i. SAMUEL. Chxisrg—ag
tions of Sthenobca, who was in love with him, fhe prevailed upon her hufband Pretus to fend letters by therefore fhould have kept out of the reach of their thot.
him to ¥obates (a name fimilar to Foad) the gene-
¥. 21. Who fimote Abimelech the fon of Ferubbe- ral of his army, which contained inftructions to take care that he was killed;
/beth? 8c.) The fame with Ferub-baal, who was who fent him upon anj Gideon, Fudg. vi. 32. Baal, one part of his name, expedition for that purpofe™.
¥,15. And he wrote in the letter, faying, &c.] Bofoeth or Befoeth, which fignifies fhame, being
Giving the following orders to ‘foab: Jet ye Uriab in the fore-front of the hotteft battle; over-againtt that part of the city where the enemy was ftongeft, and the battle the fierceft, and the ftones and arrows were caft the thickeft: and retire ye from him; leave him to himfelf to combat.the enemy alone; who feeing him deferted, would fally out upon him, and the few that might be with him, and flay him: that be may be fmitten, and die; thus he fought to add murder to adultery, and that in the bafett manner, and which he accomplifhed; and this is often the cafe, that murder follows adultery, either by way of revenge for it, or in order to cover it, as here.
¥.16. And it came to pals when Foab obferved the city, &c.] Where lay its greateft ftrength, and where it was beft defended; or defieged. it, as the Targum: that he affigned Uriah unto a place, where he knew that valiant men were 3, who would not eafily give way, and when they faw an opportunity would fally out. ‘oad cannot be excufed from fin, unlefs he thought that Uriah had been was the name of an idol; and fometimes called. a fhameful idol; Gideon had a fon called Abimelech, who was {mitten, and it is here afked by whom?, did not a woman caft a milftone upon him from thé wall, that he died in Thebex? which. fhould have: been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the hiftory is recorded in Fudg. ix. 52, 53. why went ye nigh the wall? expofing your lives to fo much danger, and by which fo many lives were loft: then fay thou, thy fervant Uriah the Hittite is dead alfo; the whole has not been told, the worft of all is, as the meffenger was to reprefent it, that brave gallant foldier Uriah is dead; this Foad ordered to be told laft, as knowing very well it would pacify the king’s wrath, and was the agreeable news: he wanted to hear.
¥.22. So the meffenger went, &e.\ From oad, from the army before Rabbah: and came; to David in Ferufalem, a course of 64 miles: and fhewed David all that foab had sent him for; all the events of the war hitherto,:
¥. 23. And the meffenger faid unto David, &c.} The particulars of his account follow: furely the guilty of death, and that David took this way of men prevailed againft us; the men of the city of difpatching him for fome political reafon; however David was king, and to be obeyed.
¥.17. And the men of the city went out, &c.] Made a fally out, as Foab expected they would,
Rabbah, the befieged there, in one onfet they made upon them: and came out unto us in the field; the befiegers that lay encamped there; they fallied out upon them: and we were updn thém, even unto the when they appeared before them at that part of entering of the gate; rallied upon them, and drove the city where valiant men were: and fought with Foab; at leaft with part of his army pofted with Uriah: and there fell fome of the people of the fervants of David, which made David’s fin the more hainous, that feveral lives were loft through the {tratagem he devifed to procure the death of Uriah; who-could not be placed in a dangerous poft alone, and therefore others muft be facrificed with him, as were: and Uriah the Hittite died alfo,; which was the thing aimed at, and the end to be anfwered by this fcheme.
¥.18. Then Foab sent, &c.] Meflengers to David, as foon as Uriah was killed: and told David all the things concerning the war how the fiege had been carried on; what fuccefs they had had, good or ill; what their advantages and difadvantages; what men they had loft, and efpecially in one fally of the enemy upon them, for the fake of which the exprefs was fent.
¥.19. And charged the meffenger, 8c.] Gave him a particular direction and inftruction, what he fhould fay at the clofe of his narrative, according as he fhould obferve the king’s countenance to be: faying, when thou haft made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king; giving an account of all the events that happened fince the fiege was begun to that time.
¥.20. And if fo be that the king’s wrath arife, &c.} Which might be feen in his countenance, or expreffed in his words: and he fay, wherefore approached ye fo nigh unto the city when ye did fight? as to expofe the king’s troops to the enemy on the wall, who by ftones or darts greatly annoyed them, or fallied out on them, and killed many of them: knew ye not that they would hoot them back, and purfued them to the gate of the city.
¥. 24. And the fhooters fhot from off of the wall upon thy fervants, &c.] Arrows out of their bows, or ftones out of their engines; the J/raelites following them fo clofely to the gate of the city, came within the reach of their fhot from the wall: and Jome of the king’s fervants be dead killed in the {ally upon them, and by the fhot from the wall: and thy fervant Uriah the Hittite is dead alfo; the meflenger did not entirely obey the orders of ‘oad to wait and obferve if the king’s wrath arofe, but was in hafte to tell him the laft piece of news; perhaps he had fome fufpicion from the manner of Foad’s telling him what he fhould fay, that thie would be acceptable to the king.
