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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 
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 THE FIRST BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 SAM U EL
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
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 317 34*[M- 

 
 Zijt Camftritrcre 3^Mt for ^t^ools 
 antr CoUecjeg, 
 
 General Editor:— J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D., 
 Dean of Peterborough. 
 
 THE FIRST BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 SAMUEL, 
 
 WITH MAP, NOTES AND INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. A. F. KIRKPATRICK, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, AND REGIUS 
 PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
 Cambntige : 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
 Sontow: C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 
 17, Paternoster Row. 
 
 1884 
 \All Rights rescrved.'\
 
 Moses and Aaron among His priests, 
 
 And Samuel among them that call upon His Name". 
 
 They called upon the Lord and He answered them.
 
 PREFACE 
 BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. 
 
 The General Editor of The Cambridge Bible for 
 Schools thinks it right to say that he does not hold 
 himself responsible either for the interpretation of 
 particular passages which the Editors of the several 
 Books have adopted, or for any opinion on points of 
 doctrine that they may have expressed. In the New 
 Testament more especially questions arise of the 
 deepest theological import, on which the ablest and 
 most conscientious interpreters have differed and 
 always will differ. His aim has been in all such 
 cases to leave each Contributor to the unfettered 
 exercise of his own judgment, only taking care that 
 mere controversy should as far as possible be avoided. 
 He has contented himself chiefly with a careful 
 revision of the notes, with pointing out omissions, with 
 
 2106019
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 suggesting occasionally a reconsideration of some 
 question, or a fuller treatment of difficult passages, 
 and the like. 
 
 Beyond this he has not attempted to interfere, 
 feeling it better that each Commentary should have 
 its own individual character, and being convinced 
 that freshness and variety of treatment are more 
 than a compensation for any lack of uniformity in 
 the Series. 
 
 Deanery, Peterborough.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 Chapter I, The Book of Samuel 9 — 16 
 
 Chapter II. Analysis of the First Book of Samuel 17 — 11 
 
 Chapter III. Chronology of the Book 1 2 — 24 
 
 Chapter IV. The Place of the Books of Samuel 
 
 in the History of the Kingdom of God 24 — 29 
 
 Chapter V, The Life and Work of Samuel 29 — 33 
 
 Chapter VI. The Prophetic Order 33 — 34 
 
 Chapter VII. Saul 35—37 
 
 Chapter VIII. David 38—41 
 
 II. Text and Notes 43—234 
 
 III. Additional Notes I — VIII 235 — 245 
 
 IV. Index 247 — 251 
 
 Map of the Holy Land to illustrate the 
 
 Books of Samuel to face title-page 
 
 *^* The Text adopted in this Edition is that of Dr Scrivener's 
 Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordi- 
 nary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the 
 use of italics, will be noticed. For the principles adopted by 
 Dr Scrivener as regards the printing of the Text see his Intro- 
 duction to the Paragraph Bible, published by the Cambridge 
 University Press.
 
 The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
 And God fulfils Himself in many ways. 
 
 The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BOOK OF SAMUEL. 
 
 1. Titles and Division of the Books. The two Books of 
 Samuel, like the two Books of Kings, originally formed an 
 undivided whole ^ The Septuagint translators, regarding the 
 Book of Samuel and the Book of Kings as a complete History 
 of the Kingdom from its foundation to its fall, divided the 
 work into four books, which they styled Books of the Kingdoms 
 (fiijSXoi /3acriXetcoi/). Jerome followed this division in the Vulgate, 
 altering the name to Books of the Kings (Libri Regum), which 
 is retained as an alternative title in the English Bible. This 
 division was first introduced into printed Hebrew Bibles by the 
 Venice printer Bomberg in 151 8. 
 
 2. Meaning of the Title. The title Samuel does not denote 
 authorship, but like the titles Joshua, Ruth, and Esther, com- 
 memorates the prominent actor in the events recorded in the 
 book. Its adoption shews a true insight into the connexion of 
 the history it contains. It stands as a monument of the great- 
 ness of the Prophet who was Jehovah's instrument for establish- 
 ing the Kingdom of Israel, and guiding the chosen people through 
 
 ^ The Masoretic note of the number of verses, &c., appended at the 
 close of the Second Book in the Hebrew Bible, still treats the two 
 books as one. Origen (quoted by Euseb. H. E. vi. 25. 3) mentions that 
 the Jews of his day regarded Samuel as one book.
 
 lo INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a crisis in its history second in importance only to the Exodus. 
 The book begins with the account of his birth : and his direct 
 influence extends to the close of it, in the reign of the king whom 
 he anointed as Jehovah's choice. 
 
 3. IV/io -was the author of the Book of Sanuiel? To this 
 question no answer can be given. A late Jewish tradition 
 ascribes the authorship to Samuel himself. This obviously 
 could only apply to the first twenty-four chapters of the First 
 Book, and as the work forms a connected whole, it is improbable 
 that these in their present form proceeded from his pen. It is 
 generally agreed that the Book is a compilation from different 
 sources, but who was the compiler there is no evidence to shew. 
 
 4. What then were these sources ? Ingenious attempts have 
 been made to analyse the component parts of the book. But 
 apart from these conjectural theories we have several indications 
 of the sources from which the compiler drew his materials. 
 
 {a) The chief sources were probably contemporary prophetical 
 histories. The compiler of the Book of Chronicles expressly 
 names as the original authority for the history of David's reign 
 "the chronicle (lit. words) of Samuel the seer {roeh) and the 
 chronicle of Nathan the prophet, and the chronicle of Gad the 
 seer {chozehf:' It has been maintained that Samuel, Nathan 
 and Gad were the subjects, not the authors of the works referred 
 to. Even if this was so, it is evident that they contained much 
 valuable material for the history of David's reign. But the 
 corresponding reference to the original authorities for the history 
 of Solomon's reign in 2 Chron. ix. 29 (among which the chro- 
 nicle of Nathan the prophet is again mentioned), and the 
 constant references to similar prophetic writings as authorities 
 for the reigns of later kings ^, make it almost certain that the 
 three prophets mentioned were themselves the historians of the 
 period. 
 
 1 I Chron. xxix. 29. For the distinction between roeh and chozeh 
 see note on i Sam. ix. 9. 
 
 ^ To the writings of Shemaiah and Iddo for the reigii of Rehoboam 
 (2 Chron. xii. 15): to the commentary (midrash) of Iddo for that of 
 Abijah (2 Chron. xiii. 22). Isaiah is expressly said to have written the 
 history of Uzziah's reign (2 Chron. xxvi. 22). See also 2 Chron. xx. 
 34, xxxii. 32, xxxiii. 18, IQ.
 
 INTRODUCTION. n 
 
 It has been also maintained that the works referred to by the 
 compiler of Chronicles actually were the present Book of Samuel. 
 But it is evident that the document which he was using con- 
 tained much more than these books, while at the same time 
 certain sections of Samuel and Chronicles agree almost verbally. 
 The most natural conclusion is that both compilers drew from 
 the same authority, which the Chronicler expressly names. 
 From this each felt at liberty to select such facts as bore upon 
 the special object of his work. 
 
 If then the Book of Samuel was compiled largely from the 
 chronicles of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, supplemented by other 
 records preserved in the Schools of the Prophets, it follows that 
 it rests upon the best possible authority. Samuel is the historian 
 of his own life-time, which included the greater part of Saul's 
 reign: Nathan and Gad together give the history of David's 
 reign. The events of David's life must have been familiarly 
 known in the Schools of the Prophets at Ramah. It is expressly 
 mentioned that when he fled from Saul he "came and told 
 Samuel all that Saul had done to him, and he and Samuel went 
 and dwelt in NaiothV the college of prophets which Samuel 
 had established at Ramah. To this intercourse may be referred 
 the full and vivid account of David's friendship with Jonathan, 
 preserved perhaps almost in the very words in which he related 
 his story to the prophets. 
 
 An incidental notice suggests that Gad was the medium of 
 communication between the college at Ramah and David during 
 his outlaw life^; both Gad^ and Nathan* appear to have oc- 
 cupied official positions in David's court ; and both appear as 
 his monitors in important crises of his life^ 
 
 {b) The chronicles of king David (i Chron. xxvii. 24), which 
 appear from this allusion to have been of the nature of statisti- 
 cal state-records, may also have been consulted. From them 
 may have been derived the formal summaries of wars such as 
 
 ^ X Sam. xix. 18. 2 j g^j^^ xxii. 5. 
 
 ^ 2 Sam. xxiv. 11; 2 Chron. xxix. 25. 
 ■* 2 Sam. vii. 2 ff., xii. 25; i Kings i. 8 ff. 
 ' 2 Sam. xii. i ff., xxiv. 11 ff.
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are given in 2 Sam. viii. i — 15, and lists of officials such as 
 those in 2 Sam. viii. 16 — 18, xx. 23 — 26, xxiii. 8 — 39. 
 
 {c) Express mention is made in i Sam. x. 25 of the fact 
 that Samuel committed to writing the charier of the khigdom, 
 and " laid it up before the LORD," possibly as an addition to the 
 book of the Law. 
 
 {d) The national poetic literature was laid under contribu- 
 tion. From this were taken Hannah's song (i Sam. ii. i — 10); 
 David's lament for Abner (2 Sam. iii. 33, 34) ; David's thanks- 
 giving (2 Sam. xxii. = Ps. xviii.); the last words of David 
 (2 Sam. xxiii. i — 7). Whether these were preserved in writing 
 or by oral tradition is uncertain : of David's Lament for Saul 
 and Jonathan it is expressly said that it was written in the " na- 
 tional anthology" known as the Book of Jashar (2 Sam. i. 18). 
 
 {e) Oral tradition may perhaps have supplied some particu- 
 lars, though this must be a matter of conjecture. 
 
 5. At what date was the compilation made? 
 
 (a) The language points to an early date. It is pure Hebrew, 
 free from Aramaisms and late forms. Constructions which are 
 common in the later books, e.g. Kings, are comparatively rare. 
 
 {b) Sometime however had elapsed since the events narrated 
 in the book had occurred. The explanation of archaic terms 
 (i Sam. ix. 9) and reference to obsolete customs (2 Sam. xiii. 
 18), as well as the use of the formula "unto this day" (i Sam. 
 v. 5, vi. 18, xxvii. 6, xxx. 25 ; 2 Sam. iv. 3, vi. 8, xviii. 18) indicate 
 this. Moreover "no grand survey of a period and selection of 
 its events, such as is demanded from the historian, is generally 
 possible until the period itself has retired in some degree into 
 the background \" 
 
 {c) It must certainly have been after the death of David, 
 since the whole length of his reign is mentioned (2 Sam. v. 5) ; 
 and if the Septuagint text is correct, there are two allusions to 
 events in the reign of Rehoboam. In 2 Sam. viii. 7 that version 
 reads, "And Shishak king of Egypt took them when he came up 
 against Jerusalem in the days of Rehoboam the son of Solomon :" 
 
 Ewald, Hist, of Israel, I. 139.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 and in 2 Sam. xiv. 27, " And she [Tamar] became the wife of 
 Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bare him Abia." 
 
 {d) But even if these additions are not accepted as part of 
 the original text, other indications point to a date not earlier 
 than the reign of Rehoboam. The mention of "the kings of 
 Judah" in i Sam. xxvii. 6 presupposes the separation of the 
 kingdoms. The distinction between Judah and Israel in several 
 passages^ has been supposed to point to the same conclusion ; 
 but this cannot be pressed as evidence. The division which 
 existed in the early part of David's reign was quite sufficient to 
 account for it. 
 
 {e) On the other hand there is nothing in the book which 
 points to a later date than this : and the conclusion may fairly 
 be arrived at that the Book of Samuel was compiled substan- 
 tially in its present form soon after the Division of the 
 Kingdoms. 
 
 6. The Canonicify of the book has never been questioned. 
 Its acceptance in the Christian Church rests upon the fact that 
 it formed an integral part of those Jewish Scriptures, which were 
 received by our Lord and His Apostles as "given by inspiration 
 of God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness." Our Lord appealed to one of 
 the narratives contained in it as teaching the great principle 
 that the ceremonial law must give way to the law of mercy ^ : the 
 Magnificat shews evident familiarity with the Song of Hannah : 
 St Peter, St Stephen, and St Paul refer to the history contained 
 in it^. 
 
 7. The historical accuracy of the book is remarkably borne 
 out by the internal evidence. It is not to be denied that diffi- 
 culties and discrepancies exist, which it is hard, perhaps impos- 
 sible to explain or reconcile. But the forcible simplicity and 
 grace of the narrative ; the vividness with which the actors in 
 
 ^ I Sam. xi. 8, xvii. 52, xviii. 16; i Sam. ii. 9, 10, iii. 10, v. i — 5, 
 xix. 41 — 43, XX. 1. 
 
 2 Matt. xii. 3, 4; Mk. ii. i,!;, 26; Lk. vi. 3, 4. Note the phrase, 
 " Have ye not read," a regular formula of reference to the Scriptures. 
 
 ^ Acts iii. 24, vii. 46, xiii. 20 — 22.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the various events stand out before us ; the mhiuteness of detail 
 with regard to time and circumstance ; the accurate descriptions 
 of places^; all agree to confirm the conclusion arrived at in § 4, 
 that the greater part of the work is derived from the testimony 
 of eyewitnesses and contemporaries, and in many cases handed 
 down to us in their actual words. The apparent inconsistencies 
 are in fact an evidence that the compiler faithfully embodied the 
 authorities he consulted, instead of harmonizing them into what 
 might have seemed a more consistent whole. 
 
 8. The text of the book presents some interesting problems. 
 Our materials for determining the text are : 
 
 ((?) Tlie Hebrew MSS. most of which are not older than the 
 tenth and eleventh centuries A.D. They all present substan- 
 tially the same text. Two points must be mentioned in order to 
 explain some of the notes, (i) Hebrew was originally written 
 without vowels, except such long vowels as are represented by 
 consonants. The present elaborate vowel system, stereotyping 
 a traditional pronunciation and reading of the Old Testament, 
 was not reduced to writing till about the seventh or eighth 
 century A.D. (2) In some passages the traditional method of 
 reading (Qri) did not agree with the consonants of the written 
 text (Kthibh). In such cases the scribes did not alter the text, 
 but appended a note giving the consonants to be read with the 
 vowels shewn in the text. 
 
 {b) The VeT'sions. Of these the oldest and most valuable 
 is the Greek Version commonly called the Septuagint 
 (Sept. or LXX), or Version of the Seventy Elders, because 
 it was long believed to have been made by seventy or seventy- 
 two elders despatched from Jerusalem to Alexandria at the 
 request of Ptolemy Philadelphus. But the document on which 
 the story with its embellishments rests is now known to be a 
 forgery, and all that can be asserted about the origin of the 
 Septuagint is that it was made (i) at Alexandria, (2) at different 
 times and by different hands, (3) during the third and second 
 centuries B.C., (4) before written vowel-points had been added 
 
 ^ Remarkably confirmed by the recent surveys of Palestine. See e. g. 
 the notes on i Sam. xiv. 4, xvii. 3.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 to the text. The reference in Ecclus. xlvi. 19 to the Sept. ver- 
 sion of I Sam. xii. 3 (see note there) proves that this part of the 
 version was in existence before 150 B.C. 
 
 The two most important MSS. of the LXX containing the 
 book of Samuel are the Alexandrine MS. (denoted by the letter 
 A) written in the fifth century, and now preserved in the British 
 Museum; and the Vatican MS. (denoted by the letter B) 
 assigned to the fourth century, and preserved in the Vatican 
 Library at Rome. The text of the former in the Book of 
 Samuel has been corrected for the most part to agree with the 
 existing Hebrew text : that of the latter differs considerably 
 from it, and although disfigured by mistakes, glosses, marginal 
 notes inserted in the text by ignorant scribes, and similar 
 defects, appears to preserve evidence for an original text older 
 and in some places more correct than the existing Hebrew 
 recension ^ 
 
 That the Hebrew text of Samuel is by no means free from 
 errors is clear from internal considerations and from a com- 
 parison of the passages which exist in duplicate elsewhere. 
 These, with the exception of I Sam. xxxi. (=1 Chr. x. i — 12) 
 belong to the Second Book, and need not be enumerated here. 
 The principal readings in which the Septuagint differs from 
 the Hebrew are mentioned in the notes, partly with a view to 
 the criticism of the text, partly to exhibit the fonn of the text 
 which was current in a great part of the Christian Church for 
 many centuries after its first foundation. 
 
 This Version, with all its defects, must be of the greatest 
 interest: (i) as preserving evidence for the text far more ancient 
 than the oldest Hebrew MSS.: (2) as the means by which the 
 Greek language was wedded to Hebrew thought, and the way 
 prepared for the New Testament : (3) because it is the source 
 of the great majority of the quotations made from the O. T. 
 by the writers of the N. T. : (4) because it was the version in 
 which the O. T. was studied by the fathers of the Eastern 
 Church, and indirectly by those of the Western, until Jerome's 
 
 ^ The most important instance in which the Septuagint differs from 
 the Hebrew text is discussed in Note vi. p. 241.
 
 i6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 new translation (the Vulgate) superseded the Old Latin versions 
 made from the Septuagint, 
 
 Next to the Septuagint must be mentioned the Chaldee or 
 Aramaic Version known as the Targum^ OF Jonathan Ben 
 UzziEL. This was probably not reduced to writing before the 
 middle of the fourth century A. D., though based on much earlier 
 oral translations. It is for the most part an accurate version ; 
 but in some passages it becomes a loose paraphrase, interspersed 
 with comment, illustration, and fragments of Jewish tradition. 
 A translation of the Targum of Hannah's Song is given in 
 Note III. p. 236 as an example of this style of paraphrase. 
 
 Second in importance only to the LXX. is the VuLGATE 
 {Versio vidgatd) or Latin Version made by St Jerome (Hiero- 
 nymus) directly from the Hebrew. This great work was com- 
 menced by him about the year A.D. 389 when he was already 
 sixty years of age, and took fourteen years to complete. The 
 Books of Samuel and Kings were the part first issued. It is a 
 valuable evidence for the state of the Hebrew text in the fourth 
 century, and proves that that text has suffered comparatively 
 little change since. Many of the variations found in the editions 
 of the Vulgate are really interpolations from the Old Latin 
 Version, which as mentioned above was made from the LXX. 
 Jerome's work "remained for eight centuries the bulwark of 
 Western Christianity ; and as a monument of ancient linguistic 
 power the translation of the O. T. stands unrivalled and unique." 
 
 ^ Tai-gum signifies interpretation or translation.
 
 INTRODUCTION. i/ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The Close of the Theocracy: i.— vit. 
 Division I. The early life of Samuel : i. — iv. 1 a. 
 
 Section i, SamtieVs birth andinfancy. 
 
 (i) Samuel's parents i. i — 8. 
 
 (2) Hannah's prayer and its answer 1.9 — 20. 
 
 (3) Samuel's dedication i. 21 — 28. 
 
 (4) Hannah's Song of Thanksgiving ii. i — u. 
 
 Section 2. Samuel at Shiloh. 
 
 (i) The faithless priests ii. 12 — 17. 
 
 ( 2 ) Samuel's ministry in the Tabernacle ii. 1 8 — 2 1 . 
 
 (3) Eli's fruitless expostulations whh his sons ii. 22 — 26. 
 
 (4) The doom of Eli's house and the calling 
 
 of a faithful priest foretold by the man of 
 
 God ii. 27 — 36. 
 
 (5) The call of Samuel iii. i — 10. 
 
 (6) The message to Eli iii. n — 18. 
 
 (7) Samuel established as a prophet iii. 19 — iv. \a. 
 
 Note (a) the contrast throughout between Samuel and the sons of 
 
 Eli; (b) Samuel's steady growth; (c) Eli's weak though amiable cha- 
 racter; (d) the decay of religion. 
 
 Division II. The period of national disaster : iv. 1 b— vli. 1. 
 
 Section i. yudgment on the nation and the house of Eli. 
 
 (i) Defeat of the army and loss of the ark iv. i b — 11. 
 
 (2) The doom of Eli's house. 
 
 (a) Death of Eli's sons iv. ir. 
 
 {b) Death of Eli iv. 12— 18. 
 
 (c) Death of Eli's daughter-in-law iv. 19 — 22. 
 
 I. SAMUEL 2
 
 i8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Section 2. The Ark of God. 
 
 (i) Chastisement of the Philistines v. i — 1-2. 
 
 (2) Their resohition to restore the Ark vi. i — 9. 
 
 (3) Return of the Ark vi. 10 — 18. 
 
 (4) The penalty of irreverence vi. 19, 20. 
 
 (5) Settlement of the Ark at Kirjath Jearim vi. 21 — vii. i. 
 
 Note {a) the punishments of sin ; {b) Jehovah's defence of His Ark ; 
 (c) religious apathy of the people; (d) no mention of Samuel in this 
 period. 
 
 Division III. The ofiQcial life of Samuel as Judge : vii. 2 — 17. 
 (i) National repentance and reformation vii. 2 — 6. 
 
 (2) Rout of the Philistines at Ebenezer vii. 7 — 12. 
 
 (3) Summary account of Samuel's judicial activity vii. 13 — 17, 
 
 Note (a) the brevity of this account, because the narrative is hastening 
 on to Samuel's chief work ; {b) restoration of religious, political, social 
 life implied, though not fully recorded ; (c) Samuel the last of the 
 Judges. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Foundation of the Monarchy : viil — xxxi. 
 
 Division I, Tlie appointment of the first King : viii. — x. 
 
 Section i. The demand for a king. 
 
 (i) Misgovernment of Samuel's sons, and con- 
 sequent request of the people viii. I — 5. 
 
 (2) Jehovah's answer viii. 6 — 9. 
 
 (3) Description of an Oriental Despot viii. 10 — 18. 
 
 (4) Persistence of the people in their request viii. 19 — 22. 
 
 Section 2. The private choice of Saul by Samuel. 
 
 (i) Saul's genealogy ix. i, 2. 
 
 (2) His search for the asses ix. 3 — 10. 
 
 (3) He inquires for Samuel ix. 11 — 14. 
 
 (4) He is entertained by Samuel ix. 15 — 24. 
 
 (5) He is anointed by Samuel, and promised three 
 
 signs in confirmation of his call ix. 25 — x. 8. 
 
 (6) Fulfilment of the signs x. 9 — 16.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 Section 3. The election of Saul by lot at Mizpeh. 
 
 (i) The assembly at Mizpeh x. 17 — 19. 
 
 (2) Saul chosen by lot x. 20 — ■2^. 
 
 (3) Installation of Saul as king x. 24 27. 
 
 Note (a) Samuel's self-abnegation ; (/') the wilfulness of the people ; 
 {c) the king after the people's heart. 
 
 Division II. SaiU's reign till his rejection : xi.— xv. 
 Section r. The establishment of SatiPs kingdotn. 
 (i) Defeat of the Ammonites under the leader- 
 ship of Saul xi. I — r r . 
 
 (2) Confirmation of Saul as king at Gilgal xi. 12 — 15. 
 
 (3) Samuel's farewell conference with the people 
 
 in which he 
 
 (a) asserts his official integrity xii. i — 5. 
 
 {b) rebukes the people for their faithless- 
 ness xii. 6 — 12. 
 
 (c) offers warning and encouragement for 
 
 the future xii. 13 — 25. 
 
 Section 2. The war of independence. 
 
 (i) The revolt from the Philistines xiii. r — 7. 
 
 (2) Saul's disobedience and its penalty xiii. 8—14. 
 
 (3) The Philistine invasion xiii. 15 — iS. 
 
 (4) The disarmament of the Israelites xiii. 19—23. 
 
 (5) Jonathan's exploit at Michmash xiv. i — 15. 
 
 (6) Rout of the Philistines xiv. 16 — 23. 
 
 (7) Saul's rash oath and its consequences xiv. 24 — 46. 
 
 Section 3. Summary account of SauPs reign. 
 
 (i) His wars xiv. 47, 48. 
 
 (2) His family xiv. 49—52. 
 
 Section 4. The rejection of Saul. 
 
 (i) The commission to destroy Amaiek xv. r — 9. 
 
 (2) The penalty of disobedience xv. 10—23. 
 
 (3) The kingdom rent from Saul xv. 24 — 31. 
 
 (4) The execution of Agag xv. 32, 33. 
 
 (5) Samuel's parting from Saul xv. 34, 35. 
 
 2 — 2
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Note (a) the gradual development of Saul's wilfulness; {l>) Saul's 
 superstitious formalism; (c) the miserable condition of the nation; (d) 
 Samuel's continued prophetic labours. 
 
 Division III. Tlie decline of Saul and the rise of David: 
 xvl. — xxxl. 
 
 Section r. David chosen as Saul's successor. 
 
 (i) Samuel's mission to Bethlehem xvi. i — 5. 
 
 (2) The family of Jesse xvi. 6 — 11. 
 
 (3) David anointed by Samuel xvi. 12, 13. 
 
 Section 2. David' s introduction to the court. 
 
 (i) Saul troubled by an evil spirit xvi. 14 — 18. 
 
 (2) David summoned to soothe him with music... xvi. 19 — 23. 
 
 Section 3. David's advancement, 
 
 (i) The Philistine invasion xvii. i — 3. 
 
 (2) The challenge of Goliath xvii. 4 — 11. 
 
 ^[(3) David's errand to the camp xvii. 12 — 31.] 
 
 (4) David volunteers to fight the giant xvii. 32 — 37. 
 
 (5) The victory of Faith xvii. 38 — 51. 
 
 (6) The flight of the Philistines xvii. 52 — 54. 
 
 £(7) Saul's inquiry about David xvii. 55 — 58.3 
 
 [(8) Jonathan's friendship for David xviii. i — 5.] 
 
 (9) The celebration of the victoiy xviii. 6 — 9. 
 
 Section 4. SauTs growing jealousy of David, 
 
 C(i) Saul's attempt on David's life xviii. 10, 11.] 
 
 (2) David's promotion and popularity xviii. 12 — 16. 
 
 [(3) Saul offers his daughter Merab to David xviii. 17— 19-] 
 
 (4) Saul's treacherous design against David's life. 
 
 David's marriage with Michal xviii. 20 — 30. 
 
 (5) Saul's purpose to kill David xix. i — 3. 
 
 (6) Jonathan's intercession xix. 4 — 7. 
 
 (7) Saul's attempt on David's life xix. 8 — 11. 
 
 (8) David's escape by the aid of Michal xix. 12 — 17. 
 
 (9) David's flight to Ramah. Saul's pursuit xix. 18 — 24. 
 
 (10) David's consultation with Jonathan xx. i — 10. 
 
 (11) Renewal of the covenant between David and 
 
 Jonathan xx. 11 — 23. 
 
 ^ On the sections in brackets see Note vi. p. 241.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 (12) Saul's intention tested by Jonathan xx. 24 — 34. 
 
 (13) The parting between Jonathan and David ...xx. 35 — 42. 
 
 Section 5. David's outlaw life. 
 
 (i) David's flight 
 
 (rt) to Nob xxi. r — 9. 
 
 {b) to Gath xxi. 10 — 15. 
 
 (2) David with his followers 
 
 (a) in the cave of Adullam xxii. r, 2. 
 
 (b) in Moab xxii. 3, 4. 
 
 {c) in the land of Judah xxii. 5. 
 
 (3) Saul's vengeance on the priests of Nob xxii. 6 — 19. 
 
 Abiathar's flight to David xxii. 20 — 23. 
 
 (4) David's rescue of Keilah xxiii. i — 6. 
 
 Intended treachery of the Keilites xxiii. 7 — 15. 
 
 {5) David's last meeting with Jonathan xxiii. 16 — 18. 
 
 (6) David in the wilderness of Ziph 
 
 {a) betrayed by the Ziphites xxiii. 19 — 24. 
 
 {b) providentially escapes from Saul xxiii. 25 — 28. 
 
 (7) David at Engedi xxiii. 29. 
 
 {a) He spares Saul's life in the cave xxiv. i — 8. 
 
 (1^) He protests his innocence xxiv. 9 — 15. 
 
 (c) Saul's momentary remorse xxiv. i(> — 22. 
 
 (8) Samuel's death and burial xxv. r. 
 
 (9) Nabal and Abigail. 
 
 (a) Nabal's churlish folly xxv. 2 — 13. 
 
 (b) Abigail's timely prudence xxv. 14 — 35. 
 
 (c) The death of Nabal xxv. 36 — 38. 
 
 {d) Abigail's marriage to David xxv. 39 — 44. 
 
 (10) Saul's fresh pursuit of David. 
 
 (a) Treachery of the Ziphites xxvi. r — 4. 
 
 {b) Saul's life again spared by David ...xxvi. 5 — 12. 
 (c) David's final expostulation with Saul xxvi. 13 — 25. 
 (r i) David as a Philistine vassal. 
 
 {a) His flight to Achish xxvii. i — 4. 
 
 {b) His residence at Ziklag xxvii. 5 — 7. 
 
 {c) His raids on the neighbouring tribes... xxvii. 8 — 12. 
 Note (a) David's providential escapes; {b) his growing power and 
 influence; (c) his generosity towards Saul; (</) Saul's continuous harden- 
 ing.
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Section 6. The last scenes of SaiiPs life. 
 
 (i) The Philistine muster xxviii. i, i. 
 
 (2) Saul resorts to the witch of Endor xxviii. 3 — 25. 
 
 (3) David's dismissal from the Philistine army ...xxix. i — 11. 
 
 (4) David finds Ziklag plundered xxx. i — 6. 
 
 {a) The pursuit xxx. 7 — 15. 
 
 {b) The rescue xxx. 16 — 20. 
 
 (c) The distribution of the spoil xxx. 11 — 31. 
 
 (5) The battle of Gilboa. 
 
 (a) Death of Saul and his sons xxxi. i — 6. 
 
 {b) Exposure of their bodies xxxi. 7 — 10. 
 
 {c) Their rescue and burial by the men of 
 
 Jabesh xxxi. 11 — 13. 
 
 Note {(£) Saul's final desertion by Jehovah ; [b) David's providential 
 escape from a perilous dilemma. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF SAMUEL. 
 
 1. The period covered by the First Book of Samuel is little 
 less than a century. It nearly coincides with the life of Samuel, 
 whose death did not long precede that of Saul. There is no 
 systematic chronology, and the arrangement of the dates de- 
 pends in great measure upon conjecture. 
 
 2. The earlier part of the period coincides with part of the 
 Book of Judges. The 20 years of Samson's judgeship (Jud. xv. 
 20) may have been simultaneous with the last 20 years of Eli's 
 life, and in all probability the Philistine oppression of 40 years 
 mentioned in Jud. xiii. i was that which was brought to an end 
 by the battle of Ebenezer (i Sam. vii. 12, 13). 
 
 3. Samuel's judgeship must have lasted some time, and a 
 further period must be allowed for the development of his sons' 
 misgovernment. His life lasted till nearly the end of Saul's
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 reign. David's flight to Naioth (i Sam. xix. 18 ff.) cannot have 
 been many years before the battle of Gilboa. 
 
 4, If the 40 years named by St Paul^ in Acts xiii. 21 is to 
 be taken as a trustworthy Jewish tradition of the length of Saul's 
 reign (or that of his dynasty, Saul 32^ + Ishbosheth 7^), a con- 
 siderable period at the beginning of Saul's reign must be passed 
 over in silence. Even if a shorter reign is assumed, this is 
 probably the case. 
 
 {a) David was 30 years old at his accession (2 Sam. v. 4). 
 He cannot have been much less than 20 when he fought with 
 Goliath, so that about 10 years is all that can be assigned to 
 the period of Saul's reign after David's introduction. We may 
 conjecture that 4 years were spent in Saul's service, and 4 years 
 in outlaw life. He was 16 months in Philistia (i Sam. xxvii. 7), 
 and perhaps a short time elapsed between Saul's death and his 
 coronation at Hebron. 
 
 {b) Saul appears to have been a young man at the time of 
 his election. But in the Philistine war of chaps, xiii., xiv., his son 
 Jonathan is already a trusted warrior (i Sam. xiii. 2), 20 years 
 old at least. The impression produced by the narrative is that 
 he was not much older than David, and this is corroborated by 
 the fact that his son Mephibosheth was only 5 years old at the 
 lime of his death (2 Sam. iv. 4). 
 
 The natural inference is that a period of at least 10 or 15 
 years is passed over in silence between ch. ix. and ch. xiii. 
 
 This interval allows time for the development of Saul's 
 character. It would be strange indeed that he should at once 
 flatly disobey the prophet to whom he owed his elevation 
 (i Sam. xiii. 8 ii.): but if some time had elapsed since his 
 election, the act becomes much more intelligible. 
 
 5. Those who place the events of i Sam. xiii., xiv., at the 
 beginning of Saul's reign, must assume that he was at least 40 
 years old at his accession, and that his reign did not last more 
 than 20 years at the most. 
 
 ^ Josephus, Ant. vi. 14. 9, makes the same statement, adding how- 
 ever that he reigned 18 years during the lifetime of Samuel, and 22 
 years after his death, which does not agree with the facts of the history.
 
 24 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 6. The following table is suggested as a conjectural arrange- 
 ment of the dates, reckoning back from 1055 as the date of 
 David's accession. 
 
 Birth of Samuel 
 
 Call of Samuel at the age of 1 2 
 
 Death of Eli . 
 
 Philistine oppression (i Sam. vii. i) 
 
 Samuel's judgeship ( ? 18 years) 
 
 Rule of Samuel's sons ( ? 10 years) 
 
 Saul's election .... 
 
 David's anointing 
 
 Samuel's death, at the age of 90 
 
 Saul's death and David's accession 
 
 Only 24 years are here assigned to Saul's reign 
 
 B.C. 
 
 1 149 
 
 II37 
 
 • (?) 1 127 
 
 1 127 — 1 107 
 1 1 07 — 1089 
 1089— 1079 
 
 1079 
 
 1065 
 
 • (?) 1059 
 
 1055 
 
 If the longer 
 
 period of 32 or 40 years is taken, it must be done by curtailing 
 the judgeship of Samuel and his sons, or by placing Samuel's 
 birth earlier and lengthening his life. His death cannot be 
 placed earlier, for the reasons pointed out in § 3. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HISTORY OF 
 THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 
 
 I. The Old Testament differs from ordinary histories (i) in 
 its subject, because it is the history of the special training and 
 discipline of God's chosen people: (2) in its inethod, because it 
 is "a history of facts as God sees them referred to their true 
 centre in Him, explained by His dealings with men, and His 
 workings within them^:" or, in other words, its writers were 
 inspired by God the Holy Ghost to discern the true signi- 
 ficance of events, and to relate such parts of the national 
 
 1 Barry's Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 45.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 history as should truly set forth the gradual evolution of God's 
 purpose towards His peopled 
 
 2. The Old Testament is the history of a dispensation which 
 was partial, progressive, preparatory. It can only be rightly 
 understood in view of the great fact to which it looked forward. 
 It must be studied as the record of the Divine Preparation for 
 the Incarnation of the Son of God, which is the central event 
 of the world's history, the hope of all humanity, the final revela- 
 tion of God to the world^. " It does not simply contain pro- 
 phecies of Christ: it is from first to last a prophecy of Him." 
 
 3. This preparation included three main elements which 
 must be carefully traced in each successive epoch of Jewish 
 history: (i) the discipline and training of the chosen nation of 
 Israel that it might be "the home^" to which in "the fulness of the 
 times" God might send His Son^; and the instrument by which 
 the knowledge of God might be communicated to the world at 
 large': (ii) the gradual development under the various types of 
 Priest, Prophet, and King, of the expectation of a Deliverer 
 who should unite in himself all these offices, and be at once 
 a Mediator, a Teacher, a Monarch : (iii) God's progressive re- 
 velation of Himself, "in many parts and in many fashions^," 
 that men might at length be enabled to recognise "the light of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ^." 
 
 We must examine how the period which we have to study in this 
 book contributed to the preparation in each of these respects. 
 
 4. (i) The book of Samuel is the record of a most critical 
 epoch in the training of the nation of Israel. To understand 
 its significance a brief survey of their whole history is necessary. 
 
 1 According to the Jewish arrangement the books of the Old Testa- 
 ment are divided into tliree classes : The Law, the Prophets, and the 
 Writings : a division which is already recognised in the words of the 
 prologue to Ecclesiasticus (about B.C. 150), "the law, and the pro- 
 phets, and the rest of the books ;" and in Lk. xxiv. 44. It should be 
 remembered that the so-called " historical books " of Joshua, Judges, 
 Samuel, and Kings belong to the second group, and are entitled " The 
 Former Prophets." True history is prophecy. 
 
 '^ There is a most suggestive sketch of the Preparation for Christianity 
 in chap. i. of Prof. Westcott's Gospel of the Resurrection. 
 
 3 John i. ir, th to, toia. * Gal. iv. 4. ® John iv. 22. 
 
 * Mc-b. i. I, TToXvfxepus Kal iroXvTpb-rrws. ^ 2 Cor. iv. 6.
 
 26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Three great periods must be distinguished in the history of 
 Israel; the Theocracy, the Monarchy, the Hierarchy; corre- 
 sponding in some degree to the three divisions of the Old 
 Testament, the Law, the Prophets, the Writings. 
 
 (a) The Theoa-acy. The history of the Jewish nation begins 
 with Abraham, the friend of God, the father of the faithful, 
 "the ancestor of all nations which have held a monotheistic 
 belief practically." With him and with his family was made 
 the first covenant of promise. In Egypt the family became a 
 nation. The stern discipline of toil and suffering in the presence 
 of their common enemy bound them together. The great signs 
 and wonders of the Exodus declared their high destiny. At Sinai 
 the covenant made with their forefathers was renewed, confirmed, 
 and amplified to the nation. The Law was given as a schoolmaster 
 for the childhood of the new-born nation, " a kind of external con- 
 science" to train it to obedience. The Israelites entered Canaan, 
 and the first part of the promise to Abraham was fulfilled. 
 
 But for a long time the nation seemed to make no progress. 
 The period which intervened between the Entry into Canaan 
 and the Life of Samuel was a time of anarchy and apostasy. 
 The Book of Judges is a record of two centuries of national 
 disintegration and religious declension. It was necessary, 
 humanly speaking, in order that they might learn their weak- 
 ness. They were unable as yet to bear the pure Theocracy, the 
 direct government of God without the intervention of an earthly 
 ruler. Some visible bond must be found to unite into a solid 
 mass the scattered tribes which could not as yet be firmly bound 
 together into one by the invisible tie of a common allegiance 
 to Jehovah. Material and political means must prepare the 
 way for the spiritual and religious end. Otherwise the nation 
 must cease to exist, ground to pieces between the enemies which 
 surrounded it on all sides. In order to make solid advance, 
 retrogression was inevitable. 
 
 At this critical juncture God raised up Samuel, " a prophet 
 second only to Moses," to guide the nation through this crisis 
 in its existence, and effect the transition to the second stage of 
 its education.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 {b) The Monarchy. The sovereignty of a visible monarch 
 was a declension from the ideal of the Theocracy. Yet a king 
 might have been given by God in His own time as a necessary 
 factor in the training of the nation. But the demand for a king, 
 as made by the Israelites at this period, was the direct outcome 
 of faithlessness. It was a defection from God. Nevertheless 
 the request was granted. God first gave them a king according 
 to their own ideal, that bitter experience might teach them 
 lessons they would not otherwise learn: and then a king "after 
 His own heart," a true representative of the Kingdom of God. 
 In his hands such a monarchy as we may conceive might have 
 been asked for without sin, fulfilled important purposes by 
 consolidating the scattered tribes into a body strong enough 
 to maintain its independence, thus saving the nation from 
 destruction, and preserving it to fulfil its great destiny of bless- 
 ing to the world. 
 
 {c) The Hierarchy at length took the place of the Monarchy 
 and resumed the ideal of Theocracy, "When the Kingdom fell, 
 and the discipline of the Captivity had done its work, "the unity 
 of a Church succeeded to the unity of a nation." The voice of 
 prophecy ceased. In the absence of new revelations, the people 
 pondered on the past, till at length " the time was fulfilled, and 
 the Kingdom of God came." 
 
 5. (ii) In what respects did the period we have to study 
 contribute to the formation and development of the Messianic 
 expectation ? The Law with its elaborate ritual of sacrifice had 
 pointed forward to One who should be at once Priest and 
 Victim, and make atonement for the sin of man. Now the 
 Kingdom turned the national thoughts to the hope of a King 
 who should reign in righteousness, and " have dominion from 
 sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth'." 
 The kingdom of David and Solomon was a type of the king- 
 dom of that Son of David to whom in the fulness of time 
 was given in a spiritual reality the throne of His father David''^. 
 
 ^ Ps. Ixxii. 7, 8. Psalms ii., xlv., Ixxii., ex. should be studied as 
 illustrating the growth of the Messianic Hope in connexion with tlie 
 kiDgdom. * Lk. i. 32, 33.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is in the book of Samuel that the title of Messiah, the Lord's 
 Anointed, the Christ, is first applied to the king^, whose visible 
 majesty kindled prophetic hopes of a glorious future. 
 
 6. (iii) It remains to inquire how God's revelation of Him- 
 self was carried forward in this period, (a) One result of the 
 establishment of the kingdom was the building of the Temple. 
 As the king was a visible representative of the Divine govern- 
 ment, so a centralised sanctuary testified to the unity of Him 
 whom Israel worshipped, and both combined to present spiritual 
 ideas in a fixed and definite shape. Monotheism was not, as 
 has sometimes been wrongly said, an instinct of the Semitic 
 races. The repeated idolatries of the Jewish nation prove the 
 contrary. Only through long discipline and with constant 
 relapses was the lesson learnt. The period of the Monarchy 
 taught this truth in a visible and material manner, and when 
 once learnt it was afterwards spiritualised by the destruction of 
 the visible Monarchy and the discipUne of the Captivity. 
 
 (d) Closely connected with the establishment of the Monarchy 
 was the institution of the Prophetic Order. This was Samuel's 
 second great legacy to his nation. By the agency of the pro- 
 phets the Will of Jehovah was made known to men; new 
 revelations of His character and His claims were communi- 
 cated; the spiritual meaning of the Law was interpreted^. 
 
 (<;) In this period was deepened the consciousness of the 
 individual's personal relation to God. The intimate communing 
 with Him in prayer and praise, which is characteristic of the 
 Psalms of David, marks a new advance in the relation of man 
 to God. Now was laid the foundation of that Psalter in which 
 for all succeeding time men have found the expression and the 
 echo of their deepest thoughts and highest aspirations. 
 
 7. To sum up briefly, the Monarchy preserved the existence 
 of the nation, foreshadowed the kingdom of the Messiah, wit- 
 nessed to the reality of the Divine government. At the same 
 
 1 I Sam. ii. 10, where the Septuagint has XP^<^'^°^- The same word 
 both in Heb. and Greek is applied to the high-priest in Lev. iv. 5, 16, 
 vi. 22. 
 
 '^ See further in chap. vi.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 time Prophecy and Psalmody interpreted the past, spiritualised 
 the present, stimulated hope for the future. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORK OF SAMUEL. 
 
 1. The Book of Judges closes with the significant remark, 
 "In those days there was no king in Israel : every man did that 
 which was right in his own eyes " (Jud. xxi. 25). The Book of 
 Samuel opens with the birth of the Prophet who was raised up 
 by the Providence of God to usher in a new regime which 
 should reduce this chaos to order. Eli appears on the scene 
 only so far as he is connected with the early life of Samuel. 
 
 2. Samuel's childhood saw the period of Jewish history 
 which Josephus calls the Theocracy, closed with the overthrow 
 of the Sanctuary at Shiloh^ The characteristics of the age of 
 the Judges, with which that period ended, have been noticed 
 above (ch. iv. § 4). It had been clearly demonstrated that the 
 people were as yet unfit for so lofty a form of government. If 
 the national life was to continue, a change must be effected. 
 Samuel was the divinely appointed instrument of that change. 
 
 3. (i) The Prepa7-ation. The son given in answer to 
 Hannah's prayers was dedicated to Jehovah before his birth. 
 The training for his life-work began from his infancy. As soon 
 as he could leave his mother, he was placed in Eli's charge at 
 the Tabernacle in Shiloh. The holy childhood of the boy who 
 "grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord and also with 
 men" was a strange contrast and a sharp rebuke to the scenes 
 of shame which desecrated the sanctuary. At the age of twelve 
 (according to tradition) he received his first revelation from 
 Jehovah, the stern message of doom against his foster-father's 
 guilty house. The blow fell. The disastrous battle of Aphek 
 
 ^ As the fall of the Monarchy coincided with the destruction of the 
 First Temple, and the final dispersion of the nation with that of the 
 Second Temple. See Stanley's Lectures, i. 328.
 
 30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 brought Israel once more under the Phihstine yoke. The Ark 
 was captured, and though sent back after a brief interval, 
 remained unnoticed in a private house. The twenty years 
 which followed are a blank in the history of the nation. The 
 people appear to have abandoned themselves to despair, and 
 sought a vain refuge in the worship of Baalim and Ashtaroth. 
 During those twenty years God was training Samuel to be the 
 Deliverer of His people. "All Israel from Dan to Beersheba 
 knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the 
 Lord." 
 
 4. (ii) The Reformation. At length he broke the lethargy 
 of despair, and summoned the nation to repent and return 
 unto the Lord with all their hearts. He assembled them at 
 Mizpah, and in one of those acts of intercession for which his 
 name was famous 1, he besought the Lord to pardon them. 
 The Philistines, suspecting rebellion, marched against them. 
 God once more fought for Israel, and the Stone of Help be- 
 tween Mizpah and Shen attested to posterity that the Lord's 
 Presence was once more among His people. 
 
 Now commenced Samuel's Judgeship. He established law, 
 and order, and regular religious worship 2 in the land. No 
 breath of slander could impeach the integrity of his adminis- 
 tration. He has been called the Jewish Aristides. 
 
 5. (iii) The Foicndation of the Kingdom. But his sons 
 brought disgrace upon their father's age. Alleging their 
 misconduct as the ostensible motive, the people came to 
 Samuel and demanded a king. He felt that it was an act 
 of ingratitude to himself : still more keenly did he feel that it 
 was an act of unfaithfulness to Jehovah. In this strait he 
 prayed for counsel. The answer came, " Make them a king." 
 Why that sinful request was granted has been discussed above 
 (ch. iv. § 4 b). Here we are concerned with Samuel's conduct. 
 It was a proof of his true greatness. Sharp as was the conflict 
 of feeling when the request was made, as soon as he learned 
 what the will of God was, he cheerfully obeyed it. Without 
 
 1 Ps. xcix. 6. See note on ch. vii. 5. * Cp. i Chr. ix. 22.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 murmuring or questioning he acquiesced in being the instru- 
 ment of his own deposition. He accepted the truth that 
 
 "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, 
 And God fulfils Himself in many ways," 
 
 and prepared to guide the nation through this crisis of its history. 
 So quietly was the change effected, that we scarcely realise the 
 importance of the movement which developed the tribal con- 
 federacy of Israel into a regularly constituted monarchy. 
 
 6. (iv) Samuel as prophet-cowisellor. Though Samuel had 
 resigned his office of judge, he did not cease to exercise his 
 function of prophet. He still stood by Saul to convey to him 
 the messages of God, to counsel, to admonish, to rebuke. It 
 must have been a bitter disappointment to watch that heroic 
 heart with the seeds of so much that was noble and brave and 
 hopeful, marred by growing self-will and impatience of restraint, 
 from the first failure at Gilgal to the crowning act of diso- 
 bedience in the matter of Amalek. He ceased not to intercede 
 for Saul ; he mourned for Saul : till at length he was sent to 
 anoint a worthier successor to the king who had been tried 
 and found wanting. 
 
 7. The establishment of the kingdom was but half the 
 legacy which Samuel left to Israel. The age of the monarchy- 
 was to be the age of the prophets. From the time of Samuel 
 onwards^ till the voice of prophecy ceased with Malachi there 
 was a regular succession of prophets, maintained by the institu- 
 tions commonly known as the Schools of the Prophets. The 
 character of these bodies, and the influence of the Prophets upon 
 the nation, are discussed in Chapter vi. 
 
 8. Samuel, although only a Levite and not a Priest, per- 
 formed priestly functions. He constantly offered sacrifice, and 
 that in various places, though the Law prescribed that sacrifice 
 should be offered by the priests and in one place only. This 
 double anomaly is to be explained {a) by the exceptional 
 character of Samuel's commission, and ib) by the exceptional 
 
 ^ "All the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after" (Acts 
 iii. ■24).
 
 32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 circumstances of the age, {a) The sins of Eli's sons had so 
 degraded the priesthood, that Samuel received an extraordinary 
 commission to supersede the priesthood for a time. From the 
 battle of Aphek till the middle of Saul's reign ^ we do not so 
 much as hear of a priest. The prerogative of Aaron's family 
 was in abeyance, and the high-priest's place was practically 
 taken by SamueP. {b) The existence of numerous places fo^ 
 religious worship was a result of the abandonment of Shiloh. 
 The old centre ceased to exist with the fall of the old order of 
 things (cp. § 2) ; the choice of a new one would have been 
 premature before the new kingdom was firmly established. 
 
 9. Samuel passed to his rest in a good old age, followed by 
 the universal reverence of the nation. "All the Israelites," says 
 the narrative with peculiar emphasis, " were gathered together 
 and lamented him^." "All had known him — the tall figure, 
 mantle-clad, the long white locks, the reverend countenance — 
 they should see them no more ; no more hear that voice of wise 
 counsel and of brave rebuke. Another mighty one had passed 
 away ; one who, like Moses and Joshua, had inaugurated a new 
 dispensation ; he too was gone — the great prophet, the gifted 
 seer, the upright judge, the inspired hero, he had passed away ; 
 the very heart of the nation sighed out its loving, weeping 
 requiem''." 
 
 10. So passed away one of the preeminent " Heroes of He- 
 brew History." The last representative of the old Judges, the 
 first of the regular succession of Prophets, the inaugurator of 
 the new monarchy, he occupied the most trying of all positions, 
 to stand between the Old and the New, and to mediate success- 
 fully between them. He lived from one age into another, and 
 threw his full sympathy — most difficult of achievements — into 
 the wants of both periods. " Because in him the various parts 
 of his life hung together without any abrupt transition ; because 
 in him 'the child was father of the man,' and his days had 
 been ' bound each to each by natural piety,' therefore he was 
 
 ^ From I Sam. iv. to xiv. 3. - See note on i Sam. ii. 35. 
 
 2 I Sam. XXV. i. 
 
 * Wilberforce's Heroes of Hebrew History, p. 227.
 
 INTRODUCTION. ^3 
 
 specially ordained to bind to'gether the broken links of two 
 diverging epochs ^" 
 
 His sublime figure stands out in the pages of Holy Writ as a 
 signal example of Faith, of Patience, of Integrity, of Self-sacri- 
 fice, through a long and trying career, fulfilling the promise of 
 those early days in Shiloh when "he grew on, and was in favour 
 Ljch with the Lord, and also with men." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PROPHETIC ORDER-. 
 
 ' It' 
 
 1. Samuel was the Founder of the Prophetic Order. Indi- 
 viduals in previous ages had been endowed with prophetic gifts, 
 but with Samuel commenced the regular succession of prophets'^ 
 which lasted all through the period of the Monarchy, and did 
 not cease until after the Captivity. The degeneracy into which 
 the Priesthood had fallen during the period of the Judges 
 demanded the establishment of a new order for the religious 
 training of the nation. 
 
 2. For this purpose Samuel founded the institutions known 
 as T/ie Schools of the Prophets. The " company of prophets" at 
 Gibeah (i Sam. x. lo), and the scene at Ramah described in 
 I Sam. xix. i8 ff., imply a regular organization. These societies 
 are only definitely mentioned again in connexion with the history 
 of Elijah and Elisha*, but doubtless continued to exist in the 
 interval. By means of these the Order was maintained. Stu- 
 dents were educated, and common religious exercises nurtured 
 and developed spiritual gifts (i Sam. xix. 20). But it was not 
 all members of the Order who possessed special prophetic gifts ; 
 
 ^ Stanley's Lectures, I. 350. 
 ^ See Stanley's Lectures, vol. I., Lect. XIX. 
 2 Acts iii. 24. 
 
 * They existed at Bethel (2 Kings ii. 3), Jericho (2 Kings ii. ■;), 
 Gilgal (2 Kings iv. 38). Cp, 2 Kings vi. 1,2. 
 
 I. SAMUEL -
 
 34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 nor was it among them only that the gifts of inspiration were 
 to be found (Amos vii. 14). 
 
 3. The value of the Prophetic Order to the Jewish nation 
 was immense. The prophets were the privy-councillors of kings, 
 the historians of the nation, the instructors of the people. It 
 was their function to be preachers of righteousness to rich and 
 poor alike: to condemn idolatry in the court, oppression among 
 the nobles, injustice among the judges, formality among the 
 priests. They were the interpreters of the Law, who drew out 
 by degrees the spiritual significance which underlay ritual 
 observance, and laboured to prevent sacrifice and sabbath and 
 festival from becoming dead and unmeaning forms. Strong in 
 the unshaken consciousness that they were expressing the 
 divine will, they spoke and acted with a fearless courage which 
 no threats could daunt or silence. -i' 
 
 Thus they proved a counterpoise to the Despotism of Monar- 
 chy and the Formalism of Priesthood. In a remarkable passage 
 in his Essay on Representative Government, Mr J. S. Mill 
 attributes to their influence the progress which distinguished 
 the Jews from other Oriental nations. " The Jews," he writes, 
 "had an absolute monarchy and a hierarchy. These did for 
 them what was done for other Oriental races by their institu- 
 tions^subdued them to industry and order, and gave them a 
 national life. But neither their kings nor their priests ever 
 obtained, as in those other countries, the exclusive moulding of 
 their character. Their religion gave existence to an inestimably 
 precious institution, the Order of Prophets. Under the protec- 
 tion, generally though not always effectual, of their sacred 
 character, the Prophets were a power in the nation, often more 
 than a match for kings and priests, and kept up in that little 
 corner of the earth the antagonism of influences which is the 
 only real security for continued progress^." 
 
 ^ Mill's Representative Government-, pp. 41, 42.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 35 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SAUL. 
 
 1. "Amongst all the noble creations of Greek poetry there 
 is no single figure more vividly portrayed than is that of Saul 
 the son of Kish, as he stands before us in the inspired records 
 of Israel. 
 
 Every line of his character is as fresh as if he lived yesterday ; 
 there is the grand hero-like beauty of his early manhood, the 
 lofty stature, the strong arm, the unflinching nerves, the quick 
 eagle-eye of the successful general, the generosity to unworthv 
 opponents, which makes success so graceful and imperial com- 
 mand so easy to endured" 
 
 2. With picturesque detail the narrative describes the cir- 
 cumstances — apparently accidental, really providential — which 
 led him into the presence of the great prophet who was com- 
 missioned to anoint him to be captain over God's people (i Sam. 
 ix. 3). The predicted signs which met him on his homeward 
 path indicated that common cares were now to cease (x. 2), 
 offered an earnest of the homage that awaited him (x. 3, 4), and 
 gave him assurance of divine inspiration to fit him for his new 
 caUingfx. 5,6; 9—13). 
 
 A formal election by lot ratified the prophet's choice. For a 
 brief space the new king returned to his old occupations ; but 
 soon the savage threat of Nahash goaded him to action, and 
 the rescue of Jabesh confirmed his title to the kingdom. In 
 a second assembly at Gilgal his reign was inaugurated afresh 
 with solemn ceremony (xi. 15). 
 
 3. It seems most probable that we have no record of the 
 first part of Saul's reign, and that it was not until ten or fifteen 
 years had elapsed, that the war of independence against the 
 Philistines began. In it there appear all too plainly the signs 
 of that rashness and self-will which proved his ruin, {a) At 
 
 ^ Wilhcdorco's Heroes of I/ibn-w Ilisloiy, p. 229.
 
 36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the outset in defiance of Samuel's express command he failed 
 to wait for his arrival at Gilgal to sanction the commencement 
 of the war. Wherein lay the sin of this conduct ? It was a 
 forgetfulness frotn whom he held and for whom he wielded all 
 his power. It was a transgression of the fundamental principle 
 of the new monarchy, that the king was to be subject to the 
 will of God as communicated by the Prophet. It was the act of 
 a superstition which inverted the true order, and reckoned 
 sacrifice better than obedience, {b) Later on his rash vow on the 
 battle-field nearly cost Jonathan his life, hindered the effectual 
 pursuit of the Philistines, and tempted the people into sin. 
 
 4. The warlike character of his whole reign is proved by the 
 brief summary given in i Sam. xiv. 47. But only those wars are 
 related at length which bear directly on the history of his own 
 downfall and the rise of David. 
 
 The warning of Gilgal was unheeded, and when the crowning 
 trial of his life came in the commission to smite Amalek, he 
 failed miserably. The sentence which discrowned him was 
 pronounced, and from that day forward the clouds began to 
 thicken round his path. " The Spirit of the LORD departed 
 from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him" 
 (i Sam. xvi. 14). 
 
 5. At this juncture David was brought to court to soothe 
 Saul's madness by his minstrelsy. The presence of one in 
 whom as the years went on he could not fail to recognise the 
 "man after God's own heart" who was to succeed to his throne, 
 aggravated the disease. At one moment the demon of passion 
 would gain the mastery, and a murderous hatred for the son of 
 Jesse possess his mind ; at another his generous and loving 
 nature reasserted itself, and he saw in David a loyal servant 
 and an affectionate son-in-law. But the madness grew worse. 
 In his ungovernable fury he slew the priests of God, and mas- 
 sacred the Gibeonites, to whom the faith of Israel had been 
 plighted. David was driven from his home to range as an 
 outlaw in the mountains, and finally compelled to take refuge 
 in the court of a heathen prince. 
 
 6. At length the end came. Deserted by God, Saul became
 
 INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 the prey of dark superstition, and sought counsel from one of 
 those necromancers whom in his early zeal he had striven to 
 extirpate. "All human history has failed to record a despair 
 deeper or more tragic than his, who having forsaken God, and 
 'being of God forsaken, is now seeking to move hell since heaven 
 is inexorable to him ; and infinitely guilty as he is, there is 
 something unutterably pathetic in that yearning of the dis- 
 anointed king now in his utter desolation to change words once 
 more with the friend and counsellor of his youth ; and if he 
 must hear his doom, to hear it from no other lips but his^" 
 The last scene on Gilboa, when 
 
 " In the lost battle borne down by the flying, 
 Where mingles war's rattle with the groans of the dying," 
 
 the once brave hero's heart fails him, as he leans upon his spear, 
 and he seeks death by his own hand, is a sad conclusion to a 
 life which opened with such brilliant promise. 
 
 7. Saul's history is a stern warning of the fatal consequences 
 of uncontrolled self-will, of the inevitable descent of an unre- 
 pentant heart from bad to worse, of the hopeless hardening 
 which results from neglect to use grace given. 
 
 " There is no history," writes Archbishop Trench, " which as 
 we read it brings home to us a stronger sense of this life as a 
 life of probation : no history which makes us so vividly to realise 
 the fact that God takes men and puts them in certain conditions 
 to try them : to see how they will bear themselves under these 
 conditions ; how far they will profit by the opportunities for 
 good, and resist the solicitations to evil which these will in- 
 evitably offer them 2." 
 
 Yet in thinking of him we may surely follow the example set 
 by David in his touching elegy, and dwell on the brighter aspects 
 of his hfe, and forbear to pass a harsh judgment on one whom 
 the victim of his malice could regard to the last with such warm 
 affection ^ 
 
 1 Abp. Trench's Shi fnvrecks of Faith, p. 47. 
 
 ^ SInpwrecks of Faith, p. 39. 
 
 ' See Maurice's Prophets and Kings, p. 32 ff.
 
 38 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DAVID. 
 
 1. The life and character of David are presented to us with 
 a completeness which has no parallel in the Old Testament. 
 Not only have we a full biography of his outward life, written 
 in all probability by the companions who shared his perils and 
 his exaltation^, but the secrets of his inner life with its hopes 
 and fears, its struggles and triumphs, are revealed to us in the 
 outpourings of his heart preserved in the book of Psalms 2. 
 
 In the First Book of Samuel we are concerned only with that 
 period of his life which was the divine education for his future 
 office. In this three stages are clearly marked. 
 
 2. (i) Home life at Bethlehevi. The solitary hours spent 
 by the shepherd lad on the hills of Bethlehem left a deep im- 
 press on his character. Even in that simple duty he was con- 
 scious of a divine call. He kept his flock as a charge from God. 
 In conscious dependence upon God he knew no fear in the path 
 of duty. " The solitariness of the life braced up his spirit and 
 its dangers formed within him the habit of ready action based 
 on simple trust in his God." This was the secret of the courage 
 which emboldened him to face Goliath^. 
 
 ^ See ch. i. § 4^;. 
 
 2 The Psalms connected with this period by their titles are: lix., 
 "When Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him" (i Sam. xix. 
 II — 18): liv., when the Ziphites betrayed him to Saul (1 Sam. xxiii. 
 19 ff., or xxvi. I ff.) : Ivi. and xxxiv., on the occasion of his first flight 
 to Gath (i Sam. xxi.): Ivii. and cxlii., "in the cave," either of Adullam 
 (i Sam. xxii. i), or Engedi (xxiv. 3): lii., on Doeg (i Sam. xxii. 9): 
 Ixiii., in the wilderness of Judah (i Sam. xxii. 5). Of these, lix. and 
 xxxiv. are doubtful: Ixiii. more probably belongs to his flight from 
 Absalom. 
 
 We should probably add vii. (see on xxiv. 9) as written sometime 
 during his outlaw life : vi. (?) : xi., perhaps at Engedi: possibly xxxv. 
 (cp. I Sam. xxiv. 9ff. ). 
 
 Psalms viii., xix., xxiii., xxix. reflect his early life, though perhaps 
 not written till later. 
 
 3 I Sam. xvii. 32—37. See Wilberforce's Heroes, p. ■239 ff, 
 Maurice's Prophets, p. 40 ff.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 Here he lived "with God and nature communing :" here 
 
 " The earth 
 And common face of nature spake to him 
 Rememberable things." 
 
 That spirit of the religious interpretation of Nature which 
 breathes in Pss. viii., xix., xxix., was kindled as he gazed into 
 the depths of the star-lit sky while he guarded his flock, or 
 watched the splendours of an eastern sunrise, or heard the 
 crash.ng thunder which is "the voice of Jehovah" reverberate 
 among the rocks. The imagery of danger drawn from wild 
 beasts reflects this period (Ps. vii. 2, xvii. 12, &c.). Here he 
 acquired the skill in music which led to the transference to 
 Saul's court with which the second period of his life begins. 
 But before that change, the Anointing oil of the Prophet had 
 already marked him out for his future dignity. The special gift 
 of the Spirit of God had already begun to train him for that 
 special task. 
 
 3. (ii) Life at court. The simplicity of shepherd life was 
 now exchanged for the temptations of the court : the quiet ex- 
 periences of youth for " the terrible discipline of flattery." The 
 minstrel shepherd became the conqueror of the giant, the hero 
 of Israelite song. A rapid promotion raised him successively 
 to be a royal armourbearer, a successful captain, the king's son- 
 in-law. Steadily he rose in favour with the people, but the 
 growth of Saul's jealousy kept pace with the advance of popular 
 good-will, till at length persecution drove him from the court, 
 and the third period of his discipline commenced. 
 
 4. (iii) Life as aft outlaw. At first he took refuge with 
 Samuel in the prophetic school at Ramah. But a final test 
 proved that reconciliation with Saul was impossible, and he fled 
 by way of Nob to the court of Achish. Here his stay was brief 
 and perilous : he soon escaped, and gathered a band of men 
 about him in the cave of Adullam. For a time he seems to have 
 crossed over into Moab, but returning to the land of Judah by 
 Gad's direction, he wandered up and down, hunted from time 
 to time by Saul. There is no continuous history of his life at 
 this period ; only a scries of scenes which illustrate his pro-
 
 40 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vidential escapes from the hand of his pursuer, his pious regard 
 for the anointed king, the divine control which restrained him 
 from hasty revenge. 
 
 Driven at length to flee the country, he estabhshed a minia- 
 ture kingdom at Ziklag, where he practised himself and his nen 
 in the arts of war and peace. Once more God's care was mani- 
 fested in extricating him from the perplexing dilemma into 
 which his own conduct had brought him. This period of his 
 life and the First Book of Samuel close simultaneously with the 
 death of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa. All that concerns 
 his reign belongs to the Second Book^. 
 
 5. This long and varied discipline was designed to fit David 
 for the duties of the throne. His residence at Gibeah, sur- 
 rounded by envious courtiers, developed his prudence : Saul's 
 persecution tested his generosity and self-control : the perils 
 of his wanderings strengthened his sense of dependence upon 
 God. 
 
 His position as an outlaw chief trained him in knowledge 
 and government of men : familiarity with the victims of Saul's 
 misgovernment taught the future ruler to know the heart of 
 his subjects, their sorrows, their wrongs, their crimes : even 
 the residence in Moab and Philistia contributed to nurture 
 larger sympathies which might fit him for his wider mission as 
 king of Israel. 
 
 6. David is a striking contrast to Saul. With all his native 
 generosity and courage, Saul had a hard and narrow heart. 
 He was incapable of wide sympathy or deep contrition. David's 
 heart was thoroughly human. The endless variety of his 
 Psalms reaches through all the range of the emotions, has 
 some affinity for every type of character. David fell into sin, 
 but sincere penitence ever restored him to communion with 
 God : Saul's regret for his sin was prompted by a fear lest he 
 should be degraded in the eyes of his people^. 
 
 Saul's religion was a slavish formalism, leading to a super- 
 
 1 The consideration of David as a type of Christ belongs to that 
 period. 
 
 ^ Contrast i Sam. xv. 30 with 2 .Sam. xii. 13 and Ps. li.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 41 
 
 stitious fear. He never loved God. David " thoroughly be- 
 heved in God as a living and righteous Being." *' In all his 
 works he praised the Holy One most high with words of 
 glory ; with his whole heart he sung songs and loved Him 
 that made him 1." 
 
 7. A sketch of this period of David's life would be incom- 
 plete indeed without mention of his friendship with Jonathan. 
 The darkest days of trial were brightened by " the sunshine 
 of that pure, disinterested love which has embalmed for all 
 time the name of Jonathan." This deep love was based on 
 a common faith. Jonathan like David found his strength in 
 God. Their covenant was a "covenant of Jehovah^." Jonathan 
 rejoiced in the prospect of David's advancement without a 
 shadow of jealousy, because he saw it was God's will. No 
 suspicion of selfishness tainted that noble friendship. The 
 tenderness of the son in some measure effaced the hard treat- 
 ment of the father : and when they fell together on the fatal 
 field of Mount Gilboa, David could enshrine their memories 
 together in the most touching requiem of the whole Bible. 
 Yet perhaps Jonathan was "fortunate in a timely death V and 
 it was well that his anticipation of being "next to David" in his 
 kingdom was not realised. 
 
 " Ah ! had he lived before thy throne to stand, 
 Thy spirit keen and high, 
 Surely it had snapped in twain love's slender band, 
 
 So dear in memory ; 
 Paul, of his comrade left, the warning gives, 
 He lives with us who dies, he is but lost who lives'*." 
 
 ^ Ecclesiasticus xlvii. 8. 
 
 2 I Sam. xiv. 6, 12; xx. 8. 
 
 3 As Tacitus said of Agricola, "felix non vitae tantum claritate sed 
 etiam opportunitate mortis," Tac. Agric. c. 45. 
 
 •• J. H. Newman in the Lyra A^ostolica.
 
 The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; 
 And He shall give strength unto His' King. 
 And exalt the horn of His Anointed.
 
 THE 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, 
 
 OTHERWISE CALLED, 
 
 THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS. 
 
 N 
 
 Ch. I. I — 8. ElkanaJis household and devotion. 
 ow there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of 1 
 mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son 
 
 Ch. I. 1—8. Elkarah's household and devotion. 
 
 1. A^ozL'] And. The conjunction implies that the book of Samuel 
 is a continuation of the history contained in the book of Judges which 
 it immediately follows in the order of the Hebrew Bible, Ruth being 
 placed among the Hagiographa. 
 
 Ramathaim-zophim] The name Ramathaim (="the two heights") 
 is found here only, and is no doubt another name for Ramah (= "the 
 height") the birthplace {v. 19), residence (vii. 17), and burial-place 
 (xxv. i) of the prophet Samuel. Its site "is the most disputed problem 
 of sacred topography." Probably it is to be placed either (a) at Er- 
 Ram, a conical hill about 5 miles due north of Jerusalem, in which case 
 it will be identical with Ramah of Ijenjamin (Josh, xviii. 25): or {b) at 
 iVf^j'6'a;«w?7( = "the prophet Samuel") a conspicuous eminence 5 miles 
 N. W. of Jerusalem, on which is still shewn the traditional tomb of 
 Samuel : or {c) at Ram Allah, east of Beth-horon on the western slopes 
 of Mount Ephraim. 
 
