SAMUEL. Chxsiiv¥.as—a9.
of Saui’s departure in queft of David, to penetrate into the tribe of Benjamin, where his patrimony, ~ refidence and court were, and which were liable ~ to fall into their hands; and therefore his prefence was immediately required, and hafte was ne-— ceflary. Rew ¥. 28. Therefore Saul returned from purfuing after David, &c.] Stopped fhort at once, as foon as ever he received the meflage: and went againft the Philiftines; to {top them in their progrefs, and drive them out of his country: therefore they called that place, Selab-hammablekoth; which fignifies the rock of divifions. David and his men, very probably, gave it this name, not only becaufe it” divided between Sau] and his men, and David and his men, when they were one on one fide of it, and the other on the other fide of it; but becaufe Sau] was, by the providence of God, divided and feparated from David here, whereby he efcaped falling into his hands. The Targum is, ‘¢ therefore they called that place the rock of divifion, the place where the heart of the king was divided to go here and there:” he was divided jn them: and David made bafte to get away for fear of his own mind, and at a lofs what to do; he was
Saul; he fled on one fide of the mountain, whilft Saul was purfuing him on the other, and haftening to get round unto him: for Saul and bis men compaffed David and bis men round about to take them; he took methods by dividing his troops, and fending them different ways to furround David and his men, and had very near effected it.
¥.27. But there came\a meffenger unto Saul, &c.) From his court, by order of his council there; though the ews ‘ fay it was an angel from heaven; but be it which it will, it was certainly the providence of God that directed this affair, that a mefienger fhould come to Sau/ juft at that very time, that David was like to fall into his hands: faying, hafte thee, and come, for the Philiftines have invaded the land; were come into it, and {pread themfelves in it, as the word fignifies, which expreffes their numbers they had poured in, the force they came with, and the poffeffions they had already got; perhaps they had taken the advantage in two minds, as Jarchi fays, and did not know ~ which to follow, whether to return and deliver his country from the hands of the Pdilifines, or to purfue and take David; and others reprefent the ioldiers of Saul as divided, fome faying that fince the fon of Jefe was juft falling into their hands,’ they fhould not leave him; others, that the war of Ijrael thould be regarded before him, who might be found at any time*% ~ pe. ¥.29. And David went up from thence, 8c.] From the wildernefs of Maon, having had a narrow efcape for his life: and dwelt in ftrong holds in ~ Engedi; another place in the tribe of Yuadeh, and which lay in the wildernefs of fudah, and from whence that is called the wildernets of Engedi; and here Dr. Lightfoot“ thinks he penned the 63° pfalm, the wildernefs about Engedi being the moft defart of all other places, that being upon the borders of the dead fea; of this place, fee the note on
AUL being returned from following the PJiliftines, renews his purfuit after David, ¥.1,2. them out of his country, and purfued them to their own: that it was told bim, faying, behold, David and they meeting in a cave, where David had the opportunity of taking away the life of Seu/, which his men prefied him to, yet only cut off the fkirt of xxiii. 29.
his robe, ¥. 3—8. which, calling after him, he held up to him, to convince him he had his life in his hands, but fpared it, ¥. 9, 10. upon which he very pathetically reafons with him about the unreafonablenefs and unrighteoufnefs of his purfuit after him, to take away his life, ¥. r1—15. which fo affected Saul, that he confefled he was more righteous than he, and owned that the kingdom would be his, and only defired him to fwear to him not to cut off his offspring, which David did, and fo they parted, ¥. 16—22.
v.11. And it came to pafs when Saul was returned from following the Philiftines, &c.] Having, as it fhould feem, got the victory over them, and driven t Midrath apud Yalkat in loc.
is 1” the wilderne/s of Engedi; in the ftrong holds of it, the high rocks and mountains in it; ch.
¥. 2. Then Saul took 3000 chofen men out of all Ifrael, &c.| Out of his army, with which he hed been purfuing the Philiftines: and went to feek David, and bis men, upon the rocks of the wild goats; which were in the wildernef$ of Emgedi, thofe rocks were exceeding high and terrible to look at, full of precipices, and fo prominent, that to travellers they feemed as if they would fall into the adjacent vallies, that it even ftruck terror into them to look at them; * called the rocks of wild goats, because thefe creatures, called from hence rupicapre, or rock-goats, fee fob xxxix. 1. delighted to be there; and are, as Pliny” fays, of fuch prodigious fwiftnefs, that they will leap from mountain to mountain, and back again at pleafure; thefé mountains
David and his men chofe for fafety, and the height and craggednefs of them did not deter Sau/ and his men from feeking him there. — ¥. 3. And be came to the foeep-cotes by the way, where was a cave, &c.] For the fheep to be led _$nto at noon, to fhelter them from the heat; fuch “was the cave of Polyphemus, obferved by Bochart *, in which fheep and goats lay down and flept; fee the note on Zepd. ii. 6. and Saul went in to cover his feet; the Targum is, to do his necefiaries; and fo Fofepbus*; and the Few commentators generally underftand it of eafing nature; and as the Faltern people ufed to wear long and loofe garments, thefe, when they performed fuch an action, they ufed in modefty to, gather them. clofe about them, that no part of the body, their feet, and efpecially the parts of nature which fhould be concealed, might be feen; but the Syriac and Arabic verfions render it, and there he lay or flept; which fuggeft, that his going into the cave was in order to take fome fleep and reft, when it was ufual to cover the feet, both to prevent taking cold, and the private parts of the body being expoled to view; and this. accounts better for Sau/ not hearing David’s men in the cave, and for his being infenfible of David's cutting off the {kirt of his garment, and beft agrees with the ufe of the phrafe in Fudg. iti. 24. the only place befides this in-which it is ufed; fee the note there: and David and bis men remained tn the fides of the cave; unfeen and unobferved by Saul, even 600 of them; nor need this feem ftrange, fince in thofe parts of the world there were caves exceeding large, made fo either by nature or art. Vanfleb” {peaks of a cave in Egypt fo extraordinary large, that, without hyperbole, 1000 horfe might there draw up in battle-array, and of another larger than that; and Strabo fays‘, that towards Arabia and /turea are mountains difficult to be pafied, and in which are deep. caves, one of which would hold 4000 men: and as the mouths of thefe caves were generally narrow, and the farther parts of them large, and alfo dark, perfons at the entrance of them could be feen, when thofe in the more remote parts could not; and this cave is faid to be extremely dark *, which accounts for Saul’s being feen when he came into the cave, whereas David and his men could not be feen by him. ¥.4. And the men of David faid unto him, &c.| Some of his principal men, who were about him, and near him, fuch as foab and Adifhai: bebold, the day of which the Lord faid unto thee, now the time was come that he {poke of to him by Samuel, or Gad, or to himfelf directly: debold, I-will deliver thine enemy into thine band; and fuch was Saul, as appeared by his feeking to take away his life; and now he was inthe hand of David to take away his life, if he plealed: that thou mayeft do to him as it foall feem good unto thee, an opportunity of this kind now offered: then David arofe; from that part of the cave in which he was, the farther part of it: and cut off the frirt of Saul’s robe privily; unawares to him, and unobferved by him, which "might be eafily done, if Sau? was afleep, and it is probable he was; and by the fame way it may be accounted for, that he did not hear the difcourfe that paffed between David and his men, | ¥. 5. And it came to pafs afterward, that David's beart [mote him, 8&c.] His confcience accufed him, and he repented of what he had done: Jdecau/e be bad cut off Saul’s fkirt, which though lefs than.
have thoughts of doing, yet was confidered by him as a great indignity to his fovereign, and therefore fat uneafy on his mind.
