Exposition of the Whole Bible

prevent which he took the above method, and it was a very prudent one.. el 2;

'¥. 13. When be was removed out of the bighway, &c.}] Into the field, and covered over with a cloth, that he could not be feen: all the people went on after ‘foab; made no ftop at all, knowing nothing of the matter, or what had happened: \o purfue after Sheba the fon of Bichri,; thefe were the troops that Amefa had been affémbling, which followed one another after him; for oad and Adifoai, with their men, were at Gideon firlt, y¥i14. And be went through all the tribes of I/- yael, &c.] That is, Sheba the fon of Bichri, laft mentioned, who paffed through all the tribes of Tjrael to get as many to’be’of his party as he could, and to be proclaimed their king; or finding himfelf purfued, he paffed on as faft as he could from place to place, through all the tribes, until at Jeneth he fixed for fafety in a place after named; though Jofepbus” underftands this of oad purfuing Sheba through all the tribes of J/rael with the forces under him; and to this fenfe the Syriac and Arabic verfions, and fo R. J/aiah interprets it 5 but the firft fenfe is more generally received, that Sheba is meant, who paffing through the feveral tribes, came unto Abel, and unto Beth-maachab; which were two places very near one another, if not one and the fame place; fince* Adel is in the next verfe called Abel of Béth-maachab, to diftinguith ic from any other place: it was a city that lay to the north of J/rael near Syria’; and from. 2 Kings xv. 29. it appears*to be in the tribe of Naphthal. ‘There was one city of this name of Ade/, fix miles from Philadelphia, another 12 miles from Gadara, and a third between Paneas and‘ Damajfcus; which’ of the three, Re/end thinks *,is mott eligible to be the place here meant; though he rather choofes to look tor it in Galilee, to the weft or fouth of Panecs, than to the eaft or north in the way to Dama/cus, and fo Adrichomius ¥ calls it a city of upper Galilee, 60 furlongs from Fordan; and though he alfo places it id the tribe of Nephthal, in the plain of the countty of Berim (from whence perhaps were

' the Berifes next’ mentioned) not far from Cez area-

Philippi; fee 1 Kings xv. 20. and all the Beerites, the inhabitants of Beeroth, in the tribe of Benjantin, Of which tribe Sheba was, they followed him hither; as in’ the next claufe: they were gathered together, and went alfo after him unto Abel’, of thefe, fee Fob! xviii. 25. 2 Sam. iv. 2, 3. though perhaps thefe Berim or Berites, were nearer to Abel; or yather that’was in their country, ‘as has been obferved by Adrichomius. 7 y. 15. And.they canie avd bofteged him in Abel of

‘Betb:maathah, &c.j° That is, Joab and Abifbai, with the forces under them, who, purfued him ‘hither: and they caft up a bank againft the city; which fome underftand of a watlike machiné or engine, with which ftones were cait; but it rather ‘feems to be a bank-of earth’ thrown up, for the better | working of fuch engines.to more advantage againft the city, by throwing from thence darts into the ‘city, or ftones againft the walls ef it, to batter it

-déwn; fuch banks were ufed in fieges, as that

Feet broad» and 86 feet high*; Kimchi interprets ‘this of filling up the ditches round about the city apt ee +o -~ o4f aye 7 1

~ With duft and’ earth, and io making it level, where- by they could come the more eafily to the walls and battér them, or fcale them, and take the city by ftorm: and it flood in the trench’; the army under Joab food where the trench round the city had been, now filled up: and all the people that were with Foab battered the wall to throw it down; with their engines, or whatever battering inftruments they had; fo, often, as Hefod* fays, a whole city fuffers for one bad man.

¥.16. Then cried a wife woman out of the city, &c,] And fuch an one as thé woman of Tekcah, fuppofed by fomie to be the governefs of the city; but whoever fhe was, fhe well deferved the cha- - raéter of a wife woman, her conduct in this affair fhews it: fhe cried with a loud voice, upon the wall of the city, to fead’s men, who were underneath battering it, bear, hear; which fhe repeated to make‘them hear: fay, I pray you; unto Foab, come hear hither, that I may [peak with thee, telk your general I defire to fpeak with him; which was wifely done, to have nothing to fay but to the general himfelf. '

¥.17. And when bé was come near unto ber, &c.] As he did, upon the information of his men, that a woman on the wall had fomething to fay to him: the woman faid, art thou Foab? fhe was willing to be fatisfied that he was really the general,

| before fhe would impart her miind to him: and be anfwered, Iam he; the very perfonh you afk after: and foe faid unto him, bear the words of thine band-~ maid, though a woman, vouchfafe to hear what I have to fay: and he anfwered, I do hear 5 am ready to hear, and fhall patiently and attentively hear: whatever may be fpoken; which was giving her leave and encouragement to proceed... ¥.18.. Then fhe fpake, faying, they were wont ta [peak in old time, &c.] \t was a common faying, a proverbial expreffion among the ancient fages: faying, they fhall furely afe counfel at Abel; and fo they ended the matter.. el, it feems, had been.a city fo famous for.wife and prudent men, that it was common for the inhabitants of other cities, in the feveral parts of the kingdom, when any controverfy arofe among them, to fay to one another,

|fince we can’t agree this matter among ourfelves, let us go to Abel, and take advice there, and leave it to their arbitration; and fo they did, and things were prefently brought to an iffue, and happily concluded;.nay, when the king had a mind to make’ a decree or law, as R. I/aiah obferves, he ufed to fend to Abel to know whether they would fubmiit to. it; and if they agreed to it, then he proceeded in it; for other cities followed their ex, ample, fo famous was this city, and of fo great account: now the woman argues from hence, that furely fuch'a renowned city fhould not hatftily be deftroyed; but the Targum directs to another fenfe, and which perhaps is beft, and is followed by Farchi, Kimchi,’ and others, paraphrafing the words thus, ‘fle fpake, faying, I remember now what is written in the book of the law, to afk a city firft, faying, (will ye make peace?) fo fhouldit thou have afked of Abel, will ye make peace, or receive terms of peace?” referring to the law in Deut. xx. 10-—- 15. fignifying, if that had” been attended to as it ought, (for if fuch methods were to be taken with heathen cities, much more with a city of J/rael, as Abel was) things would foon have been agreed and iffued; had fea upon approaching the city propofed bis terms of peace, they would have immediately yielded to them, and fo the and therefore. could affure Yoad that this fhould be _ y. 22, Then the woman went unto all the people 4 matter would have ended at once; for they were a n ber wifdom, &c.] Went from the wall of the peaceable people, as it follows: though Dr. Lightfoot” gives another fenfe of thefe words, that Sheba and his party when they came to the city, * they at firft certainly faid thus, that they would afk Abel of its peace, (or on whofe fide it was) and city into it, and convened the principal inhabi- _ tants together, and made fo wife a fpeech to them, and reprefented things in fuch a light, and fo prudently conduéted, that they unanimoufly agreed to her motion: and they cut off the bead of Sheba

{o they made the matter entire, or made a fhow of the fon of Bichri, and caft it out to Foab;, whole their own integrity:” by which this woman affured Foab, that the men of Abel had not. invited, nor willingly received Sheba and his rebels into the city, but they had deceived them by fawning and falfe words, pretending only to enquire about the peace and welfare of their city. +.19. Jam one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Ifrael, &c.] Her meaning is, that fhe was of a city which confifted of peaceable and faithful men, that were peaceable among themfelves, and faithful to their king, who never were concerned in any infurrection or rebellion, not in the late one under Ab/alom: thou feekeft to deftroy a city, and a mother in I/rael; a metropolitan city, which had feveral towns and villages under its jurifdiétion, which were as daughters to it. Some think fhe means herfelf, becaufe very old, fuppofed *to be Serab, the daughter of Aer, a fon of Jacob, which is improbable: wé/t thou wallow up the inheritance of the Lord? a city which is a part of the land, that is the Lord’s inheritance.

¥. 20. And Foab anfwered and faid, far be it from me, far be it from me, &c.] He repeats thefe words, to fhew how deteftable it was to him to do what fhe fuggefted: that I fhould {wallow up, or defirey; any in a violent and unrighteous manner, and efpecially a city, of which fhe had given fuch a character for its greatnefs and worth, and for the peaceablenefs and fidelity of its inhabitants.