 The epithet Zophim distinguishes the town from others of similar 
 name, as Ramathaim in Zuph (ix. 5), a district probably named after 
 Elkanah's ancestor, Zuph or Zophai (i Chr. vi. 26). 
 
 Ramathaim is possibly the same as Arimathaea in the N. T. The 
 form Armathaim in which it appears in the LXX. gives the link of 
 connexion between the names. 
 
 of mount Ephraim'] The central mountainous district of Palestine, 
 in which the tribe of Ephraim settled (Josh. xvii. 15), was "a good land." 
 The limestone hills are intersected Ijy fertile valleys, watered by innu- 
 merable fountains, and still remarkable for their fertility. See Stanley's
 
 44 I. SAMUEL, I. [vv. 2, 3. 
 
 of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of 
 
 2 Zuph, an Ephrathite : and he had two wives ; the name of 
 the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: 
 and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 
 
 3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and 
 
 Sinai aiid Palestine, p. 229, ff. The name extended southwards to the 
 territory of Benjamin in which Ramah lay. Thus Deborah's palm tree 
 was "between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim" (Jud. iv. 5). 
 
 Elkatui/i] In I Chr. vi. 22—28, 33—38, Samuel's descent from 
 Kohath the son of Levi is given at length. Shemucl in v. 33 is the 
 Hebrew form of the name for which the E. V. usually substitutes the 
 Latinized form Samuel. The discrepancies in these genealogies may 
 be partly due to corraptions of the text, partly to the same individuals 
 bearing different, though in some cases synonymous, names. 
 
 an EphratJiite] The Levite Elkanah is called an Ephrathite, i.e. 
 Ephraimite, because his family had originally belonged to the Kohathite 
 settlements in the territory of Ephraim (Josh. xxi. 20). It is suggested 
 in the Speaker's Co/nmentciry, that as Salmon, the 7t}i from "judah, 
 entered Canaan with Joshua, Zuph, who was the yth from Levi, ac- 
 cording to the genealogy in i Chr., may very probably have lived at 
 the time of the settlement of the land. The genealogy would naturally 
 stop with the first settler in Canaan, who gave his name to "the land of 
 Zuph" (ix. 5). If so, we must suppose that he at once migrated from 
 the residence assigned him in the tribe of Ephraim. 
 
 2. two wives'] Polygamy, though at variance with the original 
 institution of marriage (Gen. ii. 24), was tolerated by the Mosaic law 
 as an existing custom (Deut. xxi. 15—17), and the fact that Abraham, 
 Jacob, Gideon, David and Solomon were all polygamists, shews that 
 no moral blame attached to the practice in this period. It gradually 
 became less frequent, and no case is on record in the Biblical history 
 after the Captivity, but it was reserved for Christianity to re-establish 
 the primeval ideal. 
 
 Hannah'] i.e. "Grace." The same name is borne in the N.T. by 
 "Anna, a prophetess" (Luke ii. 36) : and according to tradition the wife 
 of Joachim and mother of the Virgin Mary was named Anna. In the 
 Phoenician colony of Carthage, where a language closely akin to Hebrew 
 was spoken, the sister of the queen Dido was named Anna (Verg. Aen. 
 iv. 9). 
 
 Peninnah] i.e. " Coral," or "Pearl." The name may be compared 
 with our Margaret, which means peai'l. 
 
 3. yearly] The Law required every male to present himself "before 
 Jehovah " at the central sanctuary of the nation at each of the three 
 great Feasts (Ex. xxxiv. 23; Deut. xvi. 16), but there is no evidence 
 that this command was ever strictly observed, and Elkanah's practice 
 was probably that of a pious Israelite of the time. "All his household" 
 (5^. 11) went with him, in obedience to the injunctions of Deut. xii. 
 10 — 12. To which of the Feasts he went up must remain a matter of
 
 V. 4.] I- SAMUEL, I. 45 
 
 to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the 
 two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the 
 Lord, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah 4 
 offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons 
 
 conjecture. Our Lord's parents went to Jerusalem every year at the 
 Feast of the Passover (Luke ii. 41). 
 
 the Lord of host s\ See Note I. p. ■235, for a discussion of the meanhig 
 of this title. 
 
 in Shiloh'] The position of Shiloh is defined with remarkable exact- 
 ness in Jud. xxi. 19. It was in Ephraim, "on the north side of Bethel, 
 on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, 
 and on the south of Lebonah." This agrees perfectly with the situation 
 of the modern Sciinn, which is about ten miles north of Bethel, and 
 east of the main road. It is thus described by Lieut. Conder {Tent 
 Work in Palestine, I. 82) ; "The ruins of a modern village occupy a sort 
 of tell or mound. On the east and north the site is shut in by bare and 
 lofty hills of grey limestone, dotted over with a few fig trees ; on the 
 south the plateau looks down on the plain just crossed. A deep valley 
 runs behind the town on the north. Below the top of the hill there is 
 a sort of irregular quadrangle. The rock has here been rudely hewn in 
 two parallel scarps for over 400 feet, with a court between, 77 feet wide, 
 and sunk 5 feet below the outer surface. Thus there would be sufficient 
 room for the court of the Tabernacle in this area." 
 
 Here in the territory of the most powerful tribe, in the heart of the 
 promised land, the whole congregation of Israel met and set up the 
 Tabernacle of the congregation, the last relic of their wanderings in the 
 desert (Josh, xviii. i). The name is appropriate. Shiloh signifies 
 "Rest." Shiloh continued (with temporary exceptions, see e.g. Jud. 
 XX. 27) to be the religious centre of the nation, "the place which 
 Jehovah had chosen to put his name thei-e," until after the loss of the 
 Ark in the disastrous Ijattle of Ebenezer. Possibly it was destroyed 
 or occupied by the Philistines : at any rate it ceased to be the national 
 sanctuary. Samuel sacrificed at Mizpeh, at Ramah, at Gilgal, never, 
 so far as we read, at Shiloh. The tabernacle was removed to Nob 
 (1 Sam. xxi.), and the once holy place was utterly desecrated. 
 Jeremiah points to its desolation as the standing witness of God's judg- 
 ments. "Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set 
 my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my 
 people Israel" (Jer. vii. 12). 
 
 And the tzvo sons\ Better, And Eli's two sons Hophni and PMnelias 
 were there priests to Jehovah. They are mentioned rather than 
 their father because in his old age he had resigned the active duties of 
 his office to them. The name Hophni occurs nowhere else in the O. T. : 
 for Phinehas it was reserved to sully the honour of one of the most illus- 
 trious names in Israel, borne by him whose bold act of judgment "was 
 counted unto him for righteousness" (Ps. cvi. 30, 31). 
 
 4. offered] sacrificed, as in v. 3. His sacrifice was a thank-offering.
 
 46 I. SAMUEL, I. . [vv. 5—9. 
 
 sand her daughters, portions: but unto Hannah he gave a 
 worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had 
 
 6 shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her 
 sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up 
 
 7 her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went 
 up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her ; there- 
 
 8 fore she wept, and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her 
 husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou ? and why 
 eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I 
 better to thee than ten sons? 
 
 9 — 20. Hannah's Prayer and its answer. 
 
 9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and 
 after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat 
 
 for it was only of the thank-offerings tliat the worshippers partook (Lev. 
 vii. II — 18). 
 
 he gave\ The tenses in vv. 4 — 7 express repeated z.z'ixor^: "he used to 
 give : her adversary used to provoke her." 
 
 portions^ Of the victims sacrificed. Cp. ix. 23. 
 
 5. a zvorthy porlio7i\ Li-t., one portion for two persons: a double 
 portion. If the text is sound, this seems to be tlie best explanation 
 of an obscure expression. Elkanah marked his love for Hannah by 
 giving her a double portion. Similarly Joseph distinguished Benjamin 
 by sending him a fivefold portion (Gen. xliii. 34). But the Sept. 
 points to a different reading which would give the following sense: 
 "And to Hannah he gave a single portion, because she had no child: 
 nevertheless Elkanah loved Hannah most : but the Lord had shut up 
 her womb." 
 
 had shut up her wombl Hannah's faith might have been strengthened 
 by the recollection that Sarah (Gen. xvi. i), Rachel (Gen. xxx. r), 
 Manoah's wife (Jud. xiii. 2), all had to bear the reproach of childlessness 
 for a time, and all eventually bore illustrious sons. 
 
 6. her adveisarv] Peninnah. The cognate verb is used in Lev. 
 xviii. 18, "Thou shalt not take a wife to her sister to vex her." 
 
 7. as he did sol Peninnah's spitefulness was evoked by the display 
 of Elkanah's affection. Exultation at another's misfortune is one of the 
 most detestable forms of malice. 
 
 did not eat] Refused to take any part in the rejoicings of the sacri- 
 ficial feast. 
 
 8. t^etter to thee than tett sons] Cp. Ruth iv. 15. 
 
 9—20. Hannah's Prayer and its answer. 
 
 9. So Hannah rose tip] Simply And. Hannah left the feast for 
 which she had not heart, and went to pray. 
 
 Eli the priest'] Eli belonged to the house of Ithamar Aaron's fourth
 
 vv. lo, II.] . I. SAMUEL, I. 47 
 
 by a post of the temple of the Lord, And she was in lo 
 bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept 
 sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, n 
 if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, 
 and remember me, and not forget ihine handmaid, but wik 
 give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him 
 
 son, as is clear from a comparison of i Chr. xxiv. 3 with 2 Sam. viii. 17 
 and I Kings ii. 27, and from the omission of his name in the gene- 
 alogy of Eleazar in I Chr. vi. 4 — 15. The last high-priest mentioned 
 before him was Phinehas the son of Eleazar (Jud. xx. 28); but when or 
 why the succession passed into the family of Ithamar, we are not told. 
 The office did not return to the line of Eleazar until Solomon deposed 
 Abiathar in fulfilment of the doom pronounced upon the house of Eli, 
 and appointed Zadok in his place (i Kings ii. 27). Eli united the 
 offices of Priest and Judge. 
 
 tipoft a Scat by a post of the tciiiplc\ Rather, "upon the seat (or, Ms 
 seat) by tlie doorpost of the temple." "The sanctuary itself was so 
 encased with buildings, as to give it the name and appearance of 'a 
 house' or 'temple.' There was a gateway with a seat inside the door- 
 posts or pillars which supported it. It was 'the seat' or 'throne' of the 
 ruler or judge, as afterwards in the Palace of Solomon. Here Eli sat 
 on days of religious or political solemnity, and surveyed the worship- 
 pers as they came up the eminence on which the sanctuary was placed." 
 Stanley's Lectitres on the yamsh Church, I. 321. 
 
 the temple^ The Heb." word denotes a spacious and stately building: 
 hence (a) a royal palace: (b) the temple: (<r) heaven, as the true temple 
 of Jehovah. It is applied to the tabernacle only here and in iii. 3, and 
 possibly in Ps. v. 7. Its use in the present passage may indicate that 
 the book was written at a time when the religious nomenclature had 
 been coloured by the construction of Solomon's temple. 
 
 11. vowed a vow] The law of vows, with special limitations in the 
 case of married women, is given in Num. xxx. 
 
 look on the affliction of thine handmaid] The rendering of the LXX. 
 "If thou wilt indeed regard the low estate of thine handmaiden" {Vav 
 iiripX^wuv eTn^\e\prjs ewl Trjv raTreivt^jaiv rrjs BovXtjs <tov) gives the words 
 adopted by the Virgin Mary (Luke i. 48). 
 
 / will giTe him] The vow is twofold, involving (i) the lifelong con- 
 secration of the child to the service of Jehovah, for as a Levite he would 
 serve from the age of 25 or 30 to 50 only, and very possibly at this time 
 many Levites, e.g. Elkanah himself, had no official duties: (2) the 
 special Nazirite vow, the characteristics of which were (a) abstinence 
 from intoxicating drinks, as an act of self-denial and a protest against 
 sensual indulgence : (b) the free growth of the hair, symbolizing appa- 
 rently the complete dedication of all the man's powers to Jehovah: 
 (c) the avoidance of defdement by a dead body, as a token of absolute 
 purity of life. See Num. vi. The vow was usually taken for a limited time
 
 48 I. SAMUEL, I. [w. 12—16. 
 
 unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no 
 
 12 rasor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she 
 continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her 
 
 13 mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her 
 lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli 
 
 14 thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her. 
 How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from 
 
 15 thee. And Hannah answered and said. No, my lord, I am 
 a woman of a sorrowful spirit : I have drunk neither wine 
 nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the 
 
 16 Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: 
 for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have 1 
 
 on]}', but Samson, Samuel, and St John the Baptist were dedicated to a 
 perpetual Nazirate from their birth. 
 
 12. continued praying\ Lit. "multiplied to pray," i.e. "prayed long 
 and earnestly." 
 
 13. Eli thought she had been dntnhcnl Silent prayer was not usual 
 at the time. Eli's ready suspicion makes it probable that such excesses 
 were not uncommon at the sacrificial feasts. His hasty and uncharit- 
 able judgment points to some of the defects of his character. 
 
 15. of a somncfitl spirit'] Lit. "heavy of spirit. " "Consider the 
 modesty of Hannah, who, though she suffered injury from the High 
 Priest, nevertheless answers with reverence and humility." Calvin. 
 
 16. a daiightej- of Belial] Rather, a wortMess, or, wicked woman. 
 Our translators have wrongly treated this word as a proper name in the 
 historical books, but not elsewhere, though the alternative is generally 
 given in the margin. It means ivorthlessness, and according to the usual 
 Hebrew idiom a son or daughter of ivorthlessness signifies "a worthless 
 man or woman," and with positively bad sense, a lawless, ungodly, 
 wicked person. If "naughty," by which the word is rendered in Prov. 
 vi. 12, had retained its archaic sense, it would be a fair equivalent. 
 "Belial," or more correctly "Beliar," is used by St Paul in 2 Cor. vi. 15 
 as a name of Satan, the personification of all lawlessness and worthless- 
 ness. Milton naturally follows the E. V. in regarding Belial as the 
 name of a spirit. 
 
 "Belial, than whom a spirit more lewd 
 Fell not from heaven, ... to him no temple stood, 
 Ur altar smoked, yet who more oft than he 
 In temples and at altars, when the priest 
 Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who filled 
 With lust and violence the house of God." 
 
 Paradise Lost, i. 490, fT. 
 
 grief] Lit. "provocation" (cp. v. 6), or "ve.xation" as the conse- 
 quence of provocation.
 
 w. 17—22.] T. SAMUEL, T. 49 
 
 spoken hitherto. Then EU answered and said, Go in 17 
 peace : and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that 
 thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid :8 
 find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and 
 did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they 19 
 rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the 
 Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah : 
 and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife ; and the Lord remem- 
 bered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was 20 
 come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a 
 son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have 
 asked him of the Lord. 
 
 21 — 28. SamueVs vifancy and dedication to Jehovah. 
 
 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to 21 
 offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But 22 
 Hannah went not up ; for she said unto her husband, I will 
 not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring 
 
 13. grace\ i.e. favour, as in xxv. 8. 
 
 19. the Lord remembered her] Cp. Gen. xxx. 22. 
 
 20. Wherefore] Simply And. 
 
 to Ramah] See note on Eamathaim-Zophim in v. i. 
 
 Samuel] This name, in Hebrew Shemitel, is familiar to us only in its 
 Latin dress. It was borne by two other persons in the O. T. (Num. xxxiv. 
 20; I Chr. vii. 2). Three explanations of it are proposed: (a) "Name 
 of God": (^) "Asked of God": (<r) "Heard of God": of which the last 
 is the most probable; compare Iskmael =*'GoA. heareth." Hannah 
 gives the child a name which will be a continual memorial of God's 
 answer to her prayer. It found a subsequent appropriateness in the 
 fervency and efficacy of his own prayers. 
 
 21—28. Samuel's infancy and dedication to Jehovah. 
 
 21. his votti] This assumes that Elkanah as well as Hannah had 
 made avow. _ The Sept. reads "his vows and all the tithes of his land." 
 Cp. Deut. xii. ir. 
 
 22. until the child be -weaned] He would then be two or three years 
 old. It is still a common practice in the East to suckle children for two 
 years : and in ancient times they were sometimes not weaned till three 
 years old. See 2 Mace. vii. 27, "O my son, have pity upon me that 
 gave thee suck three years and nourished thee." The weaning was 
 made an occasion of festivity (Gen. xxi. 8). The objection has been made 
 that so young a child would have been troublesome to Eli, but there 
 were women engaged in the tabernacle service (ii. 22), to whose care 
 he might have been committed. It was important that he should be 
 
 I. SAMUEL .
 
 5Q I. SAMUEL, I. [vv. 23—25. 
 
 him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide 
 
 83 for ever. And Elkanah her husband said unto her. Do 
 
 what seemeth thee good ; tarry until thou have weaned 
 
 him ; only the Lord establish his word. So the woman 
 
 24 abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And 
 when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with 
 three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of 
 wine, and brought him zinto the house of the Lord in 
 
 25 Shiloh : and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, 
 
 dedicated as soon as possible. The house of God was to be the only 
 home he knew ; the earliest impressions of his boyhood were to be those 
 of the sanctuary. 
 for ever] Equivalent to "as long as he liveth" of v. 28. 
 
 23. Ms word] No express promise of a son has been mentioned; 
 Eli's blessing in z/. 17 can scarcely be understood as such. But Samuel's 
 birth implied that Hannah's prayer was heard, and Elkanah prays that 
 it may receive a complete fulfilment. The Sept. reads "The Lord 
 establish that which is gone forth out of thy mouth." 
 
 24. i/iree bullocks] We may conjecture that one was intended for a 
 burnt-offering, one for the "sacrifice in performing a vow," and one for 
 a peace-offering. See Num. xv. 8. 
 
 one ephah of flour] According to Josephus, the ephah contained 
 about 82 gallons, according to Jewish authorities about 45 gallons. The 
 smaller estimate is probably correct. Three tenth parts of an ephah of 
 flour were to be offered with each bullock (Num. xv. 9) as a "meat- 
 offering" [minchah). 
 
 a bottle of -wine] i.e. a skin-bottle, which would hold a considerable 
 quantity. The prescribed drink-offering with each bullock was half an 
 hin of wine (Num. xv. 10), or about three pints, the hht being a sixth 
 part of the bath, which was of the same capacity as the ephah (Ez. 
 xlv. 11). 
 
 the house of the Lord] See note on v. 9. 
 
 the child was young] Lit. "the child was a child." The term is 
 quite vague, and gives no clue to Samuel's age at the time. See how- 
 ever the note on f. 22. 
 
 25. they slew a bullock] The bullock ; viz. the one which had been 
 brought as a dedicatory offering with the child: the sacrifice of the others 
 is taken for granted. We may try to picture the scene. Elkanah leads 
 the bullock to the north side of the altar of burnt-offering, in the court 
 before the door of the tabernacle, and binds it to the horns of the 
 altar. Hannah brings her child, and lays his hand on the head of the 
 victim in token that it is his representative ; at that moment Elkanah 
 or one of the priests slays it (Lev. i. 5). Its blood is sprinkled and its 
 limbs burnt upon the altar, as an emblem of the complete dedication 
 of the child to Jehovah. 
 
 The Sept. version differs widely from our present Heb. text, and
 
 vv. 26—28.] I. SAMUEL, I. 51 
 
 and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my lord, 26 
 as thy soul liveth, my lord, I ajn the woman that stood by 
 thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; 27 
 and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of 
 him : therefore also I have lent him to the Lord ; as long 2S 
 as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worship- 
 ped the Lord there. 
 
 describes the presentation of Samuel as combined with the yearly 
 sacrifice. "And she went up with him to Selom with a bullock of 
 three years old, and bread, and an ephah of fine flour, and a bottle of 
 wine; and entered into the house of the Lord in Selom: and the child 
 was with them. And they brought him near before the Lord : and his 
 father slew the sacrifice, which he used to offer year by year unto the 
 Lord. And he brought the child near and slew the bullock. And 
 Anna the mother of the child brought him near to Heli, and said," &c. 
 This may represent a different original text, or be a loose paraphrase. 
 
 26. as thy soul livdh'] An oath peculiar to the books of Samuel and 
 Kings. 
 
 that stood by thee] Prayer was offered either (a) standing, as by 
 Hannah and Abraham (Gen. xviii. 22), cp. Mt. vi. 5, Mk. xi. 25, Lk. 
 xviii. II : (1^) kneeling, as by Solomon (i Kings viii. 54), and by Daniel 
 (Dan.vi. 10), cp. Acts ix. 40; xx. 36; xxi. 5 : (c) prostrate, as by Moses 
 and Aaron (Num. xvi. 22), and by our Lord (Matt. xxvi. 39). 
 
 28. therefore also, &c.] Render, And I on my paxt have given him to 
 Jehovah as long as he liveth : because he was one asked for Jehovah. 
 The exact translation of the Heb. is doubtful, and the remarkable play 
 upon words in it is lost in translation. But the general sense is clear: 
 'Jehovah gave me the child, and I restore him in accordance with iriy 
 vow.' The word translated lend occurs elsewhere only in Ex. xii. 36, 
 where it means give rather than lend. A loan may be reclaimed at the 
 will of the lender. Hannah's surrender of Samuel was complete. See 
 V. II and ch. ii. 20. 
 
 he zvorshipped] Who? Not Samuel, who was too young: but El- 
 kanah, as head of the household, worshipped, while Hannah poured 
 out her heart in the hymn which immediately follows. The Sept. 
 however omits the words, and the Vulg. reads "And they worshipped 
 the Lord there." 
 
 Ch. II. 1—11. The Song of Hannah. 
 
 Hannah's song is a true prophecy. She is inspired "to discern in 
 her own individual experience the universal laws of the divine economy, 
 and to recognise its significance for the whole course of the Kingdom 
 of God." The deliverance from her proud adversary which had just 
 been vouchsafed to her was but one instance of the great principles of 
 Jehovah's moral government of the world, principles which receive their 
 fullest illustration in the exaltation of the Lord's Christ through humi- 
 liation to victory, and which will only be fully realised when "the
 
 52 I. SAMUEL, 11. [v. I. 
 
 Ch. II. I — II. The Song of Hannah, 
 
 And Hannah prayed, and said, 
 
 My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, 
 
 Mine horn is exalted in the Lord : 
 
 My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; 
 
 kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and of his Christ." Hence it is that her own peculiar circumstances 
 are so soon lost sight of in the wider view of the dealings of God's 
 Providence. The failure to recognise this has led critics to deny the 
 authenticity of the song, and to conjecture that some ancient triumphal 
 war-psean has been erroneously placed in Hannah's mouth by the com- 
 piler of the book. 
 
 A brief analysis will help to explain the connexion of thought. 
 
 "Jehovah is the sole author of my deliverance. He shall be the 
 theme of my song. 
 
 There is none to be compared with Him for holiness, power, faith- 
 fulness : be silent before him, all ye proud boasters ! He knows your 
 thoughts and weighs your actions. 
 
 Observe the vicissitudes of human fortune: the haughty are humbled, 
 the humble exalted: this is Jehovah's doing: for He is the Almighty 
 Governor of the universe. He guides and guards His saints, and 
 destroys the wicked. 
 
 May He finally discomfit his adversaries, judge the world, and esta- 
 blish the kingdom of His Anointed One!" 
 
 The Magnificat (Luke i. 46 — 55) should be carefully compared with 
 Hannah's song, of which it is an echo rather than an imitation. The 
 resemblance lies in thought and tone more than in actual language, and 
 supplies a most delicate and valuable testimony to the appropriateness 
 of this hymn to Hannah's circumstances. The 113th Psalm forms a 
 connecting link between the two. 
 
 1. And Hannah pray ed'\ This description of the Psalm is not in- 
 appropriate, for prayer includes thanksgiving and praise. Cp. the 
 "prayer of Habakkuk" (Hab. iii. i) : and the "prayers of David" as a 
 general designation of his psalms (Ps. Ixxii. ■20). 
 
 rejoiceth} Exultetli or trlumpheth, a strong word. 
 
 7)iitte horn is exalted in the Lord] = 'I am brought to great honour, 
 and the author of that honour is Jehovah.' The horn is frequently used 
 as a symbol (a) of strength (Deut. xxxiii. 17): {h) of honour (Job xvi. 
 15). "To exalt the horn" signifies "to raise to a position of power or 
 dignity." Cp. Ps. Ixxxix. 17, cxlviii. 14. The figure is probably 
 derived from horned animals, tossing their heads in the air, and there 
 is no allusion to the horns worn by women in the East at the present day. 
 It is found in Latin poets, e.g. Ov. A. A. i. 239, "Turn pauper 
 cornua sumit" = "plucks up courage." 
 
 my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies} " My mouth is opened wide 
 against mine enemies;" I am no longer put to silence in their presence.
 
 vv. 
 
 2-5.] I. SAMUEL, II. $3 
 
 Because I rejoice in thy salvation. 
 
 There is none holy as the Lord : a 
 
 For there is none beside thee : 
 
 Neither is there any rock like our God. 
 
 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; 3 
 
 Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth : 
 
 For the Lord is a God of knowledge, 
 
 And by him actions are weighed. 
 
 The bows of the mighty men are broken, 4 
 
 And they that stumbled are girt with strength. 
 
 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread ; 5 
 
 And they that were hungry ceased : 
 
 Cp. Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14. In ch. i. 7, 8 it is implied that Hannah made 
 no answer to Peninnah's taunts. 
 
 thy salvatiott] Cp. Luke i. 47. " Salvation " in the O. T. means (a) 
 deliverance, rescue from dangers or adversities of all kinds (ch. xiv. 45); 
 {b) help, the power by which the deliverance is effected, whether divine 
 or human (Ps. xxxv. 3). 
 
 2. rockl A frequent metaphor to describe the strength, faithfulness, 
 and unchangeableness of Jehovah. See Deut. xxxii. 4; 2 Sam. xxii. 32. 
 
 3. arrogancyl The old form of the word arroga7ice (cp. innocency 
 for innocence) from the Lat. arrogantia. It signifies "claiming more 
 than one's due," "assumption," "pride." 
 
 knowledgel The Heb. word is plural, denoting varied and extensive 
 knowledge. 
 
 by him actions are n'eighed'\ Jehovah knows the hearts of men and 
 estimates men's actions at their true value. See Prov. xvi. 2, xxiv. 12. 
 This explanation is probably right, but the Heb. may also be rendered, 
 "His (i.e. God's) actions are weighed," or, "measured :" i.e. are just 
 and right. Cp. the use of the same word in Ezek. xviii. 25, " Is not my 
 yfB.y equal?" " By him" is the Qri or traditional read text. (See p. 14.) 
 The Kthibh or written text has " not" instead of "by him," the words 
 being similar in pronunciation though differently spelt. This may be 
 rendered either, "though actions be not weighed," or interrogatively, 
 "and are not actions weighed?" 
 
 4. 6. This knowledge and justice apportion to all their due, and 
 reverse conditions of life contrary to all expectation. Sennacherib's host 
 is annihilated : Gideon's handful triumphs. 
 
 4. 77^1? bows of the mighty tiieft are broken, &c.] The bow was one of 
 the chief weapons of war (2 Sam. i. 22). Its being broken is a natural 
 symbol of defeat. "To be girded with strength" (Ps. xviii. 39) is a 
 figure derived from the practice of "girding up the loins" in preparation 
 for active exertion. 
 
 6. ceased] i.e. are at rest : need toil no more : or, cease to be hungry.
 
 54 I. SAMUEL, II. [vv. 6—8. 
 
 So that the barren hath born seven ; 
 
 And she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 
 
 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive : 
 
 He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 
 
 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich : 
 
 He bringeth low, and lifteth up. 
 
 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, 
 
 And lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. 
 
 To set thein among princes, 
 
 And to make them inherit the throne of glory : 
 
 For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, 
 
 And he hath set the world upon them. 
 
 seven\ A perfect family. Cp. Ruth iv. 15. 
 
 is waxed feehle\ By the loss of her children. Cp. Jer. xv. 9. 
 
 6 — 8. In Jehovah's hand are the issues of life and death, prosperity 
 and adversity. All history illustrates this truth. Hezekiah is recalled 
 from the gates of the grave : Job is tried by affliction : David is taken 
 from the sheepfolds to be king: Nebuchadnezzar sinks to the level of 
 a beast: Haman is degraded, Mordecai honoured: and chiefest example 
 of all, He who "was despised and rejected of men," was "highly 
 exalted, and given a name that is above every name." 
 
 6. the grave'] The Heb. word Sheol, variously rendered in the E. V. 
 grave, hell, pit, denotes the mysterious unseen world, the abode of all 
 departed spirits, righteous and wicked alike. Hell, from A. S. helan, 
 to cover, hide, would be a fair rendering if we could strip the word of 
 all the associations with which it has been invested : but as we cannot 
 do this, it is best to retain the Heb. word Sheol, or take its N. T. equi- 
 valent Hades. 
 
 There is no direct allusion here to the resurrection : death and Sheol 
 are figuratively used for the depths of adversity and peril : life for deliver- 
 ance and prosperity. See Ps. Ixxi. 10, Ixxxvi. 13. 
 
 8. out of the dust'] "To sit in the dust" (Is. xlvii. i), or "on the 
 dunghill" (Lam. iv. 5) are Oriental figures for a condition of extreme 
 degradation and misery, derived probably from the practice of mourners 
 (Job ii. 8) : to share the company of princes, and occupy a throne of 
 honour (Job xxxvi. 7) are metaphors for advancement and prosperity. 
 Ps. cxiii. 7 — 9 is copied almost verbatim from these verses. Cp. too 
 Ps. Ixxv. 6, 7. 
 
 for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's] The creation and mainte- 
 nance of the natural framework of the earth by Jehovah are a guarantee 
 for His moral government among men. Cp. Ps. Ixxv. 3. The expression 
 "pillars of the earth" (cp. Job. ix. 6) is a poetical metaphor derived 
 from the construction of a house (see Jud. xvi. 26), and need not imply 
 any theory as to the earth's shape. 
 
 9. It is Jehovah who guards His chosen ones from stumbling in 
 their walk through life (Ps. Ivi. 13, xci. 12); it is He who leaves the
 
 vv. 9, lo.] I. SAMUEL, II. 55 
 
 He will keep the feet of his saints, 
 
 And the wicked shall be silent in darkness j 
 
 For by strength shall no man prevail. 
 
 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces ; 
 
 Out of heaven shall he thunder upon them : 
 
 The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth ; 
 
 And he shall give strength unto his king. 
 
 And exalt the horn of his anointed. 
 
 wicked to languish in adversity (Job v. 14) or perish miserably (Ps. 
 xxxi. 17, Iv. 23); for apart from Him or in opposition to Him human 
 strengtli is impotence (Zech. iv. 6). 
 
 Ais saints'] Rather, His beloved, or, His chosen. The Heb. word 
 means [a) one who is the object of mercy, and does not in itself imply 
 holiness of character, but is used of Israel as the covenant people, the 
 objects of Jehovah's lovingkindness : [b) in an active sense, merciful, of 
 God (Jer. iii. 12): of men (2 Sam. xxii. 26). 
 
 shall be silent] "Shall be silenced," or, "perish." 
 
 10. The adversaries of the Lord] Render, 
 Jehovah, they that strive with Him shall he broken to pieces : 
 against them in heaven let Him (or, He shall) thunder : 
 Jehovah shall judge the ends of the earth: 
 and may He (or, He shall) give strength unto His king, 
 and exalt the horn of His Anointed. 
 
 The conclusion of the hymn is partly a prayer for the destruction of 
 Jehovah's enemies, partly an expression of confidence that this will 
 surely be effected. The mention of Jehovah's judgments leads up 
 naturally to the thought of those who are his instruments for executing 
 them. Hannah's prophetic prayer was but partially fulfilled in the king 
 soon to be anointed by her son as the deliverer of Israel: it reaches 
 forward to Him whom the Jewish kings foreshadowed, the King Messiah, 
 in whom alone the lofty anticipations of the prophetess are to be com- 
 pletely realised. 
 
 shall be broken to pieces] The Sept. here inserts the greater part of 
 Jer. ix. 23, 24. The passage may have been originally placed in the 
 margin as an illustration, and afterwards incorporated in the text. 
 
 his anointed] Here first in connexion with the kingly office do we 
 meet the word which was to become the characteristic title of the ex- 
 pected deliverer, the "Messiah" or "Anointed One," "the Christ." The 
 Sept. renders " i) i/'cJuet Kipa.% xP'-<^'^°^ avrou" (cp. Lk. ii. 26): the Vul- 
 gate "sublimabit cornu Christi sui." See the notes on x. i and xii. 3, 
 
 It has been alleged that the mention of the king stamps the song as 
 of later date, posterior to the establishment of the monarchy. This is 
 by no means the case. The idea of a king was not altogether novel to 
 the Israelite mind. The promise to Abraham spoke of kings among his 
 posterity (Gen. xvii. 6) : the Mosaic legislation prescribes the method 
 of election and the duty of the king (Deut. xvii. 14—20) : Gideon had
 
 56 I. SAMUEL, II. [vv. ii— 14. 
 
 11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child 
 did minister unto the Lord before EU the priest. 
 
 12 — 17. The faithless priests of Shiloh. 
 
 12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial ; they knew not 
 ij the Lord. And the priests' custom with the people was, 
 
 that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant 
 
 came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of 
 
 14 three teeth in his hand ; and he strooke // into the pan, or 
 
 been invited to establish a hereditary monarchy (Jud. viii. 22). Anoint- 
 ing too was recognised as the regular rite of admission to the office 
 (Jud. ix. 8). Amid the prevalent anarchy and growing disintegration 
 of the nation, amid internal corruption and external attack, the desire 
 for a king was probably taking definite shape in the popular mind. The 
 prophet who came to Eli speaks again of "Jehovah's anointed" (ii. 33). 
 But who so worthy to be first chosen to anticipate the future as the 
 mother of him who was destined to guide the chosen nation through 
 this critical epoch of its existence, and superintend the foundation of the 
 Davidic-Messianic kingdom? 
 
 Chapters i. and ii. to v. 10 form the Haphtarah or lesson from the 
 prophets, appointed to be read in the Jewish synagogues on the first 
 day of the new year, 
 
 A translation ot the Targum or Chaldee Paraphrase of Hannah's 
 Song is given in Note IIL p. 236. 
 
 12 — 17. The faithless priests of Shiloh. 
 
 12. sons of Belial^ Worthless men. See note on i. 16. 
 
 they knew not the Lord] Were ignorant of His character and so 
 despised His laws. Cp. Jud. ii. 10; Job xviii. 21; Hos. iv. i. 
 
 13. the priests' custoni\ The law directed the worshipper to present 
 to the priest the fat of the victim along with the breast and shoulder 
 (Lev. vii. 29 — 34). The fat was to be burned on the altar to Jehovah 
 (Lev. iii. 3 — 5): the breast and shoulder, after being 'waved' and 
 'heaved,' a ceremony of dedication to Jehovah, became the priest's 
 portion. Hophni and Phinehas were guilty of a double sin. (a) They 
 robbed the people : not content with the share assigned them, they 
 sent a servant to interrupt the preparation of the sacrificial meal, and 
 seize a further portion, {b) They insulted Jehovah by demanding their 
 share before the parts consecrated to Him had been duly burned upon 
 the altar {v. 15). 
 
 priests'~\ Misprinted priest's in most editions of the Bible. 
 seething] i.e. boiling. 
 
 14. strooke'] An old form of struck. Cp. Milton's Ode on the Na- 
 tivity^ 
 
 "Such music sweet 
 As never was by mortal finger strook"
 
 ^^., 15—19.] I. SAMUEL, II. 57 
 
 kettle, or caldron, or pot ; all that the fleshhook brought up 
 the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all 
 the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the 15 
 fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that 
 sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest ; for he will not 
 have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said 16 
 unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and 
 then take as much as thy soul desireth ; then he would 
 answer him. Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if 
 not, I will take // by force. Wherefore the sin of the young 17 
 men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the 
 offering of the Lord. 
 
 18 — 21. SafnucPs ministry in the tabernacle. 
 
 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, 'S 
 girded with a linen ephod. Moreover his mother made him '9 
 
 15. Also'\ Even. The climax of their transgression was the offence 
 against Jehovah. 
 
 sodden^ Boiled: the perf. of 'seethe' is 'sod' (Gen. xxv. 29), and the 
 past partic. ' sodden.' 
 
 16. presently^ "Immediately:" the usual meaning of the word in 
 the E.V., e.g. Matt. xxvi. 53. 
 
 he would answer him, Nay\ The correct reading of the Heb. gives 
 "Nay" in place of "him." Cp. note on v. 3. 
 
 17. the yutins^ men] Hophni and Phinehas. 
 
 men abhorred] Rather, the men despised, or, brought Into con- 
 tempt tlie offering of Jehovah. The Sept. omits t/ie men. Corrup- 
 tion in the priesthood begets profanity in the people. Cp. Mai. ii. 8, 9. 
 "They made it vile in the eyes of the people by shewing how vile it 
 was in their eyes." 
 
 18—21. Samuel's ministry in the tabernacle. 
 
 18. Samuel ?ninistered] The writer dwells upon the contrast between 
 Samuel and the sons of Eli. We see the child attending upon Eli in 
 the sanctuary, growing before the Lord, in favour both with the Lord 
 and with men, chosen to be God's messenger to Eli, and finally re-es- 
 tablishing the broken intercourse between Jehovah and His people. 
 On the other hand we see Hophni and Phinehas abusing their sacred 
 office, sinking from rapacity and profanity to open profligacy, unchecked 
 by rebuke or warning, and at last perishing miserably by the hands of 
 the Philistines. 
 
 a linen ephod] The ephod was a garment covering the shoulders, 
 (Lat. superhumerale), and secured round the waist by a girdle. It was 
 the distinctive dress of priests [v. 28, ch. xxii. 18), but was occasionally
 
 5S I, SAMUEL, II. [vv. 20—22. 
 
 a little coat, and brought // to aim from year to year, when 
 she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 
 
 20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said. The Lord 
 give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to 
 
 2: the Lord. And they went unto their own home. And the 
 Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three 
 sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before 
 the Lord. 
 
 22 — 26. ElPs fruitless expostulations with his sons. 
 
 22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did 
 unto all Israel ; and how they lay with the women that 
 assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congre- 
 
 '&' 
 
 worn by others engaged in religious ceremonies, e.g. David (2 Sam. vi. 
 14). The High Priest wore a special ephod (Ex. xxviii. 6 ff.). 
 
 19, 20. Moreover, &c.] Lit. "And Hannah used to make. ..and 
 bring it to him. ..And Eli used to bless. ..and they used to go unto his 
 home." The verbs are frequentative, describing an annual practice often 
 repeated. 
 
 19. a little coat] The Heb. meit denotes a kind of long upper tunic, 
 worn by kings (i Chr. xv. 27), prophets (i Sam. xv. 27), men of posi- 
 tion (Job ii. 12), women of rank (2 Sam. xiii. 18). The term is applied 
 to a part of the High Priest's dress, t/ie rode of the Ephod (Ex. xxviii. 31), 
 and it is suggested in the S/>ea/;er's Comvi. that "the mention of the 
 ephod and the robe as worn by the youthful Samuel taken in connexion 
 with his after acts seems to point to an extraordinary and irregular 
 priesthood to which he was called by God in an age when the provisions 
 of the Levitical law were not yet in full operation." 
 
 the yearly sacrifice] See note on i. 3. 
 
 20. for the loan which is lent] Better as in the margin, in return 
 for the petition wliich she asked for Jehovah : i.e. in place of Samuel, 
 for whom she prayed in order to dedicate him to God. Cp. i. 11, 27, 
 28, and note on v. 28. 
 
 tintd their own home] Lit., "to his (Elkanah 's) place." Cp, Gen. 
 xviii. 33. 
 
 21. gre^cV before the Lord] Three stages of physical, moral (z', 26), 
 and spiritual (iii, 19 — 21) growth are marked, 
 
 22 — 26, Eli's fruitless expostulations with his sons. 
 
 22. heard] " Used to hear all that his sons were doing, " constantly 
 and habitually. 
 
 the women that assembled] Rather, that served. The word is ap- 
 plied to (a) military service: (b) Levitical service (Num. iv. 23, viii. 24): 
 and it seems probable that the women mentioned here and in Ex. 
 xxxviii, 8, where the same words are used, had regular duties in con-
 
 vv. 23—26.1 I. SAMUEL, II. 59 
 
 gation. And he said unto them, AVhy do ye such things ? 13 
 for I hear of your evil deaUngs by all this people. Nay, my 24 
 sons ; for // is no good report that I hear : je make the 
 Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against -s 
 another, the judge shall judge him : but if a man sin against 
 the Lord, who shall intreat for him ? Notwithstanding they 
 hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the 
 Lord would slay them. And the child Samuel grew on, :6 
 
 nexion with the tabernacle service. The example of the abominations 
 connected with the Phoenician worship of Ashtaroth may have helped to 
 corrupt the priests of Shiloh. 
 
 the tabernacle of the co7igregatio7i\ Rather, the tent of meeting, where 
 Jehovah would meet and hold communication with the priests, and the 
 people. See Ex. xxix. 42, 43. 
 
 23. for I hear of your evil dealings\ Rather, for I hear evil things 
 of you &om all this people. 
 
 25. If one man, &c.] Better, 
 
 If a man sin against a man, then Elohim shall judge him : 
 but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall intercede for him? 
 
 For man's offences against his fellow-man, there is a third superior 
 party to arbitrate and rectify the wrongs, namely God, or God's repre- 
 sentative, the duly appointed judge : but for man's offences against 
 Jehovah, there is no third superior party to intercede as a mediator. 
 
 This is most likely an ancient proverb, quoted by Eli to impress his 
 sons with a sense of the enormity of their sins, which were committed 
 against Jehovah. The point is obscured by the impossibility of transla- 
 ting the paronomasia of the Hebrew which expresses "judge" and "in- 
 tercede" by different voices of the same verb. 
 
 the Judge] Heb. Elohim, i.e. God. Judges, as the representatives 
 of God in executing justice on earth (Deut. i. 17), are sometimes styled 
 gods (Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 8, 9; Ps. Ixxxii. r, 6), but it seems best not to 
 limit the present passage to human judgments. 
 
 because the Lord wotild slay them] Literally, was pleased to slay 
 them. Compare the language of Ex. iv. i\, and Josh. xi. 20, where we 
 read that the Lord hardened the hearts of Pharaoh and the Canaanites; 
 and I Sam. xvi. 14, where it is said that "an evil spirit froin the Lord 
 troubled Saul." Yet we are assured that "the Lord delighteth in mercy" 
 (Mic. vii. 18), and "hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth" 
 (Ez. xviii. 32). This coexistence of mercy and judgment in the divine 
 will (Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7) is a mystery which necessarily transcends our 
 comprehension. But it must be carefully noted that it is not till Pharaoh 
 has turned a deaf ear to repeated warnings, not till the Canaanites have 
 polluted themselves with intolerable abominations, that God hardens 
 their hearts ; not till Eli's sons have ignored His existence and defied 
 His laws does He determine to slay them : not till Saul has set at 
 naught his calling and deserted God, is he deserted by Him. Obstinate
 
 do I. SAMUEL, 11. [vv. 27—29. 
 
 and was in favour both wit]i the Lord, and also with 
 men. 
 
 27 — ^6. The doom of Eli's house. 
 
 27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto 
 him. Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the 
 house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's 
 
 28 house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of 
 Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn in- 
 cense, to wear an ephod before me ? and did I give unto 
 the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the 
 
 29 children of Israel ? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and 
 at mine offering, which I have commanded ifi 77iy habita- 
 
 impenitence may be judicially punished by the withdrawal of the grace 
 which leads to repentance. 
 
 26. greiu on, aud tvas hi favour] A childhood like that of Jesus 
 (Luke ii. 52). Again Samuel's progress is contrasted with the declen- 
 sion of Hophni and Phinehas. 
 
 27—36. The doom of Eli's house. 
 
 27. a man oj God] i.e. a prophet commissioned by God. Even in 
 the general decay of religion (iii. i) God still had his messengers. The 
 title "man of God" is applied to Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and 
 others. It is specially frequent in the Books of Kings. 
 
 Did I plainly ^ appear] Better, Did I indeed reveal myself. See Ex. 
 iv. X4 ff., 27, xii. I, 43 for revelations made to Aaron. 
 in Pharaoh's house] In bondage to Pharaoli's house. 
 
 28. him] Perhaps we should read, it (the house of Aaron) to be 
 my priests (Ex. xxviii. i — 4). The priestly functions are mentioned 
 in an ascending scale: {a) the common sacrificial duties, (b) offering 
 incense in the Holy Place (Ex. xxx. 7, 8), {c) wearing an ephod, i.e. 
 serving as High-priest, for probably the High-priest's ephod (the only 
 one mentioned in the Pentateuch) is meant here, and not the ordinary 
 linen ephod worn at this time by all priests. See note on v. 18. 
 
 to offer upon mine altar] or perhaps, "to go up to mine altar," to 
 minister at it. But the E. V. seems best. 
 
 all the offerings 7nade by Jire] See Lev. x. 12 — 15. 
 
 29. Wherefore kick ye] Better, Wberefore do ye trample upon, 
 i.e. treat with contempt. 
 
 at my sacrijice and at mine offering] When the words are distinguished, 
 that rendered sacrijice (literally slaying) includes as a general term all 
 sacrifices of slain animals : that rendered offering (literally a gift) is ap- 
 plied to unbloody sacrifices, the so-called 7neat-offerings ; but the latter 
 is often used in a wide sense to include all kindsof sacrifice, e.g. in z*. 17. 
 The distinction between the words is fairly observed in the E. V,
 
 vv. 30—32.] I. SAMUEL, II. 61 
 
 tion ; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves 
 fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 
 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that 30 
 thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before 
 me for ever : but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me ; 
 for them that honour me I will honour, and they that de- 
 spise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, 31 
 that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's 
 house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 
 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the 32 
 wealth which God shall give Israel : and there shall not be 
 
 in my habitation^ The word is used again in v. 32, and in Ps. xxvi. 8, 
 of the tabernacle. The Heb. is obscure, and the Sept. rendering 
 diverges considerably from the present text, thus, "And wherefore didst 
 thou look upon my offering and my sacrifice with a shameless eye?" 
 
 with the chiefest of all the offerings] "With the first," or, "best part 
 of every offering," which should have been God's. See note on v. 13. 
 
 30. saith] The Heb. word is one rarely used except of a solemn 
 divine titterance, as in Gen. xxii. 16, and very commonly in the prophets. 
 
 / said indeed that thy house, and the hottsc of thy father, should walk 
 before me for ever] God had promised that the family of Aaron in all 
 its branches should serve perpetually as priests in His presence (Ex. 
 xxix. 9; Num. XXV. 13): but now the decree must be reversed, for the 
 faithlessness of Eli's sons had broken the covenant. 
 
 31. / will cut off thine arm] = I will destroy thy strength. "The 
 arm" is a common expression for "might," "strength." Cp. Ps. x. 15; 
 Zech. xi. 1 7. One signal fulfilment of this doom was the massacre of 
 the priests at Nob (xxii. 18, 19). 
 
 32. thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation] Or, a rival, the same 
 word as that rendered "adversary" in i. 6. The best explanation of 
 this difficult passage appears to be this : ' Thou, in the person of thy 
 descendants, wilt see another take thy place as priest in my habitation 
 (cp. V. 29), at the time when the nation shall be most prosperous and 
 the office most honourable;' the reference being to Abiathar's deposi- 
 tion by Solomon (r Kings ii. ■27). The words might also be translated 
 " Thou shalt behold the distress of my habitation" (cp. E. V. margin), 
 and would then refer to the neglect which the tabernacle suffered 
 owing to the loss of the Ark, even while the nation was prospering 
 under Samuel and Saul. Siich neglect would be a punishment on the 
 house of Eli, because the High-priest for the time would lose his posi- 
 tion and influence. 
 
 The Sept. however omits zk 32, and there are other grounds for suspect- 
 ing that the present Heb. text of this verse as well asof z/. 29 is corrupt. 
 
 wealth] Here in the sense of "weal," "well-being," as in the Litany 
 'In all time of our wealth.^
 
 62 I. SAMUEL, II, [vv. 33—35. 
 
 33 an old man in thine house for ever. And the man of thine, 
 zvhom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to con- 
 sume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart : and all the in- 
 crease of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 
 
 34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon 
 thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas ; in one day they 
 
 35 shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful 
 priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart 
 
 33. And the man, &c.] or, Yet every man of thine will I not 
 cut off from mine altar, to consume thine eyes and to vex thy soul ; 
 i.e. some will still survive to mourn over the ruin of their family. 
 " Thine eyes," "//y/ soul," because Eli is identified with his posterity. 
 But the Sept. has "//« eyes," "///j soul." 
 
 htcreasc\ = offspring, Lat. incrementum. 
 
 hi the floivcr of their age'l Ileb. men: i.e. when they come to man- 
 hood. 
 
 34. this shall be a sign tmto theel The immediate fulfilment of one 
 prediction will serve as a sign or assurance that the rest will not fail to 
 come to pass. Such signs were often given by prophets as the creden- 
 tials of their mission. Cp. ch. x. 7 — 9; i Kings xiii. 3; 2 Kings 
 XX. 8, 9; Luke i. 18, 20. 
 
 in one day they shall die] See ch. iv. 1 1. 
 
 35. This verse forms no part of the sign, but is to be connected with 
 
 ^- 33- 
 
 a faithful priesi\ The prophecy is commonly supposed to have been 
 fulfilled in Zadok, whose descendants retained the High-priesthood till 
 the end of the monarchy (i Chr. vi. 8 — 15). But that Samuel is meant 
 seems clear on the following grounds. 
 
 {a) The faithful priest is obviously contrasted with the unfaithful 
 sons of Eli. This points to Samuel not Zadok. The account of his 
 call is given immediately in ch. iii. and it concludes by saying {v. 20), 
 "all Israel knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the 
 Lord," a connecting link with the present passage, for it is the same 
 Ileb. word which is rendered "faithful," "sure," and "established." 
 This is followed by the death of Hophni and Phinehas (ch. iv.). 
 
 (b) The "sure house" which is promised does not necessarily imply 
 succession to the priesthood. But if it had originally done so, might not 
 the privilege have been forfeited by the sin of Samuel's sons (ch. viii. 
 3 ), as in the case of the exactly similar promise to Jeroboam ( i Kings xi. 
 38)? That Samuel's descendants flourished is clear, for his grandson 
 Heman (i Chr. vi. 33) was David's chief musician, and father of four- 
 teen sons and three daughters (i Chr. xxv. i, 4, 5). 
 
 (f) " He shall walk before mine anointed (not, for ever, but) all the 
 days of his life" (cp. i. 22). This is most naturally referred to Samuel, 
 who was God's instrument for establishing the kingdom, and occupied 
 a unique position as the authorised adviser of Saul.
 
 w. 36; 1,2.] L SAMUEL, II. III. 63 
 
 and in my mind : and I will build him a sure house ; and 
 he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. And it shall 36 
 come to pass, tliat every one that is left in thine house shall 
 come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel 
 of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the 
 priests' cfifices, that / may eat a piece of bread. 
 
 Ch. III. I — 10. The Call of Samuel. 
 
 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before 3 
 Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those 
 days ; there 7vas no open vision. And it came to pass at 2 
 
 ((/) But it will be said, Samuel was no priest, only a prophet-judge. 
 True he was not a priest by descent, and is nowhere expressly so called. 
 But the expression 'I will raise up' (used so commonly of the judges) 
 implies an extraordinary office. And during his lifetime Samuel filled 
 the place of High-priest. The prerogative of the line of Aaron was in 
 abeyance for a time, as a punishment for the corruption of Eli's sons. 
 Ahitub the son of Phinehas never appears in the history. Ahiah is not 
 mentioned till after Saul's first rejection in Samuel's extreme old age 
 (xiv. 3). Samuel exercised priestly functions by intercession (vii. 9), by 
 offering sacrifice (vii. 9, 10), by benediction (ix. 12, 13), by anointing 
 Saul and David (x. i, xvi. 13, cp. i Kings i. 34). He may be compared 
 with Moses who though not strictly a priest was sometimes regarded as 
 such (Ps. xcix. 6). 
 
 mine anointed\ See notes on ii. 10, x. i, xii. 3. 
 
 36. croncIi\ Lit. bow himself down. 
 
 a piece of silver\ The Heb. word means such a coin as beggars 
 would receive. 
 
 a viorsel of bread"] Rather, a cake of bread. The same word is used 
 in X. 3 (E. V. loaves), and denotes a round flat cake or loaf. 
 
 Ch. hi. 1 — 10. The Call of Samuel. 
 
 1. the child Stn/incl] According to Josephus, Samuel had just 
 completed his twelfth year when the word of Jehovah came to him. 
 In later times this age was a critical point in the life of a Jewish boy. 
 He then became 'a son of the Law,' and was regarded as personally 
 responsible for obedience to it. It was at the age of twelve that 
 "the child Jesus" first went up to Jerusalem along with his parents 
 (Luke ii. 42). 
 
 ministered] Cp. ii. 11, 18. 
 
 7uas precious] Rather, was rare. In the general decay of religion, 
 prophetic communications from God had almost entirely ceased. Cp. 
 Amos viii. 11; Ps. Ixxiv. 9. We read of two prophets only in the 
 days of the Judges (Jud. iv. 4, vi, 8). 
 
 Ihere was no opeti vision] Rather, there was no vision published 
 abroad. The word is used in 2 Chr. xxxi. 5 of the publication of a
 
 64 I. SAMUEL, III. [vv. 3—6. 
 
 that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes 
 
 3 began to wax dim, that he could not see ; and ere the lamp 
 of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark 
 
 4 of God was^ and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the 
 
 5 Lord called Samuel : and he answered, Here am I. And 
 he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou calledst me. 
 And he said, I called not ; lie down again. And he went 
 
 6 and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. 
 
 decree (E.V. came abroad). There was no publicly acknowledged 
 prophet, whose ' word came to all Israel.' 
 
 2. at that time] This rendering is possible, but the Heb. literally 
 means on that day, the memorable day which left such a deep mark 
 upon Samuel's life. So the LXX. and Vulg. 
 
 The words from '■when ElV to ^-cvas laid do7vn to sleep' form a paren- 
 thesis, describing the circumstances under which Samuel's call took 
 place, (i) Eli tvas lying dow7i in his place. (2) His eyes had begun to 
 grow dim, so that he could not see. These clauses serve to explain why 
 Samuel ran to Eli when he heard the Voice. He woulo naturally sup- 
 pose that the infirm and half-blind old man required some assistance. 
 (3) The lamp of God zuas not yet extinguished. This marks the time 
 of night as shortly before daybreak, when the sacred light in the 
 Sanctuary would burn dim or be put out. (4) Samuel rvas lying 
 down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was. The order 
 of the Hebrew requires this translation. The term 'temple' includes 
 the buildings round the Tabernacle (see note on i. 9), in some of the 
 chambers of which Eli and Samuel were sleeping, not of course in 
 the Tabernacle itself. The Ark is expressly mentioned because it was 
 the visible symbol of the Presence of Him from whom the Voice pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 to wax\ i.e. to grow, from A. S. weaxan. Germ, wachsen. The word 
 has passed out of general use in modern English. Wiclif has 'Biholde 
 ye the lilies of the feeld hou thei zvcxen.'' 
 
 the lamp of God'\ The seven-branched golden candlestick, now men- 
 tioned for the last time, stood on the south side of the Holy Place, 
 opposite the Table of Shewbread (Ex. xxv. 31 — 37). It was lighted 
 every evening (Ex. xxvii. 20, 21, xxx. 7, 8), and was extinguished irv 
 the morning. In Solomon's temple it was superseded by ten separate 
 candlesticks, but in the second temple the single candlestick was 
 restored. It was carried to Rome by Titus after the capture of Jeru- 
 salem, and figures conspicuously among the trophies sculptured on 
 his triumphal arch, from which the familiar representation of it is 
 derived. 
 
 4. Here am /] Heb. Behold me, the regular formula for expressing 
 attention to a call and readiness to obey. Cp. Gen. xxii. i ; Is. vi. 8. 
 
 5. And he ran] Note Samuel's alacrity to serve the aged priest, 
 his spiritual father.
 
 w. 7— 12.] I. SAMUEL, III. 65 
 
 And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; 
 for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my 
 son ; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the 7 
 Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto 
 him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, s 
 And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; for 
 thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had 
 called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie 9 
 down : and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, 
 Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went 
 and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, lo 
 and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then 
 Samuel answered, Speak ; for thy servant heareth. 
 
 II — 14. Afi7iouncement of the Doom of ElTs House. 
 
 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in n 
 Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall 
 tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which 12 
 I have spoken concerning his house : when I begin, I will 
 
 6. tliou didst call me] Simply, thou calledst, as in v. 5, and again in 
 V. 8. There is no additional emphasis in the original. 
 
 7. JVow Sa>nncl, &c.] This verse explains why Samuel failed to 
 recognise the Voice. 'Knowing the Lord' here denotes not the 
 general religious knowledge of a pious Israelite, but the special know- 
 ledge communicated by a personal revelation. The phrase is used in 
 a different sense in ii. 12. 
 
 10. And the Lord catne, and stood] The Heb. is emphatic : pre- 
 sented Mmself. The Voice became a Vision (v. 15). Cp. Gen. xv. i; 
 Num. xii. 6—8. The visible manifestations of Jehovah or the Angel of 
 Jehovah in the O. T. were foreshadowings of the Incarnation. 
 
 11—14- Announcement of the Doom of Eli's House. 
 
 11. / will do] I am doing. The catastroiDhe is certain. With 
 God the future is as the present. 
 
 at which both the cars of every one that heareth it shall tingle] This 
 expression is found again in 2 Kings xxi. 12, and Jer. xix. 3. In the 
 latter passage there may be a tacit reference to this passage, suggesting 
 a comparison between the destruction of Shiloh and the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, such as is found elsewhere in Jeremiah (vii. 12—14, ^^vi. 6). 
 
 The appalling catastrophe thus predicted was the impending defeat 
 of Israel by the Philistines, the death of Lli's sons and Eli himself, the 
 capture of the Ark, and the desolation of the national Sanctuary. 
 
 12. all things ivhich I have spoken] Sec ch. ii. 27 — 36. 
 
 I. SAMUEL q
 
 66 I. SAMUEL, III. [vv. 13—15. 
 
 13 also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge 
 his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ; 
 because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained 
 
 14 them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of 
 Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with 
 sacrifice nor offering for ever. 
 
 15 — 18. The Message delivered to Eli. 
 
 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors 
 
 when I begin, I luill also make an end'\ Literally, 'beginning and 
 ending,' i.e. from beg-inning to end, fully and completely. 
 
 13. For I have told him] The Hebrew may be translated either {a) 
 And I have shewed him that I do judge his house for ever: or (l>) And 
 I will shew him that I do judge his house for ever. If the first render- 
 ing is adopted, the words refer to the doom already jironounced by the 
 prophet : if the second, the words are to be taken in connexion with the 
 previous verse, to signify that the impending catastrophe would be a 
 sign to Eli that the judgment upon his house was permanent and irre- 
 versible. Cp. ii. 34. 
 
 Judge'] i.e. punish, as in Ezek. vii. 3, Sec. 
 
 for the iniquity li'hich he knoiveth] The Vulgate, followed by Luther, 
 renders 'for his iniquity because he knew that his sons dealt shamefully:' 
 describing the judgment as inflicted upon Eli for his own sin in neglect- 
 ing his duty as father (Deut. xxi. 18), high-priest (Deut. xvii. 12), and 
 judge, and failing to restrain the misconduct of his sons. But the 
 rendering of the E.V. which makes the iniquity of Eli's sons the ground 
 of judgment, is possible, and agrees better with v. 14. 
 
 ■made themselves vile] Elsewhere the Heb. word always means to 
 curse, or to blaspheme, and is here best rendered made themselves 
 accursed. There is a Jewish tradition that the original reading was 
 'cursed me,'' which was altered by the scribes from motives of reve- 
 rence. The rendering of the LXX. ' because his sons were blaspheming 
 God,' gives the same sense, corresponding to a slight alteration of the 
 present Hebrew text. Eli's sons had blasphemed God and made light 
 of him by their infamous conduct in His very presence. 
 
 he restrained them not] But contented himself with gentle expostu- 
 lation (ii. 23), instead of thrusting them out of the sacred office they 
 had so grossly abused. By this weak indulgence he became partaker of 
 their sins. 
 
 14. shall not be purged] lAi., shall not cover itself ; shall not make 
 atonement for itself. The sons of Eli had sinned, 'with a high hand,' 
 against light and warnings, and for such unrepentant presumptuous 
 offenders the Law had no atonement. See Num. xv. 27 — 31. The 
 doom of their house is pronounced, and ratified by the oath of God. 
 Clearly however it is only to the temporal punishment of ElCs family 
 that the words refer in the first instance. Cp. Is. xxii. 14. 
 
 sacrifice nor offering] See note on ii. 29.
 
 vv. 16—19.] I. SAMUEL, III. ei 
 
 of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew 
 Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, 16 
 my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, 17 
 What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee ? I 
 pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and 
 more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things 
 that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, is 
 and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: 
 let him do what seemeth him good. 
 
 19 — Ch. IV. I. Sajnuel established as a Prophet in Israel. 
 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did 19 
 
 15 — 18. The Message delivered to Eli. 
 
 15. the doors of the house of the Lord. ^ As the tabernacle was closed 
 by a curtain only, we must suppose that the doors of the enclosure in 
 which it stood are meant. See note on i. 9. We here learn incident- 
 ally the nature of the service which Samuel performed at Shiloh. He 
 acted as a subordinate Levite. Cp. i Chr. xv. 23; Ps. Ixxxiv. 10. 
 
 Samitel feared to shetv Eli the visioii\ He naturally shrank from 
 delivering the fatal message to one whom he loved and revered. 
 
 17. What is the thing that the Lord hath said mito thee?\ The 
 word Lord is not in the Hebrew. As in v. 9 it is tacitly assumed 
 that the speaker was Jehovah. 
 
 Observe how Eli first simply asks for an account of what had passed, 
 then demands a complete statement, and finally adjures Samuel to 
 conceal nothing from him. 
 
 God do so to thee, and more also'\ Literally, " so shall God do to thee 
 and so shall He add." This form of adjuration is characteristic of the 
 books of Samuel and Kings, in which it occurs eleven times. Else- 
 where it is found in Ruth i. 1 7 only. 
 
 18. every whit'] Heb. 'all the words,' = every thing. Whit is 
 derived from A.-S. wiht, thing. 
 
 // is the Lord] He is Jehovah. For the depth of meaning involved 
 in this confession, see Ex. xxxiv. 5 — 7. Eli, with all his faults, was 
 still at heart faithful to God. He submits without a murmur to the 
 divine sentence, leaving himself and his house in the hands of God. 
 Compare the resignation of Aaron (Lev. x. 3), Job (Job i. 21, ii. 10), 
 and Hezekiah (Is. xxxix. 8). But it is the passive resignation of a 
 weak character. Though he submits himself patiently to the will of 
 God, he would not rouse himself to do it. 
 
 19 — IV. 1. Samuel established as a Prophet in Israel. 
 
 19. The Lord was ivith him] This was the one source of strength 
 for all the "heroes of Hebrew histe^ry;" for Abraham, Gen. xxi. 22; 
 Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 15; Josei^h, Gen. xxxix. 2; Moses, Ex. iii. 12;
 
 68 I. SAMUEL, III. [v. 20. 
 
 20 let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel 
 from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was estab- 
 
 Joshua, Josh. i. 5; Gideon, Tud. vi. 16; David, i Sam. xvi. 18, 
 xviii. 14. 
 
 did let none of his words fall to the f;roiind\ Tlie fulfilment of his 
 prophetic utterances was the attestation of his divine mission. Cp. 
 Deut. xviii. 21, 22. '■Falling' is a natural metaphor in all languages 
 for 'failing.' Comp. Gk. TriVreti', Lat. cadere. The word rendered 
 'perform' in v. 12 is the exact opposite, literally meaning 'to raise up.' 
 
 20. from Dan even to Beer-sheha\ The regular formula to denote the 
 whole extent of the land of Israel. It is first found in Jud. xx. i, and is 
 common in the books of Samuel, but naturally disappears after the 
 Division of the Kingdoms, occurring only once again, and that after the 
 fall.of the northern kingdom (2 Chron. xxx. 5). 
 
 i)aji — originally Leshem or Laish, a Sidonian colony — was captured, 
 colonized, and re-named by a band of Danites (Josh. xix. 47 ; Jud. 
 xviii.). It was the northernmost town of the Holy Land, and stood 
 upon a hill from the base of which springs one of the main sources 
 of the Jordan, to flow through a rich and fertile plain towards the 
 Lake of Merom. Here Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves 
 (i Kings xii. 29, 30), but shortly afterwards it was sacked by Ben- 
 hadad (i Kings xv. 20), and we hear no more of it. Its name, how- 
 ever, probably survives to this day. Dan —judge, and the hill is still 
 called Tell-el-Kady = '''' mound of the Judge" while the stream bears the 
 name el-Ledddn, which may possibly be a corruption of Dan. See 
 Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, ill. 390 ff. 
 
 Beer-sheba=''well of the oath," so named from the covenant which 
 Abraham and Abimelech made there (Gen. xxi. 31 ; cp. Gen. xxvi. 
 31 — 33): or Y>osz\h\y — '' 7vell of seven," in aWxxsion to the j^-w^w ewe lambs 
 with which the covenant was ratified (Gen. xxi. 29, 30). It was situated 
 at the southernmost extremity of the land, on the confines of the desert. 
 It was a notable place in the history of the patriarchs. 
 
 (i) Here Abraham, Isaac and Jacob often dwelt (Gen. xxii. ig, 
 xxviii. 10, xlvi. 1). (2) Here Samuel's sons were established as judges 
 (i Sam. viii. 2). (3) Hither came Elijah when he fled from Jezebel 
 (i Kings xix. 3). (4) It was apparently the seat of an idolatrous 
 worship in the days of Amos (Amos v. 5, viii. 14). (5) It is mentioned 
 for the last time as one of the towns reoccupied by the Jews on their 
 return from the Captivity (Neh. xi. 27). 
 
 The site of Beer-sheba is beyond question, for the name still survives 
 in the Arabic Bir es-Sebd — '^ well of seven," or ' ' zvell of the lion. " There 
 are two principal, and five lesser wells. "The water in both [the principal 
 wells] is pure and sweet and in great abundance : the finest indeed we 
 had found since leaving Sinai. Both wells are surrounded with drink- 
 ing-troughs of stone for camels and flocks; such as were doubtless used 
 of old for the flocks which then fed on the adjacent hills. The curb- 
 stones were deeply worn by the friction of the ropes in drawing up 
 water by hand." Robinson, Bib. Res. I. 204. But Lieutenant Conder
 
 vv. 2i; I.] I. SAMUEL, III. IV. 69 
 
 lished to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord ap- 21 
 peared again in Shiloh : for the Lord revealed himself 
 to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the 4 
 word of Samuel came to all Israel. 
 
 Ch. IV. I — 1 1, Defeat of Israel by the Fhilisthies and Loss 
 
 of the Ark. 
 
 Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and 
 
 made the disappointing discovery that the masonry is not very ancient. 
 There is a stone in the large well with an Arabic inscription bearing a 
 date in the twelfth century a.d. Tent Work, 11. 96. 
 
 7C'as es/ad/is/ttd] or, '■'■ found faithful" ^''approved. ^'' The Heb. word 
 is the same as that which, in ch. ii. 35, is rendered 'a faithful priest,' 
 ' a sure house ;' and the use of it here seems to indicate that Samuel's 
 call was the beginning of the fulfilment of that prophecy. 
 
 21. appeared agaiii\ Manifested himself in visions. Cp. vv. 10, 
 15; and the ancient prophetic title oi Seer (ix. 9). 
 
 by the word of the Lord] By the communication of prophetic mes- 
 sages to Samuel. The state of things described in v. i was now 
 reversed. The "word of Jehovah" was no longer "rare," there were 
 visions "published abroad." 
 
 Ch. IV. 1. A)id the ivord of Samuel came to all IsraeT\ Samuel 
 communicated to all Israel the divine revelation which he had received. 
 This clause should form the conclusion of ch. iii, not the commence- 
 ment of ch. iv. In the latter position it would naturally mean that it 
 was Samuel who summoned all Israel to the disastrous war against the 
 Philistines. But he is never once mentioned in connexion with the 
 war, and does not reappear on the scene for twenty years at least (vii. 
 1, 3), though in all probability his prophetic activity here recorded was 
 in part contemporaneous with the Philistine oppression, during which 
 his growing influence was marking him out as the future national 
 deliverer. 
 
 The Sept. here differs considerably from the present Hebrew text. 
 Omitting obvious repetitions, v. i\ stands as follows: "And the Lord 
 appeared again in Selom, for the Lord was revealed to Samuel. And 
 Eli was very old, and his sons walked perversely, and their way was 
 evil in the sight of the Lord." 
 
 Ch. IV. 1—11. Defeat of Israel by the Philistines and 
 Loss OF THE Ark. 
 
