CPR ASP Sea
is Noa chapter gives an account of the ill treat-jto meet. them, and got an entire conqueft over ment of David’s meffengers to the king of|them, and made them fervants to him, Wet 5—I9.
Ammon, who were fent to condole the death of his father, and were bafely ufed by him, which David] y. 1. And it, came to pafs after this, 8c.] After refented, ¥. 1—5. which the Ammonites perceiving|the wars with the Moabites, Syrians and Edomites, prepared for war, and got the Syrians to be con-|being friendly with the children of Ammon, David federates with them; of which David being inform-'fent an embafly to their king, after related; by ed, fent Joab and -Abifbai into their country, ¥. 6, which it appears what jis faid concerning the fpoils 7, 8. who divided;the army between them, and of the children of Ammon, ch, viii. 12. is_by antiattacked the Ammonites. and Syrians with great cou- cipation; for thefe fpoils were not taken until. rage, and routed them. both, and returned to eru- following war with them, the océafion of 4 ‘Hy falem; ¥. 9—14. after which the Syrians gathered here told: that the king of the children of Aininon together again to fight with David, who went out died; whofe name was Naba/p, as is clear from this means would have a fufficiency for his fon —
: o's Chsvs2e. Us Paw e x the next verfe, and probably might be the fame that came againft Fabefb-gilead, from whom Saul delivered the inhabitants of that place, 1 Sam. xi.1. and Hanun his fon reigned in his ftead, who being - his fon, was heir to his crown, and fucceeded him in his kingdom..
¥.2. Then faid David, I will fhew kindnefs to Hanun the fon of Nabafh, &c.] Send him a friendly compliment of condolence on the death of his father: as bis father Jhewed kindnefs unto me; when David was perfecuted by Saul, he fent him fuccours, and invited him into his country for protection it may be, and fome way or other fhewed refpeét unto him; though not out of real love and friendfhip to David, but in enmity to Saul, who had defeated him at fabe/b-gilead, and had often wars with him: the ews fay °, the particular kindnefs was, that when David left his father, mother and brethren with ‘the king of Moad, he flew all but one, who fled to the king of the children of Ammon, and was by him faved alive: and David fent to comfort him by the hand of bis fervants; for bis father; for the death of his father; to condole the lofs of him, which was the cuftom of kings in friendfhip and alliance in former times, and ftill continues: and David's fervants came into the land of the children of Ammon, even to Rabbah, the metropolis of the nation, and the royal city, where the king kept his court.
y. 3. And the princes of the children of Ammon faid to Hanun their lord, &c.) His nobles and prime minifters, the courtiers that were about him: thinkeft thou that David doth bonour thy father, that he hath fent cémforters unto thee? could he imagine that, David was fincere, and that he really meant to do honour to the memory of his father, and comfort him under the-lofs of him, by fending his embafladors to him on fuch an errand? there was no reafon, they thought, to believe this, fince an J/raelite was forbidden to feek their peace and profperity, or afk of it, nor might an Ammonite enter into their congregation unto the tenth generation, Deut. xxiii. 3, 6. and indeed fome have thought that David did not do a right thing in fending this embaffy, and was jultly requited 5 but it is certain he acted according to the laws of friendfhip, and was cordial and fincere in what he did, though thefe courtiers of Haun put an ill conftruétion on his conduct, their minds being filled with, enmity againft the I/raelites: bath not David rather fent bis fervants unto.thee, to fearch the city, and to py it out, and to overthrow. it? to reconnoitre the place, to obferve, as they walked about in it, which were the weakeft and moft defencelefs parts of it, and what avenues there were to it, and which were moft accefiible, that they might the better know how to attack it, and deftroy it; thefe -furmifes and fufpicions they endeavoured to» fill the: king’s head with, to fet him againft them,. and treat them ill.