¥.6. And he faid unto his men, &c.} When he returned and brought the -fkirt of Saul’s garment in his hand; or elfe he faid this before that, tho’ here mentioned, when they moved it to him to difpatch him, as he had a fair opportunity of doing it: God forbid that I foould do this thing unto my mafter, the Lord’s anointed, and which ke could not think of but with deteftation and abhorrence, fince he was his fovereign Lord and mafter, and he a fubject of his, and was anointed by the order of God, and his perfon facred: to ftretch forth my hand againft him; to take away his life; to cut off the fkirt of his garment gave him uneafinefs, but to flay him, the thought of it was fhocking to him: feeing he is the anointed of the Lord, anointed by Samuel to be king, by order of the Lord.
¥. 7.80 David flayed bis fervants with thefe words, &c.] Or pacified them, as the Zargum, and made them quiet and eafy in that he had not flain him, and reconciled their minds to his conduct, and re- {trained them from laying hands on him, by obferving to them, that he was the anointed of the Lord: and fuffered them not to rife againft Saul; to. take away his life; he not only argued with them, but laid his commands on them that they fhould not flay him: dut Saul rofe up out of the cave, and went on his way; he rofe from his fleep, and went cut of the cave unhurt, and proceeded on in the way he came to the fheep-cotes, and which led on farther, ¥. 3..
¥.8. David alfo arofe afterward, &c.] After Saul was gone: and went out of the cave; where he had been all the time that Sau/ had been in it: and cried after Saul; with.a loud voice: my Jord the king; by which titles Sau7 would know that he was called unto: and when Saul looked behind him; to fee who it was that called unto him: David ftooped with bis face to the earth, and bowed: giving reverence and honour to him asa king; fee the note on ch. xx. 41.;
¥.9. And David faid to Saul, wherefore heareft thou mens words, &c,.|. The falfe charges and accufations, that fome of Saul’s courtiers brought again{t David, as Doeg the Edomite, and fuch like fycophants and flatterers, to whom Sau/ hearkened, and believed what they faid, and a¢ted upon it. David chofe rather to lay the blame on Sau/’s courtiers than on himfelf; and he began with him in this way, the rather to reconcile him to him, and caufe him ro liften to what he had to fay: and reprefents them as faying to him, behold, David feeketh thy burt? feeks. to take away thy life, and feize upon thy crown and throne; than which nathing was more foreign from him. Pe y¥.10. Bebold, this day thine eyes have feen, &c.] Or may fee; there is full proof and evidence of ir, and which wHl be prefently fhown: bow that the Lord had delivered thee to-day into mine hand in the cave; from whence they were both juft come: and {ome bade me kill thee; fome of the men that were with David, fome of his officers or principal friends put him upon it, having a fair opportanity, and thinking it no evil, fince he was his enemy, and fought his life: or it faid, kill thee, my heart prompted me to it, that faid fo at firft, as Ben Gerfom interprets it; forme refer it to God, who in his providence faid fo, or fo it might be
* underftood by David, as if providence directed him to it, by giving him fuch an opportunity of doing it:.bu¢ mine eye fpared thee, had pity on him, and notwithftanding the fuggeftions of friends, and of his own heart at firft, or the feeming direction of providence,, yet he had mercy on him, |, and forbore flaying him: and I faid, I will-not put forth my band againft my lord, and king, whofe fubje& Lam: for be is the Lord’s anointed, the Lord has raifed him to this dignity; invefted him with the. office of a king, and as fuch I regard him, and therefore have refrained mine hand from him, from hurting him.
y.11. Moreover, my father, &c.] So, he was in a natural fenfe, as having married his daughter; and in a civil fenfe, as he was a king, and was, or ought to have been, the father of his country, and to treat his fubjects as his children, and David among the reft: fee, yea fee, the fkirt of thy robe in my band, look on it again and again; view it with the eyes of thy body intently, that thou mayett be fatisfied of it, and behold with the eyes of thy. mind and underftanding, and confider that I could as eafily have had thine head in my hand, as the fkirt of thy robe; and here fee an inftance and proof of the integrity and fincerity of my heart, and cordial affections to thee, and an evidence againft all the charges and accufations of my enemies, and that I have no ill defign upon thy perfon and life, and am far from feeking thy
hurt, as they fay: for in that I cut off the fkirt of
thy robe, and killed thee not, not only did that to fhew that he was in his power, but did not cut off his head, as he could: know thou, and fee, that there is neither evil nor tran[greffion in mine band; this might be a full conviction to him, that he had no ill, neither in his heart nor hand to do unto him: and I have not finned againft thee; done nothing to offend him, never acted againft his will, nor difobeyed any of his commands, or had been -guilty of one overt act of treafon or rebellion, but all the reverfe: ‘yet thou bunteft my foul, to take it; purfued him from place to, place, hunted him in the wilderneffes of Zipb and Maon, and upon the rocks of Engedi, as a partridge on the mountains; and lay in wait for him to kill him, as the Targum: he may be thought to have penned the /eventh pfalm at this time, or on this occafion; at leaft there are fome paflages in it, which feem to refer to his prefent circumftances.
' ¥. 12. The Lord judge between mé and thee, &c,| And make it appear who is in the right, and who in the wrong: and the Lord avenge me of thee; if he continued thus to perfecute him: du¢ mine hand foall not be upon thee, to kill thee, though it may be in my power again to do it,. as it has been; but this I am-determined upon, let me fuffer what
I will, I will not lay hands on thee to do thee‘any hurt,; but leave thee with God to requite all the evil done to me by thee.. ee
_¥. 13. As faith the proverb of the ancients, &c.) It is.an old faying, has been long’in ufe, and may be applied to the prefent cafe; or the proverd of the. ancient. one, of the oldeft man, the firft man.
Adaip, and.of all othérs after him, fo Kimebi 5 or of the: ancient ohe of the world, the ancient of days, wickedne/s proceederh from the Wicked; Asis a man; fo are, his actions’; if he is‘a wicked man, he’ll do wicked things 5a corrupt tree brings forth evil heart,.brings forth evil, things; and as if David to him; and though he was at fuch a becaufe of @ it be hereafter: or the fenfe of the proverb may
{pared it, which made-him Jiften attentively now my fon David, as he was by marriage
IL SAMUE L.. Chxxiv.y.11—16. fhould fay, if I had been the wicked: man as Tam he reprefented, I fhould have committed wickednefs; I fhould have made no confcience of taking away — thy life when it was in my power; but my hear would not fuffer me to.do iB but or and my ban all not be upon thee; as it has not been upon thee,. e fear of God in me, fo neither fhall be, the wickednefs that comes from a wicked man, that will kill him, or be the caufe of his ruin, or he will be flain by wicked men fuch as himfelf;
and this may be thy cafe, © king, unlefs thou re-_ penteft: but be that as it may, which I leave with the righteous judge, this I am determined on, mine hand foall not be upon thee, to take away thy life. _
¥. 14. After whom is the king of Ifrael come out?