 1. Now Israel went out] The Sept. and Vulgate contain an addi- 
 tional clause, which softens the abruptness of the transition: "And it 
 came to pass in those days, that the Philistmes gathered together to 
 fight against Israel." 
 
 The abruptness of the narrative may be explained (i) because the 
 historian only wishes to give an account of the war so far as it bears
 
 70 I. SAMUEL, IV. [vv. 2, 3. 
 
 pitched beside Eben-ezer : and the Philistines pitched in 
 J Aphek. And the PhiUstines put tliemselves in array against 
 Israel : and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten 
 before the Philistines : and they slew of the army in the field 
 5 about four thousand men. And when the people were come 
 into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the 
 Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us 
 
 upon his main subject, the fulfilment of the prophecies against Eli's 
 house: (2) because probably the account of the Iwttle wilh the Phi- 
 listines is extracted from some other book, iu which it came in natu- 
 rally and consecutively. 
 
 The last mention of the Philistines was in Jud. xiii — xvi. In Jud. 
 xiii. I we read that "the Lord delivered the children of Israel into 
 the hand of the Philistines forty years," and the best solution of the 
 difficult question of the chronology of the Judges is to suppose that we 
 are now at the middle of this period of Philistine oppression. The first 
 twenty years of that oppression will then coincide with the last half of 
 Eli's judgeship, and probably with Samson's judgeship of "twenty 
 years in the days of the Philistines" (Jud. xv. 20). There is no 
 difficulty in supposing that Eli, who was a civil judge during this 
 time and permanently resident at Shiloh, was contemporaneous with 
 Samson, the military leader of a guerilla warfare on the frontiers of 
 Philistia. The second half of the period of Philistine oppression co- 
 incides with the twenty years during which the Ark remained at Kirjath- 
 jearim (ch. vii. 2). 
 
 Might we not conjecture that the present renewal of the war was 
 connected with Samson's death? Either the Israelites took the aggres- 
 sive to avenge their champion, or the Philistines thought to profit by 
 the opportunity and reduce them to more complete subjection. 
 
 the Fhilistincs\ See Note IV. p. 238. 
 
 £ben-ezcr\ =^'t/ie stone of help.''' The name is used by anticipation. 
 It was not given till twenty years afterwards, on the occasion of the 
 great defeat of the Philistines, ch. vii. 12. 
 
 Aphek] = "stronghold,'' the name of several places in Palestine. This 
 Aphek was close to Eben-ezer (v. 6), in the neighbourhood of Mizpeh 
 of Benjamin, near the western entrance of the pass of Bethhoron, and 
 I^robably distinct from the Aphek of ch. xxix. i. 
 
 2. of the a>y/ij'] Rather, in the toattle array, {Lat. in arte). In the 
 first encounter the Israelites, though defeated with severe loss, were not 
 put to flight, but retired to the camp {v. 3). 
 
 3. Aftd when, &c.] Connect closely with v. 2 by rendering. And the 
 people came to the camp, and the elders, &c. The use of the term 
 people for army is characteristic of the time when there was no standing 
 army, but a levy of all the men capable of bearing arms in time of war. 
 
 the elders of Israel said] The officers of the army held a council of 
 war, and resolved to fetch the Ark. On the Elders see note on viii. 4. 
 3. Wherefore hath the Lord smitten tis] The Israelites assume that
 
 w. 4—6.] I. SAMUEL, IV. 71 
 
 fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh 
 unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out 
 of the hand of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh, 4 
 that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant 
 of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims : 
 and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, we^-e there 
 with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark 5 
 of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel 
 shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 
 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they e 
 said. What incaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp 
 of the Hebrews ? And they understood that the ark of the 
 
 their defeat came from Jehovah. Cp. Joshua vii. 7. 8. But instead 
 of enquiring the cause of His displeasure, they fancy that His aid can be 
 secured by the presence of the Arl<:. They may have recollected the 
 words which Moses used when the Ark set forward, "Rise up, Lord, 
 and let thine enemies be scattered ; and let them that hate thee flee 
 before thee" (Num. x. 35) : and how the Ark had led them to victory 
 against Jericho (Josh. vi. 6). 
 
 Possibly the Philistines, as upon a later occasion {1 Sam. v. i\), had 
 brought the images of their gods into the field, and this suggested the 
 idea of fetching the Ark. The superstition which confused the Symbol 
 with the Presence was the natural result of the decay of religion. 
 
 4. that they might brmg\ Rather, and brought. 
 
 the ark of the covorant of the Lord of hosts, ivhieh dwelleth between 
 the cherttbims] Or, who sitteth enthroned upon the cherubim. The 
 full title is chosen to describe the Ark [a] as the symbol of the cove- 
 nant between Jehovah and Israel, in virtue of which they expected his 
 help unconditionally; [b) as the seat of the presence of the Lord of 
 Hosts, which they thought would infallibly accompany it, and ensure 
 victory to the armies of Israel. Cp. note on v. 21. 
 
 the two sons of Eli were there with the arh'] It seems best 
 
 to follow the Sept. and Vulg. in omitting the word 'there.' The nar- 
 rative requires the statement that Hophni and Phinehas aeconipanied 
 the Ark, not merely that they were at Shiloh, which we know already. 
 
 raitgagaiti] Cp. i Kings i. 45. 
 
 6. the Hebrews'] This name is used (a) by foreigners, as here (cp. ch. 
 xxix. 3) : {b) by the Israelites in speaking of themselves to foreigners 
 (Ex. ii. 7) : (c) when the Israelites are contrasted with foreigners 
 (i Sam. xiii. 3, note, 7). It is either (i) a derivative from eber, a word 
 meaning i^^_)'<?«rt', and was originally applied to Abraham as coxmng froin 
 beyond \.h& Euphrates: or (2) a patronymic from Eber (Gen. x. 21, 24), 
 signifying the descendants of Eber. 
 
 6 — 9. Observe how vividly the successive emotions of the Philis- 
 tines are painted: astonishment, when they heard the triumphant
 
 72 I.SAMUEL, IV. Lvv. 7— II. 
 
 7 Lord was come into the camp. And the Philistines were 
 afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they 
 said, Woe unto us : for there hath not been such a thing 
 
 8 heretofore. Woe unto us: who shall deliver us out of the 
 hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote 
 
 9 the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be 
 strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that 
 ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to 
 
 10 you : quit yourselves like men, and fight. And the Philis- 
 tines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every 
 man into his tent : and there was a very great slaughter; for 
 
 ji there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark 
 of God was taken ; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and 
 Phinehas, were slain. 
 
 shout of the vanquished army: dismay, when they learnt its cause: 
 manly resolution, when tliey had recovered from the first panic. 
 
 8. these mighty Gods'\ The heathen polytheists naturally suppose 
 that Israel like themselves had 'gods many.' 
 
 with all the plagues'] Better, with an utter overthrow, lit. 'with 
 every kind of smiting.' The word used is the same as that rendered 
 slaughter in v. lo, and the allusion is to the overthrow of Pharaoh in 
 the Red Sea, the shores of which are called tvilderness in Ex. xiii. 20, 
 not to the ten plagues, for which a different word is used in Exodus. 
 The effect of the news of the destruction of Pharaoh upon the Philistines 
 is alluded to in the Song of Moses, " Sorrow shall take hold upon the 
 inhabitants of Palestina" (Ex. xv. 14): and Rahab speaks of it as 
 inspiring the Canaanites M'ith terror (Josh. ii. 9 — 11). 
 
 9. quit yourselves] i.e. behave. Cp. i Cor. xvi. 13. "To quit 
 oneself" = " to acquit oneself," to release oneself from obligation by 
 meeting the claims upon or expectations entertained of oneself. It is 
 derived from Lat. quictare, through Fr. quitter. Cp. Milton, Samson 
 Agonistes, 1709, 
 
 "Samson hath quit himself 
 Like Samson." 
 
 servants] Tributary vassals. See Jud. xiii. i. The Philistines 
 appear to have had some Israelites as actual slaves (ch. xiv. 21). 
 
 10. they fled every 7?ia?t into his tent] The battle ended in a saitve 
 qui pent, every man who could escaping to his own home. The use of 
 the word tent is a relic of the nomad life in the wilderness. Cp. 2 Sam. 
 
 XX. I. 
 
 11. Hophtii and Phinehas were slain"] The "sign" given by the 
 man of God that the whole doom pronounced against Eli's house 
 would be executed (ch. ii. 3^). 
 
 The Psalmist's account of the catastrophe should be compared, Ps. 
 Ixxviii. 56 — 64.
 
 vv. 12—14.] I. SAMUEL, IV, 73 
 
 12—18. The Death of Eli. 
 
 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and 12 
 came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with 
 earth upon his head. And when he came, lo, EU sat upon 13 
 a seat by the wayside watching : for his heart trembled for 
 the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and 
 told //, all the city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise u 
 of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult ? 
 
 12—18. The Death of Eli. 
 
 12. there ran a man of Benjamin'] Cp. 2 Sam. xviii. 19. The 
 distance from Ebenezer to Shiloli was probably not more than twenty- 
 miles, so that a swift runner could easily arrive the same evening. Cp. 
 to-day in v. 16. 
 
 There is a strange Jewish tradition that the man was Saul, who seized 
 the tables of the law out of the hand of Goliath and fled! 
 
 cut of the ar?ny'\ Out of the battle-array, as in v. 2. 
 
 •with his clothes rent and with earth tipon his head] Signs of the 
 deepest mourning. Cp. Josh. vii. 6; 2 Sam. i. 2; Homer, //. xvni. 
 23, and an exact parallel in Virg. Aen. XII. 609 — 611, describing the 
 mourning of Latinus on the suicide of his queen Amata : 
 
 " It scissa veste Latinus 
 Coniugis attonitus fatis urbisque ruina, 
 Canitiem immundo perfusam pulvere turpans." 
 
 "Bowed to the earth with woe on woe, 
 His consort dead, his town brought low, 
 The hapless king his raiment tears, 
 And soils with dust his silver hairs." 
 
 13. Eli sat upon a seat] Was sitting upon the seat, (or, his seat). 
 We must imagine him sitting upon his ofiicial seat by the outer gate of 
 the tabernacle enclosure {v. 18, cp. i. 9, note), not by the town gate on 
 the road by which the messenger entered, for the news does not reach 
 Eli until after it has been published in the town {v. 14). 
 
 The Sept. represents a slightly different text, "Eli was on his seat 
 by the side of the gate, watching the way." 
 
 all the city cried out] The opening stanzas of Aytoun's ballad 
 "Edinburgh after Flodden" in Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers give a 
 vivid picture of the effect of the news of a defeat. 
 
 "A murmur long and loud, 
 And a cry of fear and wonder 
 Bursts from out the bending crowd. 
 For they see in battered harness 
 Only one hard-stricken man..." 
 
 14. he said] The Sept. adds Uo the men that stood by him*
 
 74 I. SAMUEL, IV. [vv. 15—19. 
 
 15 And the man came in hastily, and told Eli, Now Eli was 
 ninety and eight years old ; and his eyes were dim, that he 
 
 16 could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I a?n he that 
 came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. 
 
 17 And he said, What is there done, my son ? And the mes- 
 senger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philis- 
 tines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the 
 people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are 
 
 18 dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, 
 when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from 
 off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck 
 brake, and he died : for he was an old man, and heavy. 
 And he had judged Israel forty years. 
 
 19 — 22. Death of Eli's Dmtghter in Law. 
 
 19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, 
 near to be delivered : and when she heard the tidings that 
 the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and 
 her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; 
 
 catne in hastily] Made haste and came through the town to the 
 tabernacle enclosure which stood on a slight eminence. 
 
 15. his eyes were dint] Were set, a different word from that of 
 ch. iii. 2, found again in this sense only in i Kings xiv. 4. Eli was 
 now totally blind. 
 
 16. / ani he} lie has to announce himself to the blind old man 
 who cannot see the tale of disaster which his dust-soiled, blood-stained 
 garments tell all too plainly to the people. 
 
 the army] Better, as in &. 12, the battle-array. 
 IVhat is there done] Lit., What was the affair 1 Vulg. quid actum 
 est? David uses the same phrase to the Amalekite in 1 Sam. i. 4. 
 
 17. Observe the climax. Each blow is heavier than the preceding 
 one. The rout of the army, the slaughter of the people, Eli's personal 
 bereavement, the loss of the most precious treasure of Israel. The 
 last blow is more than the aged High-priest can bear. 
 
 18. the ark of God] National defeat and disgrace, family bereave- 
 ment, were but trifles compared to the loss of the Ark, which seemed 
 to prove that Jehovah had forsaken the people of his choice. " Where- 
 fore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?" 
 
 he had judged Israel forty years] See note on v. r. 
 
 19—22. Death of Eli's Daughter in Law. 
 
 19. Ms daughter in law] Her death is recorded {a) as being a fur- 
 ther fulfilment of the doom of Eli's house : {h) for the sake of her 
 pathetic dying words about the Ark.
 
 W.20— 22; 1,2.] I. SAMUEL, IV. V. 75 
 
 for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her 20 
 death the tvo?nen that stood by her said unto her, Fear not ; 
 for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither 
 did she regard //. And she named the child Ichabod, say- 2r 
 ing, The glory is departed from Israel : because the ark of 
 God was taken, and because of her father in law and her 
 husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel : 22 
 for the ark of God is taken. 
 
 Ch. V. I — 12. Chastise7nent of the Philistines for the 
 Removal of the Ark. 
 
 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it 5 
 from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took 2 
 
 20. Fear not] Cp. Gen. xxxv. 16 — 19. But the attempt to com- 
 fort her was vain. The loss of the Ark so absorbed her mind, that 
 even a mother's greatest joy (John xvi. 21) could not rouse her. 
 
 21, 22. The connexion will be made clearer by a literal translation 
 as follows. And she called the child I-chabod, (saying, [The] Glory is 
 departed from Israel), with reference to the ark toeing taken, and 
 with reference to her father in law and her hustoand. And she said, 
 [The] Glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was taken. 
 I'hus V. 22 is not mere tautology. In v. 21 the narrator connects the 
 name I-chabod with the triple loss, and inserts her words "Glory is 
 departed from Israel" parenthetically. \n v. 12 he repeats them with 
 an explanation. The E.V. appears to be wrong (though the Hebrew 
 is not decisive) in regarding "for the ark of God is taken" as the 
 words of Phinehas' wife. 
 
 21. I-chabod] The name means No-glory, or Where is glo7y ? Cp. 
 Rachel's significant name for Benjamin, Beii-oni^" Son of my sorrow" 
 (Gen. xxxv. 18). 
 
 The glory is departed frotn Israel] In Ex. xvi. 10, xl. 34, 35, and 
 many other passages, "the glory of the Lord" denotes the visible ma- 
 nifestation of the Presence and Majesty of Jehovah, known in later 
 times as the Shechinah. The promise in Lev. xvi. 2, "I will appear in 
 the cloud on the mercy seat," (cp. Ex. xxv. 22; Num. vii. 89), con- 
 nects this manifestation specially with the Ark, and though it does not 
 appear that the Cloud rested continually between the Cherubim, yet 
 along with the Ark the Glory which was the pledge of Jehovah's Pre- 
 sence 'had departed from Israel.' In Rom. ix. 4 St Paul mentions 
 the glory as one of the special privileges of his nation. 
 
 Ch. V. 1 — 12. Chastisement of the Philistines for the 
 Removal of the Ark. 
 
 1. Ashdod] Ashdod (in Greek .^zcitoj, Acts viii. 40), one of the five 
 cities of the Philistine league, was situated on an eminence, near the
 
 76 I. SAMUEL, V. [vv. 3—5. 
 
 the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, 
 
 3 and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose 
 early on the morrow, behold, I^agon was fallen upon his 
 face to the earth before the ark of the Lord, And they 
 
 4 took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when 
 they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon 
 was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the 
 Lord ; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his 
 hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only the stump of 
 
 5 Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of 
 
 sea, about 35 miles W. of Jerusalem. It was a place of great strength, 
 and special importance, from its position on the high road between 
 Syria and Egypt. It was assigned to Judah (Josh. xv. 47), but never 
 conquered till the reign of Uzziah (2 Chr. xxvi. 6). The Assyrian 
 king Sargon's 'Tartan' (i.e. General) took it about B.C. 716, and about 
 B.C. 630 it proved its strength by resisting Psammitichus king of Egypt 
 for 29 years. It was destroyed by Jonathan Maccabaeus ( i Mace. x. 84), 
 but rebuilt after the Roman conquest of Judaea. The village of Es-dud 
 still preserves the ancient name and site. 
 
 2. When the Philistines, &c.] Better, And the Philistines took 
 the ark of God and brought it. The repetition is characteristic of the 
 Hebrew historical style. 
 
 Dagon'] Dagon (a diminutive of endearment from ddg=fi'i\\) was 
 the national god of the Philistines, worshipped also at Gaza (Jud. xvi. 
 11 — 30), and elsewhere, as the name Beth-dagon (Josh. xv. 41, xix. 27) 
 indicates. The statue of Dagon had the head and hands of a man, 
 and the body of a fish. The fish was an emblem of fruitfulness. See 
 Smith's Diet, of the Bible, i. 381, or Layard's Nineveh, ir. p. 466, for 
 a representation of a fish-god, which is probably the Philistine Dagon, 
 as the bas-reliefs at Khorsabad from which it is taken record the wars 
 of Sargon with Syria. A corresponding goddess Derceto or Atargatis 
 was worshipped at Askelon. 
 
 The ark was placed in Dagon's temple as a votive-offering (cp. 
 I Chr. X. 10), and to mark the supposed victory of Dagon over 
 Jehovah. 
 
 3. Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth] In the attitude of 
 homage to the ark. Jehovah does not leave the Philistines to fancy 
 that their god has conquered Him. He will shew that He is "the 
 living God." "The idols shall be moved at his presence" (Is. xix. i). 
 
 4. cut of upon the threshold] i.e. cut off and lying upon the door- 
 sill, probably not of the main entrance to the temple, but of the chapel 
 or recess in which the statue stood. In this position they would be 
 liable to the indignity of being trampled upon by the priests and wor- 
 shippers who entered the shrine. 
 
 only the stump of Dagon ivas left to him] Lit., only Dagon was left 
 vpon him. Either some word for 'trunk' or 'body' has been lost in
 
 vv. 6-8.] I. SAMUEL, V. ^^ 
 
 Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the 
 threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. But the hand 6 
 of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he 
 destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod 
 and the coasts thereof. And when the men of Ashdod 7 
 saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of 
 Israel shall not abide with us : for his hand is sore upon 
 us, and upon Dagon our god. They sent therefore and g 
 gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and 
 
 the original, or 'Dagon' is used to denote the fish-shaped body of the 
 idol, from which the god derived his name. 
 
 "Next came one 
 Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark 
 Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopped off 
 In his own temple, on the grunsel edge, 
 "Where he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers." 
 
 Paradise Lost, I. 457. 
 
 5. Therefore neit/ier the priests, &c.] As a mark of reverence for the 
 spot where their idol had lain. Zeph. i. 9 does not appear to contain 
 any reference to this practice, which was peculiar to the temple at 
 Ashdod. 
 
 tdito this da}>\ The practice was still observed when the historian 
 wrote. 
 
 6. Bttt the hand of the Lord] Rather, And. "The hand of the 
 Lord " = the putting forth of His might. Chastisement now overtook 
 the people as well as the god. 
 
 he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods] A double calamity 
 fell upon them, (i) Their land was ravaged by a plague of mice. The 
 present Heb. text leaves this to be inferred from ch. vi. 5, but the Sept. 
 inserts here "And mice sprang up in the midst of their land, and 
 there was a very deadly destruction in the city." This may be 
 merely an inference from z*. 1 1 and vi. 5, but the numerous divergences 
 of the Sept. from the existing Heb. text in chaps, v. and vi. (making 
 full allowance for obvious glosses and errors of transcription) seem to 
 shew that the Greek translators employed a text which had not been 
 subjected to the final revision which fixed our present Heb. text. 
 
 (2) Their bodies were attacked by a loathsome and painful disease, 
 either (a) emerods = haemorrhoids or bleeding piles; or more probably 
 (b) doi/s, which are a characteristic symptom of the oriental plague. 
 The latter explanation agrees better with the infectiousness and fatality 
 of the scourge. 
 
 the coasts thereof] =the borders thereof. Coast is derived from costa, 
 a rib, or side, and originally meant any border or frontier-line, not 
 the sea-line only, cp. Josh. i. 4. 
 
 7. is sore] i.e. severe, 
 
 8. all the lords of the Philistines\ A peculiar term Seren is used
 
 78 I. SAMUEL, V. [vv. 9, 10. 
 
 said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel ? 
 And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be 
 carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the 
 
 9 God of Israel about thither. And it was so, that after they 
 had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the 
 city with a very great destruction : and he smote the men 
 of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in 
 
 10 their secret parts. Therefore they sent the ark of God to 
 Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to 
 Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have 
 brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay 
 
 exclusively to denote the five 'lords' who ruled in the five cities of the 
 Philistine confederacy. In all probability it preserves their native 
 title. They had all equal rights, for though Achish is called " king oi 
 Gath" in ch. xxi. 10, xxvii. 2, this is only from a foreign point of view, 
 and he could not overrule the decision of his colleagues (xxix. 6 — 11). 
 Here we find one city appealing to the rest for counsel in the calamity 
 which had befallen it. 
 
 taito Gatli\ Gath may have been chosen because there was no 
 Dagon-temple there, the Philistines attributing the plague to the anta- 
 gonism between Jehovah and Dagon. 
 
 The site of Gath cannot be fixed with certainty, but Mr Porter and 
 Lieut. Conder agree in the conclusion that it probably stood on the 
 conspicuous hill now called Tdl-cs-Safi, 12 miles E. of Ashdod, at 
 the foot of the mountains of Judah. " The position is one of immense 
 strength, guarding the mouth of the valley of Elah." Hence its im- 
 portance as a border fortress, commanding one of the main approaches 
 from Philistia to Judaea. It was captured by David (i Chr. xviii. i), 
 fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 8), taken by Hazael (2 Kings xii. 17), 
 retaken and dismantled by Uzziah (2 Chr. xxvi. 6). There is no fur- 
 ther notice of it in the Bible: but the Crusaders occupied Tell-es-Safi, 
 and built the fortress of Blanche Garde upon it. 
 
 Gath was the native place of Goliath (ch. xvii. 4) : and the refuge of 
 David from the persecutions of Saul (ch. xxi. 10, xxvii. 3). 
 
 9. with a very great destruction^ Better, witli an exceeding great 
 panic, causing utter consternation. 
 
 both small ami great\ i.e. both young and old : all the inhabitants. 
 and they liad emerods in their secret parts\ Better, and boils broke 
 out upon them. 
 
 10. tiiey sent the a7-k of God to Eicron"] The most northerly of the 
 five confederate cities, about 11 miles north of Gath. It was allotted to 
 the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 45, 46), and was temporarily occupied 
 (Jud. i. 18). Baal-zebub was the local deity (2 Kings i. 2). The site 
 is marked by the modern village of Akir. 
 
 to us, to slay us and our people'] Lit., as in the margin, "to me,
 
 vv. II, 12; 1—3.] I. SAMUEL, V. VI. 79 
 
 us and our people. So they sent and gathered together all n 
 the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of 
 the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that 
 it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly 
 destruction throughout all the city ; the hand of God was 
 very heavy there. And the men that died not were smitten 12 
 with the emerods : and the cry of the city went up io 
 heaven. 
 
 Ch. VI. I — 9. The Philistines resolve to send back the Ark. 
 
 And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the 6 
 PhiUstines seven months. And the Philistines called for 2 
 the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do 
 to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send 
 it to his place. And they said, If ye send away the 3 
 ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any 
 
 to slay me and my people." So too in v. 11. The singular seems to 
 indicate tliat the 'lord' acted as spokesman. 
 
 11. and gathered together all the lords\ A second council of state 
 was held, but the protest of the Ekronites was not listened to. The 
 league was unwilling to part with the trophy of its victory. 
 
 a deadly destruction\ A deadly panic: dismay caused by the fatal 
 character of the disease. 
 
 12. the cry of the city 'went np to heaven"] Cp. Ex. ii. ■23. The word 
 used always denotes a supplication, a cry for help. 
 
 Each city was visited with a heavier judgment than the preceding 
 one. "The longer the Philistines resisted and refused to recognise the 
 chastening hand of the living God in the plagues inflicted upon them, 
 the more severely would they necessarily be punished." So when Pha- 
 raoh hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites go, the hand of 
 the Lord grew heavier and heavier, till an unwilling consent was wrung 
 from him. 
 
 Ch. VI. 1 — 9. The Philistines resolve to send back the Ark. 
 
 1. The Sept. adds, at the end of the verse, " And their land swarmed 
 with mice," probably an explanatory gloss in anticipation of v. 4. 
 
 2. diviners\ Men who professed to predict future events or inter- 
 pret the will of heaven by the observation of omens. See Ex. vii. 1 1 ; 
 Dan. ii. 2. Philistine diviners seem to have been celebrated. Cp. 
 Is. ii. 6. 
 
 3. send it not emptyl Cp. Ex. xxiii. 15. All religions regard ^^v- 
 ing as a necessary part of worship. 
 
 in any rvise'] i.e. "at all events," "certainly." Wise means "way 
 of acting," "manner," "mode."
 
 8o I. SAMUEL, Vr. [vv. 4, 5. 
 
 wise return him a trespass offering : then ye shall be healed, 
 and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed 
 
 4 from you. Then said they, What shall he the trespass offer- 
 ing which we shall return to him ? They answered, Five 
 golden emerods, and five golden mice, acrordi/ig to the num- 
 ber of the lords of the Philistines : for one plague was on 
 
 5 you all, and on your lords. Wherefore ye shall make images 
 of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the 
 land ; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel : perad- 
 
 refiirn him a trespass offering] A satisfaction or compensation in 
 return for the injury done him by the removal of the Ark. 
 
 it shall be kticnun to you] If the removal of the plague followed the 
 restoration of the Ark with due propitiation, they would know for cer- 
 tain that its detention was the cause of the continuance of the plague. 
 They were not yet convinced that their misfortune was more than 
 "a chance" (v. 9). 
 
 4. emej-ods] Or, Ijoils. See note on ch. v. 6. 
 
 according to the niiiiiber of the lords of the Philistines'] The number 
 of the confederate cities was naturally chosen to represent the whole 
 people. 
 
 5. images of your mice that mar the land] The Heb. text now first 
 definitely speaks of the plague of mice, which was alluded to in ch. v 6. 
 The Sept. as we have seen mentions it in v. 6 and vi. i. The extra- 
 ordinary voracity of field-mice, and the incredible rate at which they 
 multiply, are noticed by many ancient writers on Natural History. 
 Aristotle, in his History of Animals (vi. 37) says, "In many places 
 mice are wont to appear in the fields in such unspeakable numbers, 
 that scarce anything is left of the whole crop. So rapidly do they con- 
 sume the corn, that in some cases small farmers have observed their 
 crops ripe and ready for the sickle on one day, and coming the next 
 with the reapers, have found them entirely devoured." 
 
 In 1848, it is said, the coffee crop in Ceylon was entirely destroyed 
 by mice. 
 
 These images are not to be compared with the talismans or amulets 
 made by magicians and astrologers in later times to effect cures or 
 avert evils, as is done by Kitto, who gives many examples of such 
 charms (Bible Illustrations, p. 84) : nor with the thank-offerings for 
 recovery in the form of the injured members which may be seen sus- 
 pended at the altars of Roman Catholic churches in Switzerland and 
 Italy at the present day: but with "a custom which according to the 
 traveller Tavernier has prevailed in India from time immemorial, that 
 when a pilgrim takes a journey to a pagoda to be cured of a disease, he 
 offers to the idol a present, either in gold, silver, or copper, according 
 to his ability, of the shape of the diseased or injured member. Such a 
 present passes as a practical acknowledgment that the god hns inflicted 
 the suffering or evil." Thus in the present case the Philistines offered
 
 vv. 6— S.] I. SAMUEL, VI. 
 
 venture lie will lia:hten his hand from off you, and from off 
 your gods, and from off your land. Wherefore then do ye o 
 harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened 
 their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among 
 them, did they not let the people go, and they departed ? 
 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, 7 
 on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the 
 cart, and bring their calves home from them : and take the 8 
 
 "representations of the instruments of their chastisements" as an 
 acknowledgment that the plagues of boils and mice were inflicted by 
 the God of Israel, and were not "a chance." Thereby they would 
 "give glory to the God of Israel." Cp. Rev. xvi. 9. 
 
 The question has been rnised, whether there was a plague of mice at 
 all. The mouse was the Egyptian symbol of destruction, and the two 
 kinds of images were, it is said, emblematic of the same thing, the 
 pestilence. The words t/iai mar the land may mean no more than 
 "mice such as are commonly found in the country." The tlieory is 
 more ingenious than probable. The natural inference from the text 
 certainly is that there was a plague of mice, and it is quite in accord- 
 ance with the practice of Hebrew writers that in a condensed narrative 
 like the present, the fact of the desolation of the country should be 
 barely mentioned in ch. v. 6; and the caitse of it stated incidentally 
 afterwards. 
 
 We should compare (though with caution) the Brazen Serpent (Num. 
 xxi. 8). {a) It too represented the instrument of chastisement : 
 (1^) Looking to it implied an acknowledgment of sin, and a desire for 
 deliverance from punishment, as did the sending of these offerings by 
 the Philistines. 
 
 Vv. 4 and 5 stand as follows in the Sept.: "And they say. What 
 shall be the expiation for the plague which we shall return to it? Antl 
 they said. According to the number of the satraps of the aliens five 
 golden seats, for one calamity was on you, both on your rulers and on 
 the people: and golden mice in the likeness of your mice that mar the 
 land." Possibly this is an intentional alteration to get rid of the 
 apparent discrepancy with v. 18. See note there. 
 
 6. as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts] A second 
 allusion (cp. ch. iv. 8) to the events of the Exodus. See Ex. viii. 15, 
 
 3^. ix- 34- 
 
 7ahen he had ivrotiglit wonderfully ainong ihein] Or, ■wrought his 
 
 Will upon them. The word is used in Ex. x. 2 (E. V. wrought), and 
 I Sam. xxxi. 4 (E.V. abuse). The Sept. renders it by e/j-Trai^tiv — 
 mock. But the E. V. may be right here. 
 
 7. Alow therefore make, &c.] Heb. "And now tahe and mahe a new 
 cart " = set to work to make. Cp. 1 Sam. xviii. 18. The use of a ne-iO 
 cart (cp. 2 Sam. vi. 3) and tcnyokcd kine (Num. xix. 2 ; Dcut. x.\i. 3, 4) 
 was a natural mark of reverence. 
 
 I. SAMUEL 6
 
 82 I. SAMUEL, VI. [vv. 8— II. 
 
 ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart ; and put the 
 jewels of gold, which ye return him /or a trespass offering, in 
 a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may 
 
 9 go. And see, if it goeth up /'y the way of his own coast A; 
 Beth-shemesh, ^/irn he hath done us this great evil : but if 
 not, then we shall know that // zs not his hand ///a/ smote 
 us ; it taas a chance t/iaf happened to us. 
 
 lo — 1 8. The plan carried out and the Ark restored to Israel. 
 
 10 And the men did so ; and took two milch kine, and tied 
 
 11 them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: and 
 they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer 
 with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 
 
 8. jewels of goId'\ jfcwel is here used in a general sense="any 
 precious or costly object." The Heb. word simply means "articles" 
 or "vessels." 
 
 9. his own coast] His own border, as in v. 12. See ch. v. 6, note, 
 "//w" refers to the Ark. The neuter i.ossessive pronoun "//j" is not 
 four.d in the original edition of the E. V. See 77ie Bible Word- Book, 
 p. 272. 
 
 to Beth-shemesh'] —"House of the Sim," probably the same as Tr- 
 she//iesh= "Citf of the Sitn" {Josh, xix.41). It was a priestly city (Josh. 
 xxi. 16) on the border of the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 10), about 12 
 miles S.E. of Ekron. Its position is identified by the modern village 
 of Ain Shems ( = " P^ountain of the Sun ") in the IVady es Silrdr, and is 
 described by Robinson as " a noble site for a city, a low plateau at the 
 junction of two fine plains," the " valley" in which the Beth-shemeshites 
 were reaping their wheat [v. 1 3). " Here are vestiges of a former exten- 
 sive city, consisting of many foundations and remains of ancient walls of 
 hewn stone . . . Enough yet remains to make it one of the largest and 
 most marked sites which we had anywhere seen." Biblical Besearchcs, 
 II. 224. 
 
 Beth-shemesh was the scene of Amaziah's defeat by Jehoash (2 Kings 
 xiv. II, I?) : and with other towns was taken from Ahaz by the Phi- 
 listines (2 Chr. xxviii. 18). Its name, and that oi Har-cheres—''^Mo\int 
 of the Sun" (Jud. i. 35), which was evidently in the neighbourhood, 
 point to an ancient sun-worship in the country. 
 
 then he hath done us this gnat evil] Observe the completeness of 
 the test. If cows unaccustomed to the yoke drew the cart quietly; if 
 in spite of their natural instincts they deserted their calves; if without 
 human guidance they went straight to the nearest Israelite town; the 
 obvious conclusion must be that they were controlled by a supernatural 
 power, and that that power was the God of Israel. Compare Gideon's 
 'sieus,' consisting of phenomena contrary to expectation (Jud. vi. 
 
 37 ff-)-
 
 vv. 12—15.] I- SAMUEL, VI. 83 
 
 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-she- 12 
 mesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, 
 and turned not aside to the right hand or /^ the left ; and 
 the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border 
 of Beth-shemesh. And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping 13 
 their wheat harvest in the valley : and they lifted up thei'r 
 eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see //. And the cart 14 
 came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood 
 there, where there ivas a great stone : and they clave the 
 wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto 
 the Lord. And the Levites took down the ark of the 15 
 Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of 
 gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of 
 
 10 — 18. The plan carried out and the Ark restored to 
 
 Israel. 
 
 12. took the straight way to the 'way of Beth-shemesh] Better, went 
 Straight forward on the road to Beth-shemesli. 
 
 lowing as they went] For their lost calves. 
 
 13. they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest] A 
 description of harvest in Philistia by a modern traveller helps us to 
 realise the scene in the valley of Beth-shemesh, which was suddenly 
 suspended by the appearance of the Ark. "When the fog dispersed 
 the whole plain appeared to be dotted over with harvesting parties, 
 men reaping, women and children gleaning and gathering the grain 
 into bundles, or taking care of the flocks which followed closely upon 
 the footsteps of the gleaners. All seemed to be in good humour, 
 enjoying the cool air of the morning. There was singing alone and in 
 chorus, incessant talking, home-made jokes, and laughter long and 
 loud." Thomson's The Land and the Book, p. 543. 
 
 This notice fixes the time of year as the end of May or beginning of 
 June. Robinson saw wheat harvest in progress at Gaza on the 19th of 
 May, and just commencing at Hebron on the 4th of June. Bibl. Res. 
 I- 4.St. 
 
 in the valley] Heb. "e>?iek" denoting "the long broad sweeps some- 
 times found between parallel ranges of hills." Sin. and Pal. p. 481. 
 
 14. Joshua a Beth-sheniite\ Joshua the Beth-shemeshite. Our 
 translators have copied the Vulgate in abbreviating the form, as in the 
 case of Berijamite' for ' Benjaminite.' 
 
 they clave the wood of the cart, &c.] For a similarly extemporised 
 sacrifice see 2 Sam. xxiv. 22. Cp. also i Kings xix. 21. 
 
 15. And the Levites took doran] Rather, in accordance with v. 14, 
 Now the Levites had taken down. As Beth-shemesh was a priestlv 
 city, "Levites" appears to Ije used here in a general sense to mean 
 "members of the tribe of Levi," not in its technical sense of "Levites" 
 as distinguished from "priests." Cp. Ex. iv. 14; Josh. iii. 3. 
 
 6—2
 
 84 I. SAMUEL, VI. [w. 16—19. 
 
 Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices 
 
 16 the same day unto the Lord. And when the five lords of 
 the PhiUstines had seen //, they returned to Ekron the same 
 
 17 day. And these are the golden emerods which the Philis- 
 tines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord ; for 
 Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, 
 
 iS for Ekron one; and the golden mice, according to the num- 
 ber of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five 
 lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even 
 unto the great stone ^Abel, whereon they set down the ark 
 of the Lord : w/iich stone remainct/i unto this day in the 
 field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite. 
 
 19 — Cii. VII. I. The Penalty of Irreverence. Removal of 
 the Ark to Kirjathfearini. 
 
 ir, And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they 
 
 Ihe v!cn of Beih-shcvicsh, &c.] In addition to the offering of the 
 kine mentioned in the previous verse, the inhabitants of the town 
 brought ofl'erings of their own. The burut-offcrings symbolized renewed 
 consecration of the worshijipers to the service of Jehovah: the sacri- 
 ficis were thank-offerings to Jehovah for His goodness in restoring the 
 Ark. 
 
 17, 18. We have here a specific description of the propitiatory 
 ofl'ering actually sent; {a) a golden "boil" for each chief city: \b) a 
 golden mouse for each city and village throughout the whole country. 
 The apparent discrepancy between the latter statement and v. 4 
 vanishes if we regard v. 4 as merely the proposal of the priests, and 
 ?y. 18 as a description of what was actually done. The reason for the 
 offering of mice from the whole country probably was that the plague 
 of mice had ravaged the whole country, while the pestilence was 
 chiefly confined to the great cities. 
 
 fiiurd citics~\ Fortified or walled cities, contrasted with the "country 
 villages" or unwalled towns. Cp. Deut. iii. 5. 
 
 even unto the great [stone of] Ahd\ If the present Heb. text is cor- 
 rect', Abel (= "lamentation") must be regarded as a proper name 
 given to the great stone in Joshua's field from the lamentation for the 
 disaster recorded in v. 19. But there is no mention of such a name 
 having been given to it : it is scarcely natural that this stone should be 
 taken as the boundary of the land of the Philistines: and the sentence 
 as it stands is ungrammatical. It seems best to follow the Targum 
 and Sept. in reading "stone" instead of Abel, and to make a slight 
 further alteration of the text, by which we obtain good sense and 
 grammar : either [a] "And the great stone whereon they set down the 
 ark of the Lord is a witncES unto this day in the field of Joshua the 
 Beth-sheniesMte. " (Cp. Gen. x.xxi. 52): or (/■) "Tlie great stone . . . 
 remaineth unto this day."
 
 V. 20.] I. SAMUEL, VI. Ss 
 
 had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the 
 people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men : and the 
 people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of 
 the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth- 20 
 
 19 — Ch. VII. 1. The Penalty of Irreverence. Removal of 
 THE Ark to Kirjath-jearim. 
 
 19. Ih-cmae they had looked into the arh] Better, becausa they had 
 gazed upon the ark. The rendering of the E.V. follows the explana- 
 tion given by Rabbinic commentators, but the expression used signilies 
 rather "to gaze upon with profane curiosity." The priests of Belh- 
 shemesh must have known that even the Levites were forbidden to look 
 upon the furniture of the Holy of Holies upon pain of death (Num. iv. 
 19, 20), but instead of hastening to cover it with befitting reverence, 
 they left it exposed to the public gaze, and brought down a judgment 
 which was intended to vind.cate the holiness of Jehovah. Certain'y 
 they were not punished for the unavoidable sight of the Ark as it 
 approached them, at which they justly rejoiced (c. 13). 
 
 It seems not improbable, however, that there is some corruption in 
 the Heb. text here. The repetition "and he smote," "even he smote," 
 is somewhat strange, and the Sept. has the following entirely different 
 reading, which may possibly represent an earlier text. "And the 
 sons ot Jechonias rejoiced not among the men of Bethsamus because 
 they saw the ark of the Lord: and he smote among them, &c." i.e. 
 either from indifference or irreligion they took no part in the general 
 rejoicing and were punished for tlieir impiety. 
 
 yf/?y thousand and tltreescore and ten incn'\ It is generally agreed 
 that there is some mistake in the text here, {a) The anomalous order 
 of the numerals in the Hebrew (70 men 50,000 men), and the absence 
 of the conjunction and mark corruption, (b) The village of Beth- 
 shemesh cannot possibly have contained such a number of inhabitants. 
 It seems best with Josephus and some Heb. j\ISS. to omit 50,000 
 altogether. Possibly the number was originally expressed by a letter 
 used as a numerical sign, and explained once rightly and once wrongly 
 in marginal notes, both of which eventually crept into the text. "A 
 like instance of the intrusion of a number into the text is found in Neh. 
 vii. 70, where the number 500 is erroneously added to the 30 (or 33) 
 Priests' garments given by Nehemiah, to makeup 100 with the 67 given 
 by the congregation. See Ezr. ii. 69, and Neh. vii. 72." Speaker's 
 Comm. p. 274. 
 
 Many explanations of the passage with the retention of the number 
 50,000 have been attempted. The only one deserving of notice is that 
 50,000 is the number of the people, 70 the number of those that were 
 smitten among them. But apart from the improbability that the village 
 contained so many inhabitants, (and v. 21 implies that the news of the 
 return of the Ark had not spread so as to bring in others from a dis- 
 tance), this meaning can only be imposed upon the Hebrew and not 
 fairly extracted from it.
 
 85 I. SAMUEL, VI. VII. [vv. 21 ; i. 
 
 i_ . 
 
 shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord 
 
 21 God? and to whom shall he go up from us? And they 
 sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, 
 The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord ; 
 
 7 come ye down, a/id fetch it up to you. And the men of 
 
 Such errors as this, to which the text of any ancient booh is liable in 
 the process of transmission, do not affect the general historical trust- 
 worthiness of the narrative, and the freest acknowledgment of them in 
 no way precludes a full belief in the Inspiration of Scripture. 
 
 /lad smitten many of the people with a great slaughter'] Lit., " had 
 smitten the people with a great smiting." 
 
 20. Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?] Before Jeho- 
 vah this holy God. Holiness is an especial attribute of Jehovah, 
 demanding a corresponding holiness on the part of the people among 
 whom He promised to dwell (Ex. xxix. 45, 46; Lev. xi. 44, 45). 
 Chastisement was necessary to teach the men of Beth-shemesh that 
 their sinfulness could not stand before the holiness of God (cp. Mai. iii. 
 1; Lk. V. 8): but instead of fitting themselves for His Presence, they 
 desired to free themselves from the burden of it. Cp. Matt. viii. 34. _ 
 
 We should compare the judgment upon Uzzah, after which David 
 feared to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. (2 Sam. vi. 7 — 9.) 
 
 to whom shall he go np from 11s ?] They regard the Presence of Jeho- 
 vah as inseparable from the Ark. 
 
 21. Kirjath-jearim] i.e. '' eity of forests" originally belonged to 
 the Gibeonites (Josh. ix. 17), and was one of the frontier cuies of 
 Judah (Josh. xv. 9). 
 
 The site is probably to be fixed at the modem village of Ktiryet-el- 
 enah, i.e. "city of the grape," which stands among the hills, 8 or 9 
 miles N.E. of Ain Shems. "A ride over ruined rocky paths, some of 
 the worst in the country, brought us to Kureit-el-Enab, the ancient 
 Kiriath-jearim, in a pleasant valley of olive-groves, abounding in jays 
 and hawks. We dismounted to visit the old Gothic church, said to 
 have been built by the English Crusaders, and still quite perfect, 
 though desecrated by the Moslem villagers to the uses of a cow-shed." 
 Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 397. [See however Add. Note IX. p. 245.] 
 
 Kirjath-jearim was also called Baalah (Josh. xv. 9), Baale-Jiidah 
 (2 S. vi. 2), and Kirjath-baal (Josh. xv. 60), names which point to the 
 former existence of Baal- worship in the place. 
 
 The Ark was probably taken to Kirjath-jearim, which was neither a 
 priestly nor Levitical city, as being the nearest place of importance on 
 the road to Shiloh, but why it was not restored to its old resting-place 
 does not appear. Possibly Shiloh, as the central seat of worship and 
 government, was occupied by the Philistines after the battle of Aphek. 
 Certainly it never regained its old importance. See Jer. vii. 12— 14, 
 
 come ye do'vn] Kirjath-jearim was among the hills of Judah on 
 higher ground than Beth-shemesh.
 
 vv. 2, 3.] I. SAMUEL, VII. 87 
 
 Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, 
 and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and 
 sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 
 
 2 — 6. The National Repentance and Reformatio7i under 
 
 Samuel. 
 
 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath- 2 
 jearim, that the time was long : for it was twenty years : and 
 all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And 3 
 Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do 
 return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away 
 the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and pre- 
 
 Ch. VII. 1. into the house of Abinadab in the hill\ On the hill, 
 some eminence in or near the town. In a Sam. vi. 4, 5, the E.V. 
 wrongly takes the same word as a proper name, " /« Gibcah." 
 
 Abinadab was probably (as Josephus says) a Levite : for the Israelites 
 would scarcely have ventured to violate the law by entrusting the Ark 
 to a layman after the late judgment. 
 
 sanctified Eleazar^ Consecrated him and set him apart for the 
 special duty. "Nothing is said of Eleazar's consecration as priest . . . 
 He was constituted not priest, but watchman at the grave of the Ark, 
 by its corpse, until its future joyful resurrection." 
 
 The words of Psalm cxxxii. 6, "We found it in the fields of the wond" 
 refer to this sojourn of the Ark at Kirjath-jearim. The word translated 
 "wood" \sjaar, which is the singular oi Jearim. 
 
 2—6. The National Repentanxe and Reformation under 
 
 Samuel. 
 
 2. And it came to pass, &c.] Better, And it came to pass, from the 
 day when the ark rested in Kirjath-jearim, that a long time elapsed, 
 even twenty years. Twenty years was not, as the E.V. seems to imply, 
 the whole duration of the Ark's sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time 
 that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded. 
 
 The period here passed over in silence was a dark page in Israel's 
 history, politically and religiously. They were vassals of the Philis- 
 tines, reduced apparently to abject submission. The public worship of 
 Jehovah was intermitted ; for the Tabernacle seems to have been dis- 
 mantled, and the Ark was in a private house. The people sank into 
 gross idolatry. But meanwhile Samuel was growing in strength and 
 influence, and when the right moment came and the desire for better 
 things sprang up as the fruit of liis prophetic labours, he was ready to 
 take his place as the leader of the nation. 
 
 lamented after the Lokd\ As a child follows the father who has 
 been forced to turn away in anger, and with sighs and tears entreats for 
 reconciliation. 
 
 3. the strange gods and Ashtaroth] The strange gods and
 
 S3 L SAMUEL, VII. [vv. 4, 5. 
 
 pare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: 
 and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 
 
 4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashta- 
 
 5 roth, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, Gather 
 all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the 
 
 the Aslitaroth = " the Eaalim and the Ashtaroth" of v. 4. Baalim is 
 the phiral oi Baal, AsJitaroth oi Ashtoirlh, and the pUiral denotes either 
 {a) the numerous images of these deities, or (/') the different forms under 
 which they were worshipped, as Baal-Peor, Eaal-Berith, Bnil-Zebub. 
 
 Baal (-/on/) was the supreme male deity of the Phoenician and 
 Canaanite nations, and probably is to be identified with tl;e Babylonian 
 Bel. 
 
 Ashtoreth (Gr. Astar/c) was the corresponding female deity, wor- 
 shipped in Babylonia under the name Ishtar as the goddess of battles 
 and victories, in which character she also appears among the Philistines, 
 war-spoils being dedicated to her (ch. x\xi. 10). Her symbol was the 
 Ashcrali (rendered ''^ grove" in the E.V., Jud. iii. 7 and frequently), 
 probably a wooden column or image resembling the sacred tree of the 
 Assyrians, the worship of which is very commonly coupled with that 
 of Baal. 
 
 The Baal-worship which began in the wilderness, when the Israelites 
 "joined themselves to Baal-peor" the god of Moab, seems never to 
 have been thoroughly eradicated during the period of the Judges. See 
 Josh. xxiv. 23; Jud. ii. 11 — 13, iii. 7, viii. 33, x. 6. 
 
 prepai-e your hearts anio the Lord] Set your hearts steadfastly 
 towards Jehovah. 
 
 serve him on//] For He is a jealous God, who cannot endure a rival. 
 His command is "Thou shalt have none other gods beside Me." 
 
 5. to JMizpt'h] Mizpah, (in Heb. always with the definite article, 
 as retaining its meaning, "the watch-tower,") was the meeting-place 
 of the national assembly on two other important occasions in this 
 period: (a) when war was declared against Benjamin (Jud. xx.); 
 \b) when Saul was elected king (ch. x. 17); and (r) once in later 
 times, on an occasion not unlike the present, when Judas Macca- 
 baeus mustered Israel to revolt against the tyranny of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes (i Mace. iii. 4-2 — 46). It belonged to the tribe of Benjamin 
 (Josh, xviii. 26). Its site has not been identified, but is conjectured to 
 be either [a) A'eby Samzvil, a conspicuous hill rising to the height of 
 •2935 ft., about 5 miles N.W. of Jerusalem: or (b) Scopus, the broad 
 ridge immediately north of Jerusalem. In favour of the latter site are 
 (a) the similarity of the name (<rK67ros = watchman): (b) the description 
 of the place in i Mace. iii. 46, as " over against Jerusalem." 
 
 It must be carefully distinguished from Mizpah in Gilead (Jud. x. 17, 
 xi. 11). 
 
 / -wi/l pray for yon unto the Lord] Other instances of Samuel's 
 prayers are mentioned in viii. 6, xii. 17 — 19, 23, xv. 11. He is quoted 
 as the type of successful intercessors in Ps. xci.x. 6; Jer. xv. i.
 
 vv. 6— lo.] I. SAMUEL, VII. 89 
 
 Lord. And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew 6 
 water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on 
 that day, and said there. We have sinned against the Lord. 
 And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 
 
 7 — 12. Total Rout of the Philistines at Ebenezer. 
 
 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel 7 
 were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines 
 went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel 
 heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the chil- s 
 dren of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the 
 Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand 
 of the Philistines. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and 9 
 offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord : and 
 Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel ; and the Lord heard 
 him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the 10 
 
 6. and drew rvaiei; atid poured it otit before the Lord\ A symbol- 
 ical act which has no exact parallel in the O.T., but was probably 
 significant of the outpouring of their hearts before Jehovah in peni- 
 tence and supplication. Cp. ch. i. 15; Ps. Ixii. 8; Lam. ii. 19. The 
 paraphrase of the Targum is, "And they poured out their heart in re- 
 pentance before Jehovah." 
 
 a7id fasted on that day] As on the great day of Atonement (Lev. 
 xvi. -29), in token of humiliation and contrition for their sin. 
 
 We have sinned against the Lord] They made a public confession. 
 Cp. Jud. X. 10. 
 
 And Sanmel judged, &c.] As prophet he effected the religious 
 reformation, and then taking his place as the chief magistrate of the 
 state, he provided for the civil and political reorganization of the 
 people. That tlie assembly lasted some time is clear from v. 7. The 
 Philistines had time to muster their army before it dispersed. 
 
 7 — 12. Total Rout of the Philistines at Ebenezer. 
 
 7. when the Philistines heard, &c.] The lords naturally regarded a 
 national assembly of their vassals as a preliminary step towards revolt, 
 and mustering the army of the confederation, marched up towards 
 Mizpah. 
 
 9. a Slicking Iambi Which might not be less than seven days old, 
 according to Lev. xxii. 27. 
 
 for a burnt offering wliolly unto the Lord] The whole animal was 
 burnt upon the altar to denote the entire consecration to Jehovah of 
 those who were ])leading for deliverance. 
 
 and the Lord hea)-d him] Better, answered tim. Cp. Ps. xcix. 6, 
 and note on v. 5.
 
 90 I. SAMUEL, VII. [vv. ii— 13. 
 
 Philistines drew near to battle against Israel : but the Lord 
 thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philis- 
 tines, and discomfited them ; and they were smitten before 
 
 11 Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and 
 pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came 
 
 12 under Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it be- 
 tween Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben- 
 ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 
 
 13 — 1 7, Siimtnary Account of SamueV s Judgeship. 
 
 13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more 
 into the coast of Israel : and the hand of the Lord was against 
 
 10. tJittndc7-ed with a great thiuidcr'] Lit., with a great voice. 
 Thunder is the "voice of God" (I's. xxix. 3, 4). Cp. ch. ii. 10; 2 Sam. 
 xxii. 14, 15. 
 
 discomfited theiti\ The Heb. word expresses the confusion of a S7tdden 
 panic, and is especially used of SHpernatural defeats. Cp. Ex. xiv. 24 
 (E.V. troubled); Josh. x. 10; Jud. iv. 15; 2 Sam. xxii. 15. 
 
 and they were smitten before Israel\ The thunder wliich dismayed 
 the Philistines gave courage to the Israelites. The verb "//zty %vere 
 smitten'''' (different from the one similarly translated in the next verse) 
 is specially spoken of God, e.g. ch. iv. 3. 
 
 11. iintil they came under Beth-car^ Beth-car ( = " house of a 
 lamb," or ^^ house of pasture, ") was apparently on high ground over- 
 hanging the road back to Philistia. 
 
 12. Eben-eze7-\ i.e. " The Stone of Help" a memorial set up be- 
 tween Mizpah and Shen, (in Heb. with the definite aracle) = " 77/f 
 Tooth,'" probably some conspicuous "tooth" or spire of rock. Cp. 
 xiv. 4. The exact place is unknown, but "exactly at the spot where 
 twenty years before they had obtained their great victory, the Philis- 
 tines were totally routed." [See however Add. Note IX. p. 245.] 
 
 Hitherto, (S:c.] i.e. Up to this time. The deliverances of the past are 
 a pledge of continued help for the future. 
 
 13 — 17. Summary Account of Samuel's Judgeship. 
 
 13. So the Philistines were subdued] Cp. Jud. iii. 30, iv. 23, 24. 
 The word signifies ^'were brought lo7v,'" but does not imply complete 
 subjugation. The forty years oppression (Jud. xiii. i) now came to an 
 end. 
 
 they came no more into the coast of Istncl\ The same phrase is used 
 in 2 Kings vi. 23, where the very next verse speaks of a fresh invasion. 
 It is obvious therefore that the Hebrew historian could use the ex- 
 pression relatively and not absolutely, to describe a cessation of the 
 Philistine inroads for the time being. How long it lasted we are nut 
 told, but
 
 vv. 14—16.] I. SAMUEL, VII. 91 
 
 the Philistines all the days of Samuel. And the cities which 14 
 the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, 
 from Ekron even unto Gath ; and the coasts thereof did 
 Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And 
 there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. And 15 
 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went 10 
 
 the hand of the Lord ivas against the Fhtlisthtes all the days of Sa- 
 muel] Yet we find the people groaning under the Philistine oppression 
 (ix. 16) : a garrison or a tribute-collector stationed at Gibeah (x. 5, xiii. 
 3): a general disarmament of the nation by the Philistines (xiii. 19): 
 Hebrew slaves in the Philistine camp (xiv. i!i): and three invasions of 
 the land (xiii. 5, xvii. r, xxiii. 27): all during Samuel's lifetime. We 
 must then understand the statement in the text as either {a) "a general 
 expression allowable in such a brief survey as is here given:" or (d) as 
 referring only to the period of Samuel's active judgeship. In the 
 latter case we may conjecture that the Philistines re-established their 
 ascendancy in his old age, in consequence of the weak and corrupt 
 government of his sons. 
 
 14. from Ekron even nnto Gat/i] The towns which lay on the 
 Danite frontier between these places were restored to Israel, not how- 
 ever including Ekron and Gath themselves. There is no evidence that 
 Gath had ever been occupied by the Israelites, and Ekron was only 
 held for a short time (Jud. i. 18). 
 
 the coasts thereof] The territory belonging to these frontier towns. 
 The Sept. reads "the border of Israel." 
 
 there was peace between Israel and the Amorites] The Amorites are 
 mentioned as the most powerful enemies of Israel next to the Philis- 
 tines. "Amorite" is probably a local not a tribal name, meaning 
 '■'■ highlander" contrasted with '' Canaanite,^^ which means '' loivlaiider." 
 On the W. of Jordan they lived chiefly in the mountainous country of 
 Judah and Ephraim (Num. xiii. 29; Josh. x. 5): E. of Jordan they 
 occupied the high plateau of rich pasture-land between the Jabbok and 
 the Arnon, from wliich they had expelled the Moabites (Num. xxi. 13, 
 26), and were in their turn dispossessed by the Israelites. 
 
 In the Egyptian inscriptions the Amorites give their name to the 
 W'hole country of Canaan, and in several passages of the O.T. the 
 name appears to be used loosely of the original inhabitants in general. 
 Possibly this is the case here. 
 
 15. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life] This, like the 
 statement of v. 13, must be understood with qualifications: for [a) 
 Samuel in his old age made his sons judges (viii. i): [b) Saul was made 
 king a considerable time before Samuel's death. But it does not con- 
 tradict the subsequent history. Clearly his sons supplemented but did 
 not supersede their father's judicial office; and Samuel retained a ci\il 
 and religious authority even after Saul had become the military leader 
 of the people.
 
 92 I. SAMUEL, VII. [v. 17. 
 
 from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Miz- 
 17 ]ieh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return 
 was to Ramah ; for there was his house ; and there he 
 judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord. 
 
 16. to Bcth-cl\ About 8 miles N. of Jerusalem the ruins of Bcittn 
 mark the site of the ancient city of Bdh-el, formerly the royal Canaanite 
 city Ltiz (Gen. xxviii. 19), at the head of the pass of Michmash and 
 Ai. (a) Near it Abraham built an altar" (Gen. xii. 8). {b) There 
 Jacob saw the Vision of the Ladder set up to heaven (Gen. xxviii. 11 ff.), 
 and received the confirmation of his new name Israel (Gen. xxxv. 10), 
 and from these revelations called the place Beth-el or "The House of 
 God." ((") There in the days of the Judges the Ark rested for a time 
 and an altar was set up (Jud. xx. 18, 26 — 28, where "the house of 
 God" in the E.V. should be "Beth-el:" cp. i Sam. x. 3). {d) There 
 after the Disruption of the Kingdoms Jeroboam set up his idolatrous 
 parody of the worship of Jehovah (i Kings xii. 32, 33), and Beth-el 
 "the house of God" became in the language of the prophet Beth-aven 
 "the house of naught," i.e. of idols (IIos. iv. 15, x. 5). 
 
 The name Beth-el appears to have been applied originally to the 
 sanctuary in the neighbourhood of Luz, and not to have been given to 
 the city till after its conquest by the tribe of Ephraim. 
 
 For a graphic description of Beth-el see Stanley's .S/zza/ and Pales- 
 tine, pp. 217 — 223. 
 
 and Gili^al'X Gilgal ( = ^^the Rolling,'''' Josh. v. q) was the first station 
 of the Israelites after the passage of the Jordan, where (a) the men 
 born in the wilderness were circumcised (Josh. v. 2); (/;) the First 
 Passover was celebrated (Josh. v. 10) ; (c) in all probability the Ark 
 rested during the conquest of the land. Now it appears as the chief 
 religious and political centre of the nation, where (i) sacrifices are 
 offered (ch. x. 8); (2) assizes held; (3) the national assemfily convened 
 (xi. 14, 15); (4) the army mustered (xiii. 4, 7). It was probably selected 
 for these purposes on account of its historical associations and its 
 remoteness from the Philistines, whose invasions had pushed the centre 
 of gravity of the kingdom back to the banks of the Jordan. 
 
 Lieut. Conder has fixed the site of Gilgal by the discovery of the 
 name Jiljulich a mile and a half E. of the village of Eriha, between 
 the ancient Jericho and the Jordan. Tent Work, II. p. 7. 
 
 and MizpcJil See note on 7,'. 5. 
 
 in all those places^ The Sept. has "in all these sanetnaries.''^ This 
 reading whether original or not expresses the fact that all these places 
 were, like Ramah, places for sacrifice and worship. Even before the 
 captivity of the Ark, Shiloh was not the sole religious centre; for 
 instance there was a sanctuary at Shechem in Joshua's time (Josh. xxiv. 
 26); and now that the Ark and Tabernacle had disappeared from 
 \iew, no effort seems to have been made to preserve the religious unity 
 of the nation. 
 
 17. to Ra}nah'\ See note on ch. i. i. Samuel chose his native
 
 vv. 1—3.] I. SAMUEL, VI 1 1. 93 
 
 Ch. VIII. I — 5, Request of the people for a king. 
 
 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made 8 
 his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his first- 2 
 born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they 
 ivere judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his 3 
 ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and per- 
 
 place for his usual official residence, and made it a centre of religious 
 worship by building an altar to Jehovah. 
 
 Here ends the first division of the book, which records Samuel's life 
 and work as the last of the Judges, in connexion with the old order of 
 things. The next division opens by relating the steps which led to the 
 establishment of a monarchy, and shews us Samuel as the Mediator 
 between the old and the new regime, effecting a political change of the 
 utmost importance in the history of Israel without the shock of revo- 
 lution. 
 
 It has been conjectured {a) from the fact that this portion of the 
 book ends with a summary account of Samuel's whole life: {b) from 
 the apparent (but not altogether inexplicable) contradiction between 
 ch. vii. 13 — 15 and the subsequent narrative, that the compiler derived 
 the history of Samuel and the history of Saul from different sources : 
 but in the obscurity of the whole question of the compilation of the 
 book, it must remain a hypothesis incapable of verification. 
 
 Ch. VIII. 1 — 5. Request of the people for a king.' 
 
 1. -when Samuel was old] A considerable time, probably not much 
 less than 20 years, must have elapsed since the victory of Ebenezer, before 
 Samuel required the help of his sons on the ground of old age, and 
 some years more before their misgovernment became so flagrant as to 
 give occasion for the request of the eiders. On the chronology see In- 
 trod. p. 22 ff, 
 
 2. JVozu the name, &c.] Joel = " Jehovah is God:" Abiah ="Jah 
 is my father:" names significant of a protest against the prevalent 
 idolatry. The text of i Chr. vi. 28, where the names are given as "the 
 firstborn Vashni and Abiah," is corrupt. "Joel" has dropped out after 
 "the firstborn," and "Vashni" is an obvious corruption of the Heb. 
 word meaning "and the second." 
 
 judges in Beer-sheba] See note on ch. iii. 20. Beer sheba was the 
 most convenient centre for the southern district, which Samuel assigned 
 to his sons, retaining the northern himself. Josephus says that "re- 
 signing his office to his sons he divided the people between them, and 
 placed them in Bethel and Beer-sheba,'^ a statement which is probably 
 his own conjecture, and does not agree with ch. vii. 15. 
 
 3. turned aside after lucre] From the straight-forward path of their 
 father's example. Lucre (from Lat. lucrum) is only used in the E.V. in 
 a bad sense of ill-gotten gain. 
 
 took bribes and perverted Judgment] The same phrases are coupled
 
 94 I. SAMUEL, VIII. [vv. 4— 6. 
 
 4 verted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered 
 
 5 themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and 
 said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not 
 in thy ways : now make us a king to judge us like all the 
 nations. 
 
 6 — 9. yehovali's answer to the request. 
 
 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give 
 
 together in Deut. xvi. 19, though differently translated in the E. V. 
 "Thou shall not 7u>rst judgment. ..nor take a gift.'" Cp. Ex. xxiii. 
 
 6, 8. 
 
 4. the elders of Israel] Acting as representatives of the people, vv. 
 
 7, 10, 19, 22. 
 
 In a patriarchal system of government the Elders or heads of families 
 are the natural authorities. Even before the Exodus Israel possessed 
 an organization of Elders, to whom Moses was directed to deliver his 
 message (Ex. iii. 16). The title gradually acquired an official signifi- 
 cation ; in the wilderness Moses appointed a council of seventy to 
 represent the wliole body (Num. xi. 16, 24, 25). After the occupation 
 of Canaan we find mention of (a) Elders of cities, who acted as civil 
 magistrates (Josh. xx. 4; Jud. viii. 16; Ruth iv. 2 ; i Sam. xvi. 4): 
 {b) Elders of tribes or districts (Jud. xi. 5; i Sam. xxx. 26; 2 Sam. xix. 
 11): {c) The Elders of Israel, or united body of the Elders of the tribes, 
 forming the senate or executive council of the "congregation" or na- 
 tional assembly, (i) in war (ch. iv. 3), (2) in great political matters, as 
 on the present occasion, (3) in matters of general importance to the 
 nation (Jud. xxi. 16). 
 
 The institution of Elders lasted through the monarchy (see e.g. i Kings 
 XX. 7, 8, xxi. 11), and was revived after the captivity (Ezra x. 14). In 
 N.T. times "the Elders" formed one of the constituent elements of the 
 Sanhedrin. 
 
 5. inakc tcs a lciiig\ Lit. set, i.e. appoint, the same word as in the 
 corresponding passage, Deut. xvii. 14. 
 
 like all the nations] i.e. as all the surrounding nations have kings. 
 
 6—9. Jehovah's answer to the request. 
 
 6. the thing displeased Samuel] v. 7 implies that Samuel's displeasure 
 arose from a feeling of the ingratitude of tlie Israelites toward himself in 
 desiring that one who had done so much for them should be superseded 
 by a king. God's answer, "Not thee (their judge) have they rejected, 
 but me (their true king) have they rejected from reigning over them" 
 (the Ileb. order is emphatic) at once consoles him and points out the real 
 sinfulness of the request. This consisted not in the mere desire for 
 a king, which would not necessarily have been wrong, but in the spirit 
 of distrust of the invisible sovereignty of Jehovah and desire for the 
 splendour of a visible monarch which really prompted the request.
 
 vv. 
 
 -I I.] I. SAMUEL, VIII. 95 
 
 us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the 
 Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto 7 
 the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee : for 
 they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that 
 / should not reign over them. According to all the works 8 
 which they have done since the day that I brought them up 
 out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have for- 
 saken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 
 Now therefore hearken unto their voice : howbeit yet protest 9 
 solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king 
 that shall reign over them. 
 
 10 — 18. The rights of a king. 
 
 And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the peo- 10 
 pie that asked of him a king. And he said. This will be the n 
 manner of the king that shall reign over you : He will take 
 your sons, and appoint than for himself, for his chariots, and 
 
 Saimiel pmyedl He does not let his own personal feelings decide, 
 but endeavours to learn what is the Will of God in the matter. 
 
 8. so do they also unto thee'] Cp. John xv. 10. 
 
 9. Now therefore hearke7i\ Or, And now. There is no inference ' be- 
 cause they reject me and thee, therefore, &c.,' but the command of v. 7 
 is repeated. P'or the reasons why the request was granted, see Introduc- 
 tion, ch. iv. § 4. 
 
 10—18. The rights of a king. 
 
 10. ^into thefeoflel Through their representatives the elders. Cp. 
 note on v. 4. 
 
 11. This will be the mamier of the kmif] Or, "the right of the 
 king;" such prerogatives as an absolute monarch claims. 
 
 We have here a vivid picture of the tyranny of an Oriental despot 
 whose subjects are at his disposal for (i) court retainers, (2) military 
 officers, (3) cultivators of the royal estates, (4) artificers in the arsenal, 
 (5) domestics in the royal household. (6) Their property is liable to 
 arbitrary seizure, beside (7) regular exactions of tithe, in order to enrich 
 court favourites, and (8) their slaves and their cattle may at anytime be 
 pressed into the royal service. Under such a despotism political and 
 social freedom is at an end. Prosperous as was Solomon's reign, it 
 tended in this direction. See i Kings v. 13 — 18, xii. 4. 
 
 and appoint thc?n'\ This may l)e rendered cither as the E.V. or, 
 and set them for himself upon his chariots and upon his chargers. 
 Service in the rcLmuc of the king rather than in the army appears to be 
 meant.
 
 96 I. SAMUEL, VIII. [vv. 12—18, 
 
 to be his horsemen ; and some shall run before his chariots. 
 
 12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and cap- 
 tains over fifties ; and tvill set them to ear his ground, and 
 to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and 
 
 13 instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters 
 to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 
 
 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your 
 oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his ser- 
 
 is vants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of 
 your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 
 
 16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, 
 and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them 
 
 17 to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep : and ye 
 
 18 shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day be- 
 cause of your king which ye shall have chosen you ; and 
 the Lord will not hear you in that day. 
 
 some shall run h:fore his chariots'] A body of runners was a regular 
 sign of regal state (2 Sam. xv. i ; i Kings i. 5). 
 
 12. captains over thousands and captains over fifties] The Sept. 
 reads "captains of hundreds and captains of thousancis," which are the 
 usual military divisions (ch. x.xii. 7; Num. xxxi. 14): but the Heb. text 
 is to be preferred as mentioning the highest and the lowest offices. Cp. 
 1 Kings i. 9 ff. For the fact cp. ch. xiv. 52. 
 
 to ear his ground] " To ear" — "(0 plough," from Lat. arare through 
 A.-S. erian. The verb occurs again in Deut. xxi. 4 and Is. xxx. 24 ; 
 the subst. earing in Gen. xlv. 6; Ex. xxxiv. 21. Shakespeare uses the 
 word : 
 
 "And let them go 
 To ear the land that hath some hope to grow." 
 