¥.25. Then David faid to the meffenger, 8ec.} Whom he difpatched again to Yoad upon the delivery of his meflage: thus fhalt thou fay to Foab; in the name of David: let not this thing difpleafe thee; be not grieved, and caft down, and intimidated at the repulfe he had met with, and the lols of fo many brave men, and efpecially Uriah = jor the fword devours one as well as another, officers as well as foldiers, the {trong as well as the weak, tke valiant and courageous, as well as the more timorous; the events of war are various and uncertain, and to be fubmitted to, and not repined at, and laid to heart. David’s heart being hardened by fin, made light of the death of his brave foldiers, to which he himfelf was accefiory. nis cone {cience was very different now from.what it was when he cut of the fkirt of Sau/’s robe, and his heart in a different frame from that in which he compofed the lamentation over Saud and Fonathan: 4.
make thy aie. 4 throw it; more c attack it; affault ity endeavour. to take it by ftorm, and utterly deftroy it, razing the very foundations of it: and encourage thou -bints which words are either faid to the meffenger to encourage and animate Joab in Davia’s name, which is not fo likely that a meflenger fhould be employed to encourage the general; or rather the words of David to Foab continued, that. he would encourage it, the army under him, who might be difheartened with the} rebuff and lofs they had met with; and therefore Yoab is bid to fpirit them up, to carry on the fiege with vigour.
26. And when the wife of Uriab heard that Uriah her hufband was dead, &c.|. The news of which were foon fent her by David, though it is very probable fhe knew nothing of the plot to take away his life; and befides, David chole to have his death publifhed abroad as {oon as. poffible, the more.to hide his fin: fhe mourned for ber bufband, exprefied tokens of mourning by fhedding tears, putting on a mourning habit, feeing no company, and this continued for the fpace of feven days, it may be, 1 Sam. xxxi. 7. as little time as poffible was {pent in. this way, and the marriage haftened; that the adultery, might nor be difcovered.
_ ¥. 27. And whep the mourning was paft, &c.) The feven days were at an end, or fooner; for he ftayed not go days from the death of her hufband, which the Yews in after-times enjoined *, that it might be known whether with child by her former hufband, and fo to whom it: belonged; and becaufe David did not wait this time; bardinel
ATHAN is {ent to David to charge him with his fin, and convince him of it by a parable, y¥. 1—6. which being accommodated and applied to David’s cafe, brought him to a conviction and acknowledgment of it, and repentance for it; which was forgiven him, ¥. 7—13. though he is told the child begotten in adultery fhould die, and it was quickly ftruck with ficknefs, and died; and David’s behaviour during its ficknefs, and at its death,.is recorded, ¥. 14-23. after which Solomon was born to him of the fame woman, and had the name of Yedidiah given him by the Lord, which fignifies the beloved of the Lord, and as a token of reconciliation, and a confirmation of his fin being forgiven him,:y. 24,25. and the chapter is concluded with the taking of the city of Rabbah, and the fpoil in it, and the ufage of the inhabitants of, it, y¥. 26-+31. | yw. 1. And the Lord fent Nathan unto David, &c.| Quickly after the child was born begotten on Bathfoeba, and when it was known and became the public talk of people, and the enemies of religion firong againft the city, and overlofely befiege it, more vigoroufly |/enxt, and. fetched ber to bis houfe; took her home
«Sg charges it tpoh him as an additional fin: Dautd to his palace.to live with him + and fhe Lecame his wife; he married her.according to the ufual fort of marriage in thofe days: and bare him-a fon + begotten in adultery: dut the thing thut David-bad done difpleafed the Lord; or was evil. in the ayes of the Lord®, for though it was not done in the eyes of men, being fearcely or very little knows, yer was in the eyes of the Lord; which run to and fro. throughout the earth, and fees all things that are done: the adultery. he had been guilty of with:another man’s wife, was abominable to the Lord, and for which, according to the law, both he and fhe ought to have been put to death, Lev. xxiro. the murder of her hufband, which he was ‘accef-. fory to, aswell asthe death of many othefs, and, the marriage of her under fuch circumftances; were all difpleafing to God, and of fich ‘an hainous nature, that his pure eyes could. not“ look upon with approbation: the ews? endeavour td excule David from fin; from the fin of murder; by making Uriah guilty of rebellion and _treafon, as before obferved; and from the fin of adultery; by affirming that it was the conftant cuftom for men, when they went out to war, to give ‘their wives a bill of divorce; fo that from the time of giving the bill, they were not their wivesy and fuch as lay with them were not guilty of adultery; © but: for this there is no foundation:.it is certain David was charged with it by the Lord; he himfelfowned it, and bewailed it, both that and his blood: guiltinéf&, and the» following: chapter abundantly proves it.
and having little concern about it; thovgh perhaps. he might. have fome pangs at. times,’ which quickly went off; tho’ fome: think he exercifed ré-! pentance in a private way, before; acknowledged his fin to the Lord, and: had:a-tenfe of pardony and before this time penned the» 32° and 130" pfalms on this occafion; ‘but Nathan is fent to’ awaken and aroufe him, to exprels a fenfe of his» fin, and repentance for it in public, which he did by penning and publifhing Pf. li. after Nathan had been with him; for though the Lord may leave his people to fall into fin, and fuffer thern to continue therein fome time, yet not:always; they fhall. rife again through the affiftance of his Spirit and grace, in the acts of repentance and faith, both in private and public: and he came unto him, and be faid unto him; he came as if. he had a cafe to lay before him, and to have juftice done, and he told the flory as if it was a real fad, and fo David underftood it: there were two men in one citys pointing at David and Uriah, who both lived in Ferufalem: the one rich, and the other poor; David the rich man, king over all Z/rael, Uriah a fub- were full of it, and blafphemed on accountof it, ¥. jeét, an officer.in his army, comparatively poor..
