Exposition of the Whole Bible

ane chapter gives an account of the ark being brought to Kirjath-jearim, where it continued 20 years, ¥. 1, 2 of the exhortation of Samuel to the people of Jfrael to reform from idolatry, and which had its defired effect, ¥. 3, 4. of SamueP’s praying for the people, and offering facrifices for them, and of the fuccefs thereof, victory over their enemies, ¥. 5—14. and of his adminiftration of juftice to them, and conftancy in

¥.1. And the men of Kirjath-jearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord, 8c.\ From Beth-fre- _mefh, which was near unto them, as Fo/ephus* fays; they made no difficulty of fetchingit, but gladly received it; for if they knew of what happened to the men of Beth-/hemefb, they knew it was not owing’ to the prefence of theark among them, but to their irreverent behaviour to it; and though of Kirjath-jearim, 8c.) Which was a city farther on in the tribe of Judab, and lay among woods, from whence it had its name, and was formerly called Kirjath-baal, from Baal’s being worfhipped there; of which fee Fo. xv. g. they might chufe to fend hither ‘to fetch the ark from them, becaufé it was at a greater diftance from the Philiftines, their city Beth-jbemefh being on the borders of them; and becaufe it might be a place of greater eminence and ftrength, and befides } in the way to Shilob, whereby they nigh fool it was intended to be had; unlefs Shi/ob was re this time deftroyed: _ faying, the Philiftines bave brought again the ark of tbe Lord; which 1 doubted not would be good news to them: Come ye down, and fetch it up to you but fay not one word of the reafon of this requeft, left it thould difcourage them; but rather reprefent it as a favour to them, and an honour done them, as indeed Kirjath-jearim {eems to have ftood on an eminence in comparifon of Beth-/beme/h, and therefore it is faid to come down from the one, and goup to the other. That Berb-/bemefh was in a val- well as té keep the place clean where it was put; and for this he was appointed by the priefts, or the elders of the city; and was fet apart for this fervice, and prepared for it by wafhings and facrifices; and the rather he and not his father was invefted with this office, becaufe-he was a young man, and his father might be old and decrepit; and this his fon alfo a holy good man, wife, and prudent, and aétive and zealous for God, and true religion; and on all accountsa fit perfon for this pott, 4

W. 2. dnd it came to pajs, that whilethe ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the timewas long, 8ec.

it could not be lefs than between 40 and 40 years, for it remained here until the times of David, who removed it from hence after he was made king over all. Jfael, and when he had reigned over Judah 7 years; and from the death of £4 to that time, which included the government of Samuel and

1 Saul, it could not be lefs than what ‘ias been hinted:

Kirjath-jearim was not a Levite city, and fo the! men.of it could not bear the ark themfelves, yet they might have proper perfons from BethLemeh to do this fervice: aud brought it into the boufe for it was twenty years; not that this was all the time the ark -was at Kirjath jearim, but it was fo long there before it was much taken notice of, and of fought unto, andthe Lord byit; there wasa great

Abinadab in the hill; which, hill was within the city of Kirjath-jearim, and is mentioned either to diftinguifh this Abimadad that dwelt on it from another of the fame name in the city, as Kzmchi obferves; or elfe to remark the propriety of the place, and the reafon of the choice of it for the ark to be placed in; hills and high-places being in thofe times accounted fitteft for facred fervices to be performed in, as well as places of fafety; who this man was is not certain, ‘Yofephus * fays he was.a Levite, butif fo he could only be a fojourner in this place; however he might be, as he fuggefts he was, a man of great efteem for religion and righteoutnefs: and fanétified Eleazar bis fon to keep the ark of the Lord; not only to watch it, that it might not be taken away, but to keep perfons from it, from touching it, or ufing it irreverently, and fuch as: were not allowed to come nigh it; as’ pocrify and diffimulation at leat in fome be oh., vA t 3 / é ae.

neglect of God, and his worfhip, which through the: means of Samuel began to revive about this time, as it follows: and all the houfe of Ifrael lamented after the Lord, became fenfible of their evil doings and repented of them, and fought the Lord with — fafting, and prayer, and tears; bewailed their backflidings and revoltings from him, and eried-aftera departing God. |

