Exposition of the Whole Bible

valour and fortitude: be went down alfo, and flew a 1 Kings ii. 34. as is the tradition *, but a real lion, the ftrongeft among the beafts; and that in a pit where he could not keep his diftance, and turn him(elf, and take all advantage, and from whente he could not make his efcape; and which indeed might quicken his refolution, when he muft fight or die; and ona fnowy day, when lions are faid to have the greateft ftrength, as in cold weather, 30, &c.) Or rather over the 30, * who and the Arabic verfion calls him the p 30; oad is not named at all, b general of the whole army, and fo n koned in any of the three clafles: Ebay of Dodo of Betblebem, a town{man of D.

¥. 25. Shammah the Haredite, 8c. JCal Shammab the Harorite in 1 Chron, xi. 27. by, a change of the letters K and D, which is frequen ~ or however are fiercer for want of food; and when Benaiah might be benumbed in his hands and feet with cold. ‘Fofepbus* reprefents the cafe thus, that the lion fell into a pit, where was much fnow, and was covered with ir, and makingva hideous roaring, Benaiab went down and flew him; but rather it was what others fay, that this lion vefy much in- Elika the Harodite; or who was of Harod, as Zargum; thefe both were from one place: men- }tion is made of the well of Harod, Fudg. vitiageo. * y. 26. Helex the Paltite, &c.] Who was of a F place called Palet, as the Zargum,; in 1 Chrom. xi.; 27. he is called the Pelonite: Ira a of Tkkefb ¢be Tekoite; who was of the city Of Lekoab, the | native place of.4mos the prophet, famous for oil,. about 12 miles from Feru/alem; fee the note on Amosi. t. ts ia

¥. 27. Abiexer the dpa botbite, &c.]. He was of Anethoth in the tribe of Benjamin, the birthplace of Feremiah the prophet: Mebunnai the Hufoathite; the fame with Sidbecai, 1 Chron. Xi. 29. and xxvii. 11. 2 Sam, xxi. 18. this man had two. names, and was a defcendant of Hu/bab, who came of Fudab, 1 Chron. iv. 4. Sie ABE:

¥. 28. Zalmon the Abothite, &c.] The fame with Jlai, 1 Chron. xi. 29. a deftendant of Aboab. a grandfon of Benjamin, ch. viii. 4. Mabarai the Netopbathite; who was of Netophab, a ci ce tribe of Fudab, mentioned along with ‘Buble Cy Neb. vii. 26. a place of this name is fpoken of in the Mi/nab °, famous for artichokes and olives.

y.29. Heleb the fon of Baanab, a Nestpberbir, &c.J] Called Heled, 1 Chron. xi._30, and xxvii. 15. Ittai the fon of Ribai out of Gibeab of the children of Benjamin, fometimes called Gibeah of Benjainin and Gibeah of Saul, being a city im the tribe of Benjamin, and the birth-place of Saul king of Jfrael; and this man is diftinguifhed hereby from fefted the places adjacent, and did much hurt; and therefore for the good of the country, and to rid them of it, took this opportunity, and flew it; which one would think was not one of the beft reafons that might offer; it feems beft therefore what Bochart' conjectures, that Benaiab went into a cave, for fo the word ufed may fignify, to fhelter himfelf a while from the cold, when a lion being in it for the fame reafon, attacked him, and he fought with it and flew it; or rather it may be an hollow place, a valley that lay between cra and Zion, where Benaiah hearing a lion roar, went down and flew it *.

y¥.21. And he flew an Egyptian, a goodly man, &c.] A perfon of good countenance and fhape, very large and tall; in 1 Chron. xi. 23. he is faid to be aman of great ftature, and five cubits high, and fo wanted a cubit and a fpan of the heighth of Goliath, 1 Sam xvii. 4. and he hada fpear in his band; as large as Goliath’s; for in 1 Chron. xi. 23. it is faid to be like a weaver’s beam, as Goliath’s was, 1 Sam. xvii. 7. fee the note there: and he went down to bim with a flaff; with a walking-ftaff only, having no other weapon: and plucked the {pear out of the Egyptian’s band, and therefore muft be a man very nimble and dexterous, as well as bold and courageous: and flew bim with his own fpear; as David cut off Goliath’s head with his own fword. This is fuppofed’ to be Shimei, the fon of Gera, 1 Kings ii. 46.