 Richard II. A. iii. Sc. 2. 
 
 13. to be confectionaries] The original form of ''^confectioner" not 
 however in its modern sense, but="f«(^ ivho makes confections" (Ex. 
 xxx. 35), i.e. compounds of spices and perfumes, a perfumer. 
 
 14. he rvill take your fields, &c.] Cjd. i Kings xxi. 7; Ezek. xlvi. 18. 
 
 15. officers] Or, cliamtoerlains. 
 
 16. your goodliest young men] "Young men" in the Ileb. appears 
 to be a copyist's error, and we should probably adopt the Sept. reading 
 "cattle." Men-servants and maid-servants, cattle and asses, are then 
 coupled together naturally. Cp. Ex. xx. 17. 
 
 17. and ye shall be his servants] To sum up all briefly, ye will be 
 staves to the king ye have chosen. 
 
 18. because of your hing] Or, "from your king," appealing to God 
 to escape from his tyranny. 
 
 7vill not hear you] Rather, 'will not answer you. The Sept. adds 
 "because ye have chosen yourselves a king."
 
 vv. 19—22: I, 2.] I. SAMUEL, VIII. IX. 97 
 
 19 — 22. Reply of the people. 
 
 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of 19 
 Samuel ; and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over 
 us ; that we also may be Hke all the nations ; and that oar 2 
 king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our bat- 
 tles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and 21 
 he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord 22 
 said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them 
 a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye 
 every man unto his city. 
 
 Ch. IX. I, 2. SauPs genealogv. 
 
 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was 9 
 Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becho- 
 
 rath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty i?ian of 
 power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice 2 
 
 19 — 22. Reply of the rEOPLE. 
 
 19. Nevertheless] Simply And. 
 
 20. that our king may Judge us and go out before US'] The king w.ts 
 to unite the duties of (1) government of the nation in time of peace, and 
 (2) leadership of the army in time of war. 
 
 21. he rehearsed them] i.e. repeated them. 'Rehearse' is derived 
 from Fr. reherser, to harrow over again. Samuel once more laid the 
 matter before Jehovah in prayer, and again received the same answer. 
 
 This narrative is in close connexion with ch. x. 17 — 27. The inter- 
 vening section, possibly derived from a different source, gives an account 
 of Samuel's preliminary interview with Saul, preparatory to his formal 
 election as king. 
 
 Ch. IX. 1, 2. Saul's genealogy. 
 
 1. A^uiu there luas a ma7i] "The sacred historian now tracks as it 
 were another stream of events which were to concur in working out 
 God's providential purpose of giving a king to Israel." Speakers 
 Commentarj. 
 
 Kish, the son of Abiel] See note on xiv. 50. 
 
 a tnighty tnan of foioer] The Heb. may mean either {a) a valiant 
 man, as in ch. xvi. 18, or (/;) a wealthy man, as in Ruth ii. i. Per- 
 liaps the ideas of personal valour and family importance are both 
 included here, as in the Sept. rendering dvjjp Swaros, ' a powerful 
 man.' 
 
 2. whose name was SauF] Heb. ShaQl = " asked." It occurs as 
 the name {a) of an Edomite prince (Gen. xxxvi. 37, 38); {b) of a son 
 of Simeon ((Jen. xlvi. 10); (r) of a Kohathite in the genealogy of 
 Samuel (i Chr. vi. 24); {d) of Saul OK Tarsus, "who is also called 
 
 I. SAMUEL ' »,
 
 98, I. SAMUEL, IX. [w- 3, 4- 
 
 young' man, and a goodly: and f/iere was not among the 
 children of Israel a goodlier person than he : from his 
 shoulders and upward /le was higher than any of the people. 
 
 3 — ID. SaiiVs search for his Fathe7-s Asses. 
 
 3 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish 
 said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with 
 
 4 thee, and arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through 
 mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, 
 but they found them not : then they passed through the land 
 of Shalim, and there they were not : and he passed through 
 
 Paul " (Acts vii. 58, &c.) ; and thus it became "the most distinguished 
 name in the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin," in the N.T. as 
 well as in the O.T. (Phil. iii. 5). 
 
 a choice young man, and a goodl\i\ Choice and goodly. Cp. x. 24. 
 Physical qualifications of stature, strength and beauty are a natural 
 commendation for the dignity of a king, especially in warlike ages. 
 Euripides speaks of etSos d^iov Tvpai'vido^, ' form worthy to rule.' 
 
 Ajax appears in Homer (//. III. 227) as 
 
 "Towering o'er all with head and shoulders broad:" 
 and Turnus, in Virgil {Aen. vil. 7S4), 
 
 "Out-tops the foremost chieftains by a head." 
 
 3 — 10. Saul's search for his Father's Asses. 
 
 3. t/ie asses] In the East asses are valuable property, indispensable 
 for farm-work and travelling. The possession of a drove of asses, and 
 several servants, indicates that Kish was a man of some substance. 
 
 4, 5. Saul's route cannot be traced with any certainty. He started 
 from his home at Gibeah apparently in a N.W. direction (i) through 
 "Mount Ephraim" (see i. i, note); (2) through "the land of Shali- 
 sha," perhaps the district round Baal-shalisha (2 Kings iv. 42), which 
 lay about 12 miles N. of Lydda; (3) then turning S. he traversed "the 
 land of Shalim" (=/oxes), perhaps in the neighbourhood of Shaalabbin 
 (Josh. xix. 42) in Dan; (4) then striking E. he searched the western 
 part of the "land of Benjamin," till he reached (5) "the land of Zuph," 
 in which lay Samuel's city Ramah. The search occupied parts of 
 three days (v. 20). It seems best to suppose that the unnamed city 
 of V. 6 ff. is Ramah, for (a) the servant speaks of it as the prophet's 
 regular residence (v. 6); (^•) it is natural to connect "the land of Zuph," 
 in which it was situated, with the name Ramathaim-Zophim (i. i, 
 note); (c) the difficulty raised by the description of Saul's return in ch. 
 X. 2 (see note) may be solved by supposing that he did not go straight 
 home, but was sent by the prophet out of his way in order to meet the 
 men who were looking for him.
 
 vv. 5— 8.] I.SAMUEL, IX. 9^ 
 
 the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. And s 
 when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his 
 servant that was with him, Come, and let us return ; lest my 
 father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. 
 And he said unto him, Behold now, thcfe is in this city a 6 
 man of God, and he is an honourable man ; all that he saith 
 Cometh surely to pass : now let us go thither ; peradventure 
 he can shew us our way that we should go. Then said 7 
 Saul to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we 
 bring the man ? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and 
 there is not a present to bring to the man of God : what 
 have we? And the servant answered Saul again, and said, s 
 Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of 
 silver : that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our 
 
 5. take tliozigJit for us'X i.e. " be anxiotis" as in Matt. vi. 25. Cp. 
 X. •2. 
 
 6. ill this city\ Pointing to the town on a hill in front of them. 
 a man of God] See note on ii. 27. 
 
 he is an honourable man] Lit., the man is MglUy esteemed. 
 
 all that he saith, ^c] Cp. iii. 19. 
 
 pcrachenture] Derived from per, " by," and adventiira, late Latin 
 for "that which is about to happen," " chance," = "perchance," 
 "perhaps." 
 
 our way that we should go] Rather, our way upon whicli we have 
 come: i.e. shew us which way to go to attain the object of our journey. 
 Cp. Gen. xxiv. 42. 
 
 It seems strange that Saul apparently knows nothing about Samuel. 
 But the days of Samuel's greatest activity were long past, and he had 
 for some time been living in comparative retirement: while "up to 
 this point Saul had been only the shy and retiring youth of the family, 
 employed in the common work of the farm," and knowing little of the 
 political or religious movements of the time. 
 
 7. a present] A word occurring here only, to denote the present 
 with which one approaches a great man. The cognate verb is found in 
 Is. Ivii. 9, "Thou -iventest to the king with ointment." For presents 
 offered \.o prophets compare i Kings xiv. 3; 2 Kings v. 15 ff., viii. 8, 9: 
 and for the present of bread which Saul suggests they might have 
 given compare the "handfuls of barley and pieces of bread" received 
 by the false prophetesses in Ezek. xiii. 19. See Smith's Diet, of the 
 Bible, Art. Gifts. 
 
 8. the fourth part of a shekel of silver] Worth rather more than 
 sixpence according to the present price of silver: but we have no clue 
 to its real value in the time of Samuel. 
 
 that -will I give] Sept. "And thou shalt give it ;" certainly a more 
 natural reading, as the present would be made by the master. 
 
 7—2
 
 100 I. SAMUEL, IX. [vv. 9—12. 
 
 9 way. (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of 
 God, thus he spake. Come, and let us go to the seer : for he 
 that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) 
 
 10 Then said Saul to his servant, Well said ; come, let us go. 
 So they went unto the city where the man of God was. 
 
 II — 14. Inquiry for the seer. 
 
 11 And 2,% they went up the hill to the city, they found young 
 maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them. Is the 
 
 12 seer here ? And they answered them, and said. He is ; be- 
 hold, he is before you : make haste now, for he came to 
 
 9. Beforetime in Israrl] This verse is clearly an addiiioJi to the 
 original narrative to explain the term "seer" which had become obso- 
 lete when the book was compiled in its present form. It is inserted 
 here and not after v. \i where the term first occurs, to avoid inter- 
 rupting the narrative. 
 
 (i) Two Hebrew words are translated ^^ seer'" in the E.V. 
 
 (i) That used here ()-6eli) is applied specially to Samuel in this 
 chapter and in i Chr. ix. 22, xxvi. 28, xxix. 29: to Hanani, 2 Chr. xvi. 
 7, 10: generally, Is. xxx. 10. Apparently it fell out of popular use 
 after Samuel's time, but was revived as a classical word by the com- 
 piler of Chronicles. 
 
 (2) Elsewhere in the E.V. "j-f«-" represents the Heb. chozeh — 
 '^ gazer," a term applied first to Gad (2 Sam. xxiv. 11) and used in the 
 historical and prophetical books both of particular individuals and 
 generally. 
 
 (ii) The term '^froplict" (Heb. nabi) maintains its ground through- 
 out the O.T. The root of the word seems to denote "bubbling over" 
 and so "ecstatic utterance:" and the passive form of the substantive 
 signifies that the prophet is swayed by a divine afflatus. 
 
 The exact difference of meaning of these terms is much debated. 
 Probably ndl>t designates the projjhet as the inspired interpreter of. the 
 will of God: roeh and chozeh refer to the method of comnmnication by 
 dream and vision. Cp. Num. xii. 6. 
 
 11 — 14. Inquiry for the seer. 
 
 11. as they went up] As they were ascending by the ascent to 
 the city. The Hebrew has a peculiar construction, the repetition of 
 which is characteristic of this chapter. Cp. rv. 5, 14, 17, 27. 
 
 young maidens going out to drawTvatcr] Cp. Gen. xxiv. 15, xxix. 9ff. ; 
 Ex. ii. 16; John iv. 7. The well was in the lower ground outside the 
 city wall. 
 
 12. he is before yoii\ Before thee, addressing the speaker. It is a 
 direction to go straight forward.
 
 vv. 13—15.] I. SAMUEL, IX. ici 
 
 day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people 
 to day in the high place: as soon as ye be come into n 
 the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to 
 the high place to eat : for the people will not eat until he 
 come, because he doth bless the sacrifice ; and afterwards 
 they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up ; for 
 about this time ye shall find him. And they went up into u 
 the city : and when they were come into the city, behold, 
 Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high 
 place. 
 
 15 — 24. Saul entej'tained by Samuel. 
 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before >s 
 
 he came to day to tJie ci'tv] If "the city" was Ramah, Samuel may 
 have been absent from home on one of his official circuits. 
 
 a sacrifice of the people'] Possibly at the New Moon (Num. xxviii. 
 II — 15) or upon some special occasion of thanksgiving. 
 
 in the high place'] Here probably was the altar which Samuel had 
 built (vii. 17). A natural instinct among all nations chooses hill-tops as 
 fitting places of worship. Such "high places" were frequently conse- 
 crated to the worship of Jehovah in spite of the prohibition implied in 
 the command that there should be only one sanctuary (Deut. xii. 
 II — 14). That this was the case in the unsettled period of the Judges 
 is not surprising, but even after the building of the temple the high- 
 place worship continued, though it is condemned in the books of Kings 
 as a blot on the character of otherwise good monarchs. 
 
 13. he doth bless the sacrifice] Pronounces a blessing or thanks- 
 giving over the sacrificial feast. Cp. Luke ix. 16 with John vi. 11; Matt. 
 xxvi. 26. 
 
 for about this time] Lit. " For as for him — now shall ye find him." 
 The pronoun is repeated for emphasis. 
 
 14. a7id when they ivere come into the city] Rather, as they were 
 coming into the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming out to 
 meet them. In the E. V. this verse apparently disagrees with v. 18. 
 The correct translation makes all clear. Saul and his servant ascend 
 the hill. As they enter the city they meet Samuel "in the gate" (v. 18). 
 
 The Sept. reads "gate " here, and "city" in v. 18, but the change 
 is unnecessar)\ 
 
 The high place was either on the top of the hill on the slope of which 
 the city stood, or on the adjacent hill from which the city had its name 
 Ramathaim (" the two heights "). See note on i. i. 
 
 ^Against' here =^ opposite to, as in Gen. xv. 10. So Tyndale in 
 Gen. xxxii. i has "Jacob saw the angels of God come against \\\\x\." 
 
 15—24. Saul entertained ey Samuel. 
 
 15. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear] Lit. "had uncovered
 
 102 
 
 I. SAMUEL, IX. [vv. 16—20. 
 
 16 Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send 
 ; thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt 
 
 anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may 
 save my people out of the hand of the Philistines : for I 
 have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto 
 
 17 me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him. 
 Behold the man whom I spake to thee of: this same shall 
 
 ,8 reign over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in 
 the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's 
 
 19 house is. And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the 
 seer : go up before me unto the high place ; for ye shall eat 
 with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will 
 
 23 tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses 
 that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them ; 
 for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? 
 
 Samuel's ear," a figure of speech said to be derived from the practice of 
 removing the hair or a corner of the turban from another's ear in order 
 to whisper a secret into it. 
 
 16. out of the hand of the Philistines] See note on vii. 13. 
 
 / have looked upon 7ny people] Sept. "I have looked upon the 
 affliction of my people." The word might easily have fallen out of the 
 Hebrew text. Cp. Ex. iii. 7, 9. 
 
 17. the Lord said iinto him] Lit. Jehovah answered him ; ans- 
 wered his mental question, Is this the man? 57. 17 is in close connexion 
 with V. 14, vv. 15 and 16 forming a parenthesis. 
 
 shall reign overmy people] Lit. " shall ;vj-/;-rt/« my people." _ A pe- 
 culiar word, contrasting the restraints of a settled government with the 
 license of the time in which "every man did that which was right in his 
 own eyes" (Jud. xxi. •25). 
 
 18. in the gate] Ileb. "In the midst of the gate," i.e. the gate- 
 way, where they would naturally halt to inquire for the Seer's house. 
 
 19. go tip before vie] Addressed to Saul only. The verb is in the 
 singular. Saul is to precede Samuel as a mark of honour. 
 
 all that is in thine heart] Thine inmost thoughts and aspirations ; not 
 merelv about the asses, which Samuel tells him at once. May we not 
 suppose that Saul at his plough like Joan of Arc with her flock had been 
 brooding over the oppression of his country, and cherishing a vague de- 
 sire to liberate it? 
 
 20. three days ago] Heb. " to-day three days "=" the day before 
 yesterday," according to the inclusive Hebrew reckoning. 
 
 set not thy niind on them] " Set not thy heart on them." Be not 
 anxious for them. 
 
 on whom is all the desire of Israel] Rather, For whom are all the 
 desirable things of Israel? are they not for thee and for all thy 
 father's house ? i. e. ' Care not for these asses for they are found : and
 
 vv. 21-24.] I. SAMUEL, IX. 103 
 
 Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house? And Saul .m 
 answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest 
 of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the 
 families of the tribe of Benjamin ? wherefore then speakest 
 thou so to me? And Samuel took Saul and his servant, 22 
 and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in 
 the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were 
 about thirty persons. And Samuel said unto the cook, 23 
 Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto 
 thee, Set it by thee. And the cook took up the shoulder, ,4 
 and that which icas upon it, and set it before Saul. And 
 Samuel said, Behold that which is left ; set // before thee, 
 
 even if they were lost, what matter ? is not the best that Israel has to 
 give at thy service ?' 
 
 21. the smallest of the tribes of Israeli The warlike tribe of Benja- 
 min, the smallest except Manasseh at the time of the numbering in the 
 wilderness (Num. i. 37), was reduced to insignificance by the terrible 
 slaughter recorded in Jud. xx. 46. 
 
 of the tribe of Benjamin'] Heb. the tribes. If this reading is right, 
 tribe here = <:/(;« or subdivision of a tribe, as in Num. iv. 18 ; Jud. xx. 12 
 (Heb. tribes of B.). But the Sept. and all ancient versions read "tribe" 
 in the singular. 
 
 22. the parlonr] Or, the chamber, a room at the high place speci- 
 ally used for sacrificial feasts. In later times the word was applied to 
 the " chambers " in the precincts of the temple used for the residence of 
 priests and Levites, and for sacred purposes in general. 
 
 made them sit in the chiefest place] Lit. " gave them a place at the 
 head of those who were invited." "Chiefest" is an instance of the 
 double superlatives common in the E. V. Cp. " most highest." See 
 the Bible IVord Book. 
 
 about thirty persons] Only the more distinguished citizens would be 
 specially invited to the chamber. The rest would feast in the open air 
 outside. 
 
 23. the portion] Cp. i. 4. 
 
 24. And the cook took up the shoulder] Rather, And the cook 
 heaved the leg. The right leg was the priest's portion (Lev. vii. 3«). 
 which Samuel had received. Its dedication to God was indicated by a 
 solemn "heaving " or elevation "before the Lord," to which allusion 
 is here made. Cp. Num. xviii. 26 ff. The reservation of the leg for 
 Saul was a mark of honour. Josephus calls it "a royal portion." 
 
 And [Satniiel] said] The E. V. follows the Sept. and Vulg. in 
 supplying Samuel which is not in the Heb. But the words may pos- 
 sibly be the cook's. See below. 
 
 Behold that zuhich is left, &c.] Or, Behold that which was reserved is set 
 before thee, eat.
 
 I04 I. SAMUEL, IX. [w. 25— 27. 
 
 and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee 
 since / said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with 
 Samuel that day. 
 
 25 — X. 8. Saul anoifited by Saimtel and pro77iised three 
 signs in confi7-}natio7i of his call. 
 
 73 And when they were come down from the high place i7ito 
 the city, Saimiel communed with Saul upon the top of the 
 
 26 house. And they arose early : and it came to pass about 
 the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of 
 the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And 
 Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, 
 
 27 abroad. And as they were going down to the end of the 
 
 for unto this fh?ie, &c.] The Heb. text cannot be thus translated and 
 is most Hkely corrupt, but tlie sense intended apnears to be " For against 
 the set time hath it been kept for thee of which I said, I have invited 
 tlie people :" or, if the words are the cook's, " of which Samuel said." 
 In either case the point is that Saul's arrival was expected and provision 
 made for it beforehand. 
 
 The Sept. renders "Because for a testimony (this is a common mis- 
 translation of the word meaning " set time ") hath it been reserved for 
 thee apart from the rest; cut it up." The Vulg. " Because it was kept 
 on purpose for thee when I invited the people." 
 
 25 — X. 8. Saul anointed by Samuel and promised three 
 
 SIGNS IN CONI-'IRMATION OF HIS CALL. 
 
 25, 26. Samuel coinminied with Saul] Preparing him for the an- 
 nouncement which he was going to make next morning. On the housetop 
 they would be open to the public view so that all could see the honour 
 Samuel shewed his gue=t, while they would have opportunity for undis- 
 turbed conversation. The Sept. however reads, "And he came down 
 from the high place into the city: and they prepared a bed for Saul on 
 the housetop and he slept. And it came to pass, &c." This may 
 perhaps represent the original text, for it, seems strange to say first " they 
 arose early," and then proceed to describe Samuel's calling Saul. The 
 flat roof of an oriental house is still "resorted to for business, relaxa- 
 tion, or for sleeping... During a large part of the year it is the most 
 agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and 
 evening. " See Thomson's Land and the Book, p. 39 ff. 
 
 26. about the spring:- of the day] "spring," i.e. "rising" of the day 
 = dawn. Cp. "dayspring," Luke i. 78. 
 
 called Saul] Rather, "called to Saul." Samuel had slept in the 
 house, Saul on the roof. 
 
 abroad] In the language of the E. V. 'abroad' means simply 'out 
 of the house.'
 
 V. I.] I. SAMUEL, X. IC5 
 
 city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, 
 (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may 
 shew thee the word of God. Then Samuel took a vial of 10 
 oil, and poured /'/ upon his head, and kissed him, and said, 
 Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain 
 
 27. a while\ Now. The E. V. follows the Vulg. paulisp-'r. 
 
 X. 1. a vial of oir\ Rather, "the vial of oil. " The word rendered 
 vial (i.e. phial or flask) occurs again only in the account of the corona- 
 tion of Jehu, in 2 Kings ix. i, 3 (E. V. box). The definite article in 
 the original may perhaps indicate the holy anointing oil used for the 
 consecration of priests (Ex. xxx. "23—33). 
 
 and kissed hint] In token of reverence and homage to his royal 
 dignity. Cp. Ps. ii. 12. 
 
 Is it not because the Lord] Lit., "Is it not the case that Jehovah" 
 = Surely Jehovah, &c. 
 
 hath anoiiitLd thee] The rite o{ anointing {a')%\^vMn^A the consecration 
 of the king to the service of God; (/') was the outward sign of the gift 
 of the Spirit to qualify him for his office {vv. 9, 10, xvi. 13, cp. Acts 
 X. 38) ; \c) marked his person as sacred and inviolable (ch. xxvi. 9 ; 
 2 Sam. i. 14). 
 
 The title "the Lord's anointed" (Sept. Xpioros Kupi'ov, cp. Luke ii. 
 26), designating the theocratic King as the Vicegerent of Jehovah, is 
 characteristic of the books of Samuel and the Psalms. It never occurs 
 in Kings, when the true idea of the kingdom had been lost. 
 
 Priests (Ex. xl. 15 ; Lev. viii. it), prophets in some cases (i Kings xix. 
 16), and kings, were consecrated by anointing, and formed partial types 
 and foreshadowings of The Messiah (derived from the Hebrew word 
 Mashiach = anointed, through tlie Greek form Meo-crtas), i.e. THE 
 Anointed one, the Christ, who united in Himself all three offices 
 of Prophet, Priest, and King. 
 
 According to Jewish tradition, anointing was only necessary when a 
 new dynasty came to the throne or the succession was disputed. Hence 
 we only find mention of it in the case of Saul; David (ch. xvi. 3; 2 
 Sam. ii. 4, v. 3) ; Absalom (2 Sam. xix. 10); Solomon (i Kings i. 39); 
 Joash (2 Kings xi. 12) ; Jehoahaz, who was not the eldest son of Josiah 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 30); Jehu (2 Kings ix. 3). 
 
 The ceremonies of this first recorded coronation are still observed 
 in England. The anointing is performed by the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, and the kiss of homage is given by the Archbishop, bishops, and 
 premier peer of each rank for the rest of his order. 
 
 The Sept. reads "Hath not the Lord anointed thee to be ruler over 
 his people Israel? And thou shalt rule the people of the Lord, and 
 thou shalt save them out of the hand of their enemies. And this shall be 
 the sign unto thee that the Lord hath anointed thee to be ruler over his 
 inheritance. When, &c." The Vulgate also contains the greater part 
 of this addition, which seems to be required to connect vv. i and 2. 
 Its omission in the Hebrew may be accounted for by what is called
 
 io6 I. SAMUEL, X. [w. 2, 3. 
 
 2 over his inheritance ? When thou art departed from me to 
 day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in 
 the border of Benjamin at Zelzah ; and they will say unto 
 thee. The asses which thou wentest to seek are found : and 
 lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth 
 
 3 for you, saying. What shall I do for my son ? Then shalt 
 thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the 
 plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going 
 
 Homocotclcjiton. When two sentences end with the same words, the 
 scribe's eye is liable to catch the second instead of the first, so that he 
 omits tile intervening words. 
 
 his inheritance'l Cp. Deut. xxxii. 9 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 71, (S:c. 
 
 2. RachePs sepidchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah^ In Gen. 
 XXXV. 16 — 20, xlviii. 7, Rachel's grave is described as on the road from 
 Bethel to Ephrath which is Bethlehem, a little way from Ephrath. This 
 agrees with the site now marked Ijy a tomb called Kubbct Kahil (dome 
 of Rachel) a mile N. of Bethlehem. But if this is the true site of 
 Rachel's sepulchre, it is not easy to reconcile it with the notice here. 
 (a) It is at least 4 miles S. of the southern border of Benjamin, {b) 
 Supposing "the city" to be Ramah (see note on ix. 4, 5), it is hard to see 
 why Saul should be sent so far out of his way home. Various attempts 
 have been made to explain the difficulty, (i) Thenius thinks that the 
 Ephrath mentioned in Genesis was not Bethlehem, but a town in the 
 neighbourhood of Ramah and Gibeah, so that Rachel's sepulchre would 
 be on the northern frontier of Benjamin. This involves rejecting {a) 
 the statement in Genesis that Ephrath was Bethlehem, as a mistaken 
 gloss, [b)^ the modern site of the tomb. (2) Keil supposes that the city 
 from which Saul started was not Ramah, but some unknown city in the 
 neighbourhood of Bethlehem. But the general impression given by the 
 whole chapter is that the city was the seer's usual residence. (3) The 
 most plausible explanation seems to be that Samuel purposely sent Saul 
 out of his way in order that he might meet the two men; and that the 
 expressions "near Rachel's sepulchre" and "in the border of Ben- 
 jamin" must be understood as applied to Zelzah, which lay between the 
 two, with considerable latitude. 
 
 In our uncertainty as to the exact sites, the true solution must remain 
 uncertain. 
 
 at Zelzahl This place is mentioned nowhere else and cannot be 
 identified. The Sept. does not regard it as a proper name, but trans- 
 lates it "two men leapittg vigorously." The Vulg. renders "j« the 
 south." 
 
 and sorroweth'] And is anxious, the same word as in ix. 5. 
 
 3. the plain of Tabor] Rather, tlie oak of Tabor. It has been in- 
 geniously conjectured that this is to be identified with the oak under 
 which Rebekah's nurse Deborah was buried "under Bethel" (Gen. 
 xxxv. 8), and the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel under which 
 Deborah judged Israel (Jud. iv. 5), Tabor being either a corruption
 
 vv. 4— 6.] "I. SAMUEL, X. 107 
 
 up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another 
 carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a 
 bottle of wine : and they will salute thee, and give thee two 4 
 loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. 
 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the 5 
 garrison of the Philistines : and it shall come to pass, when 
 thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a 
 company of prophets coming down from the high place with 
 a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before 
 them ; and they shall prophesy : and the spirit of the Lord e 
 
 or dialectic variation for Deborah ; but nothing certain is known about 
 the place. 
 
 going up to God to Bethel'\ On the sanctuary at Bethel see note on 
 vii. 16. As yet the presence of God was only connected with holy 
 places, or the Ark, and the Omnipresence of God scarcely realised. See 
 Gen. xxviii. 16 and i Sam. xiv. 36. 
 
 a bottle of wine] i.e. a skin bottle: Sept. aT/c6j. Cp. i. 24. 
 
 4. two loaves of bread] An unconscious act of homage to the newly- 
 anointed king. As the representative of God he receives a share of the 
 offerings intended for the sanctuary. 
 
 5. the hill of God] Or, Gibeali of God. Gibcah is the term used 
 to denote 'the bald rounded hills of central Palestine.' This eminence 
 was distinguished as Gibeah of God, or God''s hill, from the place of 
 worship on its summit. It is probably to be identified with {a) Gibcah 
 of Benjamin, which was a place of considerable importance (Jud. xix. 
 XX., compare i Sam. xiii. 2, &c.) ; and [b) Gibeah of Saul, Saul's residence 
 (x. 26, xi. 4). Its site is supposed by Dr Robinson to be the con- 
 spicuous hill called Tell el Fill {hill of the bean), about 3 miles N. of 
 Jerusalem ; but Lieut. Conder inclines to the view that Saul's city 
 was Geba, and that the district round was first called Gibeah of Ben- 
 jamin, afterwards Gibeah of Saul. Tent Work, 11. iii. Geba is no doubt 
 to be identified with fcba, about 3 miles N. E. of Tell el Fill. 
 
 the garrison of the Philistines] A military post established by the 
 Philistines to maintain their hold upon the Israelites. See note on vii. 
 14. Cp. xiii. 3, 4 and 2 Sam. viii. 6, 14. The word has been otherwise 
 explained to mean {a) a pillar, set up to mark the Philistine conquest, 
 or {b) an officer for the collection of taxes; but i Chr. xi. 16 seems to 
 require the sense '■'' garrison.'" 
 
 a company of prophets] A band of the organized society of prophets 
 established by Samuel. See Introd. p. 33, and cp. xix. 20. 
 
 and they shall prophesy] Better, prophesying. The word has nothing 
 to do Vixlh. prediction here, but denotes the exjjression of religious feeling 
 under the influence of inspiration in hymns and otherwise. See the 
 notes on ix. 9 and xviii. 10. In i Chr. xxv. i — 3 the word is used of 
 chanting psalms and set services. Such a procession of ])rophets was 
 naturally accompanied by musical instruments. Cp. Lx, xv. 20; t Chr.
 
 io8 I. SAMUEL, X. [vv. 7—10. 
 
 will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, 
 
 7 and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when 
 these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion 
 
 8 serve thee ; for God is with thee. And thou shalt go down 
 before me to Gilgal ; and behold, I will come down unto 
 thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of 
 peace offerings : seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to 
 thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do. 
 
 9 — 16. The fidfilment of the signs. 
 
 9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go 
 from Samuel, God gave him another heart : and all those 
 
 10 signs came to pass that day. And when they came thither 
 to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him ; and 
 the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among 
 
 xiii. 8 ; 1 Kings iii. 15. The psaltery (Heb. ncbel) and harp (Heb. 
 kimior) were stringed instruments, the exact form of which is unknown: 
 the tabret or timbrel (Heb. toph) was a tambourine or hand drum : the 
 pipe (Heb. chalil) a kind of flute. 
 
 6. the spirit of the LoRD ivill come iipon thee\ See Num. xi. 25 — 29 ; 
 Jud. xiv. 6, 19, XV. 14; I Sam. xi. 6, xvi. 13. 
 
 7. do as occasio7i serve thee'] Lit. "do what thine hand shall find ;" 
 undertake boldly whatever presents itself. Cp. Jud. ix. 3,^ ; Eccl. ix. 10. 
 
 8. thoti shalt go doiun before me to Gilgal] Better, and when thou 
 goest down before me to Gilgal. This is not to be imderstood as a 
 direction to meet Samuel at Gilgal at once. The injunction applies to 
 some future occasion whenever it might be, of which they had been 
 talking. Doubtless Samuel and Saul had been discussing the best means 
 of shaking off the Philistine yoke, and had agreed upon a muster of the 
 people at Gilgal, as the national centre furthest from the Philistine power. 
 Samuel's parting injunction to Saul is to take no step independently. 
 The king must wait for the prophet's sanction to strike the blow. The 
 fitting opportunity for the muster did not come for several years, and 
 when it came Saul disobeyed Samuel's command. See xiii. 8 ff. 
 
 9 — 16. The fulfilment of the signs. 
 
 9. God gave him another heart] Lit. "turned him another heart." 
 Cp. V. 6. The divine inspiration transformed the simple countryman 
 into the King and Deliverer of Israel. The heart in Scripture denotes 
 "the centre of the whole mental and spiritual life of will, desire, thought, 
 perception, and feeling." 
 
 10. to the hill] Rather, to Gibeah. See note on v. 5. The narrator 
 cursorily mentions the fulfilment of the first and second signs, but re- 
 lates the fulfilment of the third in detail, because it has an important 
 bearing on Saul's preparation for his new office.
 
 vv. 11 — 16.] I. SAMUEL, X. T09 
 
 them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him before- n 
 time saw that behold, he prophesied among the prophets, 
 then the people said one to another, What is this that is 
 come unto the son of Kish ? Is Saul also among the pro- 
 phets? And one of the same place answered and said, 12 
 But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is 
 Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an 13 
 end of prophesying, he came to the high place. And Saul's 14 
 uncle said unto him and to his servant. Whither went ye? 
 And he said, To seek the asses : and when we saw that t/iey 
 were no where, we came to Samuel. And Saul's uncle said, 15 
 Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. And 16 
 Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses 
 were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof 
 Samuel spake, he told him not, 
 
 11. all that knew him beforctiiiie\ An indication that Gibeah was 
 Saul's home. Cp. vv. 14, 26. 
 
 11. 12. Saul's neighbours were astonished that the son of Kish, the 
 plain citizen, undistinguished save by his stalwart form and handsome 
 countenance, should suddenly appear as a prophet in the midst of the 
 trained recipients of divine inspiration. But one of their fellow-towns- 
 men reproved them by asking, But who is their father? Was the 
 [iarentage of these prophets such as to lead us to expect them to be 
 thus specially gifted? The prophetic inspiration comes from God, and 
 may therefore be bestowed even upon the son of Kish. See Amos vii. 
 14, 15. Compare the astonishment of the people of Capernaum at the 
 words and works of Christ (Matt. xiii. 54 — 57). 
 
 12. it became a proverl/\ Applied probably to the unexpected ap- 
 pearance of any person in a novel character alien to his former occu- 
 pation and habits. The proverb received a fresh exemplification in the 
 occurrence related in ch. xix. 24. 
 
 13. he came to the high placed When Saul parted from the company 
 of prophets which he met descending from the high-place, he went 
 up there himself to worship. 
 
 14. SauCs tincle\ Possibly Ner. See note on xiv. 50, He may 
 have been at the high-place for some public solemnity, at which the 
 ]3rophets also had been present; or the conversation may have occurred 
 on a subsequent occasion. 
 
 16. But of the matter &c.] Modesty, humility, caution, have been 
 variously assigned as his motive for silence. But .Samuel's manner had 
 clearly implied that his election was to be a secret for the present, even 
 if he had given no direct injunction to that effect, 
 
 17—27. The Pukijc election of Saul as King, 
 The thread of the narrative in ch. viii., which has been temporarily
 
 no I. SAMUEL, X. [vv. 17—19- 
 
 17 — 27. The Public election of Saul as King. 
 
 17 And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to 
 i3 Mizpeh ; and said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith 
 the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, 
 and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and 
 out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppres- 
 19 sed you : and ye have this day rejected your God, who him- 
 self saved you out of all your adversities and your tribula- 
 tions ; and ye have said unto him, Nay\ but set a king over 
 
 dropped in order to give an account of the circumstances by which 
 Samuel was privately made acquainted with the man whom Jehovah 
 had chosen to rule his people, is now resumed, and Saul's public election 
 by lot to the regal office described. Since the revelation to Samuel and 
 the choice by lot were equally declarations of Jehovah's will, there could 
 be no contradiction between them : the latter publicly confirmed the 
 former for the satisfaction of the people. 
 
 17. Samuel called the people togethei-] lie convoked the national 
 assembly or "congregation of Israel," which had made the request for a 
 king through its representative elders (viii. 4). This Ijody was com- 
 posed of all Israelites of twenty years old and upwards (Num. i. 3) who 
 had not forfeited their privileges, together with foreigners admitted upon 
 certain conditions. Its political functions were necessarily limited by 
 the nature of the theocracy, and consisted rather in accepting the de- 
 clared will of Jehovah than in originating measures of its own. Thus : 
 
 (i) The Law was solemnly accepted by it (Ex. xix. 3 — 9, xxiv. 3). 
 
 [t.) Leaders and kings chosen by divine command were presented to 
 it for approval, as on the present occasion, and in the case of Joshua 
 (Num. xxvii. 18 — 23); David (2 Sam. v. i); Solomon (i Chron. xxix. 
 22). 
 
 (3) In later times some of the kings appear to have been actually 
 elected by it: e.g. Jeroboam (i Kings xii. 20); Joash (2 Kings xi. 19); 
 Josiah (2 Kings xxi. 24); Jehoahaz (2 Kings xxiii. 30). 
 
 (4) It possessed a national judicial authority (Jud. xx. i). 
 
 (5) It claimed some voice in questions of alliance and peace and war 
 Qosh. ix. 15, iS). 
 
 unto the Lord to I\IizpeJi\ See note on v. 3; and for Mizpah see 
 note on vii. 5. 
 
 18. / broiif^ht up Israel] It was I who brought up Israel. The 
 pronoun is emphatic, in contrast to and ye with which z'. 19 begins. 
 
 oitt of the hand of all kij!s;do/ns, \and of them\ that oppressed yoii\ 
 Rather, out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. The 
 reference is to the deliverances recorded in the Book of Judges. 
 
 19. And ye have this day rejected your God] Once more the prophet 
 is directed to rebuke the people for their ingratitude and unbelief. See 
 above on viii. 6. 
 
 ye have said unto hint] The request made to Samuel was virtually 
 addressed to God.
 
 vv. 20— 22.] I. SAMUEL, X. in 
 
 us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by 
 your tribes, and by your thousands. And when Samuel had 20 
 caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of 
 Benjamin was taken. When he had caused the tribe of 21 
 Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri 
 was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken : and when 
 they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they 22 
 inquired of the Lord further, if the man should yet come 
 
 hv your tribes, mid hy your tJio7tsands\ The natural subdivision of the 
 nation into tribes: of the tribes mXo fainilics or clans: of the families 
 into houses: of the houses into vien (Josh. vii. 14) : was supplemented by 
 Moses with an artificial organization of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and 
 tens (Ex. xviii. 25). The ///i3//jtf«.y corresponded to the fami/y, and the 
 terms appear to be used here as synonymous. Cp. ch. xxiii. 23; Jud. 
 vi. 15; Josh. xxii. 14. 
 
 20. We are not told expressly by what process the selection was 
 made, but it was probably by casting lots. Compare Joshua vii. 14 ff. 
 The lot was in common use among all nations of antiquity. It is 
 regarded in Scripture not as a chance decision, but as a legitimate method 
 of ascertaining the divine will (Prov. xvi. 33). We read of its being 
 used^ 
 
 (r) To select an attacking force (Jud. xx. Q, 10). 
 
 (2) For the allotment of conquered territory or spoil (Josh, xviii. 10; 
 cp. Joel iii. 3). 
 
 (3) To detect criminals (Josh. vii. 14; i Sam. xiv. 42). 
 
 (4) For the choice of officers, &c. (i Chron. xxiv. 5; Luke i. 9; Acts 
 i. 26). 
 
 (5) For the selection of the scape-goat (Lev. xvi. 8, 10). 
 
 (6) For the settlement of disputes generally (Prov. xviii. 18). 
 
 21. t/ie family of Matri'] The family of ttie Matrites is nowhere 
 else mentioned. It has therefore been conjectured that we should read 
 Bikrites, or descendants of Becher the son of Benjamin (i Chr. vii. 6). 
 
 Saul the son of Kish was taken] The description of the process of 
 casting lots is abridged. The family taken would be brought hy houses, 
 and the house taken then brought hy persons. The Sept. inserts "and 
 they bring the family of Mattari man by man," which must be under- 
 stood, as in Josh. vii. 17, to mean the heads of houses only, not all the 
 individuals of the family, which would be far too long a process. In 
 this way Kish would be taken, and finally, when he brought his house- 
 hold forward man by man, Saul was taken. 
 
 he could not be found] Natural feelings of modesty and humility 
 prompted Saul to hide himself. lie knew already that he was the ob- 
 ject of God's choice, but he would not appear to court advancement, or 
 in any way put himself forward for the royal dignity. 
 
 22. they inquired of the hORU further] The technical phrase for 
 ascertaining God's will by means of the Urim and Thummim in the
 
 112 I. SAMUEL, X. [vv. 23— 26. 
 
 thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid 
 
 ^3 himself among the stuff. And they ran and fetched him 
 thence : and when he stood among the people, he was 
 higher than any of the people from his shoulders and up- 
 
 ■ 4 ward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom 
 the Lord hath chosen, that t/iere is none like him among 
 all the people ? And all the people shouted, and said, God 
 
 25 save the king. Then Samuel told the people the manner of 
 the kingdom, and wrote // in a book, and laid it up before 
 the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every 
 
 25 man to his house. And Saul also went home to Gibeah ; 
 
 breastplate upon the High-priest's Ephod (Ex. xxviii. 30; Num. xxvii. 
 21). See on xxviii. 6. and cp. ch. xiv. 3, xxii. 10, xxiii. 9, xxx. 7. 
 
 the stuff] The baggage of the people who had come to Mizpah 
 from a distance. Compare 
 
 "Therefore away to get our j/;/^ aboard." 
 
 Shakespeare, Co?n. of Errors, iv. 4. 
 
 24. that there is none like him amo>7g all the people] Stress is a<Tain 
 laid on Saul's imposing stature as a natural qualification for his ottice. 
 He was "a princely person and of a majebtic aspect." See note on 
 
 IX. 1. 
 
 God save the kingl Lit. "Let the king live." Vulg. "Vivat Rex:" 
 and so the Fr. "Vive le Roi," and so Wyclif: "Lyve the kyng." Cp. 
 I Kings i. 25, 34, 39; 2 Kings xi. 12; 2 Chr. xxiii. 11. The familiar 
 phrase of the E. V . appears to occur first in the Genevan Bible ( 1 560). 
 Coverdale (1535) has "God save the new kynge." It was probably 
 adopted from the liturgical response, "O Lord save the king" (Domine 
 salvum fac regem), which is taken from the Vulgate version of Ps. 
 XX. 9. 
 
 25. the_ manner of the kingdom] A charter establishing and defining 
 the position of the king in relation to Jehovah, and to the people. 
 It must be distinguished from the "manner of the king" in viii. n ff., 
 which describes the arbitrary exactions of an oriental despot ; but it can 
 scarcely be said to be "the first example of a limited constitutional 
 monarchy." In substance at any rate, it probably resembled the law of 
 the king in Deut. xvii. 14 — 20. 
 
 wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord] Lit. in the hook. 
 Possibly this important charter was added to "the book of the law" 
 kept by the side of the ark "before the Lord" (Deut. xxxi. 26). This 
 book contained not only the record of the Mosaic legislation (Ex. xxiv. 
 7; Deut. xxviii. 61), but historical narratives (Ex. xvii. 14), and other 
 records of importance, such as the solemn renewal of the covenant at 
 Shechem under Joshua (Josh. xxiv. 26). See Smith's Diet, of the Bible, 
 Art. Canon, Vol. I. p. 251.
 
 vv. 27; I.] I. SAMUEL, X. XI. 113 
 
 and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God 
 had touched. But the children of BeHal said, How shall 27 
 this man save us? And they despised him, and brought 
 him no presents. But he held his peace. 
 
 Ch. XL I — II. StrnVs victory over the Ammonites. 
 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped 11 
 
 26. there iveiit with him a band of men'\ Or, the valiant men. 
 Saul was escorted home by those who accepted him as the choice of 
 Jehovah, but 
 
 27. the children of Belial said'\ Certain worthless fellows (see note 
 on i. 16) spoke disparagingly of him, and despised him. 
 
 and brought him no presents] Cp. i Kings x. 25 ; 2 Chr. xvii. 5. 
 The refusal of the customary offerings of homage was tantamount to a 
 deliberate and contemptuous rejection of his authority. 
 
 But he held his peace] Or, And he was as one deaf, refusing to take 
 notice of this studied insult. See however the note on xi. i. 
 
 Ch. XL 1 — 11. Saul's victory over the Ammonites. 
 
 1. Then] Simply And. There is nothing in the Hebrew text to 
 mark whether the interval was long or short. The Sept. however 
 omits the words "But he held his peace" at the close of ch. x., and 
 begins this chapter "And it came to pass after about a month that 
 Nahash, &c." This rendering represents a very slight variation in the 
 consonants of the Hebrew text, and possibly preserves the original read- 
 ing. At any rate we may gather from ch. xii. 12 that an Ammonite 
 attack was threatened before Saul's election, and probably the actual 
 invasion took place not long after. 
 
 Nahash] The king of the Ammonites (ch. xii. 12). This Nahash 
 can hardly have been the Nahash who "sliewed kindness to David" 
 during his wanderings (2 Sam. x. 2), but probably his father or grand- 
 father. According to Josephus he was slain in the battle. 
 
 the Ammonite] South and East of the Israelite settlements on the 
 Eastern side of the Jordan dwelt the powerful tribes of the Ammonites 
 and Moabites. The limits of their respective territories cannot be 
 exactly defined, but the Ammonites appear to have lived north and the 
 Moabites south of the Arnon. The Ammonites were a fierce marauding 
 tribe: the Moabites a settled and civilised nation. United by the tie 
 of common descent from Lot, they were generally in alliance against 
 Israel. Twice during the period of the Judges they "oppressed 
 Israel" (Jud. iii. 12 — 14, x. xi), and even crossed the Jordan and 
 occupied Jericho (iii. 13, x. 9). After their defeat by Jephthah, the 
 Ammonites are not mentioned until the present occasion. During the 
 early part of David's reign they were on friendly terms with him, but 
 the studied insult offered \>y Ilanun to his aml;assadors (2 Sam. x. i ff.) 
 led to a war which resulted in the capture of their metropolis Rabbah 
 
 I. SAMUEL 8
 
 114 I. SAMUEL, XI. [vv. 2—5. 
 
 against Jabesh-gilead : and all the men of Jabesh said unto 
 Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 
 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condi- 
 tion will I make a covenant with you, that / may thrust out 
 all your right eyes, and lay \\.for a reproach upon all Israel. 
 And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' 
 respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of 
 Israel : and then, if there lie no man to save us, we will 
 come out to thee. Then came the messengers to Gibeah 
 of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and 
 all the people lift up their voices, and wept. And behold, 
 Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, 
 
 (2 Sam. xii. ■26). In the reign of Jehoshaphat they once more invaded 
 Judah in conjunction with the Moabites (2 Chr. xx), but were signally 
 defeated, and became tributary to Uzziah and Jotham (2 Chr. xxvi. 8, 
 xxvii. 5). Even after the Return their old hostility survived (Neh. iv. 
 7, 8). Judas Maccabaeus found them "a mighty power," and "fought 
 many battles with them until at length they were discomfited before 
 him" (i Mace. v. 6, 7). 
 
 yabcsh-Gilcad\ i.e. Jabesh in G/'kad, the extensive district lying 
 immediately E. of the Jordan between Bashan on the N. and Moab and 
 Ammon on the S. and S.E. To the southern portion of this district 
 the Ammonites laid claim (Jud. xi. 13). A terrible vengeance had been 
 executed on Jabesh for its neglect to join the levy of Israel in the war 
 against Benjamin (Jud. xxi. 8 ff.), but from this blow it had recovered, 
 and Nahash now attacked it as the capital of Gilead, and the key to the 
 possession of the country. The name of Jabesh still survives in the 
 IVady Ydbis, which runs down into the Jordan valley a few miles below 
 Beth-shan. It is a lovely valley, full of straggling old olives, patches 
 of barley, and rich pasture. Tristram's Land of Israel, p. 556. 
 
 2. that I may thrust out all your right eyes] Such barljarities are 
 not unknown in the East even now. Vambery describes the blinding of 
 prisoners as a regular practice at Khiva. Travels in Central Asia, 
 p. 1 38. The savage character of the Ammonites is attested by Amos 
 i. 13. The loss of the right eye was intended to disable them for war, 
 the left eye being covered by the shield, as the amputation of his thumbs 
 and great toes (Jud. i. 7, 8) was designed to incapacitate a man for the 
 use of the bow and destroy his swiftness of foot. 
 
 3. the elders of Jabeslil See note on ch, viii. 4, and cp. Jud. xi. 
 
 4. lift up their voices and wept] Oriental nations naturally display 
 their feelings in tears accompanied by loud wailings. Cp. ch. xxx. 4 ; 
 Gen. xxvii. 38; Jud. ii. 4, xxi. 2, &c. Achilles, Patroclus and other 
 Homeric heroes shed tears in a way which western nations account 
 utterly unmanly. 
 
 5. after the herd] After the oxen, as in v. 7. The king elect had
 
 vv. 6— 8.] I. SAMUEL, XI. 115 
 
 What aileth the people that they weep ? And they told him 
 the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the spirit of God 6 
 came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger 
 was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and 7 
 hewed them in pieces, and sent tJmn throughout all the 
 coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying. Who- 
 soever Cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall 
 it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell 
 on the people, and they came out with one consent And s 
 when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel 
 were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty 
 
 returned to his farm work till occasion should call him to higher duties. 
 So Cincinnatus was following the plough, when the messengers of the 
 senate came to offer him the dictatorship (Livy iii. •26). 
 
 6. the spirit of God catne upon Satd] The Heb. for "came upon" 
 describes a sudden and pervading impulse. (Sept. k<p-r]Ka.To: Vulg. 
 insilivit.) A supernatural accession of physical and mental vigour 
 roused his dormant energies into action, and enabled him to meet the 
 crisis promptly. 
 
 7. he took a yoke of oxen] Those doubtless with which he had just 
 been ploughing (v, 5). 
 
 and sent them] '77zcw,'i.e. the pieces, is rightly supplied. Sym- 
 Ijolical acts are often more eloquent than any words. Cp. Jud. xix. 29; 
 I Kings xi. 30, xxii. 11 ; 2 Kings xiii. 18. We may compare the Fiery 
 Cross which used to be sent round as the signal for the gathering of the 
 Highland clans in Scotland. It was "scathed with flame," and 
 "quenched in blood" as an emblem of the fire and sword awaiting 
 all who should neglect its summons. See The Lady of the Lake, Canto 
 III., Stanzas 8 — 11. 
 
 by the hands of messengers'] By the hand of the messengers, viz. 
 those who had come from Jabesh. 
 
 after Saul and after Samuel] Saul strengthens himself in his new 
 office by an appeal to the time-honoured name and prophetic authority 
 of Samuel. 
 
 the fear of the Lord, &c.] Awe inspired by Jehovah supported the 
 authority of His King and Ilis Prophet; the people left their homes and 
 came out to the rendezvous as one man. 
 
 8. in Bezek] Probably to be identified with Ibzik, about half way 
 between Shechem and Beth-shan, and 7 miles W. of the Jordan. It 
 was within a day's march of Jabesh. 
 
 three hundred thousand, &c. ] The numbers seem large, but not too large 
 for a general levy of the nation. Cp. Jud. xx. 1. The separate num- 
 bering of Israel and Judah has been taken to mark the date of the book 
 as posterior to the Division of the Kingdom. It may however be only 
 an indication of a tendency on the part of Judah to isolation which 
 
 8—2
 
 ii6 I. SAMUEL, XI. [vv. 9— 13. 
 
 9 thousand. And they said unto the messengers that came, 
 Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To mor- 
 row, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And 
 the messengers came and shewed // to the men of Jabesh; 
 
 10 and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, 
 To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with 
 
 11 us all that seemeth good unto you. And it was so on the 
 morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies ; and 
 they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, 
 and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day : and it 
 came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so 
 that two of them were not left together. 
 
 12 — 15. Confirmation of Saul as King. 
 
 12 And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, 
 Shall Saul reign over us ? bring the men, that we may put 
 
 13 them to death. And Saul said, There shall not a man be 
 
 was confirmed by the separation in the early part of David's reign, and 
 prepared the way for the Disruption. 
 
 9. ye shall have help] Or, deliverance. The same word is trans- 
 lated "salvation" in v. 13, and the cognate verb "save" in v. 3. 
 
 10. the men of Jabesh said] To Nahash, in order to lull him into 
 careless security, by leading him to suppose that their efforts to get help 
 had failed. 
 
 11. in three companies] In order to make a simultaneous attack 
 upon the Ammonite camp on three sides at once. Compare Gideon's 
 stratagem, Jud. vii. 16 ff. 
 
 7« the morning watch] The Jews anciently divided the night into 
 three watches, each watch representing the time for which sentinels 
 remained on duty. The first watch or "beginning of the watches" 
 (Lam. ii. 19) lasted from sunset until 10 p.m.: the "middle watch" 
 (Jud. vii. 19) from 10 p.m. till 1 a.m.: the "morning watch "from 2 a.m. 
 till sunrise. The division of the night into four watches referred to in 
 the N. T. (Matt. xiv. 25; Mk. xiii. 35; Acts xii. 4) was of Roman 
 origin. 
 
 they which remained were scattered] Jabesh was rescued from destruc- 
 tion, and its inhabitants long remembered the debt of gratitude which 
 they owed to Saul. It was the men of Jabesh who at peril of their lives 
 recovered the bodies of Saul and Jonathan from Philistine insults, and 
 gave them honourable burial (ch. _xxxi. 11 — 14): it was Gilead which 
 was the chief centre and stay of the waning fortunes of Saul's house 
 during the early part of the reign of David (2 Sam. ii. 8, 9 ff.). 
 
 12 — 15. Confirmation of Saul as King. 
 13, There shall not a man be put to death this day] The execution
 
 vv. 14, 15.] I. SAMUEL, XI. 117 
 
 put to death this day : for to day the Lord hath wrought 
 salvation in Israel. Then said Samuel to the people, 14 
 Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom 
 there. And all the people went to Gilgal ; and there they is 
 made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal ; and there they 
 sacrificed sacrifices ^ peace offerings before the Lord; and 
 there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. 
 
 even of malcontents would have clouded the general rejoicing: and Saul's 
 best hope of uniting the kingdom under his rule lay in a policy of con- 
 ciliation. Cp. X. 27; 2 Sam. xix. 22. 
 
 salvation^ Deliverance. See note on v. 9. 
 
 14. Then said Samuel] From this verse to xii. 22 is the Haphtarah 
 or lesson from the Prophets appointed to be read in the Synagogue in 
 conjunction with the history of Korah (Num. xvi). 
 
 to Gilgar\ See note on vii. 16. 
 
 rejtro) the kiitgdom] Which had been founded in the national assembly 
 at Mizpah (x. 25). 
 
 15. t/iere they made Saul king] The choice of Saul as king, privately 
 made by God through Samuel, and publicly confirmed by the election 
 at Mizpah, had received an unmistakable ratification in his victory over 
 Nahash. His detractors were silenced, and the unanimous consent of 
 the people accepted him. The assembly now held after the general levy 
 for the war was probably larger and more representative of the whole 
 nation than the previous one at ISIizpah. 
 
 The Sept. has, "and Samuel anointed Saul there to be king," which 
 may possibly be the original reading. A public anointing would be 
 natural, for that recorded in ch. x. i was strictly private, and the use of 
 the title "the Lord's anointed" in ch. xii. 3 gains point if the ceremony 
 had just been performed. That it might be repeated we know from the 
 case of David, who was thrice anointed. 
 
 _ sacrifices of peace-offerings] Thank-offerings to Jehovah for the de- 
 liverance he had wrought, and for the establishment of the kingdom. 
 
 Ch. XIL 1 — 25. Samuel's farewell address to the people. 
 
 The assembly at Gilgal marks an important epoch in Jewish history. 
 It ratified the work of the assembly at Mizpah, finally closed the period 
 of the Judges, and formally inaugurated the New Monarchy. Samuel, 
 though he was still to retain his influence and authority as Prophet, now 
 resigned his office as Judge, and in doing so delivered a solemn address 
 to the assembled people. 
 
 {a) He challenges them to impeach his official purity (i — 3), and is 
 answered by the unanimous confirmation of his integrity (4, 5). (l>) Re- 
 calling Jehovah's past mercies, he upbraids them with unbelief and 
 ingratitude in demanding a king (6 — 12). (c) And now their future 
 depends upon their bearing towards Jehovah, in confirmation of which 
 he appeals to a miraculous sign (13 — iS). {d) Finally Samuel consoles
 
 iiS I. SAMUEL, XII. [vv. I— 3. 
 
 Ch. XII. I — 25. SamueVs farewell address to the people. 
 
 12 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened 
 unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made 
 
 2 a king over you. And now behold, the king walketh before 
 you : and I am old and grayheaded ; and behold, my sons 
 are with you : and I have walked before you from my child- 
 
 5 hood unto this day. Behold, here I am : witness against 
 me before the Lord, and before his anointed : whose ox 
 have I taken ? or whose ass have I taken ? or whom have 
 I defrauded ? whom have I oppressed ? or of whose hand 
 have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? 
 
 the terrified people (19), by assuring them of Jehovah's faithfulness 
 (20 — 22), and his own continued intercession (23), and concludes with a 
 reiterated warning (24, 25). 
 
 1. I have hearkened imto your voice] Cp. viii. 7, 9, 22. 
 
 2. the king tvalketh before yoit] Goes in and out in your presence in 
 the exercise of his regal authority. 
 
 a}id I am old and gray-headed ; and, behold my sons are with you'] 
 Samuel refers to the two reasons alleged by the elders in ch. viii. 5 for 
 asking a king, [a] his own age, (b) the misgovernment of his sons. He 
 mentions the first expressly, but with the natural reluctance of a father 
 to dwell upon his sons' misconduct, only hints at the second. The 
 Hebrevir conjunction "and" here as often introduces the reason, and 
 may be translated by "for" or "seeing that." 
 
 from my childhood] "From my youth," as the word is rendered 
 everywhere else in the E. V. Samuel's public life may be said to 
 have commenced when God first spoke to him in Shiloh (iii. 11), so that 
 they had had full opportunity of knowing him from the first. 
 
 3. Behold, here I am] Samuel puts himself on his trial. The people 
 are to be the accusers: Jehovah, and His representative Saul are the 
 judges. 
 
 before his anointed] The title "the anointed of Jehovah" (see x. i, 
 note) is here for the first time actually applied to the King, though it 
 had been employed before in prophecy (ch. ii. 10, 35). Its use cer- 
 tainly gains point if we may follow the Sept. in xi. 15 (see note), and 
 suppose that the ceremony of anointing had just been performed in the 
 presence of all the people. 
 
 whose ox... whose ass] The most valuable property of a pastoral and 
 agricultural people, hence named expressly in the Tenth Commandment 
 (Ex. XX. 17). Cp. Num. xvi. 15. 
 
 any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith] Cp. Ex. xxiii. 8 ; Deut. xvi. 
 19. 
 
 The Sept. reads here, "from whose hand have I received as a bribe 
 even a pair of shoes? Answer against me, and I will restore it to you." 
 A pair of shoes seems to have been a proverbial expression for a mere
 
 vv. 4— 9] I- SAMUEL, XII. 119 
 
 and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not 4 
 defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken 
 ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The 5 
 Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness 
 this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And 
 they answered, He is witness. And Samuel said unto the 6 
 people, // is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, 
 and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 
 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before 7 
 the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he 
 did to you and to your fathers. When Jacob was come s 
 into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the 
 Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your 
 fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. 
 And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them 9 
 
 ti-ifle, a paltry bribe. See Amos ii. 6, viii. 6. This rendering repre- 
 sents a small change in the consonants of the Heb. text, and may 
 possibly preserve the original reading. At any rate it is as old as the 
 Greek translation of the book of Ecclesiasticus (170 — 150 B.C.), the 
 author of which must have found it in the Sept. (even if the author of 
 the Hebrew original did not find it in his Hebrew text), for in ch. xlvi. 
 19 we read, "And before his long sleep [Samuel] made protestations 
 in the sight of the Lord and his anointed, I have not taken any man's 
 goods, so much as a shoe: and no man did accuse him." 
 
 6. It is the Lord\ Or, Yea Jehovah [is witness]. This verse 
 forms the transition to what follows. Samuel proceeds to identify 
 Jehovah, to whom they were now appealing as witness, with the God 
 who brought their fathers out of the bondage of Egypt. 
 
 advanced^, Appointed. Lit. fnade, cp. Hebrews iii. 2. 
 
 7. stand still, that I may reason with yoit] Present yourselves that 
 I may plead with you. The figure of a trial {v. 3 note) is still kept up; 
 but the relation of the parties is changed. Samuel is now the accuser, 
 Israel the defendant. Cp. Ezek. xx. 35, 36; Mic. vi. i — 5. 
 
 the righteous acts of the Lord] Punishments for sin and deliverances 
 from distress alike proved the righteousness of Jehovah in His covenant 
 with Israel. Cp. Jud. v. 11. 
 
 8. When yacob, &c.] The additions of the Sept. seem necessary to 
 complete the sense. It reads, "When Jacob and his sons were come 
 into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, your fathers cried," &c. 
 Cp. Ex. ii. ■23 — 25. 
 
 9. he sold theni\ God's abandonment of His people to their enemies 
 is described under the figure of sale, just as the deliverance of them is 
 called redemption or buying back. Cp. Jud. ii. 14, iii. 8; Ps. xliv. 12. 
 
 The three chief oppressors of Israel during the period of the Judges 
 are mentioned, (i) The Canaanites, who were led by Sisera, general
 
 I20 I. SAMUEL, Xri. [vv 10—12. 
 
 into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and 
 into the hand of the PhiHstines, and into the hand of the 
 
 10 king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they 
 cried unto the Lord, and said. We have sinned, because 
 we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baahm and 
 Ashtaroth : but now deliver us out of the hand of our 
 
 ir enemies, and we will serve thee. And the Lord sent 
 Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and 
 delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every 
 
 12 side, and, ye dwelled safe. And when ye saw that Nahash 
 
 of the army of King Jabin. Their chief city was Hazor { = strong]wht) 
 situated on the high ground west of the Lake of Merom, where Jebel 
 Hadireh perhaps still preserves the name. This oppression lasted for 
 20 years. See Jud. iv. v. (2) The Philistines. See Jud. iii. 31, x. 7, 
 xiii. I, and Note IV. p. 238. (3) The Moabites under Eglon. See Jud. 
 iii. 12 — 30. 
 
 10. And they cried unto the Lord] The resemblance of the language 
 to Jud. X. 10 is so close as to lead us to suppose that the compiler of 
 Samuel had the book of Judges before him, or at any rate that the words 
 are derived from a common source. Cp. also Jud. ii. 18, iii. 15, iv. 3, 
 vi. 7. 
 
 Baalim and Ashtaroth'\ See note on vii. 3. 
 
 11. And the Lord sent, &c.] Four typical deliverers of the nation 
 are mentioned, (i) Jerubbaal, who brought the Midianite oppression 
 to an end (Jud. vi. — viii.). His original name Gideon was changed to 
 Jerubbaal {—let Baal flead) for his bold act of piety in destropng the 
 altar of Baal (Jud. vi. 31, 32). (2) Bedan. This name is not found in 
 the book of Judges, but as that book is not a complete history, Bedan 
 may possibly have been the name of a judge not mentioned there. But 
 more probably Bedan is a copyist's error for Barak, which is the reading 
 of the Sept. and Syriac. The letters of the two words are much alike. 
 In this case the reference will be to the deliverance from the Canaanite 
 oppression already mentioned (Jud. iv. 6 ff.). Bedan has also been 
 explained as a name of Samson, either -i5c'«-Z)a;.', i.e. the son of Dan 
 or Danite (Jud. xiii. 2) : or as a bye-name = corpulent. (3) Jephthah 
 the Gileadite, who routed the Ammonites (Jud. xi.). (4) Samuel. 
 That Samuel should thus mention himself need not surprise us if we 
 remember {a) that the apparent abruptness of the mention is due to the 
 condensation of the narrative, which gives only a summary of the 
 original speech : {b) that he has resigned his office, and standing as it 
 were outside the era of the Judges, he reviews it as a whole : {c) that in 
 order to point his rebuke of the Israelites for ingratitude to Jehovah in 
 asking a king, it was necessary to prove that He had not forsaken them, 
 but had continued His deliverances down to the present. 
 
 12. And when ye sa7(.i\ As the demand for a king preceded the 
 invasion of Nahash recorded in ch. xi, the reference must be to earlier
 
 w. 13—18.] I. SAMUEL, XII. 121 
 
 the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye 
 said unto me, Nay ; but a king shall reign over us : when 
 the Lord your God was your king. Now therefore behold 13 
 the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired : 
 and behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. If ye will m 
 fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not 
 rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall 
 both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue 
 following the Lord your God : but if ye will not obey the 15 
 voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of 
 the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, 
 as z'/ zaas against your fathers. Now therefore stand and '^ 
 see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your 
 eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to day ? I will call unto the 17 
 Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may 
 perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye 
 have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. 
 
 So Samuel called unto the Lord ; and the Lord sent iS 
 thunder and rain that day : and all the people greatly feared 
 
 inroads, or to a threatened attack. This reason for desiring a king is 
 hinted at in viii. 20. 
 
 NayiX Refusing to listen to my expostulations (viii. 6, 19). 
 
 when the Lord your God was your king\ Cp. Jud. viii. 23. 
 
 13. whom ye have desired'^ Asked, as in vv. 17, 19. The word 
 however is omitted by the Sept., and may possibly be an addition to 
 the original text. 
 
 14. If yc -will fear, &c.] Better, "If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve 
 him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of 
 Jehovah, and both ye and also the Mng who reigneth over you 
 continue following after Jehovah your God, [it shall be well with you] : 
 but If, &c." The apodosis must be suj^plied from the context, as in Ex. 
 xxxii. 32. 
 
 15. as it was against your fathers'] As set forth in v. 9. The Sept. 
 however reads, "and against your king," which offers a more complete 
 parallel to v. 15. Cp. v. 25. 
 
 17. he shall send thunder and rain] "In ordinary seasons from the 
 cessation of the showers in spring [about the end of April] until their 
 commencement in October or November, rain never falls, and the sky 
 is usually serene." Robinson, Bill. Res. i. 430. Wheat harvest was 
 in May and June. See note on vi. 13. "Rain in harvest" served as a 
 figure for what was unseemly and anomalous (Prov. xxvi. i). 
 
 18. feared the Lord and Samuel] The unexpected rain was a 
 "sign," attesting the prophet's words. Cp. Ex. xiv. 31.
 
 122 I. SAMUEL, XII. XIII. [vv. 19— 2S;i. 
 
 19 the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto 
 Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that 
 we die not : for we have added unto all our sins this evil, 
 
 lo to ask us a king. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear 
 not : ye have done all this wickedness : yet turn not aside 
 from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your 
 
 21 heart ; and turn ye not aside : for then should ye go after 
 vain things, which cannot profit nor deUver; for they are 
 
 22 vain. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his 
 great name's sake : because it hath pleased the Lord to 
 
 2j make you his people. Moreover as for me, God forbid that 
 
 I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you : 
 24 but I will teach you the good and the right way : only fear 
 
 the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart : for 
 2j consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye 
 
 shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and 
 
 your king. 
 
 Ch. Xin. I — 7. Revolt of the Israelites tinder Saul from 
 
 the Philistines. 
 
 13 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two 
 
 19. Pray for thy servants\ See note on vii. 5. 
 
 this evil^ Wickedness: the same word as in vv. 17 and •20. 
 
 21. for then should ye go after vain things] The word "for" 
 necessitates the insertion of a verb to complete the sentence. But it is 
 expressed in none of the ancient versions, and the sense gains by its 
 omission. Translate: "And ye shall not turn aside after vain tMngs 
 wMch cannot profit nor deliver." "Vain things" are false gods and 
 idols, Heb. tS/iil, literally emptiness. The same word is applied to 
 them in Is. xli. 29 (E.V. confusion), and to idol-makers in Is. xliv. 9. 
 Cp. I Cor. viii. 4. 
 
 22. for /lis great name's sake\ Lest He should seem in the eyes of 
 the heathen not to be such as He declares Himself to be, Almighty, 
 True, Faithful. Compare the use of this plea by Moses (Ex. xxxii. 12; 
 Num. xiv. 13 ff.), and Joshua (Josh. vii. 9). See also Rom. xi. i, 2. 
 
 it hath pleased the Lord to make yoti his people] God's free choice of 
 Israel to be his people is dwelt upon at length in Deut. vii. 6— 11. 
 
 24. how great things he hath done for yoii\ Lit. With you. The 
 reference can scarcely be limited to the recent storm as a display of 
 God's greatness, but includes all his gracious dealings with His people. 
 Samuel concludes his speech as he began it [vv. 6, 7), with an appeal to 
 these as the motive for loyal obedience.
 
 .] I. SAMUEL, XIII. 123 
 
 years over Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of 2 
 Israel ; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash 
 and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan 
 
 Ch. XIII. 1—7. Revolt of the Israelites under Saul from 
 
 THE Philistines. 
 
