Abishai was the eldest son of Zeruiah

Zeruiah

Zeruiah , daughter of King Nahash and stepdaughter of Jesse of the Tribe of Judah, was an older sister of King David. Zeruiah had three sons, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, all of whom were soldiers in David's army.Very little is told of her...

, sister of the Biblical King David

David

David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

. His name means father of (i.e. desirous of) a gift. He was the brother of Joab

Joab

Joab the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible.- Name :...

 and Asahel

Asahel

Asahel was the youngest son of Zeruiah, daughter of Jesse. The name means "Made by God." Asahel was the nephew of King David, as well as the younger brother of both Abishai, David's General, and of Joab...

 , and a military leader under David.

Abishai was the only one who accompanied David when he went to the camp of Saul

Saul the King

According to the Bible, Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He commited suicide to avoid arrest in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed...

 and took the spear and water bottle from Saul as he slept .

He had the command of one of the three divisions of David's army at the battle with Absalom

Absalom

According to the Bible, Absalom or Avshalom was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maachah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. describes him as the most handsome man in the kingdom...

 . He was the commander of the second rank of the three "mighty men"

King David's Warriors

David's Mighty Warriors are a group of biblical characters explicitly singled out by an appendix of the Books of Samuel. The text divides them into the "Three", of which there are three, and "Thirty", of which there are more than thirty...

 . On one occasion, he withstood 300 men and slew them with his own spear .

Abishai was involved in David's battle with the Philistine giant

Giant (mythology)

The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...

 Ishbi-benob, who threatened David's life; depending on the exact reading, Abishai either saved David by slaying the giant, or else helped David slay him . Some Jewish sources interpret this latter option as meaning Abishai's prayers saved David.

Other people with the name Abishai

Abisha or Abishai is also the name of the Semitic chief who offers gifts to the lord of Beni-Hassan in an inscription at that site in Middle Egypt

Middle Egypt

Middle Egypt is the section of land between Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle Egypt was technically a subdivision of Upper Egypt. It was not until the...

.