Rebuking undead

[Sabaron]

A fellow D&Der and I are having an argument. Here is the language (from the SRD) we are arguing over:

Destroying Undead
If a combatant has twice as many levels (or more) as the undead have Hit Dice, the combatant destroy any that the combatant would normally turn.
Evil Clerics and Undead
Evil clerics channel negative energy to rebuke (awe) or command (control) undead rather than channeling positive energy to turn or destroy them. An evil cleric makes the equivalent of a turning check. Undead that would be turned are rebuked instead, and those that would be destroyed are commanded.
Rebuked
A rebuked undead combatant cowers as if in awe. (Attack rolls against the rebuked undead get a +2 bonus.) The effect lasts 10 rounds.
Commanded
A commanded undead combatant is under the mental control of the evil cleric. The cleric must take a standard action to give mental orders to a commanded undead. At any one time, the cleric may command any number of undead whose total Hit Dice do not exceed his level. He may voluntarily relinquish command on any commanded undead combatant or combatants in order to command new ones.
Alternatively, an evil cleric may command a single undead combatant with more Hit Dice than he has levels, but he must concentrate continuously to do so (as in concentrating to maintain a spell), and he can command no other undead at the same time.

What he argues is that, in lieu of rebuking an undead with more HD than you, you may command it. I say that if this were true, the section describing this (Alternatively, an evil cleric...) would be in the section about rebuking, not commanding. Any thoughts?

 

[shilsen]

The section

Alternatively, an evil cleric may command a single undead combatant with more Hit Dice than he has levels, but he must concentrate continuously to do so (as in concentrating to maintain a spell), and he can command no other undead at the same time.

has been removed in the PHB errata, so the question is moot.

 

[Li Shenron]

There was an inconsistency between this line - about commanding an undead with more HD than your Cleric level - and the rebuke/command undead rule that you can command undead if your Cleric level is at least twice the single undead's number of HD.

Clearly, you must first succeed the rebuke/command attempt (rebuking check + rebuking damage) and "all" the undead with not more HD than HALF your Cleric level are commanded, "all" but up to a total number of HD equal to your FULL Cleric level.

I think there is a spell, which has nothing to do with turning/rebuking attempts, which lets you command one single undead with even more HD than your Cleric level.

note: it could be that the rule about commanding a SINGLE undead with more HD than your level (or at least than half your level) was supposed to be an exception to the commanding rule; at least, it was not explained if you could try that if you make a command attempt against that single undead only, or if you could do that as a part of the normal rebuking attempt. Neverthless, the problem is not more...