John Gill Commentary 1 Chronicles 12:18

"Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, [and he said], Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band." — 1 Chronicles 12:18 (ASV)

Then the spirit came upon Amasai
Or "clothed" ^F6 him; a spirit of fortitude, as the Targum, of strength, courage, and presence of mind, with which he was endowed, covered, and clothed as with a garment; this was a sister's son of David's, see (2 Samuel 17:25)

who was chief of the captains ;
of them that came at this time with him to David; he was afterwards Absalom's general, and designed to be David's, but was murdered by Joab:

and he said, yours are we, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse ;
which being spoken in this short and concise manner, as the supplement shows, denotes the vehemency with which he spoke, and is expressive of their cordial fidelity to him, and their resolution to abide by him at all events:

peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers ;
wishing all prosperity, temporal and spiritual, to him and all his confederates and auxiliaries, among whom they reckoned themselves:

for your God helps you ;
which they perceived by the remarkable deliverances of him out of the hand of Saul, when in imminent danger; the Targum is,

``for the Word of the Lord is for your help:'' then David received them ;
into the hold, and admitted them as his friends:

and made them the captains of the band ;
they brought with them; or in later times, when he came to the throne.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F6: (hvbl) "induit", Pagninus, Montanus