¥.22. Thefe things did Benaiah the Jot of Feboiada, &c.\ Slew a lion, and two lion-like men of Moab, and an Egyptian of a gigantic. ftature: and had the name among three mighty men; of which he was one, and Abifbai another, the third d/abel, one of the 30; or was over them, ¥. 24. fince 30 are reckoned without him. Abarbinel thinks, that the third was Adina, the fon of Shiza, the Reubenite, 1 Chron. xi. 42. fince 30 were with him, and he at the Head of them. ¥ 3

Ittai the Gittite, 2 Sam. xv. 19. »; ¥. 30. Benaiah the Pirathonite, &c.|.Who was of Pirathon, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, Fudge, xii. 15. Hiddai of the brooks of Gaafa; which perhaps ran by the hill Gaa/o, and. was alfo in the tribe of Ephraim, Fob. xxiv. 30. This man is called Hurai, 1 Chron. xi. 32, diay inge>. ¥. 31. Abi-albon the Arbathite, &c.| A native of > ue Care ae 7, ane it ns. in re; ' yy. 34. Elipbelet the-fon of Abafbai, the fon of the Méachathite, &e.} In 1 Chron. xi. 35. he is called E/ipbal the fon of Ur: Eliam the fon of Abithophe! the Gilonite; David's counfellor, that went of to 4bjalom, ch. xv. 12. Eliam his fon is fuppofed, by the Fews, to be the father of Bath/beba, the wife of Uriah, ch. xi. 3. according to Hillerus%, he is the fame with Abijah the Pelonite, 1 Chron, xi.36.

¥. 25. Hezrai the Carmelite, &c.}] Of mount Carmel; or from Carmela, as the Targum, fee 1 Sam. xxv. 2. he is called Hezro, 1 Chron. xi. 37. Paarei_the Arbite, or from Arab, as the Targum, a city in the tribe of Fudab, Fofb. xv. 52. according to Hillerus*, the fame with Naarai the fon of Ezbai, in 1 Chron. xi. 37.

y¥. 36. Igal the fon of Nathan of Zobah, &c.} A kingdom in Syria, ch. viii. 3. according to Hillerus*, the fame with Joel, 1 Chron. xi. 38. Bani the Gadite; who was of the tribe of Gad, as the Targum in the room of this ftands Mibhar, the fon of Haggeri, in 1 Chron. xi. 38.

¥. 37. Zelek the Ammonite, &c.| Who was fo either by birth, and became a profelyte; fo the Targum fays, he was of the children of Ammon, or is fo called, becaufe he had fojourned fome time in their land, or had done fome exploits againft them; unlefs he was of Chephar-kaammonai, a city of the “tribe of Benjamin, Fofb. xviii. 24. Nabarai the Beerothite, a native of Beeroth, a city in the fame tribe, o/b. xviii. 25. armourbearer to Foab the fon of Zertiah,; Foab had ten of them, this perhaps was the chief of them, ch xviii. 15. who was advanced to bea captain, and there-_ fore has a namie and place among the 30, very likely for fome military exploits performed by him; he is in the lift of David’s worthies; though not Foab his matter, as before obferved; the reafon of Joab being left out, is either becaufe he was over them all, as before noted; according to Fo ephus*,

Uriah the Hittite, after-mentioned, was an armourbearer to Foad.

¥. 38. Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrité.| Thefe were of Fether, as the Targum, a defcenddnt of Caleb, of the tribe of Fudab, 1 Chron. ii. 50, 53. and iv. 15,17.

¥. 39. Uriah the Hittite, &c.] The hufband of Bathfheba; of whom fee ch. xi. 3. thirty and feven in all, reckoning the three mighty men of the firft clafs, the three of the fecond, and the third clafs confifting of 30 men, whofe names are as above, and Yoab the general and head of them all. In 1 Chron. xi. 41. Zabad the fon of Ablai follows Uriah as one of this catalogue; he fucceeding in honour one that foon died, particularly E/ika, y. 25. who is omitted in Chronicles, where a lift of fifteen more is given; at the head of which ftands Adina a Reubenite, and thirty are faid to be with him, according to our verfion; but fhould be rendered, as by ‘funius and Tremellius, but the thirty were fuperior to him, that is, the above 30; for thefe 15, though brave men, were of leffer note.

