Exposition of the Whole Bible

fed in the anointing him to be king, \whofe office, as fuch, lay in doing the following things: ¢hoz foalt feed my people I/rael, as a fhepherd feeds his flock 5 hence kings were frequently called fhepherds, and David particularly, in which he was an eminent type of Chrift, fee P/ Ixxviii. 71, 72. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. and xxxvii. 24. and thou concubines, and having more children, whofe names /halt be a captain over Ijrael, the Targum is, ** and are given, ¥. 11—16. and of an invafion of the Jand by the Philiflines, and David’s victory over them, y¥.17—25.

¥.1. Then came all the tribes of Ifrael to David unto Hebron, &c.| All the reft of the tribes, fave the tribe of Fadab, who had made him king over them in Hebron feven years ago. Thefe were ambafladors fent in the name of the feveral tribes to him, quickly after the deaths of Abner and I/bbofoeth; from having any hand in which David had fufficiently cleared himfelf, and which had tended to reconcile the minds of the people of J/rae/ to him: and fpake, faying, we are thy bone and thy feo; for though he was of the tribe of Fudab, yet as all the tribes fprung from one man, they were all one bone, flefh and blood; all nearly re- Jated to each other, all of the fame general family of which David was; and fo, according to their law, a fit perfon to be their king, Deut. xvii. and from whom they might expect clemency and tendernefs, being fo near akin to them.

y. 2. Alfo in time paft, when Saul was king over us, &c.] ven over all the tribes of J/rael: thou waft he that leddeft out, and broughteft in Ifrael, that led out the armies of J/rae/ againft their enemies, fought their battles for them, obtained victories, and brought the troops under his command thou fhalt be king over J/rae/;” which gives the true fenfe of the tribes, and which was the chief and prevailing reafon with them to make him their king; and which they, at leaft many of them, would have done before, even immediately upon the death of Sauz/, but that they were perfuaded by Abner to yield obedience to J/bbofbeth he fet up.

¥. 3. So all the elders of I/rael came to the king to Hebron, &c.} Which either explains what is meant by the tribes coming to him, ¥. 1. namely, coming by their elders as their reprefentatives; or elfe the meaning is, that the meflengers the tribes fent, when they returned and reported the favourable reception they had met with from David, the elders of the feveral tribes, the princes or principal men met, and came together to David in Hebron: and king David made a league with them before the Lord; the ftates of the nation; he entered into a covenant with them; he on his part promifing to rule them in juftice and judgment according to the laws, and they promifing to yield a chearful obedience to him in all things juft and lawful: and this was done before the Lord; eithet before the ark of the Lord, as Abarbinel; but that was in Kirjath-jearim, from whence it was after this brought by David to this city; rather, as Kimchi obferves, whereever all J/rae/, or the greater part of them, were afflembled, there the divine Shekinah or majefty home in fafety; and the remembrance of thefe valiant aéts of his, which then endeared him to the people, was now another reafon for their chufing him king: and another follows, the chiefeft of them all: and the Lord faid to thee; when anointed by Samuel; for though what follows is not recorded in fo many words, yet the fenfe of it is exprefdwelt; fo that what was done ina public affembly was reckoned as done before the Lord, and in his prefence; or this covenant was made before the Lord, and each party appealed to him as witnefs of it, fo that it was a very folemn one: and they anointed David king over I/rael, that is, over all Zrae/, which was the third time of his being anoint-

ed; the firft, was by Semuel, pointing out.the perfon the Lord ‘chofe and: appointed king; the fecond wiis by ‘the tribe of Zudab, when they ioveft- éd him with the’ office of aking over them; andj now by all the tribes, when he was inaugurated into the’ whole kingdom of J/rael; and not only the elders came at this time, but great numbers of the people from the feyeral tribes, and continued with David fome days, eating, drinking and rejoicing, fee 1 Chrom. Xi.