&c.] From his court ant palace, with an army of.
men, andat the head of them: after whom doft thou purfue? with fuch eagernefs and fury: after @ dead dog,; as David was in the opinion, and according to the reprefentation of his enemies, a dog, vile, men, worthlefs, of no account; a dead dog, whofe name was made to ftink through the calumnies caft upon him; and if a dead dog, then as - he was an ufelefs perfon, and could do no good, fo neither could he do any hurt, not fo much as bark, much lefs bite; and therefore it was unworthy of fo great a prince, a leffening, a degrading - of himfelf, as well as a vain and impertinent thing to purfue after fuch an one, that was not worthy of his notice, and could do him neither good nor harm: after @ flea? a little contemptible animal, not eafily caught, as it is obferved by fome, and when caught good for nothing. David by this fimile fitly reprefents not only his weaknefs aad impotence, his being worthlefs, and of no account, and beneath the notice of fuch a prince as Sauls but the circumftances he was in, being obliged to move from place to place, as a flea leaps from one place to another, and is not eafily taken, and when it is, of no worth and value; fignifying, that as it was not worth ‘his pains to feek ps him, fo it would be to no purpofe, he fhould not be able to take him. “ae me ¥.15. The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, &c.| Signitying he did not defire to be judge in his own caufe, but leave it with God to determine it for him in his providence: and fee, and plead my caufe; Jook with pity upon him, take his caufe in his. hand, plead iat and do him juftice: and deliver me out of thine hand, which was a prayer of faith, believing he would do it in due time, fee Pf vii. 6, 8, 9,° 10, II, bce coming out of the cave, whom he expeéted no 3 and efpecially what awed and quieted him, was the fight of the fkirt of his robe in his hand, which was a fure token he had his life in’ his hand,”
David? he changes his language; bef re. ae he fpoke of David, it was ia fon o! x "
daughter, and aS appeared by his filial affeé ee from him, that he was not able to difcern his countenance, yet he knew his voice, at leaft fuppofed it to be his, as his queftion implies, and witich he might conclude from the whole of his difcourfe: and Saul lift up his voice, and wept, being affeCted /Aalt furely be king, &c.} Not merely by the common report} that he was anointed by Samuel, to which yet he might give credit; but by the providence of God proipering and preferving him, avid td him, ahd with hisjand by his princely fpirit and behaviour, and by deliverance from the danger he was in, and yetjcalling to mind what Samuel had faid to him, that without true repentance of his fins; forthere may|his kingdom fhould be given to a neighbour of be many tears fhed, where there is no real repentance, as in the cafe of E/au, y.17. And be faid to David, thou art more righteous than J, &c.} By which it appears he thought himéelf righteous, though David was more io; the righteou/nes of David was {fo glaring, that his ‘enemy himfelf being judge acknowledges it, but will not confefs his own wickednefs, having no true fenfe of fin, nor teal forrow for it: for thou haf rewarded me good, in tithes paft, and now; here- bis bercer than he, and fo David was by his own confeffion, ¥. 17. and the cutting off the fhirt of his garment might put him in remembrance of the renting of the fkirt of Samuel’s mantle, upon which he told Sau/ his kingdom fhould be rent from him; though fome think that was Sau/’s fkirt, and fo now he knew thereby; when David cut off his fkirt, chat the kingdom would be his; and it isa tradition of the Fews‘, that Samuel faid to him at that time, that he that cut off the fkirt of his gar- tofore in killing Goliath, fighting his battles for him againft the Pdilifines, driving the evil fpirit ‘from him, by playing on the harp before him, now by fparing his life, only cutting off the ‘of his garment, when he could with equal eafe} have cut off his head: whereas I have rewarded\&c. thee evil, in fecking to takeaway his life at various times, by cafting a javelin at him more than once, fending meffengers to kill him, -and hunting after him from place to place, to take him andjto ment, fhould reign after him: avd that the kingdom of //rael fhall be efiabdlijhed in thine hand, and not be andjrent from him; and yet notwithftanding ‘after this fkirtjhe fought to deftroy him.
¥.21. Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, By the Word of the Lord, as the Targum: ‘hat thou wilt not cut off my feed after me; as was utually done in defpotic governments in the eaftern countries, and is at this day, when one is advanced the throne of another, by. whom iffue is left, flay him. who may be rivals and competitors with him: and
¥.18. And.thou baft foewed this day how that thou hajt dealt well with me, &c.1 The cutting off of the fkirt of his robe only, when his life was'in his hand, was a clear proof and full demonftration of his dealing well with him, and might ciently convince him he had no ill defign upon him: fora/much as when the Lord bad delivered me into thine hand, thou killedft me not; plain proof. and evidence of his kindnefs to him, which he owns, and alfo the providence of God in this affair, which had delivered him into the hands of David; by which he might fee the Lord wasjfor for David, and againft him, and might have deterred him from feeking David’s hurt hereafter; that thou wilt not deftroy my name out of my fatber’s boufe; by cutting off his feed, the fame thing in different words repeated, for the confirmation of it; children bear the names of their fuffi-jfathers, and by them their memory is perpetuated, and cutting off them is deftroying the name of their parents.
this was al y.22. dud David fware unto Saul, &c.] That jhe would not cut off his pofterity; which oath he religioufly obferved, in {paring Mephibofheth, and in punifhing the murderers of [/bdojheth; and as the feven fons of Sau/, delivered up to the Gideonites, it may be queftioned whether they weré his genuine legitimate offspring; and if they were;
but it did not. it was by the appointment and command of God, y.19. For if a man find his enemy, will be let him go well away? &c.] Or in a good way*, in peace and fafety, without doing him any hurt; this is not ufual among men, and yet this was the prefent cafe; David had found his enemy Saul, which Saul tacitly owns, and yet had let him go well away from him, without hurting him: wherefore the Lord reward thee good, for that thou haft done unio me this day; he does not promife to reward him himfelf, but prays the Lord to reward him; and had he been fincere in it, he could not have done better for him. Some connect the former claufe with this, after this manner, if @ man find bis enemy, and let bim go away, the Lord will and according to his will and pleafure they were executed, who is not bound by the oaths of men, and to whom they muft be fubmitted, 2 Sam. xxi. 1, 14. and Saul went home; to his palace in Gibeah: but David and his men got them up unto the hold; in Engedi, ch. xxiii. 29. not trufting to Saul, whofe inconftancy, perfidy, cruel hatred and malice, David full well knew; and therefore thought it not fafe to return to his own houfe, nor to dwell in the open country, but in the wildernefs, and among the rocks, and in the caves there, fuch as were in the wildernefs of Engedi; and here, and at this time he penned the 57th pfalm.
reward him, the Lord reward thee, &c. fo the Syviac and Arabic verfions.
met with from Nadal; it begins with the death of Samuel, which was greatly lamented in J/rael and: his, y. 1.