y. 4. Wherefore. Hanun took David's. fervants, &c.]. His embafladors:* and fhaved off-one balf of their beards, that is, he ordered them.to_ be fhaved off; than which a greater indignity could not have been well done to them and to David, whom they reprefented, fince the J/raelites fhaved not their beards, and were very-careful of prefetving them; for had it been the cuftom to fhave, they might have fhaved off the other half, and thea they would not have appeared fo ridiculous;
and with other people it has been reckoned a very great punifhment as well could be inflicted, and as great an affront as could well be offered, to mar a man’s beard, or fhave it off in whole or in part?. The Lacedemonians, as Plutarch % relates, when any fled from battle, ufed, by way of reproach, to fhave off part of their beards, ‘and let the other part grow long; and with the Indians, as bifhop Patrick obferves from an ancient writer, the king ufed to order the greateft offenders to be fhaven, as the heavieft punifhment he could inflict upon them; but what comes neareft to the cafe here, is what the fame learned commentator guotes from Tavernier, who in his Indian travels tells us, that the Sopbi of Perfia caufed an embaffador of Aurengzeb to have his beard fhaved off, telling him he was not worthy to wear a beard, and thereupon commanded it fhould be fthaved off; which affront offered him in the perfon of his émbaffador, was moft highly refented by dureng-zeb, as this was by David: and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks; and as they wore long garments in thofe countries, without any breeches or drawers under them, thofe parts by thefe means were expofed to view, which modefty requires fhould be concealed"; fo that they muft be put to the utmoft fhame and confufion: and fent them away, in this ridiculous manner, fcoffing and jeering at them no doubt; that fince they came with compliments of condolence, it was proper they fhould appear in the habit of mourners, with their beards fhaved; and their garments fent; cutting of garments, and ftanding in them from morning to night, was a punifhment of foldiers with the Romans, when they offended *.
¥. 5. When they told it unto David, &c.] Not the embafladors, for they were not- yet arrived, but fome of their fervants, perhaps, they fent before them to acquaint David of the ufage they had met with: be fent to meet them; he fent men to meet them with proper garments to put on, and to affure them how much he refented the indignity done to them and him, and would avenge it in due and proper time, and to direét them where to go for the prefent, as follows: decaufe the menwere greatly afoamed, to proceed on their journey, and come to court in ‘the condition they were: and the king faid, gave orders by the meffengers he fent to them: tarry at ‘Fericho until your beards be grown, or bud‘, and then return; that is, to Ferufalem; Jericho, though not yet built, might have fome cottages at or near the fpot on which it had ftood, for the:convenience of fhepherds, and gatherers of fruit, in the plains of it; here the embaffadors were, directed to go, it being the firft place they came to when they-had paffed over ‘ordan, from the country: of Ammon; and being a place where there were farce any inhabitants, or very few, was very proper for them in their prefent circumftances; and this confirms what is before obferved, that it was now ‘the cuftom of the J/raelites not to fhave their whole beards or otherwife it was but fhaving off the other half, and being now provided with other clothes, they would have had no need to have ftayed at Yericho, but might have proceeded on in their journey.