| on this chapter an account is given of David's numbering of the people, ¥.1—g. of the fenfe he had of his fin, and of his acknowledgment of it; and of the Lord’s difpleafure at it, who fent the prophet Gad to him, to propofe three things to him, one of which he was to chufe as a punifhment for it, ¥. ro—13. when he chofe the peftilence; which carried off a great number of the people, ¥. 14—17. and David was directed to build an altar to the Lord in the threfhingfloor of Araunah the Febufite, with whom he agreed for it, and built one on it, and offered upon it, and fo the plague was ftayed, ¥. 18—25.

y.1. And again the anger of the Lord was kindled againft Ifrael, &c.} | It had been kindled, and appeared before in fending a three year’s famine among them for’Sau/’s ill ufage of the Gibeonites, and now it broke forth again, either for fome fecret fins committed, as Kimchi fuggefts, or for the rebellion of Ab/alom, and the infurreétion of Sheda, in which multitudes of them joined; fo Abarbinel; no doubt there was caufe for it, though it is not exprefied: and he moved David againft them; not the Lord, but fatan, as may be fupplied from 1 Chron. xxi. 1. or it moved him; the anger of the Lord, as the laft mentioned writer interprets it; or the heart of David, as Ben Gerfom; that is, the evil imagination of his heart, as Kimchi; the Lord Jeft him to the corruption of his nature, fometimes called fatan, 2 Cor. xii. 7. which wrought powerfully in him, and ftirred him up to take a {tep contrary to the intereft of Z/rae/, and what was prejudicial to them, as the event fhewed: it moved him to fay; to foad and his captains: Go number Tfrael and Fudab, not all the individuals, but fuch as were fit for war, able to bear arms, fee y. 9.

y. 2. For the king faid to Foab the captain of the hoft, which was with him, &c.] Or who was with him, even Foab, who was now at court, and was a counfellor of David, as well as his general; or which army was with Yoad, a ftanding army he had the command of: Go now through all the tribes of Ifrael, from Dan even to Beer-foeba; from the /northern part of the land of J/rae/ to the fouthern part of it, and this courfe was accordingly fteered, ¥. 6, 7. and number the people, that I may know the number of the people, fo that this appears to be done not through any urgent neceflity, but merely out of curiofity, and to gratify the pride of his heart, and pleafe himfelf with the thought of ruling fuch a numerous people, and brag of their numbers to other nations, and place his confidence therein; and no wonder it was difpleafing to the Lord.

¥. 3. And foab faid unto the king, &c.] Not fo rudely and infolently as he did on account of his mourning for 4b/alom, but in a more modeft, decent, and polite manner: Now the Lord thy God add unto the people (how many foever they be) an bundred-fold; he wifhed -his fubjeéts were an hundred times more numerous than they were: and that the eyes of my lord the king may fee it; that he might live to fee with his own eyes fo great an increafe: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? he being now old, and therefore it might feem ftrange to indulge fuch curiofity, pride, and