it draws the chara¢ter of Nadal, and his wife, ¥. 2, 3. records a meffage of David to him, by his young men defiring he would fend him fome of his provifions made for his fheep-fhearérs, ¥. 4—9. and Naéa?’s ill-natured anfwer to him reported by the young men, which provoked David to arm againft him, ¥. 10-13, 215 22. and this being told Adigail, the wife of Natal, and a good character given of David and his men, and of the advantage Nabal’s fhepherds had received from them, and the danger his family was in through his in- * gratitude, ¥. 14—17. fhe prepared a prefent to pacify David, went with it herfelf; and addrefied him in a very handfome, affectionate and prudent manner, ¥.18—-31. and met with a kind reception, y¥.32—35.and the chapter is clofed with am account of the death of Naba/, and of the marriage of
’ x. 1. And Samuel died, &c.] In the interval, when Sauf and David were parted, and before they faw each other again; according to the Fewi/h chronology ®, Samuel died four months before Sau/;
HITS chapter gives an account of the death of Samuel, and of the ill treatment David|Cippi or garden belonging to it. The author of the Hebraici fays °, that here his father Elkanab, ther Hannah, and her two fons, were buried in a vault fhut up, with monuments over it; and here, fome fay?, Samuel’s bones remained, until removed by Arcadius the emperor into Thrace; Benjamin of Tudela reports, that when the chriftians took Ramlab; which is Ramab, from the Mabometans, they found the grave of Samuel at 'Ramab by a fynagogue of the Fews, and they took thim out of the grave, and carried him to Shilob, ‘and there built a large temple, which is called the Samuel of Shiloh to this day: and David arofe and went déwn to the wildernefs of Paran; on hearing of the death of Samuel, there to indulge his mourning for him; or rather that he might be in greater fatety from Sau/, being farther off, this wildernefs lying on the fouth of the tribe of 7udab, and inhabited by Arabs, and thef called Kedarenes, and now it was that he dwelt in the tents of Kedar, Pf. cxx. 5. Di, 4 ee y.2. And there was @ man in Macon, &c.] A city of the tribe of Fudab, from whenee the wil dernefs had its name, before mentioned; of which place, fee Fob. xv. 55. though Bem Gerfom takes it to fignify a dwelling place; and that this is obferved to fhew, that he did not dwell in a city, but otherZews/> writers fays", he died feven months before; Abarbinel thinks it was @ year or two before which is moft likely and indeed certain, fince David was in the country of the PAili/ftines after this a full year and four months, if the true fenfe of the phrafe is exprefled in ch. xxvii. 7. and Saul was not then dead; and fo another ¥ew7f4 ¢hronologer ‘fays, that Saul died two years after Samuel, to which agrees Clemens of Alexandria*; and according to the Jews’, he died the 20th of but had his habitation where his bufinefs lay, which was in Carmel, where his fields, gardens and vineyards were: wherefore it follows, whofe poffeffions were in Carmel; not Carmel in the tribe of JF /achar, but in the tribe of Judah, not far from don, and are mentioned together, Fob. xv. 55. fee the note there; his cattle were there, his fheep particularly, for they are afterwards faid to be fhorn there; or bis work *, his agriculture, his farming; where he was employed, or employed
Tjar, for which a faft was kept on that day: and all the Ifraclites were gathered together, and lamented him; his death being a public lofs, not only to the college of the prophets, over which he prefided, but to the whole nation; and they had reafon to lament his death, when they called to mind. the many good offices he had done them from his youth upwards; and when the government was in his hands, which was adminiftred in the moft prudent and faithful manner; and after that they had his wife counfel and advice, his good wifhes and prayers for them; and the rather they had Feafon to lament him, fince Sau/ their king proved fo bad as he did, and at this time a difference was fubfifting between David and him: and buried him in bis houfe at Ramab, where he lived and died; not that’he was buried in his houfe, properly fo cal- Jed, or within the walls of that building wherein: he dwelt; though the Greeks ™ and Romans" ufed to bury in their own dwelling-houfes; hence fprung ‘the idolatrous worfhip of the Lares» or houfhold gods; but not the Hebrews, which their laws about uncleannefs by graves would not admit of, fee others in fowing feed, and planting trees: and the. man was very great; in worldly fubftance, though not ia natural wifdom and knowledge, and efpecially in true religion and piety: aud be had 3000
|/heep, and 1000 goats; fo the fubftance of men in thofe times was generally defcribed by the cattle they had, whether of the herd or flock, in which it chiefly lay: avd be was (hearing bis fheep in Car~ mel; which was the cuftom in Fudea and Syria, and was a very ancient one, as early as the times of Fudab, yea of Laban, fee Gen, xxxi, 19. and xxxviii. 12, 13. though the old Romans ufed to pluck off the wool fronz the fheeps backs; hence. a fleece of wool was called vell/us a vellendo, from the plucking it off; and Pliny fays‘, in his time, that fheep were not fhorn every where, but in fome placesithe © cuftom of plucking off the wool continued; ‘and who elfewhere obferves *, that the time of thearing was in Sune or Fuly, or thereabouts; at which times a feaft was made, and it is for the fake of that this is obferved. 2 ¥. 3. Now the name of the man was Nabal, &c.} Which fignifies a fool; one would think his pa-
Nuinb. xix. I 6, 18. but the meaning is, that they buried him in the place where his houfe was, as Sen Gerfom interprets it, at Ramab, in fome field rents fhould not give him this name, though it is a name proper enough to men in common; and Kimchi thinks this was anick-name, which men
4 In Kimchi & Abarbinel in loc.
gave him, agreeable to his genius and conduct, and which is not improbable:
David fent his young men to him at this time with and the name of bis) his compliments upon it; and in order to obtain wife Abigail, which fignifies my father’s joy, he delighting in her for her wit and beauty, as follows: and jhe was a woman of good underftanding, what he intended by this meflage to him, he obferves the favours he and his men had done to his fervants, and the advantages which they had reand of a beautiful countenance; fhe was not only of ceived from them: now thy /hepherds which were a good underftanding in things natural, civil and domeftic, burt in things fpiritual, as her peech to
David fhews, and which, with her external form, compleated her character, and greatly recommend- with us feeding their fheep near the wildernefs of Paran, which was not far trom Carmel and Maon: we burt them not; by taking any of their fheep and lambs from them, or by abufing, beating them, ed her; which is the character 2/ianus* gives of Or giving theth ill language; or did not put them
Afpafia, wife and fair: but the man was churlifh and evil in bis doings; morofe and ill-natured in the temper and difpofition of his mind, and wicked in his converfation, and fraudulent and opprefflive in his dealings with men: and he was of.the houfe to foame*, by denying them any thing they afked of them, which was in their power to grant; nor mocked and fcoffed at them, and jeered them on account of their occupation: weither was there ought miffing unto them; they did not fteal a fheep of Caleb; or he was a Caledite”, a defcendant of or lamb from them, as was common for foldiers that great and good man Ca/eb the fon of Fepbunnee; which was an aggravation of his wickednefs, that he fhould be the degenerate plant of fuch a noble vine: fome interpret it, be was as bis heart, as his heart was bad, fo was he; fome men, their outfide is better than their infide; but this man was no hypocrite, he was as bad outwardly as he was inwardly; the word Ca/eb fometimes fignifies a dog; hence the Septuagint verfion renders it, a doggifh man, a Cynic; and to the fame purpofe are the Syriae and 4radic verfions; and fo fome to do; nor did they fuffer any.of thé drads, that dwelt in the wildernefs of Paraz, to rob them, who lived upon plunder, or any of the wild beafts to hurt them, as much as in them lay; fo careful were they of them, and were a wall unto them by night and day, as Nabdal’s fervants owned, y¥. 16. and this was the cafe, al/ the while they were in Carmel; or in the fields, ¥. 15. which were joining to the wildernefs of Paran.
¥.8. AR thy young men, and they will foew thee, &c.]The fhepherds before mentioned, who kept their
Fewifa writers interpret it; but the Targum, Farchi and Kimchi fupply it as we do, that he was of the houfe or family of Caleb, and fo of the tribe flocks hard by them: wherefore let the young men jind favour in thine eyes; the ten young men David fent to Nabal: fur we are come in a good day; a of Fudab, as David was.. ¥. 4 And David beard in the wildernefs, &c.] Jn the wildernefs of Paran, where he was, and a wildernefs it was to him, being in want of food, as the following relation fhews: that Nabal did focar his foeep, when there was generally good living, and fo a proper perfon, and a proper time for David to apply for the relief of his wants.
¥. 5. And David fent out ten young men, &c.] Such perfons, and fuch a number of them he fent to fhew honour and reverence to Nabal: and David faid unto the young men, get ye upto Carmel, which lay higher than the wildernefs, in which he was: and go to Nabal, and greet bim in my name; afk him of his peace and welfare, as the Targum;. wifh all health and happinefs in my name, prefent my fervice and beft refpects to him.
¥.6. And thus foall ye fay to him that liveth in profperity, &c.] That lives, whilft others, as David and his men, might be rather faid to ftarve than live; they lived in great meannefs, but he in great abundance, and therefore in a capacity to give to others, and particularly to relieve them: or the fenfe is, they fhould fay to him, ¢bus fhall it be, or may it be for Life; for the time of life, for the ear to come; at this time next year, at next cep-fhearing, mayeft thou, be in as great profpe- day in which Nadal made a feaft for his fhearers, as was ufual then, and ftill is, fee 2 Sam. xiii. 23—28. and at fuch times as perfons are genes rally chearful and merry, fo free and liberal; and as there were plenty of provifions, not only enough for the guefts and fhearers, but to fpare, and there was no need for an increafe of expence, it might upon the whole be concluded, it was a proper time for David to apply for accommodations for himfelf and his men: give, I pray thee, whatfoever cometh to thine hand unto thy fervants, and to thy fon David; he did not requeft any thing extraordinary of him, or to put him to any expence, but what was at hand, and he could fpare; he prayed him to deliver to the young men he fent, for their ufe, and the ufe of other his fervants, and particularly David, who ftiled himfelf his fon, being of the fame tribe with Nabal, and Nadal his fenior.