¥. 6: And when the children of Ammon faw that they flank before David, &c.| Or had made themfelves odious to him, as it is rendered in 1 Chron. xix. 6. were. abominable to him, that he was.in-
* Tanchuma apud Jarchium in loc. x cenfed againft them; and efitaged at them; was determined to be avenged on them for thej affront given, of which they had certain information: but inftead of feecking to appeafe him, and give him fatisfaétion for the affront, the children of Ammon fent, and bired the Syrians of rebob,; a place near Hamath, Numb. xiii. 21. was acity of this name in the tribe of Ahér, out of which the Canaanites could not be driven, and perhaps now inhabited by Syrians; or by a people fo called, Fofb. xix. 28. Fudg. i. 31. and the Syrians of Zoba, 20,000 footmen; that is, out off y. both places; this place Hadadezer was king of, with whom David had fought before, and beat, and who owed him a grudge on that account, and was ready to aflift the dmmonites again{t him, ch. Vili. 3, 4, 5. and of king Maacah 1000 mem, thai is, of the king of Maacah, which was a place in the tribe of Manafeb, from whence theinhabitants} could not be expelled, 7a. xiii. 11, 13. and feems now to have been inhabited by Syrians, and there— fore is called Syria-maachah, 1 Chron. xix. 6. of Ibteb 12,000 men; which is thought to be the fame with the land of Tod, whither Fephthab fled and dwelt in it, when ill ufed by his Jude. xi. 3, 5. thefe mercenary foldiers were in all 33,000 men; in 1 Chron. xix. 6, 7. it is faid, chariots and horfemen, even 32,000; thefe were hired with 1000 talents of filver. our God;
y.8. And the children of Ammon came out, S&c.] Either out of Rabbah their metropolis, as Fofephus*; or rather out of Medeba, as it feems from 1 Chron, xix. 7. a city that lay on the borders of their country, and was a frontier town, fee Numb. xxi. 30. and put the battle in array, at the entering in of the and fet, woitld fooner give way, as he might fuppofe,’ upon which the /mmonites would do the fame. me:
¥. 10. dad the reft of the people be delivered into’ the bands of Abifaai bis brother, &c | Whowasa commander under him, and a very valiant man 3; beth- and thus, as his enemy had two armies, he di— there vided his into two parts, that he might the better attack; them: that be might put them i” array againj: the children of Ammon, draw them up in a line, place them rank and file to meet the ehildren of Ammon, and give thenr battle..
11. Aid be faid, if the Syrians be too firong for me, &c.] Which he might perceive by Yoab's forces giving way, or by fome fignal agreed on between them: then then joalt beip me; detach a part of his army to his fupport and affiftance: dut éf the children of Ammon be too firong for thee, then! wi// come and help thee, in the fame manner.
y. 12. Be of good courage, and let us play the mez, &c.} This Joab faid, not only to encourage © 4éi/bai and hinafelf, but in the hearing of the reit and of the officers of the army, and of many of the people, to hearten them to the battle; who might be fomewhat intimidated. with the number of their brethren,Jenemies, and the pofition they were in, being before and behind them; and therefore he thought proper to make fuch a fpeech to them to animate’ them to fight: far our people, and for the cities of that the people of J/rae/ might not be captive, and their cities fpoiled and plundered; and inftead of being cities where the people of God dwelt, and he was worfhipped, would, if taken, become the habitations of idolatrous heathens, and where temples would be erected to idols, and the worfhip of them; thefe were the arguments he ufed to engage them to fight manfully for their country, the liberties and religion of it: and the Lord do that which feemeth him good; tacitly fuggefting, that victory was of the Lord, and demi-jthat it became them to do their part in fighting courageoufly, and leave the iffue to the Lord, on whom alone fuccefs depended.!
¥. 7. And when David beard of it, &c.] Of carried the preparation made by the Ammonites to fight with him: be fent Joab and all the hoft of the mighty men; he fent out Foad his general, and an army under his command, confifting of men of ftrength, valour and courage; or all the hoft and the mighty men, as Kimchi and Ben Melech, the famous. mighty men mentioned in ch. xxiii. 8. he did not think it advifeable to wait for the Ammonites, but carried the war into their own country, and inftead of fuffering them to invade his nions, he invaded theirs.
¥.13. And Foab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the. battle againft the Syrians, &c.] Felh upon them, attacked them firft, began the battle with them; rightly judging, that if they, being hired foldiers, were clofely prefled, they would gate; of the city of Medeba; they were firft within the city, but upon the approach of Yoad and his army, they came out and drew up in a line of battle at the gate of it: and the Syrians of Zoba, who depended much upon them; and the fight, according to Fofepbus *, lated fome little time, who fays, that Foab killed many of them, and and of Rebob, and Ifptob, and Maacah were by themfelves in the field, at fome diftance from the city, the Ammonites not chufing to truft mercenaries in it; and perhaps they placed thefe in ambuth in the field, to get Foab between two fires, as we now obliged the reft to turn their backs and flee, as follows: and they fled before him; the Syriac and 4radic verfions in this verfe, and in all others in this chapter where the word Syrians is ufed, have Edom- #tes, reading Edom inftead of Aram, the letters R exprefs it. and D in the Hebrew tongue being very fimilar.