¥.21. The matter is not fo, &c.| I am not come with the army againft this city with any ill will to it, and with an intention to deftroy it: the cafe is this, ut a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the fon of Bichri by name, for though he was by birth a Benjaminite, his dwelling was in mount Ephraim in that tribe; unlefs there was a place of this name in the tribe of Benjamin, fo called from any memorable event there, as the wood of Ephraim, ch.:

xviii. 6. This fame man, fays Joab, hath lift up his hand againft the king, even againft David; is in rebellion againft the king, even fo great and good a king as. David; he has lift up his hand, and blown @ trumpet to draw off menfrom David, and after himfelf; he has committed acts of hoftility and treafon; he has drawn his fword, and raifed an infurreétion and rebellion in the nation: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city; he did not defire any of his followers to be delivered up, only himfelf, knowing the rebellion would ceafe face Foab knew full well, and was fatisfied it was his — head that was thrownoyer: and be blew a trumpets as a fign of retreat: and they retired from the city, every man to bis tent; the army under ‘Yoab broke up the fiege, and departed, every man to his own. city, as the Zargum: and Foab returned unto Ferujalem unto. the king; to give him an account of his fuccefs, and how the rebellion was crufhed; and this gave him courage and boldneis to appear before the king, which one would wonder elfe he fhould have, when he had killed his general in cold blood, the king had fent out, and without his leave had re-afflumed his poft as general of the army; but he was a bold daring man, a man of blood,. and hardened in fin, and had power in the army, and over David himfelf, chat he could not do what — he would with him, but was obliged to be filenr,, and overlook things, and even to re-eftablifh him in his office, as appears by what follows.

¥. 23. Now Foab was over all the boft of Ifrael, &c.] Eftablifhed in the poft in which he formerly was; either having been never difplaced, which though David thought.to do, he was not able to effect it, becaufe of his power and influence with the people; or if he had difplaced him, which by fome things in this chapter feemed to be the cafe, - yet Amafa being dead, and the rebellion crufhed by Joab, which {till made him more haughty, and increafed his popularity, David faw it moft advifeable to replace him; and becaufe mention is made of him, as eftablifhed in his office as general over the whole army, an account is given of the reft of David’s officers; and the rather, as it was a fort of beginning his reign anew, after quelling the above rebellions: and Benaiab the fon of Fehoiada was over the Cherethites, and over the Pelethites; was continued in his poft, fee ch. viii, 18.

¥.24. And Adoram was over the tribute, &c.} Or over thofe that collected and brought it, as the Targum; this was a new office, and which refpected both the revenue he received from his own? people, and the tribute brought him from the nations conquered by him: and Febofhaphat the fom of Abilud was recorder; who was in this office before, and now continued and eftablifhedin it, ch. - viii, 16, a

¥. 25. And Sheva was feribe, &c.] Either the © fame with Benaiah, or he was dead or removed, and Sheva was put in his place, fee ch. viii. 17. — upon the delivery of him;

that the blood of any Jjraelite fhould be fhed, and being unwillingland Zadok and Abiathar were the priefts; as before; fee the fame..

whom he had unawares drawn into this rebellion, and who he knew would return to their own cities uponthis: and the woman faid unto Foab, bebold| his mead foall be thrown to thee over the wall, the knew the fright the inhabitants of the city were in, and how difpofed they were to do any thing to fave their city 5 fhe knew what influence the had among them, and how weak Sheba’s party was,' J fome take to be the fame with Jra the Ithrite, — ch. xxiii. 38. a fon of Fether or Ithra the Ifraelite, ch. xvii. 25. though others fuppole he was Jra the. fon of Jkkefh the Tekoite, ch. xxiii. 26. and rnd Targum here calls him Jra the fairite, of Tekoah; and. Tekoah being the chief place rael for oil olive 4, with which the lamps

Ch.xxiyv.i—4. ID SAMUE f, 6st lighted, Yarchi thinks he had the name of Fairite from Fair, which fignifies to enlighten; but rather he was a defcendent from Jair the Gileadite, and perhaps was a great friend to David when in Gilead, him: for he was a chief ruier about David; a prime-minifter, an intimate friend, the chief of his privy-council; perhaps he fucceeded Abithophel: it is much we hear nothing of Hujbai.

and from whence he brought him and promoted

A Famine being in the land three years, the Lord was enquired of, to know the reafon of it; and it being anfwered, that it was on account of Saul’s laughter of the Gibeonites, they were fummoned by David to know what fatisfaction they required for the cruel ufage of them, y. 1—3.| to which they replied, that they only defired feven of Saul’s fons to be delivered up to them, to be hanged by them, which was granted, ¥. 4-9.) y. 2. whole bones, with thofe of Saul and Fonathan, David buried ip the fepulchre of their fathers, ¥. 10—14. ar the chapter is clofed with an account of feveral battles fought with the Péiliftines, in which four of their generals were flain, ¥. 15—22. people, and root them out of the land. Te hedthens had’a notion that barrennefs, unfruitfulne(3; and famine were inflicted by God for murder. Philoftratus * reports of the Ethiopian Indians, that for the murder of their king Ganges, their ground was unfruitful, their cattle ftarved, their wives abortive, and their cities and houfes fell to ruin; until the murderers were deftroyed.

And the king called the Gideonites, &c.} Sent meflengers unto them, and fummoned them to come to him, and faid unto them what is expreffed in the next verfe; for what follows is in a parenthefis: (mow the Gibeonites were not of the children of Ifrael; originally, though they were profelyted to the Fewi/h religion, and were employed in the menial fervices of the fanctuary: due of the remnant of the Amorites; they were the remains of the old Canaanites, who fometimes in general were called Amorites, otherwife the Gibeonites were called Hivites; fee Fofb. ix. 7. and xi. 19.) and the children of Ifrael had fworn unto them, by fin of Saul fhould otherwife be fo long unpunifhed, and that the bones of Sau/ and Yonathan were not) fooner removed, here related; and that there fhould be fo many battles with the Pdiljfines after they were fubdued, as recorded in this chapter; and in one of the ‘fewi/h * writings it is faid, that this was the year after Sau] was flain; though, in other copies of the fame book, it is faidto be thirty years after; and foin that Abarbinel ufed, and who is of the mind, that whatis here related ftands in the order in which it was, and of the fame opinion are fome of our beft chronologers ‘: and David enquired of the Lord; before the high-prieft by Urim and Thummim, what fhould be the caufe of the famine, perhaps fufpecting it was fome fins of his; the firft year he might take no notice of it, hoping for a more fruitful feafon the next year, it arifing, might fuppofe, from fome natural caufe; the fecond year he might begin to think it was for fome national fins, but might be remifs in his enquiry into them; but the third year he was alarmed, and concluded there was fomething extraordinary and fpecial, and feared it was on ‘his account, and this put him on making enquiry: and the Lord anfwered, \tis for Saul, and for his bloody boufe; on account of the blood fhed by him and his family; which anfwer muft in al good meafure relieve the mind of David, if he was tearful it was for his fins: decaufe be flew the Gibeonites; which was contrary to the oath that Fofua and all J/rael had given them not to flay them, but fave them alive, Zod. ix. 15. When this was done is not certain; the Zews commonly fay ® that he flew them when he flew the priefts at Nod, being hewers of wood and drawers of water to them, and were flain with them; or becaufe their main-| tenance depended on the prielts, they being flain, it was in effect flaying them; but rather this refers to another time, and to other aétion or actions of their princes, as Fofbua; and yet Saul, contrary to this oath, fought to flay them in bis zeal to the children of I/rael and Fudab;) pretending a great concern for them, for their honour and profit; that thefe men ought not to live in their cities, and take the bread out of their mouths, and be employed in the fervice of the fanétuary; but that they ought to be expelled, and even cut off, being the old inhabitants of the land, the Lord ordered to be de~ ftroyed; and that though the J/rae/ités had given an oath tothe contrary, they were drawn into it by guile and deceit, and therefore not binding upon them; hence he fought by all means to harrafs and opprefs them, and flew many of them, and de- {troyed them out of their cities, that they might be poffefled by Fudab and Benjamin; fee ch. iv. 2. as he compared with ofp. ix. 17.

