“ Chxivek getr Io Sf
cefs to: the camp of the Philifines, which Fona- Very than therefore propofed to go over,to and deftroy, but his difficulties were very great:. there was @ Soarp rock on the one fide, and a foarp rock on the other fide; not that there was on each fide of the pailage or paflages to the right and left a cragged » between which men next verfe fhews the contrary; tooth of a rock’, as itis in the original text; or a promontory or prominence on the one fide towards Michinafh, which ftood out like a tooth; and another promontory or prominence on that towards Gibeak 5 fo that both muft be gone over to get to the camp, the only paffage being guarded. by the gartifon; and indeed it feems to me there was. but ‘one rock, and two precipices at the oppofite parts of it, and which ftood between the paffages, which precipices muft be climbed over: and the name of the one was Bozex, and the name of the other Seneb 5 which, according to the Targum, the one fignifies lubrication, being fmooth and flippery, and. the other treading, being more trodden and beaten; but Hiterus = derives both ftom clay, which feems not fo agreeable to a rock; ‘though in another place * he makes the former to have its name from whitenefs, which is the~colour of fome rocks and clifts 5 and one fhould think the latter rather has its name from bufhes, brambles, and thorns, that might grow upon it. p.
WV. 5. The. fore-front of the one was fituate nortbward, over-againft Michmafp, &c.| The northern precipice of this rock was towards Michma/b, wherethe Phzlitines lay encamped, and where was the paffage of Adichma/h the garrifon went into and pofiefied: and the other fouthward over again t Gi-
Seah the fouthern precipice faced Gibeab, and both precipices were to be got over before he could get to. the garrifon, thefe lying between the two pafflages; the one at one end called the paffage of Michmajo, the other at the other, which might be called the paffage of Gibeabh,
¥. 6. And Fonathan faid to the young man. that bare his armour, &c.| A fecond time, as dbarbinel thinks; the young man. giving no anfwer to him the firft time, perhaps through fear, he repeats it, and enlarges upon it for his, encouragement: come and let us go over unto the garrifon of the e UMCLY CHIN | cifed; as thefe Pbiliftines. were, whereas feveral of.
the other nations, though heathen, were circum- this onathan obferves to the young man, in hope that they being fuch the Lord would deliver them into theirhand: it may be that the Lord will work for us, afign, as the Targum, a miracle, as indeed he did; and of which Fonathan was, perfuaded in his own mind, though he did not chufe to exprefs himfelf in a confident way; not knowing in what manner, and whether at this time the Lord would appear, and work falvation and deliverance; and yet had a ftrong impulfe upon his. mind it would be wrought, and therefore was encouraged to try this expedient: for there is xo reftraint to the Lerd, to fave by many or by few; he is not limited to numbers, and can eafily work falvation by a few as by many. It is no difficult thing to him to fave by few, nor can any thing hinder him, let the difficulties be what they will, when he has aeests to deliver his people. ¥. 7. Aad bis armour-bearer faid unto im, paffed as they went from place to place; for the pofition of them inthe but there. was she felves in this expedition, fue, whether they, fhould. fucceed or no: fhould
Jtand fill in our place 5 could, fhewing as little
8cc.] |éeah, and prefented dily sand chearfully::, do al! that is in rbine heart hua ans taraple dace, that thou haft a mind to.do, that is upon. thy. heart, and thou art defirons of, and ftrongly inclined and affected to: turn. thee 5 which way thou. wilt, towards the garrifon of the Philifines, or elfewhere: bebold, J am with thee, according to thy heart; I'll go. with theé wherever thou goeft, and do, whatfocver.thou would{t have me to do 4 am at thy command, and. according to thy with and defire, and in all things.fubjeét to thy will; I am as thine own faid Fonatban, bebold We will pafs men, &c.] Over the. precipices to them, as. fteep and as cragged as they are, and we will difcover ourfelves to.them prefent, themfelves to them at day-light, andJet them know plainly who they. were, that they were, Hebrews..
¥.9- Lf they fay thus unto us, &c.] By this and what follows, he gives his mana fign by which both might know how they fhould conduct themand what would be the if- they fay, tarry until we come to you.; this, as it would exprefs bolcnefs, in. the men of the garrifon, and fhew that they were ready to. come out and fight, would portend evil, and then what they had to do _was.to. be.upon the defenfive: then we will wait till they came to them, and make the beft. defence of themfelves as they fearas, poffible, and not attempting to retreat and flee: and will not LOUD ungo backwards nor forwards 5: not backward, which would.fhew fear; nor forward, to expofe themfelves to; too.much danger from the garrifon, they appearing ‘to, be bold and intre- pid. ¥.10. But if they fay unto us, come up unto us,
&c.] Which however {poken in contempt of them, yet, would difcover fome fear, that they did not care tocome out of their hold to them, and expofe themfelves to any danger; and _befides being bid tocome up, though it might be in a {neering ironical. way, as fuppofing it impracticable for them;
yet this would lead them on to make the attempt;
and wwhilft. the men were carelefs and decure, they might obtain their point: then we will go up; the ice, which was fuppofed unpaffable: Ser the Lord hath delivered them into our hands; they being afraid to come out, and fcornful and felf-confident in their garrifon: and this fhall be @ fig unto us;
a direction how to behave, what fteps to take, and a confirming fign affuring of fuccefs, Bp. Patrick and others obferve, from Herodotus °, fomething fimilar to this, of the Peonians, who went to war with the, Perinthians, direéted by\the oracle; and. were ordered. that if the Perinthians provoked jthem to fight, calling them by name, then the fhould invade them 5 but if nor, and fo they did, and. overcame; for when they met, there were. three fingle combats; in the two Girt the Perixibians were conquerors, and began to triumph.and infult; apon which the Peonians {aid to one another, now is the oracle fulfilled, now is our bufinefs, and {fo fell upon them, and left few of them.;
¥. 11, And both of them difeovered themfelves unto the garrifon. of the Philiftines, &c.] They.pafied over the valley that. lay between AMdichmafb and Githemfelyes,at the bottom of = the
‘ Ath ads Jo gees At Se is ufed for a furrow, P/. cxxix. 3. andis — 4 ’
the hill or rock on which the garrifon was, to the'the word open view of it; and who might eafily difcern who they were, that they were Hebrews, as they did, as follows: and the Philiftines faid, behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themjelves, being in want of provifions, ftarved, and fo obliged to come out to feek {tenance; fee y. 6. x12. And the men of the garrifon anfwered Fonathan and bis armour-bearer, &c.J) The guards that were fet to watch the garrifon, who deferying them, called to them, and faid: come up to 4s, and we will flew you a thing; we have fomething to fay to you, a pretty thing to fhew you, when you fhall pay dear for your boldnets and impudence, in daring to come fo near; not imagining that they could come, or would dare to attempt to come any farther: and ‘fonathan faid unto his armour-bearer, come up after me, follow me, and never fear, but we will find a way co come up to them, however difficult it may be: for the Lord hath delivered them into the band of Irael; he knew by their language that God had given them a fpirit ‘of fear, that they aurft not Gome out of their hold, and come down to them; and thathe had caft them into a {pirit of fe/d, &c. J fecurity and vain confidence, that they could never come at them, and give them any trouble; and from hence he concluded deliverance was at hand for the people of Jrae/, he fecking not his own private intereft and glory, but the public good; and which he was ready to afcribe not to his own valour and courage, but to the power, kindnefs, and goodnefs of God.
y.13. And Fonathan climbed up upon his bands and upon his feet, &c.) He didnot attempt to go up the way or pals the Pbrli/tines kept,‘ but turned afide and climbed up a precipice thought inaccef fible, and came upon them unfeen, and at an unawares; for had he attempted to come up in any part where he was feen, they could eafily have beat him down, and prevented his afcent; but tho’ the place he climbed was fo very fteep and cragged, yet going on all four, as we fay, he furmounted the difficulty; for he took this method of going on Kis hands and feet, not fo much that he might not be féen; but becaufe otherwife he could net have got up, not being able to ftand on his feet; fome think it was the precipice called Bozez he climbed, which according to the Targum had its name from its being lubricous and flippery: and bis armour-bearer after bim who clambered up inthe fame manner in imitation of his mafter, and as taught and direéted by him: and they fell before Fonathan, and his armour-bearer flew after him; Fonathan coming upon them at an unawares, knocked them down; or falling upon them, and laying about him with great difpatch, wounded them, and laid them proftrate to the ground; and his armour-bearer following him, put them to death, difpatched them at once; and fo between them both made quick riddance of them. / y. 14. And the firft flaughter which Jonathan and bis armour-bearer made was about twenty men, &c.) Or the firft blow they ftruck, as the Targum, they killed about twenty men; that is, they did not leave off fmiting, but followed their blows fo quick, that in a very little time, as well as in a very fmall {pace of ground, fo many were killed: even within as it were an balf acre of land, whicha ycke of oxen might plough’; that is, in one day;
and almoft|oppofition to Por/ena, by fome? to be the length of one furjt muft be a circular furrow; fo much’ ground was given to Horatius Cocles as could be ploughed round about in one day, for his brave king of the Etra/cans, when arrow; but if fo, he endeavoured to reftore the family of iH quins?, ‘Lhis was a fpace of ground which ee Romans call aus, a meafure of land “120° feeg fquare, which being doubled made an acre, called by them Yagerum, being as much asa yoke of oxen could plough in one day, as Pliny fays‘; fo that an acre was 240 feet long, and:-o broad, and contained an areaof 28800 fourfquare Roman feet; and this fpace here mentioned, which was half an acre, contained 14400 Roman feet *; and within this fpace of ground, without going any farther,
20 men were killed, which ftruck a panic into the whole garrifon and holt, fuppofing there was a large army of men behind them coming on, as follows. The Septuagint verfion renders thefe words as reprefenting the flaughter made with darts, and the cafts of ftones, and flnts of the field‘.
yx. 15. and there was trembling in the hoft in. the ‘Belonging to Michma/h, where the army lay incamped: and among all the people, the inhabitants of Michmafb, or that attended the army, and furnifhed them with provifions, trafficking with them; the:common people, as diftinguifhed from the foldiers: the garrifon; thofe that were in it, who did not fally out, but perceivinga great flaughter made of their out-fcouts, were feized with a panic: and the jpoilers they alfo trembled; who had been about the country, ravaging and plundering it, and were returned with their booty; fee ch. xiii. 17. and the earth quaked; the inhabitants of it thereabout, or the earth itfelf literally; areal earthquake was caufed at the fame time, which increafed the terror: fo that it was a very great trembling; both with refpect to the numbers that were affected with it throughout the camp and garrifon, and the caufes of it; the terrible apprehenfion they had of a large army juft ready to rufh upon them; the earth quaking and opening in various places, threatening to fwallow them up; and perhaps fuipicions of treachery among themfelves, they confifting of various nations, and fome among them Hebrews; hence they fell upon and flew one another, ¥. 20, 21. or a trembling of God *; either in the fame fenfe to which we tranflate it, as cedars of God, flame of God, &c. that is, laree and great ones; or which came from God; it was he that fent this trembling among them, ftruck their minds with fear and dread, -fo that they were in the utmoft confternation, and knew not what to do, nor. which way to take, and had-no heart to oppofe the enemy, and defend themfelves, y.16. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, &c.} The city of Gibeab was built on anhill, from whence it had its name; and thefe watchmen. or centinels of Saw/, were fet by him no doubt in the higheft part of it, whereby ~ they could overlook the army of the Pbili/lines as they lay encamped, and could obferve their motions, and give notice accordingly; and it being now broad day-light, could fee the condition they were in: and behold the multitude melted |: like fhow gradually, and yet apace; they difcern their numbers leflening more and through the flaughter of many made among th
_ by one another, and the flight of others: and they went on beating dows one another; they could per. ceive they fled with great precipitation, throwing one another down in running, tumbling over one another, and trampling on’each other which were in their way.