“yy. 4. David was thirty years old when he began _ to reign, &c.] Over Fudab, which was the age of his antitypé Chrift, when he entered upon his pub- Gerfom and R. Ijaiah, who take them to be images® fome fay, made of bra{s, which,were placed either — in the ftreets of the city,.or on the towers; it was ufual with all nations to place on their walls be their houfhold and country gods, to defe from theenemy.*, A learned countrym ref. fis of opinion, that thele, were ftatues or images talifmanically made, under,a certain conftellation, by fome fkilful in aftrology,, placed \in..che recefS,of the fort, and.entrufted with. the. keeping/of it, in which the, utmoft confidence was puts k * feems better with 4sen Ezra and Abar binel; ei Yo/ephus‘, to underftand. this..of blind and lame™ lic miniftry; Ewke iii. 23. and be reigned forty years; and fix-months, as appears by the following verfe; but the months are not mentioned, only the round, number of years given: two reafons. the ews * give for this; the one, that he fled fix months from Abfalom; the,other is, that he was ill in Hebrox fo long, and therefore are not reckoned.) y. 5. In Hebron he reigned over Fudab seven years and fix months, &c.| So long the kingdom of J/- yael continued in the houfe of Saul after his death; and “by this it appears, that David was near. 38 years of age*when the elders of J/rael came and made him their kine: and in Ferufalem he reigned 33 years over all Irael and Fudab, which in all made 40 years and fix months, fee 1 Kings ii. 11. upon his being made king over all the ytribes, as foon as he had taken the ftrong hold of Zien, which he immediately attacked, as. follows, he removed the feat of his kingdom from Hebron to Ferufalem. y. 6. And the king and his men went to Ferufalem, écc.] Which, at leaft, part of it, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and therefore until all [rael, and that tribe, with the reft, made him king, he did not attempt the reduction of it, but now. he} immediatély fet out on an expedition againft it: unto the Febufites the inhabitants of the land; who inhabited the country about it, and even dwelt in that itfelf; for the tribe of Fudab could not drive them out at firft from that part. of it, which belonged to them, nor the ‘tribe of Benjamin from that part which was theirs; in fhort, they became fo much mafters of it, that it-was called, even in after-times,, Febus, and the city of the Febu fites;

fee Foo. xv. 63. Fudg. i, 21. and xix. 10, 11. which fpake unto David; when he came up againft them, and befieged them: except thou take away the blind and lame, thou fhalt not come in.bither; which many underftand of their idols.and images, which had eyes-but faw not, and feet but walked not, which therefore David and his men in derifion called the blind and lame;. thefe the Febu ites placed for the defence of their city, and put great confidence in them for the fecurity of it, and therefore faid to David, unlefs you can remove thefe,. which you fcornfully call the blind and the lame, you will never be able to take the place. And certain it is, the heathens had their tutelar gods for their cities ‘as well as their houfes, in which they greatly trufted for their fafety; and therefore with the Romans, When they befieged a city, the firft thing they attempted to do, was by any means, as by rongs particularly, to get the tutelar gods.out believing, otherwife. it would never be taken by them 5 or if it could, it was not lawful to make the gods captives“: and to. this fenfe moft of the Jewyh commentators agree, as Kimchi, Farcki, Ben Zebu/ites, and through the fubterraneous pafiages reachesjthe lame and the blind, €¢.2? and: which {eems to be favoured by Fo/epbus, as the obferves ee who fays*, the king Se the whole army.to him who fhould die orev umoxesof it’, usw Papuylu», through the fubterraneous. ¢ go.up.to, the citadel, and take its) to. which: I would,add, that the, word is ufed in the Ch, paraphrafe of Aci. ix 7. of the feveral fubterrs ous, paflages, through which the rivers flow.