y. 3. Wherefore David faid unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you, 8cc.] By way of fatisfaction for the injuries done them: axd wherewith /ball I make the atonement, for the offences committed, that fo the wrath that was gone forth againft the land in a famine might be appeafed: that ye may blefs the inberitance of the Lord; pray for a bleffing upon the land which the Lord had chofen for his inheritance, and given as fuch to-the people of J/rae/, that rain might defcend upon it, and make it fruitful.

y. 4. And the Gibeonites faid unto him, &c.] In reply to his motion: We will have no filver nor gold of Saul, nor of bis boufe, this fhall not be the ranfom or atonement it was not filver and gold Sau/ they! took from them, but the lives of their brethren, and therefore they infift upon life for life: neither for us halt thou kill any man in Ifrael; who were not of the - houfe of Sau/; théy did not defire any man fhould die, but who were of that family by whom they had fuffered: and be faid, What you foall fay, that will y¥. 1. Then there was a famine in the days of David, three years, year after year, &c.) That is, three years running, one after another; fome think this, though here related, was before the rebellions of Abfalom and Sheba, and not after, and there are feveral things which may incline to it, as that the

Saul, who fought by divers means ta deftroy thefe I do for you; whether by inflicting pecuniary mulGs, or punithing “with death, which latter ight t feems to be what they fuggefted, and afterwards infifted on; whatever, according to law and juftice, required, he was ready todo it for them. __ sate, And they Teena the king, &c.)

claring exprefly what they would have done: The man that confumed us, meaning Saul, who leflened their number by cruel oppreffions of fome, and by taking away the lives of others ¢ and that devifed againft us, that we fhould be deftroyed from remaining in any of the coafis of Lrael; who had formed f{chemes, and publifhed edicts, for banifhing them out of the land; perhaps at the fame time that he put away wizards and thofe that had familiar up, therefore they were called by her name; or the words may be fupplied thus, and the five\/ons of the — filter of Michal, and, asin ¥. 19. is pe De-|brother of Goliath. Barzillai ishere called the Mebolathite, to diftinguith him from Barzillai the Gileadite, {poken of in a former chapter, fee 1 Sam. oa xviii. 19.:; eS: yo. And be delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, &c.] The two fons of Rizpab and the — five fons of Merad, two fons of Sau/ and five a fons: and they banged them in the bill be be Zord; in the hill at Gidea, that they mig J pirits |feen by all that paffed by, and ferve to deter

rab brought them forth, and Michal brought he i out of the Jand, under the fame pretence for zeal for the glory of God, and the good of the people of the land, 1 Sam, xxvili. 3—9.

y. 6. Let feven men of his fons be delivered unto

us, &c.. They pitched upon this number, either to make atonement to the’ Lord, and in his ight 5 becaufe they were feven, and no more of the Gibeonites, whom Saul flew, as the Fews fay *; two hewers of wood, two drawers of water, a keeper, (of a fynagogue) a feribe, anda fervant; but perhaps the-true reafon was, they knew there were no more befides Mephibofbeth, for whom David had a great refpect, and therefore required no more: and we will hang them up untothe Lord; not to gratify a revengeful fpirit of theirs, but in honour to the juftice of God, and to appeafe his wrath: 7 Gibeab of Saul, whom the Lord did.choofe; which was Saul’s native place, and where he always lived;, fo that to hang them there was to the greater difgrace of him fuch evils, which “brought on them that punifh? ment’; gibbetings or crucifixions were commonly made on hills and mountains ': the: phrafe, defore the Lord, is either the fame as anto the Lord, y¥. 62 or it denotes that it was done’ publicly” the fun, and in the fight of it; for it cannot mean before the ark, the fymbol of the divine préfence, for that was not there: and they fell all feven tovetber; they were.hanged together, and died at’ one and the fame time: and were put to death in the days of barvet, in the firft days, in the beginning of barley-barvet; which began at ‘the paflover, the” morrow which was the 16th of "Nijaa, on which’ day, the Jews fay ™, thefe men ‘were hanged)” aye Which muft be about the beginning of our April, ©

¥. 10. And Rizpab the daughter of Aich took and his family; and he:being chofen of the Lord | ackcloth, &c.] Both as a token of mourning for to.be aking of J/rael, was an aggravation of his crime in violating the oath, made to the Gdeonites: and the king faid, I-willgive them; for though he had fworn. to Sau/ that he would not cut off his feed, yet as he had.a divine direction in this cafe, as appears by the Lord’s being pleafed with it, and was intreated for the land: by;it, this oath of his was difpenfed with; nor,;did he cut them off himfelf, but delivered them to others according to the will of God. Wak gf y. 7. But the king fparéd Mephibofbeth. the: fon of Jonathan the fon of Saul, &c.| As, they: did not name particular perfons, only required feven fons, it was at the option of the king what fons’ to deliver tothem, and therefore kept back Mepbhibofheth, who is’ thus defcribed, to diftinguifh him from a fon of Saul’s of the fame: name. after-nientioned: becaufe of. the Lora’s cath that was between them, - between David and Jonathan the fon of Saul; not merely or only out of -affection to Mepbibofbeth, but becaufe of the oath, that he. might not be guilty of the fame crime'Saui] was. in flaying the Gibeonites. ’. ¥. 8. But the king took the two fons of Rizpab the daughter of Aiak, &c.| Saul’s concubine, ch. iii. 2. whom fhe bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibo- Soetly;,ot whom we read no where elfe; aftér the name of the latter, it is probable, Jonathan’s fon was called before-mentioned: and the jive fons of ‘Michal the daughter of Saul, thom foe brought up for Adriel the fon of Barzillai the Meholathite, Michal had no children to the day of her death, nor was fhe the wife of. ddriel, but Merad her fifter; wherefore, thefe fons were not whom the: bare, as the word ufed fignifies, but as we rightly render it, whom the drought up or educated, fo the I; argum, her fifter being dead;, and fo the Yews fay *, Aexxiv 22, 23. the bodies fhould ha down and buried the fame day; b her fons, and as fitteft:to defend from the weather, the heat by'day or cold by night: and /pread it for ber upon the rock the hill on which her fons were hanged;' this fhe fpread as a canopy or ‘tent to fit under, and be covered with it not to cover the bodies with it, but herfelf; and where the fat to mourn the lofs of her fons, and ‘to wateh' their bodies, that they mightonot ‘be devoured ‘by’ birds and beafls of prey, as after-obferved: and here fhe fac from the beginning of barveft until water dropped on them out of heaven that is,” as the Fews 2:

from the 16th of WNifan, when ‘barley-ha “began, to the 17th of Marchefvan, when the former rain fell; that is, fromthe’ beginning of April to the beginning of O@oder > but itis not likely that fhe continued fo long watching’ the bodies, nor would there be any need of it to keep the birds ind beafts from them 3” for after they had hung fo many months, there would be nothing left forthem; but rather the meaning is, that fhe continued there until it ‘pleafed God «to fend rain “froth heaven, which had been reftrained, anda famine came ‘Upon it, becaufe of the ilbulage of the! Gideowiters a very probably the %rder: from’ the! king was'tHat the bodies fhould‘hang till rain came tharit! be obferved what.wasthe reafon of their fu:

and no doubt Rizpab! fat there’ praying 4 might come, and'which, as ateliete e in a few days after; though not ufuak i mer time; but this was an extraordinary ale, “as” 1 Sam. xii. 17, 184 and was done to fhe was intreated for the land; and fo"Voephus fays ‘ that upon’ the hanging up of thefé men, Go it to rain immediately, and re he earth former fruitfulnefs. According’té the | fered not for their own perfonal fins, but for the fins of others, and to avert a public calamity, and therefore muft hang till that was removed; nor were they executed by men bound by that law; and befides their continuing on the tree was according to the will of God, till he was intréated, who could difpenfe with this law; to which may be added, the ceremonial and judicial laws, of which this was one, gave place to thofe of 4 moral nature *, as this did to that of fanctifying the name of God ih a public manner; hence the faying of one of the Rabbins upon this *, which is by many wrongly exprefied, ‘‘It is better that one letter fhould be rooted out of the law, than that the ndme of God fhould not be fanctified openly;’’ that is, a leffer precept give way to a greater, or a ceremonial precept toa moral one, fuch as the fanctification of. the name of God is: and fuffered neither the birds of the air to reft on them by day; as it is ufual for crows * and ravens, and fuch fort of birds, to light on bodies thus hung up, and pick their flefh: nor the beafts of the field by night; for it feems it was ufual to make the gibbets, and fo. in fome other nations the crofiés, fo low, that wild beafts could éafily come at the bodies and devour them; fo Biéndina was hung upon atree fo low, that fhe might be expofed to the wild beafts to feed upon her, but not one of them would touch her body *; now Rizpah, by her fervants, had ways and means to fright away the birds and beatts from doing any injury to the carcafles.. ¥.11. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah the concubine of Saul bad done, 8c.) Whether this was told out of good-will or ill-will is not certain; however, it was not difagreeable to David, but ferved to move pity and compaffion in him to the woman, and to ftir him up to give an honourable interment to Sau/ and his fons; and which would fhew that this faét was not done out of perfonal pique and revenge to his family, but in obedience to the will of God, and the honour of his name.; v.12. And David went and took the bones of Sau!,

1 Sam. ix. 1, 2, and which, according to Fuller “s and the pofition of it in his map, was not far from the hill on which thie feven fons of Saul were hanged: and they performed all that the king commanded; that is, David's meffengers and fervants did; they fetched the bones of Sau/and Fonathan fron Fabe/bgilead, arid buried them with thofe of his feven fons hanged; in the burying-place of his father Kip, and made a general mourning for them; for the Jews fay *, that by David's order Saul’s coffin was carried through every tribe, and men, women, and children came out and exprefied concern: and after that, God was intreated for the land; not after the burial of the faid perfons, but after the feven men were hanged up; by this the wrath of God was appeafed, which was feen by his fending rain and fruitful feafons, fo that the famine ceafed.

¥. 15. Moréover, the Pbhiliftines had yet war again with Ifrael, &c.] Befides what is before recorded in this and the preceding book; being animated to it; partly by the number of giants among them, and partly by the decline of David’s life, and it may be chiefly by the infurre€tions and rebellions in Zrael; though fome think that thefe battles were not after the rebellions of Ab alom and

Sheba, and the affair of the Gideonites, though here recorded, but before, and quickly after the war with the Ammonites, next to which they are placed in 1 Chroz. xx. but they feem to be placed here in their proper order: and David went down, and bis fervants wiih him; to the borders of the Philiftines, perceiving they were preparing to make war againft him: aud fought againft the Philiftines, engaged in a battle with them: and David waxed faint; in the battle, not ablé to bear the fatigues 6f war, and wield his armour as he had ufed, being in the decliné of life; after he had been engdved a while, his fpirits began to fail, not through fear, but through feeblenefs; but, according to Fo/ephus, it was through wearinefs in purfuing the enemy put to flight, which the following perfon perceived,

¥. 16. And Ifh-benob, which was of the fons of the and the bones of Fonathan bis fon, from the men of Fabefb-Gilead, &c.] Which, according to Bunting ‘, was 52 miles from Feru/falem; though perhaps David did not go thither in perfon to fetch them, but by his meffengers, fee ¥. 14. which had ftolen them from the fireet of Beth-foan, where the Philifzines had hanged them, when the Philiftines had flain Saul in Gilboa, the hiftory of all which fee in '1 Sam. giant, &c.| _ Of Goliath, or of a giant, of the race of them: the weight of whofe fpear weighed three 4undred thekels of bra/s in weight; which muft be underftood either of the wood of it, or of the head of it, thé flaming point of it, as many interpret it; and if fo, it was but half the weight of Goliath's {pear, unlefs there was any difference of the weight of iron and of brafs, fee 1 Sam. xvit. 7. be being

XXx1. 8—13. | girded with anew {words or rather with a new gir-

¥. 13. And be brought up from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of ‘fonathan bis fon, &c.| Which had been buried there under an oak, 1 Chron. \dle, as the Targum; and fo Farchi, which might be given him asa mark of honour, or as atoken of his having a commiffion in the army: ¢hought to xii. 12. and they gathered the bones of them that were banged the feven fons of Saul who had been lately hanged; who either had hung fo long that their flefly was confumed, and the bones dropped upon the ground, from whence they gathered them;

or they took them down and burnt the flefh off of them, and took the bones to bury them, which was not ufually done“ y. 14. And the bones of Saul and Fonathan his fon, &c.] Together with thofe who had been hanged: buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelab; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Fob. xviii. 28. iv the Sepulchre of Kifb bis father, the father of Saul, have flain David; his aim was at him, and perceiving him faint and feeble, thought to take the advantage of it, and difpatch him. ¥. 17. But Abifbai the fon of Zeruiah fuccoured him, &c.) Obferving him in danger, made hafte to his relief: and fmote ibe Philiftine, and killed him it feems as if ddifbai engaged with the Pdiliftine, and killed him; but inafmuch as it will bear to be interpreted of David, and fince the four giants here and hereafter mentioned ate faid to fall by the hand of David and his fervants, y. 12. it may be thought that this man fell by his hand; feeing itis clear that all the reft fell by the hands of his fervants $ vants: thew the men of David fware unto bim, after they had obferved the danger he was expofed unto, and how narrowly he efcaped with his life: faying, Thou foalt go no more with ws to battle; they had perfuaded him not to go to the battle with Ad/alom; they had fuffered him to go with them now, he being, no doubt, forward and preffing to it; but now they were refolute, and determined he fhould never go more: that thou quench not the fperity depended on his life, and that fhould he be

Befides the battles in the i

xy. 20, And there was yet a battle in Gath, &c.]

bove place or plagrs this\does not neceffarily fuppofe that one of the battles had been there, only that this, which was another battle, had been there: where was.@ man of great flature; for fo the fenfe of the word appears to be from 1 Chron. xx. 6. though here it fignifies a man of {trife and contention, a man of war, and — both were true of him: shat had on every band fis number, twelve fingers on. his two hands,-a light of Ijrael, Signifying that their glory and profingers, and on every foot fix toes, four “il ed taken away, they fhould be in affliction and adverfity, their honour and their happinefs would be at anend; the Targum is, “* thou mayeft not extinguith the kingdom of Jfrael,” the light and glory of it.

y. 18. Aad it came to pals after this, &c.} After the former battle: that there was again a battle with the Philiftines at Gob; in 1 Chron. xx. 4. it is called Gezer either the place had two.names, or thefe two places were near each other; fo that the battle may be faid to be fought both at the one and at the other, being fought equally near to both: then Sibbechai the Hufhathite flew Sapb, which was of the fons of the giant, who is called Sippai, 1 Chron. xx. 4. he had his name from the lintel of a door, being as high as one, fo tall that he could fcarce go under one. Szbbechai was one of David's worthies, 1. Chron. xi. 29. perhaps a defcendant of Hujbab, who {prung from Fadab, 1 Chron. iv. 4.