¥..17. Then faid Saul unto the people that were with him, &c.] To fome of the officers, particularly the mufter-mafter: number now and fee who is gone from us, for he concluded that this agitation and confufion in the hoft of the Péilifines, were occafioned by an enterprize of fome of his men, who by fome ftratagem or another had thrown them into this diforder: and when they had numbered; which was foon done, being but 600 men in all: bebold, ¥onathan and bis armour-bearer were
_not there; from whence it might be inferred, that this commotion the Pdiliftines were in was occafioned by an onfet of theirs on the out-guards or centinels of their garrifon or army, which had alarmed them,
¥.18. And Saul faid unto Abiah, bring hither the ark of ibe Lord, &c.| That he, the high-prieft, might put on the Ephod, with the Urim and Thummim, and enquire by them of the Lord before it, concerning the affair of Fonathan, what he had done, and the agitation that was in the hoft of the Psilfines, fo the Septuagint verfion, bring the. Ephod, of which, with the Urim.and Thummim, Kimchi. inter-
_prets it; and afk, whether it was right for him to go out unte them, or continue where he was: for the ark of God was at that time with the children of Jirael, and fo it always was, except a few months jt was in the hands of the Philifines; fo it was at Kirjath-jearim, where it was laft. Farebi thinks a
«word is wanting, and to be fupplied thus, “ the ark of God was ¢here at that time with the children of J/rael,” at Gibeab; perhaps it might be removed firft to Gilgal, when Saul and Samuel were there, and when they came to Gideab, it was brought along with them, but the laft words may be’ con-
‘fidered as a diftinct claufe, and literally rendered are, and the children of Ifrael; which Abarbinel accounts for thus, and Saul faid this, bring hither the ark of the Lord; and the children of J/rael faid fo likewife, joined with him in it: though the ark had been with Sau/, and the people, fome time, and alfo the high-prieft, yet we don’e find that Sau? in all his ftraits and difficulties confulted the Lord be-
_ fore; but perceiving fomething extraordinary was doing, and might turn to his advantage, he begins to enquire.
| ¥. 19. And it came to pafs while Saul talked with ihe prieft, &ec.} With Abiab about bringing the ark, and enquiring before it: that the noife that was in the hoft of the Philiftines went on, and in-
‘ creafed, the fhrieks and cries of thofe that were
‘ beat down and trampled upon, and were bruifed and wounded; and indeed the cry of the whole hoft, being alarmed with the enemy being upon them, or among them; and it feems that. not only their motions could be feen, but the noife of them heard at this diftance: and Saul faid unto the prief, draw thine band; from putting on the Ephod, or opening the breaft-plate of Urim and T+ummim, or placing the ark ina proper pofition, to enquire before it, or from lifting up both hands in prayer for dire€tion. Saud by the noife he heard concludiffued in the utter rout and deftruétion of them 3 this only could be of the Lord, to whom it is juftly with- afcribed, and was the effe&t of his fovereign goodwill and pleafure, and of his unmerited goodnefs; a free favour beftowed on an undeferving prince, who had behaved ill to his prophet at Gi/ga/, and now to him and his high-prieft at Giseah: ond the ~ battle paffed over unto Beth-avens the men of battle
“a: or inf * Vojikra Rabba & Midrath Tillim apud Abarbinel in loc, ed the army of the Pdilifines was routed, and therefore there was no need to confult the 1 ord, and he had no leifure for it; no time was to be loft, the advantage was to be taken direétly, and the enemy purfued to complete the victory. The Yews look upon this as a piece of prophanenefs in Savi, as no doubt it was, and reckon it one of the fins for which his kingdom was not. prolonged »..
¥.20. And Saul, and all the people that were with him, afjemiled themfelves, &c.] ‘The 600 men that were with him, unlefs we can fuppofe the coo that had been with Fonatban in Gibeab were here ftill, fee ch. xiii. 2. aad they came to the battle; to the field of battle, the place where the army of the Pbiliftines had lain encamped: and Lebold, every man’s foord was againft bis fellow; taking one another torHebrews, or treacherous and difaffected perfons; fo that, though the J/raelites had neither {words nor f{pears, they needed’ none, for the Philiftines deftroyed one another with their own fwords: and there was a very great difcomfiture noife, tumult, confufion, flaughter and deftruction.
¥. 21. Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philiftines before that time, 8cc.] Who either were their fervants and bondfmen they brought along with them, or fuch in whofe cities they dwelt, or had taken’as they came along, and forced into their army; or it may be fome of them were renegado’s from the J/raelites, deferters, who for fafety and fubfiltence betook themfelves to them as the tronger party. - The Greek verfion reads, “* the fervants that were with the Philiftines:” which went up with them into the camp, from the country round about; either willingly or by force; the words, from the cowniyy, are not. in the text; wherefore fome obferve, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, that this refpects their being round’ about the camp, and that they were not within it, but without it, that if poffible they might efeape fighting againft the Draelites:: even they alfo turned to be with the Ifraelites that were with Saul and Fonathan; who were now joined 5 when they faw the dread and confufion in the camp of the Philifiines, and them deftroying one another, and the J/raelites prevailing over them, victorious and purfuing, they took part with them, and affifted them in compleating the victory.
¥.22. Likewife all the men of Ifrael which bad hid themfelves in mount Ephraim, 8&c.] In the caves and rocks, thickets and pits there, fee ch. xiii. 6. when they heard that the Philiftines fled, now being delivered from their fears, and thinking themfelves fafe, venturéd out of their lurking places: even they alfo followed hard after them in the battle; they joined the purfuers who came their way, and ftuck to them, and clofely purfued the flying army of the Philiftines. According to Fofephus >, the army of Saal was now increafed to 10,000..
¥. 23. So the Lord faved Ifrael that day, &e.J And a wonderful falvation it was, that two men fhould throw fuch a vaft army into confufion, which
45° or war; thofe that made war, as the Targum, thele ~purfued and went as far as Beth-aven, or rather pajljed Beth-aven%; they not only went as far as that, but from it, as Ben Gerjom and abarbinel interpret it 5 they pafied that place, and went on from thence. in purfuit of the Philiftines, for their camp at Michmajo was-eaftward from this place, and had it on the eat, ch. xiii. 5. nth 24. And the men of Iirael were diftreffed that ‘day, &c.] By reafon of the following order Saui _gave with an oath, forbidding, any to tafte meat till evening, when the people were faint and weary, which is the common fenfe of interpreters; but Yarchi interprets it, the men of J/rae/ vere ready, forward, and hafty, and drew nigh to fight with the Philiftines, and Yo refers it to the perfons before mentioned, who came out of their lurking places; ‘and this fenfe is approved of by Adarbinel: for,or, and Seul had adjured, or did adjure the people, or willed them, fignified to them his will and pleafure, which would not have been fo much.amifs, had he not annexed a curfe to it, as follows: /aying, curfed be the man that eateth any food until the evening; or bread, which comprehends all food, and among _the reft honey; the defign of which was, that no time might be loft, and that he might make the victory over the Fhiliftines, and their deftruétion, as compleat as poffible; though it may feem a little too hard, and fevere upon the people, and too imperious in him, as well as imprudent; fince a little _refrefhment would have animated and enabled them ‘to have purfued their enemies with more ardour and vigour;.and yet by the lot afterwards made, it feems to have been countenanced by the Lord: that I may be avenged on mine enemies; who long _tyrannized over the people of J/rae/, more or lefs for many years, and lately had fadly fpoiled and plundered them: fo none of the people ta) ed any food; fo obfervant were they of, and fo obedient.to the order of their king, and fo much awed by ‘the oath or imprecation annexed to it; though they were faint and hungry, and had an opportunity of refrefhing themfelves as follows, which was no fmall)
temptation to. difobedience.
-¥.25. And all they of the land came to a wood, &c.] Which lay between Beth-aven and Aijalon, by whom are meant.not all the inhabitants of the Jand of J/rae!, but all that came with Saul and ‘fonathan, and that joined them inthe purfuit: end there was honey upon the ground; which dropped upon it, as in the following verfe, or where it was* produced by bees; for Arijfotle * reports, that. bees in fome places make their combs uponthe’' ground; this was wild honey, which Diodorus Siculus* {peaks of as common in Arabia, and which perhaps Joba the Baptift eat of, Matt. iii. 4.. Farchi fays, this was the honey of canes, or fugar-canes, which grew in-the land of J/rael; and affirms from Nathan an I/bmaefite, that in the J/maelitifh or Arabic language, they call honey fugar;. but neither of thefe can be ‘proved.