Oo? De ftotsia wolldt whens har capil men; and that the fenfe is, that the Yebuftes had — fuch.an.opinion of the ftrength of their city, that a few blind and lame men were fufficient to.defend — it againft David and, his,army 5 and) perhaps in - contempt of him, placed fome invalids,) blind and lame men, on.the. walls of.it, and jeetingly ‘told him, that.unlefs he could remove them, \he would neyer~ take. the city.<.. thinking;- or faying®s this. was the fubftance of, what they faid, or what they” meant by it: David cannot come im hither; it is’ impoflible for him to.enter it, he capnot and fhall not do it; and very.probably thele words were put into the mouths of the blind and lame, and they, faid them frequently.; sbsptiees ¥. 7. Neverthele/s, David took the jtrong hold of Zion, &e.] A fortrefs without the city, and feparate from it, and which was very ftrong; and the taking ic. might facilitate. the taking. of ‘the city, ‘which yet,.as. appears, by what follows, was ‘very ‘difficult to-do: the fame is the city of Dawid; it was afterwards fo called, where -he built an houfe,. and dwelt.) rth whe eae ¥. 8. And David foid on that day, &c.j On which he took the ftrong hold of Zions whofoever getteth up to the gutter; where-itis generally fuppofed the blind: and lame were, whether images or real men-: but what is meant by Tzs#- nar, we render gutter, is not eafy today 4 werfollow fome of the. Fewi/h writers, who take it to be’ a.canal, or water-fpout, sufed to carry off the water from roofs of houfes into cifterns, as the; is rendered in P/. xlii. 7, which is the only: befides this, in which it,is ufed in deripture; but — R. Jfaiah takes it to be the bar or bolt of the gate, and the fenfe to be, whoever got up tothe gate, and got in at that, unbolting it, or breaking thro” it; the Zargum interprets it of the tower of the’ city, or ftrong fortrefs, and fo dbarbinel, but Farchi fays, it was a ditch, agreeable to which Bochart* tranflates the words, and indeed more agreeable to the.order of them, ‘* whofoever finites the’ Febufites, let him caft into the ditch, (next the’ wall) both the blind and the lame, extremely hated by David.” But a learned modern writer* gives. a more. ingenious and probable. interpretation of thefe words. thus;. ‘* whofoever firft), fmiteth the of, and reflow ‘into the ocean:

the note of Theodoret, “a certain Hebrew Aquila renders it thro’ @ pipe; on which, he obferves, David being willing to fpare the walls of the city, ordered the citizens fhould enter into the city by an aqueduct,” according to the there was a cave under ground, which reached| from the king’s houte in Ferufalem to Fericho, when it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar; fee the note on! Fer. xxxix. 4. in which {tory there may be a of fable; yet it is not improbable that there fuch a fubterraneous paflage; fince Dio Cafius' fpeaks of feveral fuch, thro’ which the Fews made their efeape in the laft fiege of the city: aud fmiteth the Febufites, and the lame and the blind; the lame and the blind men the Fedu/ites had to mock David; and therefore it follows, bated of David's foul, becaufe he-was defpifed jeered at by them, and through them: if thefe could be underftood of their idols and images, “phrafe would be eafily accounted for, nothing being more abominable to David than idolatry: 4e Shall be chief and captain, thefe words are not briginal text here, but are fupplied from 1 Chron. xi. 6. that is; he fhall be chief commander of army, as Yoeb ‘became, who was the firft that! ‘went up and fmote them: wherefore they faid, the blind and the lame, fhall not come into the boufe; that is, either the Febufites faid this, that their images, called in derifion by David the dlind and the lame, if thefe did not keep David out, they fhould never be intrufted with the fafety of their fort any ‘or rather becaufe the blind and the lame men faid this of David, he fhall not come into houfe, the fort, or citadel, therefore David hated them; which is the fenfe of the above learned | remarkable “is with him }’to whom all his profperity and fuccefs fays,'was owing. The Targum is, “the Word of the Lord God of hofts was for his help,” or his helper.

y. 11. 4nd Hiram king of Tyré, &c.] This was ‘Fews,'father of that Hiram that lived in the times of Soomon, whofe name was Abibalus before he took the name.of Hiram, which became a common name of the kings of Zyré; his former name may be eorerore ees in the ancient hiftorians quoted by Fo/ephus* 5 wasjof the city of Tyre, fee the note on Jf xxiii. 1: which was built one year before the deftruétion of Troy*. ‘This kine, on hearing of David’s being acknowledged king by all Ifrael, and of his, tak~- or evening Ferufalem out of the hands of the Febufites, placed! fens meffengers to David; to congratulate him upon ' that-are'all this: and cedar trees, and carpenters, and maand fons; thefe might not be fent at firft, but David intending to build himfelf an houfe, might, by the the; meffengers, on their return, requeft of Hiram to fend him timber and workmen for that purpofe; the people of Z/rael being chiefly employed in culin the! tivating their fields, and vineyards, and olive-yards, and feeding their flocks and herds, few of them ° the;had any {kill in hewing timber and ftone, and building houfes, at leaft not like. the Tyrians and Sidonians;' fee 1 Kings v. 6. and accordingly he fent him cedars from Lebanon, great part of which was in his dominions, and artificers in wood and ftone, to build his houfe in the moft elegant manner: and they built David an boufe; to dwell in, a more”; ftately palace, called an houfe of cedar, ch. vii. 2.