¥. 9. When Joab faw that the front of the battle, was againft him before and bebind, &c.| Or the face of it”; armies appeared both. before and behind, about to attack him both in front and rear; the Targum is, “ and Foab faw that the warriors, or thofe that made war, were {trong againft him before and behind:” be chofe of all the ckoice men of Ifrael, the moft eminent for ftrength, and va- Jour, and military fkill, who had been tried, and were famous for warlike exploits, the flower of the army: and put them in array againft the Syrians; who might be the ftrongeft party, and the beft foldiers; though being but mercenaries, if hard be-
¥.14- And when the children of Ammon faw that the Syrians were fled, &c.| In whom they put great confidence: hem they fledalfo before Abifbai; without engaging at all with him, as it feems: and entered into the city; out of which they came, either Rabbah or Medeba, for their fafety: /o Foab returned from the children of Ammon; did not ftay to lay fiege to their city, the feafon of the year not being proper for it, winter drawing near; fee ch. xi. 1. and came to Ferufalem; in triumph, to: report to David the vittory he had obtained.. yt. 15. nd when the Syrians faw that they were /initten before I/rael, 8ec.] Confidered it in their — give way, which would difcourage the Ammonites,. -
Chiavi16—itgo. IL SAMUEL, 565 minds, and converfed with one another about it, and: fearing what would be cohfequence of it: ¢hey gathered themfelves together; not only the forces got together again, that fled before oad, but all the kings of Syréa united their forces together, as appears from y¥. 19. fuppofing that Dawid would avenge himfelf on them for affifting the Ammonites againft him; and therefore judged it advifeable to raife a large army, that they might be in a tion to receive him. that here the chariots that - ¥. 16. And Hadarezer fent, &c.] The fame with Hadadezer, ch. viii. 3. who was at the head of this confederacy, and to whom the reft of the kings of Syria were fervants, ¥. 19. and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river; the river Phrat haps confident of victory, becabfe of their numbers..
,y. 18. And the Syrians fled before Ifrael, &c. ] After an obftinate and bloody fight between them: and David flew the men of 700 charicts of the Syrians; the word men is rightly fupplied, for chariots could not be faid to be flain; but the men in them; in 1 Chron. xix. 17. they are faid to be 7000, condi-jhere 760; which may be reconciled by obferving, held the men are numbered, thete the number of the men that were in the chariots given, and reckoning ten men in a chariot, 700 chariots held juft 7000 men; though Kimchi takes another way of reconciling the two places, by obferving that here only the choiceft chariots or Euphrates, as the Targum; fo the Arabic verfion and ‘fofepbus’, who fays, that he hired them: and they came to Helam., which, according to the fame writer, was king of the Syrians beyond Exiphrates; but it feems to be the name of a place, where was the general rendezvous of the Syrian army. Juwins conjectures, that it is the fame with the / a- matha of Ptolemy”, which he places with the Trachonite Arabs near the Euphrates: and Shobach the captain of the: boft of Hadarezer went before them; before the whole combined army, which, according to Fofephus*, confifted of 80,000 foot, and 10,000 horfe: this general is called Shopbhach, i Chrom xix. 16. the letters B and P being of the fame pronunciation in the Hebrew tongue, as Kimchi oblerves, though it is there read Shobach,-in the Syriac and Arabic verfions; he was no doubt a very able, valiant and {kilful general, fince he is particularly mentioned by name, and whofe name was then famous; the Arabic verfion calls him a ipear-bearer of Hadarezer’s,
¥. 17. And when it was told David, &c.] What preparations the Syrians were making to fight him, and where they were: be gathered all Ifrael together; all the fighting men in the country; and paffed over Fordan, and came to Helam, which, according to Bunting*, was 20 miles from Feru/alem. David feems to have gone hithfelf in per- are mentioned, there all of them, but the former way feems beft: ad 40,000 horfemen, in t Chron. xix. 17. it is 40,000 footmen, and fo Jofephus*; and the fame may be called both horfe and foot, becaufe though they might comie into the field of battle on horfeback, yet might difmount and fight on foot; and fo one biftotian calls them horfemen, and the other footmen; or the whole number of the flain, horfe and foot mixed together, were 40,000: Kimchi makes ufe of another way of removing this difficulty, and which perhaps is the beft, that here only the horfe are numbered that were flain, and there the foot only, and both true; an equal number of each being flain, in all 80,000, befides the 7000 in the chariots: and /mote Shobach the captain of their hoff, who died there; of his wounds upon the fpot.