y.26. And when the people came into the wood, behold the honey dropped, &c.| kither from trees, which produced it; fo Diodorus Siculus ‘ {peaks of trees in fome countries which produce honey; or from the fugar.canes, as Farchi; or rather from the honey-combs which were framed in trees by bees; fo Hefiod" {peaks of bees making their nefts diftreffled them, and made them foever his father was to be blamed, it ¢
UE L..Choxiv. % ayo or combs in trees. Ben Gerfom thinks, tl hives were placed here jin rows by from whence the honey flowed; or z was a going of it; perhaps the comrbs being by the Phikftines as they fled: the’ land was a land flowing with milk and hi man put bis hand fo his mouth; that is, any of the honey and’eat it, though it w. at hand, and there was plenty of it? for feared the oath, Saul adjared them by, Or the G ‘precation he made on the perfon that fhoulc any food that day.” bs)
y.27. But Yonathan beard not when his fathi charged the people with the oath, &c.] Which charg was given, either before he came from Gibeab fore he came to Fenathan, or whilft purfuing purfuing: wherefore he put forth the end of the rad that was in his band; the ftaff with which he walk- hand, and fought his enemies with: and dipt it in wood-honey, as the margin of our b bur beft, in the honey-comb, as the word is rendered
Cant. v. 1. and fo the Targum, into the nett of honey *: and be put his band to bis mouth 5 he took the honey off of the top of his rod, and then it to his mouth and eat it: and Lis eyes were enlig ened; which before were dim and dull thro? want of food, which is a’common cafe; but became brifk and lively on eating the honey, ‘nourifhmient being prefently communicated, and he refrefhed with it, and his fpirits revived; ‘and which quickly appeared in the brifknefs and fparkling of his e aw a being of a fubtle nature, gives immediate reirefhment and vigour; hence this phrafe is frequently ufed by Jewifo writers ” for refrefhment, after nger, fatigue and wearinefs; and which’ virtue is aicribed by them to-fine bread, wine, oil, atid 4 y to honey, aida) re — ¥.28. Then anfwered one of the, and faid &c.] 1 To Fonathan,«who moh ied tds. rage the people to'do as he had ‘done, ‘at léaft fo he did by: his example, if not by words; the latter is not improbable: and therefore one Of the ‘men that came‘along with Saul, and had how joined Yonathan, and'who heard what Saul head faid, replied, thy father ftraitly charged the pe wilh an oath; gave them’a {trict chargé with an oath, or imprecation annexed to it: faying, curfed'be the man. that eateth any food this day; that is, until the evening, as in ¥. 24. and the peoplewere j citt 5 book 3 or it may be*the words of the man, it puting ‘the faintnefs of the people to 3
Oe ate tion of Saul reitraining them from dod; “ot taking: notice how ftrictly the people: though they were hungry, faint ites,
¥.29. Lhen faid Fonathan, my fatber ‘troubled the land, &c.] The people’ of the land, the Zargum, the foldiers in his army; a Hictec minds, like tréubled ‘waters; the A is, “my father hath finned againft™ hath done them injury by forbidding This was not wifely faid by Fonathan come him as a fon thus to-refleét
jam Anmina neéaris ibanty
€ -. when Jonathan was with another party either fighting or — ed, or rather the fpear which he carried in his an boney-comb; or fugar-cane, as Farchi; or in which is either the obfervation of the writer ¥ x
_ it might have tended to mutiny and feilition: Jee,\thens, who facrifiting to demons, fat down round I pray you, bow mine eyes have been enlightened, \about the blood, and eat their food; fee the notes becaufe I tafted a little of this honey; the benefit hejon Lev. xix. 26. and Ezek. xxxiii. 25. to which received by it was very vifible; it might eafily be}may be added, that Homer,” reprefents the infernal difcerned that he was greatly refrefhed with it, and|{pirits as gathered together at a ditch where. the his fpirits invigorated by it; it was to be feen in{blood of an animal was fhed; to drink of is, that the chéarfulnefs of his countenance, and'the brifk-}they might know and _foretel thin nefs of his eyes; and he fuggefts, it would have} particularly Tirefias the Theban. had the fame effect upon the people, had they eaten] y. 33. then they told Saul, &c.1 Some that were of it, as he had done. more conscientious and religious, were more cir-
¥. 30. How much more, if haply the people had\cumf{pect, and ftrictly attended to the laws forbideaten freely to-day of the fpoil of their enemies which} ding the eating of blood, and were concerned at they found? &c.| ‘That is, had they been allow-jthe indecent behaviour of others, and -therefore ed to eat freely of the provifions, of bread, wine,|thought fit to acquaint Sau/ with it to reftrain ic: €¥c. they found in the enemy’s camp, they would! behold, the people fin againft. the Lord, in that they have been much more refrefhed and ftrengthened|eat with ihe blood; by breaking the laws of God than it could be fuppofed he was with eating ajrefpecting the eating of blood in Gen, ix. 4. Lev. Kittle honey; if that had had fuch an effect upon|iii. 17. and) vil. 26, 27, and xvii. 10, 11. efpehim, of what fervice would a full meal have been| cially in Lev, xix. 26. end he faid, ye have trvanfto the people? for had there not been now a mucb\ grefed; the above laws of God that is, Sau/ laid greater flaughter among the Philtflines? the poapleito fome, perfons who were accufed of the breach would have had more ftrength to {mite them, andjof them, and were ordered to come. before him, would have purfued them with greater ardour and and did come: roll a great ftone unto me this day; {wiftnefs, and fo have made a greater laughter) pointing perhaps at one which lay at fome diftance among them than they had; he intimates, that'trom him, and which he ordered to be rolled to Saul’s end would have been better anfwered by fuf-;him; this was done, that the creatures might be fering the people to eat, than by forbidding them. |flain on it, and their blood drawn out from them, ¥. 31. And they mote the Philiftines that day from or vo offer facrifice upon, and indeed for both. Michmafb to Aijalon, &c.\ _Michmajfh was the place} y. 34. And Saul faid, difperfe yourfelves among where the camp of the Philiftines was when Yona- the people, &c.] in the camp, fome one way, and than firft attacked them, and from whence they | fome another, and make proclamation throughout fied, and they were purfued by the J/raelites thatiit; this he faid to fome of his officers, whom he day.as far as Aijalon, There was a city of this fent out as heralds, to publith his will and pleaname in the tribe of Dan, famous for the moon fure: and fay unto them, bring me hither every man ftanding ftill in a valley adjoining to it, in the ‘his ox, and every man bis fheep, and flay them bere; time of Fofhua, ch. x. 12. and xix. 42. and an-'on the great ftone he had ordered to roll.to tie other in the tribe of Zebulun, Fudg. xii. 12. but place where he was: and eat them; in the fame they both feem to be at too great a diftance to be place, being rightly flain, and the blood let out; the place here meant, which rather feems to be all this was to be done, the flaying of the beatts,. Aijalon in the tribe of Fudab, 2 Chron. xi. 10. ac-'and eating them in the prefence of Sau/, and uncording to Bunting *, it was 12 miles from Micb- der his infpection, that every thing might be done mah: and the people were very faint; asthey might. decently, and in order, and according to the law well be, with purfuing the enemy fo many miles,'of God: and fin not againft the Lord, in. eating and doing fo much execution among them, with- with the.blood, as fome of them had done, y. 32. out eating any food. land all the people brought every man his ox with him ¥. 32. And the people flew upon the /poil, &c.} Like and his fheep alfo, though not exprefied, yet to be a fwift and ravenous bird, as the eagle, and which f{upplied from the preceding claufe:. and thele every feems to have its name in Greek from this word, fee’ man brought with bim that night; the Fewifo Rad- Jf. xlvi. 11. When the evening was come, and dins* are divided about. thefe creatures flain, whethey were free from the oath of Sau/, and being! ther for facrifices or common food; and thofe that extremely hungry, faint and weary, they were even think facrifices are meant, difpute whether it was ravenous for food, and with the greateft hafte and lawful to flay them in. the night, which fome allow eagernefs laid hold on what. came’ firft to hand: lto be lawful, if on-a fmall and private altar, but and took foeep, and oxen, and calves, and flew Peas sue upon.a large and public one; but thefe were on the ground, and there they lay in their blood,/flain no doubt tor common food, whith all agree which in fuch a pofition would not run out freely| might be flain in the night: and flew them there; as when flain and hung up: and the people did eat; betore Saul, and on the. great ftone rolled unto them with the blood, they were fo hungry they! him. sid could not ftay the dreffing of them, but eat them raw with the blood in them, not being fqueezed or drained out, at leaft not half boiled or Some of the Fewi/h Rabdins * are of opinion, thefe were their peace-offerings; and that their fault was, that they eat of them before the blood was! the jir fprinkled, whilft it-was in the bafon; but this was common food, which, being hungry, they were eager of, and could not wait the proper dreffing of it, according to the law of God.
y fome rendered dy, upon, or about the blood, and think it-+efers to an idolatrous cuftom of the heay: 35. And Saul built an altar.unto Lord;, &c,] To offer peace-offerings upon, in thankfulnefs for roafted. the victory obtained over his enemies, er, fin-offerthatjings to. make atonement for the fin of the people, perhaps both, however. the former:, the fame was t altar that be built unto the Lord; for tho’ he had offered facrifice at Gilga/, there was an altar ready built for him: or be began to build 5 he laid the firlt’ {tone of it, and the builders buile upon.The phrafe isjit; fo fome others fay, that he was the firft of the lkings that built an altar to the Lord‘; others, the firft of the judges that built one; though Gideon built one, it was for his own private ufe, not for all J/rasl, as this, fo R. I/aiab; but Ben Gerfom, in fufpence whether he fhould purfue or no; t ae a and fo Abarbinel, refer this to the great ftone Saul ordered to be rolled to him, and take the fenfe to be, that that began to be built an altar to the
Lord; that was the beginning of one; not now ftay to finifh it, being eager on his purfor he did!y¥. 19. the Lord now will not give him any; th the principal view was, that he might take the ftep fuit of the Philifines, as follows.
turned by Urim and Thummim, fo. that he was le
Targum is, ‘* he received not his prayer that day this was treating him in a righteous manner, fince — he would not ftay for an anfwer from the Lore y¥. 36. And Saul faid, 8c.) To his fon Fonathan, or to fome of the principal officers of his army: let us go down after the Philiftines by night, or to-night, that fame night; which is another hardthip he laid his troops under; as he had re- {trained them from eating all that day until evening, now he propofed they fhall take no fleep that night, bat proceed on in their purfuit of the fines, having eaten, and drank, and refrefhed themfelves.. The Aradic verfion is, let.us go dowm the Philipines; and fo Noldius* chufes to render the words; which I pretty much wonder at, and efpecially at what he obferves in favour of it, againit the common rendering; that at this time the Philifines had not turned their backs, fo that the Jraelites could ‘not be faid to go after them, but were in a camp oppofite to them; but that they had fled, and were purfued, is moft certain from y. 22, 22, 31. and fpoil them until the morn ing-light; or kill of.them, as the Targum, and fo the Aradic verfion; for fpoiling muft.be meant of killing; for as for the fpoil of their provifions, riches, fc. that had already fallen into their hands, y. 30. and this is confirmed by. what follows: and let us not leave a man of them, great numbers had been flain already, partly by their falling upon one another, and partly by the {words of Yonathan and his armour-bearer at the firft onfet, and, by Sau and his men in the purfuit of them; and fo inent was Sau/ in the utter deftruction of them, that he was for following and cutting them off, that none of their prodigious army might return home: and they faid, do whatfoever Jeemeth good unto thee; they had religioufly obferved his oath, in refraining y¥. 38. And Saul faid, draw ye near hither all t x chief of the people, &c.} Or the corners of the people®; the princes, as Farchi interprets it; and fo the Targum, the heads of the people, in allufion. to the corner ftones in buildings, which are the ornament, ftrength and cement of them, fee Zech, x. 4. though darbinel thinks the tribes themfelves Phiii-)are meant, which lay encamped every one in a ‘ corner by themfelves, feparated from one another; tojand theie he would have brought together; not the heads only, but every one, {mall and great, that it might be feen and known where the fin lay; and but he fhould have obferved, that the tribes is 7ae/ were not now prefent with Saa/, but a fir 1 number of them: and know and fee wherein thi /ia bath been this day; he concluded from havi no anfwer from the Lord, that fin had bia’ came mitted, which was the caufe of it; but never thought of his own rafh oath, which was the caufe of the peoples finning, and had brought his fon into danger; nor the fin of the peeple in eating the Hcfh with the blocd; nothing ran in his mind but the breach of the oath with which he had adjured the people, and this he was determined to find out, if poffible. ' ee