| ae ‘ \,. ra - $ 3 622 Il. SA MU EL. Chixxiviy. 4-16: whence they were not driven out by the J/raelites 3 to all places contiguous to them, Joab and his captains came to take the number of them: aud they went out to the fouth of Fudab; even to Beerfoebay pafling through the weftern part of the land, they = came to the fouthern part of it, even as far as Beerfoeba, which was the extreme part of the land to the fouth. 4 ae ¥.8. So when they had gone through all the lands 4 &c.] Beginning at the eaft, and from thenceto the north, and then going about to the weft, came _ to the fouth, which finifhed their circuit: ¢heycame — to Ferufalem, at the end of 9 months and 20 days? they were 10 months wanting ro. days in num-, bering the people; in which they feem to have been very expeditious,. ¥. 9. And Foab gave up the fum of the number of the people unto the king, &c.| Having collected » from the feveral captains employed in this work their feveral particular numbers, he put them together, and gave in the fum total to David: and there were in Ifrael 800,000 valiant men that drew. the fword, though many of them might be under ~ the age of 20, yet being robuft and tall, and fit to bear arms, though but 16, 17, 18, or 19 years of age were muftered, contrary to the law; which, according to Cornelius Bertram, was David's fin,. fee 1 Chron, xxvii. 23, 24. In 1,Chrom. xxi, 5. they are faid to be 1,000,000 and 100,000, which is 300,000 more than the fum here given; feveral methods are taken to reconcile this; but what feems to be the beft folution of the difficulty is what is obferved by a Yew *,; that here thenumber of the people in the feveral parts of the land of | Efrael was given, which were 800,000, there along with them, the numbers of the ftanding army which waited on the king in their courfes, which were 24,000 every month, and amounted in the 12 months to 288,000, and reckoning 12,000 officers.to them, they make the fum of 300,000 wanted, fee 1 Chron. xxvii, 1,2, Sc. and the men of Fudab were 500,000 men. In 1 Chron. xxi. 5. they are faid to be only 470,000, 30,000 Jefs than here; which may be accounted for by making ufe of a round number, though fomething wanting, as is often done; or elfe the 30 companies, confiiting of 1000 each, under the 30 captains mentioned in the preceding chapter, are taken into the account here, but left out in the book of Chronicles; or there were fo many in the fum total of the men of Fudah before the plague, but 30,000 being confumed thereby, are left out in the latter accounts, fo Kimchi; but the other folutions feem beft: Levz and Benjamin were not counted; it being abominable to Foab, he did not finifh it, and efpecially being difpleafing to God, who fmote J/rael for it, 1. Chron. xxi. 6, 7. it y. 10. And David’s heart fmote him, after that be had numbred the people, &c.) For g or 10 ‘months his confcience lay afleep, but now the thing was done, it is awakened, and accufes him for it, and he repents of it; now he began to fee the pride and naughtinefs of his heart; his vanity and confidence in the creature which led him to it; ageravated by doing it without feeking to know the mind vanity, and befides quite needlefs and ufelefs: the numbering of them would not make them more or lefs; and they were all the king’s fervants, who were ready to obey him whenever he needed them, whether numbered or not; and it might be prejudicial to them, and bring down the wrath of God upon them, as well as be a troublefome and expenfive bufinefs; all which, though not exprefied here, is hinted at in 1 Chron. xxi. 3. ” y. 4. Notwithftanding. the king’s word prevailed againft Joab, and againft the captains of the hoft, 8cc.) Who it feems were of the fame mind with Foad, and were againft numbering the people, yet their arguments and remonftrances were of no avail with the king; he was determined it fhould be done, and laid his commands upon them to do it, which they were obliged to comply with: and Foab and the captains of the boft went out from the prefence of the king, to number the people of I/rael, feeing him refolute and determined, they fukmitted, took his orders, and fet out to execute them. ¥. 5. And they paffed over Fordan, &e.] To take, the number of the tribes of Reuben and Ged and the half-tribe of Manaffeb firft: and pitched in Arcer; for it feems that Foad and the captains had the army with them, and the feveral captains under their command, partly’ to affift in numbering the people, and partly to keep. them in awe, left they fhould oppofe them, not knowing what was the defign of all this. Aroer was a city given to the tribe of Gad, and rebuilt by them, Numb, xxxii. 34. on the right fide of the city; i. e. of Aroer, the fouth fide of it, as the Yargum, did Foad and his army pitch: that lieth 7x the midft of the river of Gad; which was the river drnon, fo called now from the tribe of Gad, which poffeffed it, and fo the Targum, in the midft of the river of the tribe of Gad; for in the midft of the river Aruon Aroer lay, fee Fob. xiii. g. and toward Fazer; another city given to the Gadites, Numb. xxxii. 3. 35. and, according to Bunting", was 16 miles from Aroer. y. 6. Then they came to Gilead, &c.] ‘The land of Gilead, half of which was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half to the halftribe of Manajfeb, Deut. iii. 12, 13. which tribes were numbered, and the firft of all: and to the land of Tabtim-hodfhi; or the low lands of a new place; it feems to be'a country newly poffeffed and inhabited; the Yargum calls it the fouthern land of Hodfhi; Bunting “ calls it the lower country, of Hodfhi, near to the city Corazin, in the half-tribe of Manaffeh, 52 miles from Ferufalem, and towards the north-eaft, and fignifies a new land: and they came to Dan-jaan, the fame that is fimply called Dan, and formerly Lefhem, Fofo. xix. 47. why Jean is added to it is not eafy to fay; it lay at the northern border of the land of J/rael, and was: four miles from Paneas as you go to Tyre*: and about to Zidon; from Dan they went round about to, Zidon, to the parts adjacent to it;:for with Zidon itfelf they had nothing to do, of which fee the note.on Fo/p. xi. 8. ¥. 7. And came to the ftrong bold of Tyre, &c.] That is, old Tyre, which ftood 30 furlongs from new Tyre, the ifland”; of which fee the note on J/- do xxiii, 1. this muft be underftood of the parts near unto it; for that icfelf was not within the land of Ifrael, and fo its inhabitants not to be numbered: and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites; which were poffeffed by them, ‘and from of God, and without giving him his due, the half fhekel, according to the law, Exod. XXX. 12, 13. intent only upon increafing his own revenue, as fome think, intending to impofe a poll-tax upon the people when he had numbered them; and at- tempting to number a people who were» not to be numbered; and numbering thofe who were under the age of 20, and therefore the plague began before it was finifhed, 1 Chrov. xxvii. 23, 24 and David faid unto the Lord, I have finned greatly in that I have done; he faw and owned his fin to be exceeding finful, attended with very aggravating circumttances; and now I befeech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy fervant; the guilt of it from his. confcience, which lay heavy there, and fuffer not the punifhment it deferves to take place on him, but grant an application of pardon to him: for Ihave done very foolily; all fin is folly, and ome fins are exceeding foolifh, and fo this appeared to Davids; or, though I have done very foolifoly*, yet forgive my fin, fee P/ xxxviii. 5.

