper name rather than a description of a family relationship, while his title indicates either his family lineage or his place of origin [רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. In the military hierarchy, Eleazar held the second highest position, ranking immediately after the foremost hero, Adino the Eznite [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. Together with Adino and a third warrior, Shammah the son of Agee, Eleazar formed an exclusive trio representing the most senior and skilled fighters in David's inner circle [רש"י, מלבי"ם, רד"ק].

Although the specific battle and its exact timing remain unrecorded [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל], the defining moment of Eleazar's bravery occurred during a fierce confrontation with the Philistines. The nature of this encounter involved a powerful display of defiance, which is understood in several complementary ways. The primary approach among commentators is that the elite warriors stood before the Philistine army and actively insulted them, boasting that the enemy could never win. This psychological warfare mirrored the way Goliath had once disgraced the Israelite camps [רלב"ג, אברבנאל, מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון]. Alternatively, their stance was an internal pact; the heroes shook hands and forged a covenant, promising one another to fight the enemy until total victory was achieved [רש"י]. Another perspective suggests the focus was on the immense physical risk, noting that the warriors deliberately exposed themselves to imminent mortal danger for the sake of the campaign [רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The true scale of this heroism became apparent just as the Philistines massed for the attack. At that critical moment, the regular Israelite army broke rank, retreated, and fled from the battlefield [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, אברבנאל, רד"ק]. It was precisely in this moment of crisis, as the rest of the nation abandoned the fight, that the courage of Eleazar and his fellow elite warriors shone brightest. Left entirely on their own, they stood firm and faced the overwhelming danger without stepping back.