¥. 9. And when David's young men came, &c.} To Carmel: they fpake to Nabal according to all thofe words in the name of David; they. delivered their meflage punctually and exactly, in the very words, or however according to the purport of them, in David’s name, as he enjoined them:, and ceafed; from fpeaking, waiting for Nadal’s anfwer;-or. they refed’, from. the fatigues of their rity then as now, and even all the days of thy life: journey; which they did not until they had deli+ ”
peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine boufe, and peace be unto all that thou baft, that is, all profperity to thy perfon in foul and body, to thy family, wife, children and fervants, and let the fame.
attend thy. eftate, cattle, farms, fields, vineyards, and all, that belong to thee; and with for a bleffing on him, and his, and all that were his, or he had; a more extenfive one could not well be made.
vered their meflage to Nadal, and then they took the liberty to fit down and reft themfelves; but the former fenfe feems beft, and is. preferred by Maimonides*.
y.10, And Nabal anfwered David's fervants, and faid, &c.]. In a very haughty manner, in great wrath, juft as churlifh, covetous perfons do, when they don’t care to give what is afked of them;. who
And now I have heard that thou baftfaearers, &c.] Men employed in fhearing his theep, which is David? and who is the fon of Feffe? his two queftions which relate to the fame was a time of feafting and gladnefs, and therefore! agree together, fince by both he would fuggeit,. as
604 L sail ds if he khew not the perfor they cdmé from, and whofe name they made ufe of: had he ftopped at the firft queftion, it might have gone fo, but his fecond queftion betrays him, and plainly fhows he did know him, though he fpeaks with contempt of iim, calling him the fon of Yefé, as Saul often did. Abarbinel, of all interpreters, is of opinion only, that Nadal did not fay this difrefpectfully of David, and to his difhonour, he knew he was the Lord’s anointed, and the king’s fon-in-law; but the fenfe, according t6 him, is, who is David? and who is the fon of Feffe? are they not one man? but though he is the fon of Fe//2, and prides him- felf, faying, I fhall be king, I fhould not regard that, but would fend him corn, and bread, and food, as much as is needful for his own ufe; but what can I do when there are fo many fervants? for they are 600 of them, and they are too many to relieve: there be many fervants now a-days, that break away every man from bis mafer; which words alfo the fame writer thinks have no réferencé to David, only to his men; but they feem plainly to ftrike at David himfelf, and fuggeft that he had revolted from and rebelled againft Sau/ his mafter, as well as received and protected fugitives and runagates, fuch as fled from their mafters and from their creditors, fee ch. xxii. 2.
y. 11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, &c.] Which include all food and liquors, every thing eatable and drinkable; and water may be particularly mentioned, becaufe very fearce in the wildernefs, and fo precious; though the Septuagint verfion has wine inftead of water: and my
Sieh which I have killed for my shearers; whether oxen, or fheep, or lambs, as there might be. of each fort, for an entertainment made on fuch an occafion: and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? which is another argument Abarbinel makes ufe of, that he meant not David, but his men only, becaufe he did not know who and from whence they were.
¥.12. So David's young men turned their way, &c.] Their backs on him, without making any reply; and though they did not return railing for railing, they treated him with filent contempt; and though they did not offer to do any injury to his perion, nor to take any thing away by force, yet they were determined to report this ufage to David, who they doubted not would avenge the affront put on him and them: and went again; to the wildernefs from whence they came: and came and told bim all thefe fayings; rude and reproachful ones, juft as they were delivered.
¥. 13. And David faid unto bis men, &c.] Provoked to the laft degree to have fuch a rude, churlifh anfwer returned, to fuch a civil and humble meffage he had fent: gird: you on every man bis {word; and prepare to march and chaftize Nadal for his infolence: and they girded on every man bis feword; in obedience to David, and in vindication of his honour: and their own: and David aljo girded on bis fword; in order to march at the head of them, fired with indignation at the affront given him: and there went up after David about 400 men; out of the:600 he had with him, ch. xxiii. 13. and 200 abode by the ftuff; the bageage in‘ their canip; the Targum is, they ‘* were left to watch tlie veflels;” the things neceffary for their ufe, for the dreffing Of their food, their bedding, &c.
y.14. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, &c.] Not one of David's young
UE L. Ch.xxviv.11—17. men, as what follows fhows, but one of Nabal’s young men or fervants, one of thofe David directs him ‘to for the truth of what he faid, y. 8. this was one of thofe that had been employed in feeding fheép in the wildérnefs, where David was, and knew him, but was now at Carmel, and was prefent when David’s meffengers came to Nadal, and was privy to what paffed: faying, David fent meffeagers out of the wilde?nefs to falute our mafter; in a very kind and handfome manner, to afk of his peace and welfare, and to wifh him all happinefs and profperity; or majffers”, mafter and miltrefs, inéluding both Nadal and Abigail: and be railed on them’; gave them very abufive language, reprefented David ahd his men‘as a parcel of fcoundrels; fugitives ‘and ruf-away fervants; or be flew at them *, or upon them, in gteat wrath and fury, calling them hard names, bidding them be gone about their bufifefs; the allufion is to a ravenous bird, which will fly at perfons when it apprehends its young in any danger. © a ¥.15. But the men were very good unto us, &c.} Very kind and civil, yea very ufeful and ferviceable, even all the meflengers David fent, and Nabal railed on, yea all David’s men, and therefore deferved bettér treatment than they mét with from” Nabal: and we were not burt; neither by them nor others: either miffed we any thing; of our flocks, or any thing belonging to us; they neither robbed us themfelves, nor fuffered others’ to rob” us: a5 ling as we were converfant with them, when we were in the fields, feeding the fheep by them; thus he confirms every thing that David faid of. himfelf and his men, ¥. 7. fee the note there; and fays even more of them to their commendation, as follows. ': 7 -
¥. 16. They were a wall unto us both by night
and day, &c. | Protecting and defending them againft the Péilifines, who, as they robbed the threfhing-floors of Keilab, would have plundered. the flocks of Nadal; or it may be rather againft’ the incurfions of the Arabs in the wildernefs of Paran, the pofterity of I//mael, who lived by plunder, and againft the wild beafts of the defert, who otherwife would have carried off many of their fheep and lambs, by night or by day: all the while - we were with them keeping the foeep; all which fhewed how reafonable it was that Nadal fhould have ufed them well, and given them a portion of his entertainment at his fheep-fhearing; for had it not been for them, he would not have had fo many fheep to fhear as he ‘had. sede y¥. 19. Now therefore know and confider what thou wilt do, &c.] For the prefervation of her family:” for evil is determined againft our mafter, and againft all his houfoold, which he concluded, either from”
fomething that dropped from David’s ‘meffengers, ”
as they turned away from Nadal; or from the martial fpirit of David ‘himfelf, who would never put up fuch an affront and indignity caft upon him; or from fome intelligence he had of David’s arming his men, and marching to take vengeance: for be is fuch @ fon of Belial, that a man canndt peak to him; meaning Nabal, who was’ fuch a worthlefs, paffionate and ill-natured man, fuch a’ lawlefs and’
fpeak to him about any thing and it was to no~ i? | purpofe to attempt it, which was'a reafon this fervant did not chufe to fpeak to him about this af-" fair, but to Abigail; and fuggefts, that “it would fignify nothing for her to fpeak to him about it, —
ERA YN & involavit in 60s, Coceti Lex. col. Gop.