14. fo that David was nine months or more without any true fenfe, of his fin, his heart hardened, his graces dormant, the joys of falvation taken from him, and he without any communion with God, David’s wives and concubines, which were many;
omy yD yo malum in oculis Domini, Montanus.
¥.2. The rich man bad exceeding many flocks and herds.) In which the wealth of men Jay in. thofe times and countries; thefe in the parable fignify - he-had fix wives in Hebron, and he took more wives and concubines out of Yerufalem, when he was come from Hebron, ch. ili. 2—5. and v. 13. and befides his mafter’s, or Sau/’s wives; given to him, ¥. 8., Om hts _¥. 3. But the poor man had nothing’ fave one Tittle ew-lamb, &c.) Uriah had bat one wife, who was much younger than he, called a lamb, an ew-lamb, a little one.. Abarbinel thinks, Uriah had been a widower, and had children «by another wife; fuppofed in the parable, and was much olde than Bath/beba.: which he had bought; for men in thofe times and countries did not receive portions with their wives, but gave dowries to them, and for them: and nourifbed up; as his own flefh, as hufbands fhould their wives, Eph. v. 29. and it grew up together with him, and with bis children, which Kimchi alfo fuppofes Uriah had by a former wife: it did eat of bis own meat, and drink of bis own cup, and lay in his bofom, and was unto him as a daughter; all which are expreffive of the care, kindnefs, love and tendernefs of a loving hufband, whofe affections are endeared to his wite, making her partaker of all he has, and to fhare in whatever he eats and drinks, and in his deareft embraces; and as there were inftances of creatures, lambs and others, particularly cade lambs, ufed in this way in a literal fenfe, to which the reference in the parable is, David had no fufpicion of its being a parable. Bochart has given many inftances of creatures nourifhed and brought.up in fuch a familiar manner.
¥.4. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, &c.] By which fome underftand Satan, who came to David, and ftirred up his luft by the temptations that offered; who is a walker, as the word ufed fignifies, that goes about feeking whom he may devour, and is with good men only as a wayfaring man, who does not abide ‘with them; and whole temptations, when-they fucceed with fuch, are as meat'and drink to him, very entertaining: but the ews generally underftand it of the evil imagination or concupifcience in man, the luftful appetite in David, that wandered after another man’s wife, and wanted to be fatiated with her: and he fpared to take of bis own flock, and of his own herd, to drefs for the wayfaring man that came unto him; when his heart was inflamed with Juft at the fight of Bath/heba, he did not go as he might, and take one of his wives and concubines, whereby he might have fatisfied and repreffed his Juft: Lut took the poor man’s lamb, and dreffed for the man that came to him, fent for Bathfbeba and lay with her, for the gratification of his luft, the being a young beautiful woman, and more agreeable to his luftful appetite. The ews, in their Talmud’, obferve a gradation in thefe words, that the evil imagination is reprefented firft as a traveller that paffes by a man, and lodges not with him; then as a wayfaring man or hoft, that pafles in and lodges with him; and at laft as a man, as the matter of the houfe that rules over him, and therefore called the man that came to him.
¥. 5. And Davids anger was greatly kindled againft the man, &c.| That had done this, taking it for a real fact: and he faid to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that bath done this thing foall
; given to David, though taken again and ee Surely die; which he faid in the tranfport of his! others: the ‘Yews fay, that Egleh, David's fixth — the law of Mo/es, was not to but David thought the ctime was fo greatly gravated by being done by a rich man, and wick 3 lofs the poor man fuftained, it ‘being ‘his all; and the fact, in all its circumftances, fo cruel and ‘bat= barous, that the guilty perfon ought to die: how much more vehemently, and indeed with juftice, - would he have pafied the fentence of death on him, }or adjudged him to it, had it been put in the para4 ble, that the rich man not only took the poor | man’s ew-lamb, ‘but killed the poor man himfelf? but this Nathan left out, that David might not take his meaning, as Abarbinel thinks, who then would: have been upon his ‘guard, and not have condenined | himfelf; and hereby alfo Nathan had this advantage’ againft him, that if ‘this man deferved to die, -who’had only taken the poor man’s ew-lamb, then How much more ought he to die, who had not only committed adultery with Bath Jbeba, but had flain'Uriab.. eee
¥. 6. And he fhall reftore the lamb four-fold; &c.