¥. 12. Go, and fay unto David, &c.). Not my fervant David, as Nathan was bid to fay to him when it was in his heart to build an houfe for him; but now he had finned and difpleafed the Lord, and therefore it is only plain David: Thus faith the Lord, Ioffer thee three things; or lay them before thee toconfider of, which thou wouldft have done; the Targum is, *‘ one of three things 1 caft upon thee,” as a burden to bear; one of the three 1 will certainly inflict upon thee by way of chaftifement: choofe thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee; here is mercy mixed with judgment; the Lord is angry, yet fhews great condeicenfion and goodnefs; a fovereign being, who could have impofed what punifhment he pleafed, and even all the three after-mentioned, yet refolves but on one, and leaves that to the option of David. y¥. 13. So Gad came to David, and told him, &c.] Said nothing to him about his fin, but corre¢tion for it; which confirms it, that David was made fenfible of his fin before he came to him: and unto bim, Shall feven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? in 1 Chron, xxi. 12. only three years are mentioned, and fo the Septuagint verfion here; but Fofepbus *, the Targum, the Syriac, and Arabic verfions have the number feven; three feems to be more agreeable to the numbers after-mentioned, and no more as to come were defigned, though feven are here exprefied; for the reconciling of which let it be obferved, that there had been three years of famine already on account of the fin of of Saul, ch. xxi. and in the current. year, through the rains not falling in the proper time, the land was barren and unfruitful; or through the penury of the preceding years, the famine would be contiued at leaft until the harveft; and then three years more now propofed made feven years; or, if thefe three years would haveimmediately followed the othér three, the following in courfe would be a fabbatica! year, in which were no plowing, fowing, nor reaping, or the current year was fuch an ones and the {enie is, fhall there be a continuance of {even years of famine, that is, three more added to what had been? which muft be moft dreadful to think of; but a learned writer ‘thinks it a miftake of the copier; writing + /even for 3 three: or wilt thot flee three months before thine enemies; while they pur- /ie thee? be in fuch a condition as not to be able to face or fight his enemies; or if he did, would not be able to ftand his ground, but be forced to flee before them, and be purfued by them three months running; during which time a prodigious number might well be thought to be flain; fad devattations made in the land, and great fhame and difgrace endured, and what a man of. David's fpirit could not bear the thoughts of: or that there be three. days peftilence in thy land 2 which in-1 Chron. | xxi. 12. is called the fword of the Lord, in diftinction from the fword of man, it coming immediately from him, and the deftroying angel, in all the coafts of the land; being inflicted by means of one: now advife, and fee what anfwer | hall return to bim that ‘fent me; that is, confult with himfels, or with his friends, or both, what anfwer the prophet muft return to the Lord that fent him;-for him he means.