¥. 39. For as the Lord liveth, which faveth Ifrae/, &c.] And had faved them that day with a |great falvation, and had wrought a great deliverance for them in freeing them from the Pdilifines, who had threatened the ruin of the whole natioa. This is the form of an oath: though it be in Fonathan my fon, be foall furely die; that is, though the fin fhould be found in him, or he fhould be fou guilty of the breach of what he had charged them - from food all the day, and now they were as willing to be obedient to his command in denying themfelves refrefhing reft in fleep: shen faid the pricft, let us draw near bither unto God; Abiab the prieft, Fofepbus‘ calls him Abitob, who was pre- {ent with the ark, agreed to the propofal of Sau, only moved, that before they fet forward, they would feek the Lord; perhaps reflecting upon the abrupt manner in which Saul departed from Gideah, juft as he was confulting the Lord, and not ftaying for an an{wer from him; which the prieft might fear would be refented by him, and therefore propofes firft to draw nigh to God; not to the altar
Saul had built, or had juft begun to build, but to the ark with which the high-prieft was, and was a fymbol of the divine prefence; the Targum cers only, but the common foldiers in the army: de ye ou one fide, and I and Fonathan my fon: il be on the other fide; {0 they divided to ie ane and is, ‘* let us draw near hither, and enquire by the Word cf the Lord.” ee y. 37. And Saul afked counfel of God, &c.} Hel agreed to the motion of the high-prieft, and afked counfel by Urim and Thummim, the Targum is, as before, ‘* enquired by the Word of the Lord:” one of which were the names of Saal and onath and in the, other J/rae?; though darbinel obfery that fuch a partition pf them on one fide, and other, is not according to the manner of lots with an oath to obferve, namely, to eat no fo that day till evening: dur there was not a mem among all the people that anfwered him, who knew that Fonathan had tafted of honey, but they would not acquaint him with it; partly becaufe they knew::
he did it ignorantly, having no knowledge of his _ father’s charge and oath, and partly becaufe of their great affection to him, who had -been the inftrument of their deliverance and falyation that many of them as were prefent; not the princi a left, one went one way, and the other, the other; there were two boxes or urns, as Kimchi fays = * foall I-go down after the Philiftines? purfue after thera in their flight to their own country, which, lying to the fea, was a defcent: wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Ifrael? what remain of them, he fufpects that Saul knew that Fonath he ted of honey, being told it by the man. that'f eat it; and who faid to him then, thy father fire charged, 8c. ¥. 27. but chofe this way to ma otherwifé a victory over them was obtained: dut!it manifeft to the be anfwered him not that day; no anfwer was reregard he had to juftice: and the people faid u:
Saul, do what, feemeth good unto thee, they were very obfequious to him in every thing, fee ¥. 36. j
¥. 41. Therefore Saul faid to the Lord God.of Hrael, &c.]. After the divifion was made between him and his fon on one fide, and the people of J rael on the other, and every thing was ready for) the drawing of the lot; Sau/ put up to God following petition, as knowing that though the lot is caft into the lap, the difpofing of it is of theLord: give a perfeéi lot; or man, let it fall upon the perfon, and Jet the innocent go free; the Zargum is, ‘* caufe it tocome in truth;” let truth and righteoufnefs take place; let the right man be found out, and taken; the petition feems to. be too arrogant and prefumptuous, and infinuates as if the Lord did not always difpofe the lot aright:, avd Saul Fonathan were taken; the lot being caft, it upon them: dut the people efcaped; from the lot, and appeared to be innocent, clear of any blame; fo that it was not the fin they had been guilty of nathan,; fuch words from, a-father mutt be very triking toa, fon, and argue a want of paternat afiection.in Saul, that could call his fon by his name, and. deliver fuch a fpeech unto him in fo -|{trongamannernn
¥. 45. And the people faid unto Saul, 8cc.] Hearthejing, fuch, words, and. filled with grief; pity, and /{ympathy, for Fonathan, as Fofepbus * oblerves: /ball Fonathan die, who hath wrought this great falguilty | vation in [/rael? no, he fhall not; what, fuch aman \as he die, who, under God, has been the inftrument of, fo great deliverance, who firft began it himfelf with one man only with him, and has -proceeded in. it to the finifhing of it? God forbid; this fhall not be fo; they fpeak of it with. the gnd)utmoft abhorrence and deteftation, as a fhockfelljing piece of*cruelty and ingratitude, unheard-of; and not to be paralleled: as che Lord liveth, there /hall not one hair of bis bead fall to the-ground; as Sau/ {wore he fhould die, they alfo fwear. he in eating flefh with the blood, which was the caufe that no anfwer was returned. ¥. 42. And Saul faid, caft lots between meand Fonathan my fon, &c.)| Which fhowed his regard to ftri&t juftice, and that he had no confciouinefs of, guilt in himfelf, and fhould not fpare his own fon if found guilty: and Jonathan was. taken;, the lot fell upon him, which was fo directed, that his ignorance of his father’s charge and oath might appear; and that the affection of the people might be difcovered; and that a regard is to be had to the orders and commands of princes, and. obedience to be yielded to them in all things, in which confcience is. nat concerned, though they may be grievous; and to bring Saul to a fenfe of his rafhnefs in making fuch an oath, which brought his own fon into fo much danger. | y¥. 43. Then Saul faid to Fonathan, tell me what thou baft done, &c.) What fin he had committed, the lot having fallen on him, and found him out: and Fonathan told bim;, the whole of the matter, fhould not, expreffing their firm refolution to ftand_ by him, and preferve his life; and fo far fhould it be from him to have his life taken away, that an hair of -his,head fhould not be touched, or the leaft injury done.to his perfon; for though they had yielded’a ready obedience to all the orders and commands of Sau/, which were diftrefling to themfelves, they. were determined to oppofe! him ia this cafe of xhis fon: for be bath wrought with.God this day; God has been with him, affifted him to do great things for J/rae/, and therefore fhould not die for a thing fo trivial;, and it being not done in difobedience to his father, nor in contempt of him, but through pure ignorance, as fome of them well knew; fo the Targum, ** for it is known before the Lord, that in ignorarice he did! it this day:” fo the people refcued Fonathan that he died not,; not by force, but by their refolution and importunity; or redeemed him-', by expofing their. own lives to danger in oppofing their king, and by their petitions to him for him; and, as Fa/eall the truth, without any referve: and faid, I did but take a little honey with the end of the rod that phus fays™, by their prayers to God for him,’ that his fault might be forgiven.
was in mine hand; he fpeaks of the fact asa trivial thing, as if it was not deferving of death, though he was willing to fubmit to it; yet it feems ftrange he fhould fay nothing of his ignorance of the charge and oath of Sau/, and plead that in excufe y¥. 46. Then Saul went up from following the Philiftines, 8c. | Returned home’ to his own city, finding that he could get no anfwer from the Lord, whether he fhould purfue further or no, and Jofing the time and opportunity of, doing it, by examin- of it; though Yo/ephus* makes him to take notice of it: and Jo, I mujft die; am condemned to die, as the Zargum; for which he was prepared and ready, being willing to teftify an entire fubjection to his father’s authority and will. Jofephus' reprefents him fpeaking with a generofity and greatnefs of foul, after this manner, ** death is moft fweet vo me, which is for the fake of maintaining thy piety and religion; and after fo glorious a victory, it is the greateft confolation to: me, to leave the Hebrews conquerors of the Philiftines.”’ ¥. 47. _¥.44. And: Saul anfwered, Ged do fo and more alfo, &c.] A form. of an oath.imprecating.evils upon him, more and greater than he chofe to.mention, fee the like form in Ruth i.17. though Adarbinel thinks, this is not the form of an oath, but an affeveration of a curfe that would befal him; that God would not anfwer him when he enquired of him, and that he would add to do fo again and again, if he died not: for thou foalt furely die, Foing into the affair of his fon, and cafting lots to find it out: and the Philiftines went to their own place; their country and cities, fuch of them as remained, who were not cut off by their.own and: the fword of the Draelites. ‘Fofephus” fays, Saul killed about 60,000 of them. It feems to be the will of God, that they fhould not now be utterly deftroyed, that they might be a rod of correétion in his hand, to chaftize the people of J/rael hereafter. bie oily boi SoSaul took the kingdom over Ifrael, &c.] Which feemed,to be almoft taken from him: when he was fhot up-in Gibeab, and the Pbiliftines ravaged his, country at pleafure;. but now having obtained a victory over them, -he recovered his kingdom, and re-affumed his power and authoasjrity; or he was\now ftrengthened in it, as Kimchi interprets it; the people feeing that he fucceeded in his wars with their enemies, they readily fubmitted to his government without any hefitation, his expedition againft them is given in the following chapter: and delivered I/rael out of the bands of them that {poiled them; the nations before mentioned, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Syrians and fo the Targum, ‘‘ Sauljnames: and Melchi-foua; and befides thefe threes there was another, whofe name was Ihbofoeth, A fometimes called E/hsaal, 2 Sam. ii. 8. 1 Chron, }viii. 33. who fucceeded him in the kingdom 5. for» which reafon Abarbinel thinks, he is not ‘mention- naa overjed here, becaufe he was a king though it is ge- ~~ nerally fuppofed the reafon why theie only’ are!: himfelfjnamed is, becaufe they went out to war with’. him, and died with him, but this did not; he had’ - ana other children by a concubine, or fecondary wife,» ~ whojwhofe name was Rizpah, not mentioned: here,’ hej2 Sam. xxi. 8. and the names of bis two daughters were thefe, the name of the firft-born Merab, who was afterwards married to Adriel the Mebolathite, ch. xviii. 19. and the name of the younger Michal 5 who became the wife of David, ch. xviii. 27.
profpered in the kingdom over Ifrael;” and, according to Abarbinel, thefe words will admit of another fenfe, that whereas after he was anointed and made king, he followed the herd, and attended ruftic affairs; but now after this victory the Philifines, he took upon him the ftate and majefty of a king, and no more concerned with his farm and cattle, but betook himfelf wholly to regal and ‘military affairs, as follows: fought againft all bis enemies on every fide, invaded his kingdom. from different quarters; defended himfelf againft them, and preferved his kingdom: againft Moab, and againft the children of Ammon; who lay to the eaft of him: and againfi Edom; which was on the fouthern border of his land: and againft the king of Zobabs a part ot Syria, which was to the north of the land of Yrael, and was near Dama/cus, fee 2 Sam, viii. 3, 5..and, according to Benjamin of Tudela °, fame with Ha/eb, or Aleppo. There never were but two kings of it, Rebob and Hadadezer, who lived in the reigns of Saul and David, 2 Sam. viii. 3. and againft the Pbiliftines; who were on the weftern border of the land of Canaan: and whitherfover he turned himfelf, be vexed them; difturbed and difquieted them, and made them very uneafy; he terrified and diftreffed them; the Zargum is, he condemned them, he treated them as wicked and| ungodly perfons, and punifhed them as fuch.
y.50. And the name of Saul’s wife was Abinoam, tbe daughter of Abimaaz, &c.] Who very probably was the mother of all the above children, thejand therefore taken notice of; and dharbinel conjeCtures, that J/b-bofbeth was not a fon of hers, but’ the fon of Sau/ by another wife, and which he’ takes to be another reafon why he is not mentioned here; but tho’ Sau/ had a concubine, we no where. read of his having another wife: and the name of the captain of bis boft was Abner the fon of Ner, Saul’s un cle; not Abner, but Ner was Saul’s uticle; for Kifothe — father of Sau/, and Ner, were brothers, as fofepbus ® ays, and as appears from the next verie; and Abner was coufin-german to Sau/, whom he raifed and largejadvanced to be captain of his army, and a very hejvaliant man‘he was; we hear of him again in this. hiftory, and in the beginning of David's reign. —
¥.48. And be gathered an boft, &c.] A army; for after the battle with the Ammonites difbanded his army, and fent them home, retaining only 3000 men, and thefe deferted him to 600, which were all the men he had with him, when he fought laft with the Phiiifines; but now finding he had enemies on every fide of him, he gathered a numerous hoft to defend his country againit them, and particularly to. attack the people next men-| tioned: and be fmote the Amalekites, a people that J/rael, by the law of God, were bound to deflroy, and blot out their name;
¥. 51. And Kifh was the father of Saul, &c.} See ch. ix. 1. nd Ner the father of Abner was the — /on-of Abiel; this Abie] was the father both of Kia and Ner, and the grand-father of Sau/, fee ch.ix. 1.”