¥.12. And David perceived that the Lord had the'efablifbed “him king over Ifrael, &c.) By the properity and fuccefs which attended him in every thing he fet his hand to: and that he had exalted

Writer". his kingdom for bis people Ifrael’s fake; for their ¥. 9. So David dwelt in the fort, &c.| The advantage and glory more than for his own. ftrong hold of Zion, which he took: and_called it) y.13. And David took him more concubines and the city of David; from his own name, to keep, wives out of Ferufalem, after be was come from up the memory of his taking it, and of his habi-| Hebron, &c.] He had fix when he was at Hebron, tation in it: and David built round about, from and now he took more, which was not to his ho- Millo and inward; built a wall about it, and en-|nour, and contrary to the law of God, Deut. xvii. lareed the place, increafed the buildings both!17. the concubines were a fort of half wives, as within and without. Miéllo is fuppofed to be’ a'the word may fignify, or fecondary ones, and unditch round the fort, full of water, from whence! der the others’: and there were yet fons and daughit had its name; or was a large hollow place which! sers Born to David; befides thofe in Hebron, mendivided the fort from the lower city, and which! tioned in ch. iii. 2—5. afterwards Solomon filled up, and made it a level,| y.14. And thefe be the names of thofé that were and therefore is called fo here by anticipation; tho’) born unto him in Ferufalem, &c.} The names of archi fays it was done by David. According to,his fons, for his daughters are not mentioned, and Dr. Lightfoot °, it was a part of Sion, or tomejthefe feem to be -fuch only that were born of his hillock caft up againft it on the weft-fide; his; wives, fee 1 Chron. iii. 9. Shammua, and Shobabs firft fenfe is beft, Mil/lo being no other than the) and Nathan, and Solomon; thete four were by Bathfortrefs or citadel, which, as Fofephus fays °,|fheba; the firft of thefe is called Shimea,; 1 Chron. ‘David joined to the lower city, and made them|iii. 5.; one body, and ereéting walls about it made Foab| y.15. Ibbar alfo, and Elifhua, and Nepheg, and fuperintendant of them; and this was the round-|Faphia.] Elifbua is, called Elifhama, 1 Chron. ‘about, or circuit, which David made, reachingliii. 6: from Millo, or the citadel, #0 that again, which is meant by i#ward, or to the houfe 4, as it fhould be rendered; that is, to the houfe of Millio, as 2 Kings xii. 20. and fo it is faid 1 Chron. xi. 8. that’ Devid built the city from Millo round about, that is, to the fame place from whence he began’, gah, "¥. 10. And David weit on, and grew great, &c.} - Th honour and wealth, in fame and reputation, in | fubduing his enemies, obtaining conquefts over ‘them, and enlarging his dominions: and the Lord ‘God of bofis, of armies above and below, was y.16. dnd Elifhama, and Eliada; and Elipbalet.} Seven more by fome other wife or wives; nine injare mentioned in 1 Cbrow. iti. 6—8. there being in that account two Elipbalets, and another called Nogab; which two, one of the Eliphalets, and Nomight die without fons; as Kimchi thinks, and fo are not mentioned here.) sti y.17. But when the Philiftines beard that they had anointed David king over Ifrael, &c.] That the civil war in the nation was now at an end, which they hoped would have iffued in their de- ftruétion, and therefore lay ftill and quiet; but now being united under the government of David, and he hereby greatly ftrengthened, and become powerful; and hearing alfo of his fuccefs againft *ferufalem, and the friendfhip he had. contracted with Hiram king of Tyre, they thought it was high time to beftir themfelves, and put a ftop to his power and greatnefs; and now it was, as Kimchi thinks, that David penned the fecond pfalm, which begins, why do the heathen rage, &c. all the Philiftines came up to feek David, in order to fight him, all the five principalities of the Philiflines combined together againft him; perhaps his old friend Achifh king of Gath, was now dead, or had now entertained a different opinion of him: and David beard of it; that they had invaded his kingdom, and fought to fight him: and went down to the hold, fome fortified place or ftrong hold near Feru alem, which lay lower than the city, or than the ftrong hold of Zion, in which David dwelt; hither he went, not fo much for fafety, or with an intention to abide there, but as a rendezvous for his men, and to prepare to meet the Pdili/tines.