 1. Send reigned one year; and when he had reigned tivo years over 
 Israel^ The Hebrew cannot be thus translated. It is the common 
 formula for denoting the age of a king at his accession, and the length 
 of his reign. See 1 Sam. ii. 10, v. 4; i Kings xiv. i\, &c. We must 
 render, "Saul was [ ] years old -when lie began to reign, and 
 reigned [ ] and two years over Israel." Either the numbers were 
 wanting in the original document, or they have been accidentally lost. 
 30 is supplied in the first place by some MSS. of the Sept., and 
 is a plausible conjecture. The length of Saul's reign may have been 
 ■22 or 32 years. He was in the prime of life when elected king, and his 
 reign must have been of some considerable duration. But if he was 
 only 30 years old at his accession, the events here recorded cannot have 
 happened till at least 10 or 15 years after that event, for Jonathan, who 
 has not been mentioned before, now appears as a stout warrior. In 
 this case we have no account of the early years of Saul's reign. This 
 view appears to be preferable to the supposition that Saul was older at 
 his accession, and that the history is continuous. See Introd. Ch. in. 
 
 The whole verse is omitted by the older copies of the Sept. (A and 
 B), and possibly was not in the original text. 
 
 2. Satil chose him three thousand men'\ And Saul chose, &c. The 
 formation of a standing army marks an important epoch in the history 
 of a nation. It was a natural result of the election of a king, who was 
 to be a military leader. Cp. xiv. 52. This body was only large 
 enough to form a nucleus for the general levy of fighting men (v. 4), 
 like the hus-carls of the Saxon kings for the Land-Fyrd. See Green's 
 Hist, of the Engl. People, p. 75. 
 
 iti Michmash} The villages of Mukhtnds and yeba preserve the 
 names and mark the sites of Michmash and Geba. They stand on the 
 N. and S. respectively of the Wady es Suweinit, a deep ravine with 
 precipitous sides running from the highlands of Benjamin to Jericho. 
 "About two miles S. E. of Ai it becomes a narrow gorge with 
 vertical precipices some 800 feet high." Jonathan was in Gibeah, a 
 few miles to the S. W. of Geba. See note on x. 5. We may conjecture 
 that when Saul occupied Michmash the Philistines transferred their post, 
 which had previously been at Gibeah (x. 5), to Geba, in order to watch 
 him more closely. Jonathan thereupon seized Gibeah, from which he 
 made the successful sally described in v. 3. 
 
 mount Beth-el] The high ground between Bethel and Michmash. 
 
 yonathan'] The first mention of Saul's eldest son, whose memory is 
 famous not so much for his military achievements, as for his fast friend- 
 ship with David. The name Jonathan means "the gift of Jehovah," 
 and may be compared with the Greek Theodore.
 
 124 I. SAMUEL, XIII. [vv. 3— 5. 
 
 in Gibeah of Benjamin : and the rest of the people he sent 
 
 3 every man to his tent. And Jonathan smote the garrison 
 of the Phihstines that tuas in Geba, and the PhiHstines 
 heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the 
 
 4 land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard 
 say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and 
 thai Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. 
 And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. 
 
 5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight 
 with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand 
 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea 
 
 3. the garrison of the Philistines\ See note on x. 5. 
 
 Saul blew the tntmpet'\ Heralds blowing trumpets to attract attention 
 carried the news of Jonathan's daring exploit throughout the country to 
 prepare the people for a speedy summons to fight for their liberty. Cp. 
 Jud. iii. 27, vi. 34; 2 Sam. xx. i. 
 
 Let the Hebrews hear] The name "Hebrews" is generally employed 
 only by foreigners, or in speaking to foreigners. See note on iv. 6. If 
 the text is correct, it is here used (cp. v. 7) to place the nationality of 
 Israel in contrast with the Philistines, or to describe them from the 
 Philistine point of view as the subject race. But the Sept. reads "The 
 slaves have revolted," and it may be conjectured that we should trans- 
 pose the words, and read "The Philistines heard saying, The slaves 
 (or, the Hebrews) have revolted." The consonants of the Hebrew 
 words for "slaves" and "Hebrews" are almost identical, and are 
 constantly liable to be confused. 
 
 4. hea7-d say that Saul had smitten a garrison] Heard saying, Saul 
 hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines. The first blow in the 
 war of independence was doubtless struck by Jonathan under Saul's 
 direction. 
 
 -was had in abojnination] The same word meaning literally, "to 
 make one's self stink" occurs in Gen. xxxiv. 30; Ex. v. 21; 1 Sam. 
 xxvii. 12; 2 Sam. x. 6. 
 
 the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal] Gilgal (see note 
 on vii. 1=.) was probably chosen for the rendezvous as being the usual 
 meeting-place, and the least liable to an attack from the Philistines. 
 
 5. thirty thousand chariots] This reading, though as old as the 
 Sept., is certainly wrong. The number of chariots was always less than 
 that of horsemen, and such an enormous force of chariots is not only 
 quite unparalleled, but would be useless in the mountainous country. 
 Possibly the numeral 30, expressed in Hebrew by the letter /, was due 
 to the accidental repetition of the last letter of the word Israel, and we 
 should read "« thousand chariots." Jabin had "nine hundred chariots" 
 (Jud. iv. 3). 
 
 people as the sand which is on the sea shore] " People" = infantry.
 
 vv. 6— 8.] I. SAMUEL, XIII. 125 
 
 shore in mukiiude : and they came up, and pitched in 
 Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. When the men of 6 
 Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were 
 distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, 
 and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in 
 pits. And so7ne of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the 7 
 land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, 
 and all the people followed him trembling. 
 
 8 — 14. SauVs disobedience and its pe7iaUy. 
 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that s 
 Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; 
 
 "The sand on the sea shore" is a common figure for an indefinite 
 number. Cp. Gen. xxii. 17, xli. 49; Josh. xi. 4; Ps. Ixxviii. 27, &c. 
 
 ?'« Michmash, eastward from Beth-aveti'\ Saul evacuated Michmash 
 and withdrew to Gilgal. Jonathan however still held Gibeah (z'. 16). 
 Beth-aven (= "house of naught" i.e. idols) was near Ai, between 
 Michmash and Bethel (Josh. vii. 2). The position was an important 
 one, commanding the chief approach from Gilgal to the heart of the 
 country. 
 
 6. in a strait\ In distress and danger : as it were, hemmed in and 
 unable to turn in any direction. 
 
 the people did hide themselves'] Cp. Jud. vi. 2. 
 
 ift high places] The word thus translated occurs elsewhere only in 
 Jud. ix. 46, 49 (E.V. hold), and is supposed to mean "a fortified tower," 
 like the "peels" of the border counties, possibly the work of the old 
 Canaanite inhabitants. But the context rather points to some natural 
 hiding-place. 
 
 7. some of the Hebrews] The soundness of the text is rendered 
 doubtful by the peculiarity of the construction, and the use of the term 
 " Hebrews " without apparent reason. The Sept., changing the vowels 
 of the word Hebreius, renders, "And they who went over went over 
 Jordan, &c. ; " but this can hardly be right either. 
 
 all the people folloived him trembling] The nation obeyed his summons, 
 but in the greatest alarm at the proximity of the Philistine host. 
 
 8 — 14. Saul's disobedience and its penalty. 
 
 8. the set time that Samuel had appointed] It seems clear that the 
 historian intends to refer to Samuel's injunction in x. 8, although in all 
 probability the interview there recorded had taken place many years 
 before. But the command may have been repeated now, and in any 
 case the spirit of it survived. Chosen by Jehovah expressly to deliver 
 Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, Saul was not at liberty to begin 
 the war of independence upon his own authority, but was to wait until 
 duly commissioned to do so by Samuel.
 
 126 I. SAMUEL, XIII. [vv. 9—14. 
 
 9 and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, 
 Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. 
 
 10 And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass, 
 that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt 
 offering, behold, Samuel came ; and Saul went out to meet 
 
 11 him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said. What 
 hast thou done ? And Saul said, Because I saw that the 
 people were scattered from me, and //'«/ thou earnest not 
 within the days appointed, and //;«/ the Philistines gathered 
 
 12 themselves together af Michmash ; therefore said I, The 
 Philistines will come down now upon me fo Gilgal, and I 
 have not made supplication unto the Lord : I forced myself 
 
 ij therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said 
 to Saul, Thou hast done foohshly : thou hast not kept the 
 commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded 
 thee : for now would the Lord have estabhshed thy king- 
 
 14 dom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not 
 
 9. Bring Jiitlier a burnt offering, &c.] "Bring hither to me the 
 burnt-offering and the peace-offerings," which were ready, awaiting 
 Samuel's arrival. 
 
 he offered the burnt offering^ The same phrase is used of David (2 Sam. 
 xxiv. 25), and Solomon (i Kings iii. 4), and probably does not mean 
 that they actually performed the sacrifice themselves. If they did do so, 
 it must be inferred that it was lawful for the king to act as priest. At 
 any rate there is no hint here that Saul's sin consisted in the usurpation 
 of priestly functions. 
 
 10. Samuel ca}ne\ Perhaps before Saul had had time to offer the 
 peace-offerings. 
 
 11. Because I saiv, &c.] The situation was critical in the extreme. 
 Saul's army was hourly melting away. Scarcely ten miles distant was 
 the Philistine host, ready to pour down and crush him. How could he 
 take the field without entreating God's favour? Was not this sufficient 
 excuse for his conduct? 
 
 13. Thou hast done foolishly'\ Saul's sin seems excusable and 
 scarcely deserving of so heavy a punishment. But it involved the whole 
 principle of the subordination of the theocratic king to the Will of 
 Jehovah as expressed by His prophets. On the one hand it shewed a 
 distrust of God, as though God after choosing him for this work could 
 forsake him in the hour of need : on the other hand it shewed a spirit of 
 self-assertion, as though he could make war by himself without the 
 assistance and counsel of God communicated through His prophet. 
 Such a character was unfit for the office of king. 
 
 forever'] i.e. permanently, not of course absolutely without end. Cp. 
 the use of the word in i. 22.
 
 vv. 15—17.] I. SAMUEL, XIII. 127 
 
 continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his 
 own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be 
 captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that 
 which the Lord commanded thee. 
 
 15 — 18. The Philistine invasiojt. 
 
 And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto 15 
 Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that 
 were present with him, about six hundred men. And Saul, 16 
 and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present 
 with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin : but the Phi- 
 listines encamped in Michmash. And the spoilers came 17 
 out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies : one 
 
 14. a man after his own heari] Quoted by St Paul in his discourse 
 at Antioch (Acts xiii. 22). Cp. Ps. Ixxxix. 20. 
 
 15—18. The Philistine invasion. 
 
 15. ^nd Samuel arose] The Sept. has a fuller text, which gives the 
 connexion more clearly thus : "And Samuel arose and departed from 
 Gilgal. And the remnant of the people went up after Saul to join the 
 men of war [or, to the battle after the men of war] : and when they 
 were come from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin, Saul numbered, &c." 
 After Samuel's departure Saul marched up and effected a junction with 
 Jonathan at Gibeah or Geba. 
 
 adoKi six hundred men] Cp. xiv. 2. Saul's precipitate action failed 
 to produce the desired result of holding the army together. 
 
 16. in Gibeah of Benjamin] Heb. in Getoa of Benjamin. The 
 positions of vv. 2, 3 are now reversed, the Philistines occupying Mich- 
 mash on the northern side of the valley, Saul and Jonathan holding 
 Geba on the southern side. 
 
 17. the spoilers ca?ne oitt] Lit. the destroyer, the part of the army 
 sent out to harry the country, (a) One band of marauders turned 
 northwards to Ophrah, a city of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 2 3),conjecturally 
 placed by Robinson at et Taiyibeh, 4 miles N. E. of Bethel, in the land 
 of Shual (=jackal) possibly the same as Shalim (ix. 4). {b) Another 
 band took a westerly direction to Beth-horon ( = house of caverns) on 
 the main pass from the hill country of Judaea into the plain of Philistia. 
 (<r) A third band went eastwards to "the way of the border," probably 
 that between Judah and Benjamin, by '' the valley of Zeboim''' (Neh. xi. 34) 
 = "the ravine of hyenas," "towards the wilderness" or uncultivated 
 district between the central district of Benjamin and the Jordan valley. 
 Mr Grove went from Jericho to Michmash up a wild gorge bearing tlie 
 name Shuk-ed-Dubba, or "ravine of the hyena," the exact Arabic 
 equivalent of "the valley of Zeboim," and possibly the same. Diet, of 
 Bible, iii. 18 19.
 
 128 I. SAMUEL, XIII. [vv. 18—21. 
 
 company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto 
 
 18 the land of Shual : and another company turned the way 
 to Beth-horon : and another company turned to the way 
 of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward 
 the wilderness. 
 
 19 — 23. The disarmament of the Israelites. 
 
 19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land 
 of Israel : for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews 
 
 20 make them swords or spears : but all the Israelites went 
 down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, 
 
 21 and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. Yet 
 they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and 
 
 Southwards, Saul's camp in Geba protected the country. The tense 
 of the verbs "turned" expresses repeated action, indicating that these 
 ravages were continued for some time. The Philistines hoped to draw 
 Saul out from his strong position, and force him to an engagement. 
 
 19 — 23. The disarmament of the Israelites. 
 
 19. Noiv there 7vas no smith found, &c.] A signal proof of the 
 severity of the Philistine oppression, and the difficulties against which 
 Saul had to contend. This general disarmament clearly points to the 
 lasting subjugation of a large district in the later years of Samuel's 
 judgeship and the beginning of Saul's reign, and was not merely the 
 temporary result of the present invasion. A similar tyranny was prac- 
 tised by the Canaanites before Deborah's victory (Jud. v. 8, cp. iii. 31); 
 and Porsena is reported by Pliny to have prohibited the Romans from 
 using iron except for agricultural purposes {Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 14). 
 
 20. to sharpen'] The word signifies "to sharpen by forging." 
 
 his share, &c.] The agricultural implements mentioned cannot be 
 identified with any certainty. The words rendered "share" and 
 *' mattock " are derived from the same root meaning to cut, and are al- 
 most identical in form. That rendered "coulter" is elsewhere trans- 
 lated "plow-share" (Is. ii. 4, &c.). 
 
 21. Yet they had a file'] So the Targum and some Rabbinic commen- 
 tators. If the rendering is correct, the meaning will be that for the 
 ordinary sharpening of tools they had files, but for any forging work 
 
 •So the edges 
 
 the necessity of going so far to get their tools repaired was that they got 
 into a very unserviceable condition. The words, "and to set (i.e. 
 sharpen or point) the goad" must be taken as depending on "the 
 Israelites went down to the Philistines," the intervening words being 
 regarded as a parenthesis.
 
 w. 22, 23; 1—3.] I- SAMUEL, XIII. XIV. 129 
 
 for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. 
 So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was 2a 
 neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the 
 people that 7uere with Saul and Jonathan : but with Saul 
 and with Jonathan his son was there found. And the 23 
 garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Mich- 
 mash. 
 
 Ch. XIV, I — 15. yoiiathaiis deed of daring. 
 
 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son 14 
 of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour. 
 Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that 
 is on the other side. But he told not his father. And 2 
 Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pome- 
 granate tree which is in Migron : and the people that were 
 with him ivere about six hundred men ; and Ahiah, the son 3 
 
 23. the passage of MichmasJi] By "the passage of Michmash," 
 mentioned also in the description of Sennacherib's march upon Jerusalem 
 in Is. X. 29, is meant the deep ravine now known as the IVadv es- 
 Su'weinit (v. 2, note). The Philistines threw out an advanced post from 
 their main camp to one of the bluffs on the very edge of the valley, with 
 the view of watching the Israelites in Geba opposite, and preventing a 
 surprise attack on their camp. It was this post which Jonathan attacked. 
 
 Cn. XIV. 1 — 15. Jonathan's deed of daring. 
 
 1. that bare his armoiir'\ A confidential attendant like the sqttire of 
 the middle ages. 
 
 But he told not his fathcr'\ For fear lest he should forbid so hazard- 
 ous an attempt. From this point to the end oiv. 5 we have a series of 
 clauses introduced parenthetically to describe the circumstances under 
 which the attack was made. v. 6 resumes the thread of the narrative 
 by a repetition of Jonathan's words. The vivid detail marks the account 
 of one familiar with the spot. 
 
 2. the tUtennost part of Gibeahl Here at any rate Gibeah seems to 
 denote a district. See note on x. 5. Saul was stationed probably at 
 the northern extremity of it, under " tlie pomegranate tree which is in 
 Migron." So we find him afterwards "under the tamarisk in Gibeah" 
 (xxii. 6). Migron cannot be the place mentioned in Is. x. 28, which 
 was north of Michmasii. The name means precipice, and probably 
 occurred frequently in this rocky region. 
 
 3. And Ahiah, the son of Ahitiib'X And [there was with Wm] 
 Ahiah, or Ahijah, as the name is usually transliterated. Ahijah is i)er- 
 haps the same as Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, the priest at Nob, who 
 was the victim of Saul's sacrilegious vengeance (.xxii. 9). The name 
 
 I. SAMUEL Q
 
 ito I. SAMUEL, XIV. [v. 4. 
 
 of Ahitub, I-chabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son 
 of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. 
 4 And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. And 
 between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over 
 unto the Philistines' garrison, there luas a sharp rock on 
 the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side : and the 
 name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other 
 
 /f/^/>/; = «' brother of Jah" and ^/izw^Ar/; =" brother of the king" may 
 have been apphed to the same person, Melech king being substituted for 
 the divine name Jah in ordinary intercourse. Ijut it is also possible 
 that Ahimelech was the brother of Ahijah and his successor in the 
 high priesthood. 
 ,. /-c/ial>od's brother] See iv. -21. I-chabod's elder brother Ahitub was 
 probably about the same age as Samuel, and his son may have been high- 
 priest already for some time. Fifty years or more must have elapsed 
 since the death of Eli. See Introduction, Ch. in. 
 
 the Lords priest in Shiloh] These words must be referred to Eli as 
 the most famous priest during the period while the Tabernacle was 
 at Shiloh, not to Ahijah. It is all but certain that Shiloh ceased to be 
 the religious centre of the nation after the capture of the Ark. 
 
 wearing an ephod] i. e. officiating as high-priest. See note on ii. 18. 
 His presence with the army is noticed to prepare the way for the fact 
 mentioned in v. 18. 
 
 4. _ Attd between the passages, &c.] Tlie scene of Jonathan's adven- 
 ture is accurately described. The "passages" appear to be ravines 
 running down into the main valley, by which it was possible to get 
 down and cross over. "In the valley, [the Wady es-Sitweinit] just at 
 the left of where we crossed, are two hills of a conical or rather a 
 spherical form, having steep rocky sides, with small wadys running up 
 behind each so as almost to isolate them. One is on the side toward 
 Jeba and the other towards Mukhmas. These would seem to be the two 
 rocks mentioned in connexion with Jonathan's adventure." Robinson, 
 Bib/. Res. I. 441. 
 
 a sharp rock] Lit. " a tooth of the rock." Cp. note on vii. 12. 
 
 the name of the one was Bozez] " The northern cliff was named Bozez 
 or " shining," and the true explanation of this name only presents itself 
 on the spot. The great valley runs nearly due east, and thus the south- 
 ern cliff is almost entirely in shade during the day. The contrast is sur- 
 prising and picturesque between the dark cool colour of the south side 
 and the ruddy or tawny tints of the northern cliff, crowned with the 
 gleaming white of the upper chalky strata. The picture is unchanged 
 since the days when Jonathan looked over to the white camping-ground 
 of the Philistines, and Bozez must then have shone as brightly as it 
 does now, in the full light of an eastern sun." Conder's Tent IVorh, 
 n. 113. 
 
 ' the name of the other Seneh] " The southern cliff was called Seneh 
 •or 'the Acacia,' and the same name still- applies to the modern valley,
 
 w. 5— II.] I. SAMUEL, XIV. 131 
 
 Seneh. The forefront of the one was situate northwards 
 over against Michmash, and the other southward over 
 against Gibeah. And Jonathan said to the young man 6 
 that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the 
 garrison of these uncircumcised : it may be that the Lord 
 will work for us : for t/ie/'e is no restraint to the Lord to 
 save by many or by iew. And his armourbearer said unto 7 
 him, Do all that is in thine heart : turn thee ; behold, I 
 am with thee according to thy heart. Then said Jonathan, 8 
 Behold, we will pass over unto t/iese men, and we will dis- 
 cover ourselves unto them. If they say thus unto us, Tarry 9 
 until we come to you ; then we will stand still in our place, 
 and will not go up unto them. But if they say thus, 10 
 Come up unto us ; then we will go up : for the Lord hath 
 delivered them into our hand : and this s/iall be a sign unto 
 us. And both of them discovered themselves unto the n 
 garrison of the Philistines : and the Philistines said, Behold, 
 the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had 
 
 Wady es-Siiweijiit — 
 '•Valley of the little thorn tree" or "acacia." Id. 
 
 5. the forefront of the one, &c] Lit. Tlie one crag (lit. tootli) was a 
 pillar on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south 
 in front of Getoa. The Sept. omits "a jjillar." 
 
 6. tliese uncircumcised 1 A frequent epithet of abhorrence for the 
 Philistines. Here it has a special significance, for it indicates that 
 Jonathan's hope of success was based on the reflection that the Philis- 
 tines stood in no covenant-relation to Jehovah, as Israel did. 
 
 thei'e is no restraint to the Lord to save by tnany or by fezu] See ch. 
 xvii. 46, 47; Jud. vii. 4, 7 ; 2 Chron. xiv. 11, and the noble words of 
 Judas Maccabaeus before the battle of Beth-horon (i Mace. iii. 16 — 21) : 
 "With the God of heaven it is all one to deliver with a great multitude 
 or M'ith a sniall company ; for the victory of battle standeth not in the 
 multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven." These were 
 among the heroes who "through faith waxed valiant in fight, turned 
 to flight the armies of the aliens" (Heb. xi. 34). 
 
 7. turn thee\ The reading of the Heb. text is doubtful, and that of 
 the Sept. perhaps to be preferred. " Do all unto which thine heart in- 
 clineth : behold I am with thee : my heart is as thy heart." 
 
 10. this shall be a sign unto ?«] " The sign " is clearly regarded by 
 Jonathan as an intimation of the Divine will. Cp. Gen. xxiv. 14; Jutl. 
 vi. 36 ff., and ch. ii. 34, note. 
 
 11. the holes "where they had hid themselves'] See xiii. 6. Travellers 
 speak of numerous caverns in the limestone rocks of the district.
 
 132 I. SAMUEL, XIV. [vv. 12—15. 
 
 12 hid themselves. And the men of the garrison answered 
 Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, 
 and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto 
 his armourbearer, Come up after me : for the Lord hath 
 
 13 delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan 
 climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his 
 armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; 
 
 14 and his armourbearer slew after him. And that first 
 slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was 
 about twenty men, within as it were a half acre of land, 
 
 15 which a yoke of oxen might plow. And there was trembling 
 in the host, in the field, and among all the people : the 
 garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth 
 quaked : so it was a very great trembling. 
 
 12. we 7uni she7v yojt a fhitisf] Either, "give you some information;" 
 or, "teach you a lesson." Cp. Jud. viii. 16. Perhaps a colloquial 
 phrase, used of course contemptuously. 
 
 13. Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and npon his fee f\ " Imme- 
 diately to the east of the village of Michmash exists a natural fortress, 
 still called ' the fort ' by the peasantry. It is a ridge rising in three 
 rounded knolls above a perpendicular crag, ending in a narrow tongue 
 to the east with cliiTs below." Conder's Tenl lVork,U. 112. This may 
 have been the post occupied by the advanced guard of the Philistines. 
 
 14. zvithin as it ivere a half acre of land vhich a yoke of oxen might 
 ploiu\ Lit. in about half a furrow of a yoke of land. "A yoke of 
 land " may denote such a piece of land as a yoke of oxen would plough 
 in one day, a natural measure for an agricultural people to use, "The 
 furrow of a yoke" will then denote the length of one side of such a 
 square measure. The point appears to be that the garrison was cut to 
 pieces in a comparatively short distance. 
 
 The Sept. however (unless its rendering is mere conjecture) repre- 
 sents a different reading: "And the first slaughter... was with darts 
 and shngs and stones of the field." But Jonathan at any rate was better 
 armed (xiii. 22), and it is hard to see the point of mentioning the wea- 
 pons with which \\\e first slaughter was accomplished. 
 
 15. in the host, in the fiuid] In the camp in the field, the main 
 army as distinguished from the outpost which Jonathan had attacked. 
 
 the earth qiiaked'\ Perhaps this only describes the tumult and confu- 
 sion of the Philistine host (cp. iv. 5), but possibly an earthquake aug- 
 mented the general panic, as at the Exodus (Ps. Ixxvii. 18). Cp. the 
 storm at Ebenezer (ch. vii. 10). 
 
 so it was a very great trembling'] Lit. "And it became a trembling 
 of God," i. e. a supernatural panic inspired by God. Cp. 2 Kings 
 vii. 6.
 
 vv. i6— 21.] I. SAMUEL, XIV. 133 
 
 16 — 23. The rout of the Philistines. 
 
 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; 16 
 and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on 
 beating down oiie another. Then said Saul unto the people 17 
 that 2L<ere with him, Number now, and see who is gone 
 from us. And when they had numbered, behold Jonathan 
 and his armourbearer were not there. And Saul said unto is 
 Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God 
 was at that time with the children of Israel. And it came 19 
 to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise 
 that was in the host of the Philistines went on and in- 
 creased : and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine 
 hand. And Saul and all the people that 7uere with him 20 
 assembled themselves, and they came to the battle : and 
 behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there 
 was a very great discomfiture. Moreover the Hebrews 21 
 that were with the Phihstines before that time, which went 
 
 16—23. The rout of the Philistines. 
 
 16. in Gibeah of Baijamiii] If Tideil-d-Ful is the true site of the 
 town of Gibeah, we must either suppose that Gibeah is here used of the 
 surrounding district, or read Geba for Gibeah, since according to Lieut. 
 Conder, Michmash is not visible from Titleil-el-i-itl. See noteon x. 5. 
 
 they went on beating doivn one another] It is doubtful if this or any 
 other meaning can be extracted from the present Heb. text. The Sept. 
 gives a good sense: "And behold, the camp was in confusion on every 
 side." 
 
 17. Number now] The word denotes a muster or parade of the 
 troops for inspection. 
 
 18. Bring hither the ark of God] Saul wished to "inquire of God" 
 before going to battle. See Num. xxvii. 21. But apart from the fact 
 that we have no mention of the transportation of the Ark from Kirjath- 
 jearim, it was not the Ark, but the Ephod with Urim and Thunnnim 
 which was the proper instrument for ascertaining the will of God. More- 
 over "bring hither" is a term applied to the Ephod (xxiii. 9, xxx. 7) 
 but not to the Ark. It seems best therefore to follow the reading of the 
 Sept.; "And Saul said to Ahia, bring hither the Ephod: for he bore 
 the Ephod at that time before the children of Israel." 
 
 19. Withdraw thine hand] Desist from the inquiry. With cha- 
 racteristic impatience Saul would not wait for God's answer. 
 
 20. every man's sword was against his feilozv] Cp. Jud. vii. 12 ; 
 1 Chr. XX. 23. 
 
 21. the Hebrnvs that were with the Philistines] Either renegade 
 Israelites who had taken service in the Philistine army, or forced levies
 
 134 I- SAMUEL, XIV. [vv. 22—26. 
 
 up with them into the camp from the country round about, 
 even they also tur7ied to be with the Israehtes that ivere 
 
 22 with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise all the men of Israel 
 which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they 
 heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard 
 
 23 after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that 
 day : and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven. 
 
 24 — 30. 'yonathajC s breach of SmiVs rash oath. 
 
 24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day : for Saul 
 had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that 
 eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on 
 mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. 
 
 25 And all they of the land came to a wood ; and there was 
 
 26 honey upon the ground. And when the people were come 
 
 from the districts occupied by the Philistines. The name "Hebrews" 
 by which they were known to the Philistines is used to distinguish them 
 from the "Israelites" who had not submitted to their oppressors. The 
 Sept. reads "slaves." See notes on iv. 6 and xiii. 3. 
 
 23. So ihe Lord saved Is7'ael\ Cp. Ex. xiv. 30; 1 Chr. xxxii. 11. 
 unto Beth-avett\ Saul crossed the valley from Geba to Michmash, 
 
 and drove the Philistines back in a north-westerly direction to Beth- 
 aven, halfway between Michmash and Bethel. Thence the pursuit was 
 across the watershed, and headlong down the pass of Beth-horon to 
 Aijalon, where the valley begins to open out towards the plain of Phi- 
 listia : — that same pass where Joshua gained his great victory over the 
 five Amorite kings (Josh. x. 10), and where the valiant Judas Macca- 
 baeus was once more in later times to drive back the enemies of Israel to 
 the plains (i Mace. iii. 24). The whole distance was between 15 and 
 20 miles. 
 
 24—30. Jonathan's breach of Saul's rash oath. 
 
 24. %oere distressed that day : for Said, &c.] Render, And the men of 
 Israel were distressed that day. And Saul caused the people to 
 swear, &c. Seeing the fatigued condition of the army, and fearing lest 
 they should relinquish the pursuit to get food, Saul rashly exacted from 
 them an oath, which led to three evil results. (1) It hindered instead 
 of facilitating the pursuit of the enemy. (2) It involved Jonathan in an 
 involuntary trespass. (3) It indirectly occasioned the sin of the people 
 (v. 32). The Sept. however appears to have had a different text as 
 follows: "And all the people tliat were with Saul were about ten thou- 
 sand men. And the battle was scattered throughout the whole wood 
 [city is a mistranslation of the Heb. word for ivood m v. 25] in mount 
 Ephraim. And Saul did very foolishly on that day, and adjured the 
 people, saying, &c."
 
 w. 27—33.] I' SAMUEL, XIV. 13? 
 
 into the wood, behold the honey dropped; but no m^n. 
 put his hand to his mouth : for the people feared the oath. 
 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people 27 
 with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod 
 that was in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb, and put 
 his hand to his mouth ; and his eyes were enlightened. 
 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father 28 
 straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed 
 be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people 
 were faint. Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled 29 
 the land : see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been 
 enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How 30 
 much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of 
 the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there 
 not been now a much greater slaughter among the Phi- 
 listines } 
 
 31 — 35. The sin of the people. 
 
 And they smote the Philistines that day from Mich- 31 
 mash to Aijalon : and the people were very faint. And 32 
 the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and 
 oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the 
 people did eat them with the blood. Then they told Saul, 33 
 
 26. behold, the honey dropped] Lit. behold a stream of honey. 
 Palestine is literally "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. iii. 8). 
 Wild bees settle in vast numbers in the clefts of the limestone rocks and 
 in the trees. Compare the statement of a traveller in India, where ''the 
 forests literally flow with honey. Large combs may be seen hanging in 
 the trees as you pass along, full of honey." Cp. Matt. iii. 4. See 
 Trh\.T2iTC\s Land of Israel, p. 83. \\.iiio's Bible Illnstralions, p. 190. 
 
 27. his eyes were enlightened] Cp. Ps. xiii. 3. His bodily powers 
 were refreshed. The opposite idea is conveyed by the Heb. words for 
 
 faititirig, which are derived from roots meaning 'to be shrouded in 
 darkness.' 
 
 28. straitly] i.e. strictly. Cp. Ex. xiii. 19; Josh. vi. i. 
 
 And the people were faint] 13etter, and the people are faint, or 
 weary: words of the speaker, not a comment by the historian. 
 
 29. hath troubled] The word applied to Achan in Josh. vii. 25. 
 
 31 — 35. The sin of the people. 
 
 31. from Miehinash to Aijalon] See no'e on v. 13. 
 
 32. the people did eat them with the blood] As soon as it was 
 evening, the fasting people flew upon the spoil to satisfy their hun-
 
 13^ I- SAMUEL, XIV. [vv. 34—39. 
 
 saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that 
 they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have trans- 
 
 34 grassed : roll a great stone unto me this day. And Saul 
 said. Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto 
 them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man 
 his sheep, and slay them here, and eat ; and sin not against 
 the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people 
 brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew 
 
 a them there. And Saul built an altar unto the Lord : the 
 same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord. 
 
 36 — 46. The co7isegue?ice ofjonathaji's transgression. 
 
 35 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by 
 night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us 
 not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever 
 seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest. Let us 
 
 37 draw near hither unto God. And Saul asked counsel of 
 God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou 
 deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered 
 
 38 him not that day. And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all 
 the chief of the people : and know and see wherein this 
 
 39 sin hath been this day. For, as the Lord liveth, which 
 
 ger, and in doing so transgressed the primeval prohibition (Gen. ix. 4), 
 which was re-enacted in the Mosaic law (Lev. xvii. 10 — 14), and ob- 
 served in the early days of the Christian Cliurch (Acts xv. 20). 
 
 33. this day] Rather, forthwith. But the Sept. reads "here," 
 perliaps rightly. 
 
 35. the same 7uas the first aUar\ Lit. "it he began to build as an 
 altar to Jehovah." The E. V, probably gives the right sense. The 
 altar was erected as a thank-offering for the victory. "The great stone" 
 most likely formed part of it. 
 
 36 — 46. The consequence of Jonathan's transgression. 
 
 SB. Let lis drazv near hither unto God] Ahijah checks Saul's im- 
 pulse, reminding him that it was necessary first to ascertain the will of 
 God. Perhaps he felt that Saul's neglect to wait for God's answer in 
 the morning {v.- 19) had already borne evil fruit. 
 
 37. asked counsel of God] Inquired of God, the same verb as in x. 
 22. See note there. 
 
 38. the chief of the people] Lit. "the corner-stones of the people," 
 as in Jud. xx. 2, probably the elders or heads of houses. 
 
 wherein this sin hath been] Saul assumes that some undiscovered sin 
 must have caused God to refuse an answer, as Achan's trespass led Him
 
 w. 40—45.] I. SAMUEL, XIV. 137 
 
 saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall 
 surely die. But there was not a man among all the people 
 f/iat answered him. Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on 40 
 one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other 
 side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth 
 good unto thee. Therefore Saul said unto the Lord God 41 
 of Israel, Give a perfect /oL And Saul and Jonathan were 
 taken : but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast /ots 43 
 between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was 
 taken. Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou 43 
 hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but 
 taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine 
 hand, a/id lo, I must die. And Saul answered, God do so 44 
 and more also : for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. And 45 
 
 to withdraw His Presence and abandon Israel to defeat (Josh. vii. 11, 
 12). At a later time Saul's own sin made God desert Him in the same 
 way (ch. xxviii. 6, 15). Jonathan's transgression of the oath, although 
 unintentional, was an offence against the Majesty of the Divine Name 
 which could not be left unnoticed. 
 
 41. Give a perfect loi'\ This and not the marginal rendering "Shew 
 the innocent" is the best explanation of an obscure phrase which occurs 
 nowhere else. 
 
 The Sept. however has a very different reading, which with some 
 emendation may be rendered, "And Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, 
 why hast thou not answered thy servant today? If the iniquity be in 
 me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim : and if it 
 be in thy people Israel, give Thummim." If this reading is correct, it 
 points to the conclusion that the "judgment of Urim and Thummim" was 
 obtained by a special method of casting lots, which was employed on 
 the present occasion. See further on xxviii. 6. The Heb. text implies 
 that the ordinary lot only was used. 
 
 42. A7id Saul said, &c.] Again the Sept. text is fuller. "And 
 Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son : whomsoever the 
 Lord taketh by lot, let him die. And the people said unto Saul, This 
 thing shall not be. And Saul prevailed over the people, and they cast 
 lots between him and Jonathan his son, and Jonathan was taken." The 
 omission in the Heb. text miy be accounted for by hoinoeoleleuton (x. i, 
 note), the words for my son and his son being almost identical. 
 
 43. Tell 7ue\ In like manner Joshua moved Achan to confess, when 
 the lot had fixed upon him as the "troubler of Israel" (Josh. vii. 19). 
 
 I did but taste, &c] I did certainly taste... here I am: I will die. 
 Jonathan's words are not a lamentation over his hard fate, as the E. V. 
 implies, but a confession that the guilt, though involuntary, was his, 
 and an heroic expression of readiness to sacrifice his life for his country 
 even in the hour of victory.
 
 138 I. SAMUEL, XIV. [w. 46, 47. 
 
 the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath 
 wrought this great salvation in Israel ? God forbid : as 
 the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to 
 the ground ; for he hath wrought with God this day. So 
 
 46 the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. Then Saul 
 went up from following the Philistines : and the Philistines 
 Avent to their own place. 
 
 47 — 52- Summary account of SaiiV s ivars and family. 
 
 47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against 
 
 45. there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground'\ See 2 
 Sam. xiv. 11; i Kings i. 5e ; Matt. x. 30; Luke xxi. 18; Acts xxvii. 
 
 34- 
 
 he hath wrought itnth God] Compare Jonathan's own words in v. 6. 
 
 the people rescued Jonathan^ "There was now a freer and more un- 
 derstanding spirit in the nation at large. What was tolerated in the time 
 of Jephthah, when every man did what was right in his own eyes, and 
 when the obligation of such vows overrode all other considerations, was 
 no longer tolerated now. The people interposed in Jonathan's behalf. 
 They recognised the religious aspect of his great exploit. They rallied 
 round him with a zeal that overbore even the royal vow, and rescued 
 Jonathan that he died not. It was the dawn of a better day. It was 
 the national spirit now in advance of their chief, animated by the same 
 Prophetic teaching, which through the voice of Samuel had now made 
 itself felt ; the conviction that there was a higher duty even than out- 
 ward sacrifice or exact fulfilment of literal vows." Stanley's Zi'a'«rd'j, 
 II. 14. 
 
 A somewhat analogous story is told in Li\'y viii. 35. Q. Fabius the 
 Master of the Horse violated the commands of the Dictator Papirius 
 Cursor by attacking the Samnites in his absence. He was ordered for 
 instant execution by the dictator, but escaped through the intercession 
 of the people. 
 
 47 — 52. Summary account of Saul's wars and family. 
 
 47. So Saul took the hingdom'] The various wars undertaken by Saul 
 whom the people elected king "to go out before them and fight their 
 battles" are here summarily noticed, (i) Against Moab. See note on 
 xi. I. (2) Against the children of Ammon,'as recorded in ch. xi., and 
 perhaps upon other occasions. (3) Against the Edomites, the descend- 
 ants of Esau, surnamed Edom (Gen. xxv. 30), who occupied Edom or 
 Idumaea, previously called Mount .Seir ( = rugged), the mountainous 
 district stretching from the Dead Sea to the head of the Gulf of Elath. 
 The Edomites were conquered by David (2 Sam. viii. 14), and re- 
 mained subject to Judah till the reign of Jehoram (2 Kings viii. 10), 
 They are fiercely denounced by the later prophets, especially Obadiah, 
 for their hostility to Judah. (4) Against the Syrian kingdom of Zobah
 
 w. 48— 5I-] I. SAMUEL, XIV. I39 
 
 all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against 
 the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the 
 kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines : and whither- 
 soever he turned himself, he vexed them. And he gathered 4? 
 a host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out 
 of the hands of them that spoiled them. Now the sons of 49 
 Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua : and the 
 names of his two daughters were these; the name of the 
 firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal : and 50 
 the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of 
 Ahimaaz : and the name of the captain of his host was 
 Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. And Kish was the 51 
 
 on the north-east. This kingdom was probably situated between 
 Damascus and the Euphrates, but its exact position and lirnits are 
 undetermined. The "kings" were apparently independent chiefs; in 
 David's time it was ruled by a single king Hadadezer, and the account 
 of David's wars with it testify to its power and importance (2 Sam. viii. 
 2 — 10). (5) Against the Philistines throughout his reign [v. 52). _ No 
 special account of the wars against Moab, Edom and Zobah is giveri, 
 for the oljject of the book is not to give a complete history of Saul^s 
 reign, but to describe its salient features, and the sins which led to his 
 rejection. 
 
 he vexed ike?}i\ The word means literally "to condemn," and so (if 
 the reading is correct) "to conquer," the war being regarded as a suit 
 against the enemies of God, in which defeat was tantamount to a verdict 
 of condemnation. The Sept. however reads simply, "he was victorious." 
 
 48. gathered a host'] Better, did valiantly, as in Num. xxiv. 18; 
 Ps. Ix. 12. 
 
 stnote the AmaleJdtes\ As recorded at length in ch. xv. 
 
 49. Isliiti\ Since in ch. xxxi. 2 and i Chron. x. 2, the names of the 
 sons who fell with Saul at Gilboa are given as Jonathan, Abinadab and 
 Melchishua, and in the genealogies of i Chr. viii. 33 and ix. 39 these 
 three are again mentioned with the addition of Esh-Baal or Ish-bosheth, 
 it seems probable that Ishui is identical with Abinadab. Either Ishui 
 was a second name, or it is a corruption of the Heb. word for "and the 
 second." Cp. note on viii. 2. 
 
 50. Abner the son of Ner Sants uncle] Grammatically, "Saul's 
 uncle" might refer either to Abner or to Ner, but it is almost certain 
 that it must refer to the latter, so that Saul and Abner were first cousins. 
 V. 5t should be read, according to Josephus, "And Kish the father of 
 Saul and Ner the father of Abner were sons of Abiel." It is true that 
 the gencahjgics in i Chr. viii. 33, ix. 39 make Ner tlie grandfather of 
 Saul and consequently Abner Saul's uncle : but [a) Ner is not mentioned 
 among Saul's ancestors in ch. ix. i, and {l>) it is difficult to suppose that 
 Abner who was in full vigour for seven years after Saul's death (2 Sam.
 
 I40 I. SAMUEL, XIV. XV. [w. 52 ; t, 2. 
 
 father of Saul ; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of 
 S2 Abiel. And there was sore war against the PhiUstines all 
 tlie days of Saul : and when Saul saw any strong man, or 
 any valiant man, he took him unto him. 
 
 Ch. XV. I — 9. Saul's comfuission to destroy Amalek. 
 
 15 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint 
 
 thee to be king over his people, over Israel : now therefore 
 
 hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord, 
 
 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which 
 
 Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, 
 
 ii. iii.) could have belonged to the generation above him. There is 
 probably some confusion of the names in Chronicles. 
 
 61. Abiel\ It has been conjectured that Abiel is the same as Jehiel 
 "the father" or founder of Gibeon, i Chr. ix. 35, and that Gibcon is 
 identical with Gibeah ; but this is doubtful. 
 
 52. /i£ took kimi to serve in his permanent corps of picked soldiers 
 (xiii, 2). 
 
 Ch. XV. 1 — 9. Saul's commission to destroy Amalek. 
 
 1. Sanntel also said~\ And Samuel said. How long after the repulse 
 of the Philistines this happened, we are not told. Some years at least 
 must be allowed for the evident development of that wilfulness which 
 was .Saul's ruin. 
 
 The Lord sent me] Me did Jehovah send. The pronoun stands 
 emphatically at the head of the sentence. The prophet appeals to his 
 former commission to anoint Saul as accrediting him to beGod's me-sen- 
 ger on the present occasion. "The note of special warning" with which 
 he prefaces the command indicates that he felt that "the discipline of 
 Saul's life was gathering itself up into a special trial," and that this 
 would be "a crisis in that life-history, with which by God's own hand 
 his own had been so strangely intertwined." Wilberforce's Heroes of 
 Hebreiu History, p. 219. 
 
 2. / rente i?iber] Rather, I have reviewed, or, considered. Vulg. 
 7-ecertstu. 
 
 that -which Amalek did to Israel] The origin of the powerful tribe of 
 the Amalekites is uncertain. According to one view they had migrated 
 from the East : according to another they were the descendants of 
 Esau's grandson Amalek (Gen. xxxvi. 12). They were a nomad people, 
 roaming over the wilderness which lies to the south and south-west of 
 Palestine and stretches down into the peninsula of Sinai. They disputed 
 the passage of the Israelites, but were signally defeated at Rephidim (Ex. 
 xvii. 8). Upon a later occasion they joined with the Canaanites, and 
 were victorious in a battle near Hormah (Num. xiv. 45). In league 
 with the Moabites (Jud. iii. 13) and Midianites (Jud. vi. 3) they con- 
 tinued to harass the Israelites after their entrance into Canaan. As the
 
 vv. 3—6.] I. SAMUEL, XV. 14T 
 
 when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, 3 
 and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not ; 
 but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and 
 sheep, camel and ass. And Saul gathered the people 4 
 together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred 
 thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And 5 
 Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 
 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down 6 
 from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them : 
 for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when 
 they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from 
 
 first of the heathen nations who opposed the progress of God's people 
 after the Exodus they were doomed to utter destruction (Ex. xvii. 16; 
 Num. xxiv. 20; Deut. xxv. 17 — 19), and the time had now come for 
 the execution of this sentence. 
 
 3. utterly destroy all that they Jiave\ The word translated "utterly 
 destroy" means "to ban," or "to devote," and hence since that which 
 was cherem or "devoted" might not be taken as spoil, it comes to 
 signify "utterly destroy." See Lev. xxvii. ■aS, 29; Josh. vi. 17 ff. The 
 word is used in Samuel only in this chapter. 
 
 On the "moral difficulty" involved in this command see Note V, 
 p. ^40. 
 
 4. in Telaim] Nowhere else mentioned, unless it is the same as 
 Telcfn (Josh. xv. ■24), the position of which in the southern border of 
 Judah suits the circumstances. The name means "lambs," and was 
 "probably derived from the pastures in the neighbourhood. 
 
 itft thousand men of Judah] This implies that the 200,000 foot- 
 soldiers were from the other tribes. See note on xi. 8. 
 
 6. a city of Amalek] Perhaps the capital or chief settlement was 
 simply called Ir-Amalek=^^\\\t city of Amalek," as Rabbah was called 
 Ar or /;--^/cflZi = " the city of Moab" (Num. xxi. 28, xxii. 36). 
 
 in the valley] Heb. nachal, which signifies a ravine or torrent-bed. 
 See Sinai and Palestine, p. 505. 
 
 6. the Kenites] This tribe, as may be inferred from the fact that 
 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, the priest of Midian (Ex. iii. i), is called 
 a Kenite in Jud. i. 16, was an offshoot from the Midianites. The ser- 
 vices done to Israel by Jethro and his son Hobab (Ex. xviii; Num. x. 
 ■29 — 32) led to a firm alliance. The Kenites accompanied the Israelites 
 on their march as far as Jericho (Jud. i. 16), and then went and dwelt 
 among the Amalekites in the desert to the south of Judah. They are 
 mentioned again in xxvii, 10, xxx. 29, as the friends of Israel. Famous 
 among the Kenites was Jael, whose husband lieber had migrated into 
 northern Palestine (Jud. iv. 11); and the Rechabites who belonged to this 
 tribe (i Chr. ii. 55) long preserved the nomad habits of their ancestors 
 (Jer. xxxY. 7 — 10).
 
 142 I. SAMUEL, XV. [vv. 7— ii. 
 
 7 among the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites 
 from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against 
 
 8 Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites 
 alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of 
 
 9 the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the 
 best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and 
 the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly 
 destroy them : but every thing that was vile and refuse, that 
 they destroyed utterly. 
 
 10 — 23. SauVs disobedience and its penalty. 
 
 10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, 
 
 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king : for he 
 
 7. from Havilah until fJwu comest to Shur'\ The region occupied 
 by the Ishmaehtes is described in the same terms in Gen. xxv. 18. 
 Havilah is supposed to be a district of Arabia, but its position cannot 
 be fixed with any certainty. Shur is repeatedly mentioned in connexion 
 with the route from Palestine to Egypt, and appears to be the part of 
 the Arabian desert bordering on Egypt. See Gen. xvi. 7, xx. i ; Ex. 
 XV. 22 ; I Sam. xxvii. 8. Shiir means wall, and the name may have 
 been derived from the wall which anciently defended the north-eastern 
 frontier of Egypt. 
 
 over against Egypt'\ In front of Eg:ypt, looking towards it from 
 Palestine ; or, eastward of Egypt. 
 
 8. Agag\ ^^f?','- perhaps means "fiery." As the name is found in 
 Num. xxiv. 7, it was probably an hereditary title, like Pharaoh among 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 utterly destroyed all the people'] All who fell into their hands. Some 
 survived, and continued a guerilla warfare against the Israelites (xxvii. 
 8, xxx. i; 2 Sam. viii. 12). The last remnant of them was destroyed 
 by a band of Simeonites in the reign of Hezekiah (i Chr. iv. 43). 
 
 9. spaivd Agagl Perhaps to grace his triumph and to be an evi- 
 dence of his victory (Jud. i. 7) : perhaps from a feeling of sympathy with 
 a fellow king (i Kings xx. 32). 
 
 and the best of the sheep, &c.] In direct violation of the Divine 
 command. It was to be a sacred war from which the people were to 
 take no gain of spoil, in token that it was undertaken in the execution 
 of a Divine vengeance and not for their own profit. 
 
 fallings'] See note on \). 246. 
 
 10 — 23. Saul's disobedience and its penalty. 
 
 11. It repenteth me] "God's repentance is the change of His dis- 
 pensation." In the language of th« O. T. God is said to repent when a 
 change in the character and conduct of those with whom He is dealing 
 leads to a corresponding change in His plans and purposes towards 
 them. Thus (a) upon man's penitence God repents and withdraws a
 
 vv. 12, 13] I. SAMUEL, XV.. ii3 
 
 is turned back from following me, and hath not performed 
 my commandments. And it grieved Samuel ; and he cried 
 unto the Lord all night. And when Samuel rose early to 12 
 meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul 
 came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place, and 
 is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 
 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed 13 
 
 threatened punishment (Ex. xxxii. 14; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16): [h) upon man's 
 faithlessness and disobedience He cancels a promise or revokes a blessing 
 which He had given. The opposite is also true, "God is not a man 
 that he should repent" (v. 29). His repentance is not to be understood 
 as though He who foreknows all things res^retted His action, nor is it a 
 sign of mutability. A change in the attitude of man to God necessarily 
 involves a corresponding change in the attitude of God to man. 
 
 it grieved Samuel] Tliis rendering is probably right, though the word 
 more commonly means "to be angiy." Samuel was grieved at the 
 failure of one from whom he had hoped for so much advantage to the 
 nation. 
 
 he cried unto the Lord all night] Interceding for Saul if perchance 
 he might be forgiven. For Samuel's intercessions see ch. vii. 5, and 
 compare Moses' pleading for Israel (Ex. xxxii. 11 — 13). Our Lord 
 "continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke vi. 12). 
 
 12. to Carmel] Carmel {- "park" or "garden") was a city in the 
 mountainous country of Judah, about seven miles S.S.E. of Hebron. 
 Saul would naturally pass through it in returning from the war. The 
 site is marked by the ruins of a large town bearing the name Kurmiil 
 (Robinson, Bibl. Res. I. 495 ff). Here dwelt Nabal (ch. xxv), and in 
 its neighbourhood much of David's outlaw life M-as spent. 
 
 he set him up a place] He erected for himsslf a monument, or 
 trophy of his victory. The Vulg. has "fornicem triumphalem;" and 
 according to Jerome it was an arch of myrtles, palms, and olives. The 
 Heb. word, literally meaning "hand," is applied to Absalom's pillar, 
 which was called "Absalom's place" or "monument" (2 Sam. xviii. 
 18). 
 
 The Sept. has some doubtful additions, which partly appear in the 
 ordinary text of the Vulgate. "And Samuel rose early and went to 
 meet Israel in the morning. And it was told [Samuel] saying, [Saul] came 
 to Carmel, and hath set him up a monument, and he turned his chariot 
 and went down to Gilgal. [And Samuel came to Saul], and behold he 
 was offering a burnt-offering to the Lord, the first-fruits of the spoil, 
 which he brought from Amalek." The names Saul and Samuel have 
 been confused in the text of B, and the clause "And Samuel came to 
 Saul" must be transposed to make sense. 
 
 to Gilgal] In the same place where Saul's kingdom had been con- 
 firmed it was to be taken from him : and where the warning of the con- 
 sequences of disobedience had been uttered (xiii. 13, 14), the sentence 
 on disobedience was to be pronounced.
 
 144 I. SAMUEL, XV. [vv. 14—20. 
 
 be thou of the Lord : I have performed the commandment 
 
 14 of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meanetJi, then this 
 bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the 
 
 15 oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought 
 them from the Amalekites : for the people spared the best 
 of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord 
 
 16 thy God ; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Then 
 Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the 
 Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, 
 
 17 Say on. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine 
 own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of 
 
 18 Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel ? And 
 the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly 
 destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them 
 
 19 until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not 
 obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, 
 
 20 and didst evil in the sight of the Lord ? And Saul said 
 
 13. Blessed he tJwu of the Lord] Cp. Gen. xiv. 19, xxiv. 31; Ruth 
 iii. 10; 1 Sam. ii. 5. Saul attempts to conciliate Samuel with a friendly 
 greeting. His conscience can scarcely have been so hardened that he 
 was insensible of his sin. 
 
 15. And Saul said, &c.] Saul tries (a) like Aaron at Sinai (Ex. xxxii. 
 22), to shift the blame from himself on to others; {b) to palliate the 
 offence by alleging a good motive. But "the king who heeded the voice 
 of his army in such a matter shewed that he was not their leader, but 
 their tool and their slave. The king who pretended to keep the booty 
 for the purpose of offering sacrifice to the Lord his God, was evidently 
 beginning to play the hypocrite; — to make the service of God an excuse 
 for acts of selfishness, and so to introduce all that is vilest in king-craft 
 as well as in priest-craft." Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 26. 
 
 16. Stay\ Forbear ! cease these flimsy excuses ! 
 
 17. When thou wast little\ Is it not the case that tlioug:li thou 
 wast little in thine own eyes, thou hast been made head of the tribes 
 of Israel? There is a reference to Saul's own words of astonishment 
 that he should be chosen as king (ix. 21). The prophet desires to 
 remind him that as his elevation came solely from God, obedience was 
 due to God. There is a curious tradition preserved in the Targum, 
 that Saul's elevation was a reward for the courage of the tribe of 
 Benjamin at the passage of the Red Sea, when they sought to pass 
 over first. 
 
 13. the si)iners the Amalekites\ Sin was the ground of their doom. 
 The special sin which singled them out for punishment was their oppo- 
 sition to the will of God as regards the destiny of his people Israel,
 
 w. 21—23.] I- SAMUEL, XV. 145 
 
 unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, 
 and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have 
 brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly de- 
 stroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, =1 
 sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have 
 been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God 
 in Gilgal. And Samuel said, 22 
 
 Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and 
 sacrifices, 
 
 As in obeying the voice of the Lord ? 
 
 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, 
 
 And to hearken than the fat of rams. 
 
 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, 23 
 
 And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 
 
 Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, 
 
 He hath also rejected thee from being king. 
 
 20. Yea, I have obeyed^ Saul still persists in justifying his conduct. 
 (a) He had fulfilled his mission and destroyed the Amalekites, and 
 brought Agag with him in proof thereof, (b) The people had brought 
 home the spoil for sacrifice, not for themselves. 
 
 21. the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed] 
 The chief of the devoted things {cheret?i). It might seem a praiseworthy 
 act to reserve the spoil for sacrifice : but since it was "devoted," it did 
 not belong to the Israelites, and no offering could be made of it. 
 
 22. With a burst of prophetic inspiration Samuel rends asunder Saul's 
 tissue of excuses, and lays bare his sin. His words are the key-note of 
 the long remonstrance of the prophets in subsequent ages against the 
 too common error of supposing that external ceremonial can be of any 
 value in the sight of God when separated from the true devotion of the 
 worshipper's heart which it symbolizes. See Ps. xl. 6 — 8, 1. 8 ff., li. 16, 
 17; Is. i. ir — 15; Jer. vi. 20; PIos. vi. 6; Amos v. 21 — 24; Micah vi. 
 6—8; Mt. ix. 13, xii. 7. The rhythmical form of the original adds force 
 and solemnity. 
 
 23. rebellioti is as the sin of witchcraft, d'c] Opposition to the will 
 of God is as bad as divination by the help of evil spirits, which is tanta- 
 mount to apostasy from God: obstinate resistance to Him is no better 
 than worshipping idols {vanity or emptiness) and images (teraphim: see 
 note on xix. 13). Disobedience is in fact idolatry, because it elevates 
 self-will into a god. 
 
 There seems to be an allusion to Saul's zeal in abolishing the practice 
 of witchcraft (xxviii. 3). Samuel charges him with being not less guilty 
 than those whom he had been so eager to condemn. 
 
 I.SAMUEL 10
 
 146 I SAMUEL, XV. [vv. 24— 30. 
 
 24 — 31. The rejection of Said. 
 
 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned : for I have 
 transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words : 
 
 25 because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now 
 therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with 
 
 26 me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto 
 Saul, I will not return with thee : for thou hast rejected 
 the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee 
 
 27 from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about 
 to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and 
 
 28 it rent. And Samuel said unto him. The Lord hath rent 
 the kingdom of Israel from thee tJiis day, and hath given 
 
 29 it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And 
 also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent : for he 
 
 30 is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, I have 
 sinned : yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders 
 
 24—31. The rejection of Saul. 
 
 24. I ?iave'Sm>tcd'\ Though a formal confession of his sin is extorted 
 from Saul, he does not humble himself before God in genuine penitence. 
 He still tries to shift the blame on to the people, and his chief anxiety 
 is lest the breach between Samuel and himself should become a public 
 scandal and weaken his authority [v. 30). Contrast David's heart-felt 
 repentance (2 Sam. xii. 13; Ps. li. 4). 
 
 27. the skirt of his mantle] Some kind of a lappet or flap hanging 
 down behind, which could be easily torn or cut off, seems to be meant. 
 Cp. xxiv. 4. As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized it to detain him, and 
 it was torn off. The accident served Samuel as an emblem of the com- 
 plete severance of the sovereignty from Saul. Compare Ahijah's sym- 
 bolical action (i Kings xi. 30, 31). 
 
 29. the Strength of Israel] This word, which occurs here only as a 
 title of God, combines the ideas of stability, permanence, constancy: the 
 Strength or Confidence of Israel does not change as men do. 
 
 ivill not lie nor repent] The words closely resemble Num. xxiii. 19. 
 There is a verbal contradiction between this utterance and v. 11, which 
 is usually explained by saying that m.v. 11 the historian uses language 
 according to the manner of men [avdpwTTofradus), while here the prophet 
 speaks as befits the nature of God (OioTrpiirws). I'his is only a partial 
 solution. It is precisely because God is unchangeable, that in His deal- 
 ing with men lie must seem to change His action as they change their 
 conduct. This is one aspect of the great problem which runs through 
 all religion, how human free-will can coexist with the Divine Sovereignty. 
 Scripture is content to state both sides of the question, and leave con- 
 science rather than reason to reconcile them.
 
 vv. 31— 35; i] I- SAMUEL, XV. XVI. 147 
 
 of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, 
 that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned 31 
 again after Saul ; and Saul worshipped the Lord. 
 
 32 — 35. The execution of Agag. Samuers departure. 
 Then said Samuel, Bring you hither to me Agag the king 32 
 of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. 
 And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And 33 
 Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so 
 shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel 
 hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Then 34 
 Samuel went to Ramah ; and Saul went up to his house 
 to Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel came no more to see Saul 35 
 until the day of his death : nevertheless Samuel mourned 
 for Saul : and the Lord repented that he had made Saul 
 king over Israel. 
 
 Ch. XVI. I — 13. The choice of SauPs successor. 
 And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou 16 
 mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning 
 over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send 
 
 30. honour me noiv, &c.] John v. 44 and xii. 43 point to the radical 
 defect in Saul's character. 
 
 31. So Sa»mel turned again'\ Changing his purpose in order to 
 maintain the honour of the reigning king, for although Saul had for- 
 feited his position as Jehovah's chosen representative, he must still rule 
 the nation. 
 
 32— S5. The execution of Agag. Samuel's departure. 
 
 32. delicately\ Rather, cheerfully: not fearing any harm from the 
 aged prophet, as the king had spared his life. But the meaning of the 
 word is very doubtful. The Sept. has "trembling;" the Vulg. a curious 
 double rendering, "sleek and trembling" {pingiiissimiis et tremens). 
 
 Surely the bitterness of death is fast'\ This was what Agag said to 
 himself, expecting to be spared. But the Sept. (from a different reading) 
 gives: "Is death so bitter?" Vulg. "Does bitter death thus sever [me 
 from life]?" [Siccine separat amara mors?) representing Agag as afraid. 
 
 33. As thy sword, &c.] By the law of retahation Agag's life was 
 forfeit. Cp. Jud. i. 7. 
 
 hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord] A solemn execution of the 
 Divine sentence which Saul had neglected. The word rendered "hewed 
 in pieces" is a different one from that used in xi. 7, and occurs nowhere 
 else. It may perhaps mean no more than "executed" (Sept. iacpa^c). 
 The E. V. follows the Vulg. : "in frusta concidit." 
 
 10 — 2
 
 148 I. SAMUEL, XVI. [vv. 2—5. 
 
 thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite : for I have provided me 
 
 2 a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go ? 
 if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take 
 a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the 
 
 3 Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew 
 thee what thou shalt do : and thou shalt anoint unto me 
 
 4 ///;;/ whom I name unto thee. And Samuel did that which 
 the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders 
 of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou 
 
 5 peaceably? And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacri- 
 fice unto the Lord : sanctify yourselves, and come with me 
 
 Ch. XVI. 1—13. The choice of Saul's successor. 
 
 1. Jesse the BetJi-lchemife'\ Grandson of Ruth the Moabitess, and 
 belonging to the tribe of Judah through the line of his male ancestors 
 (Ruth iv. 18—22). 
 
 2. Take an Iicifer with thee, &c.] For David's safety no less than 
 his own it was necessary that the purpose of Samuel's errand should not 
 be known. "Concealment of a good purpose for a good purpose is 
 clearly justifiable." It was perfectly legitimate for Samuel to conceal 
 the primary intention and mention only the secondary object of his 
 visit. 
 
 It may be inferred from the command, that Samuel was in the habit 
 of holding religious gatherings in different provincial towns from time 
 to time. 
 
 4. Beth-leheniX Beth-lehem ( = "house of bread") was the later 
 name of the ancient town of EpJirath (Gen. xlviii. 7). It was situated 
 about five miles south of Jerusalem, a short distance east of the road from 
 Jerusalem to Hebron. As the scene of the fresh picture of domestic life 
 contained in the book of Ruth it would possess no common interest, but 
 as the "city of David" (Lk. ii. 4), and the birthplace of Him of Whom 
 David was a type, it is, next to Jerusalem itself, the most sacred spot on 
 earth. Here too, it should be remembered, "beside what he believed to 
 be literally the cradle of the Christian faith... Jerome composed the 
 famous translation of the Scriptures which is still the 'Eiblia Vulgata' of 
 the Latin Church." Stanley's Sin. and Pal., p. 442. 
 
 4. the elders of the to"vn, &c.] The elders of the city (see note on 
 viii. 4) came to meet him tremtoling. Perhaps Samuel's visits were 
 often made with the view of rebuking sin and correcting abuses, and 
 hence their alarm : or the breach between him and Saul may have made 
 the elders afraid of incurring the royal displeasure by welcoming him. 
 
 5. sanctify yourselves^ By the usual ceremonial purifications, such 
 as washing the body and clothes, the outward symbols of spiritual 
 preparation. See Gen. xxxv. 2; Ex. xix. 10 ff. The Sept. adds, "and 
 rejoice with me this day."
 
 vv. 6— II.] I. SAMUEL, XVI. 149 
 
 to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and 
 called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when 6 
 they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said. Surely 
 the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said 7 
 unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the 
 height of his stature ; because I have refused him : for t/ie 
 Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the 
 outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 
 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before 8 
 Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 
 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, 9 
 Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again, Jesse made jo 
 seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said 
 unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And Sa- " 
 muel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children ? And he 
 said. There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he 
 keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and 
 fetch him : for Ave will not sit down till he come hither. 
 
 And he sanctified, &c.] In the case of Jesse's family Samuel super- 
 intended the necessary purification himself. This gave him the oppor- 
 tunity of a private interview with them in Jesse's house, at which David's 
 anointing took place. The sacrifice appears to have followed after- 
 wards. 
 
 6. and said'\ Ss.1^ to himself: thought. "Eliab by his height and 
 his countenance seemed the natural counterpart of Saul, whose successor 
 the Prophet came to select. But the day was gone when kings were 
 chosen because they were head and shoulders taller than the rest." 
 Stanley's Lect. 11. 40. 
 
 Eliab is probably the same as "Elihu one of the brethren of David " 
 whom David appointed "ruler of the tribe of Judah" (i Chr. xxvii. 
 18). 
 
 7. for {the Lord seeth'] 7iot as man seeth] The words in brackets 
 are rightly supplied in the Sept. For the thought see i Chr. xxviii. 9; 
 Lk. xvi. 1 5 ; Acts i. 24, &c. God first gave the people a king of stately 
 stature and majestic appearance, such as they would have chosen for 
 themselves (x. 24): now He will choose "a man after His own heart" 
 on the true ground of his inner moral worth. 
 
 9. Shaininali\ Also called Shinuah (2 Sam. xiii. 3), or Shimea 
 (i Chr. XX. 7); Shimnta in i Chr. ii. 13 should be written Shimea, Two 
 of his sons are mentioned : Jonadab, celebrated for sagacity (2 Sam. 
 xiii. 3): Jonathan, for courage (2 Sam. xxi. 21). 
 
 10. Attain, Jesse made, &c.] "So Jesse made seven of his sons," 
 &c., including of course the three already mentioned by name. 
 
 11. -tve will not sit dozvn] We will not sit round the table for the 
 sacrificial feast.
 
 I50 I. SAMUEL, XVI. [w. 12—15. 
 
 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he 7iias ruddy, 
 and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look 
 to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him : for this is he. 
 
 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the 
 midst of his brethren ; and the spirit of the Lord came 
 upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, 
 and went to Ramah. 
 
 14 — 23. Davicfs introduction to the Court of Saul. 
 
 14 But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an 
 
 15 evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's ser- 
 
 12. riidJ}'] The word denotes the red hair and fair skin which are 
 regarded as a mark of beauty in southern countries, where the hair and 
 complexion are generally dark. 
 
 of a beautiful coiintmaticc, &c.] Lit. "beautiful-eyed and goodly in 
 appearance." Compare the description of Joseph (Gen. xxxix. 6), and 
 Moses (Ex. ii. 2 ; Acts vii. 10, where compare the Gk. dare'Los tQ Oeu) 
 with the Sept. here, d-yaOos opdaei Kupiui). 
 
 13. m the midst of his brethrcnl This can only mean "in the presence 
 of his brethren. " As in the subsequent history they do not seem to have 
 any idea of their brother's high destiny, the true significance of the act 
 appears to have been concealed from them. Whether it was made clear 
 even to Jesse and David himself may be doubted. They may have sup- 
 posed that Samuel had selected David for a pupil in his prophetic school. 
 See xix. 18 ff. 
 
 the spii-it of the Lord came upon David'\ As upon Saul at the first 
 (x. 6). For "came upon" see note on xi. 6. The special supernatural 
 preparation for his office began from that hour. 
 
 David\ The name means "beloved" or "darling," and was pro- 
 bably given to him as the youngest of the family. 
 
 14 — 23. David's introduction to the Court of Saul. 
 
 14. But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul] Note the con- 
 trast to V. 13. As David rose, Saul sank. 
 
 an evil spirit from the Lord] The cause of Saul's mental disorder is 
 described as "an evil spirit from Jehovah," or "of Jehovah" (xix. 9); 
 "an evil spirit of God" [vv. 15, 16, xviii. 10); "the spirit of evil" (v. 
 IT,); even "the spirit of God" {v. ■23); because it was God's messenger 
 of judgment. Cp. i Kings xxii. 19 — 22. It is never called "the spirit 
 of Jehovah," which always designates the spirit of holiness. Saul's 
 apostasy was punished not merely by the withdrawal of the grace which 
 had been given as the endowment of his office, but by positive assaults 
 from the powers of evil, akin to the demoniacal possession of the N. T. 
 The result was a form of melancholy madness. The cause of the disease 
 was (as we commonly speak) "supernatural," the cure employed 
 "natural." The inference is that it is impossible to draw a sharp line of
 
 19 
 
 w. 16—20.] I. SAMUEL, XVI. T51 
 
 vants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God 
 troubleth thee. Let our lord now command thy servants 16 
 which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning 
 player on a harp : and it shall come to pass, when the evil 
 spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his 
 hand, and thou shalt be well. And Saul said unto his 17 
 servants. Provide me now a man that can play well, and 
 bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants, and 18 
 said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, 
 that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant ma7t^ and 
 a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, 
 and the Lord is with him. Wherefore Saul sent messen- 
 gers unto Jesse, and said. Send me David thy son, which 
 is with the sheep. And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, 
 
 distinction between the two spheres. They are in closer connexion than 
 is commonly recognised. 
 
 16. a cunning play cr\ "Cunning," from A.-S. cwinan, to know, 
 ken, is generally used in the E. V. in its original sense of knowing, 
 skilful, without any idea of underhand dealing. 
 
 thou shalt be welll The power of music to restore the harmony of a 
 troubled mind is well known. Kitto [Bible Ilhistr., p. 212) quotes 
 among other instances the case of Philip V. of Spain in the last century. 
 He was seized with a total dejection of spirits, which rendered him in- 
 capable of attending to business. After all other methods had been 
 tried unsuccessfully, the celebrated musician Farinelli was invited to 
 perform at a concert in a room adjoining the King's apartment. The 
 music attracted his attention; by degrees the disease gave way, and the 
 King was restored to his usual health. 
 