y. 52. And there was fore war againft the Phiifines all the days of Saul, &c.] For notwithftand= — ing the late victory over them, and flaughter made among them, they recovered themfelves, and came’ a particular account ofjout again to battle, and gave Sau/ a great deal of’ trouble, and he at laft died in battle with them bi and when Saul faw any ftrong man, or any valiant iman, be took him unto him; to be his body-guard,. as Fofephus * fays; or for foldiers and officers in his
Philifiines. army, even fuch as the fame writer obferves, that
¥. 49. And the fons of Saul were Fonathan, &c.} Who feems to be his firft-born, of whom, his valour and fuccefs, we read in this and the preceding chapter: and I/hui; the fame with Abinadab, exceeded others in comelinefs of perfon, | and in’ largenefs and tallnefs; fuch as were in fome meafure like himfelf, that were ftrong, able-bodied men, and of courage, and valour, and fortitude’
N this chapter are recorded the order Saul:had from the Lord to deftroy Amalek utterly, ¥. 1, 2, 3. the preparation he made to put it in execution, and the fuccefs thereof, ¥. 4—9. the Lord took at his not obeying his order thoroughly, with which Samuel was made acquainted, and which grieved him, ¥. 10, 11. upon which he went out to meet Sau/, and reprove him; anda long difcourfe upon the fubjeét paffed between them, the iffue of which was, that by an irrevocable cree he was rejected from being king, ¥. 12—31. and the chapter is concluded with an account of Samuel’s hewing in pieces Agag king of Amalek, and of his final departure from Sax/, y. 32—35.
y.1. Samuel alfo faid unto Saul, &c.) When and where he faid to him what follows, it is not” eafy to determine; perhaps at Gilga/, where they the offencejafter met again: the Lord fent me to anoint thee to’ de king over his people, over Ifrael; that is, he gave him orders to anoint him king of J/rae/, otherwife Sau/ was in providente fent to Samuel tobe anoint-" 4 ed, and not Samuel to Saul: now therefore hearken © thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord; W de- fo great a favour, and fuch high honour he= Med conferred on him, laid him under great obligation © to obey the commands of the Lord; and wherea Saag be had been deficient in one inftance before, f which he had been reproved, he fuggefts, that mom _ and punctually, what fhould be enjoined him. vy. 2. Thus faith the Lord of bofts, &c.} Of he fhould take care to obferve and do, particularly of Judah came, in comparifon of thé other tribes, government being in one of the tribe of Benjamin, when they thought the celeftial hoft of angels, and of the army of J - it fhould have been in’ one of theirs; the number rael, yea, of all the armies of the earth: this 1s premifed to engage the attention of Sau]: [remember that which Amalek did to I/rael; four hundred years ago: how be laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt; in the valley of Repbidim, jutt before they came to mount Sinai, and fell upon the rear of them, and fmote the feeble, and faint, and weary, fee Exod. xvii. 8. Deut. xxv. 17, 18, 19.:
¥. 3. Now go and {mite Amalek, &c.] This was one of the three things the J/raelites were obliged to do when they came into the land of Canaan, as Kimchi obferves; one was to appoint a king over them, another to build the houte of the fanctuary, and the third to blot out the name and memory of Amalek, fee Deut. xxv. 19. and this work was referved for Sau/, their firft. king: and utterly deftroy all that they have, and {pare them not 5 all were to be devoted:to deftruction, and nothing remain to. be made ufe of in any way, to any profit and advantage; living creatures were to be put to death, and every thing elfe burnt and deftroyed: but flay Loth men and women, infant and fuckling, -neither fex nor age were to be regarded, no mercy and pity fhown to any; they had fhown.none to J/rae/ when weak.and feeble, and by the law of retaliation none was to be exercifed on them: ox and heep, camel and afs; though uleful creatures, yet not to be fpared; as not men, women and children, thro’ commiferation, fo neither thefe through covetoufnefs, and neither of them om any pretence whatfover. Children fuffered for their parents, and cattle becaufe of their owners, and both were a punifhment to their proprietors; an ox, or any other creature, might not be fpared, left it fhould be faid, as Kimchi obferves, this was the fpoil of Amalek,-and fo the name and memory of 4malek would not be blotted out.
¥.4. And Saul gathered the people together, &c.] Or made them to hear', by the found of a trumpet; or by fending heralds into all parts of the land to proclaim the above order of the Lord, and fummon them to. come to him, perhaps at Gi/ga/l; fo the Septuagint verfion, and Fofephus*: and numbered them in Telaim; thought to be the fame with Telem, a place in the tribe of Fudab, Fofh. xv. 24.. the word fignifies Jambs; hence the Vulgate Latin verfion is, ‘* he numbered them as lambs;”? and the Fews ‘fay, becaufe it was forbid to number the children of J/rael, which was the fin of David;
is greatly increafed in the Septuagint verfion, which makes the whole to be’ 400,000, and 30,000 men of Fudeb; and fo Fofephus *, HB
¥.5. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, &c.} With his army, perhaps the neareft city of it to the land of i/rae!; though fome think that Amalek was the name of the city, and was the metropolis of the nation, and had its name from thence: and laid wait in the valley; which was near the city,’ to intercept the inhabitants when they fhould come out againft him; or be contended”, as iome render it, he fought with them there; the Targum, ‘ he ordered his army,” fet that in battle-array, or pitched his camp there. |
¥. 6, And Saul faid unto the Kenites, &c.) Who were of the pofterity of Jethro, the father-in-law of Mo/és, or related to him; why Fofephus * calls them the nation of the Sicimites, who dwelt in the midft of the land of Midian, I know not: go, de~’ part, get ye down from ‘among the Amalekites, for though fome of thefe people came with J/rae/ into the land of Canaan, and were firft at Fericho, and then came into the widernefs of Judah,’ Fudg.i. 16. and were in other tribes alfo; yet as they removed from place to place, and from country to country, for the convenience of their flocks and herds, they dwelling in tents, might come into the country of Amalek and pitch there; and as they chofe to dwell in rocks, and the caverns of them, to be near their focks and herds in the vallies, they are cal» led ‘upon ‘to get down from thence, fee. Numb. xxiv. 21. left I deftroy you with them; they dwell« ing among the Amalekites, might perifh with them;: and efpecially as the malekites, upon their being routed, would naturally flee to the rocks, hills and mountains, where thefe people had their tents, they would be in the greater danger of being deftroyed with them, unlefs they removed: for. ye /hewed kindnefs to all the children of Ifrael when they came up out of Egypt, as Jethro, by the advice he gave to Mofes to appoint proper officers in J/rael, and Hobab, by being eyes to the people, in conduéting them through the wildernefs, and accompanying: them to the land of Canaan 5 fo the Kenites depart~ ed from among the Amalekites; took the advice of Saul, and removed and pitched their tents elfewhere,;
¥.7. And Saul fmote the Amalekites, 8c.) Engaging in battle with them, he overcame them, and beat them, and flew great numbers of them:
therefore every man had a lamb given him, and from. Havilab, until thou comeft to Shur, that is fo the lambs were numbered, by which it was known what was the number of the people; and the Targum fays, this was done with the paffover- Jambs, it being now the time of the paffover; but the numbering here made was not of the people of the land in general, and fo there was no occafion of fuch a precaution, only a numbering and muftering of the army when got together and rendezvoufed in one place: the fum of which is here given, 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Fudah; which laft were reckoned feparately, as diftinét from the other tribes of J/rae/, to fhew their obedience to Saul, who was of another tribe, though the kingdom was promifed to theirs; but R. J/aiah obferves, that the reafon why fo few of the men over-againft Egypt; having routed them in the valley, or in whatfoever place the battle was fought, he purfued them from one end of their country to the other; from Havilab, which lay to the northeaft, to Shur, which lay to the fouth-weft, and deftroyed all that came in his way between thofe two points, fee Gen. xxv. 18.
¥.8. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, &c.| This name feems to be a common name of the kings of thefe people, as Pharaoh was of the Egyptians, fee Numb. xxiv. 2. When this’ king fell into the hands of Sau/, he did not put him to death, as he fhould have done, but preferved him; for what reafons, fee in the following verfe: and utterly deftroyed all the people with the edge of the fword, that is, all that came in his'way, or fell into! his hands; all between Havilaband Shar 3 all excepting thofe that made their efcape, for we after read of Amalekites, and’ that in large! bodies, ch xxvii. 8\\ and «xxx. 1.
¥. 9. And Saul and all the people foared Agag, &c.] Perhaps Saul made the motion to fpare*him, and the people agreed tovit; it may be, out.of tefpect to him as a king,’ or becaufe of the nefs of his perfon, the tallnefs of his ftature, the largenefs of his body, as:fo/epbus * notes; to carry him in triumph in‘a- public thow, ‘{ee yi. 12. and the bet of the foeep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, or of the fecond fort, as in the margin, the fecond beft; or rather which thed their two long teeth, as fheep at two years old did when reckoned at their full ftrength; and fitteft forfathat he’ would forgive his ‘Gn, prngierypek fee } from the kingdom. | - vorl vedi ellen bns y. 12. dnd when Samuel vofe early to meet in she morning, &c.] Having: had \no fleep‘finees the revelation’of the will of \God was imadeyuntor him,-and therefore rofe ‘betimes; being, imesh to converfe with Sau/\aboutit: it was told Sa /aying, Saul came to Carmel s not to Carmel ewhere: comeli- Elijah offered facrifice, for. that) was very Temote> andj irom hence; ‘but toi Carmel, a city in thertribe. of or! Fudab, which lay in the way of Sau/?ssreturmtrom: 4malek, Fob. xv. 55. and behold, be fet him up a place; to divide his {poil in,-as the Targum; or to encamp in, as Kimebi.;) or to build an altar on, as Zarchi, who takes it tobe the fame that Elifha after repaired; but, ‘asi beforevobferved, this: places was ata great diftance from mount-Carmel where.
crifice*: and the lambs, and all that was good; and would not utterly deftroy them, as they were commanded, but kept them for their own ‘private ule and advantage, and this notonly the bett.and fat- a bandand, according ‘tothe Vulgate:Laia vers fion, it-was atriamphal arch; ‘and was perhaps: an obelifle or pillar, a trophy: or: monument ereéted in teft of the fiocks and herds,but of their: houfehold goods:: but every thing that was vile and refuje; that they-deftroyed utterly; fach of the cattle rhat were poor and’ lean, lame‘or blind; or had: any defect in them, and houfhold goods that were mere rubbifhvand lumber; fuch theyventirely ideftroyed, killed the creatures, and burnt.the goods $1in’ doing whichthey thought they fulfilled? the will of memory of the victory’ hé\ had: obtained over the. Amatekites: So FeromAfays*, when) avictory-was obtained; they’ ufed oto. make’ an’ arch of myrtle, palm».and ‘olive_ branches, asa! fign off it s>thefe” trophies werey fometimes of! bras; fometimes of marble:; dome were only heaps ‘of ftones, Others a. remarkable tree with the branchés cut’ off?;:fo the’ pillar 4b/alom erected ‘is catled his hand; 2lSam.