‘wv. 9. And Samuel fpake unto all the boufe of I~ wael, &cc.| When they affembled at one of their three yearly feafts, or as he went from place to place, exhorting themeto repentance and reforma- _ tion; and perceiving they began to be awakened to a fenfe of their fins, and feemed defirousof re- — turning to God, and reftoring his worfhip > fayingy — if ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts; truly and fincerely; for he might fear there was hy- then put away the firange gods, as all but the true God are; or.the gods of another people, as the Philiftines, Canaanites, 8c. Baalim feem chiefly intended; as appears from the following verfe: and Afptareth from among a 3 fhe-deities, fuch as with other ‘nations went by the name of ‘uno, Venus, &c. fo the Arabic verfion, ‘*< the idolsof the women ye fecretly worfhip.” Aquila renders it, the images of Aftarte; fo they call Venus, as Procopius Gazeus obferves, from Afer, a ftar; but the word fignifies flocks of fheep, and thefe deities are fuppofed by fome to be inthe form of them; but be they what they may, they were to be put away out of their houfes, and out of their hearts: and prepare your ‘hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; that is, direct your hearts to him while in his fervice; let it proceed from the heart, and let it be done to him only, and not to another with him; or to him in: and by another, as, may be pretended, and commonly is by idolaters: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philiftines; under whofe dominion they had been for many years; for though their power over them was weakened by Sam/on, yet they were not compleatly delivered by him 3 fo all the time of Ei they were not wholly free from them; and efpecially fince their laft defeat by them, when the ark was taken,

4£7 by this means was known ahd put té death; and theretoré it is faid ‘Samuel judged now at this place: but it fhould be obferved, this water was not dtank; but poured out; and that as a token of their humiliation, as Farchi, that they were before the Lord, as water poured out; and of the fincerity of their repentance, as the Targum, which is,.‘ they, poured out their heart inirepentance, as water;” and of the atonement, and expiation of: their fins; which paffed away as water to. be remembered no more, as Kimchi; or rather. fignitying ‘hereby. that they thoroughly renounced idolatry, that nothing of it fhould remain; as water entirely poured out,#there remains not fo much as any fmell of it in the cafk, as does of honey or oil, or fuch kind of liquor; for what a learned writer | fays, that this was in token of joy, like, that at the feaft of tabernacles, when they drew water out of the fountain of Sileah, feems not fo agreeable, fince this was a day of humiliation, fafting, and prayer, as follows: and fafted on that day, and faid there, we have finned againjt. the, Lord; Samuel prayed in public. for them, with whom, they joined; and they fafted in a literal fenfe, abftaining from food, and made. a confeffion of their fins; this was the work of that day: and Samuel judged th@ children of Iirael. in Mizpeb; not that he now began to they had been under oppreffion by them; now] judge them, but went on in a more public and vi-

Samuel promifes them deliverance from it, in cafe they relinquifhed their idols, and ferved the Lord folely and heartily. sah y. 4. Then the children of Ifrael did put away Baalim and Afbtaroth, &c.}* Both their he and thedeities, of which. fee Fudg. ii. 13. and iii.7. and ferved the Lord only, Dr. Lightfoot obfetves, that a fpirit of repentance and converfion came.generally upon all the people; a matter and’a time as remarkable ‘as almoft any we read of in feripture, one only parallel to it; and thatis in é/s il, and jii. at the great converfion there..:

y. 5. And Samuel faid, gather all Ifrael to Mizpeb, &e:] “Not Mizpeb in Gilead, on the other fide Jordan, but a city which lay on the borders: of Fudab and Benjamin, where the tribes met on the account of the Levite’s concubine, Fudg. xx. 1. This order Samuel gave by mefiengers fent to the feveral tribes, or the heads of them, to meet him at this place: and I will pray for you unto the Lord; no doubt he prayed for them privately, that the reformation begun might be carried on, and appear to be fincere, and hearty, and general, and univerfal; but he was defirous that they might appear ina body, and join with him in public prayer for their fpiritual and temporal welfare; that they might have true repentance for their fins, reform trom them, and have remiffion of them, and be delivered out of the hands of their enemies.