 18. 07ie of the servatits'\ The word here used for "servants" literally 
 means "young men" (Vulg. pneri), as it is rendered in xiv. i, and 
 probably refers to military attendants: that used in vv. 15, 16, 17 
 literally means "slaves" (Vulg. servi), and includes the servants in 
 general. 
 
 a 7nighty valiant tnan, &c.] David had proved his courage while still 
 tending his sheep. See xvii. 32 — 36. "A man of war" describes his 
 capacity and promise rather than actual warlike experience. 
 
 prudent in 7natters\ Rather, "skilled in word," eloquent. Possibly 
 he had already composed psalms, but of those which have come down to 
 us only Ps. viii. can be referred to this period, and even that is pro- 
 bably somewhat later. Psalms xix., xxiii., and xxix., describing the 
 phenomena of nature, doubtless contain recollections of his shepherd 
 life. 
 
 the Lord is with hiin\ See note on iii 19. 
 
 20. And Jesse took, &c.] Cp. x. 4, 27. The character of the 
 presents offered to the King shews the simplicity of the manners of the
 
 152 T. SAMUEL, XVI. XVIL [vv. 21—23; h ^ 
 
 and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David 
 =1 his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood 
 
 before him : and he loved him greatly ; and he became his 
 22 armourbearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, 
 
 I pray thee, stand before me ; for he hath found favour in 
 S3 my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from 
 
 God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played 
 
 with his hand : so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and 
 
 the evil spirit departed from him. 
 
 Ch. XVIL I — 3. The Philistine invasion. 
 
 17 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to 
 
 battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which be- 
 
 longeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, 
 
 2 in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were 
 
 age. They were "the natural produce of the well known vines, and 
 corn-fields, and pastures of Bethlehem." 
 
 22. Let David... St and before me] Thus David entered upon the first 
 stage of special education for his office. In Saul's court he was placed 
 in a position which gave opportunity for the development of his powers, 
 and for gaining the esteem and love of the people. 
 _ 23. And it came to pass, &c.] The verbs in this verse are frequenta- 
 tive, expressing what happened repeatedly. 
 
 On the apparent inconsistency between this account of David's intro- 
 duction to Saul, and the narrative of the next chapter see Note VI. 
 p. 241. 
 
 Ch. XVII. 1 — 3. The Philistine invasion. 
 
 1. at Shochoh'] The scene of David's memorable combat is fixed 
 with great exactness. The Philistine army marched up the wide valley 
 of Elah to their rendezvous at Soclioli, and pitched their camp in Ephes- 
 dammim (cp. I Chr. xi. 13). The valley of Elah is almost certainly the 
 present IVady-es-Sinit, which runs in a N. W. direction from the hills of 
 judah near Hebron past the probable site of Gath (see note on ch. v. 8) to 
 the sea near Ashdod. "It took its name Elah of old from the Terebinth, 
 of which the largest specimen we saw in Palestine still stands in the 
 vicinity; just as it now takes its name es-Sunt from the acacias which 
 are scattered in it." Robinson, Bibl. J?es. ii. 21. Sochoh is the modern 
 Shuweikeh, about 16 miles S.W. of Jerusalem on the road to Gaza. 
 Azekah is mentioned in Josh. x. 10 in connexion with the rout of the 
 Philistines in the battle of Beth-horon, but the site is uncertain. "Of 
 the name Ephes-dammim we have perhaps a trace in the modern Beit 
 Fused, or 'House of Bleeding,' near Sochoh." Conder's Tent Work, 
 II. 160. The name, which signifies "boundary of blood," was probably 
 due to its being the scene of frequent skirmishes with the PhiHstines,
 
 vv. 3—5.] I. SAMUEL, XVII. 153 
 
 gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and 
 set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the 3 
 Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel 
 stood on a mountain on the other side : and there was a 
 valley between them. 
 
 4 — II. GoliatJi's Challenge. 
 
 And there went out a champion out of the camp of 4 
 the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height 
 was six cubits and a span. And lie had a helmet ofs 
 
 2. by the valley of Elall] Rather, "in the valley of Elah." 
 
 3. oil a mountain, &c.] Rather, upon tlie mountain... upon the 
 mountain... and the ravine was between tliem. The E. V. obliterates 
 the features of the scene. The ravine (Heb. gat) was the stream-bed at the 
 bottom of the va//ey (Heh. eniek). The Israelites encamped on the eastern, 
 the Philistines on the western slopes of the valley. "In the middle of 
 the broad open valley we found a deep trench with vertical sides, im- 
 passable except at certain places — a valley in a valley, and a natural 
 
 barrier between the two hosts Here then we may picture to ourselves 
 
 the two hosts, covering the low rocky hills opposite to each other, and 
 half hidden among the lentisk bushes; between them was the rich ex- 
 panse of ripening barley and the red banks of the torrent with its white 
 shingly bed; behind all were the distant blue hill-walls of Judah, whence 
 Saul had just come down." Conder, Tent Work, 11. 161. 
 
 4 — 11. Goliath's Challenge. 
 
 4. a champion\ Lit. "The (well-known) man of the interspaces," 
 or "interval between two camps" (Gr. /xeratXM'O": 'itt.'SLM.x. Phoen. 1361, 
 in the account of the combat between Eteocles and Polynices), in which 
 single combats took place: so E.V. rightly "champion." 
 
 Goliath of Gath\ A survivor probably of the ancient race of Anakim, 
 a remnant of which found refuge in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, when they 
 were exterminated by Joshua from the mountains of Judah (Josh. xi. 21, 
 22). 
 
 six cubits and a spati] The cubit, or distance from the elbow to the 
 extremity of the middle finger, is variously estimated at from eighteen to 
 twenty-one inches : the span, or distance between the extremities of the 
 thumb and little finger in the outstretched hand, is reckoned as half a 
 cubit : so that Goliath's height was between nine feet nine inches and 
 eleven feet four inches. The most probable estimate is about ten feet 
 three inches. Among parallel instances of gigantic stature may be 
 quoted Pusio and Secundilla, who lived in the reign of Augustus, and 
 are said by Pliny {Nat. Hist. vil. 16) to have been over ten feet high. 
 Josephus says that a certain Eleazar the giant who was sent to the 
 emperor Tiberius, was seven cubits high.
 
 154 I. SAMUEL, XVII. [vv. 6— 8. 
 
 brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat 
 of mail ; and the weight of the coat was five thousand 
 
 6 shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his 
 
 7 legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the 
 staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam ; and his spear's 
 head weighed six hundred shekels ^iron : and one bearing 
 
 8 a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto 
 
 5. a coat of mair\ "A corselet of scales," made of overlapping 
 plates of metal, and protecting the body almost down to the knees. 
 Armour of this kind is represented in the Assyrian sculptures. Sec 
 Layard's Nineveh II. 335. Cp. Virg. Aen. XI. 487, " Turnus...thoraca 
 indutus aenis Horrebat sijiiainis." 
 
 five thousand shekels\ Estimated at about 157 pounds avoirdupois. 
 
 6. greaves\ Armour for the legs and feet : from Fr. grive, ' the 
 shin.' " Greaves" from the Assyrian monuments are figured in Layard's 
 Nineveh il. 337. The following passage from Philemon Holland's 
 translation of Pliny's N^at. Hist. VI I. 20, quoted in the Bible Word- 
 Book, illustrates both the matter and the language : 
 
 " My selfe haue scene one named Athanatus do wonderfuU strange 
 matters in the open shew and face of the world, namely to walke his 
 stations vpon the stage with a cuirace of lead weighing 500 pound 
 [ = 360 lbs. avoirdupois], booted besides with a pair of buskins ox greiues 
 (cothurni) about his legges that came to as much in weight." 
 
 brass'\ The word translated brass means copper in such passages as 
 Deut. viii. 9, where a natural metal is spoken of In some instances 
 the compound metal bronze (copper and tin) may be meant, but brass 
 (copper and zinc) was unknown to the ancients. 
 
 a target^ Rather, a javelin, which was slung across his shoulders, 
 as the Greeks sometimes carried their swords (Hom. //. II. 45). Roman 
 soldiers were often similarly armed with both piLun (javelin) and hasta 
 (spear). The E. V. follows the Sept. and Vulg. in rendering "target," 
 i.e. a kind of small shield. The marginal rendering " gorget, "_='' a 
 piece of armour for the throat," from Fr. gorge, has nothing in its 
 favour. 
 
 7. the staff of his spear, &c.] The sliaft of Goliath's spear, short, 
 but extraordinarily stout and heavy, is compared to the "beam'' to 
 which the web is fastened in a loom (cp. 2 Sam. xxi. 19). The iron 
 spear head weighed nearly nineteen pounds avoirdupois. 
 
 one bearing a shield] A large shield to protect the whole body. 
 Comp. Layard's Niiieveh li. 346, " The archers, whether on foot or in 
 chariots, were accompanied by shield-bearers, whose office it was to pro- 
 tect them from the shafts of the enemy. The king was always attended 
 in his wars by this officer; and even in peace, one of his eunuchs usually 
 carried a circular shield for his use. This shield-bearer was probably a 
 person of high rank as in Egypt." Ajax protects Teucer with his 
 shield while he is shooting (Hom. //. Vlli. 266 — 272).
 
 vv. 9—12.] I. SAMUEL, XVII. 155 
 
 the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come 
 out to set your battle in array? a7n not I a Philistine, and 
 you servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let 
 him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, 9 
 and to kill me, then will we be your servants : but if I pre- 
 vail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, 
 and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of 10 
 Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 
 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philis- n 
 tine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 
 
 12 — 31. David's errand to the camp. 
 
 Now David tvas the son of that Ephrathite of Beth- 12 
 lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse ; and he had eight 
 sons : and the man went among men/^r an old man in the 
 
 8. amnot I a PJnlistine\ Rather, the Philistine ; the representative of 
 the nation. The Targum puts a long speech into GoHath's mouth. ' ' I am 
 Goliath the Philistine of Gath, who slew the two sons of Eli the priest, 
 Hophni and Phinehas, and carried away captive the ark of the covenant 
 of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Dagon my error [i.e. idol\ 
 and it was there in the cities of the Philistines seven months. Moreover 
 in all the wars of the Philistines I go forth at the head of the army, and 
 we have been victorious in war, and have cast down the slain as the 
 dust of the earth, and hitherto the Philistines have not honoured me, to 
 make me captain of a thousand over them. But as for you children of 
 Israel, what valiant deed has Saul the son of Kish of Gibeah wrought 
 for you, that ye have made him king over you ? If he be a valiant man, 
 let him come down and do battle with me ; but if he be a coward, 
 choose you, &c." 
 
 9. then will we be your servants] Compare the agreement between 
 the Romans and Albans about the combat of the Horatii and Curiatii, 
 "that the nation whose citizens conquered in the combat should rule the 
 other in peace" (Livy i. 24). Paris challenged Menelaus to decide the 
 Trojan war by single combat (Horn. //. III. 86 ff.). 
 
 12—31. David's errand to the camp. 
 
 12 — 31. This section is not found in the Vatican MS. of the Sept. 
 On the difficulties it presents, and the question of its genuineness see 
 Note VI. p. 241. 
 
 12. that KphratJiite\ "That" signifies " who has been mentioned 
 before," and is inserted to connect the narrative witli ch. xvi. " Ephra- 
 thite" = " of Eph7-alh" the old name of IJclhlehem, which is here called 
 in full Beth-lehem-judah, i.e. Bethlehem in Judah. 
 
 the man went among }nen, <S;c.] By the introduction of a slight emen- 
 dation the sentence may be rendered : Now in the days of Saul the
 
 156 I. SAMUEL, XVII. [w. 13-20. 
 
 13 days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and 
 followed Saul to the battle : and the names of his three 
 sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and 
 
 14 next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And 
 David was the youngest : and the three eldest followed 
 
 15 Saul. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his 
 
 16 father's sheep at Beth-lehem. And the Philistine drew 
 near morning and evening, and presented himself forty 
 
 17 days. And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for 
 thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn^ and these ten 
 
 18 loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren ; and carry 
 these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and 
 
 19 look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Now 
 Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley 
 
 20 of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose up 
 early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and 
 
 man was old and well stricken in years. Jesse's age is mentioned to 
 account for his absence from the army. 
 
 15. David went and rctjirncd from Saiil^ From xvi. i\ — 23 it 
 might have been supposed that David was already permanently resident 
 at Saul's court. This verse however states that he returned home when 
 his services were not required at court, and at the time of the Philistine 
 war was with his father at Bethlehem. We must assume either that 
 xvi. 1 1 describes by anticipation what happened eventually after the 
 Philistine war : or that the appointment as armour-bearer was a nominal 
 commission, and that, as he was young and inexperienced, his attend- 
 ance in camp was not yet required. Joab had ten armour-bearers 
 (2 Sam. xviii. 15), and Saul probably many more. 
 
 16. And the Philistine, S^iC?^ This remark resumes the narrative of 
 vv. 4 — 1 1, with the additional information that Goliath's defiance was 
 repeated for a considerable time, and so prepares the way for what 
 follows. 
 
 17. parched rorn^ Still a common article of food in Palestine. "In 
 the season of harvest the grains of wheat, not yet dry and hard, are 
 roasted in a pan or an iron plate, and constitute a very palatable article of 
 food ; this is eaten along with bread or instead of it." Rol)inson, Bibl. 
 Res. n. 50. Cp. Ruth ii. 14; i Sam. xxv, 18; 2 Sam. xvii. 28. 
 
 rmi\ Rather, carry them quickly. 
 
 18. look how thy brethren far e'\ Visit thy brethren and enquire after 
 their welfare. Cp. Gen. xxxvii. 14. 
 
 take their pledge'] Bring home some token from them that they are 
 well : the equivalent of a letter. 
 
 19. A'ow Saul, &c.] Probably, "Now Saul and they. . .are," &c., 
 i.e. it is Jesse's direction to David where to find his brothers, not a re- 
 mark of the historian.
 
 w. 21—28.] I. SAMUEL, XVII. 157 
 
 took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him ; and he 
 came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, 
 and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines 21 
 had put the battle in array, army against army. And David 22 
 left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, 
 and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 
 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the 23 
 champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of 
 the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the 
 same words : and David heard them. And all the men of 24 
 Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were 
 sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen 25 
 this man that is come up ? surely to defy Israel is he come 
 up : and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king 
 will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his 
 daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And 26 
 David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What 
 shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and 
 taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this 
 uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of 
 the living God ? And the people answered him after this ^^ 
 manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth 
 him. And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake =3 
 unto the men ; and Eliab's anger was kindled against 
 
 20. the trenc]{\ The word may mean either, {a) the circular rampart 
 round the camp ; or [b) a barrier formed by the baggage waggons round 
 the camp; or {c) the place where the baggage waggons of the army were 
 kept. It occurs again in xxvi. 5, 7. 
 
 shouted for the battle^ Raised the ' slogan ' or war-cry, like Gideon's 
 "For the Lord and for Gideon " (Jud. vii. 18). Cp. Josh. vi. 5 ff. 
 
 21. For Israel had put'] And Israel put, &c. 
 
 22. his carriage the Icccper of the carriage^ "Carriage" in the 
 
 E. V. always signifies "that which is carried," "baggage." See Jud. 
 xviii. 21 ; Is. x. 28 ; Acts xxi. 15. The Heb. word is the same as that 
 translated "stuff" in x. 11. 
 
 25. will give him his daughter\ Compare Caleb's offer, Josh. xv. 16. 
 Saul procrastinated aljout fuliilling the promise, and imposed further 
 conditions (xviii. 17 ff.). 
 
 make his father's house free'] Probably exemption from taxes and per- 
 sonal services to the king is meant. Cp. viii. 1 1 ff. 
 
 26. the living God] Jehovah as the one " living and true God" is 
 contrasted with the idols of the heathen "which have no breath in their 
 mouths." Cp. Deut. v. 26, and esp. 2 Kings xix. 4.
 
 158 ' I. SAMUEL, XVII. [w. 29-35. 
 
 David, and he said. Why earnest thou down hither ? and 
 with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness ? 
 I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart ; for 
 thou art come down that thou niightest see the battle. 
 
 29 And David said. What have I now done ? Is there not a 
 
 30 cause ? And he turned from him towards another, and 
 spake after the same manner: and the people answered 
 
 31 him again after the former manner. And when the words 
 were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before 
 Saul : and he sent for him. 
 
 32 — 40. David volunteers to fight Goliath. 
 
 32 And David said to Saul, Let no-man's heart fail because 
 of him ; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 
 
 33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against 
 this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, 
 
 34 and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto 
 Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a 
 
 35 lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock : and I went 
 
 28. the wilderness] TheHeb. word for "wilderness" does not neces- 
 sarily mean a barren district ; but a wide open tract used for pasture, as 
 distinguished from arable land. Cp. Ps. Ixv. ii ; Joel i. 19, 20, ii. 22. 
 
 naughtiness'] i. e. wickedness. David's advancement seems to have 
 roused Eliab's jealousy. He imputes the worst motives to him and 
 taunts him with (i) neglect of duty; (2) arrogance and discontent with 
 his humble occupation; (3) unseemly eagerness for the sight of blood- 
 shed. Eliab was unable to enter into the nature of David's lofty indig- 
 nation. Compare the hatred of Joseph's brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 4). 
 
 29. Is there 7iot a cause] A suflicient cause for his coming, namely, 
 his father's command. But probably the words mean, " Is it not a 
 [mere] word?" i.e. " May I not ask a harmless question?" 
 
 32—40. David volunteers to fight Goliath. 
 
 32. And David said unto SauF] According to the Sept. text this 
 stands in close and appropriate connexion with v. 11 : in the Heb. text 
 David's offer certainly follows very abruptly on his introduction to Saul. 
 
 33. thou art but a youth] Compared with the giant David was but 
 a youth, though he had already shown suflicient promise to be called "a 
 man of war" by Saul's servant (xvi. 18). 
 
 34. and there came a lion, cSic] And when a lion came or even 
 
 a bear (or, and that too with a bsar) I went out after him, t\:c. 
 
 "In those early days, when the forests of Southern Palestine had not 
 been cleared, it was the habit of the wild animals which usually fre- 
 quented the heights of Lebanon or the thickets of the Jordan, to make
 
 vv. 36—39.] I. SAMUEL, XVII. IS9 
 
 out after him, and smote him, and dehvered it out of his 
 mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught ////// by his 
 beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew 36 
 both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philis- 
 tine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the 
 armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord 37 
 that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the 
 paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this 
 Phihstine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord 
 be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armour, and 38 
 he put a helmet of brass upon his head ; also he armed him 
 with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his 39 
 armour, and he assayed to go ; for he had not proved //. 
 And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I 
 
 incursions into the pastures of Judaea, From the Lebanon at times 
 descended the bears. From the Jordan ascended the Hon, at that time 
 infesting the whole of Western Asia." Stanley, Led. 11. 43. The 
 Syrian bear is said to be especially ferocious, and appears to have been 
 more dreaded than the lion. See Amos v. 19. Lions are not now found 
 in Palestine, but the traveller Thevenot says that the Arabs are not 
 afraid of them, and will attack and kill them, with no better arms than 
 a stick. Cp. Am. iii. 12. 
 
 35. by his beard] Cp. the Homeric epithet of the lion, "well- 
 bearded;" (\h T^iJyeveLos : II. XV. 275); and the Latin proverb "to 
 pluck the beard of a dead lion " (barbam vellere mortuo leoni). 
 
 36. seeing he hath defied, &c.] " The trusting heart of God's servant 
 could see no ground for fearing one who came forth to defy Jehovah." 
 Wilberforce's Heroes, p. 242. 
 
 The Sept. reads : "Shall I not go and smite him, and take away the 
 reproach from Israel this day ? for who is tliis uncircumcised, who hath 
 reproached the army of the living God ?" 
 
 37. the paw] Lit. " the hand," i.e. the power : the very same word 
 as he uses in reference to the Philistine. 
 
 the Lord he with thee] Jeliovali shall lie wltli thee : an assurance, 
 not a prayer. 
 
 38. armed David with his armour] Clothed David -with his dress : 
 probably a special military dress adapted to be worn with armour. The 
 sword was fastened to it (v. 39). Cj). xviii. 4 (E. V. garments). 
 
 a coat of mail] A corselet. The fact that he could wear Saul's 
 armour at all shews that he must have been full grown, perhaps about 
 twenty years old. 
 
 39. assayed] i.e. endeavoured. The word is derived from Old Fr. 
 asaier, "to try, put to the proof," and this from Lat. exigere, "to 
 weigh."
 
 l6o I. SAMUEL, XVII, [vv. 40— 44- 
 
 40 have not proved them. And David put them off him. And 
 he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth 
 stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag 
 which he had, even in a scrip ; and his shng was in his 
 hand : and he drew near to the PhiUstine. 
 
 41 — 54. The victory of faith. The flight of the Philistines. 
 
 41 And the PhiUstine came on and drew near unto David ; 
 
 42 and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when 
 the PhiUstine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him : 
 for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 
 
 43 And the PhiUstine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou 
 comest to me with staves ? And the Philistine cursed 
 
 44 David by his gods. And the PhiUstine said to David, 
 
 for he had not proved iti He made the effort in ignorance, because 
 he had never tried a suit of armour, and did not know what an encum- 
 brance it would be to one unaccustomed to the use of it. 
 
 David put them off hi})i\ "Expeditissimus ille ad proehum procedere 
 cupiebat; fortis non in se sed in Domino; armatus non tam ferro quam 
 fide," "He desired to go forth to the battle in the lightest possible 
 armour: strong in the Lord not in himself: armed not with steel but 
 with faith." Augustine, Serin, xxxii. God would show, as in the 
 case of Gideon (Jud. vii. 2), that the victory was His alone. Compare 
 Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 46. 
 
 40. fve smooth stones out of the brook'] "The sides and bed of this 
 trench [see above on v. 3] are strewn with rounded and water-worn 
 pebbles, which would have been well fitted for David's sling." Conder, 
 II. 161. 
 
 scrip] A small bag, especially a traveller's wallet. Cp. Mt. x. 10; 
 and Milton, Camus, 1. 626, 
 
 "And in requital ope his leathern scrip.^^ 
 
 his sling] "The sling has been in all ages the favourite weapon of 
 the shepherds of Syria. The Benjamites were especially expert in their 
 use of it : even the left-handed could sling stones at an hair and not 
 miss (Jud. XX. 16)." 
 
 41 — 54. The victory of faith. The flight of the Philis- 
 tines. 
 
 41. This verse is not found in the Sept. (B). 
 
 42. he disdained him] See Prov. xvi. 18. 
 
 43. Atnladog] The Sept. (B) reads: "Am I a dog that thou 
 comest to me with a staff and stones? And David said, Nay but worse 
 than a dog."
 
 VV.45— 49] I- SAMUEL, XVII. i6i 
 
 Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the 
 air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the 45 
 Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a 
 spear, and with a shield : but I come to thee in the name of 
 the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom 
 thou hast defied. This day will the Lord dehver thee into 46 
 mine hand ; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from 
 thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philis- 
 tines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild 
 beasts of the earth ; that all the earth may know that there 
 is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that 47 
 the Lord saveth not with sword and spear : for the battle 
 is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. And it 48 
 came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew 
 nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the 
 army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in 49 
 his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote 
 the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his 
 
 44. / 7uill give thy flesh, &c.] Compare Hector's defiance of Ajax 
 in Horn. //. xiii. 8^i : 
 
 "Thy flesh 
 Shall glut the dogs and carrion birds of Troy." 
 
 45. a shieldl A javelin, as in v. 6. Clearly an offensive weapon is 
 meant. 
 
 ill the name of the Lord of hosts'\ Resting absolutely upon Him 
 Who has revealed Himself as the Covenant-God of Israel, and the 
 Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth, Whom thou defiest when thou 
 deftest the armies of His people. See Note I. p. 235. 
 
 46. deliver thee into mine hand] Lit. "shut thee up." Cp. Ps. 
 xxxi. 8. "David did not rashly and vainly boast beforehand of the 
 victory, as Goliath had done; but being full of faith praised the divine 
 omnipotence and pro])hesied of an assured victory." Patrick. 
 
 that there is a God in Israel] That Israel hatli a God who is worthy 
 of the name. For the thought cp. xii. 22; i Kings xviii. 36; 2 Kings 
 xix. 19. 
 
 47. the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, &c.] A lesson which 
 is needed at all times, when men are tempted to fall down and worship 
 brute force. It is a leading thought in Hannah's song (ii. i — 10); cp. 
 also xiv. 6; Ps. xliv. 6, 7; Hos. i. 7; Zech. iv. 6; r Cor. i. 27, 28. 
 
 48. rail toward the army] The battle array of the Phihstines. He 
 showed his courage by not waiting for (joliath to approach. The Sept. 
 however has simply: "And the Philistine arose and went to meet 
 David." 
 
 I. SAMUEL II
 
 l62 I. SAMUEL, XVII. [vv. 50—54. 
 
 50 forehead ; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David 
 prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, 
 and smote the Philistine, and slew him ; but there was no 
 
 51 sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and 
 stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew 
 it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his 
 head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their cham- 
 
 52 pion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of 
 Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, 
 until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. 
 And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to 
 
 53 Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. And the 
 children of Israel returned from chasing after the PhiUstines, 
 
 54 and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of 
 the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem ; but he put his 
 armour in his tent. 
 
 60. This verse is not found in the Sept. (B). 
 
 51. their cka>?ij>ion'\ Their mighty man : a different word from that 
 in vv. 4 and 23. 
 
 62. until thou come to the valley] Heb. gai, "the ravine," as in v. 
 3. But the ravine which separated the armies could not be the terminus 
 of the Philistine flight, and it seems most probable that gai is a copyist's 
 error for Gath, which is the reading of the Sept. (B). Shaaraim is 
 mentioned in Josh. xv. 35, 36 in connexion with Sochoh and Azekah 
 among the towns of Judah. It is perhaps to be placed at Tell-Zakariya, 
 a conspicuous hill on the southern side of the main valley, between 
 Shuweikeh (Sochoh) and Tell-es-Safi (Gath), exactly in the line which 
 the Philistine flight would naturally take. It must originally have been 
 an important outpost for Judah against Gath, but was now no doubt in 
 the hands of the Philistines. 
 
 54. to jfenisalem] There are no indications that Jerusalem had yet 
 attained any importance either as a political or religious centre. The 
 citadel still remained in the hands of the Jebusites, though the lower 
 city had been captured (Josh. xv. 63). It seems best therefore to sup- 
 pose that David deposited the head as a votive offering in the Taber- 
 nacle at Nob which was close to Jerusalem. We know that he after- 
 wards placed Goliath's sword there, and possibly the rest of his armour 
 along with it. This is preferable to the conjecture that the historian 
 here relates by anticipation what David did eventually when he occupied 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 in his tent'] So long as the army remained in the field he kept it as 
 a trophy of his victory. 
 
 We might naturally expect that David would celebrate his victory by 
 a Psalm of thanksgiving. No extant Psalm however can with certainty 
 be referred to this occasion. The Sept. adds "against Gohath" to the
 
 w. 55— 58; 1,2.] I. SAMUEL, XVII. XVIII. 163 
 
 55 — 58. SauPs inqtdry co?2cerning David's par e7U age. 
 
 And when Saul saw David go forth against the PhiUstine, 55 
 he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose 
 son is this youth ? And Abner said. As thy soul liveth, O 
 king, I cannot tell. And the king said. Inquire thou whose 56 
 son the stripling is. And as David returned from the 57 
 slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought 
 him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 
 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young 58 
 man ? And David answered, / am the son of thy servant 
 Jesse the Beth-lehemite. 
 
 Ch. XVIII. I — 5. Jonatha7i's friendsJiip for David. 
 
 And it came to pass, when he made an end of speaking 18 
 unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul 
 of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And 2 
 
 title of Ps. cxliv (Sept. cxliii), but without any sufficient probability; and 
 the Psalm appended to the Psalter in the Sept., which professes to belong 
 to this period, is certainly not authentic. A translation of it may be 
 found in Smith's Diet, of the Bible, I. 403. 
 
 55—58. Saul's inquiry concerning David's parentage. 
 
 55. he said tmto Abner] This section is not found in the Septuagint 
 (B). On the difficulty of reconciling it with ch. xvi. see Note VI. 
 p. 241. 
 
 56. the stripling] This word is the diminutive of strip, and like slip, 
 scion, &c. means a youth, as it were a strip from the parent stem. The 
 Heb. word, which is found again only in xx. 22, signifies "a full grown 
 youth." 
 
 Ch. XVIII. 1 — 5. Jonathan's friendship for David. 
 
 1 — 5. This section also is not found in the Septuagint (B). 
 
 1. the soul of y onathan was knit with the soul of JJavid] The same 
 expressive phrase is used of Jacob's love for Benjamin in Gen. xliv. 30, 
 which might be rendered "seeing his soul is knit up with the lad's soul." 
 
 loved him as his own sozil] Cp. xx. 17; Deut. xiii. 6; 2 Sam. i. 26. 
 Thus commenced that attachment "which is the first Biblical instance 
 of a romantic friendship, such as was common afterwards in Greece, and 
 has been since in Christendom; and is remarkable, both as giving its 
 sanction to these, and as filled with a pathos of its own, which has 
 been imitated but never surpassed, in modern works of fiction. Each 
 found in each the affection that he found not in his own family." Dean 
 Stanley in Diet, of Bible, I. 1122. Theseus and Peirithous; Achilles and 
 Patroclus; Orestes and Pylades; Damon and Pythias; Epaminondas 
 and Pelopidas; are the most familiar instances in classical literature. 
 
 II — 2
 
 164 I- SAMUEL, XVIII. [vv. 3—6. 
 
 Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more 
 
 3 home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David 
 made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 
 
 4 And Jonathan stript himself of the robe that was upon him, 
 and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, 
 
 s and to his bow, and to his girdle. And David went out 
 whithersoever Saul sent him, a7id behaved himself wisely : 
 and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted 
 in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's 
 servants. 
 
 6 — 9. The celebration of David's victory. 
 
 6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was 
 returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the 
 women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, 
 
 4. Jonathan stript himself, &c.] Jonathan gave David (r) his m&il 
 or long outer robe for ordinary wear (see on ii. 19) : (2) his mihtary 
 dress (xvii. 38) and girdle: (3) even his sword, and the famous bow 
 which was his special weapon (2 Sam. i. ■22). The act was at once a 
 ratification of their compact and a public mark of honour. See Gen. 
 xli. 42 ; Esther vi. 8. We may compare the exchange of armour be- 
 tween Glaucus and Diomede when they met before Troy, as a pledge of 
 old family friendship (Horn. //. vi. 230). 
 
 5. David luent out, &c.] David was appointed to some post of 
 command, and "went out" upon mihtary expeditions. In these "he be- 
 haved himself wisely" — the word combines the ideas oi prudence and 
 consequent success: and in spite of this sudden promotion, which might 
 naturally have excited the jealousy of the courtiers, won their good-will. 
 This verse anticipates, and describes summarily facts which are men- 
 tioned again in vv. 13 — 16 in their proper place. 
 
 6 — 9. The celebration of David's victory. 
 
 6. And it came to pass, &c.] The narrative has made a digression 
 to relate the circumstances of David's permanent reception into Saul's 
 service, the commencement of the friendship between him and Jonathan, 
 and his ultimate promotion and success. It now goes back to relate the 
 welcome which David received when the army returned in triumph from 
 the successful completion of the Philistine war. Ch. xviii. 6 is to be 
 read (as it actually stands in the Sept.) in connexion with xvii. 54, 
 though some time may have elapsed, during which the army was 
 occupied in following up its first success. The Sept. reads v. 6 thus; 
 "And the dancing women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet 
 David, with tabrets and rejoicing and cymbals." 
 
 the women came out, &c.] To escort the victors home with singing and 
 dancing. Dancing was the usual expression of rejoicing upon occasions 
 of national triumph like the present; cp. Ex xv. 20, 21; Jud. xi. 34;
 
 vv. 7— lo.] I. SAMUEL, XVIII. 165 
 
 to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instru- 
 ments of musick. And the women answered one another as 7 
 they played, and said, 
 
 Saul hath slain his thousands, 
 
 And David his ten thousands. 
 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him ; s 
 and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, 
 and to me they have ascribed but thousands : and what can 
 he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David 9 
 from that day and forward. 
 
 10, II. SatiVs atte7npt to murder David. 
 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit 10 
 
 and at religious festivals (Ps, Ixviii. ■zs, cxlix. 3). These dances were 
 .as a rule confined to women — David's dancing in 2 Sam. vi. 14 was 
 exceptional — and probably resembled the modern Oriental dance, in 
 which the evolutions are extemporaneous, and not confined to any fixed 
 rule, but varied at the pleasure of the leading dancer, who is imitated 
 by the rest of the company. 
 
 with tabrets, &c.] The dance was accompanied (i) by the "tabret" 
 or "timbrel" (Ex. xv. 20; Jud. xi. 34): i.e. the hand-drum, an instru- 
 ment still used by the Arabs, and described as "a hoop (sometimes with 
 pieces of brass fixed in it to make a jingling) over which a piece of 
 parchment is distended. It is beaten with the fingers:" — {2) "with 
 joy:" i.e. jubilant shouts and songs: (3) "with instruments of music;" 
 either "triangles," or "three-stringed instruments." 
 
 7. answered one another^ The women who "played" — i.e. danced 
 and gesticulated^sang in antiphonal chorus (Ex. xv. 21) the refrain of 
 a popular song, which evidently became widely current, as it was well 
 known even among the Philistines (xxi. i r, xxix. 5). 
 
 DaTid his ten thousands'] For the Philistine champion was a host in 
 himself. Comp. the people's words to David: "thou art worth ten 
 thousand of us" (2 Sam. xviii. 3). 
 
 9. Saul eyed David] With a suspicious jealousy which soon ripened 
 into a deadly hatred. There is no need to suppose that David's anoint- 
 ing by Samuel had been reported to him. "The prophet had distinctly 
 told him in the day of his sin, that the Lord had rent the kingdom 
 from him, and had given it to a neighbour that was better than he. 
 And in David he could read the marks of such a man." Wilberforce's 
 J Zeroes of IJeb. Hist. p. 245. 
 
 10, 11. Saul's attempt to murder David. 
 
 10, 11. The last sentence of v. 8 and vv. 9 — 1 1 are not found in the 
 .Sept. (B). The narrative certainly gains by their omission, and describes 
 the gradual growth of Saul's enmity more naturally. At the same time
 
 i66 I. SAMUEL, XVIII. [vv. ii— 13. 
 
 from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst 
 of the house : and David played with his hand, as at other 
 
 11 times : and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul 
 cast the javehn ; for he said, I will smite David even to the 
 wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. 
 
 12 — 16. Davicfs advancement. 
 
 12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with 
 
 13 him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed 
 
 there is no impossibility in supposing that the fit of passion to which 
 Saul gave way on the day of the triumph brought on a return of his 
 madness, in the frenzy of which he threatened David's life : and yet 
 that he afterwards retained him in his service and promoted him, yield- 
 ing partly to the better impulses of his sane moments, partly to the force 
 of popular opinion. 
 
 10. he prophcsicd'\ The word "prophesy" describes a« <?^Ji'a/zV ro«- 
 dition due to supernatural influence good or evil: the result in the one 
 case being prophetic inspiration or religious enthusiasm : in the other 
 raving madness. See on x. 5. 
 
 and there was a javelin in SauVs hand'\ Render, And the spear was 
 in Saul's hand. The spear served as a sceptre, and was the symbol of 
 royalty. The King held it in his hand when he sat in council (xxii. 6) 
 or in his house (xix. 9); it was kept by his side when he sat at table 
 (xx. 33) ; stuck in the ground by his pillow as he slept in camp (xxvi. 7). 
 Compare the modern Arab practice. "We recognised the Sheikh's 
 tent, among a group of twenty others of which the encampment con- 
 sisted, by the tall spear planted against it." Tristram, Land 0/ Israel, 
 
 p. ^59- 
 
 11. Saul cast the javehn ; for he sa2d'\ Probably; Saul lifted (or 
 brandished) the spear, and said. It does not seem to be meant that 
 he actually cast it, as he did upon the later occasion (xix. 10). The 
 threatening gesture was twice repeated, and David prudently withdrew 
 on both occasions. 
 
 avoided'\ "Withdrew," "escaped." The word is connected with 
 the adj. void, and Norm. Fr. voider, to empty, from Lat. viduare. It is 
 generally transitive: comp. "six of us only stayed and the rest avoided 
 the room" (Bacon): but the intransitive usage is supported, e.g., by 
 Shakespeare, Tempest, iv. i, 
 
 "Well done, avoid, no more." 
 
 12 — 16. David's advancement. 
 
 12. In the Sept. (B) this verse follows immediately after the clause 
 oiv. 8, "to me they have ascribed but thousands," and reads simply, 
 "and Saul was afraid of David."
 
 w. 14—18.] I. SAMUEL, XVIII. " 167 
 
 him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand ; 
 and he went out and came in before the people. And 14 
 David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the 
 Lord 7L>as with him. Wherefore when Saul saw that he 15 
 behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all 16 
 Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and 
 came in before them. 
 
 17 — 19. Sau/'s treacherous offer of Ids daughter Merab 
 
 to David. 
 
 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, 17 
 her will I give thee to wife : only be thou valiant for me, 
 and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine 
 hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be 
 upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and 18 
 what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should 
 
 13. made him his captain over a thousand^ What was summarily- 
 mentioned by anticipation in v. 5 is here related with more detail in the 
 order of time. 
 
 15. was afi-aid of hitn'\ Stood in awe of him, a stronger expression 
 than that in v. 12, denoting primarily the avoidance of the person feared. 
 (Cp. Sept. evXa^eiTO a7r6 irpocrunrov avrov.) 
 
 16. because he went out and came in before them'] Acted as their 
 leader in war. Saul made David captain over a thousand partly to get 
 rid of him from his presence, partly perhaps in the hope that he might 
 lose his life in battle {vv. 17, 25): but the result was that he became 
 firmly established in the affections of the people. Cp. v. 5. 
 
 17 — 19. Saul's treacherous offer of his daughter Merab 
 
 TO David. 
 
 17 — 19. This section and the clause oi v. ai which refers to it are 
 omitted in the Sept. (B). See Note VI. p. 241. 
 
 17. Merab\= Increase. Saul offered her to David in fulfilment of his 
 promise (xvii. 25). In return for this honour Saul expects him to fight 
 his battles, treacherously hoping that he may fall by the hand of the 
 Philistines. 
 
 M^ Lord's battles'] Israel's wars were "the wars of Jehovah, "because 
 they were undertaken for the defence and establishment of His Kingdom, 
 and His aid might be claimed in waging them. Cp. ch. xxv. 28; Num. 
 xxi. 14. David expresses the same idea in xvii. 36, 47. 
 
 Saul said] i.e. thought, as above in v. 11, xvi. 6, &.c. To such 
 cowardly and treacherous hypocrisy has jealousy reduced the once brave 
 and generous soldier ! 
 
 18. what is my life\ Probably, "who are my folk, even my father's
 
 l68 I. SAMUEL, XVIII. [vv. 19—23. 
 
 19 be son in law to the king ? But it came to pass at the 
 time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given 
 to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to 
 wife. 
 
 20 — 30. David'' s marriage with Michal. 
 
 20 And Michal Saul's daughter loved David : and they 
 
 21 told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I 
 will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that 
 the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore 
 Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law 
 
 22 in the one of the twain. And Saul commanded his servants, 
 sayifig, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the 
 king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee : 
 
 23 now therefore be the king's son in law. And Saul's ser- 
 vants spake those words in the ears of David. And David 
 said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in 
 law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed ? 
 
 family ? David acknowledges himself unworthy of the proposed honour 
 on the score of social position. 
 
 19. the Meholaihite] Oi Abel-Meholah, a town in the Jordan valley 
 near Beth-shan. It was the birth-place of Elisha (r Kings xix. 16). 
 Why Saul changed his purpose does not appear. It has been inferred 
 from V. 2-, that Adriel had given a rich dowry. 
 
 20 — 30. David's marriage with Michal. 
 
 20. 3Tu-hal SauPs daughter loved David'\ According to the text of 
 the Sept. this follows immediately upon v. 16. By his bravery David 
 won the affections of the people, and even of the king's daughter. 
 
 21. a s?iare] Michal was to be the da^'t to lure David into some 
 venturesome raid upon the Philistines in which he might lose his life. 
 
 Wherefore Said, &c.] Probably, And Saul said to David a second 
 time, Now shalt thou be my son-in-law. The Sept. (B) omits the 
 clause, but adds, "Now the hand of the Philistines was against Saul." 
 
 22. Comnmne^ i.e. "converse." The word is derived from Lat. 
 commu7iicare, through the old Fr. communier. It would seem that 
 David mistrusted Saul and returned no answer, so Saul set his courtiers 
 to work to persuade him. 
 
 23. a poor ?na>i\ And therefore unable to offer the "dowry," or 
 price such as it was usual for the suitor to pay to the father of the bride, 
 either in money (Gen. xxxiv. 12) or in service (Gen. xxix. 20). The 
 same custom prevailed among the ancient Greeks (Hom. //. XVI. 178; 
 Od. viil. 318), Babylonians, and Assyrians, and still survives in the
 
 w. 24— 30.] I. SAMUEL, XVIir. 169 
 
 And the servants of Saul told him, saying. On this manner 24 
 spake David. And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, 25 
 The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins 
 of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. 
 But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the 
 Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, 26 
 it pleased David well to be the king's son in law : and the 
 days were not expired. Wherefore David arose and went, 27 
 he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred 
 men ; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave 
 them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's 
 son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to 
 wife. And Saul saw and knew that the Lord ivas with 23 
 David, and thai Alichal Saul's daughter loved him. And 29 
 Saul was yet the more afraid of David ; and Saul became 
 David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philis- 30 
 tines went forth : and it came to pass, after they went forth, 
 t/iaf David behaved himself more wisely than all the ser- 
 vants of Saul ; so that his name was much set by. 
 
 East. Tacitus notices it as a peculiarity of the Germans, that "it is not 
 the wife who offers a dowry to her husband, but the husband to his 
 wife" {Germ. c. 18). 
 
 26. the days were 7iot expired'] Apparently referring to some time 
 which had been fixed for David to accept or decline the king's offer. 
 The Sept. (B) omits the words. 
 
 27. two hundred men] He slew double the stipulated number of 
 Philistines, The Sept. however reads "one hundred." Cp. 2 Sam. 
 iii. 1 4. 
 
 i7t full tale] "Tale" = a number told or counted off, a reckoning. 
 Compare 
 
 "Every shepherd tells his tale 
 Under the hawthorn in the dale." 
 
 Milton, V Allegro, 1. 67. 
 
 28. that MicKal Saicts daughter loved hwi] The reading of the 
 Sept. certainly suits the context better: "that all Israel loved him." 
 
 30. Then the princes, &c.] "And the princes, &c., and it came to 
 pass as often as they went forth, &c." This notice of David's continual 
 success and growing popularity gives the ground of Saul's increasing 
 enmity, and prepares the way for the narrative of the next chapter. 
 
 set by] i.e. esteemed. Cp. Ps. xv. 4 in the P. B. V. "lie that sctteth 
 not by himself."
 
 I70 I. SAMUEL, XIX. [vv. i— 6. 
 
 Ch. XIX. I — 7. Jonathati's intercession with his father on 
 
 David's behalf. 
 
 19 And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his ser- 
 
 2 vants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul's 
 son delighted much in David : and Jonathan told David, 
 saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee : now therefore, I 
 pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and 
 
 3 abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: and I will go 
 out and stand beside my father in the field where thou ar/, 
 and I will commune with my father of thee ; and what I 
 
 4 see, that I will tell thee. And Jonathan spake good of 
 David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the 
 king sin against his servant, against David; because he 
 hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have 
 
 5 been to thee-ward very good : for he did put his life in his 
 hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a 
 great salvation for all Israel : thou sawest //, and didst 
 rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, 
 
 6 to slay David without a cause ? And Saul hearkened unto 
 
 Ch. XIX. 1—7. Jonathan's intercession with his father on 
 
 David's behalf. 
 
 1. Saul spake, &c.] Perhaps in some outburst of passion like 
 Henry the Second's against Thomas a Becket. No definite command 
 seems to have been given. 
 
 2. ttntil the mornmg] Rather, in the morninff. 
 
 3. in the field where thou art] Jonathan may have wished David to 
 hear and judge for himself of Saul's intention; or tp be close at hand so 
 that he might at once inform him of the result of his appeal. 
 
 4. spake good of David] Had Jonathan simply advised David to 
 flee, without endeavouring to bring Saul to a better mind, he would 
 have acted to the prejudice of his father's interests, by depriving him of 
 the best support of his kingdom. 
 
 to thee-ward] "Ward" is used as a termination denoting (a) direction 
 (Ex. xxxvii. 9), {b) as here, relatiott. 
 
 5. put his life in his hand] i.e. voluntarily exposed himself to peril 
 of death. The figure seems to be that of taking a treasure out of a safe 
 place, and carrying it about with the risk of losing it Cp. ch. xxviii. 
 21; Jud. xii. 3; Ps. cxix. 109. 
 
 wrought a great salvation] See xi. 9 (note), 13. 
 
 sin against innocent blood] Incur bloodguiltiness by the murder of 
 an innocent man. Cp. Deut. xix. 10 — 13; Ps. xciv. 31,
 
 w. 7— n-] I- SAMUEL, XIX. 171 
 
 the voice of Jonathan : and Saul sware, As the Lord liveth, 
 he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David, and 7 
 Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan 
 brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in 
 times past. 
 
 8 — II. Saul's attempt on David'' s life. 
 
 And there was war again : and David went out, and 8 
 fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great 
 slaughter ; and they fled from him. And the evil spirit from 9 
 the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his 
 javelin in his hand : and David played with his hand. And 10 
 Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the jave- 
 lin ; but he slipt away out of Saul's presence, and he smote 
 the javelin into the wall : and David fled, and escaped that 
 night. Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to n 
 watch him, and to slay him in the morning : and Michal 
 David's wife told him, saying. If thou save not thy life to 
 night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. 
 
 6. Satil sivarc\ Sincerely no doubt for the time, but with no real 
 repentance for his murderous design. 
 
 8 — 11. Saul's attempt on David's life. 
 
 8. David went out, ^c.'X This preliminary mention of David's fresh 
 successes implies that Saul's attack of madness was due to jealousy 
 excited by them. 
 
 9. the evil spirit'\ See on xvi. 14. 
 
 as he sat, &c.] Now he was sitting in his house with his spear in 
 his hand, and David was playing' with his hand. These words are a 
 parenthesis picturing the circumstances under which Saul attempted to 
 murder David. On vSaul's spear see at xviii. 10. 
 
 10. escaped that night] It is perhaps better to follow the Sept. in 
 joining "that night" to the next sentence and reading, "and it came to 
 pass that night that Saul, &c." 
 
 11. in the morning] As he left his house. Cp. Jud. xvi. 2. " We 
 may guess that only the fear of alarming the town, and of rousing the 
 people to rescue their favourite hero, prevented him from directing them 
 to break into the house, and to slay David there." Kitto's Bibl, 
 Jllustr. 
 
 Psalm lix. is referred by its title to the present occasion. If this is 
 correct, the Psalm supplements the history, shewing that David was in 
 danger not from Saul only, but from ruffians among Saul's followers 
 who prowled about the streets of Gibeah threatening his life.
 
 172 I. SAMUEL, XIX. [vv. 12—17. 
 
 1 2 — 1 7. David's escape by the aid of Michal. 
 
 12 So Michal let David down through a window : and he 
 
 13 went, and fled, and escaped. And Michal took an image, 
 and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for 
 
 14 his bolster, and covered // with a cloth. And when Saul 
 
 15 sent messengers to take David, she said. He is sick. And 
 Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying. Bring 
 
 16 him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when 
 the messengers were come in, behold there 7vas an image in 
 
 17 the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. And 
 
 12 — 17. David's escape by the aid of Michal. 
 
 12. tJvot{gh a windozii] Compare the escape of the spies from 
 Jericho (Josh. ii. 15), and St Paul from Damascus {i Cor. xi. 33). If 
 David's house, like Rahab's, was upon the town wall, it would be easy 
 for him to escape thus though the door was watched by Saul's men. 
 
 /led, and escaped^ Thus began that fugitive life of hardship and peril, 
 which was to form a new element in the education of the future king. 
 See Introd. p. 40. 
 
 13. a7t imagc\ The terapMm. These were the penates or house- 
 hold images of the Israelites, brought originally from their Chaldean 
 home (Gen. xxxi. 19). In spite of the strict prohibition of idols, they were 
 used by those who professed to worship Jehovah in the time of the 
 Judges (Jud. xvii. 5, xviii. 14 ff.), and even down to the later days of 
 the Kings (2 Kings xxiii. ■24). They seem to have been a kind of fetish 
 or household charm for good luck, rather than an object of worship, 
 and were used in divination (Zech. x. 2; Ezek. xxi. 19 — 11). It is sur- 
 prising to find teraphim in David's house. It has been conjectured that 
 Michal, like Rachel, kept them secretly on account of her barrenness. 
 The plural teraphim here denotes a single image, in human form, ap- 
 parently of life-size. 
 
 put a pillow, &c.] Put the quilt of goat's hair at its head, and 
 covered it with the coverlet. Michal wrapped the head of the image 
 in a rough rug, either to hide it, or to imitate a man's hair, and covered 
 up the whole with the begcd, a square piece of woollen cloth, which was 
 used for an upper garment, or for a bed-covering. Cp. Deut. xxiv. 12, 
 
 14. she said, He 7S side] Apparently she took the messengers mto 
 the outer chamber and pointed to the figure in bed in an inner closet, 
 not letting them go near enough to detect the imposture. The plan 
 gained David time to escape. The Sept. has, "and the}' [the messen- 
 gers] brought word that he was sick." 
 
 15. Bring him itp] This indicates that Saul's residence was on the 
 hill of Gibeah, David's in the lower town. 
 
 16. There zvas an image, &c.] The teraphim was in the bed, and 
 the quilt of goat's hair at its head.
 
 w. 18—21.] I. SAMUEL, XIX. 173 
 
 Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and 
 sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal 
 answered Saul, He said unto me. Let me go ; why should 
 I kill thee? 
 
 iS — 24. David takes refuge with Samuel at Ramah. 
 
 So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to 18 
 Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And 
 he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. And it was told 19 
 Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. And 20 
 Saul sent messengers to take David : and when they saw 
 the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel 
 standing as appointed over them, the spirit of God was 
 upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 
 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and 21 
 
 17. He said unto me, &c.] IVIichal adds another lie to screen her- 
 self from Saul's anger. In this she was but following her father's ex- 
 ample {v. 6), and with more excuse. Compare the deceit practised by 
 Rahab (Josh. ii. 4 ff.); by the woman at Bahurim (2 Sam. xvii. 20); and 
 in modern times, by Grotius' wife, who to save her husband represented 
 the box in which he was concealed as a box of theological books. Scrip- 
 ture affirms the universal duty of Truth without any exception (Lev. xix. 
 11), nor can it be understood to sanction breaches of this general law by 
 recording them without disapproval. It is left to the casuist to discuss 
 whether any necessity is sufficient to justify a falsehood or an act of 
 deception. See Whewell's Elements of Morality, Chaps, xv. xvi. 
 
 18—24. David takes refuge with Samuel at Ramah. 
 
 18. to Sajmtel] Turning naturally for direction at this crisis to the 
 prophet who had anointed him, and hoping that Saul would at least 
 reverence the age and authority of Samuel. No doubt David had had 
 much intercourse with Samuel since their first meeting at Bethlehem. 
 
 in A'aioth'] Naioth, which was at or near Ramah, is a quasi-proper 
 name signifying dwellings, and in all probability denotes the College, or 
 common residence of the society of prophets collected together at Ramah 
 by Samuel. See Introd. ch. vi. p. 33. Cp. 2 Kings vi. i, 2. TheTargum 
 renders the word "house of instruction." Hither Samuel took David, 
 partly as being a safer place of refuge than his own house; partly that 
 he might be spiritually strengthened by a share in the religious exercises 
 of the society {v. 20). 
 
 20. prophets prophesying\ Some common religious exercise con- 
 ducted by Samuel, who is described as standing as president over the 
 prophets, is meant by "prophesying." See on x. 5. The Targuni 
 paraphrases: "They saw the company of scribes praising, and Samuel 
 standing as instructor over them."
 
 174 I. SAMUEL, XIX. XX. [vv. 22—24; I- 
 
 they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again 
 
 22 the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he 
 also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu : 
 and he asked and said. Where are Samuel and David? And 
 
 23 one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he 
 went thither to Naioth in Ramah : and the spirit of God 
 was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until 
 
 24 he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stript off his clothes 
 also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay 
 down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they 
 say, Is Saul also among the prophets ? 
 
 Ch. XX. I — 10. David's considtation with Jonathan. 
 20 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and 
 
 21. they prophesied also\ Carried away by the religious excitement 
 they forgot their errand, and joined the chant of the prophets. 
 
 22. a great well'\ The great cistern, some well known landmark 
 in Sechu, a place nowhere else mentioned, between Gibeah and Ramah. 
 The reading is uncertain. The Sept. has "the well of the threshing- 
 fioor that is in Sephi (or, the hill)." 
 
 23. tintil he came to Naioth'] The inspiration seized Saul even before 
 he reached the company of prophets. He was to be convinced of the 
 irresistible might of the Divine Spirit against whose influence he had 
 striven. He was to be taught, if his heart was not already too utterly 
 hardened to learn, that in fighting against David he was fighting against 
 God, and engaging in a futile struggle. For this reason Saul, as the 
 chief agent in David's persecution, was struck down more completely 
 than his servants, and lay there unconscious "all that day and all that 
 night." 
 
 24. naked] Not literally naked, but stripped of his outer garment. 
 Is Satil also among the prophets?] The origin of the proverb is related 
 
 in X. II. It now received a fresh exemplification. This burst of prophetic 
 inspiration was a startling reminder to Saul of that former occasion when 
 the Spirit of God came upon him to fit him for that office in which he 
 had failed so sadly. See Maurice, Prophets and Kings, p. 17 ff. 
 
 Ch. XX. 1 — 10. David's consultation with Jonathan. 
 
 1. David fled from Naioth] While Saul lay helpless in his trance, 
 David, perhaps by Samuel's advice, returned to consult with Jonathan. 
 It may seem surprising that he could think of venturing back to Gibeah 
 after Saul's late outbreak ; but he on his part would be unwilling to 
 break with Saul and become an outlaw till absolutely forced to do so ; 
 . while Jonathan, knowing David's value to the kingdom, would use every 
 effort to effect a reconciliation. This he might still hope for, since all
 
 vv. 2—5.] I. SAMUEL, XX. 175 
 
 said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine 
 iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he 
 seeketh my hfe ? And he said unto him, God forbid ; thou : 
 shalt not die : behold, my father will do nothing either great 
 or small, but that he will shew it me : and why should my 
 father hide this thing from me ? it is not so. And David • 
 sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth 
 that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let 
 not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved : but truly as 
 the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but 
 a step between me and death. Then said Jonathan . 
 unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do 
 // for thee. And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to ; 
 morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with 
 the king at meat : but let me go, that I may hide myself in 
 
 Saul's actual attempts upon David's life had been made in his fits of 
 insanity. 
 
 What have I done] The three questions are a virtual assertion of his 
 innocence. Compare the passionate protests of the Seventh Psalm, 
 written probably somewhat later, during his flight, but reflecting the 
 feelings of this time. See on xxiv. 9. 
 
 2. nothing cither great or small] i.e. absolutely nothing. Cp. xxii. 
 
 15, XXV. 36. 
 
 sheto it nie] Lit. "uncover mine ear," and so in v. 12. See on ix. 15. 
 
 it is not so] Bearing in mind Saul's oath (xix. 6), and attributing his 
 recent violence to temporary madness, Jonathan refuses to believe that his 
 father has any deliberate design against David's life. 
 
 3. And David sivare jnoirovcr] Added an oath to the assertion in 
 V. r. The Sept. however reads simply, "And David answered Jona- 
 than and said." 
 
 Thy father certainly knoweth, (Sic] Jonathan's confidence that 
 Saul would tell him all beforehand clearly implies that he supposed his 
 father to be ignorant of the close friendship between him and David. 
 David undeceives him on this point. 
 
 there is but a step, &c.] He stands, as it were, upon the very brink 
 of a precipice. 
 
 5. the new tnoon] The New Moon or first day of the lunar month 
 was celebrated with special sacrifices and blowing of trumpets. See 
 Num. xxviii. 11 — 15, x. 10; Ps. Ixxxi. 3. It was observed as a day of 
 rest (Amos viii. 5), and apparently used as an opportunity for religious 
 instruction {1 Kings iv. 23). 
 
 to sit luith the Idng at meat] To join as a member of the royal 
 household in the sacrificial feast (i'. 24) which lasted for two days at least 
 
 K-"- 27)- . , 
 
 let vie go] As the sequel proved, the plan was well devised for ascer-
 
 •176 I. SAMUEL, XX. [w. 6— ii. 
 
 6 the fields unto the third day at even. If thy father at all 
 miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that 
 he might run to Beth-lehem his city : for there is a yearly 
 
 7 sacrifice there for all the family. If he say thus, // is well ; 
 thy servant shall have peace : but if he be very wroth, theji 
 
 8 be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore thou 
 shalt deal kindly with thy servant ; for thou hast brought 
 thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee : notwith- 
 standing, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why 
 
 9 shouldest thou bring me to thy father? And Jonathan 
 said. Far be it from thee : for if I knew certainly that evil 
 were determined by my father to come upon thee, then 
 
 10 would not I tell it thee ? Then said David to Jonathan, 
 Who shall tell me? or what // thy father answer thee 
 roughly ? 
 
 II — 23. David and Jonathan renew their covenant. 
 
 11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go 
 out into the field. And they went out both of them iiito 
 
 taining whether the lesson of Naioth had wrought any change in Saul, 
 or whether in his sane moments he was now deliberately resolved to 
 kill David. 
 
 6. a yearly sacrifice there for all the family'] This request incidentally 
 throws light on the religious customs of the age. The annual meeting 
 of the family or clan for sacrifice may have been a partial observance of 
 the command in Deut xii. 5 ff. ; but in the unsettled state of religion 
 the obligation to go up to the central sanctuary was neglected. It is not 
 clear whether David really wanted to go to Bethlehem, and meant to 
 hide "in the field" afterwards, or whether he regarded the story as 
 a justifiable deception to avoid exciting Saul's anger. 
 
 8. thou hast brought, &c.] The initiative had been on Jonathan's side 
 (xviii. 3). David calls their league of friendship "a covenant of Jeho- 
 vah" as being ratified in His name by solemn oath. See v. 12 ff. 
 
 9. Far be it from thee] i.e. Do not suppose that I could either slay 
 thee myself or give thee up to my father. The same phrase is rendered 
 "God forbid'' in v. 2. 
 
 10. Who shall tell me. &c.] The double question answers to Jona- 
 than's double promise in vv. 12, 13, that he will let David know the 
 result in either event. But perhaps the words should be rendered simply, 
 Who shall tell me if haply thy father answer thee roughly? 
 
 11—23. David and Jonathan renew their covenant. 
 
 11. i7ito the field] To escape observation they leave the city, in 
 which the conversation has been held hitherto.
 
 w. 12— 16.] I. SAMUEL, XX. 177 
 
 the field. And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of 12 
 Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow 
 any time, or the third day, and behold, if there he good 
 toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it 
 thee; the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan : but if 13 
 it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, 
 and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace : and the 
 Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. And m 
 thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness 
 of the Lord, that I die not : but also thou shalt not cut off 15 
 thy kindness from my house for ever : no, not when the 
 Lord hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the 
 face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the i5 
 
 12.' O Lord God] Jonathan begins by addressing Jehovah, but 
 afterwards instead of putting the verb in the second person (so mayest 
 T/!0!i do) he repeats the divine Name. 
 
 adoic/ to-morrozv any time, or the third da)'\ About tMs time to-mor- 
 row or the day after. 
 
 13. The Lord do so, &.C.'] See on iii. 17. 
 
 the Lord be with thee, &c.] Cp. xviii. 12. Jonathan already fore- 
 sees David's destiny, as is clear from the following verses. See also 
 xxiii. 17. 
 
 14, 15. Convinced that David will succeed to the kingdom, Jonathan 
 exacts from him a promise to shew kindness to his posterity after his 
 death as well as to himself during his life time. His words, like Saul's 
 in ch. xxiv. 21, are prompted by a fear lest even David should conform 
 to the barbarous Oriental custom by which the first king of a new dynasty 
 often tried to secure himself on the throne by murdering his predecessor's 
 family. Cp. i Kings xv. 29, xvi. 1 1 ; 2 Kings x. 6, xi. i. David fulfilled 
 his promise by shewing kindness to Mephibosheth (2 Sam. ix. i ff., xxi. 
 7). This is clearly the general sense of the passage, though the exact 
 rendering is doubtful, (i) Retaining the Heb. text we may translate: 
 "And wilt thou not, if I am still alive (when thou comest to the throne), 
 yea wilt thou not shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not.'' 
 And thou shalt not cut off, &c." But this involves a very harsh con- 
 struction, and it is perhaps best (2) to alter the text slightly, and trans- 
 late: "And mayest thou, if I am still alive, yea mayest thou shew me the 
 kindness of Jehovah : and if I die, thou shalt not cut off thy kindness 
 from my house for ever, &c." 
 
 16. So Jonathan, (Sic] (i) The E. "V. treats this as a remark of the 
 historian: and apparently understands Jonathan's words "Let the 
 Lord, &c." to mean "Let the Lord exact vengeance from David bythe 
 hand of his enemies if he fails to fulfil the covenant." But this in- 
 volves an unusual construction. We should expect, "Let the LoRD 
 require it at the hand of David," if he fails to fulfil the covenant 
 
 I. SAMUEL I 2
 
 178 I. SAMUEL, XX. [v\'. 17—22. 
 
 house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the 
 17 hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to 
 
 swear again, because he loved him : for he loved him as he 
 i3 loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow 
 
 is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy 
 
 19 seat will be empty. And when thou hast stayed three days, 
 then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place 
 where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in 
 
 20 /land, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. And I will shoot 
 three arrows on the side the^'cof, as though I shot at a mark. 
 
 21 And behold, I will send a lad, saying. Go, find out the 
 arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows 
 are on this side of thee, take them ; then come thou : 
 for there is peace to thee, and no hurt ; as the Lord 
 
 22 liveth. But if I say thus unto the young man. Behold, the 
 arrows are beyond thee ; go thy way : for the Lord hath 
 
 (cp. Deut. xxiii. ^i) : and possibly " David's enemies" is an euphemism 
 for "David," substituted by ascribe in later times. Cp. note on xxv. 2 ■2. 
 (2) The Sept. points to a text making the whole of w. 16 part of Jona- 
 than's speech : "And when the Lord hath cut off, &c. let not the name 
 of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David, and may the LoRD take 
 vengeance on the enemies of David." 
 
 17. caused David to s7ocar again, because, &c.] Jonathan exacted 
 another oath beside that implied in v. 16, because the intensity of his 
 love impelled him to bind David by the strongest possible obligation. 
 The Sept. however reads : "And Jonathan swore yet again to David." 
 
 18 — 42. This section is the Haphtai-ah for the New Moon when it 
 falls on the first day of the week. 
 
 18. thy seat -will be empty] At the sacrificial feast. See vv. 5,25. 
 
 19. wken the business was in hand] Lit. "on the day of the busi- 
 ness," either the incident recorded in xix. i — 7, or some unknown 
 matter. 
 
 the stone Ezel] The name "stone of departure " may have been given 
 in remembrance of the parting of David and Jonathan beside it. The 
 Sept. however, (cp. v. 41), reads "beside yonder heap of stones;" 
 either some natural rocks or a heap of ruins, which might serve for a 
 hiding-place. The rendering of E. V. fna7-g. "the stone that sheweth 
 the way" comes from the Targum, which gives " sign-stone." 
 
 20. / tuill shoot, &c.] This sign was arranged in case Jonathan 
 should be watched by Saul's spies, and prevented from getting an inter- 
 view with David without endangering him. No suspicion would be 
 excited by Jonathan's carrying the bow which was his usual weapon 
 (xviii. 4). 
 
 22. theyoting man] Tlie stripling, as in xvii. 56.
 
 vv. 23—29.] I. SAMUEL, XX. 179 
 
 sent thee away. And as toiichbig the matter which thou 23 
 and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord he between thee 
 and me for ever. 
 
 24 — 34. SauV s i7itention tested by Jonathan. 
 So David hid himself in the field : and when the new 24 
 moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And 25 
 the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a 
 seat by the wall : and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by 
 Saul's side, and David's place was empty. Nevertheless 26 
 Saul spake not any thing that day : for he thought, Some- 
 thing hath befallen him, he is not clean ; surely he is not 
 clean. And it came to pass on the morrow, which tvas the 27 
 second day of the month, that David's place was empty : 
 and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not 
 the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? And 28 
 Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me 
 to go to Beth-lehem : and he said, Let me go, I pray thee ; 29 
 for our family hath a sacrifice in the city ; and my brother, 
 
 the Lord hath sent thee atuav'] Bids thee depart. Jonathan is pre- 
 pared to recognise the Divine Will in the banishment of David from 
 Saul's court. God had another school in which the future king must be 
 trained. 
 
 23. as touching the matter, &c.] The reciprocal covenant of friend- 
 ship just renewed and ratified. 
 
 the Lord, &c.] As the witness of our covenant, and the avenger of 
 any breach of it. Cp. Gen. xxxi. 49, 53. 
 
 24 — 34. Saul's intention tested by Jonathan. 
 
 24. meafX Lit. bread. "Meat" in the E. V. signifies /(?(?a' in gene- 
 ral, and is nowhere limited to the modern meaning flesh. This usage 
 survives in some provincial dialects. 
 
 25. tipon a seat by the waH\ Saul occupied the place of honour at 
 the top or the centre of the table opposite the entrance. 
 
 and yonathan arose] This appears to mean that Jonathan first occu- 
 pied his usual seat by Saul's side, but when Abner entered resigned the 
 place to him, probably not wishing to sit next his father in David's 
 absence. The Sept. has a different reading, "And he preceded Jona- 
 than," which is equally obscure. Josephus says, " When they had sat 
 down beside Saul, Jonathan on the right, and Abner on the left." 
 
 26. he is not clean] Persons who were ceremonially unclean were 
 peremptorily excluded from participating in a religious festival. See 
 Lev. vii. 10,11; i Sam. xvi. 5. 
 
 29. my brother] The eldest brother probably made the arrange- 
 ments in Jesse's old age. The Sept. reads "my brothers." 
 
 12 2
 
 i8o I. SAMUEL, XX. [vv. 30—35. 
 
 he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have 
 found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, 
 and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the 
 
 30 king's table. Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jona- 
 than, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse 
 rebellious wof?iaft, do not I know that thou hast chosen the 
 son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion 
 
 31 of thy mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse 
 liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be stablished, nor 
 thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, 
 
 32 for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his 
 father, and said unto him. Wherefore shall he be slain? what 
 
 33 hath he done ? And Saul cast a javeUn at him to smite 
 him : whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his 
 
 34 father to slay David. So Jonathan arose from the table in 
 fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the 
 month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had 
 done him shame. 
 
 3 5 — 4 2 . The parting between Jonathaii and David. 
 
 35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went 
 out into the field at the time appointed with David, and 
 
 so. Thoii son of the perverse rebellious ii'oman'\ "To any Oriental, 
 nothing is so grievously insulting as a reproach cast upon his mother.... 
 The mother herself is not held to be affronted in such cases, but the son 
 who hears such words applied to her is insulted, and meant to be 
 insulted, beyond expiation." Kitto, Bible Illustr. The words might 
 also be rendered, "thou son of perverse rebelhon," i.e. according to a 
 common Heb. idiom (cp. i. 16), "thou perverse rebel." 
 
 that thou hast chosen^ The Sept. reads, "that thou consortest with." 
 
 to thine ozvii confusion, &c.] Thy unfilial conduct disgraces both thy- 
 self and the mother who bare thee. 
 
 31. he shall surely die] Lit. "he is a son of death." Cp. 2 Sam. 
 xii. 5 ; Ps. cii. 20; Mt. xxiii. 15 ; John xvii. 12. 
 
 33. east a javelin] Or, as in xviii. ir, lifted Ms spear : brandished 
 it threateningly, without actually casting it. 
 
 34. had done him shame] Saul had insulted and wronged David by 
 publicly charging him with treasonable intentions (v. 31). "The gene- 
 rosity of Jonathan's character is very apparent. He did not resent the 
 injury and insult offered to himself so much as the wrong done to 
 his friend." Speaker's Comm. 
 