¥.11. For when David was up in the morning, &c.] Which it is probable was very early, he not being able to fleep through the diftrefs of mind he was in; for the words -fhould be rendered, and David arofe in the morning “, for,.as we render them, they feem to imply as if he had no fenfe of his fin before the prophet came to him next mentioned; whereas, it was in the night he had been under the conviction of it, and had acknowledged it, and prayed for the pardon of it; upon which, the prophet was fent to.acquaint him what was the will of God concerning him: the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, Davra’s seer, with whom \he had ufed to advife about the will of God on various occafions, though’ in this he had neglected to confult him; the Zargum calls it the word of prophecy from the Lord: /aying; as follows.

y.14. And David faid unto Gad, 1 am ina great trait, &c.] Not knowing well which to chufe, each of them being fo grievous, and an anfwer being to be returned immediately; but by his next words, and by theevent it-feems he chofe the peftilence, though that is not exprefly faid: Jet us fall now, into the band of the Lord, the Targum in 1 Chron. xxi: 13. is, ** into the hand of the Word \ of the Lord:” (for his mercies are great) and let me uot fall inta the hand of many indeed all the three judgments mentioned are by the handsof the Lord whenever they come; but in the peftilence the hand of the Lord is more vifible, it coming immediately from his hand, as efpecially this was to do, and \ did; it did not arife from fecond caufes, a noxious air, Ge.) but by means of an angel of God: David chofe this, becaufe he and his people would have nothing to do with men, as in famine they mutt have gone into other countries for food, and in war flee before their enemies, and lie at their mercy, and either of them more difgraceful than this; and which he might the rather choofe on his own account, that his people might not be able to fay he fought himfelf and his own intereft, for had he aid| chofen famine, as his people had been lately diftrefied that way already, they might, befides urging that, fay, that he could lay up ftores for himfelf and family; or had he chofen war, they might ob{erve he had fortified places to flee to, one after another, and fhelter himfelf; but for the arrows of the peftilence he was as fair a matk as the meaneft of his fubjects: but what feems to have moved him chiefly to make this choice is, that it would not only be the fooneft over, but that it wholly!depended on the pleafure of God, what ufe he would make of it in that time; and chiefly becaufe he knew God was gracious and merciful, and it was upon his great mercy he caft himfelf and his people.

y.15. So the Lord fent a peftilence upon Ijrael, 8cc.] Upon the land of J/rael, the people is -

land; direétly employing an angel to go through the coafts of it, and empowering him to inflict a peftilential difeafe: from the morning even to the time appointed, from the morning the prophet Gad came to David with a meflage from the Lord; that very morning the plague began, and lafted to the time fet for it, the three days, or at leaft unto the beginning of the third, when reaching Jerufalem, the Lord repented of it, and ftayed his hand; tho many think a much fhorter time is intended; fome think it lafted no more than half a day, if fo much; fome fay but three hours ‘; the Septuagint verfion until dinner-time, and the Syriac and Arabic verfions until the fixth hour of the'day, which was noon;"and fo Kimchi fays, fome of their Rabdins interpret it of the half or middle of the day; the Targum is, ** from the time the daily facrifice was flain until it was burnt;” and it is the fenfe of fe-