¥.19. And when all the kings that were fervants to Hadarezer, &c.] “That were fubject to him, and at his beck and command, at leaft were hired by him into his fervice: faw that they were fmitten before Irael; could not ftand their ground againft them, being too powerful for them: shey made peace with Ifrael, and ferved them, became tributaries to them, whereby the promife of the land of Canaan, made to Abraham and his feed, as reaching to the river Euphrates, had its accomplifhment, Genz. xv. 18. fo the Syrians feared to fon to this war: and the Syrians fet themfelves array again David, and fought with him; they in'help the children of Ammon any more, who ftanding by themfelves, they were foon and eafily conquered formed themfelves in a line of battle, and attacked him firft, being eager to fight, and per- by Davia’s forces, as recorded in the following chapters.
HIS chapter begins with the deftru@tion of the Ammonites, and the fiege of Rabbah their thief city, ¥. 1. and enlarges on the fins of David in committing adultery with Bath/heba, y. 2—-~5. in contriving to conceal his fin by fending for her hufband home from the army, y¥. 6—13. in laying a fcheme for the death of him by the hand of the Ammonites, ¥. 14—25. and in marrying Bath- -foeba when he was dead, ¥. 26, 27.
as the Targum on 1 Chron. xx. 1. adds, the fame with 4ib, which was the firft month of the year, Exod. xii. 2. and xiil. 4. a fit time to go! out to war; when, as the Fewi/o commentators obferve, the rains were over, and there were grafs in the fields, and fruit on the trees, and corn ripe, and fo food for horfe and men. This’ month was catled Nifan, as fome think *, from t'D3 the militaty banners thén erected; fo by the Romans it is vi. called Martius, and by us March, from Mars, the ‘y. 1. And it came to pafs, that after the year teas expired, &c.} Or at the end of the year, as che Targum, which concluded with the month Adar ‘or February, the {pring of the year: at the time ‘gehen kings go forth to battle; in the month Ni god of war; though fome ‘ take this to be the month 77/ri, anfwering to part of September, and part of Odober, when all the fruits of the earth were gathered in, and fuppofed to be a fit time for an,|wat, when the heat of the year was Site a that David fent Stoab and his fervants with him, and all Ifrael; his whole army under Foad as general, * ina Chron. xx. 1.. it is the power of the army; the whole body of it: and they deftroyed the children of ‘Ammon; burnt their cities, and flew the inhabitants of them, and laid their Jand wafte whereever they came: and befieged Rabbah; their chief city, called Rabathamana by Polybius‘, that is, Rabbah of Ammon, and afterwards Philadelphia, \M from Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as it was in times of Jerom®: but David tarried fill at Ferufalem 5 which is obferved for the fake of the following hiftory; it would have been well for him he had gone forth with the army himfelf, then the fin he fell into would have been prevented.