.¥. 6. And they gathered together to Mizpeb, &c.} Even all J/rael, at leaft the heads of the people, and reprefentatives of them: and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord; drew it from fome fountain near at hand, and poured it out asin the prefence of God; who was where his people were met together. ‘ferom* relates it as a tradition. of the Fews, that curfes were caft into this water, as in the water of jealoufy, and that idolaters were tried by it; and that whatever idolater, who denied he worfhipped idols, and tafted of it, his lips fo ftuck together, that they could not be feparated, and corous manner to judge them; he fat, and heard, and tried caufes that. came before him; explained the laws of God to them, and enforced the obedience of them; reformed abuses that were among: them, and punifhed idolaters,., ¥. 7. And when the Philiftines heard that the chil-' dren of Ifrael were gatheredtogether to Mizpeb, &c..

Not knowing it was upon a religious account; but fuppofing they met to concert fchemes and meafures to caft off their yoke, and deliver themfelves out of their hands; and were preparing to take up arms, and fall)upon them: the lords of the Philiftines went up againft. Ifrael; with forces out. of their feveral principalities; united to fight with them; judging it advifeable. to lofe no time, but attack them before they were well prepared and provided to defend; themfelves’: and when the children of Ifrael beard it, they were afraid of the Pbiliftines; becaufe they were unarmed, and not at all. prepared for war, and having no. expectation. of it. ¥. 8. And the children of Ifrael faid to. Samuel, &c.] To whom they applied, not as the general of their forces, but as the prophet of the Lord; believing his prayers for them would be of more avail to them than an army of men ever fonumerous, or fo well accoutred: ceafe not to cry unto the Lord our God for us; he had been praying for them that day, and they defired he would continue praying for them, well knowing that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails. much; they knew their falvation was of the Lord, and that he only could fave them, and that he mutt be fought unto for it; and as Samuel had an intereft in. him, they beg he would continue to make ufe of it on their behalf; in which they exprefled their truft in God, their regard to means, the duty of prayer, and the high efteem they had of the prophet of the Lord, whom they intreat to pray for them: that he will fave us out of the hands of the Philiftines;. who were now coming up againtt, them, them, did who had for a long time tyrannifed name in memory of the lamb Sammel now offered, » over them. ite a which was followed with fuch fuccefs.. Jefephas? _ #. og. And Samuel took @ fuckling lamb, te. \ Which it might be, and yet more than eight days old, for under that it might not be: facrificed, Exod. xxii. 30. and offered it for a-burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord; the whole of it was burnt, fkin and all, whefeas the fkin was the pricft’s other burnt-offerings 5 and. this is remarked ™, as one of the three things in which it differed from other offetings; the word being feminine, the Fews gather ftom hence, as Farchi notes, that females might be offered at a private altar:

muei had made an end of offering the facrifice, the Philiftines drew. near to battle againft Ifrael; and were come as far almoft as Mizpeb; where I were, and Samuel was facrificing: dat the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philiftines; which fulfilled. Hannab’s prophecy, ch. ii, 30, and this, as Fofephus* fays, was attended with lightening, which flafhed in their faces, and fhook their weapons out of their hands, fo that they fled difarmed; and: alfo with am earthquake, which caufed gaps in the earth, into which they fell: and difcomfted them, difturbed; affrighted them, and threw them into confufion and diforder, as well as deftroyed many of them: and they were fmitten before Ifrael, the meaning of which is not that they fled before them, and were killed by them; but that before J/rae? could come out againft them, and fight with them, they were fmitten and deftroyed,. many of them by the thunder and lightening, and by the earth opening upon them, and devouring, them 3 for this phrafe,. defare Ifrael, denotes time, as Abarbinel obferves, and calls this place Correa;-and in. =H Vp it is) Beth-/aron, which fignifies a fruitful field of cham= paign country. a y 42) And Samual took 4 fone, and fet ats &e.}, Not for worfhip, but as a monument of the Vig injtory obtained bythe help of God: and this he» placed between Mizpeb and Shen; which latter fig> nifies a tooth, and defigns the precipice,ef a rocis., which jets out,,and thangs over in the form of one: and called the nome of it Eben-exer; which, - and Samual fignifies the jlone of help; and is she fame placei ~ which by anticipation has this name, ch. iv. 4. fo that in the felf-fame place where the d/raelites were, twice beaten by the Philipines, and thé ark taken;. was this falvation wrought for them: /aying, bin? therto bath the Lord helped us; this; was but the’ beginning of their deliverance from the Phsiijlinesy: and which was.owing to the help of the Lord 3, barnt-jand as he had: begun: to» help them, they might hope and encourage: themfelves, that he would go on to help them wntili their deliverance »was compleated: -however,: they with: Samael thought it their duty, which was right, to acknowledge what the Lord had done for them, and perpetuate’ the: memory‘of it, though they could not be fure what; fa-jhe would do for them hereafter; yet as they were; and before Sa-Menfible of, and thankful for this inftance of his) goodnefs, they hoped for more, and had their de~) - pendence on him for future fuceefs againit their) rael penemies. a evhik., ee cried tito the Lord: for Iirael; not only offered a facrifice for them, but prayed for them: and the Lord beard bim;and anfwered him, either by caufing fire to come down. on the facrifice, by which ic was confumed, or by the voice of thunder, which ftighted and difcomfited the Philiflines; and the évent of things manifeftly fhewed it.

¥.10. And as Samuel was offering up the offering, &c.] Which he might do by a prieft, as Ben Gerfom faggefts, he being only a Levite; tho’ he being a prophet, and an extraordinary perfon, and this an extraordinary cafe, he might do it himfelf, ax Gideon and others, as well as offer itin another place than where the tabernacle was; Shi/oh being now deftroyed, perfons and’ places for crifice were now difpenfed: with:

¥.13. So the Philiftines were fubdued,&e.} Not that their country was conquered,;/or they made fubjet.and become tributaries to Jrae/; but they. were fo humbled, as not to attempt to give the: people of-J/rael any further trouble and diftrefs,: who were now delivered from their oppreffion and» tyranny: aud.came no more into the coaft af Jfrael ys at this time they did not gather together their forces: difperfed, nor raife and «bring. 2 new atmy into the land of Jraels. they contented) ‘themfelves: with placinge garrifons omthe coaft, but did not attempt to enter and invade them any more; that is, for a long time,, even until Samael was grown old, and the people would have a king, and had one, which offended the Lord,. and: then he fuffered them: to* be diftreffed by them again; but whilft Samuel was: alone governor they came no more, tho’ they did: quickly after Saad was made king, as it follows: the band of the Lord «vas againfg the Philiftines alb not place.: the days of Samuel, not all the days of his life, bur yy. 11. And the men of Tfeael went ont of Mizpeb, &c.] To which they were encouraged by hearing or perceiving that the army of the Philiftines was difcomfited by the thunder, and lightening, and earthquake: and purfued the Philiftines; who, when they came out, were fleeing from the opening earth, and affrighted with thunder and lightening, and many were killed, and all put in diforder; fo that they ftayed not to engage in battle with J/rael, and who had nothing to’ do but to purfue their enemy: and finote them; with what weapons of war they could get at Mizpeb, and with what fome might have with them for private ufe, and in common wear; but more efpe+ cially with the weapons of the Phili@ines, which! they in their confufion and fright had thrown antil they ¢ame tnder Beth-car;

oar fignifies a lamb; here might be formerly a remple dedicated to the lamb, unlefs it had its all the days of his fole government, which reftrain= ed them from making incurfions into the land of J/rael,; and indeed in after-times, when they did come forth to make war with them, the battle was: again{t them during the times of Samuel. — -