Which was according to the law in Ewod, xxii. 1, but Kimchi thinks, becaufe the word is of the dual number, it fignifies double the number, and that the fentence was to reftore eight lambs, becaufe he being a rich man ftole from the poor man} fo’ Mr. Weem/e* renders it, twice four, twice a5 much as was commanded «in the law; for the Hebrews, he obferves, double in the dual’ number till they come to feven': becaufe be did this thing, commit= ted this theft: azd Gecaufe be bad'no pity; on the poor man, but took ‘his«all. The ews obferve, ' that accordingly David was punifhed’ with the lofs of four of his children, that which was born of Bathfbeba, Ammon, Tamar and Absalom, fo moft of the commentators, but Ben Gerfom, inftead of Tamar has Adonijab. _ ¥.7. And Nathan faid to David, thou art the man, &c.| The rich man, or who is defigned by him in the parable, and anfwers to him‘: thus faith the Lord God of Trael, I anointed thee king over Jfrael, that is, ordered Samuel to anoint him, who did, 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 12,'13. to which this ‘chiefly refers; and after that, he was anointed firft by the tribe of Fudah, and then by all the tribes of J rael, by the appointment and providence of God; and this was great dignity he defigned for him, and raifed him to: and I delivered thee out of the band. of Saul; when he perfecuted him, and fought to take away his life. tam p ¥. 8. And I gave thee thy mafter’s boufe, &c.} Not his palace at Gideah, but rather his family, his wives, fervants, wealth, and riches, all Being confifcated through the rebellion of Jbbofheth’; or”
rather his kingdom he fucceeded him’ in: and thy’ mafter’s wives into thy bofom, though we read of no more than one that belonged to Sa#l, if he is meant by his malter, excepting Ri/pah his concubine, nor ever of David taking them into his’ bofom and bed; wherefore this can be underftood only of his having them at ‘his difpofal, to give them to whom he pleafed; the word may be render-' ed his women, as well as his w#ves, and may defign his daughters, Merab and Michal, who were both wrath and fury; otherwife a thief, according to wife, was the wife of Saw, ch. iii. 5. fee the note
© ees INUtAtO Nomine, de te
or death, bi tomake reftitution; andif he was not able tomake — ‘it, then to be fold, but he was not to-die for its theres and gave thee the houfe of Ifrael, and of Fudeb; the kingdom of both; gave him to be king over all the tribes of J/rae]: and if that had been ‘too little; either bis wives too few, as the Fews interpret it; or his kingdom too fmall: J would moreover have given unto thee fuch and fuch things, more and greater favours;, and indeed fuch he had promifed him, as a firm or ftable houfe or king* dom, and that the Mefiiah fhould {pring from him..
. ¥eq. Wherefore baft thou defpifed the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his fight? &c. The commandment referred to is the law of God, particularly the fixth and feventh precepts of it; which ‘David had fhown no regard unto, and by his breaking them had flighted and defpifed them:, thou baft killed Uriah the Hittite with the fword; and fo had defpifed and broken the fixth command; for though he had not taken away his life with his own hand, he had plotted and contrived it, and had given orders to put him in fuch a pofition as would iffue in it: end haft taken bis wife to be thy ewife; after he had defiled her, being another man’s wife, and had taken fuch unlawful methods to make her his wife, whereby he had defpifed and broken both the fixth and the feventh commands: and haft fain bim with the fword of the children of Ammon; though he had not put him to death with his own fword,* he had done that which was as bad or worfe in fome refpeéts, he had expofed him to the {word of the Ammonites, by which it was taken away; and not his only, but that of fome of the draelites alfo, which gave that uncircumcifed. people reafon to triumph over the children of J/rael, and even to blafpheme the God of J/rael..
-¥. 10. Now therefore the fword fhall never depart from thine houfe, &c.| During his life, and as appeared in the’ flaughter of his fons Ammon and éfalom before’ his death, and of Adonijab quickly after, and in his pofterity through their wars with the children of J/rael, and other nations: becaufe thou haft defpifed me; his commandments, and that in effect was defpifing him the lawgiver: and haft taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife; which being repeated fhews, that it was very difpleafing.to God, and a very hainous crime in his fight.
y.a1. Thus faith the Lord, &c.] For what he faid was not of himfelf, but under a fpirit of prophecy: I will raife up evil-againft thee out of thine own bouje; that is, evil perfons, who fhould be guilty of evil things, and that as a chaftizement of him for the fins he had committed, and thofe out of his own family, as Ammon and Abfalom: and I will take thy wives before thine eyes; which is fo expreffed, becaufe it was done in his life-time, and he knowing it, but not able to hinder. it, tho’ he did not, ftrictly fpeaking, fee it with his eyes: and give them unto thy neighbour, or friend, meaning his fon Abfalom, as they were: and be foall lie with thy wives in the fight of this fun; pointing to the fun in the firmament, and which might be then fhining in the room where they were; and which is reprefented by Homer", as feeing all things avd eyes are afcribed to it here, in the original: the meaning is, that this fact fhould be done in the day-time, openly and publickly, and was fulfilled, when by the advice of Abitophel a tent was fpread on the top of the houfe, and Abfelom went in to his father’s concubines in. the fight of. all J/rae/, ch. xvi. 22.