¥.18. The Philiftines alfo came and [pread themfelves in the valley of Rephaim.| ‘Or of the giants, as Fofh. xv. 8. which lay to the weft of Ferufalem; of which, fee the note on the above place; the Philiftines {preading themfelves in it, fhews that they were very numerous.

¥.19. And David enquired of the Lord, &c. ] By Abiathar, and the Urim and Thummim, in the ephod he had on: faying, fhall I go up to the Philiftines? who by this time were gone from the val- Jey to an higher place, to mount Perazim, as in df. xxviii. 21. wilt thou deliver them into my band? here two queftions are put together, and an an{wer returned to both, contrary to a notion of the Fews, fee the note on 1 Sam. xxiii. 11. and the Lord faid to David, go up, for I will doubilefs. deliver the Philiftines into thine hand; by which oracle he had both the mind of God that he fhould go up, and was affured of victory.

have been the cuftom of other countries, in later times, to bring their gods with them to battle *: and David and his men burnt thems that is, his men burnt them at his command, 1 Chron. xiv. 12. agreeable to the law of God, that fo no profit might be made of them, Deut. vii. 5. the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, and others, render it, and took them, or carried them atvay”; as they might do, and after they had expofed them in triumph, then burnt them. F y¥.22. And the Philiftines came up yet again, 8c.} And, as Yofepbus fays*, with an army three times larger than the former: and /pread themfelves im the valley of Rephaim; in the fame place where they were before.

¥.23. And when David enquired of the Lord, &c.] For though he had fuccefs before, and got the victory, he would not engage again with them without having the mind and will of God, on whom he knew victory alone depended: be faid, thou foalt not goup; that is, directly, and in a ftrait line: but fetch a compafs bebind them; and get to the rear of them, inftead of falling upon them in the front: and come upon them over-againft the mulberry-trees; which grew in the valley of Rephaim, and near where the PAili/tines had pitched. -

¥.24. And let it be when thou bearef the found of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees, 8cc.

Of a going of the wind on the tops of theie trees, making a ruftling upon them, and that in fuch a manner as to refemble the going of men, or march of armies, as if they were moving in the air over the tops of the mulberry-trees; which Farche and R. J/aiah interpret of angels. being fent of God, and moving at that time to help David, and deftroy the Philiftines; fo the Targum on 1 Chron xiv. 13. Thefe trees being in Fudea, account for filk there, Ezek. xvi. 10. though fome think that was not known fo early; others fuppofe it was, and to be the Hebrew byffus mentioned by Paufanias *, as being of a yellow colour: that then thou

¥.20. And David came to Baal-perazim, &c.] foali beftir thyfelf; or move towards the camp of

As it was after called, for here it has its name by anticipation, and whither the Pdili/tines were come from the valley of Rephaim; fee 1 Chron. xiv. 11. which was at no great diftance, the one being the hill, to which the other was the valley, computed to be about three miles from Ferufalem, in the way to Bethlehem“, between which places were two hours travel": and David fimote them there, there a battle was fought, in which David had the victory affured him: and faid, the Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters; as when waters, through their mighty force, break down the banks of rivers, and carry all before them; or as one breaks an earthen veffel full of water, fo the Targum on 1 Chron. xiv. 11. therefore he called the name of the place Baal-perazim; which fignifies, the mafter of breaches, where the Phili/tines were broke in upon, and broken to pieces, of which God was the author, and which gave David the maftery over his enemies; the Targum renders it, the plain of breaches, and feems to take it to be the fame with the valley of Rephaim.

¥.21. And they left their images, &c.| Their idol-gods, which they brought with them to protect and defend them, and give them fuccefs; perhaps in imitation of the J/raelites, who formerly brought the ark of God into their camp againft the Pbilifiines, and fall upon them in the rear, who by reafon of the found in the trees, would not hear the motion of the J/raelites; or if they heard it, would take it to be no other than the motion of the trees they heard, both founds being confounded together; or they would take the found they heard for the motion of the enemy in the front, and give way, and fo fall into the hands of the J/raelites in their rear, which muft throw them into the utmoft confufion and confternation: for then [hall the Lord go out before thee to {mite the bof of the Philiftines; by an angel or angels; fo the Targum, ‘‘ for then fhall go forth the angel of the Lord, to make thee profperous to flay in the camp of the Philifines;? that being the precife time for the falvation of [/rae/, and the deftruétion of the Philiftines, and the token of it. ‘he