yr. 19. And there was again a battle in Gob with} the Philiftines, &c.] Another battle with them in the fame place: where Elbanan the fon of ‘faareoregim a Beth-lebemite, flew the brother of Goliath the Gittite,; the word brother is rightly fupplied from 1 Chron. xx. 5. where his name is faid to be Lakmi, for not Gohath himfelf was flain, though fome fo interpret it, and take E/banan to be David; fo Farchi, and with which agrees the Zargum; but he was flain not at God, but in the valley of Eiah, nor had David any fuch name as E/banan; he was one of David’s worthies, ch, xxiii. 24, where he is called the fon of Dodo,.and in 1 Chron. xx. 5. the fon of Fair, and Labmi there may not be the name of Goliath’s brother, but, as here, the countryname of L/banan; for the words * there may be twelve toes on his two feet, Pliny * fpeaks of one M. Curiatius, a patrician, who. had two daughters that had fix fingers on an hand, and were called Sedigite, fix-fingered, and of Voleatius, a famous poet, called Sedigitus,.or fix-fingered, for the fa reafon; and ‘elfewhere. from other, writers °,. pid makes mention of a people that had eight toes on each foot; fo Ctofas ° {peaks of a people in the, mountains of Jndiz, which have eight fingers on each hand, and eight toes on each foot, fle and women: and be alfo was born to the giant 5 a fon of a giant. tity 824d Sey cay Ad ¥. 21. And when be defied Ifracl, boc... The ate mies of J/rael, as Goliath had done fome years ago, 1 Sam. Xvii.. 10. Jonathan the fon of Skimea the brother of David flew him, this brother of David is called Shammab, 1 Sam. xvi..g. and Shimma, Chron. ii. 13. this fon of his is another man from. $onadab his fon, who was famous for his fubtlety as this was for his valour, ch. xiii. 3.. The Fews fay “ this was Nathaz the prophet, a:fon of Shammab. Tos heen y.22. Thefe four were born to the giant im Gath; &c.] Not to Goath, for one.of them, was his brother, but to fome giant or another of that place, for which it was famous; they were all of them of. the race of the giants; and fo the Septuagint yerfion, they were ‘‘ the offspring of the giants in Gath, whofe family was-Repha;” and this Repha, or Arepba, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, accordidg to Abarbinel, was a woman of the daughters of the giants; the Te/mudijfts* make her to be the fame with Orpab, Ruthi. 4. Thefe giants, it is highly probable, were the defcendants of the Anakim which remained in Gath, after they were-cut off by rendered, *¢ and Elbanan the fon of Fair the Lebemite (i. e, the Betb-lebemite) flew the brother of Goliath the Giliite,” and fo perfeétly agrees with this: ¢he Staff of whofe fpear was like a weaver’s beam, not of Goliath’s brother, but of Goliath himfelf, 1 Sam. Fofbua in other places, Fob. xi. 22. and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his fervanis, the firft, J/b-benod, fell by the hand of David affilted — by Ai/hai, and the other three by the perfons mentioned. |

Tes chapter contains a fong or pfalm, the|the. fame with the 18th pfalm, and which, according to Farchi, was compofed by David in his old age, and as Kimchi fays, at the end or clofe of his days; but 4bardinel is of opinion, that it was written in his youthful time, in the midft, of his fame writer obferves; are 74; and are not te q be afcribed to the difference of copies, or neglect of copiers: and very probably, towards the clofe of his days, he revifed it, and made it fit for | ral ufe, and fent it with the reft of his pfalms to. chief mufician; but the particular confideration «

> Megatthenes ap id ib. L and an account is given of his great men, famous for warlike exploits, particularly -of three mighty men who did yery marvellous things, ¥. 8—17. and of two others next unto them, which belonged to another claf$ of three, ¥. 18—23. and then of thirty-one more, ¥. 24—3g9. who are all mentioned by name.

y. 1. Now thefe be the laft words of David, &c.] Which refer not to the pfalm in the preceding chapter, but to what follows; not the laft words he fpoke, for he faid many things afterwards; for the advice he gave to Solomon, and the inftructions to him about building the temple, were delivered after this time; but thefe were the laft after he had finifhed the book of pfalms; or the laft that he fpoke under the infpiration of the Holy Spirit, or that he delivered out by way of prophecy; though the Fews * will not allow him to fpeak by the fpirit of prophecy; they own he fpoke by the Holy Spirit, which they diftinguifh from prophecy; but the Targum calls thefer words a prophecy, and takes them to be a prophecy of the Mefiah, and of things to come, as undoubtedly they are, paraphrafing them thus; ‘‘ thefe are the words of the prophecy of David, which he prophefied concerning the end of the world, concerning the days of confolation that fhould come;” this is obferved to excite attention, the lait words of dying men being ufually recarded and remembered: David the fon of Feffe faid; he.began with his defcent, which was comparatively mean, in order to illuftrate the diftinguifhing goodnefs of God to him in his exaltation: and the man who was raifed up on bigh; from a low eftate to an high one, from the fheepfold to the throne, to be king over all the tribes of J/rae, and a conqueror, and head of the, nations round about him: the anointed of the God of Facob; who was anointed king by Samuel by the order of the God of Facob; and which was an inftance of his being the

N this chapter are recorded the laft words of David, under a divine infpiration, ¥._1—7. and ordered them to be fung in the churches, arid of which he is the fubjeét, and may be faid to be fweetly held forth in them, fee Luke xxiv. 44. — ¥. 2. The fpirit of the Lord fpake by me, &ec.] the pfalms and fongs he compofed were not the fruits of his own genius, but were written by him under the infpiration of the Spirit of God; by whom holy men of God, the penmen of the feriptures, fpoke, even as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, of whom David was’one, being a prophet; fee As i. 16, and ii. 30. fo the Targum here, “* David {poke by the {piric of prophecy of the Lord:” or fpake iz me"; what he {poke was firft internally imprefied upon his mind by the Spirit of God, and then he expreffed it with his tongue, as follows: and bis word was in my tongue; not only the matter of his pfalms was indited by the Spirit of God, and fuggefted to his mind; but the very words in which they are delivered were givento - him, and he’was directed to make ufe of them, and did.

¥..3. The God of. Ifrael faid, &c.] To David, or by him; he who was the covenant-God of J/rae/ literally confidered, and is the covenant-God and Father of the whole fpiritual J/rae/, and who is owned, believed.in; and worfhipped by them: the Rock of Irael fpake to me the fame with the God of J/rael in other words, who is the ftrength and fecurity of J/rael; or the fecond Divine Perton, ‘the Son and Word of God is meant, who is often called a Rock in fcripture; and is the Rock on which the J/rae/ or church of God is built, and in whom it remains fafe and firm, the gates of hell not being able to prevail again{ft it; and fo here is an inftance and proof of a ‘Trinity of perfons in the Godhead;. the God of J/rael, Fehovab the Father; the Rock of J/rael, Febovab the Son; and the Spirit of Febovab, as in the preceding verfe, who is Fehovab the Spirit: now what was faid by thefe three Divine Perfons to David, and by him,..and concerning himfelf as a type of the Méefiah, follows: He that ruleth over men mutt be juft, ruling in the

God of Faced or /rael, and of his care of them, fear of God, which is a character every king among and regard untothem, that he anointed fuch a man to be king over.them, as well as it was an honour to David: and the fweet pfalmift of Ifrael; who compofed moft of the pfalms and hymns of praife for the people of J/rael; invented and fet the tunes to them to which they were to be fung, and the inftruments of mufic on which they were fung; and appointed fingers to prefide, and lead them in that part of divine worfhip, finging pfalms and hymns; and very {weet were the plalms he compofed as to the matter of them, and very fweet and delightful to the ear was the mufic inthe manner of finging them: it may be rendered, who was /weet or pleafant in the fongs of Frael*, his warlike exploits _ and victories being the fubject of them, 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. faid; as follows; for all that goes before are the words of the penman of this book drawing the men ought to have, adminiftring juftice to their fubjets;, ruling not only according to the Jaws of the land, but according to the law of God; having his fear before their eyes, and acting witha view to his honour and glory, whofe vicegerents they are, and to whom they are accountable; they fhould rule with gentlenefs and humanity, confidering they are men, and not brutes, they rule over. Agamemnon in Homer is often called king of men. ‘This character in all refpects, was found in David, ch. viii, 15. and may be here given as an inftruction to his fonand fucceflor, Solomon; and isin all re pects applicable to the Adefiah, who is a ruler or king by the defignation of his Father;\a ruler over men,. even over all men, yea over the greatelt of men, King of kings, and Lord of lords, and efpecially, and in an eminent fenfe, King of faints; and he is ju character of David; in which he. was a type of f, a King that reigns in righteoufnefs, righteous in all

Chrif, a branch out of the root of Jefe, highly _exalted, and chofen from among the people, anointed to be prophet, prieft, and hy and who fweetly expounded the pfalms concerning himfelf, his ways and works, and particularly juft as a King, as well as in all his other characters, fee Fer. xxiii, 5, 6. Zech. ix. 9. and upon whom, as man and Mediator, the fpirit of the fear of the Lord refts,