W128. For thoi did it fecretly, &cx} Cornmitted adultery with Bath/beba privately, and endeavoured to conceal it, by getting her hufband killed in battle, and then marrying her as. foon as he, could, to hide the fhame of it: but I will. do this thing before all Ifrael, and before the, fun; as a above fact'was; that is, he would fuffer it to Be done,’ and fo order it in his providence, that every thing fhould concur to the doing of it; as David's - leaving his wives behind him, bitopbel’s wicked counfel he was fuffered to give, and the luftful inclination 4b/alom was left Unto, and not any of the people of rae, having religion, {pirit aad courage enough to remonftrate againit it.
y: 13. And David faid unto Nathan, I have fisned ogainft the-Lord, 8c.) Which confeffion, tho’ fhort, was a full one,.arifing froma therough conviction of the evil of the fin he had beén guilty of, accompanied with real brokennels of. heart, fincere humiliation, and -a forrow after a godly fort, as the 51{t pfalm, that penitential pfalm compofed upon this oceafion, fhews: and Nathan feid unto David, being fully fatisfied with the fincerity and genuinenefs ‘of his repentance, of which,he gave proof by words and deeds, and being under the direction and impulfe of the Spirit of God: the Lord hath put away thy fia; would not charge it upon him, impute it to him, or punifh him for it, but freely ahd fully forgive it, caft it behind his back, and into the depth of the fea; caufe it to pafs from him, and never more bring it again{t him; and which is che.Lord’s act, and his only, againft whom fin is committed: thou fhalt. not dies though he fhould die a corporal death, yet not by. the immediate hand of God, or by the {word of juftice as a malefactor, a murderer and adulterer, as he, according to the law, deferved to die; nor fhould he die a {piritual death, though his grace had’ been fo low, and his corruptions had rifen fo high; nor an eternal death, the fecond death, the v.14. Howbeit, becaufe by this deed, &c.] This complicated wickednefs, adultery with Bath/heba, and the murder of her hufband, and occafioning the death of. others: thou bajff given great reason, to the enemies of thé Lord to bla/pheme; to infult over J/rael, and the God of J/rael, and to magnify their own idols on account of the advantage they got, when Uriah and other J/raelites were flain; and to fpeak ill of God as a refpecter of perfons, who had caft off Saud and his family from the kingdom, and yet eftablifhed David in it, guilty of crimes the other was not; and -of the word, ways and worfhip of God, and of the true religion, as all hypocrify and deceit, when men that made fuch pretenfions to it were guilty of fuch atrocious crimes; wherefore, to let fuch fee and know that the Lord did not approve of, and countenance fuch actions, but abhorred and refented them: the child alfo- that is born unto thee foall Jurely die; which would be a vifible teftimony of. God’s difpleafure at his fin, to all men that fhould hear of it, and know it; and being taken away in fuch a manner, would be a great affliction to him, and the more, as his affections were much towards the child, as appears by what follows; or otherwife the removal of it might have been confidered as amercy, fince its life would have kept up the remembrance of the fin, and have been a ftanding reproach to him, of Ferufalem, having delivered. his meflage, and brought David to a fenfe of his fin, and declared to him, from the Lord, the forgivenefs of it; yet for the honour of religion, and the ftopping the mouths of blafphemers, the death of the child is threatened and foretold, and then Nathan took his leave of him, having nothing more from the Lord to fay to him: and the Lord firuck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David; for fo fhe was, and not David’s wife, when this child was begotten of her; and as a mark of God’s difpleaiure at the fin of adultery, the child was ftruck with a
From the floor on which he lay: and wafhed, and anointed himfelf, and changed bis apparel; neither of which he had done during his time of fafting: and came into the houfe of the Lord, and worfbipped 5 went into the tabernacle he had built for the ark of God, and then in prayer fubmitted himfelf to the will of God, and. acknowledged his juftice im what he had done; gave thanks to God that he had brought him to a fenfe of his fin, and repentance for it, and had applied his pardoning grace to him, and given him fatisfaction as to the eter- fore difeafe by the immediate hand of God: @vd nal welfare and happinefs of the child, as appears it was very fick, even unto death, as the event fhewed.
y.16. David therefore befought God for the child, &c.] Perhaps went into the tabernacle he had built for the ark, and prayed to the Lord to reftore the child, and fpare its life; for though the Lord had faid it fhould die, he might hope that that was a conditional threatening, and that the Lord might be gracious and reverie it, ¥.22. and David fafted; all that day: and went in; to his own houfe from the houfe of God: and lay all night upon the earth, would neither go into, nor lie upon a bed, but lay on the floor all night, weeping and praying for the child’s life, and efpecially for its eternal welfare; he having through fin been the means of its coming into a fintul and afflicted flate.