but it would be moft advifeable for her to confider with herfelf what was to be done immediately, without confulting him: the words may be rendered, for be is a fon of Belial that [peaks unto bim’*, or when be /peaks unto him, or it is told him; meaning not the fervant that reported to David what Nabal {aid; for Abarbinel obferves, there were ten of them, and therefore it could not be faid of them, he is a ion of Belial; but rather David himfelf, as he, and Kimchi oblerve, it may be interpreted of; that tho’ he was fo good and upright a man, yet when it fhould be told him howWeada/ had treated him, he would be fo provoked at it, that he would become and att like a fon of Belial, ttorm and rage, and vow deftruction to Nadal and his family, and come out with his whole army to deftroy them; but the firft fenfe is beft. ¥.18. Then Abigail made bafte, &c.| As the cafe required, her family being in imminent danger: and took 200 leaves; of bread; of what bignefs or ~ weight they were is not faid; though it may be reaionably concluded they were pretty large, fince they are not called cakes but loaves, and fince they were to be a prefent to David and his men, who were numerous: and two bottles of wine; not fuch as ours are, which would have born no’ proportion to the reft of the provifion; but thefe were leathern bags which held a large quantity, in which they put and carried wine in thofe times and countries; the Septuagint verfion is, two veffels or cafks of whe: and five /oeep ready dreffed, killed and dreffed _ by the butcher, or made ready by the cook, boiled or roafted; the word which the Zargum ufes, according to the interpretation of Yarchi, from one of their Rabdins, fignifies fuch as were ftuffed with {mall pieces of meat, and eggs in them, or, as it fhould feem, made into pafties: and five meafures ‘of parched corn; or five feahs, a meafure which held, according to bifhop Cumberland °, two wine gallons, four pottles, and a little more; of this parched corn, fee the note on ch. xvii. 17. where mention is made of an ephah of it; and the. Septuagint verfion has the fame meafure here, and them five ephahs of flour: and 100 clufters of raifins, or dried grapes, as the Targum; the Septuagint is, one omer of them, which was the tenth part of an epbab: and 200 cakes of figs; which were dried, and preffed, and made into lumps, and fhe took 200 of 'thefe; or, as the Targum, 200 pound: weight of them: and laid them on affes one not being fufficient to carry all this provifion.
¥. 19. And foe faid to her fervants, go on before me, &c.] With thé prefent, the fight of which fhe wifely confidered would ima great meafure pacify David, and prepare him to hear patiently what fhe had to fay to him: behold, I come after you; fignifying it would not be long ere fhe came up to them, and overtook them: but fhe told not ber bujband Nabal, neither the danger he and his fa- ' mily were in through his conduét, nor the preparations fhe had made to prevent it; knowing his perverfe and obftinate difpofition, that it would take up too much time to reafon with him, andj perfuade him, and bring him into proper meafures; and which may be obferved to excufe the conduét! of Abigail, in doing what fhe did, and taking and difpofing of her hufband’s goods, without his knowledge and leave; the cafe required hafte, and it was done to preferve him and his family calls! words and refpectful meffage he had fent unto him.
y.22. So, and more alfo do God unto the enemies of David, &c.] Give them as much health and profperity, as much wealth and riches as Nadal has, and much more: if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light, any that piffeth againft the wall; which is generally underftood of a dog,;'that he would not leave him fo much as a dog; but it is better, with Ben Gerfom, to interpret it of the males in his houfe, himéelf, his fons, and fervants; and fo the Targum paraphrafes it of reafonable creatures, of fuch ‘* that know knowledge,” or are knowing and underftanding crea- \ tures, it feems to have been towards the evening of the day, when David was marching towards Nabal’s houfe, defigning to-fall upon-him and his, amidft their jollity that night, and cut them all off before morning. This muft be imputed to the fudden and violent paffion David was thrown into when off his guard, through the neceffity he was in, the difappointment he met with, and the opprobrious language he was treated with; but in this, his conduct was not as it ufed to be, and as it was towards Sau/ his enemy. Nor is his rage and paffion to be vindicated, or the rafh vow he made to deftroy Nadal and his family; his crime, tho’ great, yet not to be punifhed with death; his in-
| 5°35 from imminent ruin 5 and befides; he might not be in a fit condition to be fpoken to, being drunk with paffion, or with wine, or both, fee y. 36. and no doubt the was directed by the Spirit of God to do what fhe did, and this being an extraordinary cafe, is not to be drawn into an example.
¥. 20. dnd it was fo as foe rode on the afs, &c.} After her fervants: that fhe came down by the covert of the bill, by the fide of it, which was covered with bufhes, and fhe rode among them, in a way that led through them, and fo was not feen by David and his men; or by the fhadow of the hill, toward the bottom of it, where by reafon of that, and the oppofite hill, it was darkith, and they could not fee each other: and bebold, David and bis men came down againft ber; came down a hill oppofite to that fhe came down: and fhe met them 5 in the valley between two hills.
y.21. Now David had faid, &c.| When the meffengers returned and told him how they had been ufed by Naval; or he faid‘, or was faying within himfelf, or to his men, what follows, juft as 4digail met him: furely in vain bave.J kept all that this fellow bath in the wilderne/s, which fhows that he was in a violent paffion, and had Nadal in the utmoft contempt and indignation, in that he mentions not his name, only fays ¢4is, this man or fellow; leaving a blank to be filled up with the moft ignominious mame and character that could be thought of; and repents, that he had taken fo much care of his flocks when they were feeding by him in the wildernefs: fo that nothing was miffed of all that pertained unto him, and feems to have wifhed he had fuffered his flocks to have been robbed by the Arabs, or worried by wild beafts, fince he had been fuch an ungrateful wretch to him: and he hath requited me evil for good; he had requited evil to him by denying to fend him any of his provifions, and by abufing him and his men with opprobrious language; and this was done in return for the good deeds he had done in protecting his fervants and his flocks in the wildernefs, and for the good gratitude and infolence deferved refentment, but were not capital crimes worthy of death, and efpecially of the deftruétion of his whole family; the ews indeed make him to be guilty of treafon, in that he knew that David was anointed king, and yet both abufed him, and difobeyed his commands, and therefore being guilty of overt acts of treafon, he and his were deferving of death; but David was not yet king.
y¥. 23. And when Abigail faw David, &c. } Whom fhe either knew perfonally, or rather fuppofed who he was by the number of men that followed him: jhe bafted, and alighted off the afs; on which fhe rode: and fell before David on her face, and bowed berfelf to the ground; in refpect to, and reverence of fo great a perfon as David was.
y. 24. And fell at bis feet, &c.] As an humble fupplicant, having a favour to afk of him, it is very probable David was on foot: and faid, upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be; which her hufband had been guilty of; fhe defires it might be transferred from him to her, and be reckoned as if done by' her; fhe would have it imputed to herfelf, and all the blame lie upon her, had fhe, fhe would have taken care, fhe intimates, that it fhould have been attended to; having fo much intereft in her hufband, that fhe could have — prevailed on him to have ufed them with civility, and granted their requett. > ¥. 26. Now therefore, my lord; as the Lord liveth, and as thy foul liveth, &c.| Which is an oath, and refpects either what goes before, that fhe never faw the young men that were fent to Nadal, or to what follows, the providence of God in preventing David from fhedding blood, which fhe was fure of, by an impulfe on her own mind, and by obferving a change in David’s countenance: feeingthe Lord hath with-holden thee from coming to thed blood, and from avenging thyfelf with thine own hand, the does not impute this to her prudencey and the provifion fhe made to appeafe David, and prevent him from fhedding the blood he intended, and taking the vengeance he had refolved on; but to the Lord, and the interpofition of his providence, which fhe knew would have its weight on tie mind of fo good a man as David was; who upon reflection would be thankful that he had been prevented from fhedding innocent blood, as the Targum calls it: now let thine enemies, and they that and the punifhment for it be inflicted on her; for /eek evil to my lord, be as Nabal; meaning Saul, iniquity may be put for the punifhment of iniquity: this was very artfully faid, as well as exprefied great affection for her hufband, and care of his life; for fhe knew, if fhe could get the fault removed from him to her, fhe would be able to vindicate herfelf, and her innocence would foon appear; nor would this flrong affection for her hufband fail of anfwering fome good purpofe, as fhe full well knew: and Jet thine handmaid, I pray thee,. [peak in thine audience, and bear the words of thine handmaid; as it was but reafonable fhe fhould be heard, fince fhe ftood now as the criminal, taking all the blame of her hufband’s conduc on herfelf.