~ and under the influence of which; as fuch, he has acted, If. xt..1, 2. fo the Targum applies thefe words to the Mefiah thus, ‘‘ the true Judge faid, he would appoint to me a King, who is the Mefiab, who fhall arife and rule in the fear of the Lord:”

and they may be rendered, there fhall be a ruler ever men, juft, ruling in the fear of God; of ruling, appointing, ordering, and directing the worfhip ot God, and the ordinances of it under the Gofpeldifpenfation, as Chriff did, fee Matt. xxvii. 18,

“i 4. And he thall be as the light of the morning, when éhe fun rifeth, even a morning without clouds, &c.] Thatis, fuch a ruler that rules in tighteoufnefs, and in the fear of God; he is the light and glory of his people, who guides and directs them, makes them ehearful and comfortable; his adminiftrations are pleafant and delightful, and promife a growing and incréafing happimefs to'them, like} the morning light and rifing {un; and there are no clouds, nor forebodings of dark times, afi€tion and diftrefs coming upon them, butall the reverfe: and with Chri? thefe metaphors well fuit, who is the true light that fhines, the morning-ftar, the dayfpring from on high, the fun of righteoufnefs, and light of the world; his going forth or appearance in human nature at his incarnation, was as the morning, Hof: vi. 3. the firft diftovery of him to Adam, after fin had brought a night of darknefs on the and this world, was as the dawnof the morning; light like that of the morning increafed, frefh and clearer difcoveries of him being made to the patriarchs afterwards; and though as yet the fun was not up, and it was not a morning without clouds, yet the difcoveries then made brought joy with them, as to Abraham and others, and were a fure fign of the fun rifing. When Chri? appeared in the fiefh, the fun of righteoufnefs then arofe, and fcattered the darknefs of the night, both in the

Fewifo and Gentile world; introduced the light of the Gofpel to a greater degree than it was, under the legal difpenfation, and made the gofpel-day; which was not only like the morning-light, growing and increafing, but was as a morning without clouds, without the darknefs of the ceremonial law, the fhadows of which now difappeared; and without the ftorms and tempefts of the moral law, its curfes being bore and rernoved by Chri; and without the frowns of divine wrath, reconciliation and fatisfaction being made by him: and this is all applicable particularly to the government of Céri f, which is delightful and gratetul to his people, ferviceable and beneficial to them, under which they enjoy great peace and profperity; and which will more and more increafe, and ftill be more glorious and illuftrious, fee Pf Ixxii. 7, 8. J/a. xxx. 26. A learned writer ‘ has obferved, that inan antient MS. the word Febovab is inferted and read thus, ** and as the light of the morning, fhall arife Febovab the fun,” which clearly points to Chréf the fun of righteoufnefs; and be it an interpolation, it gives the true fenfe of the words: a elorious, beautiful, and illuftrious perfon is defcribed in Ovid * by the fame figure as here: as the tender grafs ipringing owt of the earth by clear foining after rain; which fprings up the fafter, and is more flourifhing after a fhower of rain, and when upon that the fun breaks outand fhines clearly: or from clear -foining, from rain’; that is, the {fpringing of the tender grails out of the earth is owing partly to the rain which falls in the night, and partly to the fun fifing in the morniag, and the clear fhine of it: this may denote the fruitful and flourifhing eftate which agood and righteous ruler over men is the hap inftrument of bringing his péople into; and ma be applied both to the incarnation of Cbriff, when. he gtew up as a tender plant, or as the tender grafs, mean in, his original and defcent, weak in himfelf as man’; and yet this fruit of the earth was excellent

‘and comely, beautiful and glorious, and the fpringing of it owing to the favour and good-will of God, and his coming was 4s the latter and former ” rain to the earth, Ho/: vi. 3. and to the govern~ ment of Chri/t, and the benefits of it to his church and people; who flourifh undér it through the light of his grace and favour, and through the’ rains of gofpel-doétrines they are blefled with: or than clear fhining, than rain, Chrift is more beneficial to his people, who are comparable to graf: for their meannefs, and weaknefs, and number, than the fun and rain are to the grafs in the field. y. 8. Although my houfe be not fo with God, &c.}

‘So bright, and flourifhing, and profperous as the government of the juft ruler before deferibeds or is not right ™ with God, meaning his family, in which great fins were committed,’ and great diforders and confufions brought into it, as the cafes of Amnon, — Abfalom, and Adonijab fhewed; or not firm or fiable”, through the rebellion of one, the infurreétion of another, and the ufurpation of a third; yet he be- — lieved it would be firm and {table inthe Mefiab that fhould fpring from him, promifed in the ever~ lafting covenant; though the Yew#i/b writers underftand this of the firmnefs and ftability of his kingdom and government: buf my houfe is nat fos &c, like the morning-light, which increafes by little and lirtle, and like the morning which fometimes is not cloudy, and fometimes is; fometimes the fan fhines clearly, and fometimes not; or like the tender grafs, which is fometimes flourifhing, and after withers; but fois not my kingdom, it is a perpetual one, given.and fecured by an everlafting covenant; and fuch certainly is or will be the kingdom of the Mefiah: yet be bath made with me an everlafting covenant,ordered in all things and fure or, for ° be bath made, &c. the covenant by which the kingdom was fettled on David and his feed was a covenant that would continue for ever, and would be kept, ob/erved, and preferved® in all the articles of it, and fo be fure to his feed, particularly to the Mefiah that fhould fpring from him, in whom it was fulfilled, Lwke i. 32, 33. and the covenant of grace made with Davia’s antitype, with Chrift the head of the church, and the reprefentative of it, and fo with all his people in him, is an everlafting one: it was made with Chri/? from everlafting, as appears from the everlafting love of God, the fource and fpring of it; the earlinefs of the divine counfels on which it is formed, and bleffings and promites of it, with which it is filled, which were before the world was; and from Chri being fet up as the Mediator of it from everlafting: and it will continue to everlafting; it is a. covenant. that cannot be broken, will never be removed, ' nor give way to or be fucceeded. by another: it is — ordered in all things; to promote and advance the glory of all the three perfons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit; to fecure the perfons of the faints, and to provide every thing needful for for time and eternity: and itis ure; a fure bafis, the unchangeable will and favour of God, and is in the hands of Cri/?; the fame to-day, yefterday, and for ever; its mercies are the fure mercies of David,-and its promilés are yea amen in Cériff, and are fure to all the feed. Tho’ things.may not be with them god-ward, asthey defire, and could be wifhed for; though they may be attended with many fins and infirmities, the temptations of Satan, divine defertions, and various afflictions, and be guilty of many backflidings, yet covenant-intereft always continues; and {0, though in the kingdom and intereft of Crit in world, there are, and may be, many things difagreeable; it may be attended with perfecutions, herefies, feandals, @c. yet it fhall continue and and fpread, and be an everlafting kingdom: for this is a/l my falvation;

all that in it that a believer can defire to him comfortable here, or happy. hereafter; it is what gives*him delight and pleafure in all his troubles: it may be fupplied 4e 2s, as well as this is, and be applicd to Chrifty, the tuler over men, defcribed, ¥. 3, 4. with whom the covenant of grace is made, in whom is the falvation them’ and depofed from government: decau/e they canné! it ftands upon be taken with hands; thorns cannot be handled and gently dealt with, but fome inftrument muft be ufed to put them away with force; fo wicked men, and efpecially wicked rulers, are untractable, and and!not to be managed in a gentle way, and therefore violent ones mutt be taken.