y¥.17. And the elders of his boufe arofe, and went to him, to raife him up from the earth, &c.| To perfuade him to rife up, and fit upon a feat, and go to bed, after having taken fome food; thefe were fome of the chief officers at court, and had the management of the affairs of his houfhold: but he would not; they could not perfuade him to it: ze7- ther did he eat bread with them; that evening, a: he had ufed to do; they being the princes of his court, who were wont to fit at table with him,
¥.18. Aud it came to pafs on the feventh day, that the child died, 8&c.|} Not the feventh day from its being taken ill, but from its birth; for it can’t be thought that David fhould faft feven days: and the fervants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; \eft he fhould be overwhelmed with over-much forrow: for they faid, behold, while from the ground, and eat food: and he would not hearken unto our voice; we could not prevail upon him to do the one nor the other: how will he then vex himfelf, if we tell him that the child is dead? or fhould we acquaint him with it, be’// do mifchief” to himfelf, to his body; he’ll tear his flefh to pieces, and cut and kill himfelf; this they were afraid of, obferving the diftrefs and agony he was in whilft it was living, and therefore they concluded thefe would increafe upon hearing of its death. ¥.19. And when David faw that his fervants whi/pered, &c.] For they faid the above to one another with a low voice, that he might not hear them, though in the fame room with them: David perceived the child was dead, he guefled it was, about among themfelves: therefore David faid unto bis fervants, is the child dead? and they faid, be is which though at firft difpleafing to the Lord, be-_ from y. 23. then be came to his own houfe; from the houfe of God, having finifhed his devotion there: and when he required 3 ordered food to be brought in: they fer bread before bim, and he did eat; whereas before, while the child was living, he refufed to eat.
y¥. 21. Then faid his fervants unto hit, what thing is this that thou haft done? &c.\ Or what is the reafon of fuch conduct and behaviour?. they knew what was done, but they did not, know the meaning of it, which is what they enquired after: thou didfi jaft and weep for the child, while it was alive; prayed with fafting and weeping for it, that it might live and not die: but when the child was dead, thou didft rife and eat bread; and appeared chearful;. this feemed ftrange to them, when they expected his forrow would be increafed.
y¥. 22, And be faid, while the child was yet ahve, &c.] And fo there was hope it might be continued: J fafled and wept; or fought the Lord by. prayer, and fafting, and weeping, that the threatening\might not take place, that the child’s lifemight be fpared: for J faid; within himfelf, thus he teafoned in his own mind: who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? and in hope of this hé kept praying, fafting and weeping; he could not tell but God might repent of the evil he had threatened, as in fome, cafes he has done; fee Foe/ ii. 13, 14. Yow. ili. 9, 10. Abarbinel thinks, that David fafted and wept. to hide this matter from his wife, and his fervants, and did not let them know that this was in his punifhment, that the child fhould die.
¥. 15. And Nathan departed unto bis boufe, &cc.} His own houfe, which probably was in the city and which he was prepated to receive, by what he had obferved in them.
y.20. Then David arofe from the earth, &e.)
¥. 23. But now he.is dead, wherefore fooula f° the child was yet alive, we fpake unto him; to rife faft? &c.] And pray; it is to no purpole, no end can be thought to be anfwered by it: cam I bring. him back again? from the ftate of the dead, bring;
him to life by fafting, and praying, and weeping.
that is not to be expected: J fhall go to him; to’ the ftate of the dead, to the grave, where his body, was, or would be; to heaven and eternal happie nefs, where his foul was, as he comfortably hoped and believed: from whence it appears, that the. Old Teftament-faints did not fuppofe an annihilation at death; bur believed the immortality of the foul, a future ftace after death of eternal life apd blifs: dut be foal not return to me; in the prefent mortal ftate, though at the refurrection they thould —
. tee i ' ¥. 24. And David comforted Bathfocba bis wife, and that this was the thing they were whifpering &c.] Which is the firft time fhe is fo called, —
Uriah being dead, and David having married her;
dead; for putting the queftion to them fo clofely, they could not avoid giving the anfwer they did, BPW PY) nas woinen xaxa, Sept.
caufe of the circumftances attending it, was afterwards confirmed by him. Bath/beba no doubt was. faciat malumt, Pagninus, Montanus; malum js inferet, Syr, Ar.
very much aiftrettea, and 9 eatly difconfolate, ‘on.
account of the‘fin fhe had committed, and becaufe of the wrath ‘and’ difpleafure of God, and becaufe ‘Gf the’ death of the child, which was a token of it; and ‘fhe might have {Ome {cruples in her’ mind, whether it was lawful to’ continue cohabiting with David. Now’ David ‘comforted her, by telling her, that God Had’ pardoned that iniquity they had Been guilty of, and that he would give them ariother fon, who'fhould fuccéed ‘him in the throne, and build an houfe for his name: and went in unto ber, and lay with ber, as his wife; and foe Vare a Jon sat the ‘proper time’: and be called his name Solomon either the Lord calledhim fo, or Devid By his direction; for this name’“was ‘given before his birth, ‘r Chroyi xxii. 9. the Ker? or marginal reading is; and fhe called bis name, &c, that i8,-Barb- Jeeba, who had*been informed by David that this was’the name the Lord‘ would’ have hint called by, which fignifies peaceable; and the birth: of this fon was a confirmation of the peace and reconciliation _bétween God and them, and which his name car: Fied’ in its, as ‘well as pointed to the peaceable times that fhould bé during his reign,‘ and in which he was a type of Céri#, the prince of peace; who is the author of peace between God'and men by the blood of his crofs, and from whom fpiritual, peace flows, arid by whom eternal peace’and happinefsis: and the Lord‘ loved Lim; and was to him’ a father, and he to’him a fon, as was promifed, ch. vii. 14. ‘This love and ‘affection of the Lord to Solomon was fighified to David by Nathaz, ‘as follows. “yf. 25. And be fent by the band of Nathan the propbet, &e.] Fither David did; he fent by him to Pathfbeba, to acquaint her with the name of the child, that it’ was to be Solomoz, which is not fo Tikely: or he, David, delivered it into the band of Nathan the prophet, to educate it, inftrué it, and bring it up in the nurture of the Lord; or rather, the Lord‘fent’ a. meffage by. Nathan the prophet to David, that he loved Solomon: and he called bis ‘name Fedidiah, becanfe of the Lord, thavis, David alfo called him by this name, bécaufe of the love of the Lord unto him; for Fedidiab fipnifies the beloved of the Lord; a name and character which well agrees with the Mefiab, Solomon’s antitype, Matt. iii. 17. and xvii. 5.