y.2. And it came to pafs in an evening-tide, &c.] Some time in the afternoon, when the fun to decline; not in the dufk-of the evening, for then the object he faw could not have been feen fo diftin@tly by him: that David arofe from off bis bed having taken a nap in the heat of the day after dinner; indulging himfelf more than he ufed to do,,to floth and luxury, which prepared him, led him on the more eagerly to the luft of nefs: and walked upon the roof the king’s boufe; to refrefh himielf after his fleep, it being the cool of the day, and the roof of the houfe being flat fic to walk upon, as the houfes of Fudea were; fee Deut. xxii. 8. and from the roof be faw a women wafring berfelf; in a bath in her garden, or in an apartment in her houfe, the window being upon;-of a fine fhape and good complexion, and comely countenance; all which were incentives to luft, at which his eye catcht, and his heart was perfons, when grace is not, in exercife 3) what need the faints ftand in of frefh fupplies of. grace, to keep them from falling; what caution is neceflary, to every one that ftands, left he fall; and that it _ becomes us to abftain from all appearance of fin, and whatever leads unto it, and to watch and pray — that we enter not into temptation, and fuch a record as this is an argument for the integrity of the — criptures, that they conceal not the faults of th. thelgreateft favourites mentioned in them, as well as_ it ferves to prevent defpair in truly penitent back- _ fliders: for jhe was purified from her uncleannefs > ifjthis claufe is added in a parenthefis, partly to, fhew the reafon of her wafhing herfelf, which, was, not for health and pleafure, and to cool herfelf in a hot day, but. to purify herfelf from her menbeganjitruous pollution, according to the law in Lev. xv. 1g. the term of her feparation being expired; and partly to: give a reafon why fhe the more eafily confented, and he was the more.eager to enjoy her 5 and in this he finned, not that he did not lie with an unclean perfon but, then, as fome obferve, andjdid that which was much worfe; he committed unclean-jadultery; alfo this may be added. to obferve, that fhe was the more apt for conception, as Bem Ger- /om notes, and to account for the quicknefs of andJit with which the philofopher ‘agrees: aud foe returned unto ber houfe; whether that evening, or next morning, or how long the ftayed, is not faid. sh come y. 5. And the woman conceived, 8oc.].Whereby grace, or worfe, would follow. upon it: and fent and told David, and faid, I am with child; this meffage fhe fent to David, that he might think of enfnared therewith. fome ways and means to prevent the feandal that y. 3. And David fent and enquired after the womai, 8c.) Who fhe was, what her name, and whether married or unmarried; if the latter, very probably his intention was to marry her, and he might, when he firft made the enquiry, defign to proceed no farther, or to any thing that was difhonour-jand able; but it would have been better for him not to have enquired at all, and endeavoured to ftifle the motions raifed in him at the fight of her: and one faid, is not this Bathlheba, the daughter of Eliam; who in 1 Chron. iil. 5. is called Bath/hua, and her father Ammie!, which is the fame with Eliam reverfed: the wife of Uriah the Hittite? was of that nation originally, and became a lyte; or had fojourned there for a while, ahd took the name; or had it given him, for fome exploit he had performed againft that people, as Scipio Afvicanus, and others among the Romans; this was faid by one, that David enquired of, or heard him would fall both upon him and her, and the danger fhe was expofed unto; fearing the outcries.of the. people againft her, in ating fo unfaithful a part to her-hufband, fo brave a man, who was now fighting for his king and country; and the rage jealoufy of her hufband when he fhould come to the knowledge of it, and the death which by the law fhe was guilty of, even to be ftoned with — ftones, fee Fobu viii. 5. ane ee, y.6. And David fent to Joab, &c.| Who was with the army befieging Rabbah, which, according to Bunting*, was 64 miles from Ferufalem: faywho eitherling, fend me Uriah the Hittite; the fcheme David profe-jhad contrived in his mind, was to get Uriab home to his wife for a few days, that it might be thought the child fhe had conceived was his, whereby the fin of David, and her own, might be concealed: and ‘foab fent Uriah ta-David; not knowing his bufinefs, and befides it was his duty to obey his com- afking about her, and was fufficient to have ftop- a >;