¥.14. And she cities which the Pbhiliftines had taken from Ijrael were refored to Urael, 8c.) We no where read that the J/raelites went out to war with them, and took thefe cities from them by be~ fieging and affaulting them; but they made a de~ mand of them. after the above victory obtained, by which the Philifimes were fo intimidated, thar they quietly furrendered them to them: from Ekrom evex unto Gath, and thercdups thereof, did Lfrael de~ Aver out of the hands of the Philiftines 5 not by away; ‘dint of fword,. but by demand, to which they fub« a place fo called,‘ mitted; and tho” Ekroa,. if not: Gath, fell to the tribe of Fudah by lot, yet were never in their poffeffion; and fo are to be underftood exclufively here, that not they, but the cities and towns that lay between them and the coafts thereof, which the ftroyed; nor Kirjath-jearim,

Philiftines had feized upon, thefe they were obliged to deliver up again to Dracl; and if Ekron and Gath were delivered, they were not long held by them, for we foon read of them as in the hands of others: and there was peace between Ifracl and the Amorites,; who were a principal nation of the Canaanites, and are put for the whole of them that remained; and fo Yofepbus? calls them the remnant of the Canaanites, thefe finding the Philijtines were fubdued, were quiet and peaceable, and gave Tfrael no more trouble.

i Aig meant Shiloh, as Abarbinel, for that was now dewhere the ark was, for it would have been called by its name}; but the fame Bethel that was near to 4”, and not far from Shiiob, and was inthe tribe of Benjamin, as all thofe places were. Gilgal was where the tabernacle, atk and camp of //rae/ were fi: {t pitched, when |they came over Yordan, and Mixpeb, where the people ufed to be affembled on occation, fee ¥. 5, 6. and judged Ifrael in cll thofe places; who came from all parts hither with their caufes, and for advice and counfel in all cafes, at the returning periods. ¥.17. And bis return was to Ramah, &c.\ When y. 15. And Samuel judged Ifrael ‘all the days of he had gone his circuit, he came back to this city, bis life.] Not only before Saul was made king, but afterwards; for though he had not the exercife of the fupreme government of the nation, yet he might act as a judge under Sau/, and hear and try caufes brought before him, and execute juftice and judgment; and as a prophet he taught and inftruéted the people, and reformed abufes among them; and befides, he held and exercifed his extraordinary office, to which he was raifed up of himéelf, and to kill Agag. “The Fews fay 4, he judged J/rae] 13 years only, 11 by himfelf, and two with Saul; but his government muit be much which was his native place, and where his father and mother had dwelt, fee ch. i. for there was his houfe; and his father’s houfe before him, and perhaps the fame, cH. i. 192 and there be judged Ijrael, here was his fixed refidence, and here he was always to be met with, except when on his circuit; and hither the people of J/raed might repair from all parts, to have juftice done them between man and man, or receive information in matters of

God, and ever took upon him to reprove Sau/ difficulty and importance: and there he built an altar unto the Lord; to offer his own facrifices, and the facrifices of the people, either by himielf, or by a prieft, when the people came toy have juf- larger, his with Sau? is reckoned 40 years, Aés tice adminiftred to them; or to defire him to pray y. 16. And be went from year to year in circuit, &c.] Asjudges do; or from the year in the year", from the time of the year in the year, «as the Zar- for them, teach and inftruct them, or to give them advice. Shilob being deftroyed, and no place appointed for the tabernacle and altar, the Jews fay, high places for’a private altar were las ful, and gum, from ‘the middle of it, that is, every halffeven for one that was not a prieft to offer; thefe year; and fo’ Fofepbis fays *, that he went twice a year in circtlit: and the places he went to, and where he held his courts of judicature, were Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeb; by Bethel is not

CHA ps ‘chapter rélates, how that Samael being old, and his fons behaving ill, the people defiréd to have a king fet over them, y¥. 1—5. which cafe Samuel laid before the Lord, and he things, though fettled by law, yet were for a time difpenfed with, until things could be fixed in their proper place and order...

and; as it feems by what follows, at Beerfbeba; though whether thac was under his direétion, or was their own choice, is not certain.