¥. 25. And David did fo as the Lord commanded him, &c.) In all things he was obedient to the command of God; Sau/ was not: he got behind the army of the Phili/tines, as he was directed; and

| when he heard the found in the mulberry-trees, he

arofe and fell upon his enemies: and fmote the Philiftines from Geba until thou come to Gazer; or

tribe of Benjamin, near to which this battle. was fought, and where the purfuit began, which was. 4 car-

carried as far as Gazer, a city that lay on the borfled; and, according to Bunting *, it was a fpace ders of the Philiftines, as Fofepbus fays*; and folof 18 miles. far they were purfued, and were {mitten as they oe this chapter we are told, that David fetched the ark from Baale of Fudeh, with an intent to bring it to his own city, ¥. 1—5. but Uzzah being {mitten for his error concerning it, David was difpleafed, and left it at the houfe of. Obededom, where it remained three months, and proved a bleffing to his houfe, y.6—11. which David hearing of, went and brought it from thence with great expreflions of joy before it as it came along, and offered offerings to the Lord at the fetting it in its place, and gave gifts to the people, ¥. 12—19. but Michal his wife was difpleafed with fome of his geftures on that occafion, which made fome difference between them, and which, on Michal’s part, was refented by the Lord himfelf; for fhe became barren for it to the time of her death, ¥. 20—23.

¥. 3. And they fet the ark of God upon a new cart, &c.] Which was a great miftake, fince it ought not to have been put upon a cart old or new; it was to be borne upon mens fhoulders, and carried by Levites only, and thofe of the family of Kobath, to whom no waggons were given, when others had them, for the above reafon, Numéd. vii. g. it is ftrange that fo many priefts and Levites, and of the people of J/rae/ gathered together on that account, and David alfo, {o well veried in the law of God, fhould not advert to it; perhaps they were led by the example of the Phrliftines, who put it in anew cart, and fet it forward towards Beth-foemefh, and were not punifhed for it; but it fhould have been confidered they were an ignorant heathen people, and who had no proper perfons among them to bear it, and fo might be difpenfed with. This miftake was afterwards feen by David, and rectified, 1 Chron xv. 2. wherefore there is no reafon to charge the text with an error or efcape, and that the word Kirjath-jearim is wanting, and to be fupplied, as Spino/a * fuggetts: and brought it out, or after they had brought it out*, of the houfe of Abinadab that was in Gibeahs or which was on the hill in Kivjath-jearim, 1 Sam. vii. 1. and Uzzah and Abio the fons of Abinadab drew the new cart; perhaps not only dbinadab himfelt was dead, but Eleazar alfo, his eldeft fon, who was fanctified to keep the ark, as in the above quoted place; and thefe might be his younger fons who at this time had the care of it, and it may be efpecially Uzzah.

¥.4, And they brought it cut of the houfe of Abtnadab, which was at Gibeab, &c.] That is, the new cart, which is the laft thing fpoken of, and the bringing of the ark out of his houfe, is mentioned before; though fome take this to be the coffer in which were the prefents of the Philiftines, which was now brought out along with the ark, fee 1 Sam. vi. 8. accompanying the ark of God; or with the ark of God ‘'; that is, they brought the new cart from the houfe of Abinadab on the hill, with the ark of God upon it: and Abio went before the ark; guiding the oxen that drew it, and Uzzah might go behind, or on one fide, to take care that the ark fell not out of it.

¥. 5. And David and all the houfe of Ifrael played before the Lord, &c.] That is, before the ark, which was a fymbol of the prefence of the Lord: on all manner of intruments made of firwood; which is a general expreflion, the particulars follow; though inftruments of different forts are mentioned, and even fome of metal, as cymbals, which were veflels of bra{s, they ftruck one againft another, and gave a very acute found, being hollow®; harps, pfalteries and timbrels are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are fuch fort of inftruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it

¥. 1. Again, David gathered together all the chofen men of Ifrael, 30000.] Which was.done by the advice of his officers, 1 Chron. xiii. 1. the word again refers either to the gathering of them, when they made him king in Hebron, as the Fewi/h writers generally obferve; but then they gathered themfelves, and not David: or rather to his gathering them to fight the Phi/ifines a little while ago; and as they were the choice and young men that were gathered for war, as being the fitteft, fo now to fetch up the ark with dancing and finging, and to protect it; the Septuagint verfion fays, they were about 70,000; but the Zargum, Syriac and Arabic verfions have 30,000, agreeable to the Hebrew text.