¥. 26. And Joab fought againft Rabbah of the children of Ammon, &c.] Of his being fent againft it, and.of his befieging it, we read in ch. xi. 1 but it can hardly be thought that he had been fo long befieging it, as that David had two children.
by Bath fheba; but the account of the finifhing of it is placed here, that the ftory concerning Barbfeeba might lie together without any interruption: and took the royal city; or that part of it in which the king’s palace was, and which, as.4bardinel obferves, was without the city, as the palaces of kings ‘now ufually are. aa ee oer:
y. 27. And Foab fent meffengers to David, 8ec.] “To acquaint him how he had proceeded, and what ‘fuccefs he had had: and faid, I have fought againft Rabbah; Jaid fiege to it, and fkirmifhed with par- ‘ties that fallied out upon them: aad have taken the tity of waters, the fame with the toyal city, and ‘fo the Targum here renders it; fo called becaufe
“firuated by the water-fide Adrichomins fays * the
‘river Fabbok flowed round aboutit: or it abounded he with fountains of water, from whence the other part of the city, or what was properly the city Rabbab, was fupplied with warer; and which communication being. cut off, it could not hold out long, which Yoas being fenfible of, therefore fen for David. Funius and Tremellius render the words; I bave intercepted the water from the city; with which the account of Yofepbus’ agrees, who fays, that he cut off the water from them, and precluded other fupplies, fo that they were in great diftref$ for want of food and drink; and in like manner it was taken by Antiochus fome hundreds of years after; for the hiftorian fays * the fiege by him lafted long, and they could not prevail, becaufe of the multitude of men in ‘it, until one of the prifoners fhewed them a fubterraneous paffage, through which they came ahd fetched water; which they fopt up with ftones and fuch like things, and then through want Of water it yielded..
¥. 28.° Now therefore gather the reft of the people together, &¢.| The reft of the foldiers in the land of Ifrael, and come to Rabbah: anil encamp againft » the city; inveft it in form: @nd fake it; upon a furrénder, or by ftorm; for it could not hold our long: lef I take the city, and it be called after my name, {0 great a regard had Foad, though an ambitious man, to the famieand credit- of David his king’: fo Craterus *, at the fiege of Artacacna, being prepared to take it, waited the coming of dlexander, that hé might have the honour of it.
¥. 29. And David gathered alt the people together, &¢.] “The foldiers that were with him, or near him; which was done partly to recruit Yoad’s troops, who, by the continuance of the fiege, and the fallies of the enemy on ‘them, might be greatly diminifhed, and partly to make conquefts of other cities of the Ammonites, and to carry off the fpoil of them: and went to Rabbah; which muft be after the deathwof Uriab, and very probably during the time of Bath-/beba’s mourning for him: and fought avainft it, and took it; by affault. at
¥. 30. And be took their king’s crown from off bis bead, &c.] ‘The crown of Hanun the king of the Ammonites, who now fell into bis hands, and whom he ftripped of his enfigns of royalty, who had fo fhamefully abufed his ambaffadors: (the weight
‘| whereof was a talent of gold with she precious fiones:)
or, and a precious fone, there. might be more, as our verfion fuggefts, but there was one in it remarkably large and valuable; Fo/ephus” fays it had in it a very precious ftone, a:fardonyx; and this, according ta the Ta/mud ‘, was of the yalue of a talent of gold. A talent was equal to 3000 fhekels, as appears from Exod. xxxvill. 25, 26. and was in valié, according to Brerewood “, of our money, 4590 pounds; but according to bifhop Camberland * 5067 pounds three fhillings and ‘ten pence. This crown was of the fame value with the golden candleftick in the tabernacle, Exod. xxv. 39. and fome think that value here is meant, and not the weight, a talent of gold being very heavy; according to bifhop Cumberland ‘, 93 pounds 3 quar-. ters; fome fay 113 pounds 10 ounces, and more; too great a weight to be borne on the head by Hanun or David, but what with the gold and precious {tones about it, it might be equal in value to a talent of gold; but weight is exprefly mentioned, and the crowns of the ea/fern princes were.of =e bu bulk and weight, as well as value: <Atheneus * takes mention of one made of 10,000 pieces of gold, placed on the throne of king Ptolemy, and of fome of two cubits, of fix, yea, of fixteen cubits. Some* are of opinion that this. crown was not the crown of the king of Ammon, but of Milcom or Molec, their idol, and that the proper name fhould be retained in the verfion, and that David had a crown made of it he could bear: but if, as others 4, the Syriac talent is meant, which was but the fourth part of an Hebrew one, the difficulty is greatly leflened; for it feems to be the fame crown David afterwards wore, as follows: and it was fet on David’s head; to fhew that the kingdom was tranflated to him, or was become fubject to him; as Alexander, on the conqueft of Darius, put the Perfian diadem on his own head *, in token of that monarchy being tranflated to him: though, after all, the phrafe, from’ off, may be rendered from above or over ' his head, and fo it was fet above or over the head of David, being fupported by fome means or other, that,its weight did not bear thereon. However, Pafchalius, who wrote a learned work de coronis, muft besmiftaken, when he fays ™ this feems to be the firft ufe of a crown in the kingdom of fudah, there being no mention of a crown before, either of Saul or David, only of anointing; fince exprefs mention is made of Saul’s crown, ch. i. 10. though his obfervation may be juit, that this crown, allowed to be worn by David, was a pledge of the renewal of his royal dignity, and of his acceptance with God upon his repentance for his above fins: and he brought forth the [poil of the city in great abundance; which, or at leaft part of it, was dedicated to the building of the fanctuary, ch. Vill, 25 12.