v.10. Then came the word of the Lordiunto Samuel, 8c.| The word’ of prophecy, as the Targums this.came to him in a‘dream or vifion, or'by an‘articulate voice: /aying §\ as» follows. Yor1.cTt repenteth me, that] have fet up Saul to be king, 8c.) “Whichis not to. be underftood of ‘any change of mind; -counfel, purpofe or-decree in God, which is not-confiftent: with his unchangeable nature; but of a change of difpenfation, and outward dealings, and is-ipoken after the manner of men, who when they *repent’of any thing, change. the courfe'of their condu@ andibehaviour;.and‘fo the Lord ‘does without any change of "his mind and will, which alters: not;:and'tho’ he changes the outward difpenfations ‘of ‘his providence, yet he never ‘changes and alters in’ the matters and methods of /his grace; though ‘he'repented he made Sau/ king, ‘he’ never'reperits of ‘his making his» faints kings ‘and priefts for himfelf; his outward gifts he fometimes-takes away; earthly crown and kingdoms but his gifts calling, which are of fpecial grace, are. without repentance, Rom. xi. 29 fee ‘the note on Gea. vi. 6. for he is turned back from following mes from after my worfhip, as the Targum, from doing his will and work: and hath not performed my commandments, particularly in this affair relating to Amalek: and it grieved Samuels that Saul fhould fo foon be rejected from being king, and ‘that he fhould do any thing to deferve it; and whom Samuel had anointed king, and for whom he had’al J cordial refpe&, and to whom he wifhed well, both for his own perfonal good, and for the good ‘of at-his fall, who came in his fteadj and to whom the people of J/raé]; fo far was he from rejoicing he gave way in the affair of government: cried unto the Lord all wight, or prayed, as the Targum, either that the Lord would inform ‘him of the particulars wherein Saal had done amifs, or ae fupra, §. 2. * Bidentes, Virgil. Aeneid. 1.6. Trad in lib. Reg. fol: 76. B. | ® Vid." down. to Gilgal; he took acircuit, and greatopomp and parade, carrying thei Kingiof the: Amalekites’ in triumph with him, and:the fpoill he) hadetaken ‘and refervedi 1 Te Gilgal he went, ex=> petting to meet) Samuel there; and poor! peace~: offerings’ to'the Lord for the'vidtory ‘he lad got. ©: © 13.‘ And Samuel cameoto Saal, Be. At Gi gal: and. Saul faid unto bins, bleffed bé thou of the: Lords fignifying, thatvhe had abundant reaion to» blefs the Lord on his. ac¢ount, not only that he! had. anointed him king, ‘but‘had-fent him on fuch an errand, in which he had’ fucceeded 6 well} and’ it was a pleafiire to him, that he might’ report: it to him’: shave performed the commandment of the’ Lord 5 either ‘he was really ‘ignoraft that» he had? done amifs; and thought, that his {paring 4gag,) when he had deftroyed all the reft, and refetving’ fome of the beft of the cattle for facrifice, could’ not be interpreted a breach of the orders given: as‘anj;him; or if’ he was confcious he had brokén the’ andjcommandment of the Lord, this ‘he faid to pres vent Samuel's reproof of him, and to footh him with flattering words. / tt AN, » ¥.14. And Samuel faid,‘what meaneth’ then this’ dleating of the fheep in mine ears, 8c.] For the’ orders were to deftroy all living creatures belong= ing to the Amalekites, y. 3. if therefore Saul had performed the commandment of the Lord, as he faid he had, from whence'were thefe fheep Samuel heard bleating? and thé lowing of the oxen which bear? where do they come from? thefe queftions he put: to: convict him’ of the falfhood he had de-' livered; the’ bleating’and lowing of thefe creatures’ of the divine command; and’ one would” t proved him a liar, and were witnefles of his sink aad’ bel every bleating and lowing of thefe muft alarm confcience, ‘Unle& dreadfully ftupified. ° ™ yal ’ ¥. 15: And’ Saal Jaid, they have brought” them from the Amaletites, Sec.) That” is,’ the ». 39. Vid. Servium in ib, m a, Alexp ab Alex. Genial. Dier, hr. ¢, 28,00 a8 Nes directly contrary to the exprefs order of God;. and laying shiblams upon them,’ as dam did) on ‘his “wife, as if he had no concern at all init, “when‘it js clear from yg. he’had’a principal one; it probable the people fhould do: this of themfelves; tent his confent and authority, which ‘was fo them in the'right way, and reftrain them from. that Which was evil; and fince hé-was anointed by the rior 8) Lord, and not by the people, he ought to have obeyed him, and ‘not regarded the pleafure. of them. otha ae es,
~ ¥. 18. And the Lord fent thee on a journey. Gissl
‘then to excufe the people as. well- as he could,’ on whom he laid the'blame, he obferves'this ‘was not done for their own private profit and advantage, but for the fervice and worthip of Ged forthe people fpared the beft of the foeep, and of the oxen, to. facrifice unto the Lord thy God, by way of gra+ titude and thankfulnefs, for /the victory tliey had obtained; and therefore, fince’ théy had fo good an end and defign®in fparing what they had,’ and thofe the beft and fitteft for facrifice, he hoped they. would eafily be excufed; and that the prophet would ufe his beft intereft’ with the’ Lord,’ who was his God, to.whom they defighed to do ‘honour, that he» would. overlook what was amifs in them: and. the’ reft we have utterly deftroyeds ‘as they were commanded; but then it was only the vile and the refufe, the beft they had referved for their own ufe; though he now coloured it with' this fpecious pretence of facrificing to'God, when’ he found it was’ taken notice of; and was ‘re- And therefore heought to have attended tothe erran fent upon, and’executed the orders given; in vain therefore was it to lay the blame on the people: and faid, go, and utterly deftrey the finners, the Amalekites; thofe notorious finners, who delerve no mercy at the hands of God: or men; who had fo highly offended the Lord, and had been fo injurious to his people at their firft coming out of Egypt. The orders’‘were “plain, not to: be miftaken, and full and ftrong for the utter deftruction of them without any exception, and therefore nothing-could be pleaded ‘in éxcufe for the violation of them: ad fight againft them until they be confumed x entirely; they were not to be left until an end was made of them; or until they bad confumed. them *,, the people of J/rac/, or the foldiers with Sau/.,. 19.. Wherefore then didi thou not obey, the voice of the Lond, &c.] Who had made him king, and fent him on this errand, and gave him duch_ plain direCtions, and fuch ftrong orders to make ‘an én- y.16. Them Samuel faid unto Saul, flay, &c. }| Stop a little, don’t: be in hafte to be gone, as he might feem to be, + fearing a *reproof, and’ that fomething. would ‘be faid to him’not very agreepoil; like.a bird of prey, fuch as an eagle or;vulture, noc to devote it to the Lord, by‘an entire; de- {truction of it, but to feize it for his own ule, as being greedily. defirous and covetous of it:. and
, yt. 20. And Saul faid to Samuel, yea, T have obeyea the voice of ibe Lord, &c.} Here Saul Pals in, |ppen Samuel before he had declared all that) the, ord had faid onto him; for having expoftulated, with him for ‘not obeying the voice 6f the Lord,. he could’ not. forbear. interrupting him, but. with: the utmoft’ affurance affirms he had obeyed; the. voice Of the Lord’ but then it was very imperfect-. ly, and poor proof does he give. of it: and shave. ie thé way which the Lord fent me, it is very true:
isy;which we follow,) and be faid unto him; ‘méan-" ing Saul, asKimchi notes.:? © h. CANS VO im for triumph; a fad proof this of his obeying, {the voice of the Lord: and have ee eile liaughty, and would. have" his gown’ will-and'way>; watt thou hatrnade the headofotbetvibes of Irae’
Faas;, and therefore he, ought not to have: | fuffered\the people to have {pared any on whatloahd laying the blameupon* the people’; wheres; he-was* as feeing he was made king-ovér them, ‘his bufinefs ates the’ thi was to rule and) govern'them, ‘guide “and!
direct obferving, that their end was good, the fervice and ih >) ‘ JS DI) Vis BAX Tae ‘sally: 3? ie.: ¥:: 4 Pin tis ie eee ee mobenia) hb iOW 9.28. OID. DOS eo ROTM OTF oy Sale a { glory i nee) iohihindd laaty 3 a): ANT permitte, Pagninus, Montanus; fine me, V. L. fo Aborbine!. 2 Eek pms “ty’ donec confumant ipfi eos, Pagninus; fo Vatablus. Nees ny -
2.waild Anvit_ nif MS, dbaalotaanidat¥ ycupgtashé,caniaget ying: KDA IE 9999 oe “39¥ IDeA eT 4 Sey bam; itscal be gyeirggiad mart ov. Il. Ne 1g, spol ni Frito Mia PHS Rem et AEE) OE CO A
458 IL SAMUEL. Chxviwi2i—os, glory of God, which perhaps were never thought of till now: namely, to facrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal, as peace-offerings, by way of thank - giving for the victory obtained, ¥. 15. yy. 22. And Samuel faid, &cc.| In reply to Saul: bath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and factifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? no certainly, the one being merely ceremonial, the other moral; the one fuppofes fin committed, for which facrifice is offered; the other moral, and 1s a compliance with the will of God, and is neither finful, nor fuppofes any thing finful, and therefore muft be the more acceptable: bebold, to obey is better than facrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams; which always was claimed by! the Lord as his ‘right and due; or the fatteft rams or beft facrifices of whatever fort, whether burnt-offerings, or fin-offerings, or peace-offerings; for had man obeyed the will of God, and not finned, there would have been no need of facrifice; and that was only acceptable to God when offered with a heart truly fenfible of fin, and penitent for it, and in the faith of the great facrifice of Chrift, of which all facrifices under the law were typical, and led unto. ¥.23. For rebellion is as the fin of witchcraft, &c.] Or divination*, in whatfoever way it was exercifed; for there were divers forts of it among the heathens, and all condemned by the law of God, Deut. xviii. 10. Now rebellion againft God, or difobeying his commands, though in things otherwife, were they not forbidden by him, lawful to be done, is as heinous a fin as to be guilty of witchcraft, or any kind of divination forbidden by the law of God, and deferves as fore a punifhment: and fiubbornnefs is as iniquity and idolatry, for a man, when he has committed a fin, to perfift in it obftinately, or to vindicate himfelf in it,-and infift on his innocence, which was Saul/’s cafe, is as hateful to God as any iniquity whatever; yea, as bad as idolatry, or making ufe of the Zeraphim, as is the word here; of which fee Hof iii. 4. than which nothing is more abominable to the Lord: decaufe thou haft rejected the word of the Lord; difregarded his command, treated it with coatempt and abhorrence: he hath rejetied thee from being king; not actually, for he continued to exercife kingly power and authority to his death, and was treated as a king by his fubjects, and even by David, tho’ anointed by the Lord; but fententially, the fentence of reje€tion was pronounced. upon him, and the entail of government on his pofterity was cut off. y. 24. And Saul faid unto Samuel, I have finned, &c.] This confeffion of his fin does not appear to be ingenuous, cordial and fincere, and was made chiefly for the fake of getting the fentence of rejecting him from being king reverfed: for I have tranfgreffed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words; which laft feems to be added to collogue with Samuel, and to ingratiate himfelf with him; and Abarbinel thinks, that Saul fufpected that Samuel had aggravated the matter of himfelf, and that he did not really tranfgrefs the words of the Lord, but as the words of Samuel; and therefore according to the words of Samuel he had finned, but not according to the words of the Lord only: Jecaufe I feared the people; Doeg the Edomite, who was reckoned as all of them, Farchi fays: this was a mere excufe of Saul’s, he ftood in no fear of the people, he kept them in awe, and did as he would with them, as a fovereign prince: and obeyed their voice; in {paring the beit of the catcle; fo he pre-_ tended, when it was his own will, and the effect of his covetoufnefs. ii) i ¥. 25. Now therefore, 1 pray thee; pardon my fin, &c.] Itcan hardly be thought that Sead was fo ignorant as to imagine, that Semuel could pardon his fin as committed againit God, which none but God can do, but that he would forgive it, fo far as he had offended him; or rather his meaning is, that as he was a prophet of the Lord, and had great intereft in him, that he would make ufe of it on his behalf, and pray to God that bis fin might - be forgiven him, and the fentence reverfed concerning his rejection from the kingdom; which perhaps is the chief thing he means by the pardon of his fin, which fometimes means no more than averting a threatened judgment, or freedom from punifhment: and turn again with me; to Gilgal, for he was come out from thence to meet Samuel, having heard that he was coming: ¢bgt I may wor-, hip the Lord; by offering facrifice, either in thank-. fulnefs for the victory obtained, or to atone for his* fin, and feek pardon for it, or both; this he thought: would be a motive and inducement to Samuel to go along with him,. Ty (aoe gaat ¥. 26. And Samuel faid unto Saul, I will nat return with thee, &c.] Not being fatisfred with. his repentance and confeffion, he ftill extenuating his fin, and laying the blame of it on the people.: This he faid by way of refentment, and as expreffing his indignation at him, though he afterwards did return with him ona change of his mind, which a good man may be allowed to make, without any imputation of falfhood, or a lie unto him: for thou haft rejefied the ward of ‘the Lord, and the: Lord hath rejected thee from being king over dfraels. which is repeated from y. 23. for the confirmation of it, and to let Sau/ know, that his pretended confeffion and repentance had made no alteration in the decree and fentence of God refpecting the: kingdom. “at ¥.27. And as Samuel turned about to go away, &c.} From Saul, a different way from Gilga/, perhaps towards his own city Ramah, with an intention to have nothing more to fay to Sau/, or to do with him, or to fee his face no more; fo difpleafed was he with him; he laid hold upon the fkirt of bis mantles in order to detain him, and prevent his departure from him, and his going a different way: and it rent; Samuel twitching away from him with great vehemence and warmth. Thefewi/h ‘ rabbins are divided about this, whofe fkirt was rent; fome fay it was Samuel that rent the fkirt of Sau/, and by this fignified to him, that he that cut off the fkirt of his garment fhould reign in-his ftead; whereby Saul knew that David would be king when he cut off the fkirt of his rebe, ch, xxiv. 4, 20. others, that: Samuel rent. the fkirt, of his. own mantle himfelf,’ which is the way of good men when things are not right; but the plain fenfe is, that Sewd rent the» fkirt of Samuel’s mantle, which, when Samuel faw, he underftood What that rent was a fign of; as exprefied in the followed verte. nT sy hers 2 ¥. 28, And Samuel faid unta him, the Lord hath: rent the kingdom of Ijrael from thee this day, 8cc.)