 35 — 42. The parting between Jonathan and David. 
 
 35. at the time appointed] Better, to the place appointed {v. 19).
 
 vv. 36—42.] I. SAMUEL, XX. 181 
 
 a little lad with him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find 36 
 out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, 
 he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the lad was 37 
 come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, 
 Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow 
 beyond thee ? And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make 33 
 speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up 
 the arrows, and came to his master. But the lad knew not 39 
 any thing : only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 
 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto 40 
 him, Go, carry t/icm to the city. And as soon as the lad 41 
 was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and 
 fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three 
 times : and they kissed one another, and wept one with 
 another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to 42 
 David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of 
 us in the name of the Lord, saying. The Lord be between 
 me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. 
 And he arose and departed : and Jonathan went into the 
 city. 
 
 a little tad] \Yho would not suspect the real purpose of Jonathan's 
 shooting : a vivid touch of reality in the narrative. 
 
 38. t/ie arnnc's] It is implied that the three arrows agreed upon 
 were shot, but the narrator does not think it necessary to repeat full de- 
 tails thrice. 
 
 40. /i!s artilleryl i.e. his bow and quiver. From Lat. ars, used in 
 late Latin to mean * an implement,' came the late Latin artillaria, and 
 O. Fr. artilterie, ' machines or equipment of war.' The word v/as used 
 of missile weapons long before the invention of gunpowder. See Bible 
 
 IVord-BpcJc, p. 37. 
 
 41. oitt of a place tcnuard the south'] Lit. "from the side of the 
 south," i.e. from a hiding-place to the south of the stone Ezel. But the 
 expression is anomalous, and it is best to adopt the Sept. reading, "from 
 beside the heap of stones," as in v. 19. 
 
 fell on his face, &c.] As a token of reverence and loyalty to the 
 king's son. Cp. Gen. xxxiii. 3, xlii. 6. An Oriental when he meets a 
 superior, kneels down and touches the ground with his forehead. 
 
 42. forastintch as, &c.] It is better to follow the marginal rendering 
 in assuming an aposiopesis, which corresponds with Jonathan's deep 
 emotion. " That wMcli we have sworn, &c." — remember! Jonathan's 
 parting charge reminds David of their mutual vow.
 
 i82 I. SAMUEL, XXI. [vv. 1—5. 
 
 Ch. XXI. I — 9. David'' s visit to Nob. 
 
 21 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and 
 Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said 
 unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 
 
 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath 
 commanded me a business, and hath said unto me. Let no 
 man know any thing of the business whereabout I send 
 thee, and what I have commanded thee : and I have ap- 
 
 3 pointed iny servants to such and such a place. Now there- 
 fore what is under thine hand ? give me five loaves of bread 
 
 4 in mine hand, or what there is present. And the priest 
 answered David, and said, There is no common bread 
 under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young 
 
 5 men have kept themselves at least from women. And 
 David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth 
 women have been kept from us about these three days, since 
 I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, 
 
 XXI. 1 — 9. David's visit to Nob. 
 
 1. to Nol>\ Nob was at this time a city of the priests (xxii. 19), 
 though it is not specified among the places assigned to them by Joshua : 
 here, as is clearly to be inferred from v. 6, the Tabernacle, which has 
 not been mentioned since the death of Eli, was now standing. The site of 
 Nob has not been identified. The description of Sennacherib's march 
 in Is. X. 28 — 32 shews that it was a day's march south of Geba on the 
 road to Jerusalem, and within sight of the city. Dean Stanley supposes 
 it to be the northern summit of Mount Olivet, the place of worship which 
 David passed in his flight from Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 32). Sin. and Pal. 
 p. 187. Hither David betook himself not as a permanent refuge, but to 
 inquire the will of God concerning his future movements, and to pro- 
 cure food and weapons, for in the hurry of his flight he had brought no- 
 thing away with him. , 
 
 Ahimelech the priest'] See note on xiv. 3. 
 
 was afraid at the meeting of David ] Came to meet David trembling. 
 Cp. xvi. 4. Seeing the king's son-in-law unattended, he may have sus- 
 pected the truth, and have been afraid of incurring Saul's displeasure. 
 
 2. The king, &c.] Again David has recourse to a lie. See xx. 6, 
 and note on xix. 17. The consequences of it were disastrous. 
 
 my servants'] The young men, as in v. 4. The words are David's 
 own, not the continuation of Saul's directions. They were probably 
 true. He must have had friends at court who were prepared to share 
 his flight, and with whom he had made arrangements for a rendezvous. 
 
 4. common] Lit. profane or unholy, i.e. unconsecrated. Vulg. 
 "laicos panes." 
 
 5. the vessels] The wallets or other utensils into which the bread
 
 vv. 6, 7.] I. SAMUEL, XXI. 183 
 
 and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were 
 sanctified tJiis day in the vessel. So the priest gave him 6 
 hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shew- 
 bread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot 
 bread in the day when it was taken away. Now a certain 7 
 man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained 
 
 would be put. If these were Levitically unclean they would defile the 
 bread. David assures Ahimelech that there is no ceremonial objection 
 to their taking the bread either in their persons or their baggage. 
 
 and the h-ead, &c.] The further argument which David employs to 
 persuade Ahimelech is stated in a sentence of almost hopeless obscurity. 
 Perhaps either (i) "And when I came out the vessels of the young men 
 were holy ; how much more then, though it is a common journey, will it 
 be holy in the vessel to-day :" i.e. the vessels were undefiled when we 
 started, and though our journey has no religious object, yet as there has 
 Iieen no danger of pollution since, a fortiori they cannot defile bread put 
 in them to-day : — or (2) "And if it is a profane procedure, yet it will be 
 sanctified to-day by the instrument :" i. e. if the act is profane, the 
 priest by whose instrumentality it is done, has power to sanction it 
 under the exceptional circumstances of to-day : — a gentle flattery to per- 
 suade Ahimelech. 
 
 6. the shrdjbrcad^ Lit. "the bread of the Presence " (Sept. aproi 
 ToO TrpocruTTOv), so called because it was solemnly placed as an offering 
 in the Presence of Jehovah. The mention of it implies that the Taber- 
 nacle with its furniture was at Nob. The directions for making the 
 Table of Shewbread are given in Ex. xxv. 23 — 30; and the form of the 
 table, as it existed in Herod's Temple, is preserved in the sculptures on 
 the Arch of Titus at Rome. For the instructions concerning the bread 
 itself, see Lev. xxiv. 5 — 9. It was to be renewed every Sabbath, and 
 the loaves then removed were to be eaten by the priests in the Holy 
 Place. 
 
 Our Lord refers to this as an instance of the great principle that 
 where moral and ceremonial obligations come into conflict, it is the 
 latter which must give way, because the rite is only the means and the 
 moral duty the end. The high priest was bound to preserve David's 
 hfe, even at the expense of a ceremonial rule. See Matt. xii. 3, 4 ; 
 Mk. ii. 25, 26; Lk. vi. 3—5. In St Mark the high priest is called 
 Abiathar, perhaps by an accidental error ; perhaps because he was 
 associated with his father as Hophni and Phinehas were with Eli. 
 
 front before the Lord] From the table on which they had lain in the 
 Presence of Jehovah in the Tabernacle. It seems probaljle that the 
 shewbread had just been renewed and consequently that the day was the 
 Sabbath ; otherwise there would have been no difficulty in preparing 
 ordinary bread for David's use. 
 
 7. detained before the Lord] In charge of the priest for some reli- 
 gious purpose such as the fulfilment of a vow, or purification, or on
 
 i84 I. SAMUEL, XXL [vv. 8— n. 
 
 before the Lord ; and his name tvas Doeg, an Edomite, 
 
 8 the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. And 
 David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under 
 thine hand spear or sword ? for I have neither brought my 
 sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business 
 
 9 required haste. And the priest said, The sword of GoHath 
 the PhiHstine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, 
 behold, it is here wrapt in a cloth behind the ephod : if thou 
 wilt take that, take // / for there is no other save that here. 
 And David said, There is none like that ; give it me. 
 
 lo — 15. David's flight to Gath. 
 
 10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and 
 
 11 went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of 
 
 account of suspected leprosy (Lev. xiii. 4, 11, 31). His presence in the 
 Tabernacle implies that he was a proselyte. 
 
 Doeg, an Edotnitc\ He may have come over to Saul in his wars with 
 Edom (xiv. 47). 
 
 the chiefest of the herdmen, iSic] An important post in a pastoral 
 country. Cp. i Chr. xxvii. 29, 31. The Sept. reads, "Doeg the 
 Syrian, the keeper of Saul's mules." Cp. i Chr. xxvii. 30. "Syrian" 
 is certainly a mistake for " Edomite," the consonants of the Heb. words 
 "Aramite" and "Edomite" being almost exactly alike. 
 
 9. behind the ephod\ Hung up in a secure place, behind the most 
 sacred part of the high-priestly vestments. It was probably dedicated as 
 a memorial of the victory on the conclusion of the Philistine war. See 
 xvii. 54. _ _ 
 
 There is none like that'] The monument of God's deliverance in the 
 past was a pledge of His help for the future. 
 
 10 — 15. David's flight to Gath.' 
 
 10. and went to Achish] In the extremity of peril, David was driven 
 to take refuge among Saul's bitterest enemies, and offer himself as a 
 servant to Achish (v. 15). He hoped no doubt that the Philistines 
 would not recognise the stripling who slew their champion. Unlike 
 Themistocles and Alcibiades when they were banished from Athens, he 
 had no intention of turning traitor to his country. 
 
 The circumstances of this sojourn at Gath and that recorded in ch. 
 xxvii. are entirely unlike, and correspond exactly to the difference of 
 occasion. In the present case David went alone, was ill received, and 
 was compelled to feign madness for safety and escape as soon as possible : 
 later on when his breach with Saul was notorious, he went with a nume- 
 rous following, was received and established at Ziklag, and remained for 
 more than a year.
 
 x-v. 12— is; I.] I. SAMUEL, XXI. XXII. 185 
 
 Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the 
 land ? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, 
 saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten 
 thousands ? And David laid up these words in his heart, 12 
 and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he ij 
 changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself 
 mad in their hands, and scrabled on the doors of the gate, 
 and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said 14 
 Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the man zs mad : 
 wherefore f/ien have ye brought him to me? HaTe I 15 
 need of mad men, that ye have brought this ft'/ Icrcc to play 
 the mad man in my presence? shall this /t'/^K/ come into 
 my house ? 
 
 Ch. XXII. 1—5. David'' s ha7id of followers. 
 
 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave 22 
 AduUam : and when his brethren and all his father's house 
 
 11. the king of the lajid^^ The natural exaggeration of popular 
 rumour. David had appeared as chief leader iu the Pliilistine wars. 
 
 did they not sing, (StcJ Do they not sing. It had become a popular 
 song. See on xviii. 7. 
 
 13. changed his l^ehaviour] Ps, xxxiv. is ascribed by its title to this 
 occasion, but the contents do not bear out tlie reference. The title 
 of Ps. Ivi. states that it was written by David "wlien the Philistines 
 laid hold on him in Gath," and though it is not expressly said here 
 that he was arrested, the words " feigned himself mad in their ha>ids" 
 together with the mention of his escape in xxii. i, seem to imply that he 
 was a prisoner. 
 
 feigned himself mad'] So that they might suppose him harmless. The 
 Philistines moreover pray have shared the Oriental feeling which regards 
 madness with a kind of reverence. See Smith's Diet, of the Bible, Art. 
 'Madness.' "Aghyle Aga, a well-known modern Arab chief, escaped 
 from the governor of Acre in like manner, pretending to be a mad 
 dervish." Stanley, Lect. \\. 52. 
 
 scrabled on the doors of the gate] i.e. scratched, or made marks. The 
 word is still used in some provincial dialects. The Sept. however reads 
 "drummed on the doors of the gate," which is a more suitable gesture 
 for a raving madman. "The doors" meant are probably those of the 
 court of Achish's palace. 
 
 15. come into my house'] Be taken into my service. Cp, Ps. ci. 7. 
 
 Ch. xxii. I — 5. David's band of Followers, 
 
 1. the cave Adullam] Rather, the cave of Adtdlam. Adullam was 
 an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, in the neighbourhood of Jarmuth,
 
 1 86 I. SAMUEL, XXII. [w. 2, 3. 
 
 2 heard //, they went down thither to him. And every one 
 that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and 
 every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto 
 him ; and he became a captain over them : and there were 
 
 3 with him about four hundred men. And David went 
 thence to INIizpeh of Moab : and he said unto the king of 
 
 Socoh, Azekah, and Shaaraim, all places in or near the valley of Elah 
 (Jcsh. xii. 15, XV. 35). In this valley, about ih miles S. of the point where 
 it takes an abrupt turn to the west, some ruins have been discovered bear- 
 ing the name Aid el Ma, which is thought to be a corruption of Adullam. 
 They lie at the foot of a high rounded hill, almost isolated by subordi- 
 nate valleys, and commanding a fine view over the main valley to the 
 east. It forms a natural fortress, well adapted for the site of a city, 
 which numerous ruins shew once stood there. The sides of the tributary 
 valleys are lined with rows of caves, amply sufficient to accommodate 
 David's 400 men, and still used for habitations. See Conder's Tott 
 Work, II. 157 ff. The traditional identification of Adullam with the 
 cave at Khtireitun, five miles S.E. of Bethlehem, is quite untenable. 
 
 they went down thither to hini\ For fear lest Saul might wreak his 
 vengeance upon them. In the East it was not uncommon for a whole 
 family to be put to death for the fault of one member, and the massacre 
 at Nob soon shewed them what they might expect. 
 
 2. And every one, &c. ] To the cave of Adullam resorted some who 
 were smarting under the oppression of Saul's tyranny ; some who were 
 involved in debt through the neglect of the laws concerning usury (Ex. 
 xxii. 25; Lev. xxv. 35 — 37); some who were in despair at the condition 
 of the 'kingdom, and desired a leader from whom they might hope for 
 better things. 
 
 he becatne a captain over them'] That he could keep such a motley 
 band in order is an evidence of David's natural genius for ruling, which 
 was further developed by this training. 
 
 about four hundred men] Soon increased to six hundred (xxiii. 
 13). Among them were the three heroes who brought water from 
 the well at Bethlehem (2 Sam. xxiii. 13 ff.; i Chr. xi. 15 ff.); pos- 
 sibly the stalwart Gadites whose names are given in i Chr. xii. 8 — 15; 
 and also the detachment from Judah and Benjamin led by Amasai (r 
 Chr. xii. 16 — iS). 
 
 3. Mizpeh of Moab] Mentioned here only. Perhaps either the strong 
 rock citadel afterwards known as Kir-Moab, now Kerak, is meant : or 
 some place not in Moab proper, but on the mountains of Abarim or 
 Pisgah north of the Arnon, which would be more easily accessible from 
 Bethlehem by way of Jericho. The long purple wall of the mountains 
 of Moab is a striking feature in the view from Bethlehem {Sin. and Pal. 
 p. 104), and would naturally suggest a retreat thither: but no doubt it 
 was his connexion with Moab through his great-grandmother Ruth, 
 which chiefly induced David to choose that country as a refuge for his 
 parents.
 
 vv. 4—6.] I. SAMUEL, XXIT. 187 
 
 Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come 
 forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. 
 And he brought them before the king of Moab : and they 4 
 dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold. 
 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the 5 
 hold ; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then 
 David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. 
 
 6 — 19. SauVs vengeance on the priests of Nob. 
 
 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the 6 
 men that ^uere with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under 
 a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his 
 
 4. in the Jiold] " Hold " = stronghold or fortress : here apparently 
 the Mizpeh of v. 3. What became of David's parents when he quitted 
 the hold does not appear. A Jewish tradition affirms that the king of 
 iMoab betrayed his trust and murdered them, for which David exacted a 
 heavy vengeance when he came to the throne (2 Sam. viii. 2). 
 
 5. the prophet Gad} Mentioned here for the first time, and not again 
 till David had come to the throne, when he appears as holding the office 
 of "the king's seer," He was one of the chroniclers of David's reign 
 (i Chr. xxix. 29); helped in the arrangement of the musical services in 
 the Temple (2 Chr. xxix. 25); and was sent to offer David his choice 
 of punishments for his sin in numbering the people (2 Sam. xxiv. 11 ff.). 
 
 Abide not in the hold\ The future king must not remain in a foreign 
 land, but in the face of all risk return to his own country, in order that 
 by such exploits as the relief of Keilah he might gain reputation, and 
 prepare his way to the throne. 
 
 the forest of Hareth]^ Nowhere else mentioned and not identified with 
 any certainty. Perhaps the name survives in Khards on the edge of 
 the mountain chain two or three miles east of Keilah. 
 
 Psalm Ixiii. is referred by its title to the time when David was in the 
 wilderness of Judah: but internal evidence points rather to his flight 
 from Absalom \ v. 11 implies that he was already king. 
 
 6—19. Saul's Vengeance on the priests of Nob. 
 
 6. that David ^vas discovered'} Lit. "was known." Saul found out 
 that some of his courtiers knew of David's hiding-place in the forest of 
 Hareth. 
 
 nnv Saul abode, &c.] Render, Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah 
 under the tamarisk tree on the height. We have here a vivid pic- 
 ture of a solemn conclave met to dehberate on affairs of state or to ad- 
 minister justice. The king sits in state under some venerable tamarisk 
 (cp. xiy. 2 ; Jud. iv. 5) ; his spear, the emblem of royalty (see on xviii. 10), 
 is in his hand; his servants, still chiefly the men of his own tribe {v. 7), 
 stand round him.
 
 iS8 I. SAMUEL, XXII. [w. 7—13. 
 
 7 servants were standing about him ;) then Saul said unto 
 his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benja- 
 mites ; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields 
 and vineyards, atid make you all captains of thousands, and 
 
 8 captains of hundreds; that all of you have conspired against 
 me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath 
 made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of 
 you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son 
 hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at 
 
 9 this day ? Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which 7vas 
 set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of 
 Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub : 
 
 10 and he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, 
 
 11 and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then 
 the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, 
 and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: 
 
 12 and they came all of them to the king. And Saul said, 
 Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I 
 
 13 am, my lord. And Saul said unto him. Why have ye 
 conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that 
 thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast inquired 
 of God for him, thq,t he should rise against me, to lie in 
 
 7. ye Bcnjamitcs\ Saul appeals to tribal jealousies. Will not David 
 promote his own fellow-tribesmen rather than the Benjamites ? 
 
 captains of thousands, &c.] The sarcasm of these words gains point, 
 if we may suppose that Saul had just heard of the organization of David's 
 handful of men (i Chr. xii. 16 — 18). 
 
 8. hath made a leagiie\ Hath made a covenant, as in xx. 16. Saul 
 seems to have heayd what happened upon that occasion. 
 
 9. Then answered Doeg^ The title of Ps. lii. states that it was com- 
 posed by David in reference to this occasion, vv. i — 4 describe such a 
 character as we may well suppose Doeg to have been. His tongue was 
 "a false tongue," because, though the facts he reported were true, he 
 helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion. It "devised 
 destruction," and "loved devouring words," fo): his story was told with 
 malicious intent and fatal result. 
 
 -which 7uas set over the sot'ants of Sanf] Or, for he was standing 
 "With the servants of Saul. The presence of the foreigner Doeg among 
 the Benjamites is specially noticed. The Sept. (cp. xxi. 7) reads, "Doeg 
 the Syrian who was set over Saul's mules." 
 
 10. he inr/uired of the hORD for him] See on x. ■z^. This, though 
 not expressly mentioned in ch. xxi., was probably the chief object of 
 David's visit, and Ahimelech dpes nqt disdain; the charge {v. 15).
 
 vv. 14—19.] I. SAMUEL, XXII. 189 
 
 wait, as at this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king, 14 
 and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as 
 David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy 
 bidding, and is honourable in thine house? Did I then 15 
 begin to inquire of God for him ? be it far from me : let 
 not the king impute any thing unto his servant, fior to all 
 the house of my father : for thy servant knew nothing of 
 all this, less or more. And the king said. Thou shalt surely 16 
 die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. And the 17 
 king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, 
 and slay the priests of the Lord ; because their hand also 
 is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and 
 did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would 
 not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the 
 Lord. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall 18 
 upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he 
 fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and 
 five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the 19 
 city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, 
 both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, 
 and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. 
 
 14. goeth at thy bidding\ Probably, " has access to thy audience," 
 i.e. is a trusted privy-councillor. Cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 23, marg. 
 
 15. Did I then begin'] That day did I begin, &c.? The stress is 
 upon these words. Ahimelech pleads that there was no harm in doing 
 as he had often done before. 
 
 be it far from me] To plot against the king. 
 
 knew nothing of all this] Was in no way a party to the alleged con- 
 spiracy. 
 
 17. the footmen] Lit. "the runners." See on ch. viii. 11; and for 
 their employment as executioners comp. 1 Kings x. 25 E. V. 
 guard) . 
 
 would not put forth their hand] They shrank from executing a com- 
 mand at once so cold-blooded and sacrilegious. 
 
 18. that did wear a linen ephod] See on ii. 18. The distinctive 
 priestly dress should have reminded Saul of the sacredness of their per- 
 sons. 
 
 19. And Nob, Sec] In the madness of his self-willed fury Saul 
 wreaked upon an innocent city in his own kingdom the vengeance he 
 had failed to execute upon a guilty heathen nation at God's command 
 (xv. 3). Thus the doom upon the house of Eli (ii. 31) received a fresh 
 fulfilment. So heavy a blow was inflicted upon the family of Ithamar, 
 that when David organized the courses of the priests for the temple ser-
 
 IQO I. SAMUEL, XXII. XXIII. [vv. 20— 23; i. 
 
 20^23. Abiathar's escape to David. 
 
 20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 
 
 21 named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And 
 Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the Lord's 
 
 22 priests. And David said unto Abiathar, I knew // that 
 day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would 
 surely tell Saul : I have occasioned the death of all the per- 
 
 23 sons of thy father's house. Abide thou with me, fear not : 
 for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life : but with me 
 thou shalt be in safeguard. 
 
 Ch. XXIII. 1—6. The rescue of Keilah. 
 
 23 Then they told David, saying. Behold, the Philistines 
 fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors. 
 
 vice only eight "chief men" could be found in it, against sixteen in the 
 family of Eleazar (i Chr. xxiv. 4). 
 
 20 — 23. Abiathar's escape to David. 
 
 20. Abiathar^ Possibly Abiathar had remained at Nob in charge of 
 the Tabernacle, and got timely warning of the approach of Doeg's 
 ruffians. Henceforward he was the companion of David's wanderings, 
 and helped him by "inquiring of the Lord" for him (xxiii. 9, xxx. 7; 
 1 Sam. ii. r, &c.). He held the office of high-priest till the close of 
 David's reign, when by some strange infatuation, after remaining faithful 
 through Absalom's rebellion, and "being afflicted in all wherein David 
 was afflicted," he took part in Adonijah's rebellion, and was in conse- 
 quence deposed by Solomon (i Kings ii. 26, 27). 
 
 22. / have occasioned, &c.] David's conscience pricks him for having 
 been, even indirectly, the cause of so great a calamity. 
 
 23. he that seeketh 7>iy life'] Our lives are both in danger from one 
 common enemy, so that our interests will be identical. 
 
 XXIII. 1—6. The rescue of Keilah. 
 
 1. Then they told David] Simply, And they told. There is no 
 mark of time. The appeal to David shews that he was growing to be 
 regarded as the champion of Israel. 
 
 Keilah] A fortified city [v. 7), named in Josh. xv. 44 as one of a 
 group of cities in the Shcphilah or " Lowland," which included the low 
 limestone hills bordering on the Philistine plain. It was perched on a 
 steep hill above the valley of Elah, about three miles south of Adullam, 
 where the name Kila still survives to mark the site. 
 
 they rob the threshinofloors] This indicates that the raid took place 
 immediately after harvest, when the corn was stacked by the floors ready 
 for threshing.
 
 v\^ 2—8.] I. SAMUEL, XXIII. 191 
 
 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go 2 
 and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto 
 David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. 
 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here 3 
 in Judah : how much more then if we come to Keilah 
 against the armies of the Philistines ? Then David inquired 4 
 of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and 
 said, Arise, go down to Keilah ; for I will deliver the Phi- 
 listines into thine hand. So David and his men went to 5 
 Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away 
 their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So 
 David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. And it came to 6 
 pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech lied to David to 
 Keilah, that he came down luiih an ephod in his hand. 
 
 7 — 15' The treachery of the Keilites. 
 
 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. ^ 
 And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for 
 he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and 
 bars. And Saul called all the people together to war, to 3 
 
 2. inqiiired of the Lord] Through the high-priest Abiathar. See on 
 V. 6. 
 
 3. here in Judah] Keilah belonged to the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 
 44) : so that Judah must here be used in a limited sense of the highlands 
 of Judah. 
 
 the armies of the Philistines] David's men exaggerate the marauding 
 bands of Philistines into a regular army. 
 
 6. Jled to David to Keilah] Since {a) it is implied by xxii. 20 that 
 Abiathar joined David before the expedition to Keilah : and {b) the 
 inquiry in w. 1, 4 implies the presence of the high-priest with the 
 Ephod : it seems best either to strike out "to Keilah," or to follow the 
 Sept. in reading, "And it came to pass when Abiathar the son of 
 Ahimelech fled to David, that he went down with David to Keilah with 
 the Ephod in his hand." This note is inserted here to explain how 
 David could inquire of God both in Judah and at Keilah. 
 
 7 — 15. The treachery of the Keilites. 
 
 7. hath delivered him] \Ai. hath rejected him atid delivered him. So 
 blind was Saul as to imagine that it was not himself but David whom 
 God had rejected. The Sept. reads "sold." 
 
 a town, &c.] A city. It may have been one of the old Canaanite for- 
 tresses (see on Josh. xi. 13), or have been fortified as an outpost against 
 the Phihstines.
 
 192 I. SAMUEL, XXIII. [vv. 9— 15. 
 
 9 go down to Keilab, to besiege David and his men. And 
 David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against 
 him ; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the 
 
 10 ephod. Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy ser- 
 vant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to 
 
 11 Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of 
 Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come 
 down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, 
 I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He 
 
 12 will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah 
 deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul ? And the 
 
 33 Lord said. They will deliver Hice up. Then David and 
 his men, which wen about six hundred, arose and departed 
 out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And 
 it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah ; and 
 
 u he forbare to go forth. And David abode in the wilderness 
 in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilder- 
 ness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God 
 
 '5 delivered him not into his hand. And David saw that 
 Saul was come out to seek his life : and David was in the 
 wilderness of Ziph in a wood. 
 
 9. sco-ctly practised^ Lit. was forging. Omit " secretly." 
 Bring hither the cphod] P'or the high-priest did not always wear it. 
 See note on xiv. 18, and cp. xxx. 7. 
 
 11. the vicn of Kcilah\ Lit. "the lords," or "masters," i.e. the 
 governing body of citizens, as distinguished from the mass of inhabitants 
 [v. 5). The same word is used in Josh, xxiv, 11 ; Jud. ix. 1 ff., xx. 5 ; 
 1 Sam. xxi. 12. 
 
 will Saul come do7vn'\ The logical order of the questions is inverted, 
 and the most important put first, indicating the anxiety of the ques- 
 tioner. 
 
 12. 77/^^1' 7viU deliver thee i/p] With the cowardice and ingratitude of 
 thorough selfishness. Cp. ]\\d. xv. 10 — 13. 
 
 14. And David abode in the wilderness] David's next resort was 
 "the wilderness of Judah," the wild uncultivated tract lying between the 
 mountains of Judah and the Dead Sea. His chief abode was "the 
 mountain (perhaps the hill of Hachilah, v. 19) in the wilderness of Ziph," 
 a district S. E. of Hebron, where a rounded hill half way between He- 
 bron and Carmel still bears the name Tell Zif. Ziph is mentioned in 
 Josh. XV. 55, and was fortified by Rchoboam (2 Chr. xi. 8). 
 
 every day] Continually : not that he literally spent all his time in the 
 pursuit of David. 
 
 15. in a wood] The word choresh translated " wood " in vv. 15, 16, 
 18, 19 does not occur again in Samuel. Lieut. Conder argues from the
 
 vv. 16—19.] I. SAMUEL, XXIII. 193 
 
 16 — 1 8. y 07iathan' s last meeting with David. 
 
 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into 16 
 the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he 17 
 said unto him, Fear not : for the hand of Saul my father 
 shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, 
 and I shall be next unto thee ; and that also Saul my 
 father knoweth. And they two made a covenant before is 
 the Lord : and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan 
 went to his house. 
 
 19 — 28. The treachery of the Ziphites. 
 
 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, 19 
 Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the 
 wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of 
 
 dry unwatered character of the district that no wood of trees can ever 
 have flourished there, and conjectures that Chorcsh was a proper name 
 with a different signification. He found the ruin of Khorcisa and the 
 Valley oi Hiresh in the neighbourhood of Ziph. It is perhaps too bold 
 to assert that no wood can ever have existed, and it seems best to under- 
 stand Chorcsh as a quasi-proper name for a district overgrown with 
 brushwood. 
 
 16 — 18. Jonathan's last meeting with David. 
 
 16. streiigthcncd his hand in God] Revived his courage by point- 
 ing him to the true ground of confidence. Cp. ch. xxx. 6; Job iv. 3. 
 
 17. Saul my father knowcthl Both that thou art destined to be king 
 (see on xviii. 9), and that I am ready to resign my claims in thy favour. 
 This is the climax of Jonathan's unselfish generosity. 
 
 18. to his house] Home to Gibeah, where Saul was {v. 19). It was 
 the final parting of the friends. 
 
 19—28. The treachery of the Ziphites. 
 
 19. Then came up the Ziphites] The title of Ps. liv. refers it to this 
 occasion, or that recorded in xxvi. i, and the contents agree with the 
 situation. See especially v. 3. 
 
 On the relation between this narrative and that in ch. xxvi. see Note 
 VII. p. 243. 
 
 in the hill of Hachilah, &c.] This hill was situated on the south of, or 
 according to xxvi. 3, "in front of "or " facing " tlie Waste. Jcshiinon 
 is not a proper name, but means the Waste, and denotes the district on 
 which the plateau of Ziph looks down, "with white peaks and cones of 
 chalk and deep narrow watercourses, terminated by the great pointed cliff 
 of Ziz above Engedi, and by the precipices over the Dead Sea, two 
 thousand feet high." Hachilah is not identified with any certainty. 
 
 I. SAMUEL 
 
 13
 
 194 I- SAMUEL, XXI 1 1. [vv. 20—27. 
 
 23 Jeshimon ? Now therefore, O king, come down according 
 to all the desire of thy soul to come down ; and our part 
 
 21 shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. And Saul 
 said, Blessed be ye of the Lord ; for ye have compassion 
 
 22 on me. Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see 
 his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there : 
 
 23 for it is told me iJiat he dealeth very subtilly. See there- 
 fore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he 
 hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, 
 and I will go with you : and it shall come to pass, if he be 
 in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the 
 
 24 thousands of Judah. And they arose, and went to Ziph 
 before Saul : but David and his men were in the wilderness 
 
 25 of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. Saul also 
 and his men went to seek him. And they told David : 
 wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the 
 wilderness of INIaon. And when Saul heard that, he pur- 
 
 26 sued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul 
 went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men 
 on that side of the mountain : and David made haste to 
 get away for fear of Saul ; for Saul and his men compassed 
 
 27 David and his men round about to take them. But there 
 
 Lieut. Conder proposes to recognise it in the long ridge of El Kolah, 
 running out of the Ziph plateau eastwards. From Tell Z^fihQ Ziphites 
 could observe the movements of David's men over this region. 
 
 22. -where his haunt is\ Lit. "where his foot is." Observe his 
 tracks as you would those of a wild beast. 
 
 23. the thousands of Jiidahl i.e. the families. See on x. 19. 
 
 24. in the zvilderness of AIaon\ The district round the conical hill 
 about seven miles south of Hebron still known as Tell Main. It is 
 mentioned in Joshua xv. 55 among the cities of Judah in the mountains. 
 It was the home of Nabal (ch. xxv. 2). 
 
 in the plain on the south ofjeshimoii] In the steppe ontlie soutli of 
 tlie Waste. The Ardbah or "steppe" is here the name of the dis- 
 trict south of "the Waste," where the plateau falls away towards the 
 plains of Beersheba. The term Ardbah generally denotes either the 
 depressed valley of the Jordan, or the valley between the Dead Sea and 
 the Gulf of Akaba, but neither of these can be intended here. 
 
 25. into a rock^ To the rock, or, cliff, which was afterwards called 
 "the rock of divisions" {v. 28). The Sept. reads "which is in the 
 wilderness of Maon" in place of "and abode in the wilderness of 
 Maon," perhaps rightly. 
 
 26. compassed roundabout'] i.e. encompassed, surrounded. Cp. 
 
 Ps. V. 13.
 
 vv. 28, 29; I.] I. SAMUEL, XXIII. XXIV. 195 
 
 came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; 
 for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul 28 
 returned from pursuing after David, and went against the 
 Philistines : therefore they called that place Sela-hammah- 
 lekoth. 
 
 29 — XXIV. 8. David spares Saul's life iji the cave at 
 
 En-gcdi. 
 
 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong 29 
 holds at En-gedi. And it came to pass, when Saul was 24 
 returned from following the Philistines, that it was told 
 him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. 
 
 27. there came a messenger, &c.] Man's extremity is God's opportu- 
 nity. Cp. 2 Kings xix. 7, 9. 
 
 28. Scla-hammahlekoth^ Either (r) "Rock of escapes;" or more 
 probably (2) "Rock of divisions," because there Saul had to rehnquish 
 the pursuit of David. 
 
 Lieut. Conder thinks he has discovered the scene of David's escape. 
 Between the ridge of El Kolah and the neighbourhood of Maon there is 
 a great gorge called "the Valley of the Rocks :" to part of this the name 
 Wady Alalaki now applies, and there is no other place near Maon 
 where cliffs, such as are to be inferred from the word Sela, can be found. 
 See Teiii Work, 11. 91. 
 
 29. — XXIV. 8. David spares Saul's life in the cave at 
 
 En-gedi. 
 
 This narrative and that in ch. xxvi. are regarded by some commenta- 
 tors as different accounts of the same event. See Note VII. p. 243, and 
 the notes on ch. xxvi. 
 
 Pss. Ivii. and cxlii. are referred by their titles to the time when David 
 fled from Saul in the cave; but whether this occasion or his sojourn in 
 the cave of Adullam is meant, must remain uncertain. 
 
 29. at En-gedi] En-gedi {=fountain of the kid), x\qv} Ain-Jidy, is 
 situated about halfway along the western shore of the Dead Sea. The 
 precipitous cliffs recede from the water's edge, and enclose a sloping 
 plain watered by the stream which gushes copiously from the limestone 
 rock. Here in the days of Abraham stood the Amorite city of Haza- 
 zon-tamar (- pruning of the palm). See Gen. xiv. 7; 2 Chr. xx. 2. It is 
 still an oasis in the limestone desert, and though palm-trees and vine- 
 yards (Cant. i. 14) have vanished, the petrified leaves of the one and the 
 terraces cut on the hills for the other attest its ancient fertility. On all 
 sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking places 
 for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day. See 
 Robinson, Bil/l. lies. I. 50S ff. ; Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 277 ff ; 
 Stanley, Sin. and Pal, p. 295 ff., for descriptions of this remarkable 
 spot.
 
 10 I. SAMUEL, XXIV. [vv. 2—8. 
 
 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all 
 Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks 
 
 3 of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the 
 way, where was a cave ; and Saul went in to cover his feet : 
 and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 
 
 4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of 
 which the Lord said unto thee. Behold, I will deliver thine 
 enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it 
 shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off 
 
 5 the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass after- 
 ward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off 
 
 6 Saul's skirt. And he said unto his men. The Lord forbid 
 that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's 
 anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he 
 
 7 is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his servants 
 with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. 
 But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 
 
 8 David also rose afterward, and went out of the cave, and 
 
 Ch. XXIV. 2. iipon the roclcs of the wild goats] On precipitous 
 cliffs scarcely accessible except to the ibex and chamois. Wild goats 
 and antelopes still abound on the heights above Ain-Jidy. 
 
 3. the sheepcotes by the way] Sheepfolds are still formed in the East 
 by building a wall of loose stones round the mouth of a cave, which 
 serves for shelter in case of bad weather. See The Land and the Book, 
 
 P- ^°3- . . ^ . . . r 
 
 to cover his feet] An euphemism for performing the necessities of 
 
 nature. 
 
 remained, &c.] Were abiding in the recesses of the cave. Large 
 caves with numerous side passages are found in the district. "They are 
 as dark as midnight, and the keenest eye cannot see five paces inivard: 
 but one who has been long within, and is looking outward toward the 
 entrance, can observe with perfect distinctness all that takes place in 
 that direction." Hence David and his men could watch Saul without 
 being seen. 
 
 4. of zuhich the Lord said] David may have received from Samuel 
 and Gad assurances of his ultimate deliverance from Saul's persecutions, 
 which his followers interpret in their own way. Cp. xxiii. 17, xxv. 28 — 
 
 30- 
 
 the skirt] See on xv. 27. He wished to have some proof to con- 
 vince Saul that his life had been in his power. 
 
 5. Davids heart smote him] David's conscience reproached him for 
 offering even so slight an indignity to the king. 
 
 7. stayed] Lit. tore, or lashed: a strong expression. Vulg. "con- 
 fregit viros suos sermonibus."
 
 w. 9—14.] I. SAMUEL, XXIV. 197 
 
 cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul 
 looked behind him, David stooped luith his face to the 
 earth, and bowed himself. 
 
 9 — 15. David pleads his innocence. 
 
 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's 9 
 words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, 10 
 this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had de- 
 livered thee to day into mine hand in the cave : and some 
 bade me kill thee : but mine eye spared thee ; and I said, I 
 will not put forth mine hand against my lord ; for he is the 
 Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see, yea see the n 
 skirt of thy robe in my hand : for in that I cut off the skirt 
 of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that 
 there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I 
 have not sinned against thee ; yet thou huntest my soul to 
 take it. The Lord judge between me and thee, and the 12 
 Lord avenge me of thee : but mine hand shall not be upon 
 thee. As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness 13 
 proceedeth from the wicked : but mine hand shall not be 
 upon thee. After whom is the king of Israel come out? 14 
 
 8. stooped, &c.] Better, bowed himself -with his face to the ground 
 and did obeisance. The usual Oriental gesture of reverence to a king 
 or superior is described. See on xx. 41. Cp. i Kings i. 16, 31. 
 
 9 — 15. David pleads his innocence. 
 
 9. metis words'] Calumniators like "Cush the Benjamite," against 
 whom Ps. vii. is directed, strove to inflame Saul's mind against David. 
 That Psalm has been with much probability referred to this period of 
 his life. David's protestation of innocence in vv. 3, 4 of the Psalm is 
 closely parallel to his words in vv. 10, 11; and his appeal to the judg- 
 ment of Jehovah in vv. 8, 9 of the Psalm resembles that in v. 15. 
 
 11. w_y father] The address of respect and affection. Cp. 1 Kings 
 V. 13, vi. 21. 
 
 evil] The same word as that rendered "thy hurt" in v. 9. 
 
 my soul] i.e. my life. 
 
 13. Wickedness, &c.] A man's character is known by his actions. If 
 I were wicked at heart, I should have shewn it by killing you. Cp. 
 Mt. vii. 16 — 20. 
 
 but tnine hand shall not be npoii thee] It is not clear whether this is 
 part of the proverl) or David's own utterance. In the first case the proverb 
 is a general disclaimer of a desire for vengeance : in the second, David 
 reaffirms his resolution not to touch Saul as a consequence of his moral 
 integrity.
 
 198 I. SAMUEL, XXIV. [vv. 15—: 
 
 after whom dost thou pursue ? after a dead dog, after a flea. 
 
 15 The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and 
 thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of 
 thine hand. 
 
 16 — 22, SaiiPs momefitary remorse. 
 
 16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of 
 speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy 
 voice, my son David? And Saul lift up his voice, and 
 
 17 wept. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous 
 than I : for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have 
 
 18 rewarded thee evil. And thou hast shewed this day how 
 that thou hast dealt well with me ; forasmuch as when the 
 Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me 
 
 19 not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well 
 away ? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou 
 
 20 hast done unto me this day. And now behold, I know well 
 that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of 
 
 21 Israel shall be estabhshed in thine hand. Swear now there- 
 fore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my 
 seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out 
 
 14. after a dead dog, &c.] "A dead dog, a single flea," express what 
 is absolutely contemptible, harmless, and insignificant. A worthy object 
 truly for an expedition of the King of Israel with his picked troops ! 
 
 15. J)lead my caiise'\ Cp. Ps. xxxv. i ff. ; possibly written about this 
 time. 
 
 deliver me out of thy hand\ Lit. judge me out of thy hand: give me 
 my right, and set me free. 
 
 16—22. Saul's momentary remorse. 
 
 16. W7 son David] The old fatherly feeling revived. The generous 
 loving heart of the old days had not yet utterly perished. 
 
 19. find his enemy] Get him into his power. Cp. xxiii. 17; Ps. 
 xxi. 8. 
 
 7viii he let him go well away] A negative answer is of course to be 
 supphed. "No : yet thou hast done so to me : wherefore, &c." 
 
 20. I knoiv well. Sec] See note on xviii. 9. And yet, knowing the 
 Will of God, he resists it ! 
 
 the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thi/ie hand] A sad echo 
 of Samuel's words to himself, "But now thy kingdom shall not be 
 established" (xiii. 14). 
 
 21. Szaear now, &c.] Saul pledges his successor not to follow the 
 barbarous Oriental custom. See on xx. 14.
 
 w. 22; 1—3.] I. SAMUEL, XXIV. XXV. 199 
 
 of my father's house. And David sware unto Saul. And 22 
 Saul went home ; but David and his men gat them up unto 
 the hold. 
 
 Ch. XXV. I. SamuePs death and burial. 
 
 And Samuel died; and all the IsraeHtes were gathered 25 
 together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at 
 Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilder- 
 ness of Paran. 
 
 2 — 13. NahaVs churlish behaviour to David. 
 
 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions 2 
 were in Carmel ; and the man was very great, and he 
 had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats ; and 
 he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name 3 
 
 22. f^at them up unto the hold] Returned to the fastnesses of En-gedi. 
 Experience had proved that Saul's repentance was not to be trusted. 
 
 Ch. XXV. 1, Samuel's death and burial. 
 
 1. all the Israelites, &c.] A public mourning was held as after the 
 death of Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 8), and the whole nation met to do honour 
 to him, who for well nigh eighty years had gone in and out amongst 
 them as Prophet, Judge, and Counsellor of the King. 
 
 in his house] Not actually in the house, which would have been 
 inconsistent with the laws of ceremonial purity (Num. xix. 16), but in 
 some court or garden attached to the house. Compare 2 Chr. xxxiii. 
 10 with 1 Kings xxi. 18. The Mussulman tradition places the prophet's 
 tomb on the hill known as Neby Saviwil, five miles N.W. of Jerusalem, 
 but see note on i. i. 
 
 the wilderness of Faran] A general name for the great tract of desert 
 south of Palestine, between the wilderness of Shur on the west, Edoui 
 on the east, and the wilderness of Sinai on the south. It was the aljode 
 of Ishmael (Gen. xxi. ■21); the scene of the wanderings of the Israelites; 
 and the place from which the spies were sent (Num. x. 12, xiii. 3). The 
 Sept. reads Maon, but the change is unnecessary, if we suppose the term 
 Paran to be used with some latitude. 
 
 2 — 13. NaBAL's churlish liEHAVIOUR TO D.WID. 
 
 2. a man in Maon] Nabal's home was in the city of Maon, and his 
 possessions (or, his business) about a mile to the north at Carmel. 
 These places are mentioned together in Josh. xv. 55. See also note on 
 ch. XV. 12. 
 
 very great] i.e. very rich. The same epithet is applied to Barzillai 
 (2 Sam. xix. 32).
 
 200 I. SAMUEL, XXV. [vv. 4—10. 
 
 of the man was Nabal ; and the name of his wife Abigail : 
 and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a 
 beautiful countenance : but the man was churlish and evil 
 
 4 in his doings ; and he was of the house of Caleb. And 
 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his 
 
 5 sheep. And David sent out ten young men, and David 
 said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to 
 
 6 Nabal, and greet him in my name : and thus shall ye say 
 to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and 
 peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 
 
 7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers : now thy 
 shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither 
 was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were 
 
 8 in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. 
 Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes : for 
 we come in a good day : give, I pray thee, whatsoever 
 cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son 
 
 9 David. And when David's young men came, they spake to 
 Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, 
 
 10 and ceased. And Nabal answered David's servants, and 
 said, Who is David ? and who is the son of Jesse ? there be 
 many servants now a days that break away every man from 
 
 3. Nabal] The name means Fool. It is the word used in Ps. xiv. 
 I ; Prov. XXX. 22; &c. 
 
 chiirlisJi\ Lit. hard. Cp. Mt. xxv. 24, where the same Greek word 
 is used as in the Sept. here (aKX-qpos). 
 
 of the house of Caleb] Who settled at Hebron (Josh. xv. 13). Cp. 
 "the south of Caleb" in ch. xxx. 14. The Sept. rendering "dog-like" 
 (kwu'os), referring to his character, is not to be followed. 
 
 6. to him that liveth in prosperity'] The meaning of the single Heb. 
 word thus rendered is exceedingly obscure. It seems best to explain it 
 as an exclamation, "Hail!" literally, "For life!" 
 
 7. that thou hast shearers] Sheep-shearing was and still is an 
 occasion of festivity. See 1 Sam. xiii. 23, 24. David's message was 
 not a demand for black-mail. He had done Nabal real service, by 
 protecting his flocks from roving marauders, and he was entitled to 
 recompence. " On such a festive occasion near a town or village, 
 even in our own time, an Arab Sheikh of the neighbouring desert would 
 hardly fail to put in a word, either in person or by message; and his mes- 
 sage, both in form and substance, would be only the transcript of that of 
 David." Robinson, Bibl. Res. i. 498. 
 
 8. a good day^ A day of festivity and rejoicing. Cp. Esth. viii. 17. 
 10. Who is David, &c.] Cp. Jud. ix. 28.
 
 vv. II— 1 8.] I. SAMUEL, XXV. 201 
 
 his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, n 
 and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it 
 unto men, whom I know not whence they be 1 So David's 12 
 young men turned their way, and went again, and came 
 and told him all those sayings. And David said unto his 13 
 men, Gird you on every man his sword. And they girded 
 on every man his sword; and David also girded on his 
 sword : and there went up after David about four hundred 
 men ; and two hundred abode by the stuff. 
 
 14 — 22. Ahigair s wise counsel. 
 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, 14 
 saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilder- 
 ness to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the ,5 
 men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither 
 missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with 
 them, when we were in the fields : they were a wall unto us 16 
 both by night and day, all the while we were with them 
 keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what ^^ 
 thou wilt do ; for evil is determined against our master, and 
 against all his household: for he is S7ich a son of Belial, that 
 a man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, ,8 
 and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and 
 
 11. fny wafer] Perhaps water is specially mentioned because it is 
 scarce in the district. Cp. Josh. xv. 19. The Sept. however has "wine." 
 
 13. adode by the stuff] Remained to guard their property. On 
 "stuff" see X. 22 : cp. xxx. 24. 
 
 14 — 22. Abigail's wise counsel. 
 
 14. to salute] Lit. to bless, as in ch. xiii. 10. Cp. 2 Kings iv. 29, 
 and the form of sahitation in i Sam. xv. 13. 
 
 he railed on them] Lit. flew upon them; the same word as in xiv. 32. 
 
 15. as long as we were conversant loith them] Lit. all the days zve 
 went to and fro with them. "Conversant" from Lat. conversari, to dwell 
 or abide with, signifies "associated" or "living along with." 
 
 16. a wall unto us] A defence against the predatory tribes of the 
 desert. See Job i. 15, 17. 
 
 17. such a son of Belial] Such an evil man. See on i. 16. So 
 wilful and obstinate that his servants dared not try to reason with him, 
 but appealed to Abigail instead. 
 
 18. Abigail made haste, and took] A store of provisions was pre- 
 pared for the shearing feast (v. 11). For the different items of the 
 present compare 2 Sam. xvi. i ; r Chr. xii. 40.
 
 202 I. SAMUEL, XXV. [w. 19—22. 
 
 five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, 
 and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes 
 
 19 of figs, and laid them on asses. And she said unto her ser- 
 vants, Go on before me ; behold, I come after you. But 
 
 20 she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode 
 on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, 
 and behold, David and his men came down against her \ 
 
 21 and she met them. Now David had said. Surely in vain 
 have I kept all that this fello2u hath in the wilderness, so 
 that nothing was missed of all that pertai)ied. unto him : and 
 
 22 he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do 
 God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pe?'iain 
 to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 
 
 two bottles of 7ui)ic] Skins, holding a considerable quantity. Ziba 
 only brought one "bottle" of wine for David in his flight (2 Sam. xvi. 
 i). Those now used in the East are made of kid, goat, or ox skins, 
 according to the size required. 
 
 five jneamrcs of parched corn] See on xvii. 17. The "measure" 
 (Heb. sea/i) contained one third of an ephah. See on i. 24. Parched 
 corn was only a delicacy, which accounts for the comparatively small 
 quantity. 
 
 clusters of raisins'] Lumps of dried grapes. The vineyards near 
 Hebron still produce the largest and best grapes in all the country, and 
 the finest of them are dried as raisins. Kobinson's Bibl. Res. I. 214, 
 II. 81. 
 
 cakes of figs'] Figs dried and compressed. They still grow in abun- 
 dance in the neighbourhood of Hebron. 
 
 20. camedoTvn by the covert of the hill] Abigail was apparently riding 
 down a defile between two hills, which is called "the covert" (lit. "the 
 secret place of the mountain "), because it was concealed from observa- 
 tion. David's troop came down the opposite hill to meet her. "Covert" 
 from Fr. convert meziXis shelter, hiding-place. On "against" see ix. 14. 
 
 21. Surely in vain] Only to be deceived and disappointed. The 
 same word is used in Jer. iii. 23. 
 
 pertained] i.e. belonged. "Pertain" is derived from 'LaX. pertineo, 
 through O. ¥r. partenir. Cp. "appertain" from appartenir. 
 
 22. unto the enemies of David] In the usual oath-formula the 
 swearer invokes divine vengeance upon himself (xx. 13), or upon the 
 person adjured (iii. 17). And so the Sept. here; "So God do to 
 David." "The enemies of David" may possibly be an euphemism, 
 introduced by a corrector who was unwilling to let David invoke ven- 
 geance upon himself for an oath which he afterwards broke. Comp. 
 the note on xx. 16. 
 
 if I leave ajty, &c.] David vows that he will exterminate the 
 
 family and not leave a single man alive. Cp. Deut. xx. 13.
 
 vv. 23— 2S.] I. SAMUEL, XXV. 203 
 
 23 — 31. Abigail's meeting tuith David. 
 
 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and Hghted ofif 23 
 the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed her- 
 self to the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, 24 
 my lord, 2ipoii me let this iniquity be: and let thine hand- 
 maid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the 
 words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, 25 
 regard this man of Belial, even Nabal : for as his name is, 
 so is he ; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him : but I 
 thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom 
 thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord 26 
 liveth, and as thy soul Uveth, seeing the Lord hath with- 
 holden thee from coming to shedWoo^, ^xAfrom avenging 
 thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and 
 they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this 27 
 blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, 
 let it even be given unto the young men that follow my 
 lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid : 2s 
 
 23 — 31. Abigail's meeting with David. 
 
 23. lighted off the ass\ i.e. got down from, an old ioxxa. oi alighted. 
 The Heb. word is different from that similarly translated in Josh. xv. 18, 
 and simply means "to descend." 
 
 24. and fell at his feet] Apparently she first prostrated herself and 
 did the usual obeisance as soon as she saw David, while he was still some 
 distance off, and then afterwards approached and knelt down at his feet 
 in the posture of a suppliant to make her petition. 
 
 26. Now therefore, &c.] Render, And now, my lord, as Jehovah 
 liveth, and by the life of thy soul, surely Jehovah hath withholden 
 thee from coming into blood-g-uiltiness, and saving thyself with 
 thine own hand. And now let thine enemies, &c. Abigail solemnly 
 affirms that it is God who by her means has restrained David from com- 
 mitting a great crime. She feels at once that she has gained her point, 
 and clenches the matter by putting the whole question in the most 
 solemn light. 
 
 let thine enemies be as Nabal] As foolish, and consequently as 
 
 little able to injure thee. In view of Nabal's fate, the words are almost 
 prophetic. 
 
 27. this blessing] So a complimentary present is styled in ch. xxx. 26. 
 Cp. Gen. xxxiii. 11; 2 Cor. ix. 5 (evXoyla, as here in the Sept.). 
 
 ztnto the young men] She docs not presume to offer it for David's 
 own use. 
 
 28. the trespass of thine handmaid] She takes the blame of the 
 wrong done to David upon herself, as in v. 24.
 
 204 I. SAMUEL, XXV. [vv. 29-31 
 
 for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house ; 
 because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil 
 
 2 , hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is 
 risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul : but the soul of 
 my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord 
 thy God ; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he 
 
 3D sling out as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come 
 to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord accord- 
 ing to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, 
 
 31 and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; that this 
 shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my 
 
 for the Lord, &c.] Abigail grounds her request on the conviction 
 that David will succeed to the kingdom, when, as she points out in 
 vv. 30, 31, such an act of violence as he was minded to commit would 
 be a burden on his conscience. Her conviction rests (i) on the fact that 
 he has proved himself the champion of Jehovah's people (see on xviii. 
 17) ; (2) on his blameless life. Doubtless the nation was already anxiously 
 looking forward to David as its future king. 
 
 will certainly make my lord a sure Jwiise] Will establish him and his 
 posterity on the throne. For the phrase see ii. 35 ; and compare the 
 promise in 2 Sam. vii. 16. The same epithet is appUed to David him- 
 self in xxii. 14 (E. V./a;V///}//). __ . ^ 
 
 evil hath not been found in thee"] Cp. xxiv. 11; Ps. vii. 3. ^ David s 
 generous and winning character was in sharp contrast to Saul's jealous 
 suspicion and mad cruelty. 
 
 29. Yet a man, &c.] Better, And though men have arisen yet 
 
 the soul of my lord shall he hound up in the hundle of the living. 
 The figure is taken from the practice of binding up valuables in a bag or 
 bundle. Cp. Gen. xlii. 35. Of course the immediate reference is only 
 to the safe preservation of David's temporal life. 
 
 shall he sling out, &c.] A vigorous metaphor to express total rejec- 
 tion. Cp. Jer. X. 18. 
 
 the middle of a sling] Lit. \hc pan or hollow in which the stone was 
 placed. The marginal rendering " bought " means " the bowed or bent 
 part of a sling on which the stone was placed." See the Bible Word- 
 Book, p. 73. 
 
 30. appoifited thee ruler] The same Heb. words are used m xin. 14, 
 where the E. V. has "commanded him to be captain." Cp. also ix. 16, 
 
 X. I 
 
 Abigail's prudence, and her familiarity with the true idea of the 
 theocratic king which was to be realised in David, suggest that she may 
 have received instruction from Samuel, or some other prophet. Cp. 
 2 Kings iv. 8 ff. 
 
 31. grief] The Heb. word, which occurs nowhere else, probably means 
 slumhling-hlock. Such a crime as David had meditated would have 
 remained as an obstacle in the way of his enjoying a clear conscience.
 
 w. 32—37.] I. SAMUEL, XXV. 
 
 lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my 
 lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have 
 dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. 
 
 32 — 35. David' s favourable answer. 
 
 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of ^^ 
 Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me : and blessed be 33 
 thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this 
 day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself 
 with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the Lord God 34 
 of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, 
 except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there 
 had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that 
 pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand 3S 
 that which she had brought him, and said unto her. Go up 
 in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, 
 and have accepted thy person. 
 
 36 — 38. NabaVs death. 
 
 And Abigail came to Nabal ; and behold, he held a feast 36 
 in his house, like the feast of a king ; and Nabal's heart was 
 merry within him, for he was very drunken : wherefore she told 
 him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it 37 
 came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out 
 
 32 — 35. David's favourable answer. 
 
 32. Blessed be the Lord] David rightly recognises that the inter- 
 vention of Providence has saved him from a foolish and wicked revenge. 
 Compare his prayer in Ps. xix. 13. There is no lack of faults in David's 
 life, and this outburst of passion was one of them; but with all his faults 
 he had that spirit of genuine repentance which makes it possible for men 
 
 " To rise on stepping-stones 
 Of their dead selves to higher things." 
 
 33. advice] Better, discretion. 
 
 fro?>i coming to shed blood] From coming into blood-g-uiltiness, as 
 in V. 26. 
 
 35. have accepted thy persott] Here in a good sense = I have granted 
 thy petition. Cp. Gen. xix. 21. 
 
 36—38. Nabal's death. 
 
 36. a feast. ..like the feast of a hiug] liis shearing-revel (cp. 2 Sam. 
 
 xiii. 23) was on a scale of regal luxury.
 
 2o6 I. SAMUEL, XXV. [vv. 38—43. 
 
 of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his 
 3S heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it 
 came to pass about ten days a/^er, that the Lord smote 
 Nabal, that he died. 
 
 39 — 44. David's marriage with Abigail. 
 
 39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said. 
 Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my re- 
 proach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant 
 from evil : for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal 
 upon his own head. And David sent and communed with 
 
 40 Abigail, to take her to him to wife. And when the servants 
 of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake 
 unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee 
 
 41 to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on 
 her face to the earth, and said. Behold, let thine handmaid 
 be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 
 
 42 And Abigail hasted, and rose, and rode upon an ass, with 
 five damsels of hers that went after her ; and she went after 
 
 43 the messengers of David, and became his wife. David also 
 
 37. and his wife, &c.] Better, tliat his -wife told him. ..and his 
 heart died, &c. An outburst of passion on hearing that his will had 
 been thwarted brought on a fit of apoplexy, in which he lingered on 
 insensible for ten days, until 
 
 38. the Lord smote Nabal"] His death was a divine judgment none 
 the less that a partly natural cause may be assigned for it in his intem- 
 perance and passion. For " smote " comp. the use of the same word in 
 ch. xxvi. 10, and 2 Chr. xiii. 20 (E. V. struck). 
 
 Zd—'A. David's marriage with Abigail. 
 
 39. fleaded the cause, &c.] Exacted from Nabal a due penalty for 
 the injury he did me. Cp. xxiv. 15. In those days godly men looked 
 for visible judgments upon the wicked in this world, and rejoiced in 
 them as a vindication of God's righteous government. 
 
 hath kept his servattt from evil, tScc] The E. V. misses the striking 
 contrast between David and Nabal. Render, hath restrained his ser- 
 vant from wickedness, but the wickedness of Natoal hath Jehovah 
 returned upon his own head. 
 
 41. and bowed herself, &c.] With the obsequiousness characteristic 
 of Oriental nations, she expresses her devotion both by gesture and word. 
 "Washing the feet " like " loosing the shoe-latchet " (Mk. i, 7) was the 
 service of the meanest slaves.
 
 vv. 44; 1— 4-] I- SAMUEL, XXV. XXVI. 207 
 
 took Ahinoam of Jezreel ; and they were also both of them 
 his wives. But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's 44 
 wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which 7vas of Gallim. 
 
 Ch. XXVI. I — 4. SauPs reneioed pursuit of David. 
 
 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth 26 
 not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is 
 before Jeshimon? Then Saul arose, and went down to the 2 
 wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of 
 Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 
 And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before 3 
 Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, 
 and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 
 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul 4 
 was come in very deed. 
 
 43. tookl Had taken, before his marriage with Abigail. Ahinoam 
 stands first in the list of his wives in 2 Sam. iii. 1. 
 
 ofJezreel\ A city in the mountains of Judah near Carmel and Juttah. 
 See Josh. xv. 55, 56. 
 
 44. Saul had given Michal] Probably he did it when David fled, 
 to mark the completeness of the breach between them. David after- 
 wards compelled Phalti (or Fhaltiel) to restore him Michal (2 Sam. 
 iii. 15). 
 
 Galliml Only referred to again in Is. x. 30, from which passage it 
 appears that it was between Gibeah and Jerusalem. The name of Phalti's 
 father Laish was probably derived from the place Laish mentioned 
 in the same verse. 
 
 Ch. XXVI. 1—4. Saul's renewed pursuit of David. 
 
 1. And the Ziphites came] On the theory that this is only another 
 account of the incidents related in xxiii. 19 — xxiv. 22, see Note VII. 
 p. 243. The view there taken that the narratives refer to different events, 
 is assumed in the notes. 
 
 Ps. liv. is referred by its title either to this occasion or to that of 
 xxiii. 19 ff. 
 
 the hill of Hachilah] See on xxiii. 19. 
 
 is before Jeshimon] Looketh towards tlie Waste. See on xxiii. 19, 
 where the position of the hill of Hachilah is more particularly defined as 
 " on the south of the Waste." 
 
 2. three thousand choseti men] Cp. xxiv. 2. This was the number 
 of his standing army. See xiii. 2. 
 
 3. by the luay] Close to some well-known high road. Cp. xxiv. 3. 
 ^ satul i.e. perceived or learned. Cp. xxiii. 15.
 
 2o8 I. SAMUEL, XXVI. [vv. 5—8. 
 
 5 — 12. Sau/'s life agavi m DaviiV s poiuer. 
 
 5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul 
 had pitched : and David beheld the place where Saul 
 lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host : 
 and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round 
 
 6 about him. Then answered David and said to Ahimelech 
 the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother 
 to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to 
 the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. 
 
 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night : and 
 behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear 
 stuck in the ground at his bolster : but Abner and the 
 
 8 people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, 
 
 5 — 12. Saul's life again in David's power. 
 
 5. in the hrnc/i'] See on xvii. 20. The Sept. rendering "in a 
 chariot " is a mistake. 
 
 6. Ahimelech the Hittite'] Not mentioned elsewhere. Uriah was 
 also a Hittite. The Hittites, or descendants of Heth, the second son of 
 Canaan, occupied Kirjath-Arba, afterwards called Hebron, in the days 
 of Abraham (Gen. xxiii. 2 ff.). Esau married Hittite wives (Gen. xxvi. 
 34). The Hittites are repeatedly mentioned as one of the nations 
 inhabiting the land of Canaan, which were to be driven out by the 
 Israelites (Josh. iii. 10). It is now known that a branch of the Hittites 
 established an extremely powerful empire to the north of Syria, the 
 chief centres of which were Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Kadesh 
 on the Orontes. It was strong enough to threaten Assyria on the one 
 hand and Eg^'pt on the other, and lasted from the sixteenth century B.C. 
 until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century. Allusions 
 to the "kings of the Hittites " are found in i Kings x. 29; 2 Kings vii. 
 6. Our chief information about them is derived from Assyrian and 
 Egyptian inscriptions. 
 
 Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to yoali] The first mention of 
 David's valiant but Iiard-hearted nephews, the sons of his sister Zeruiah, 
 who play such an important part in his history. Abishai distinguished 
 himself by saving David's life in one of his Philistine wars (2 Sam. 
 xxi. 17); shared the command of the army with his brother Joab (2 Sam. 
 X. 10), and with him was implicated in the murder of Abner (2 Sam. iii. 
 30) ; in Absalom's rebellion both of them remained faithful to David 
 (2 Sam. xvi. 9, xviii. 2), but Joab, like Abiathar, supported Adonijah, 
 and was put to death by Solomon's order (i Kings i. 7, ii. 28 — 34). 
 
 7. to the people] i.e. to Saul's army. Cp. xiv. 45, 
 his spear] See on xviii. 10. 
 
 at his bolstei-] At his head; and so in w. 11 and 16. Cp. xix. 13.
 
 vv. 9— 15-] I- SAMUEL, XXVI. 209 
 
 God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day : 
 now therefore let me smite him, I pi-ay thee, with the spear 
 even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the 
 second time. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: .; 
 for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's 
 anointed, and be guiltless ? David said furthermore. As 10 
 the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him ; or his day shall 
 come to die ; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. 
 The Lord forbid that / should stretch forth mine hand n 
 against the Lord's anointed : but, I pray thee, take thou 
 now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, 
 and let us go. So David took the spear and the cruse of 12 
 water from Saul's bolster ; and they gat them away, and no 
 man saw //, nor knew /'/, neither awaked: for they were all 
 asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon 
 them. 
 
 13 — 25. David'' s final expostulation with Saul. 
 
 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the 13 
 top of a hill afar off; a great space being between them : and h 
 David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, 
 saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered 
 and said, Who art thou that criest to the king ? And David is 
 
 8. hath delivered^ Lit. jy^?/i^ w/, as in xxiv. 18. 
 
 at 07icc\ Not "immediately," but "witli one stroke." 
 
 10. David said, &c.] And David said, Nay, but Jehovah shall 
 strike him, &c. The person of the anointed king is inviolable: his life 
 is in Jehovah's hands. It may be ended either [a] by a sudden stroke, 
 such as that which smote Nabal (xxv. 38); or {b) by a natural death; or 
 (c) by death in battle; but violent hands may not be laid upon him with 
 impunity. 
 
 11. c)usc'\ A small cup or jar. The word is found in Icelandic, 
 Danish, and other languages, and is probably akin to crock and crucible. 
 
 12. from Saitts bolster^ From Saul's head. 
 
 a deep sleef>\ The word is used especially of supernaturally caused 
 sleep, as in Gen. ii. 21, xv. 12. 
 
 13 — 25. David's fixal expostulation with Saul. 
 
 13. a great space being betiveen theiii] This precaution indicates that 
 David trusted Saul less now than upon the former occasion. Cp. v. 22. 
 
 14. that criest to the /!v>?o-] The Sept. omits "to the king;" but the 
 Vulg. gives the sense rightly; "Who art thou that criest and disturbest 
 the king?" 
 
 I.SAMUEL 14
 
 2IO I. SAMUEL, XXVI. [vv. 16—19. 
 
 said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man ? and who is Hke 
 to thee in Israel ? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy 
 lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy 
 
 16 the king thy lord. This thing is not good that thou hast 
 done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because 
 ye have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And 
 now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water 
 
 17 that was at his bolster. And Saul knew David's voice, and 
 said, Is this thy voice, my son David ? And David said, // 
 
 is is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said. Wherefore doth 
 my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? 
 
 19 or what evil is in mine hand ? Now therefore, I pray thee, 
 let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the 
 Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an 
 offering : but if they be the children of men, cursed be they 
 before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from 
 
 15. a \i>aliant\ mail] Heb. simply, a man, i.e. one worthy of the name. 
 "cuho is like to thee in Israel] Abner was evidently the most powerful 
 
 man in Saul's court. His course of action after Saul's death shews 
 plainly the influence he had gained. 
 kept] i.e. kept guard over. 
 
 16. worthy to die] Lit. satis of death. Cp. xx. 31. 
 
 17. Saul knew David's voice] It was still too dark to see him at a 
 distance. Saul's question is the same as in xxiv. 16, but there it stands 
 in quite a different connexion. 
 
 18. Atid he said, &c.] With David's speech here compare that in 
 xxiv. 9 ff. Here he affirms his innocence indirectly by challenging Saul 
 to give his reasons for persecuting him : there he appeals directly to his 
 having spared Saul's life as a proof of his loyalty. 
 
 19. If the loRD, &c.] Saul may be acting as the executioner of a 
 divine punishment. In that case David desires to' obtain pardon by a 
 propitiatory offering. This seems the obvious explanation. But accord- 
 ing to the view of many commentators, David suggests that this perverse 
 persecution is the consequence of the evil spirit continuing to vex Saul 
 as a punishment for his sin, and advises him to seek the removal of it 
 by an expiatory sacrifice. 
 
 In the language of the O. T. God is sometimes said to incite or com- 
 mand men to do acts in themselves evil. See 2 Sam. xvi. 11, xxiv. i. 
 The Hebrew mind was profoundly impressed with the great truth of the 
 universal sovereignty of God, and regarding Him as the Cause of all 
 things, did not distinguish, as we do, between what is caused or com- 
 manded, and what is permitted by Him. 
 
 let him accept an offering] Lit. smell. Cp. Gen. viii. ■21. 
 
 if (hey be the children of men] See on xxiv. 9.
 
 v\'. 20—23] I- SAMUEL, XXVI. 
 
 :il 
 
 abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve 
 other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the 20 
 earth before the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel is 
 come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge 
 in the mountains. Then said Saul, I have sinned : return, 21 
 my son David : for I will no more do thee harm, because my 
 soul was precious in thine eyes this day : behold, I have 
 played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. And David 22 
 answered and said. Behold, the king's spear ; and let one of 
 the young men come over and fetch it. The Lord render 23 
 to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness : for the 
 
 froi?i abiding in, &c.] From being associated with the people of 
 Israel who are Jehovah's inheritance (x. i). The word "to-day" is 
 emphatic: as much as to say, 'It has at last come to this that I must 
 flee the country: and such a banishment is tantamount to bidding me go 
 serve false gods, for it is only in the land of promise and at the place 
 which He has chosen that Jehovah manifests Himself and can be wor- 
 shipped.' Cp. note on x. 3. 
 