.oy¥.7. But the man that fhall touch them muft be fenced with iron, and the flaff of a fpear, &c.] To remove thefe thorns, or fons of Belial, out of the way, or to defend himfelf againft them; or weapons of war muft be made ule of to conquer and deftroy them, according to the fenfe of Ben Gerfom, theland which De Diex.follows; a man that meddles with them mutt expect to be as much hurt, and wounded by them all over the body, as if not only increafe,)the point or iron head of a fpear, but the wood; or handle of the {pear were thruft up in him; but all depends upon this co-jthe former fenfe feems beft: and they fhall be utserly burnt with fire in the fame place; where the thorns grew, or whither they dre removed, or are fitting; where perfons are fitting to warm themelves by them: and this may be underftood of the deftruation of wicked rulers, when their kingdom is taken from them, and they are confumed root and branch; and was true not only of Sau/, and his pofterity, as fome apply it, and of Ferobleffings! boa#, and thofe like to him, as the above Fewi/h writer; but of the wicked Fews, and their rulers, thofe fons of Belial, who rejected the yoke of Chrift, and would not have him to rule over them; to it,;whom the Lord fent the Ronan armies fenced with fwords and fpears, and burnt their city, and deand there isiftroyed them in the fame place; and may take in make) Antichrift, and antichriftian ftates, thofe fons of and) Belial, of the wicked aos, and lawlefs one, the fon of perdition, whofe city, Rome, fhall be burnt witht fire,; and even all wicked men, at the great day of judgment, to which the Targum refers thefe words; whemithey, whofe end like thorns, is to be burnt, will be caft into the lake which -burns with venant; the fafety of David’s family, and the fecurity of the kingdom in it, and to his feed, till the Meffiab came, depended on the covenant made with him refpecting that; and the fpiritual and|f eternal falvation of the-Lord’s people depends upon the ycovenant of grace; which was -contrived, formed, and fettled in it, in which the Saviour is provided, and the perfons to fhare in his falvation are taken into it and fecured, with all ‘both of grace and glory: and all my defire, to tee it fulfilled; as it is theydefire of good men, to be led more and more into it, to iee their intereft in it, to have the bleflings and promiles of applied _unto them, and to faved by it, and not. by the covenant of works;

of men; he is the author and the oH author|fire and brimftone. of it; in whom it is compleat and perfect; all falvation is in him, and which they can claim as theirs; to whom is a// their defire; all their delight, as it may be rendered; of the glory of his perfon, the fulnefs of his grace, and his fuitablenefs as a Saviour;

to know more of, and have more communion with:. y.8. Thefé be the names of the mighty men whom David had; &c.] Befides Foab his general, who and in whom islis not mentioned; for thefe were all military men on account!under him, which aré diftinguifhed into three claffes; the firft and higheft confifted of three only; whom they defire' who were general officers; and the: fecond alfo of three, whd perhaps were colonels of regiments;

although he make it not to grow; though there may, and the third of thirty, who were captains of thounot be at prefent any growth of outward profperity, fands and hundreds: the Tachmonite that fat in the y. 6. But the fons of Belial fhall be all. of them as thorns thruft away, 8c.) Not like the tender. grafs that fprings up, and flourithes after rain, and the fiin fhine upon that; but like thorns, ufelefs; feat; the chief among the captains » not in the chief though the horn of David feat in the Sanbedrim, and was the head of that, and fo had the name of Tachmonite, from his wifdom, as the Yewi/> writers fay;. but in the council of wat, where he prefided under the general, or in his abferice, and was perhaps Jieutenant-general, and fo over all the captains; and therefore was neither David nor Foeb, to whom fome of the Rabdins apply thefe words, as obferved by Kimchi; or rather he was the chief of the three, to whom he belonged; his name in t Chroz. xi: 11. is Fa/o- is pot yet made to bud, or his family in growing! and flourifhing circumftances, or the Mefiah, the man, the branch, does not yet fhoot forth, though he certainly would; or, for hall he not bud forth? he fhall, Yer. xxiii. 5. Zach. itiw8. and vi. 12.

hurtful and pernicious, and fit only for burning | obeam, an Hachmonite, or the fon of an Hachmonite, this is true-of wicked men in general, that caft off the yoke of the Lord, and become unprofitable, - as Belial fignifies; and of wicked governors in particular, who inftead of being helpful are hurtful to a commonwealth y and inftead of being the and comfort of their fubjedts, and of giving pleafure to them, and making them chearful and profperous, give pain and trouble, and caufe grief and forrow; and are, if poffible, to be. thruft away, the fame as*in 1 Chron. xxvii. 2. and here it may be as well read Fofbeb-bajhebeth the Tachmonite, the fame name, with a little variation; which féem to be ‘names given him, taken from his character joyjand office; for his proper name was as follows: 7he feme was Adino the Eznite; fo called, either. from the family he was of, or from the place of his birth; tho’ a learned man thinks it fhould be read as in the following fupplement, he lift up his

{pear 4 againft Soo, whom he flew at one time, which though a very extraordinary exploit, yet not more itrange, or fo ftrange as that of Shamgar’s Naying 650 men with an ox-goad, or as that of Sam/on’s killing 1000 men with the jaw-bone of an afs: in 1 Chron.. xi. it. the cumber is only 300, which fome attempt to reconcile, by obferving, that not the fame perfon is meant in both places; here h is called ‘Yofred-bafbebeth, there Fafhobeam; here the Techmonite, there the fon of an Hachmonite; nor is he there called dino the Eznite; but yet it feems plain, that in both places the chief of the three worthies of David ismeant, and fo the fame man: others obferve, that he engaged with 800, and flew 300 of them, when the reft fled, and were purfued and killed by his men; and he routing them, and being the occafion of their being flain, the flaying of them all is afcribed to him; or he firft flew 300, and 500 more coming upon him, he flew them alfo: but what Kimchi offers feems to be beft, that there were two battles, in which this officer was engaged, at one of them he flew 800, and at the other 300; for fo what is omitted in the books of Samuel, and of the Kings, is frequently fupplied in the books of Chronicles, as what one Evangelift in the New Teftament omits, another records. ‘The above learned writer " conjectures, that ty being the firft letter of the words, for three and eight, and the numeral letter being here reduced to its word at length, through a miftake in the copier, was written PIDY ezht, inttead of why three: the Septuagint verfion is, ** he drew out his fpear againft 8oo foldiers at once,” and fays nothing of flaying them; and feems to be the true fenfe of the word, as the fame learned writer ° has abundantly fhewn.

y¥.9. And after him was Eleazar the fon of Dodo the Abohite, &c.] Or the fon of Abobi, perhaps the fame with Ahoab, a defcendant of Benjamin, 1 Chron. viii. 4. this Eleazar was the next to the Fachmonite, the fecond worthy of the firft clafs: one of the three mighty men with David; the fecond of the three valiant men that were with David in his wars, and fought with him, and for him: when they defied the Philiftines; clapped their hands at them, gloried over them, daring them to come and fightthem; fo did David, and his mighty men, as Goliath had defied them before: that were there gathered together to battle; at Pafdammim, as appears from 1-Chron. xi. 13. and the men: of Ifrael were gone away; fled when they faw the PAiliftines gather together to fight them, notwithftandmg they had defied them; and fo David, and his three mighty men, were left alone to combat with the Philiftines. i

¥. 10. He arofé, and fimote the Philiftines until his hand was weary, &c.| He rofe up when the Hfraelites fled, and ftood his ground alone, and fought with the Pbiliftines, and fmote them with his {word, until his hand was weary with {miting: and bis band clave unto the fword; which was contracted by holding it fo long, and grafping it fo hard, thar it could not eafily be got out of its or through the quantity of blood which ran upon his hand, as it was fhed, fo fofepbus'; and which