from thence to predict, and no doubt it was imprefied on his mind by the Spirit of God, that his — kingdom fhould be in a like manner rent b=;: ‘ ort 4 m,
Seeing his mantle rent by Sau/, he took occafion
Chikv.¥:29—33. [I SAMUE L. 459 him, on aocotnt of his own evil condué and behaviour; and from this day forward he might expeét it; the fentence was gone forth from God, and it would not be reverfed; and by a like figii was fignified the rending of the ten tribes from the kingdom of Solomon in his fon Reboboam, 1 Kings xi. 30, 31. and bath given it to a neighbour of thine that is detter than thon;
after God’s own heart, that would fulfil his who was more holy, juft, and wife than Sgz/; whofe works were better and righter than his, as the Targum; who was an J/raelite, of the fame nation and religion as he, and fo his neighbour; and though he was not of the fametribe, yet of a neighbouring tribe; Benjamin, and Judah, of which tribe David was, joining clofely to one another. It is highly probable that at this time Samuel knew not perfonally who he was that was defigned to be made king in his room, though under the direction of the Spirit of God he thus defcribes him; for after this he is bid to go to Feffe’s family, from thence to anoint a king, and {feveral paffed before him ere the Lord pointed out the proper petfon to was attended with an extenuation of his fin, pleading in excufe of it thatit was through fear of the people, but here it is without any; and yet by what follows it appears to be not ingenuous and lfincere, but hypocritical: yet honour me now I pray thee, before the elders of my. people, and before Ifrael, with his company; fince fhould he be flightwho was David, atmanjed openly by the Lord, and by his prophet, he will,;would fall into contempt both with the principal men, and with the common people; wherefore he feemed more concerned for the lofs of honour and reputation with the people, than for his fin againtt God; which is always the cafe of hypocrites: and ‘urz again with me, and worfhip the Lord thy God; {ee the note on ¥. 25.. Piensa
¥. 31. So Samuel turned again after Saul, &c.] Though he before faid he would not, y. 26, yet he did, chahging his mind, as he might without being chargeable with a lie; and he alfo might have an impulfe from the Lord fo to do, and which he did not in order to worfhip with Sax/, which it does not appear he did, but rather the. contrary; but that Sau/ might not be defpifed by him. the people; and his authority leffened, whilft he
¥. 29. And alfo the firength of T/rael will not lie nor repent, &c.] Neither of the evil which he threatened to Sau/ in taking away the from him; nor of the good which he had pro-j mifed to David in giving it to him; nor of his purpofe and promife fo //rae/ to protect and defend them, fave and deliver them from the Philiftines, and continue them a nation and kingdom: the confirmation of all this, this title or of the Lord is given, rhe frreiigth of I/rael; he cannot lie, which is the effect of weaknefs; repent or change his mind, asmen do, when fomething unforefeen arifes;
ifrael*, that gives firmnels, permanency, and duration to them; all which is true of J/rael in a ritual fenfe; he gives them {piritual ftrength, victory over their enemies, fin, Satan, and the world, permanent duration, everlafting falvation, tality, and eternal life: for be zs not a man, that be Jbould repent; men are weak and feeble, and can’t perform what they purpofe or promife, and therefore repent; but God, the ftrength of J/rae able to perform whatever he has purpofed or promifed, and therefore repents not; men are changeable in their minds, and repent of their firft thoughts and defigns; but God is unchangeable, and never alters his counfels, breaks his covenant, reverfes his bleflings, repents of his gifts, nor changes his affections to his //rael. Abarbinel fays this may be underftood of Saul, and fo be given as a why God would not repent of the evil he had thteatened hini with, becaufe he was a man that re-Jas pented not of his fin; but the firft-fenfe is beft, and agrees with, and is confirmed by Numd. xxiii. continued king; and that he might do what Saal hadjhad neglected to do, deftroy 4gag: and Saul workingdom'fhipped the Lord; dlone; by offering facrifice to him.; RA, y. 32. Then faid Samuel, bring you hither to me 4gag the king of the Amalekites, &c.] This he aid very ptobably to fome of Saul’s officers, and in and for;his prefence, and before all the people met togecharacter ther for facrifice: and Agag came unto him delicatehencely 5 fat and plump, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, nor‘and yet trembling, as that and the Septuagint; well;dreffed, in the garb and habit of a king, and with which hinders the fo nal hele air and majefty of one; or with pleafure and weak-jjoy, as Kimchi, chufing rather to die, than to be and hence God would 'a captive, and live in fuch reproach as he did; ‘though R. J/aiah and Ben Gerfoin give the fenfe of. and,it, that he came bound in chains, and fetters of. the iron, according to the ufe of the word in Fob XEKV i. 31. and Agag faid, furely the bitterne/s of more, ‘death is pajt, this he faid, either as not expecting to'to die, that fince he had been fpared by Saul, the or the eternity of king of the nation, a fierce and warlike prince, he had nothing to fear from an ancient man anda fpi-jprophet, and who now bore not the fword of juftice; and efpecially when he came into his prefence, and faw his form, which fhewed him to be immor-ja man of clemency and mercy, as Ben Gerfom obferves: or as expecting it, and fo Kimchi interprets it to this fenfe, she ditternefs of death is come; and is near at hand, and will be ioon over;, isjor fuggefting that that which was bitter, to others grievous and terrible, was to him fweet and defireable; but the former fenfe feems beft by what follows.
tion of their firft defign, and which through nefs they can’t furmount;
fupport J/rae/ as ‘a nation, and ftrengthen them againft their enemies, and work-deliverance falvation for them: or the vidfory of I/rael*, author of J/rael’s victories, and to whom they Are to be afcribed, and who is able to give them and would; and ashe did efpecially by David, whom the kingdom is promiled:
y¥. 33. And Samuel faid, as thy fword bath made women childlefs, &c.] Or, bereaved * them, not of their children only, but of their hufbands alfo, and {o made them both childlefs and widows; by which reafonjit appears that he was a cruel pririce, and juftly died for his own barbarity and wickednefs, as well for the fins of his anceftors 400 years ago: /o /ball thy mother be childlefs dmong women, which was according to the law of retaliation, and what
19. the Hews call meafure for meafure: and Samuel
¥.30. Then he faid, 1 have finned, &c.] So he had faid before, y. 24. but his confeffion bewed Agag in pieces béfore the Lord in Gilgal; therefeither before the ark of the Lord, the fymbol A
_ ptophet is faid to be by '‘Manaffeb, king of Fudab,|than this, that Samuel after wards did nage. ht Sat go SAMUEL Chote the divine prefence; or before the altar ‘where ¥. 35. And S asad % salle ts 0, 1,8 aed Saul and biel people ‘had been facrificing; this he the day of his death, Be] Or added i + ie afunder, as’ fome by Caligula", and as Jaiab the to which it is thought the apoftle alludes, Hed, 3%. According to Ben Gerfom, the word fignifies he cleaved him, as wood is eleatee i or id Ses him into four’ parts, as Yarchi;
¥. 34. Then Samuel went to Ramab, &c.] * His native place, and where was his ufual refidence: and Saul went up to his boufe to Gibeab of Saul; which was alfo ‘his birth-place, and where was his father’s houfe, and where he had his palace, and kept his court; and took its name from him, diftinguith it from another Gibeah, and fo Fofephus The meaning of the expreffion here is ne xi.,as he ufed to do; he did not go to him, to ZV him his advice and counfel, as he. wonted. La sre Samuel get. nts Nati becanie SP heae perhaps he flewjhis impenitence, and hypocrify; and_ ale thelofs of the kingdom to him, and And cums: land he “might be concerned alfo about his) eternal welfare; for he appears to have a nate Gai for him, and was far from envying hi a val, and rejoicing at his fall.: avd ei ‘wepente ed that he made Saul king over Trael 3) nor was his mind altered, neither by the hypocritical confe!- tojfion of Savi, nor by the cordial prayersvai ars of Samuel; fee ¥. rr. Ree ee him with the ford, and then alianered him; that is, ordered it to be done..
.: 7 4 é ‘ i fe AG fays it was called Gabathfaoule, and was about 30.) bi as Ps furlongs from Ferufalem™. ae eee fs 22; YT neaeig’ pn Sy Balik “if wo? 1 Dok Stogiticy CH APSOXVE ol us Sib ates ie this chapter Samuel is ordered to anoint a king, Ruth iv. 21, 22. for I have provided me, 4, king:: vo 48 ADS WAS, LEs all whofe fons were made to pafs before him, exferved for an after-difcovery 5 however | had in amufician to Saul, and alfo became his armourgiven in wrath, and the othe the abundance of gifts beftowed on David, and the) the fen | firmnefs and duration of his Kingdom: and £0, and there was a Davis flain in t ton. in vita ej.. fe Binal uaweilt ab ‘ 12 Chl CAF anny sch ocd ape eg t FloriHift. Lj. ¢62t- 8 Sueton i re Pe be « msTes Ape Nye non addidit ad yidendum, Montanus, ute therefore Saul would make no enquiry into his reafon of going thither with an heifer, and this is commended both by him and débarbinel.
¥. 3. And call Feffe to the facrifice, &c.] His family, both him and his fons, to partake of the peace-offerings; as every offerer had a right to invite his friends, and whomfoever he pleafed, to eat of thofe parts of them which belonged to him, as a feaft before the Lord: and I will foew thee seat thou foalt do; when Feffé andhis family were with him: aad thou foalt anoint unto me him whom 1 name unto thee; that is, anoint him to be king over I/rael, whom he fhould point out fo plainly to him, asif he called him by name.