y¥. 31. And he brought forth the people that were therein, &c.) Not all the inhabitants of the place, but the princes of the children of Ammon, the counfellors of Hanun, who advifed him to ule Davia’s ambaffadors in fo fhameful a manner, and others that expreffed their pleafure and fatisfaction in it: and put them under faws, and under barrows of iron, and under axes of iron; whereby they were cut afunder, as fome were by the Romans and others *, or their flefh torn to pieces, and they put to extreme pain and agony, and fo died moft miferably;
eps chapter relates fome of the evils that were to arife out of David’s houfe, and which were fimilar to the evils committed by him; the deflouring of his daughter, and the murder of his eldeft fon: the ftory is this; Amnon falls in love with Yamar, his fitter, and grew lean upon it, which being obferved by a friend of his, enquires the reafon of it, which having got out of him, forms a fcheme for obtaining his defire, and which fucceeded; for by it he had the opportunity of ravifhing his fifter, y. 1—14. the confequences of which ‘were extreme hatred of her, hurrying her out of doors, lamentation and mourning on her part, grief to David, and enmity in the heart of Abfalom to Amnon, which put him upon medi-
UE L. fee 1 Chron, xx. 3. and made them pafs thr the brick-kiln; where they burnt their bricks, which they were not only fcorched and bliftered, but burnt to death; fo the word in the Keri, or - margin, fignifies, which we follow; but in the text it is, they caufed them to pafs through Ma/-_ cem, the fame with Milcom or Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon, 1 Kings xi. 5, 7. unto which they made their children pafs through the ~ fire, and burnt them; and now in the fame place they themfelves are made to pafs through, and be burnt, as a righteous punifhment of them for their barba-_ rous and wicked idolatry, The word ufed in the Greek verfion, according to Swidas °, fignifies an army, or a battalion of men drawn up in a quae - drangular form, like a brick; and in the fame — fenfe Fofepbus ° ufes it; hence a learned man 4conjectures that David’s army was drawn up in the like form, through which the 4
Ammonites were obliged to pafs, and as they pafied were affailed with darts, and killed; a like punifhment to which © is what the Italians call pafling through the pikes: and thus did be unto all the cities of the children of — Ammon; To the inhabitants of them; that is, the’ chief, who had expreffed their joy at the illufage of © his ambaffadors: this he did to ftrike' terror into other nations, that they might fear to ufe his am- © baffadors in fuch like manner. This action of David’s thewing fo much feverity, is thought b moft to be done.when under the power of his luft with Bath-/heba, in an hardened and impenitent {tate, when he had no fenfe of mercy himfelf, and fo fhewed none; which is too injurious to his character; for this was a righteous retaliation of this cruel people, 1 Sam. xi. 2. Amos i. 13. which may be obferved in other inftances, Fudg.viii. 6, 7. 1 Same -. xv. 33. but the charge of cruelty in David will be eafily removed, by following the tranflation of a learned * man, and which I think the words will ~ bear, and be obliged the people that were init to go out, ne, put them to the faw, to cut ftones; and to the iron-mines, to dig theres and to the axes of iron, to cut wood with; after he had made them to pafs with their king, out of the city. So David and all the people returned unto Ferufalem; in wiumph, and with great fpoil.
tating his death, ¥. 15—22. and which was brought about after this manner. Ab/alomhada ~ ° fheep-fhearing, to which he invited the king and all his fons, and to which they all came excepting the king, ¥. 23-27. when 4d/clom gave orders to his fervants to obferve Amnon when he was merry, and at his word fmite him’and kill him, as they did, ¥. 28, 29. tidings of which foon came to the ears of David, and thefe aggravated, that all the king’s fons were killed, which.threw the king into an agony; but Yoxadad endeavoured to pacify him, by affuring him that only Amnon was dead, the truth of which foon appeared by the coming of the _ king’s fons, ¥. 30—36.. but 4b/alom fled to Gefbur where he remained three years, when David's hea