¥.25. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal, &c.) | He is a worthlefs man, it muft be owned, a weak, foolifh man, rather to be defpifed than regarded by him; what either he fays or does is unworthy of the notice of any, and much lefs of fo great a perfon, as David was: for as his name is, fo is be; his natural difpofition, genius and conduc agree with his name; when any one knows his name, he may judge what is to be expected from him: Nadal is his name, which fignifiesa fool: and Nebalab, folly is with him, attends all his words and aétions. This character of her hufband, though no doubt a juft one, yet it would not have been right in her to have given it, whofe folly fhe fhould rather have concealed, but that it was his well-known character; and fhe obferves it not to reproach him with it, but to-excufe his fin, his rudenefs and ingratitude, and preferve his life; and fuggefts, that what he had done was not to be imputed to malice in his heart, but to his ftupidity and folly, and fo not to be regarded, and was not a peculiar fingle action of his, but what he was daily more or lefs guilty of; his folly was with him where-ever he went, and appeared in every thing he faid or did, and therefore to be overlooked and defpifed: but L thine handmaid Jaw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didft fend; as fhe had taken the blame upon herfelf, now fhe anfwers for herfelf, and pleads ignorance of his meffengers, and their meflage; fhe had not fo much as feen them with her eyes, and much lefs heard their meflage when reported;
and thofe with him, wifhing they might be as inconfiderable as Nadal; as unable, as weak and impotent as he to do him any hurt, and as fhortlived, and cut off by the hand of God, as he would be; for, according to Farchi, the prophefied under the direétion of the Holy Spirit. It may be obferved that in this, and the preceeding verles, the frequently gives David the title of my lord, inreverence of him, and to atone for the rudenefs and infolence of her hufband, im fpeaking of him as a run-away fervant.; s y.27. And now this blefing, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, &c.| The prefent confifting of the things mentioned in y¥. 18. which came as a bleffing from God, and with good-will from her: /et it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord; the fervants of David: in the original it is, ¢hat walk at the feet of my lord; and - which the Zargam paraphrafes, who minifter before my lord; and fo Abigail’s damfels are called pediffeque, or that walked at her feet,. 42. and with the Romans, in -after-times, fervants were called 2 pedibus and pediffequi*. This alfo is very artfully faid, as if the prefent was not good enough for David, and worthy of his acceptance, but might be agreeable to his men, and of fervice to them. y.28. [pray thee, forgive the trefpafs of thine handmaid, &c.\ ‘The trefpafles, as the Targum, either the fin of her hufband, fhe had taken upon herfelf, or her boldnefs in troubling him with her petitions and folicitations, and even with the prefent fhe had brought: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a fure boufe; or a firm kingdom, as the Targum; would raife him to the kingdom. of [frael, and eftablifh it in his pofterity, that it fhould not be taken from him, as it would be from Saul: because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord; the battles of the people of the Lord, as the Taps — gum, of the people of J/rae/ again{t the Philiftines; which he had often done with fuccefs, the Lord — being with him, and profpering him, and th fore would firmly fettle him on the throne, anc ag at continue the kingdom in his pofterity: aud evil hath not been found in thee all thy days; no unjuft action had been committed by him againft his king and country, however he had been reproachec dalienalnleds and fhe hoped, that therefore none would be done by him now to ftain fo fair a chawho put it into her heart to come out and meet him, and endeavour to avert him from his bad racter. defign, which his heart was fet upon; he faw plain-
¥. 29. Yet a man is rifen to purfue thee, and to Jeek thy foul, &c.] His life, to take it away, meaning Sau/, whom fhe chofe not to name, becaufe he was king: but the foul of my lord fhall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; fhould be dear unto the Lord, precious in his efteem, and be carefully preferved by him, among other his chofen ones, and fhould be fafe with him, in his hands, and under his care and keeping; the ews refer this to eternal life in the world to come, and the fafety and fecurity of his foul hereafter; fo the Targum, “ the foul of my lord fhall be treafured up in the treafury of eternal life, before the Lord thy God:” hence they fpeak of the fouls of the righteous being laid up under the throne of glory*, in proof of which they produce this text; and fo Maimonides‘ underftands. it of what fhould be after death, fee Rev. vi. 9. Col. iii. 3. and the fouls of thine enemies, them fhall be fling out, as out of the middle of a fling, that is, remove them fwiftly and fuddenly, and with force, out of the world, as ftone is flung out of the middle of a fling; fee ly the hand of God in it, and in the firft place acknowledges the goodnefs of divine providence, in directing her to take the ftep fhe did.
y. 33. And bleffed be thy advice, &c.] Thanks be to God, and to thee for it, being wife, good and feafonable; or thy tafte *, thy good fenfe, knowledge, as the Targum, diferetion, prudence and underftanding: and bleffed be thou which haft kept me this day from coming to foed blood; he came out with a full refolution to fhed the blood of Nadal, and of all the males in his houfe, but was ftopped by digail; who by her arguments fo prevailed upon him, as to caufe him ‘to defift from his de; fign, and thankful he was to God for it; for tho” he had vowed he would deftroy Nadal and his family, yet being a rafh finful vow; he faw it was better to break it than to keep it: and from avenging myfelf with mine own hand; which to do would have been finful, vengeance only belonging to God; and now he leaves it to him, and is very thankful that ajhe was prevented doing it himfelf.
y 34. For in very deed, as the Lord God of If-
Sor. Seth 9.: rael liveth, &c.] An oath for the confirmation
¥. 30. And it fhall come pafs, when the Lord fhall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath fpoken concerning thee, &c.| Performed his promife, efpecially with refpect to his kingdom, follows: and fhall have appointed thee ruler over Jfrael; that is, actually raifed him to be, and fettled him as king upon the throne of //rael; for he was both appointed and anointed already; and this Abigail \new, and was now well known in J/rae/, and the common talk of the people.