¥.4. And Samuel did that which the Lord /pake, &c.] He filled a horn of oil, and took an heifer with him: and came to Bethlebem; where Feffe and his family lived, which, according to Bunting’,
Lord’s anointed is before him; or this is the perfon it is his pleafure fhould be anointed king.
¥. 7. But the Lord faid to Samuel, &c.) By a fecret impulfe upon his mind, as if he had fpoken with an articulate voice to him: look not on bis countenance; which was comely and majeftic: or on the height of bis fiature; which was like that of Sauls, and becaufe the Lord had chofen him, who was fuperior to the people in this refpeét, Samuel thought he meant to have fuch an one now anointedking: becaufe I have refufed him’, or it is not my pleafure that he fhould be king; though Bez Gerfom thinks this refers to Sau/, that the Lord had rejected him, though of an high ftature, and therefore Samuel fhould not look out for fuch a perfon to be king 5 and Abarbinel refers it to the height of ftature itfelf, that God had rejected that, and laid it afide asa qualification of a king, or as arule to was 16 miles from Ramah; though it could hardly judge of a proper perfon to be a king 5 but no doubt be fo much, fince Ramah was 6 miles from Feru- it refpected Eliab: forthe Lord feeth mot as man falem on one fide, as Bethlebem lay 6 miles from it /eeth, man only fees what is without, but the Lord on the other *: and the elders of the town trembled at his coming; for he being now an old man, and feldom went abroad, they concluded it muft be fomething. very extraordinary that brought him thither; and they might fear that as he was a prophet of the Lord, that he was come to reprove them, or denounce fome judgment upon them for their fins. The Targum is, ** the elders of the city gathered together to meet him;” out of refpect and in honouf to him, and tothe fame fenfe Jarchi’s note is, ** they hafted to go out to meet him;” fee Hof. xi. 11. and faid, comeft thou peaceably? the word /aid is fingular; one of the elders put this queftion, the chiefeft of them, perhaps Fe fe;
and the meaning of it is, whether he came with ill news and bad tidings, or as difpleafed with them himfelf on fome account or another; or with a meffage from God as difpleafed with them; or whether he came there for his own peace and fafety, to be fheltered from Sau]; and which, if that was the cafe, might not be for their peace and good; but would draw upon them the wrath and vengeance of Saul; for they doubtlefs knew that]
there was a variance, at leaft a fhynefs, between Saul and Samuel.
¥. 5. And he faid, peaceably I am come to facrifice unio the Lord, &c.]) Which he could fay with truth, it being one end of his coming, though not the only one for which he came, and which he was not obliged to tell: /anctify yourfelves, and come with me to the facrifice; prepare themfelves for it, which was done by wafhing their garments, &c. and then attend with him, and affift him in the fa- fees what is within; only the outward vifible form of the body. is feen by man, but the inward qualifications and endowments of the mind are feen by the Lord: for man looketh on the outward appearance; the comelinels of a man’s petfon, the ma- Jefly of his countenance, the tallnets of his ftature, and bignefs of his body, things which recommended men to be kings among the nations of the world; fee the note onch. ix. 2. or Zo the eyes* 5 the livelinefs, and brifknefs, and fharpnefs of them, thereby to judge of the fagacity and penetration of the mind, as Phyfognomifts do; who guefs at the difpofition of men by them, when they are fimall or great, watry or dry, of this or the other colour >: dut the Lord lovketh on the heart; and knows what is in that, what wifdom and prudence, juftice and integrity, mercy and goodnefs, and other princely qualifications are in that. The Fewifh writers conclude from hence, that the heart of Eliab was not right 3. it may be full of wrath, pride, enyy, &c. which difqualified him for government.
y¥. 8. Then Feffe called Abinadab, &c.|] His fecond fon, ch. xvii. 13. and made him paJs before Samuel; that he might take a full view of him: and he faid, neither bath the Lord chofen this; which he knew by a private fuggeftion from him.
¥. 9. Then Felfe made Shammab to pafs by, &c.] His third fon, ch. xvii. 13. fometimes called Shimma, and Shimeah, 1 Chron: ii. 13. 2 Sam, xiii. 3. and he faid, neither bath the Lord chofen this; which he knew in the, fame way as before.
¥.10. Again Felje made feven of bis fons pafs be- crifice: and he fantiified Feffe and his fous, and calfore Samuel, &c.| Not 7 more, for he had but 8 led them to the facrifice; he ordered them to fanctify themfelves; he diftinguifhed them from the reft of the inhabitants, and invited them to partake of the feaft, the remainder of the peace-offerings.; t 6. And it came to pals when they were come, &c.] Feffe and his fons, into the houfe where the entertainment was; and perhaps before they fat down, went into 2 private apartment by the direction of Samuel, where he acquainted Feffe with the bufinefs he came upon: that be looked on Eliad;
fons in all with David, ch. xvii. 12. but four more, which with the other three made feven; three of thefe four are mentioned by name, Nzthanael, Raddai, and Ozem, x Chron. ii. 14, 156 but the fourth we no where’ read of; perhaps he diéd quickly after this, was an obfcure perfon, and of no fame and note, or might be by another woman: and Samuel faid unto ‘feffe, the Lord hath nat chofen thefe; not any oneof them.
y. 11. And Samuel faid unto Feff2, are bere all thy children? &c.] For neither. of thefe being the per- who was Fefe’s firft-born, 1 Chron. ii. 13. called fon God would have anointed king, and yet it was one of Fefe’s fons that was to be anointed, cluded he mutt have more, at leaft one more, and therefore puts this, queftion to him: and he faid, there remaineth yet the youngeft, or, the little one*;
not of a little diminutive ftature; for he was a mighty man, a man of ftrength, courage, and valour, y. 18. or of a puerile age, for the Jews fay _ he was now 29 years of age.; but that is not likely, he hardly exceeded more than 20, or was fo much; thereabout he might be; but he iso called becaufe he was the youngelt fon, as we render it:
and behold, be keepeth the foeep; and from following them, he was taken and anointed king; fee Py. Ixxviii. 70, 71. v been taken from ruftic employment, as Mofes, Gideon, Saul, and others: and Samuel faid unto Feffe, fend and fetch him; out of the field by a meflenger: for we will not fit down till be come bither, that is, at table, to eat of that part of the peace-offerings which belonged to the offerer Samuel, and which he had invited ‘Yeffe and his fons to partake of. y.12. And be fent and brought bim in, &c.] Sent meflengers into the field and to the flock for him, and being come home Fefe introduced him into the room where Samuel was: now be was ruddy; which fome underftand not of the ruddinefs of his complexion, or of his cheeks, but of the rednefs of his hair; the former feems belt: and withal of a beautiful countenance; of comely features: or deaxtiful eyes*; bright, clear, and fparkling 5 eyes that are black or blue are reckoned beautiful: and goodly to look to; of a pleafant,countenance, delightful to behold; he carried fweetnefs as well as majefty in his face;. in this he was a type of Chri?, Cant.
_v. 10, 16.. A beautiful afpect, as. well as fhape and tallnefs,. recommended. perfons for government, as with the Ethiopians, as Ariftotle ‘relates; fo 4gamemnon is reprefented by Priamus * for his perfonable appearance, as like a king, and fit to be one: and the Lord faid, arife, anoint him, for this is be; that he had fpoken to him of, and who it was his pleafure fhould be anointed king; and therefore by a fecret {trong impulfe upon his mind, was put upon doing it immediately, without any hefitation or de- Tay. - 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, &c.] Out of his. pocket, which he brought along with him by the direction of God: and anointed him in the midft of bis brethren; not in the prefence of them, they fitting around, or ftanding by and feeing the ceremony performed; which is not confiftent with the fecrecy with which Samuel was directed to manage this affair, and which was neceflary to.obferve, to keep it from the knowledge of Sau/; and with Eliab’s treatment of David afterwards, who would never have addrefled him in the manner he did, had he known that he was anointed king, ch. xvii, 28. but the fenfe is, according to Kimchi and dbarbinel, that he was, felected out of them, and feparated from them, and.privately anointed by. Samuel, and at moft only his father Fefé prefent; wherefore fome obferve, that the words may be rendered, anointed him from the midft of bis brethren*®; thatis, he took. him apart from them, and anointed him: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward; not asa fpirit’ of grace and holinefs, which probably had come upon him before this time; but a fpirit of prophecy, as did on Sau/ after his unétion; and which particularly fhewed itfelf in mufic and poetry, in which he
Some of the greateft of men have and of the Yarantula,’ but for eafing the pains immediately became very eminent, and he was 2.
ken notice of for it, and which was the shi bringing him into Saa/’s court; and a fpirit of dont and prudence, in civil as well as in facred things; gnd a fpirit of fortitude, as the Zargum, of ftrength of body, and courage and valour of mind;. whereby he was enabled to encounter with che lion and bear, and get the maftery of them;
which with all other gifts of the Spirit fitting him for government, he was now endowed with, and which continued with him: /o Samuel rofe up, and went to Ramah; his native place, and where he fefided; that is, after the feftival of the peace-offerings, to which Yeffe and_his fons were invited; for the anointing feems to be before that. ay ¥.14. But the Spirit of thé Lord departed from Saul, &c.] ‘As a fpirit of prophecy as at firft, asa fpirit of wifdom and prudence in civil govern-.
ment, and as a fpirit of fortitude and courage, as the Targum: and an evil /pirit from the Lord troubled bim; the reverfe of the former, which by the permiffion of God, and as a punifhment to him for bis fins, came tpon him; he feemedto be a demo- - niac, as Fofepbus reprefents* him, as if poflefied with the d:vil; by whom he was almoft fuffocated and ftrangled, as well as was diftraéted in his counfels,,and became weak and fvolith; loft all courage and greatnefs of mind, was timorous and fearful, and ftarted at every thing, and’ was full of envy, fufpicion, rage, and defpair. 4 ee
¥.15. And Saul’s fervants faid unto him, &c.] His courtiers, who. obferving him to act in a frantic manner,.to be dull and melancholy, timorous, and irrefolute, unfteady, divided and diftreffed; or his phyficians, who were called in to affift him, and remove his diforder from him: debold, now an evil [pirit from God troubleth thee; the diforder was not from any natural caufe, or any bodily difeafe, and therefore out of the reach of phyficians to do’
any fervice, but was from an evil {pirit fuffered of God to harrafs and difturb him. -
‘¥.16. Let our lord now command thy fervants, which are before thee, &c.] Meaning either them+
felves, or fome of a more inferior rank, who were in fomé poft and office at Court, waiters there, fuch as yeomen of the guards: to feek out a man Who is @ cunning player on the harp; a mufical inftrument much in ufe in thofe days: and it foall come to pafs when the evil [pirit from God is upon thee; when in a melancholy mood,. and Sataw takes the advantage of it to diftrefs and terrify, to fpread the gloom, and ftir up evil paffions, and promote diftraétior and confufion: that be fall play with bis band upon the harp, that being not an inftrument of wind, but of hand-mufie: and thou foalt be well 5 mufic being a means of cheéaring she bis and things, and fo of reftoring to better health gloomy apprehenfions of 3 > and ¢ ealth of body ‘and difpofition of mind; and that mufi¢has fuch an effect on the bodies and minds of menis certain from obfervation and fic has been found to be medicine to various d eafes, not only for the curing of the bite of vi the fciatica, and for helping perfons labouring under the diforders of the phrenzy *; and Pythagoras ufed to compole the mind, and remov the perturbations ‘of it, “by the ufe of the harp ', the thing here advited to, a