mand.... % GR i bie ped him from proceeding any farther, when he y.7. And when Uriah was come unto him, &c.} was informed fhe was another man’s wife: fome
To David, to whom he came firft, before he went fay", fhe was the daughter of Abithopbel’s fon; to his own houfe, defirous of knowing what was the fee ch. xxiii. 34. fpecial bufinefs of the king with him: David de~
¥. 4. And David fent meffengers, &c.] To. invite her to his palace: and took ber; not by force, but through perfuafion: and fhe came in unto him; into the apartment where he was: and be lay with ber; fhe confenting to it, being prevailed upon, _and drawn into it through the greatnefs and goodnefs of the man, which might make the fin appear the leffer to her, This is recorded to fhew what the beft of men are, when left to themfelves; how manded of him how Foab did, and how the people did, and how the war profpered; he afked of the welfare of Foad the general, and of the common foldiers, and of the warriors, as the Targum, the _ mighty men that went along with Foab, ch. x. 7. and xi. 1. David feems to have been. at rie what to fay tohim..Thefe queftions were fo >mean and trivial, that it might juftly give Urieh fome fufpicion, that it could never be on this account
{trong and prevalent corrupt nature is in regenerate that he was fent for; fince David could not wan a
; an ere a uti! Stee 4 in 1 *!, rw.f ey of P Chxkahi8—14 ths WU EeL, intelligence of fuch things,’ expreffes’ being. daily fending him. 0 Je uo oe bisldo.a) sitters y¥. 8. And David faid to Uriah, go down to thy boufe, and wafh thy feet, Sec.) Vor his tefrefh ment, and to prepare for bed, which was what he wanted toiget him to: and:Uriah departed out of the king’s boufe; in order ‘as it might feem to the king to go to his own: and there followed him a mefs of meat from the king; no doubt a delicious difh, to eat with’ his wife before he wert to bed, to excite him the more ‘to: defire the enjoyment of her. This mefs confifted, according: to Abarbinel, of bread, wine:and flefh; and who alfo obferves, “after Ben Gerfom, that the word maybe interpreted’ of -a torch to light him home to ‘his houfe, it being night. © beeen ¥. 9. ButUriah flept at the door-of the king’s:houfe, with all the fervants of bis lord, &c.] ‘The life guards, which were placedithere to watch the palace in the night-feafon; Uriab firt fell into’a cont verfation with thefe, as‘is “highly probable, ‘to whom he was well known, and who might enquire of one and another of their friends in the army; and he being weary, Jaid himfelf down among them, and flept: and went not down to bis boufe; whether the trifling queftions David afked him, or the information the guards might give him of his wife being fent for to court, made him fufpect fomething, and fo had no inclination to go to his own houie; or however fo it ‘was-ordered by the providence of God, which directed him to act in this manner, that the fin of David and Bathjbeba they ftudied to'hide, might be difcovered. sas - bent to the contrary, through the over-ruling pro- » ¥.10, And when they bad told David, &c.] The next morning, either thofe that'went with the mefs of meat, or the guards with whom he flept all night: faying, Uriah went not down to bis boufes as the king had ordered him’; which thofe-perfons being acquainted with, informed him of it, as an act of difobedience to him: David faid unto Uriah; having fent for him upon the above information: cameft thou not from thy journey? and which was a long one, of above 64 miles, as before obferved, and therefore might well be weary, and want refrefhment and reft, and his own houfe was the moft proper place for it; for which reafon David fuggefts he had fent him thither, and did not require nor need his fervice among his guards: why then didft thou not go down unto thine houfe? which was the fitteft place for him in fueh cirvidence of God, to which it muft be afcribed. - y.12. And-David faid to Uriah, tarry bere today alfo, &c.] In his court, when he found he could not perfuade him to go to his own houfe: avd to-morrow I will let thee depart; after he had tried one’ method more with him: /o Uriah abode in Ferufalem, that day and the morrow; not in his own houfe, but the king’s palace. ' © y. 13. dud when David had called him, &c.] Invited him to fup with him: be did eat and drink Jefore him very freely and plentifully: and he made him drunk, this was another fin of Davia’s, done in order to make him forget his oath and vow, ‘and that being inflamed with wine, defires might be excited in him to go home and lie with his wife; but even this {cheme did not fucceed:: gud at even. be went out to lie on his bed with the cumitances. fervants of bis lord; in the guard-room, where he