have dealt well with my lord; by delivering him out of the hands of all his enemies, and have raifed him to, and fettled him on the throne of J/rael, of which fhe made no doubt: then remember thine handmaid; the advice fhe gave not to fhed blood, and take vengeance, for ‘which he would then be thankful, and gratefully remember: fome, as Bez Gerfom, think, the faid this under a fpirit of prophecy, that Naval fhould die quickly, and fhould be David’s wife; but rather her meaning is, that when he fhould be king, and fhe fhould apply to him on any account, to have juftice done her, and to be affifted and relieved when oppreffed, that he would then remember her, and fhew her of what he was about to fay: which hath kept me back from buriing thee; from doing any ill to her family, as he intended, though not to her perfon, asjhis refolution being only to flay the males; but that would have been an hurt, an evil, an affliction to Zdigail, from which the Lord in his providence reftrained him, and that through her good advice: except thou hadft bafted, and come to meet me; if fhe had not made quick difpatch in preparing her prefent, or had ftayed to perfuade her hufband into her meafures; af fhe had delayed a little longer; David would have been at Nadal’s houfe, executonjing his vengeance on him and. his: /wrely there had not been left unto Nabal, by the morning light, any that piffeth againft the wall; fee the note on y. 22,
¥. 31. This foall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, &c.| It would give him no trouble, nor diftrefs of mind, or fit uneafy _his confcience: either that thou hajft fhed blocd caufelefs, or that my lord hath avenged himfelf; which fhe fuggefts it might do, if he had fhed the blood of Nadal’s family, his children and fervants, who were no ways concerned with him in his rude-| nefs and ingratitude; or had avenged himfelf him for the fame, by taking away his life, which fuch crimes, however great and ageravated, not deferve; but, on the contrary, it would be fatisfaction and pleafure to him to, refleé&t upon it, that he had pafied over fuch an offence, and fhed no blood on account of it:
y. 35. So David received of ber hand that which he had brought him, &c:] Her prefent, ¥. 18. on!and which he kindly took for his own ufe, as well as for his men; for it was a prefent for a prince: didjand faid to her, go up in peace to thine houfe; in alpeace of mind, having her requeft granted, and nothing to fear. from David and his men, and fo. might return home with the greateft fafety in her but when the Lord fhalljown perfon, with thofe that were with her, and be under no apprehenfions of danger and deftruétion to Nadal and his family: fee, I have hearkened to thy voice; to her arguments and reafonings, which were powerful; to her petitions, which were granted; and to her good counfel and advice, which he took; avd Lave accepted thy perfon; done as fhe defired, forgave the offence, and fo lifted her up, as the word fignifies, and made her countenance fhejcheerful; received her prefent kindly, and took well all fhe faid and did; and promifed to grant her, for the future, any thing that lay in his power, whenever fhe fhould apply to him, fee od xlii. 8, 9.;
favour. ing fped with David, and taken her leave of him,
¥. 32. And David faid to Abigail, 8cc.] Having heard her out, and being overcome with her rhe- _ toric and powerful arguments: Z/effed be the Lord God of Ijrael, which fent thee this day to meet me; fhe returned home to her hufband Nadal: and behold, he held a feaft in bis houfe like the feaft of a king; both for the number of difhes on his table, and ef guefts at it, though only on the account of
‘ ‘ —_— ‘ given to another man, with whom fhe lived ing adultery; or as divorced by David, as the = Mite, fay, David by the law of God was free from her, Thefe meffengers were fent by David at a convenient time, at a proper diftance from the death of © a °, fheep-fhearing; but very probably there we others that were invited to this entertaintment, befides the fhearers; covetous men are generally very profufe-when they make feafts: aud Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was véry drunken; which was a very ill example for the mafter of the: feaft to fet, and was one inftance among others of his folly, and of his conduct anfwering to his name: wherefore fhe tald him nothing lefs or more until the morning-light; where fhe had been, and what fhe had been about, the danger that he and the whole family were in through his rude and churlifh behaviour towards David and his men; and how fhe had prevented it by a timely application to David, meeting him when in full march, and ina great paffion, and with a firm refolution to deftroy him and his; but finding Nadal in fuch a condition, bereaved of his reafon, and uncapable of attending to what fhe fhould fay, faid not one word about it til] the next morning. ¥.37. But it came to pafs in the morning, when ‘the wine was gone out of Nabal, &c.] When he had flept, and was become fober, and fo capable of attending to, and underftanding what might be related to him: and bis wife bad told him thefe things; recorded in this chapter, before obferved: that bis heart died within him, and be became as a ftone; he fwooned away, became as cold as a ftone, and remained as fenfelefs, fpoke not a word, but Jay in a ftupor; the Yew7/b writers generally fay, this was occafioned by the diftrefs and uneafinefs the prefent his wife carried to David gave him; but it is more likely the fenfe of the danger that was impreffed upon his mind, which he had been expofed to through his carriage to David and his men; who, he feared, notwith{tanding all his wife faid, would return and take vengeance on him. ¥. 38. Aud it came to pafs about ten days after, &c.] After he had Jain in this ftupid and fenfelefs manner for ten days: that the Lord fmote Nabal that he died; with fome difeafe, or increafed the grief of his heart, and the fears of his mind, that he died therewith. ¥.39. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, &c.] As he foon might, Maen and Carmel not being far from the wildernefs where David was: be faid, bleffed be the Lord that hath pleaded ibe caufe of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, not that he rejoiced at the death of Nadal, fimply
Nabal; and he chofe rather to fend mefiengers iat than toego himielf, left being denied he fhould be put to fhame, fhe being a rich widow, and h, > aa ©) poor perfecuted man, and that her anfwer mi be entirely free and unawed by him, and that it might appear that fhe was not taken to him by force; and befides, fuch a method has been always reckoned moft honourable with great perfonages. — ¥. 40. And when the fervants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, &c.| For though Nadal lived in Maon, yet having poffeffions in Carmel, he had no doubt an houfe there alfo; and here ddigail was, and perhaps chofe to be after his death, rather than at Maon: they /pake unto her, delivered the meffage to her they were fent with by David: faying, David fent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wifes that is, to treat with her about his marriage to her, to propofe it to her, andiif they could prevail upon. her, to bring her with them, that David might efpoufe her. "a ¥.41. And fhe arofe, and bowed herfelf om her face to the earth, &c.} As the did before David, y¥. 23. and did as fhe would have done had he been prefent, confidering his meffengers as perfonating him, and therefore fhewed the fame refpeét and reverence, and did the fame honour, as if he had been there in perfon: and faid; exprefied herfelf in fuch language as if David had been before her: beheld, let thine handmaid be a fervant to wafh the feet of the fervants of my lord; which the faid through her great humility, this being one of the meaneft. fervices fhe could be put to; intimating, that the was fo far from being worthy to be the wife of fuch a man, that fhe was only fit, and it would”
be honour enough to her, to perform the meaneft fervices to thofe that waited upon him; or her fenfe is, that it would be enough for her to be the wife of one of David’s fervants, and not his; it being the bufinefs of a wife, as Ben Gerfom obferves, to wafh the feet of her hufband. ~ 4)”
¥. 42. And Abigail hafted and arofe, &c.| She had no objection nor hefitation in her mind about marrying David, but at once confented, and immediately prepared for her journey, having as high confidered, or from a private fpirit of revenge; but becaufe of the glory of divine juftice; which he had fhewn to him in vindicating him from the reproach Nadal had caft upon him, and particularly was thankful for what follows: and bath kepi his fervant from evil, from flaying Nabal with his own hand, and doing hurt to his family: for ‘the Lord hath returned the wickedne/s of Nabal upon his own bead; and upon no other, none of’ his family fuffered but himfelf, and which was another caufe of thankfulnefs to David; had he been fuffered to have done as he in his wrath determined, not only Nadal, but all the males in his houfe had been cut off; but now thro’ the righteous judgment of God. only Nadal fuffered, and not any of his family: and David fent and communed with Abi gail, by his meffengers to her; or concerning her", about marrying her: to take ber to him to wife, for being both a beautiful and wife woman, he thought her a proper perfon to be his wife; which fhe might lawfully become, Nadal being dead, and Michal, David's wife, being taken from him, and an opinion, and as great an efteem of David, axhe of her; and tho fhe was rich, and he poor, this was ~ no obftacle in the way, fhe knew and believed he would be king of I/rael, y. 30, 31. and tho’ he could not fupport her, fhe had enough to fupport — herfelf, and fupply him, tillhe came to the throne: and rode upon an afs, with five damfels of bers that went after hers whom fhe took with her, partly to wait upon her, and partly for her honour, and ~ the honour of David, whom fhe was going to marry: aad fhe went after the meffengers-of David; not following them direétly, ee pe ole; after they were gone; partly for the fake of de ie cency, and partly that they going before might ac quaint David with the fisceats a sna eae and he might prepare to receive Abigail when came: and became bis wife; he efpoufed and her according to the cuftom.of the tim ¥. 43. And David alfo took Abincam of &c}] <A city in the tribe of Judah, Fafp. that is, he took her to wife, and as it feems before Abigail became his wife; fee 2 Sam. iii, 2, 3.