¥.2. Now the name of his firft born was Feel, was directed by him to yield to the peoples defire,!&c. but at the fame time to fet before them all the difadvantages and ill confequences that would arife thence, which he did, ¥. 6—18. burt they infitting upon it, neverthelefs, he gave them reafon to expect that their requeft would be granted, y. In « Chron. vi. 28. he is called Vafbni; fee the note there. This was not Feel the prophet, as from fome have thought, neither his parentage, nor his office, nor his times will agree with this: and the name of his fecond, Abiah, which two fons feem to be all he had: they were judges in Beerfheba; in

Ig—22. | the utmoft border of the land, to the fouth, as Ramab, where Samuel dwelt and judged, was more

¥. 1. And it came to pafs when Samuel was old, &c.}] The common notion of the Fews is, he lived but 52 years*; when a man is not ufually jof J called an old man, unlefs the infirmities of old came upon him fooner than they commonly do, thro’ his indefatigable labours from his and the cares and burdens of government, he Jong bore; though fome think he was about 60 years of age; and Abarbinel is of opinion, he was more than 70. It is a rule with the Fews", to the north; where they were placed by their that!father, for the greater convenience of the people rae/ that lived fouthward, to bring their caules age;to them, as thofe lived more northward might bring them to him: according to Fo/ephus*, they childhood,'were placed by their father, the one in Bethel, one hadjof the places Samuel ufed to go to in his circuit and judge, and the other at Beer/fheba. But fome, thatjas Yxmius, and others, think, it fhould be rendered, unto Beerfbeba', and fo takes in its oppofite Dan, that a man is called an old man at 60, and a greyheaded man at 70: that be made bis fons judges over

Yrael; wnder himfelf, not being able through old age to go the circuits he ufed; hefent them, and appointed them to hear and try caufes in his room, or fettled them in fome particular places in the land, which lay at the utmoft border of the land northward, hence the phrafe, from Dan to Beerfheba; and that the one was fettled at Dan for the fake of the northern part of the land, and the other at Beerfoeba for the fake of the fouthern: or rather thefe fons of Samuel placed themfelves at Beer heba u which was an ilfl-judged thing, to be both in one place, and which mutt give the people of /rael’a great deal of trouble, and put them to a large expence to come from all quarters thither, to have theif catifes tried; but that is not the worft,

¥: 3. And bis fons walked not in bis ways, &c.] The meaning of which is not, that they did not foi what follows: when they [éid, give us a hi to judge us what difpleaied him. was, that iho were for changing their form of gove pert not only to remove it from him, and_his fons, but. from the Lord himfelf,. who was king over them 5 the ill confequences of which, many of them at.

leaft, he-eafily forefaw, and which gave him great go the circuit he did, which is too low a fenf of uneafinels, both on account of the glory of Go, and the words fome Fewi/h writers give; but they did not walk in the fear of God, in the paths of religion and righteoufnefs, truth and holinefs; they neither ferved God, nor did juftice to men, as Sa- could neither eat nor fleep, but watched all night, - and fpent it in. prayer, as follows: and Samuel prayed unto the Lord to Know his mind and will, muel had done: but turned afide after lucre, and and what an{wer she fhould return unto them.. 4 * took bribes, and perverted judgment indulged to covetoufnefs, fought to get riches at any rate, took bribes, which blind the eyes of judges; and {fo pafled wrong judgment, and gave the caule to thofe that gave the largeft gifts, right or wrong.

y.7. And the Lord faid unto Samuel, &c] He appeared to him in a vifion or dream, and by an” articulate voice delivered to him what follows: hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they

Jay unto thee, not as approving of what they laid,

¥. 4. Then all the elders of lrael gathered themfelves together, cc, | At fome place of rendezvous appointed; thefe were the heads of the tribes, and fathers of the houfes and families of //rae principal perfons of age and authority: and came to Samuel unto Ramah, the place of his nativity but permitting and allowing what they afked, as a punifhment of them for their difloyalty and ingratitude, and as refenting their ill behaviour to him; for, the | it was in anger he affented to their requeft, Hof. xiii. 11. for they have not reetied thees b reecied sme that I fhould not reign over them; mo and abode, and where he now dwelt, and judged Ifrael, they went in a very refpectable body with an interpreters fupply the word only, as if the fenfe was, that they had not only rejected Samuel from - judging them, but the Lord alfo from reigning