/provifion, for food and forage, to fupport t

‘entirely r {word were obliged to flee: and the Lord wrought reconciled by obferving, that one part of it might when this action was, at the latter end of which | a, j, ad c Oe e-4 u: U E LL. Chixxn. ¥.9o—ray fword, but held it faft till he had deftroyed the enemy: and the Lord wrought a great vidlory thai day; for to him it muft be afcribedy and n the ftrength and valour of the man; ane ple returned after him only to fpoil, they when they faw what.a victory was obtained b returned and came after him; not to help hi {miting, but to {poil thofe that were flain, and ftriz them of what they had. Pe yout. And after him was Shamutah the fon of Agee the Hararite, &c.| One who was of the mountainous country, as the Targum, the hill-coun- _ try of Fudea, of Hebron, or the parts adjacelie e2, this was the third of the firft three; there was one — of this name among the thirty, ¥. 33. and the Philiftines were gathered together into a troop; but fo they were no doubt at firft; R. [/aiah takes it to be the name of a place called Céiyab, as the Targum, Chayatha; and which Kimchi fays was a village, an unwalled town; and Ben Melech obferves, that itis faid in the Arabic language, a collection of houfes is called 4/-chai: it may be the’ fame with Lebi, where Sam/fon flew 1000 with the jaw-bone of an afs, whence it had its name; and Fofephus* fays, the place where the Philjfines were — gathered together, was called The Faw-bone: but perhaps the fenfe of Ben Gerfom may be beft of all, that they gathered together in this place fo of them and their cattle » fince it follows, was a piece of ground full of lentiles, a fort of pulfe, which was ate in thofe countries, and® the pottage of which was delicious food, fee Gen. xXv. 30, 34. and the people fled from the Philiftines; as they did: before under Eleazar, ¥. 9. pom ¥ ¥. 12. But be flood in the midft of the ground, &c.] The field of lentiles: and defended it; the field, fo that the Piitines could not ravage it, and get food and forage from it: and flew the Philiftines; madé a great flaughter among them, ted them, fo that they that efcaped his a great victory; to whom the glory of it belonged; a fimilar fact is afcribed to Eleazar before-mentioned in 1 Chrowz. xi, 13, 14. and indeed itfeems to’ be the fame, and in which they were both concerned; for it is plain from the account, that there were more than one engaged in this aétion, fince it is there faid, and they Jetythemfelves in the midft of that parcel, and tho’ that parcel of ground ~ is faid there to be full of barley, it may eafily be:

be fowed with barley, and the other part with le tiles; fo the Targum in 1 Chron, xi. 13. for it was half lentiles and half barley; and Eleazar might be placed to defend the one, and Shammab w other; from whence it appears it was about AZ;

y. 13. And three of the thirty chiefs went dow &c.] Or three that were chief of the thirt perior to them; which fome underftand of th before mentioned, fo YFofepbus”, and that h: related fome particular exploits of theirs, here ob= rves one, in which they. were all concerned; “a being. congealed, and dried, caufed his hand to flick to the hilt of his fword, fo that they were, as it were, glued together by it;

be only, that though weary, he did not drop rat others think the three next are meant, ¢ dbi/bai was the chief, Benaich the next, or the fenfe may third Afebel; but the firft fenfe is beft:. bg in the harveft-time, unto the cave of Adullam:

So Hillerus in Onomattic. Sacr. p..230, 231. renders it, the glory of the

‘words in a {piritual fenfe, it was not this water, but

Ch. xxii ¥.14—20. HT. SA MU E I. 619 not when he was there, upon his flight from Sau 1 Sam, xxii. 1, but after he was king, when engaged in war with the Phili/times; perhaps wheatharveft is ‘here meant: and the troop of the Pbiliftines. pitched in the valley of Repkaim, the army of the Philiftines, as the Targum; of the valley of Rephaim, fee Fob. xv. 8.

x. 16. Aud the three mighty men brake through the boft of the Philiftines, &c.] Which lay in the valley of Rephaim, between the hold in which Da-j wid was and the well of Bethlebem; thefe three men hearing David exprefs himfelf in the above manner, though without any view that any fhould theirlives to obtain it, only in a general way faid, Oh for a draught of the water of the well of lebem, immediately fet out, and made their way through the army of the Philifines to the well: sand drew water out of the well of Bethlebem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; in a veflel which they probably carried with them for that purpofe: wevertbele/s be would not drink thereof; becaufe, fay they who take thefe,,mens.lives, and therefore more fit to be offered as a facrifice to God than to be drank by him; and this he might do in thankfulrefs to God for preferving the lives of the men Ger/om thinks it was now the feaft of tabernacles, which was the feaft of in-gathering the fruits of the earth, when great |quantities of water were drawn and poured out at Inthe altar, which was done to obtain the bleffing of the former rain; fee the note on Fobn. vii. W728.

y¥. 14. And David was then in an bold, &c. a ftrong hold; the ftrong hold of Zion, as ‘fojepbus*, or one on a rock near the cave of Adullam,; fee 1 Chron. xi. 15. and the garrifon of the Philiftines was then in Betblebem, which was about fix miles from Ferufalem, the valley of Rephaim lay between that and Betblebem, fo far had they got into the land of Yudea, and fuch footing in it, as to have a garrifon fo near its metropolis.

y.17. And be faid, Beit far from me, O Lord, that I fhould do this, &c.) Drink of the water thefe men had brought him: is not this she blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? who rifqued the thedding of their blood, and went in danger of their lives to get it: therefore be would not drink it, fome compare with this the ftory of Alexander, to whom a veffel of water was offered when in extreme thirft, which he refufed, becaufe Ob, that one would give he could not bear to drink it alone, and fo {mall a quantity could not be divided among all about him; but the reafons are not the fame: sthefe things did thefe three mighty men; which made them very famous.,.18. dud Adifbai the brother of Foab the fon of Zeruiah, was chief among the three, &c.} Another triumyirate, of which he was the head: and he lift up bis [pear againft 300, and flew them; Fafepbus ays 600; this feems to confirm the reading of y¥. 8. that the number 800 is right, for if it was only 300, bi/hai would have been equal to one, even the firft of the former three; which yet is denied him in the following verfe: and bad the itame among three; of which he was one; and he had the chief name among them, or was the moft famous of them.,

¥.15. And David longed, and faid, 8&c.] t| being harveft-time, the fummer-feafon, and hot weather, and he thirfty:

me drink of the water of the well of Bethlebem, which is by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more defireable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refrefhing, and very excellent, as Kimchi fuggefts. This well was about a mile from Betblebem, now called David’s well, as fome travellers fay ’. It is faid to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the} road”; and that there is now near Rachel’s crave a good rich ciftern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water, are provided with’ fmall leathern buckets, anda line, as ufual in thofe countries*; but Mr. Maundrel” fays, it is a well, or rather a ciftern, fupplied only with rain, without any excellency in its waters to make them defirable; but it feems, he adds, David’s| fpirit had a farther aim. Some think he meant by this to get Bethlehem out of the hands of the Philiftinesand obtain the pofleffion of it; others, as Farhi, that he intended to afk fome queftion of the Sanhedrim that fat there; and others, that his defire was after the law of God, called waters; as in Jf, lv. 1. and fome chriftian writers, both antient and modern °, are of opinion, that not literal but fpiricual water was defired by him, and that thirfted after the coming of the Meffiah, to beborn at Bethlehem, and the living water which he only can give, Feb iv. 10.: y. 20.

¥. 19. Was be not maft honourable of three? &c.] He was; who, befides the exploit here mentioned, did many other things; he went down with David into Sau/’s camp, and took away his fpear and cruife, which were at his bolfter; he relieved David when in danger from /bdenod the giant; he beat the Edomites, and flew 18,0co of them in the valley of falt: therefore be was their captain; of the other two, or was head over them, took rank he before them: howdeit he attained not unto the fir three; for fortitude, courage, and warlike exploits, namelyy to the Zachmonite, Eleazar and Shammab, And Benaiah the fon of Feboiada, the Jon of a valiant man of Kabzeel,&c.| A city in the tribe of Fudah, Fofb. xv. 21. the father of this man was a man of great vivacity, valour, and ftrength, fo that it was, like father like fon. Procopius Gazeu$ fays Benaiab was David's brother’s fon, and a rifque grandion of Jefe: whe had done many as; which may refer either to the father of Benaiah or to Be- Betb- naiab himielf; and indeed the Syriac and Arabic verfions refer the preceding character} @ valiant man, not to the father, but the fon: he flew two lion-like men of Moab; two princes of Moab, as the Targum, or two giants of Moad, as the Syriac and Aradic verfions 3.men who were comparable to lions for their ftrength and courage; for this is not\to be underftood of two ftrong towers of Moab, as Ben

Gerfom, which were defended by valiant men like fpiritual water he defired; but the reafon is given in the following verfe: ut poyred it out unto the Lord; as a libation to him, it being blood than water, being fetched at the hazard of lions, or which had the form of lions engraved on them; nor of Moabitifh altars, as Guffetius', the ratherjaltar of the Lord, being called by this name of Ariel, the word ufed; but of men of uncommon

- Lion in the midjt of a pit in time of fnow; not Foab, mentioned; fince there are 39 reck ned befides hit