{mote the people; in the aif over Ferufalem, with a drawn fword’in his hand, which made him appear terrible: and faid, lo, 1 have finned, and I have done wickedly; in numbering the people: bat thefe eep, what have they done? he looked upon him= — felf as the only tranfgreffor, and his people as in-— nocent, and as harmlefs as fheep; he thought of no fins but his own; thefe were uppermoft in his” mind, and lay heavy on his confcience; and it grieved him extremely that his people fhould foffer ’ on his account: but they were not fo innocent as he thought and fuggefts,; and it was not only for his, but their fins this evil came; he was fuffered to do what he did, to bring upon them deferved punifhment for their rebellion againft: him, and: other fins; however, this fhows the high opinion he had of them, the great affection he had for ~ veral Jearned men, that it was only from the ing until the time of the evening facrifice, or evening prayer, aboutthree o’ clock in the afternoon, and fo lafted about nine hours: and there died of the morn- (them, and his fympathy with them in this time of diftrels: /et thine band, I pray thee, be againft me, and againft my father’s boufe, let me and mine die,” and not they; a type of Chrift, the good fhepherd, people from Dan even to Beerfoeba, 70,000 men; fo that there was a great diminution of the people in all places where they were numbered; and David’s fin may be read in the punifhment of it; his heart was lifted up by the numbers of his people, and now it muft be humbled by the leflening of them. y. 16. And when the angel firetched out bis hand upon Ferufalem to deftroy it, &c.) Which, as it was perhaps the laft place where the people were numbered, it was the Jaft to which the plague came: this-angel appeared in an human form, ftanding between the earth and the heaven; in the midft of the heaven, in the air, right over Feru/alem; having a drawn fword in his hand ftretched over the city, as is faid in 1 Chron. xxi. 16. which was done as a menace, and to inject terror into David and the inhabitants of the city, and to give them notice of what they muft expect: the Lord repented him of the evil; he was inflicting, and now threatened Ferufalem with; having compaffion on the place where the ark, the fymbel of his prefence, was, where a temple was to be built to the honour of his name, and where he fhould be worfhipped; and therefore ftopped proceeding, as men when they repent of any thing done by them, ceafe from it, fo did the Lord now; otherwife repentance, properly fpeaking, falls not on him, and fo it is next explained: and faid to the angel that deftroyed the people; not the angel of death, the devil, but a good angel, ‘who had a commiffion from God for this bufinefs: It is enough: flay now thine hand: there is a fuffi- willing to lay down his life for the fheep, and fuffer in their ftead, that they might go free:;

¥.18. And Gad came that day to David, 8e.] Ordered and directed by ‘the angel of the Lord, 1 Chron, xxi. 18. and faid unto him, go up, rear an altar unto the Lord, in the threfbing-floor of Araunab the Febufite, it was too far to go to Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, at’ fuch a time of extremity, when the fword of the angel was ftretcled out over Ferufalem, 1 Chron. xxi. 29, 30. and this was the moft proper place, as it was the very fpot over: and neareft to which the angel was; and was on mount Moriah, where the ews fay Abrabam offered up J/aac; and where the temple was’ after=- wards built, as Kimchi and Ben’ Gerfom obferve; and Lupoelemus, an heathen writer *, fays, that when David defired to build a temple for God, — and that he would fhew him the place of the altar, an angel appeared to him, ftanding over the place where the altar at Ferufalem was to be built.

¥.109: And David, according to the faying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.\ From the place. where he was in a lower part of the city to mount Moriah, on which was the threfhing-floor,- a place fit for winnowing-corn when threthed.

¥.20. And Araunab looked, &c.] Peeped up out of the place in which he had hid himfelf with his four fons, for fear of the angel, and which they faw, 1 Chron. xxi. 20. and Jaw the king and his fervants coming towards him; he perceived by the courfe they fteered, that they were coming to cient number flain; flay no more: and the angel of him: and Araunabh went out; of the threfhing-

-the Lord was by the threfbing-place of Araunah the Febufite; that is, he was in the air, right over the {pot, or near it, where was this man’s threfhingfloor; and was feen by Araunab and his four fons, who upon it hid themfelves, perhaps among the fheaves they were threfhing, 1 Chron. xxi. 20. and this threfhing-floor was on mount Moriah, 2 Chron. iii. 1. as threfhing-floors commonly were on mountains for the fake of winnowing the corn when threfhed; fee the note on Ruth iii. 2. who, according to Ben Gerfom, though he was by birth a Febufite, was profelyted to the Fewi/h religion.

¥.17. And David Jpake unto the Lord, 8c.) In prayer; he and the elders of J/rael being clothed in fackcloth, and fallen on their faces, “he prayed, not unto the angel, but to Jehovah that fent him;

Self before the king with his face to the floor, out of the place where he had hid himfelf, for he had been threfhing wheat, 1 Chron. xxi. 20. nor was it thought below. great perfonages in thofe times to be employed in fuch work; fo Gideon was threfhing, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, 7udg. vi. 11, 12. Boaz winnowed barley in his threfhing-floor, Ruth iii. 2. and bowed bimground; in - reverence of the king., bare y.21. And Araunab faid, wherefore is my lord. the king come to his fervant? &c.| Which both implies admiration in him, that fo great a perfon fhould vifit him in his threfhing-floor; thata king fhould come to a fubjeét his fervant, who fhould- = rather have come to him, and would’ upon the | leaft intimation; it was a piece of condefcenfion