¥. 5. And faid unto him, bebold, thou art old, &c.] See ¥. 1. his age was no reproach to him, nor was it becoming them to upbraid him with it; nor was it a reafon why he fhould be removed from his office, for it did not difqualify him for it; but over thems and which is fpoken to comfort Sa-. muel, and to alleviate the preffure on-his mind for the ill treatment he had met with; for fince they, had ferved the Lord after this manner, it was no wonder. he fhould be ill ufed, and might rather having gained by age experience, was more fit for it, though he might not be able to ride his circuits as formerly: and thy fons walk not in thy ways; whom he had made judges; this is a betcer reafon than the former for what is after requefted; and had they only befought him to. remove them from their places, and refted content with that, with greater patience: but I fee no reafon why the words may not be taken abfolutely, that they had not rejected Samuel from all thare in the government, at leaft from judging the people; for fehe continued all the days of his life, even after they — had a king over them; but they entirely rejected it)the fole and peculiar government of God over would have been well enough; bur what they} them.

were folicitous for, and always had an inclination

¥. 8. According to all the works which they have

to, and now thought a proper opportunity offered of obtaining it, was what follows: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations; done fince the day that J brought them out of Egypt, &c.] ‘This was no new thing; all that they had to rule) done fince they were wonderfully favoured of God, over them as fole monarch; to go before them in battle as their general, as well as to adminifter juftice to them, by hearing and trying caufes as their judge; which only they mention to cover their views, and make their motion more acceptable to Samuel; what they were defirous of, was to have a king appearing in pomp and {plendor,. wearing a crown of gold, clothed in royal apparel, with a fcepter in his hand, dwelling in a ftately palace, keeping a fplendid court, and attended with a grand as to be brought out of Egyptian bondage was all of a piece with this; one continued feries of ingra~ titude, of rebellion againft God, and againft his: fervants, that he employed under him, as Mofes, Aaron, &c. even unto this day, wherewith they have.

Sorfaken me, and ferved other gods; this is what this people were always addicted to, to caft off the worfhip and fervice of God, and go into idolatry: fo do they alfo unto thee; acted the like ungrateful part to him for all the fervice he had done retinue, as the reft of the nations about them had had for a long time. The firft kings we read of were in the times of dbrabam, but atter it became them, from his childhood to that time; wherefore, as the difciple is not above his mafter, nor the fervant above his lord, if fuch things as before ob- common for nations to have kings over them, and particularly the neighbours of J/rae/, as Edom, Moab, Ammon, &c. and Cicero fays*, all the ancient nations had their kings, to whom they were obedient: J/rae! had God for their king in a peculiar manner other nations had not, and ftood in no need of any other; and happy it would have been for them, if they had been content therewith, and not fought after another: however, they were fo modeft, and paid fuch deference to Samuel, as to defire him to make or appoint one for them.

y. 6. But the thing difpleafed Sanmel, &c.\ Not that they called him an old man, and fuggefted ferved were done to Febovah himfelf, Samuel could not expect to meet with better treatment, or other than he had, fee Matt. x. 24, 25. ¥. 9. Now therefore hearken unto their voice, &c.} And appoint them a king as they defire: howbeit, yet proteft folemnly unto them, not againft the thi itfelf, which was permitted, but againit the evil of their reque(t, as, to the unfeafonable time, ill manner, and unjuftifiable reafon, in and for which it was made; the Lord would have Samuel lay before them their evil in requefting it, and the evils that would follow upon it to them, and faithfully reprefent them to them, that they might be left withthat he was incapacitated for his office, nor for obferving the unbecoming walk of his fons, but out excufe, and have none to blame but themfelves when they fhould come upon them: and fhew;