¥. 11. And Uriah faid unto David, 8c.] As an apology for his conduct: the ark, avd Dfrael, and Fudab abide in tents; meaning not the people of djrael and Fudab in the land of Canaan; for they did not now dwell in tents, though indeed the ark of the Lord did, ch. vii. 2. which fome think is here referred to; but the armies of I/rael and ‘fudabh befieging Rabbah, with whom iit feems the ark was, which fometimes was carried with theny when they wént out to war, 1 Sam. iv. 4. and xiv. 18. though darbinel thinks this was not the ark in which were the two tables of ftone, and therefore is not called the ark of the covenant, but an which was made to put the ephod, and Urim and Thummim in, that they might upon occafion enquire of the Lord by them: anzd my lord Foab, avd the fervants of my lord are encamped in the open fields; around Rabbah they were befieging; he calls Joab his lord, becaufe he was the chief. geeral under whom he ferved, and the reft of the had lain before: but went not down to his houfe; for he was not fo drunk but he remembered his. oath, and kept his refolution not to go down to his own houfe; the Lord no doubt working upon his mind, and difinclining him to it.;
v.14, dnd it came to pafs in the morning, &c.] When David was informed that Uriab did not go to his own houfe, but flept with his fervants, fatan - put it into his head and heart to take the following wicked and cruel method: that David wrote a letter to Joab, and fent it. by the hand of Uriah; to have him. cut off by the fword of the enemy. arkjIf Uriah fufpected David’s criminal converfation with his wife, he was fo true and trufty a fervant to him, that he would not open his letter to Feat, which had he, it would have betrayed the bafe defign. No one that knows the ftory of Belleropbon,. can read this without thinking of that, they are fo much alike; and indeed that feems to be founded upon this, and taken from it ay commanditig officers he calls the fervants of his lord, as ‘diftinguifhed’ from’ the common {oldiers. The Fews,who are for excufins David from blathe jin the cafe of Uriah, ‘obferve 'y that he was guilty of rebellion againft David, and fo worthy of death, not only becaufe he difobeyed His command, in not going to his houfe when he ordered him, but by calling Yoab my lord in his prefence: but this was only a refpectable character of his general, and no overt act'of treafon to his king’; nor did David fo underftand it, nor in the leaft refent it: now feeing fuch great'men, who were far fuperior to him in rank and ‘office, were obliged to lie on the, bare ground, he argues: fall I then go into mine houfe; to cat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? if he had any fufpicion of David's crime, he might purpofely add the laft claufe; and if not, it was enough to awaken’ the confcience of David, and cut him to the quick, “had he not been greatly, hardéned thro’ the deceitftilnefs of fin; to obferve, that a faithful fubject, ‘arid afoldier of his,’ would not allow -himfelf the enjoyment of lawful pleafures, when his’ fellow-foldiers were expofing their lives to danger - for their country 5 and yet he, under fuch circumftances, indulged to finful lufts and criminal pleafures: as thou liveth, and as thy foul liveth, I will not do this thing; he {wears to it, for the confirmation of it; this he did to prevent any farther folicitations from the king, or his wife, unto it, who were both anxioufly defirous of it; for tho’ no mention is made of his wife, yet no doubt fhe did all fhe could to prevail upon him to come to his houfe, but all to no purpofe; his mind was fo
Bellerophon rejecting the folicita- |from the wall? they muft have. ak that,