y¥.2. And David arofe, and went with all the people that were with him, &c.] The 30,000 chofen men gathered together, and as many elle as chofe tq go: from Baale of Fudab, to bring up from thence the ark of God; that is, they firft went to this place, as in 1 Chron. xiii. 6. in order to. fetch the ark from thence, as here expreffed, and then they came from thence with it; this place is the fame that is called Baalab and Kirjath-baal, a city in the tribe of Fudah; hence Fudab is added to it, and the fame with Kirjath-jearim, Fo/b. xv. 9, 60. the place where it was brought to when fetched from Beth-/beme/h, 1 Sam, vil. 10. and had been here now near 50 years; nor was it any where elfe during this time, only once at Gieah of Saul with him, 1 Sam. xiv. 18. whofe name he called by the naine of the Lord of bojfts that dweileth between the cherubim; not the ark, but the Lord, whofe is the ark; his name is called by the name of Fehovab, the infinite, incomprehenfible, eternal and immutable Being, the Lord of armies above and below; whofe habitation was between. the cherubim that overfhadowed the mercy-feat, which was above the ark; all this is faid, not only to exprefs the greatnefs and majefty of God, but for the honour of the ark, which belonged to him.

was, that David penned the 68th pfalm, which y. 6. And when they came to Nachon’s threfbingfioor, &c,] Who is called Chidon, 1 Chron. xiii. 9. he feems to have had two names; or it-was a place that had two names, as: fay the Fews™; according to atradition of theirs‘, Chidon is the name of the place where it was faid to Fofbua, ftretch out the

Spear or fhield in thine hand towards 47, Fo. viii.

18. fo indeed the word fignifies, nor was it unufual to ftretch out the fhield as a fignal on occafion. Thus neas lift up his fhield in his lefthand, as a token to his Trojans, that he was come to relieve them *: where this threfhing-floor was, is not faid; fome fay’, it was the threfhing-floor of Araunah the Febufite; it could not be far from Ferufalem, fince Baale-judab or Kirjath-jearim was but about.a mile from it, according to Bunting™, from whence they fetched the ark: Uzzab put forte his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of

#t; to keep it from falling: the reafon was, for the oxen fbook it; the fame word is ufed in 1 Chron. Xill. 9. and there it is rendered, for the oxen fumbled; and by their ftumbling the cart was fhaken, and the ark im it, and in danger of falling, as Uzzab thought: or the oxen /hook, for the word it is a fupplement; they fhook as if their members were plucking afunder and parting, as Kimchi exprefies it, becaufe of the holinefs of the ark; as if they were fenfible it was wrong for them to draw it, when it ought to have been carried on the fhoulders of Levites; and by. this way, as well as by the death of Uzzah, the error committed was pointed out: but others render it, for the oxen fuck in the élay", and could not goon; whichUzzab obferving, and fearing that in their ftruggle to get out, the art fhould be overturned, or that the proceffion would be retarded too much, took hold of the ark to take it out, and carry it the remainder of the way, it not being far from Feru/alem. ¥. 7. And the anger of the Lord was kindled againft Uzzab, &c.| And which was manifeft by fmiting him: and God fmote him there for his error; committed at this time, which was complicated; as that the ark was put upon a cart, to which he might be the chief advifer, as Procopius Gazeus notes, when it fhould have been carried on the fhoulders of the Levites; and that he touched it with his hand, which none but. priefts might ‘do, fuppofing him to be a Levite, which it is not clear he was, however not a Kobathite; and he took hold of it in order to carry it in his arms, which even Levites, and thofe Kobatbites might not do, but With ftaves put into. it, which only they were. to hold; and befides, as 4barbinel oblerves, he fhewed little faith in the power and providence of God, as if he could not take care of the ark without him: aad there he died by tke ark of God; dire&ly, upon the fpot, by the fide of it; whether he was itruck by lightening, or in what way, cannot be faid; however, he died by the immediate hand of God, in token of his difpleafure’: and this fhows, that it is dangerous in matters of worfhip to act contrary to the command of God, even in things that. may feem {mall and trivial; and though what may be done, may be done with a good intention, as this was, yet that will not excuie the fin; nor are thofe who are the moft forward and zealous in