 20. before the face of the Lord\ Slay me not, lest Jehovah avenge 
 my blood upon thee. But it is possible to render "far" from the pre- 
 sence of Jehovah :" i.e. let me not die a violent death in a heathen land : 
 and this suits the context better. 
 
 a flea'] A single flea. Cp. xxiv, 14. The Sept. however reads instead, 
 perhaps rightly, "my life." 
 
 a partridge'] "David alludes to the mode of chase practised now as 
 of old, when the partridge continuously chased was at length, when 
 fatigued, knocked down by sticks thrown along the ground. It must 
 be remembered that both the species of partridge common in the Holy 
 Land, unlike our bird, endeavour to save themselves by running in 
 preference to flight, unless when suddenly started ; that they are" not 
 inhabitants of plains or cornfields but of rocky hill-sides." The Hebrew 
 name means "caller," from "its ringing call-note, which in early 
 mprning echoes from cliff to cliff alike amidst the barrenness of the 
 wilderness of Judaea, and in the glens of the forest of Carmel." Tristram, 
 N'attiral History of the Bible, p."2 2 5. 
 
 David means to say that the King of Israel's pursuit of him is alto- 
 gether unworthy of his dignity. 
 
 21. I have sinned, &c.] Compare and contrast xxiv. i(7 ff. 
 
 22.^ let one of the young men, &c.] For he durst not now venture to 
 put himself in Saul's power, as he appears to have done upon the former 
 occasion. Cp. v. 13. 
 
 23. The Lord render, &c.] Belter, shall render. In xxiv. 19 the 
 equivalent of these words is put into Saul's mouth. David is not sound- 
 ing his own praises, but as before (xxiv. 12) declaring his confidence 
 that God will eventually recompense him for his upright and loyal 
 behaviour. Cp. Ps. vii. 8, xviii. 20. 
 
 14 — 2
 
 212 I. SAMUEL, XXVI. XXVII. [vv. 24, 25 ; 1—3. 
 
 Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not 
 2+ stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed. And 
 behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, 
 so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and 
 25 let him deliver me out of all tribulation. Then Saul said to 
 David, Blessed be thou, my son David : thou shalt both do 
 great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on 
 his way, and Saul returned to his place. 
 
 Ch. XXVIL I — 7. David's flight to AcJiish, a7id residence 
 
 at Zildag. 
 
 '2n And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day 
 by the hand of Saul : tJiere is nothing better for me than 
 that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philis- 
 tines ; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in 
 
 2 any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. And 
 David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men 
 that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king, of 
 
 3 Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his 
 
 24. ivas much set by'\ For the expression cp. xviii. 30, though a 
 different Heb. word is used here: lit. "was great." 
 
 deliver 7iie out of all tribulation'] Cp. Ps. xxxiv. 17; liv. 7. 
 
 25. to his place] i.e. to his home. Cp. ii. 20. 
 
 Ch. XXVIL 1 — 7. David's flight to Achish, and residence 
 
 AT ZlKLAG. 
 
 1. into the land of the Philistines] The result anticipated in xxvi. 
 19 has come to pass. David is forced to seek refuge in a heathen 
 land. The circumstances of this flight are entirely different from those 
 related in xxi. 10 ff. Then the solitary fugitive, recognised as the 
 slayer of Goliath, narrowly escaped losing his life; now the outlaw 
 leader of a band of stalwart warriors is welcomed as an ally. He 
 entered the king's service as an independent chieftain, like an 
 Italian Condottiere of the middle ages. 
 
 Traces of this residence at Gath may be observed in the attachment 
 of Ittai the Gittite to David (2 Sam. xv. 19); and possibly the Gittith, 
 mentioned in the title to Ps. viii., was an instrument or a melody brought 
 from Gath. 
 
 2. Achish, the son of Maoch] If he was the same as the Achish of 
 xxi, 10, and the Achish son of Maachah of 1 Kings ii. 39, he must 
 have reigned some fifty years. But more probably the same name was 
 borne by different individuals.
 
 w. 4—8.] I. SAMUEL, XXVII. 
 
 213 
 
 men, every man with his household, e-'en David with his two 
 wives, Ahinoam the JezreeUtess, and Abigail the Carmeli- 
 tess, Nabal's wife. And it was told Saul that David was 4 
 fled to Gath : and he sought no more again for him. And 5 
 David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine 
 eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, 
 that I may dwell there : for Avhy should thy servant dwell in 
 the royal city with thee ? Then Achish gave him Ziklag 6 
 that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of 
 Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in 7 
 the country of the Philistines was a full year and four 
 months. 
 
 S — 13. David's raids upon neighbouring tribes. 
 And David and his men went up, and invaded the s 
 
 3. eveiy man with his household'] Cp. ch. xxx. 3 ff. ; 1 Sam. ii. 3. 
 
 5._ in some toivn in the country] In one of the provincial cities 
 as distinguished from the metropolis Gath. 
 
 -why shoicld^ thy servant dzvell, &c.] He wished for a more inde- 
 pendent position, where he might be less exposed to the jealousy of 
 the Philistine lords, and have free opportunity for ruling and or- 
 ganizing his followers. 
 
 6. Ziklag] One of the cities in the Negeb or "South Country," 
 originally assigned to Judah (Josh. xv. 31), "but transferred to Simeon 
 (Josh. xix. 5), and either never occupied by them or reconquered by 
 the Philistines. Its site has not been identified, but was probably 
 somewhere W. or N.W. of Beersheba, next to which it is mentioned 
 in Neh. xi. 28. 
 
 Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day] This 
 note from the hand of the compiler indicates that the book was com- 
 posed after the separation of the kingdom of Judah from the kingdom 
 of Israel, and before the Captivity. Ziklag was, so to speak, one of 
 the crown estates of the royal house. 
 
 7. a full year and founnojiths] The Sept. reading " four months " 
 is improbable, though the Heb. might be rendered " a space of time, 
 even four months." Ch. xxix. 3 implies a much longer residence. "In 
 this city David laid the foundation of his kingdom. Mere he could 
 already rule with greater freedom and independence, collect fugitives 
 and deserters around him in larger and larger numbers, send or receive 
 embassies like a prince (i Sam. xxx. 26 — 31), and as a ruler over 
 soldiers and peaceable citizens rehearse, on "a small scale, those arts 
 by which he afterwards acquired and maintained his great kingdom." 
 Ewald, Hist, of Israel, III. loi. Here a band of archers and slingers 
 trom Saul's own trilje joined him, together with men from the southern 
 towns of Judah, and from Manasseh (i Chr. xii. 1—7, 20—22).
 
 214 I. SAMUEL, XXVII. [w. 9, 10. 
 
 Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those 
 7iaticms were of old the inhabitants of the land as thou goest 
 
 9 to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David smote 
 the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took 
 away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the 
 camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. 
 
 10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day ? 
 
 8 — 12. David's raids upon neighbouring tribes. 
 
 8. the Gt'shicrites] A tribe dwelling south of Philistia near the 
 Amalekites (see Josh. xiii. 1), to be distinguished from the Geshurites 
 in Syria (2 Sam. xv. 8). 
 
 the Gt'Z7ites] These cannot be the inhabitants of Gczer (Josh. x. 
 33), which was far away from the scene of David's operations. The 
 written text {Ktliibh) as distinguished from the traditional reading 
 {Qri) has Gerzites. It has been conjectured that this was an ancient 
 Arab tribe which at one time wandered up northwards and gave its 
 name to Mount Gerizim ; as their neighbours the Amalekites left traces 
 of former migrations in the name " the mountain of the Amalekites" 
 in the territory of Ephraim (Jud. xii. 15). 
 
 the Amalekites'] Such remnants of them as had escaped from Saul's 
 sword. See on xv. 8. 
 
 those nations were of old, &c.] If the text is right, the E. V. gives 
 the general sense correctly. The allusion to their ancient occupation 
 of the district may be inserted with reference to the Amalekite attack 
 upon Israel in the march from Egypt (Ex. xvii. 8 ff.). But the Heb. is 
 obscure, and possibly should be emended so as to give the sense, "for 
 these nations inhabited the land from Telem until thou comest to Shur, 
 and unto the land of Egypt." Telem would be mentioned as the 
 southernmost city of Israel. See on xv. 4. 
 
 9. the sheep, &c.'\ In which the wealth of nomad tribes consists. Cp. 
 XV. 3, &c. ; Job i. 3. "We rode through five large Arab camps, and 
 every hill-side and valley was filled with thousands of sheep, goats, 
 oxen, asses, and camels." Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 532. 
 
 returned and came to Achish] After these expeditions he reported 
 himself to Achish at Gath, and handed over to him the covenanted 
 share of the plunder. It is to be inferred that Achish expected David 
 to pay a kind of tribute, as well as to render personal service in war 
 (xxviii. i). 
 
 10. Whither] The Heb. word does not mean whither, and must 
 be emended. It is best to follow the Sept. and Vulg. in reading 
 "against whom." 
 
 have ye made a road] The same word as that translated "invaded " 
 in V. 8. " Road " means a plundering excursion or raid, from A.-S. 
 r6d, a riding. Compare the compound in-road. "Him hee named, 
 who at that time was absent, making roades upon the Lacedemonians. " 
 Sidney's Arcadia.
 
 w. II, 12; I.] I. SAMUEL, XXVII. XXVIII. 215 
 
 And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the 
 south of the JerahmeeUtes, and against the south of the 
 Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman aUve, to n 
 bring tidi?igs to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, 
 saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while 
 he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. And Achish 12 
 believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel 
 utterly to abhor him ; therefore he shall be my servant for 
 ever. 
 
 Ch. XXVIII. I, 2. David forced to Join the Fkilistine army. 
 
 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines 28 
 gathered their armies together for warfare, to figlit with 
 Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, 
 that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. 
 
 the 'yerahmcclites\ Descendants of Jerahmeel the son of Ilezron 
 (i Chr. ii. 9, 25), who were settled on the southern frontier of Judah, 
 apparently as an independent tribe. Cp. xxx. 29. 
 
 the JCcnites] Who were in alliance with the Israelites. See on xv. 6. 
 
 11. A tid David said, &c.] The tribes which David really plundered 
 must evidently have lived in the neighbourhood of the southern boun- 
 dary of Judah, so that he could represent his expeditions as made 
 against his own countrymen and their allies, not, as was the fact, 
 against allies of the Philistines. David's falsehoods are not of course 
 to be judged by the Christian standard of morality. 
 
 to bring tidings to Gath} Rather, to bring tliem to Gath, as 
 prisoners. Such barbarity was nothing strange at the time, and David 
 did not rise above the practice of his contemporaries. 
 
 tell on US'] " On " used as we now use " of" is common in Shakes- 
 peare : e.g. Macbeth, A. i. Sc. 3 : 
 
 "Or have we eaten on the insane root 
 That takes the reason prisoner?" 
 
 and so tvill he his manner, &c.] Render, "and so was his manner 
 all the while lie dwelt in the country of the Philistines." A full stop 
 must be placed after David, and the following words taken as a remark 
 of the historian. Cp. v. 7. 
 
 12. Achish believed David'\ Connect v. 12 with v. 10. Achish 
 believed that David had brought himself into ill odour (see on xiii. 
 4) with his own countrymen by his attacks on them, and would now 
 be his permanent vassal, 
 
 Cii. XXVIII. 1, 2. David forced to join the Philistine army. 
 
 1. in those days] While David was at Ziklag, as related in the 
 previous chapter.
 
 2i6 I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. [vv. 2— 4. 
 
 2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what 
 thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore 
 will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. 
 
 3 — 14. Saul resorts to the witch of Endor. 
 
 3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, 
 and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul 
 had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, 
 
 4 out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves 
 together, and came and pitched in Shunem : and Saul 
 
 2. Surely thou shall hnoit.i\ Better, Therefore now shalt thou 
 
 know : reading 710W for thou with the Sept. and Vulg. David's answer is 
 designedly ambiguous. He is placed in a perplexing dilemma. It 
 seems as though he must either fight against his own nation, or appear 
 false to his liege lord Achish. The difficulty was providentially solved 
 by the suspicion of the Philistine princes (xxix. 3 ff.). 
 
 keeper of mine hcad^ Captain of his body-guard. Achish accepts 
 David's answer as a profession of loyalty. 
 
 3 — 14. Saul resorts to the witch of Endor. 
 
 3. Now Samuel, &c.] From v. 3 to the end of the chapter is an 
 independent narrative. v. 3 states by way of introduction certain 
 facts as the key to the incidents about to be related : ( i ) the death and 
 burial of Samuel (xxv. i); (2) Saul's expulsion of the soothsayers. 
 This he probably did in the early part of his reign. An allusion to 
 it may be traced in xv. 23. It was in accordance with the Law. See 
 Lev. xix. 31, XX. 27; Deut. xviii. ro ff. 
 
 those that had familiar spirits'] The Hebrew word Ob signifies (i) the 
 demon or spirit supposed to speak through the necromancer ; (2) the 
 possessor of such a spirit. It is generally rendered by the Sept. "ven- 
 triloquist " {€yyaaTpl/j.ii6os), probably because the spirit was supposed to 
 speak from the necromancer's belly, not as some suppose, because ven- 
 triloquists abused their powers for imposing upon the credulous. 
 
 the ivizards] Wizard, connected with wit and wise, is an exact equi- 
 valent of the Heb. word, which means " a knowing one:" one who is 
 supposed to possess a knowledge of the future by mysterious means. 
 
 4. the Philistines gathered themselves together] This was no border 
 foray, but a gathering of the whole force of the confederacy, as is clear 
 from V. I and xxix. i — 4, for a decisive struggle with Israel. They 
 marched northwards along the coast to the plain of Esdraelon, the great 
 battle-field of Palestine, where their chariots and horsemen could move 
 freely. 
 
 in Shunem] Now Solam, on the S.W. slope of the range called 
 Little Hermon {Nehy Dilhy), opposite Jezreel and Mount Gilboa, hav- 
 ing the deep broad valley of Jezreel between, and overlooking the whole 
 western plain to Carmel. Shunem is elsewhere mentioned as the abode
 
 w. 5—7.] I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. 217 
 
 gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. 
 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, 5 
 and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired 6 
 of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, 
 nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his 
 
 7 
 
 of Abishag (i Kings i. 3), and the home of the M-oman who entertained 
 Elisha (-2 Kings iv. 8 ff. ). 
 
 in Gilboa] A mountainous tract on the E. of the plain of Esdraelon. 
 It is now called ycbcl Fiikila, but the ancient name is still preserved in 
 the village oijclbon, situated on the top of the mountain. 
 
 5. he was afraid] The consciousness that "the Spirit of Jehovah 
 had departed from him " made the once brave king a coward. 
 
 6. -when Saul inqtcired of the Lord] In i Chr. x. 13, 14 it is said 
 that "Saul died. ..for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to 
 inquire of it, and inquired not of the Lord." The contradiction is only 
 in appearance. Instead of humbling himself' in penitence for the sin 
 which he knew must be withholding the Divine answer (xiv. 37), and 
 persevering in his inquiry, he resorted to a plan which was tantamount to 
 apostasy from Jehovah. 
 
 answered him not] See Prov. i. 24 — 30. 
 
 by di'eams] A recognised method of divine communications to man 
 (Num. xii. 6). 
 
 by Urim] Since Abiathar had carried off the Ephod M'ilh the Urim 
 and Thummim when he fled from Nob, it would appear that Saul had 
 had a new Ephod made, and appointed a high-priest in the room of 
 Ahimelech. This conjecture is supported by the double high-priesthood 
 of Zadok and Abiathar in David's reign (2 Sam. viii. 17, &c.), which 
 may be accounted for by supposing that David allowed Zadok to retain 
 the office to which Saul had elevated him. 
 
 The following points may be noted with respect to the obscure ques- 
 tion of the Urim, or Urim and Thn/mnim. For a full discussion see 
 Smith's Diet, of the Bible. 
 
 {a) The name signifies The Light and the Perfection (or the Tnttii], 
 the words being 'plurals of excellence.' 
 
 (b) It denotes certain material objects, placed inside the breastplate of 
 judgment which formed part of the high-priest's Ephod (Ex. xxviii. 30). 
 There are no directions for making them ; it is implied that they were 
 already in existence. 
 
 {c) The purpose of this mysterious instrument is clear. It was a 
 means by which the will of Jehovah was ascertained through the higii- 
 priest. The present passage is the only mention by name of its use 
 after the entry into Canaan, though it is implied in ch. xiv. 3, 18, xxiii. 
 1, 9, XXX. 7, 8; 2 Sam. xxi. i. After the Captivity it became a pro- 
 verbial expression with reference to questions of special difficulty that 
 they must wait for solution "until there stood up a priest with Urim 
 and Thummim " (Ezra ii. 63 ; Neh. vii. 65). 
 
 (d) The origin of the Urim and Thummim was not improbably
 
 2i8 I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. [vv. 8, 9. 
 
 servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that 
 I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said 
 to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit 
 
 8 at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other 
 raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they 
 came to the woman by "night: and he said, I pray thee, 
 divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, 
 
 9 whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto 
 him. Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he 
 hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, 
 
 Egyptian, A plausible conjecture connects them with the symbol of 
 Truth worn by the priest-judges of Egypt, and the symbol of Light worn 
 by members of the priestly caste. 
 
 {e) The method of use must remain an enigma. The most probable 
 theories are either (i) that they were consecrated objects by gazing on 
 which the high-priest passed into a state of spiritual ecstasy, and purified 
 from selfish and worldly thoughts became receptive of a supernatural 
 illumination : or (2) that they were a special means of casting lots. Cp. 
 note on xiv. 41. 
 
 by prophet s\ Cp. ix. 6, xxii. 5, for instances of counsel given through 
 prophets. The same three methods of inquiry are mentioned in Horn. 
 //. I. 62 : 
 
 "But seek we first some prophet or some priest, 
 Or some wise vision-seer, since visions too 
 From Zeus proceed." 
 
 7. that hath a familiar spirii\ Lit. " possessor of an Ob.^'' See on 
 V. 3, and cp. Acts xvi. 16. Cp. Virg. Aett. vii. 312 : 
 
 "Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo." 
 "If heaven bends not, I will stir hell beneath." 
 En-dor'\= fountain of the dwelling, was on the northern slope of the 
 Little Hermon {Nchy DiViy), where the village of Eridor still marks the 
 site. It was famous as the scene of Sisera's defeat and death (Ps. 
 Ixxxiii. 10). 
 
 8. they came to the woman by nightl It was an adventurous journey. 
 They had to pass over the shoulder of the hill on which the Philistines 
 were encamped, and traverse a distance of not less than ten or twelve 
 miles. The darkness around was a fit emblem of the darkness in Saul's 
 soul. Cp. John xiii. 30, and Augustine's comment " Nox erat, et ipse 
 qui exivit erat nox," (It was night, and he who went forth was night). 
 
 bring ?ne him zip, lic] A more precise definition of the method of 
 divination "by Ob.'''' Cp. Deut. xviii. 10, ir. Probably Saul expected 
 to hear a voice, but not to see a form. Necromancy was practised 
 among the Greeks and other heathen nations. There was a famous 
 oracle of this kind on the River Acheron in Epirus {veKvo[iavTe1ov).
 
 vv. 10—15.] I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. 219 
 
 out of the land : wherefore then layest thou a snare for my 
 life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the 10 
 Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punish- 
 ment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, n 
 Whom shall I bring up unto thee ? And he said, Bring me 
 up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried 12 
 with a loud voice : and the woman spake to Saul, saying, 
 Why hast thou deceived me ? for thou arf Saul. And the 13 
 king said unto her, Be not afraid : for what sawest thou ? 
 And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out 
 of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? 14 
 And she said. An old man cometh up ; and he is covered 
 with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it 7C'as Samuel, and 
 he stooped wif/i his face to the ground, and bowed himself. 
 
 15 — 19. Samuel pronounces Sat/Ts doom. 
 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, 15 
 
 11. Brin,^ me up Samiier\ From SJicoI, the realm of departed 
 spirits, which is always spoken of as beneath the earth. The nature of 
 the transaction here recorded is discussed in Additional Note VIII. on 
 p. 244. It is assumed in the notes here that Samuel really appeared and 
 spoke. 
 
 12. thoji art Saul] The woman had not previously recocjnised her 
 visitor, but simultaneously with the apparition of Samuel, discovered 
 that he was Saul, either by the fact of the apparition for which she was 
 unprepared, or by her intensified perception in a state of clairvoyance. 
 
 13. ^i.Wj'] The Heb. word Elohim is plural, and when not applied 
 to God Himself is generally to be so rendered. But it is evident from 
 V. 14 that only a single figure appeared. Elohim here denotes a sttpcr- 
 natitral, non-earthly being ; or as Josephus paraphrases it, "one of god- 
 like form." 
 
 14. An old man cometh up] The Sept. has "a man coming up 
 upright,'''' a reading which is possibly due to the strange Rabbinic fable 
 that the witch knew her visitor to be Saul because Samuel came up 
 erect to do honour to the king, instead of appearing feet foremost as 
 ghosts evoked usually did ! 
 
 a tnantlel The prophet's garb. Cp. xv. 27. 
 
 Saul perceived] Lit. kneiv. Saul recognised from the description that 
 it was Samuel, and shewed his reverence for the great prophet by the 
 usual gesture. Cp. xxiv. 8. At first Samuel was seen by the witch 
 only, but Saul's obeisance, and the conversation carried on between 
 them, seem to indicate that he afterwards became visible to Saul also. 
 
 15—19. Samuel pronounces Saul's doom, 
 
 15. IVhy hast thou disquieted ;;«] Disturbed me from my rest in
 
 220 I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. [w. 16—19. 
 
 to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; 
 for the Pliilistines make war against me, and God is 
 departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by- 
 prophets, nor by dreams : therefore I have called thee, that 
 
 16 tJiou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then 
 said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing 
 the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine 
 
 17 enemy? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by 
 me : for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, 
 
 18 and given it to thy neighbour, even to David : because thou 
 obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his 
 fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done 
 
 19 this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will also 
 deliver Israel with tliee into the hand of the Philistines: and 
 to morrow sJialt thou and thy sons be with me : the Lord 
 also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the 
 Philistines. 
 
 Sheol. Samuel utters this complaint, because although he came as 
 God's messenger, Saul's sin was the moving cause of so unnatural a 
 mission. 
 
 16. Wherefore then, &c.] As if in such extremity I who am only 
 God's servant could do aught for thee. 
 
 is become thine etie/ny] The expression is startling, and it is almost 
 certain that there is some corruption in the text, (a) The word for 
 "enemy" is an Aramaic form, found elsewhere in Hebrew only in one 
 or two doubtful instances, (b) The ancient versions point to some 
 different reading. The Sept. gives "has turned to be with thy neigh- 
 bour;" theVulg. "has passed over to thy rival;" the Targ. "has be- 
 come the help of a man who is thine enemy." It seems best to follow 
 the Sept. Comp. xv. 28; xvi. 13, 14. 
 
 17. to him] i.e. if the Sept. reading is adopted in v. \6, to David: 
 or it may refer to God, and mean "for himself," in fulfilment of His 
 will. But the Sept. and Vulg. read "to thee." 
 
 as he spake by me] See xv. 28. 
 
 18. Because thou obeyedst not, &c.] Cp. xv. 10, 26. 
 
 executedst hath the Lord done] The connexion between the sin 
 
 and the sentence is emphasized by the use of the same verb in the 
 original in both clauses. 
 
 19. will also deliver Israel] Will deliver Israel also. The guilt of 
 the king involves the nation also in punishment. In this clause the 
 impending disaster is foretold generally ; in the second and third clauses 
 it is further defined as the death of the king and the defeat of the 
 army. 
 
 'with me] In Sheol or Hades, the abode of departed spirits of right- 
 eous and wicked ahke. Cp. Job iii. 17; 2 Sam. xii. ^z-
 
 vv. 20— 25; I.] I. SAMUEL, XXVIII. XXIX. 221 
 
 20 — 25. Saul cnteriained by the woman. 
 
 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was 20 
 sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel : and there was 
 no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, 
 nor all the night. And the woman came unto Saul, and 21 
 saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, 
 thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my 
 life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which 
 thou spakest unto me. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken 22 
 thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set 
 a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest 
 have strength, when thou goest on thy way. But he refused, 23 
 and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the 
 woman, compelled him ; and he hearkened unto their voice. 
 So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. And the 24 
 woman had a fat calf in the house ; and she hasted, and 
 killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake 
 unleavened bread thereof : and she brought it before Saul, 25 
 and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they 
 arose up, and went away that night. 
 
 Ch. XXIX. I — 5. The Philistine lords' distrust of David. 
 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to 29 
 
 20 — 25. Saul entertained by the woman. 
 
 20. all along] His full length, lit. "the fulness of his stature." 
 Terror of mind and exhaustion of body left him powerless. 
 
 21. I have put viy life in my hand] By doing that which rendered 
 her liable to the punishment of death. Cp. xix. 5. 
 
 22. hearken than also unto the voice] Obey thou also the voice. 
 The E. V. fails to bring out the exact parallel which the woman draws 
 between her own compliance and the compliance she asks from Saul. 
 
 23. upon the bed] Probably the divan, or platform running along 
 the wall, which in the East serves for a seat by day and a bed at night. 
 Cp. Esth. i. 6 ; Ezek. xxiii. 41. Portable couches were also in use 
 (ch. xix. 15). 
 
 24. And the zuoman, Sic] Meals are rapidly prepared in the East. 
 "With the Bedawin it is nearly universal to cook the meat imme- 
 diately after it is butchered, and to bake fresh bread for every meal." 
 The Land and the Book, p. 446. Cp. Gen. xviii. 6 ii. 
 
 Ch. XXIX. 1—5. The Philistine lords' distrust of David. 
 
 1, No-v the Philistines, &c. The narrative of xxviii. i, 2 is resumed, 
 
 with a further description of the positions of the armies before the battle.
 
 222 I. SAMUEL, XXIX. [vv. 2, 3. 
 
 Aphek : and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in 
 
 2 Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hun- 
 dreds, and by thousands : but David and his men passed on 
 
 3 in the rereward with Achish. Then said the princes of the 
 
 AfheJc] This cannot be the Aphek of iv. i, in the neighbourhood of 
 Bethhoron, for in that case there would be no reason to account for 
 Saul's army being already encamped at Jezreel. Possibly it is to be 
 identified with fuleh, about two miles to the W. of Shunem : or, as 
 Lieut. Conder thinks, with Fiikiui, 6 miles S.E. of Jezreel. In the 
 latter case, the Philistines had shifted their camp from Shunem, and 
 turned the strong position of Jezreel on the side where it is most assailable: 
 but this seems less probable, and does not agree with the account of the 
 flight of the Israelites to Mount Gilboa (xxxi. i). 
 
 a fountain which is in yezrccl\ "The fountain in Jezreel" was pro- 
 bably the present Ain y&lud, less than two miles E. S.E. oi Zcrin. "It 
 is a very large fountain, flowing out from under a sort of cavern in the 
 v/all of conglomerate rock, which here forms the base of Gilboa. It 
 spreads out at once into a fine limpid pool, forty or fifty feet in diameter, 
 A stream sufficient to turn a mill flows off eastwards down the valley." 
 Robinson, Bibl. Res. ir. 323. It may have been the identical "spring 
 of Harod" at which Gideon tested his men (Jud. vii. i ff.). The modern 
 name of Jezreel is Zerin: the feeble initial y (r) having been dropped, 
 and the termination el changed to iti, as in Beitin for Bethel. 
 
 Jezreel was a strong and central position. It stood upon the brow 
 of a steep rocky descent of at least roo feet to the N.E., at the opening 
 of the middle branch of the three eastern forks of the plain of Esdraelon, 
 commanding the broad and fertile valley which slopes eastward to the 
 Jordan, and all the extent of the great plain reaching westward to the 
 long blue ridge of Carmel. See Robinson, Bibl. Res. II. 318 ff Jezreel 
 was the favourite residence of Ahab (i Kings xxi. i ff.) ; there Jezebel 
 established a temple of Astarte with 400 priests (i Kings xviii. 19); 
 here was enacted the tragedy of Naboth's judicial murder (i Kings xxi. 
 13); and here Jezebel met with her end (2 Kings ix. 30 ff.). 
 
 2. And the lords, &c.] Render, Now the lords... were passing on. 
 The narrative now goes back to a point of time during the march of the 
 Philistine army northwards, probalaly soon after the junction of the con- 
 federate forces from the different cities of the league. It must have been 
 after they had passed the Philistine frontier, as David "returned into 
 the land of the Philistines" (v. 11), but soon after, as he reached Ziklag 
 on the third day (xxx. i). 
 
 the lords'] For the special title Seren translated "lord " see on ch. v. 8. 
 They were marching at the head of "the hundreds and the thousands" 
 which were the military divisions of the army. 
 
 the rereward] The rear-guard, zaard and guard being related as wise 
 and guise. Cp. Is. lii. 1 2. 
 
 3. princes] The Hebrew equivalent for the special title Sereii ren- 
 dered lord.
 
 vv. 4—8.] I. SAMUEL, XXIX. 223 
 
 Philistines, What do these Hebrews here ? And Achish said 
 unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the 
 servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me 
 these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him 
 since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the 4 
 Philistines were wroth with him ; and the princes of the 
 Philistines said unto him. Make i/iis fellow return, that he 
 may go again to his place, which thou hast appointed him, 
 and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle 
 he be an adversary to us : for wherewith should he reconcile 
 himself unto his master ? should it not be with the heads of 
 these men ? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to s 
 another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and 
 David his ten thousands? 
 
 6 — II, David dismissed fro7n the army. 
 
 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, 6 
 as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going 
 out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in 
 my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day 
 of thy coming unto me unto this day : nevertheless the 
 lords favour thee not. Wherefore now return, and go in 7 
 peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. 
 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done ? and 8 
 
 Hebrews'] See on iv. 6. 
 
 these days, or these years'] Lit. "now days ( = a j'ear) or now years," 
 i.e. for a considerable time, sufficient to test his fidelity. Cp. xxvii. 7. 
 
 since he fell tinto me] i.e. deserted and came over to me. Cp. i Chr. 
 xii. 19, 20. 
 
 4. this fellow] Simply, "the man:" but below, "wherewith should 
 this fellow make himself acceptable unto his master? should it not be 
 with the heads of those men?" Pointing to the troops marching past. 
 
 5. of whom they sang] " Of whom they sing one to another in the 
 dances;" i.e. in popular songs at festivals. See on xxi. ri. 
 
 6—11. David dismissed from the army. 
 
 6. as the Lord liveth] Either the exact wording of the speech is 
 due to the historian, or Achish, to convince David of his sincerity, 
 swears by the God of Israel. 
 
 thou hast been tipright] Better, thou art upright. 
 thy goitig out, &c.] Thy company in this expedition would. please 
 me, for I have always found thee a faithful ally. 
 
 8. And David said, &c.] A hypocritical answer, designed to confirm
 
 224 I- SAMUEL, XXIX. XXX. [vv. 9— ii; i. 
 
 what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been 
 with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against 
 
 9 the enemies of my lord the king ? And Achish answered 
 and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, 
 as an angel of God : notwithstanding the princes of the 
 Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the 
 
 10 battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with 
 thy master's servants that are come with thee : and as soon 
 as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. 
 
 11 So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, 
 to return into the land of the Phihstines. And the Philis- 
 tines went up to Jezreel. 
 
 Ch. XXX. I — 6. Sack of Ziklag in David's absence. 
 
 30 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come 
 to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded 
 the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burnt it with 
 
 Achish in the belief of his fidelity. Compare David's previous conduct 
 (ch. xxvii. 10 — 12). But David can scarcely have intended to fight 
 against his countrymen, and must have inwardly rejoiced that God had 
 delivered him out of so perplexing a dilemma. 
 
 9. I kncnu that, &c.] Better, I know it, for, &c. 
 
 as an angel of God\ Cp. 2 Sam. xiv. 17, 20, xix. 27. The Sept. (B) 
 omits the words. 
 
 10. with thy jnasier's servants] Achish speaks of David's men as 
 Saul's subjects, in view of the objection which has been made to their 
 presence in the army. 
 
 tuith thee] After these vi'ords the Sept. (A B) adds: "And go ye 
 unto the place which I have appointed you ; and lay not up any evil 
 thought in thine heart, for thou art good in my sight." 
 
 11. to Jezreel] The Sept. reading (A B) "to fight against Israel" 
 is plausible. 
 
 . Ch. XXX. 1—6. Sack of Ziklag in David's absence. 
 
 1, on the third day] After leaving the Philistine army. Evidently 
 he had not accompanied them far beyond the frontier. See note on 
 xxix. 2. 
 
 the A?nalekites] Possibly they had got information of David's absence, 
 and took the opportunity to make reprisals for his raids on them (xxvii. 
 S). 
 
 the south, and Ziklag] The Negeb or "south country" is the techni- 
 cal name for the district between the hills of Judah and the actual desert. 
 It is a series of rolling hills, clad with scanty herbage here and there. 
 In places there is fine upland pasture, but not a tree nor a shrub to
 
 vv. 2-9.] I. SAMUEL, XXX. 225 
 
 fire ; and had taken the women captives, that were therein : a 
 they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them 
 away, and went on their way. So David and his men came 3 
 to the city, and behold, // zvas burnt with fire ; and their 
 wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken 
 captives. Then David and the people that were with him ^ 
 Hft up their voice and wept, until they had no more power 
 to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, 5 
 Ahinoam the Jezreehtess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the 
 Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed ; for the 6 
 people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the 
 people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his 
 daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord 
 his God. 
 
 7 — 20. The pursuit. 
 
 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's 7 
 son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abi- 
 athar brought thither the ephod to David. And David 8 
 inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop ? 
 shall I overtake them ? And he answered him, Pursue : for 
 thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. 
 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with 9 
 him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were 
 
 relieve its bareness. See Tristram, Land of Israel, pp. 360 — 373. In 
 this district Ziklag was situated. 
 4. wepf^ See on xi. 4. 
 
 6. spake of stoning him^ Cp. Ex. xvii. 4; Num. xiv. 10. They 
 laid the blame on him, because he had left no force to guard Ziklag. 
 
 was grievedl Was exasperated, lit. "was bitter." Cp. xxii. 2. 
 
 encouraged himself] Strengthened himself. Cp. xxiii. 16; Eph. vi. 
 
 10; and many of the Psalms, e.g. xviii. 2, xxvii. 14, xxxi. i ff., 24, &c. 
 
 7 — 20. The pursuit. 
 
 7. bring me hi/her the epJiod\ He desired to consult God by means 
 of the Urim and Thummim, as before at Keilah (xxiii. g). 
 
 8. i«i/«/r^£/ a/] = inquired ^ Cp. Gen. xxiv. 57. 
 pursue... overtake^ Cp. Ex. xv. 9. 
 
 9. the six hundred men] For a rapid pursuit a small force of picked 
 men was most suitable. Cp. xxvii. 2. No doubt by this time he had 
 a much larger force at his command. 
 
 the brook Besor] The Ileb. word is nachal, which means a ravine, 
 or torrent-bed, with a stream at the bottom. The brook Besor is mcn- 
 
 I. SAMUEL 
 
 iS
 
 226 I. SAMUEL, XXX. [w. 10—14. 
 
 10 left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hun- 
 dred men : for two hundred abode behind, which were so 
 faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. 
 
 11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him 
 to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they 
 
 12 made him drink water ; and they gave him a piece of a cake 
 of figs, and two clusters of raisins : and when he had eaten, 
 his spirit came again to him : for he had eaten no bread, 
 
 13 nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. And 
 David said unto him, To whom bclofigest thou ? and whence 
 art thou ? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant 
 to an Amalekite ; and my master left me, because three days 
 
 14 agone I fell sick. We made an invasion upon the south of 
 the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, 
 and upon the south of Caleb; and we burnt Ziklag with 
 
 tioned here only, and has not been identified with certainty. Perhaps 
 it was the IVady es Sheriah, which runs down to the sea a few miles 
 south of Gaza. 
 
 10. abode behind^ Stayed, as in v. 9. The condensed expression 
 of the last clause oiv. 9 is explained by v. 10. 
 
 ■we7-e so faint'\ A verb found only here and in v. 21, connected with 
 a substantive meaning a corpse ; as we should say, they were dead-beat. 
 
 11. bread^ Food : what it was is specified in the next verse : a piece 
 of fig-cake and two lumps of raisins. See on xxv. 18. The Sept. (B) 
 omits the raisins. 
 
 12. his spirit came again to hini\ He revived. Cp. Jud. xv. 19. 
 
 13. To whom belongest thoii] His appearance shewed that he was a 
 slave. 
 
 se?-vant] Slave : captured in some Amalekite foray. 
 
 three days agone] So that more than three days had elapsed since the 
 sack of Ziklag, for they had gone at least one long day's march before 
 he was deserted. "Agone," now usually written ago, is the past parti- 
 ciple of an obsolete verb agon, to go away. 
 
 my master left me] "A barbarous act, to leave him there to perish, 
 when they had camels good store, for the carriage of men as well as of 
 their spoil (v. 17): but this inhumanity cost them dear; for by this 
 means they lost their own lives." Patrick. 
 
 14. the Cherethites] Evidently a tribe of Philistines living on the 
 southern border of Philistia, as the spoil is said in v. 16 to have been 
 taken "out of the land of the Philistines." Cp. 2 Sam. viii. 18 (note) ; 
 Ezek. xxv. 16; Zeph. ii. 5. The name may possibly be connected with 
 Crete. 
 
 coast] Border. See on ch. v. 6. 
 
 the south of Caleb] Joshua's faithful companion received Hebron for 
 his inheritance (Josh. xiv. 13), and when he ceded the city to the priests 
 for a city of refuge, retained the surrounding land in his own possession
 
 vv. 15—20.] I. SAMUEL, XXX. 227 
 
 fire. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to 15 
 this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that 
 thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of 
 my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. 
 And when he had brought him down, behold they were 16 
 spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and 
 dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken 
 out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of 
 Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even ■? 
 unto the evening of the next day : and there escaped not a 
 man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode 
 upon camels, and fled. And David recovered all that the 18 
 Amalekites had carried away : and David rescued his two 
 wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither 19 
 small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, 
 nor any thing that they had taken to them : David recovered 
 all. And David took all the flocks and the herds, which 20 
 
 (Josh. xxi. II, 12; cp. I Sam. xxv. 3). Apparently he gave his name • 
 to part of the Negeb (v. i), which was known as t/ie A^i'gc-b of Caleb. 
 
 15. company'] Troop, as in v. 8, and again in v. 23. It is the 
 regular word for a band of roving plunderers. Cp. Ps. xviii. 29. Is it 
 fanciful to think that David there refers to this successful pursuit of the 
 Amalekites? He must always have remembered it as one of the signal 
 mercies of his life. 
 
 16. dancing] Or, feasting'. 
 
 17. And David smote, &c.] He reached the neighbourhood of 
 their camp in the evening, and found them scattered about in disorder, 
 carousing over the spoil. As soon as the morning began to dawn he 
 attacked them (cp. xi. 11), and the fight lasted till nightfall. After the 
 first surprise, the Amalekites made a stubborn resistance. 
 
 the evening of the next day] The battle can scarcely have lasted two 
 whole days. If the reading is right, the phrase the evening tozvards 
 the itioj'rozv may denote the evening with which the next day com- 
 menced, Jewish days being reckoned from sunset to sunset, so that 
 the fight lasted from early dawn till past sunset. 
 
 young men] Perhaps servants, as in xvi. 18. The Amalekites were 
 famous for camels. Cp. Jud. vii. 12; i Sam. xv. 3. 
 
 18. recovered... rescued] Different renderings of the same Heb. 
 word, used also in v. 8. Rescue is the best equivalent. " Recovered " 
 in V. 19 is a different word ; literally meaning " brought back." 
 
 19. that they had taken to than] i.e. which the Amalekites had taken 
 for themselves. They carried off the women and children alive to use 
 or sell for slaves. 
 
 20. This verse as it stands admits of no satisfactory explanation. It 
 
 15-2
 
 228 I. SAMUEL, XXX. [w. 21—25. 
 
 they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is 
 David's spoil. 
 
 21 — 25. The division of tJie spoil. 
 
 21 And David came to the two hundred men, which were so 
 faint that could not follow David, whom they had made also 
 to abide at the brook Besor : and they went forth to meet 
 David, and to meet the people that lucre with him : and 
 when David came near to the people, he saluted them. 
 
 22 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of 
 those that went with David, and said, Because they went not 
 with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we 
 have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, 
 
 23 that they may lead them away, and depart. Then said 
 David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the 
 Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered 
 
 24 the company that came against us into our hand. For who 
 will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that 
 goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by 
 
 25 the stuff : they shall part alike. And it was so from that day 
 
 is best to follow the Vulgate, with which the Sept. in the main agrees, 
 and read, And lie took all tlie flocks and the herds, and drave them 
 before him : and they said, This is David's spoil : i.e. he not only 
 recovered his own property, but took a rich booty besides, which his 
 men drove off with shouts of triumph. The number of places to which 
 he sent presents {vv. 26 — 31) shews how large it must have been. 
 
 21 — 25. The division of the spoil. 
 
 22. Then aitsivcrcd, (Src] Then answered every wicked man and 
 every worthless man... Because they went not with me. Each spoke 
 for himself, in the true spirit of selfishness. 
 
 24. For who, «S:c.] Better, And who will hearken unto you as 
 regards this saying? A negative answer is implied : No one; for, &c. 
 The Sept. adds, "for they are not inferior to us." 
 
 as his part, &c.] The rule for the division of the spoil between 
 combatants and non-combatants was an ancient one. See Num. xxxi. 
 27; and cp. Josh. xxii. 8. David now enforced a special application 
 of it with reference to the divisions of the army. A similar law 
 existed at Rome. According to Polybius (x. 16. 5), Scipio after the 
 sack of New Carthage directed the tribunes to divide the booty in equal 
 portions to all, including the reserves, the guards of the camp, and 
 the sick. 
 
 the stiiff\ The baggage. See on x. 22.
 
 vv. 26—29.] I- SAMUEL, XXX. 229 
 
 forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for 
 Israel unto this day. 
 
 26 — 31. The presents sent to the elders of J'udah. 
 
 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto 26 
 the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying. Behold a 
 present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord ; to 27 
 them which 7c>ere in Beth-el, and to them wliich were in south 
 Ramoth, and to them which 7C'ere in Jattir, and to them 23 
 which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siplimoth, 
 and to them which 7vere in Eshtemoa, and to them wliich 29 
 
 they shall pa7't alike] " Part " = j-//(7;r. The use of the verb in this 
 sense is an archaism. Cp. Acts ii. 45. 
 
 26 — 31. The presents sent to the elders of Judah. 
 
 26. he sent of the spoil, &c.] In gratitude for the assistance he had 
 received from them during his wanderings, and to secure their good 
 will when Saul's death should open the way for him to the throne. On 
 the elders see at viii. 4. 
 
 a p^-csentl Lit. a blessing, as in xxv. 27. 
 
 the spoil of the enemies of the LoRii\ Since Israel was Jehovah's 
 people, the enemies of Israel were the enemies of His kingdom and 
 His cause, and every war against them was a holy war. Cp. xviii. 17, 
 xxv. 28. 
 
 27. Bethel] Not the well known Bethel in the tribe of Benjamin, 
 but Bethiil or Bethtiel, called also Chesil, a city in the neighbourhood 
 of Ziklag and Hormah, originally assigned to Judah, and subsequently 
 transferred to Simeon (Josh. xv. 30, xix. 4; i Chr. iv. 30). 
 
 south Ramoth] Ramoth-Negeb, or Ramoth in the south country, 
 as distinguished from Ramoth Gilcad, is probably the same as Ramath- 
 Negeb in Josh. xix. 8. Perhaps " Shimei the Ramathite," the overseer 
 of David's vineyards, came from it (i Chr. xxvii. 27). 
 
 Jattir] A priestly city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. xv. 48, 
 xxi. 14), probably the modern Attir, 4A miles S.W. of Eshtemoa. It 
 may have been the native place of David's heroes Ira and Gareb the 
 Ithrites (2 Sam. xxiii. 38). 
 
 28. Aroer] Obviously not the famous city on the R. Arnon. Perhaps 
 the name survives in the Wady Ardrah, some 20 miles south of 
 Hebron, where Robinson found evident traces of an ancient village 
 or town (11. 199). " Shama and Jchiel the sons of Hothan the 
 Aroerite " are mentioned in the catalogue of David's valiant men 
 (i Chr. xi. 44). 
 
 Siphmoth] mentioned nowhere else, unless it was the home of Zabdi 
 the Shiphmite, the steward of David's wine-cellars (i Chr. xxvii. 27). 
 Eshtemoa] K priestly city (Josh. xv. 50, xxi. 14); now Es Setniia,
 
 230 I. SAMUEL, XXX. [vv. 30, 31. 
 
 were in Rachal, and to //lem which were in the cities of the 
 jerahmeeUtes, and to i/iem which taere in the cities of the 
 
 30 "ivenites, and to f/iem which raere in Hormah, and to ^/lem 
 which 7aere in Chorashan, and to f/iem which were in 
 
 31 Athach, and to f/iem which were in Hebron, and to all 
 the places where David himself and his men were wont to 
 haunt. 
 
 nine miles S.S.W. of Hebron, "a considerable village, situated on 
 a low hill, with broad valleys round about, full of flocks and herds. 
 In several places there are remains of walls built of very large stones, 
 marking the site of an extensive ancient town." Robinson, £il>/. Res. 
 II. 204. 
 
 29. RachaT] Nowhere else mentioned. The Sept. reads Carmel, 
 but its list is corrupt and not to be trusted. 
 
 the yeralimeelitcs\ See on xxvii. 10. 
 
 the Kenites] See on xv. 6. 
 ■ 30. Hormah'] Or Zephath (Jud. i. 17), an ancient Canaanite city 
 (Josh. xii. 14), assigned to Judah (Josh. xv. 30) and transferred to 
 Simeon (Josh. xix. 4). 
 
 Chor-ashan] The true reading is Bor-ashan ( = Cistern of Ashan). 
 It was doubtless the same as Ashan, a Simeonite city in the Negeb 
 originally given to Judah (Josh. xv. 42, xix. 7). 
 
 Athach] Nowhere else mentioned. Perhaps a corruption for Ether, 
 the letters of which are very similar, (Josh. xv. 42, where the Sept. 
 reads Ithak ; xix. 7), another city of Judah transferred to Simeon. 
 
 31. Hebron] One of the most ancient cities in the world (Num. 
 xiii. 22). When Abraham entered Canaan it was already existing 
 under the name of Kirjath Arba. In its neighbourhood he often 
 sojourned, and there he bought the cave of Machpelah from Ephron 
 the Hittite for a family sepulchre for himself and his posterity (Gen. 
 xxiii. 2 ff.). On the conquest of Canaan it became the inheritance of 
 Caleb (Josh. xiv. 13 — 15), and was made a priestly settlement and a 
 city of refuge (Josh. xxi. 11—13). It M'as soon to attain greater im- 
 portance as the capital of David's kingdom during the first seven years 
 and a half of his reign. It lies 20 miles south of Jerusalem, pic- 
 turesquely situated in a narrow valley surrounded by rocky hills, whose 
 sides are clothed with luxuriant vineyards. Its modern name is El 
 Khulil^ " The Friend," in memory of Abraham who was called "the 
 friend of God " (2 Chr. xx. 7 ; Is. xli. 8; James ii. 23). 
 
 all the places, &c.] It is evident that David's outlaw life must have 
 lasted for some considerable time, and have proved an important factor 
 in preparing the men of Judah to welcome him as their king. The 
 instances quoted above indicate that it was during this period that he 
 gained many of the faithful friends who afterwards filled offices of trust 
 in his kiuLrdom.
 
 vv. 1—4.] I. SAMUEL, XXXr. 
 
 Ch. XXXI. I — 7. The death of Said on Mount Gilboa. 
 
 Now the Philistines fought against Israel : and the men of 31 
 Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in 
 mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon 2 
 Saul and upon his sons ; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, 
 and Abinadab, and ^Nlalchishua, Saul's sons. And the battle 3 
 went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him ; and he was 
 sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his 4 
 armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through 
 therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me 
 
 Ch. XXXI. 1 — 7. The death of Saul on Mount Gilboa. 
 
 1. The narrative of this chapter has been inserted by the compiler 
 of Chronicles in his work (1 Chron. x. i — 12) with only a few verbal 
 variations. 
 
 Now the P/nlistines] The notices of the Philistine muster in xxviii. 
 4, xxix. I, II have prepared the way for the account of the battle. 
 
 Four battles memorable in the history of Israel were fought in or 
 near the plain of Esdraelon " the great battlefield of Palestine." 
 
 (i) The battle of Kishon, in which Deborah and Barak defeated the 
 host of Sisera (Jud. iv. 15, v. 21). 
 
 (2) The battle of Jezreel, in which Gideon's three hundred routed 
 the vast horde of Midianites (Jud. vii.). 
 
 (3) The disastrous battle of Mount Gilboa recorded here. 
 
 (4) The battle of Megiddo, where Josiah lost his life fighting against 
 Pharaoh Necho. 
 
 (5) A fifth may be added, the battle of Hattin, on the fifth of July, 
 1187, " the last struggle of the Crusaders, in which all was staked in the 
 presence of the holiest scenes of Christianity, and all miserably lost." 
 See Stanley's Sin. and Pal. p. 335 ff., 369. 
 
 the men of Israel fled^ Probably the battle took place in the plain of 
 Jezreel; the men of Israel were driven back on their camp, and finally 
 "fled in confusion up the heights of Gilboa, pursued by the Philistines. 
 
 2. Saul's sons'] .See xiv. 49. There is a tragic pathos in the simplicity 
 of the account. Cp. v. 6. 
 
 3. the battle went sore against Satil\ Cp. t Kings xxii. 31 ff. The 
 Vulg. has a striking paraphrase : "the whole weight of the battle was 
 directed against Saul," (totiimqiie pondiis praclii versum est in Saul). 
 
 he was sore wounded] So the Sept. and Vulg. But the Heb. may 
 also be rendered, "and he was sore afraid." Despair and the fear of 
 insult paralysed his courage. For "of the archers" the Sept. reads "in 
 the abdomen," but the Heb. text is preferable. 
 
 4. Then said Saul, &c.] Cp. Jud. ix. 54. 
 
 these uncircumcised] No indignity could be more intolerable than 
 for the sacred person of Jehovah's Anointed to be the butt of tiie 
 heathen v/ho had no part in His covenant. Cp. xiv. 6.
 
 232 I. SAMUEL, XXXI. [vv. 5—8. 
 
 through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not ; 
 
 for he was sore afraid : therefore Saul took a sword, and fell 
 
 s upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was 
 
 dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. 
 
 6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and 
 all his men, that same day together. 
 
 7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of 
 the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw 
 that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were 
 dead, they forsook the cities, and fled ; and the Philistines 
 came and dwelt in them. 
 
 8 — 13. The burial of Saul and his Sons. 
 
 8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philis- 
 tines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and 
 
 abuse me\ Maltreat me for their own amusement. 
 
 a sivord'X His sword. 
 
 fell upon it\ This account of Saul's death is obviously inconsistent 
 with that given by the Amalekite (2 Sam. i. 9 ff.). His story was a 
 fabrication. He found the king's corpse on the field, stripped it, and 
 brought the spoil to David in the hope of a reward. 
 
 5. a7td died with hini\ Being answerable for the king's life he feared 
 punishment : or from a nobler motive of true fidelity, refused to survive 
 his master. 
 
 6. and all his menl The Sept. (B) omits these words, i Chron. x. 6 
 reads "all his house." Probably the soldiers of the royal body guard are 
 meant, who fell fighting round him like Harold's hus-carls at the battle 
 of Hastings. If so, there is no difficulty in the escape of Ishbosheth, who 
 probably was not on the field, and of Abner, who as general would not 
 be in attendance on the king's person. 
 
 7. on the other side of the valley] On the side of the valley {emek, 
 see on vi. 13) or plain of Jezreel opposite to the battle-field. The 
 district to the north is meant, in which the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun 
 and Naphtali dwelt. 1 Chron. x. 7 however reads simply "in the 
 valley," and perhaps the phrase only means "on the side of the valley." 
 See next note. 
 
 on the other- side Jordan] This is the usual sense of the Hebrew 
 words. The panic spread even to the eastern side of the Jordan. But 
 possibly the phrase here means "on the side of the Jordan," i.e. in the 
 district between the battle-field and the river; which agrees better with 
 the account of the exploit of the Jabeshites, and the establishment of 
 Ishbosheth's kingdom at Mahanaim. The greater part of the north of 
 Canaan was thus occupied by the Phihslines. Note that this clause is 
 omitted in i Chron. x. 7.
 
 vv. 9—12.] I. SAMUEL, XXXI. 233 
 
 his . three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut 9 
 off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into 
 the land of the Philistines round about, to publish // m 
 the house of their idols, and among the people. And 10 
 they put his armour m the house of Ashtaroth : and they 
 fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. And when the n 
 inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philis- 
 tines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went 12 
 all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his 
 sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and 
 
 8—13. The buriai. of Saul and his Sons. 
 
 9. i/ie_y cut off his head\ The Anointed of Jehovah fares no better 
 than the uncircumcised Goliath, now that God has forsaken him. 
 
 ' to pubiish it\ To publish the good news. Sept. €Ja77€\/fo;'Tfs. Cp. 
 2 Sam. i. 20. 
 
 in the house of their idols'] In the temples of their idols, which were 
 regai-ded as the givers of the victory. Cp. ch. v. 2. Chron. reads "to 
 carry tidings to their idolsJ" 
 
 10. the hoiise of Ashtaroth] See on vii. 3. "This was doubtless the 
 famous temple of Venus in Askelon mentioned by Herodotus (i. 105) as 
 the most ancient of all her temples. Hence the special mention of 
 Askelon in 2 Sam. i. 20." Speaker s Connn. 
 
 they fastened his body to the wall] Together with the bodies of his 
 sons {v. 12). They were hung on the wall in the "open place" (2 Sam. 
 xxi. 12, E. V. street) by the gate, that all the passers by might join in 
 exulting over the defeat and disgrace of Israel. 
 
 Beth-shan] Now Beisdn, situated in the I Vady yd Md four miles west 
 of the Jordan, "on the brow just where the plain of Jezreel drops down 
 by a rather steep descent some three hundred feet to the level of the 
 Ghor, " or Jordan valley. After the Return from the Captivity it was 
 known as Scythopolis (2 Mace. xii. 29; cp. the Sept. of Jud. i. 27). 
 
 In I Chr. X. 10 this statement about Saul's body is omitted, and in its 
 place we read that "they fastened his head in the temple of Dagon." 
 
 11. the inhabitants of J abesh-Gilead] Mindful of the delit of grati- 
 tude they owed to Saul for rescuing them from Nahash (ch. xi.). The 
 isolated round-topped hill on the south side of the Wady Ydbis, which 
 has been conjecturally fixed upon as the site of Jabesh, is in full view 
 of Beth-shan (Tristram, La7id of Israel, p. 556). The distance over the 
 hills, down into the Jordan valley, and up the Wady ydlild is not much 
 under twenty miles. 
 
 12. burnt them] Cremation was not a Hebrew practice, but in the 
 present case was probably adopted to avoid the possibility of further 
 insult to the bodies, if the Philistines should take Jabesh. The con- 
 densed account in Chronicles omits the mention of the burning.
 
 234 T. SAMUEL, XXXI. [v. 13. 
 
 13 burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried 
 tlwn under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. 
 
 13. under a tree] Under the tamarisk, some well-known tree at 
 Jabesh. Chron. reads "under the terebinth," {Hah). David removed 
 the bones to the family sepulchre at Zelah (•2 Sam. xxi. 12 — 14). 
 
 fasted seven days\ A sign of general niourning. Cp. 2 Sam. i. 12, 
 iii. 35, &c.
 
 ■ APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 The Lord of Hosts'. 
 
 (i) The title ye /i ova k Tsebd&th translated "Lord of hosts" meets us 
 for the first time in the O. T. in i Sam. i. 3. In the various forms 
 "Lord of hosts," "Lord God of hosts," "God of hosts," it is found in 
 the books of Samuel (and the parallel passages in i Chr.), Kings, the 
 first three books of Psalms,^ very frequently in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 
 the Minor Prophets, but never in the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, 
 Ruth, Job, Proverbs, Ezekiel, Daniel. 
 
 (2) In the LXX. it is sometimes rendered "Lord of hosts" (Ki^ptos 
 Swd/j-ewv), sometimes "Lord Almighty" (Ki'ptos vavTOKparup), some- 
 times left untranslated (Ki^ptos ^.a^aud) ; and with this latter form "Lord 
 of Sabaoth" we are familiar from Rom. ix. 29; James v. 4; and the Te 
 Deum. The Vulgate renders it Domiinis exercitimm, "Lord of armies," 
 ox Dominns (Detis) virtntum, "Lord of powers." 
 
 (3) What then is the significance of the title? The word translated 
 hosts denotes (i) earthly hosts or armies, as in Ex. vii. 4; Ps. xliv. 9; 
 (2) heavenly hosts: either {a) celestial bodies, sun moon and stars, as in 
 Gen. ii. i; Deut. iv. 19; Is. xl. 26: or {b) celestial beings, angels, as in 
 Josh. V. 14; I Kings xxii. 19; Ps. cxlviii. 2. From the first of these 
 meanings the title has been explained to mean "Lord of the armies of 
 Israel," and regarded "as an expression of the warlike spirit of the 
 age:" in connexion with the second, the title "Lord of the heavenly 
 hosts" has been thought to have originated in a protest against the 
 idolatrous worship of " the host of heaven" already beginning to spread 
 among the people. 
 
 (4) Whatever its origin, it should be noted that the title first appears 
 simultaneously with the foundation of the Monarchy. It is used by 
 David in Ps. xxiv. 10, as the loftiest title of Jehovah. May we not then 
 take "hosts" in its widest sense, including both earthly and heavenly 
 hosts, and see in the title a proclamation of the universal sovereignty of 
 Jehovah, needed within the nation, lest that invisible sovereignty should 
 be forgotten in the visible majesty of the king; and outside the nation, 
 
 1 There is an ijiteiesting essay on this title in Prof. Plumptrc's Biblical Studies.
 
 236 APPENDIX. 
 
 lest Jehovah should be supposed to be merely a national deity? If we 
 understand the title in this larger sense, it includes the idea that the 
 sovereign power was specially exercised on behalf of the covenant 
 people, and that " the Lord of hosts" was " the God of the armies of 
 Israel" (i Sam. xvii. 45). 
 
 (5) For us its significance is well explained by the words of the Te 
 Deum, "Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy Glory." 
 Cp. Is. vi. 3; Rev. iv. 6 — 11. 
 
 NOTE II. 
 On the Name Jehovah. 
 
 From very early times the sacred name Jehovah was never pro- 
 nounced by the Jews, owing to a mistaken interpretation of Lev. xxiv. 
 16, which was supposed to prohibit its utterance. In reading the 
 Scriptures they substituted for it AdondT, which means "Lord," except 
 when Adonai is joined with Jehovah, in which case Elohim ( = "God") 
 was substituted. 
 
 This practice was followed by the LXX. and Vulgate, and in 
 general by the English Version, which however, whenever LoRD and 
 God represent the Sacred Nrme, indicates the fact by the use of capital 
 letters. 
 
 The true pronunciation is almost certainly lost. Jehovah is a com- 
 bination of the consonants of the Name with the vowels of Adonai 
 which are now written with it in the Hebrew text^. Modem gram- 
 marians argue that it ought to be read Yahveh or Yahaveh ; but 
 Jehovah seems firmly rooted in the English language, and the really 
 important point is not the exact pronunciation, but to bear in mind 
 that it is a Proper Name, not merely an appellative title like Lord. 
 It probably means "The Eternal," or "The Self-existent," the "I am," 
 and denotes God as the Covenant-God of His people Israel. See Ex. 
 iii. 14. 
 
 NOTE IIL 
 
 The Targum on 1 Sam. ii. i^io. 
 
 And Hannah prayed in the spirit of prophecy and said : Behold Samuel 
 my son shall be a prophet over Israel : in his days shall they be delivered 
 from the hand of the Philistines, and by his hands shall be done unto 
 them signs and mighty acts : therefore is my heart strong in the portion 
 which Jehovah hath given me. And likewise Heman the son of Joel, 
 the son of my son Samuel, shall arise with his fourteen sons to chant 
 with psalteries and harps along with their brethren the Levites, to 
 
 1 See Introd. p. 14.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 '^-^ -7 
 
 praise in the house of the sanctuary^ : therefore is my horn exalted in the 
 gift which the Lord hath bestowed on me : and also concerning the 
 miraculous vengeance which shall befall the Philistines, who shall bring 
 the ark of Jehovah in a new cart, and a trespass-offering with it : there- 
 fore shall the congregation of Israel say, I will open my mouth to speak 
 great things against mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy deliver- 
 ance. 
 
 Concerning Sancherib [Sennacherib] king of Asshur she prophesied 
 and said, He shall arise with all his host against Jerusalem, and a great 
 sign [miracle] shall be done upon him: the corpses of his armies shall 
 fall there. Therefore shall all the peoples nations and tongues give 
 thanks and say, There is none holy but Jehovah, for there is none beside 
 Thee: and Thy people shall say. There is none strong save our God. 
 
 Concerning Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel she prophesied and said, 
 Ye Chaldeans and all peoples who shall bear rule over Israel, ye shall 
 not multiply many great words; blasphemies shall not come forth out of 
 your mouth ; for God knoweth all things, and over all His works is His 
 judgment spread : and unto you will He recompense vengeance for your 
 guilt. 
 
 Concerning the kingdom of Javan [Greece] she prophesied and said, 
 The bows of the mighty men of Javan shall be broken, and the house of 
 the Hasmoneans ■•' who have been weak shall have signs and mighty deeds 
 done for them. 
 
 Concerning the sons of Haman she prophesied and said. Those who 
 have been full of bread, and boasting in their riches, and abounding in 
 wealth, have become j)oor, and have turned to hire themselves out for 
 bread and victual. Mordecai and Esther who were obscure and poor 
 are made rich and have forgotten their poverty, they have become free : 
 so Jerusalem, who hath been as a barren woman, shall be filled with the 
 people of her captivity: and as for guilty Rome^ which was full and 
 abounding in peoples, her armies shall come to an end, she shall be 
 made desolate and utterly destroyed. 
 
 All these are the mighty acts of Jehovah who Himself reigneth over 
 the world, killing and calling to life, bringing down to Sheol, and also 
 causing to come up into the life of the world. 
 
 *[But Korah the son of Izhar the son of Kohath, from whom my son 
 Samuel is descended, was brought down to Sheol because he arose and 
 strove against Moses and Aaron. The righteous shall go forth out of 
 the house of their destruction, and shall give thanks, because there 
 is no God save Him.] 
 
 Jehovah maketh poor and maketh rich, He bringeth low and lifteth 
 up. He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the obscure from 
 the dunghill, to make them sit with the righteous, the great ones of the 
 world : and the throne of glory He maketh them inherit, for before 
 Jehovah are the deeds of the sons of men revealed. Below hath he prc- 
 
 1 See I Chr. xxv. 4 — 6. 
 
 * i. e. The Maccabees. See Diet, of the Bible, Art. Maccabees. 
 
 ' So De Lagarde's ed. Walton's Polyglot has Aram, a misiake for Edotn, ilic 
 name which the later Jews constantly used for their deadly enemy Rome. 
 
 * So De Lagarde's ed. Walton docs not contain the passage iii brackets.
 
 238 APPENDIX. 
 
 pared Gehenna for the wicked, who transgress His word : and for 
 the righteous who do His will hath He founded the world. The bodies 
 of His righteous servants will He preserve from Gehenna, and the 
 wicked shall be judged in darkness in Gehenna, to shew that there is 
 no man in whom is the strength of innocence for the day of judgment. 
 Jehovah shall break in pieces His enemies, who arise to do evil to His 
 people. Out of heaven shall he smite them with a loud voice. He shall 
 execute vengeance upon Gogi and the army of the plundering peoples 
 who come with him from the ends of the earth, and shall give strength 
 unto His King, and magnify the kingdom of His Messiah. 
 
 NOTE IV. 
 The Philistines. 
 
 The bitterest and most successful enemies of Israel play such an 
 important part in the history of this period as to require special notice. 
 
 (r) Their origin. The Philistines, as their name, which signifies 
 'Immigrants^ and is translated by the LXX. aXKbcpvKoL^ aliens, im- 
 ports, were not aboriginal inhafjitants of Canaan. They came from 
 Caphtor (Amos ix. 7), and expelled or conquered the Avim who lived 
 in villages in the Shephelah. (Deut. ii. 2'^; Josh. xiii. 3). Caphtor 
 has generally been identified with Crete, but there seems good reason 
 for regarding it as a district of Egypt, and Gen. x. 13, 14 places the 
 Philistine among Mizraite or Egyptian races. If so, however, the 
 migration must have taken place before the distinctive national cha- 
 racteristics of the Egyptians had been developed. 
 
 (2) Their country. They occupied the southern portion of the 
 Shephelah or Loiu Cozmtry, the maritime plain stretching along the 
 western coast of Canaan, and divided into two parallel tracts of sandy 
 plain and cultivated corn-land. Their territory extended from Ekron 
 on the north to the River of Egj'pt (the IVady-el-Arish) on the south. 
 It was famous for its fertility. "l"he cities are all remarkable for the 
 extreme beauty and profusion of the gardens which surround them — 
 the scarlet blossoms of the poriiegranates, the enormous oranges which 
 
 gild the green foliage of their famous groves But the most 
 
 striking and characteristic feature of Philistia is its immense plain of 
 cornfields, stretching from the edge of the sandy tract right up to the 
 very wall of the hills of Judah, which look down its whole length from 
 north to south. These rich fields must have been the great source at 
 once of the power and value of Philistia ... It was, in fact, "a little 
 Egypt" (cp. 2 Kings viii. 2, 3). These are the fields of "standing 
 corn" with "vineyards and olives" amongst them, into which the 
 Danite hero sent down the three hundred jackals from the neighbour- 
 
 ' Walton reads Mag^og: See Ezek. xxxviii. 2, &c.; Rev. xx. 8. In the Targums 
 and Talmud Gog and Magog denote the final combination of the enemies of the king- 
 dom of God, which is to be destroyed by the Messiah.
 
 APPENDIX. 239 
 
 ing hills" (Jud. xv. 4). Shiai and Palestine, pp. 257, 258. But they 
 were not merely an agricultural people. Their geographical position 
 gave them a commercial importance. Their land was the highway for 
 traffic between Phoenicia and Syria on the north, and Egypt and 
 Arabia on the south, and though we find no distinct mention in the 
 liible of their trade by sea, it is probable that such existed. 
 
 (3) Their govertiment. At this period the five great strongholds of 
 Gaza, Gath, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and P^kron were united in a formidable 
 confederacy. Each was governed by its se7-en or lord and had an inde- 
 pendent jurisdiction, but common interests bound them together for 
 purposes of offence and defence. The " circles (E. V. borders) of the 
 Philistines" (Josh. xiii. ^ ; Joel iii. 4) were probably the districts attached 
 to these towns. 
 
 (4) Their history. Already in the time of Abraham the Philistines 
 appear as a pastoral tribe occupying the land, in occasional rivalry but 
 generally on friendly terms with Abraham (Gen. xxi. 32, xxvi. i, 
 14, 20). 
 
 By the time of the Exodus they were sufficiently powerful to deter 
 the Israelites from taking the shortest route to the Promised Land 
 (Ex. xiii. 17). 
 
 In the division of Canaan, their territory was assigned to the tribe of 
 Judah, which seems temporarily to have occupied Gaza, Askelon, and 
 Ekron (Jud. i. 18), but never really subjugated the people (Josh. xiii. 
 2, 3 ; Jud. iii. 3). 
 
 About the middle of the period of the Judges their power appears 
 to have increased considerably, which has given rise to the conjecture 
 that they were strengthened by a fresh immigration from their original 
 home. This supposition is unnecessary ; the agricultural and commercial 
 advantages of their country, the suitability of its level plain for military 
 manoeuvres (i Sam. xiii. 5), the necessity of a special effort to resist 
 the encroachments of their new neighbours, are quite sufficient to 
 account for this development. 
 
 They now became a constant source of annoyance to the Israelites, 
 establishing strong posts and making predatory raids, so that there 
 was no security for life or property. Cp. Jud. v. 6; i Sam. xxiii. i. 
 The first hint of their active hostility is in connexion with Shamgar 
 (Jud. iii. 31): and somewhat later they reduced the Israelites to the 
 condition of tributary vassals (i Sam. iv. 9). Samson's heroic exploits 
 relieve the disgrace of a forty years' submission : but after his death, 
 and the capture of the Ark, the nation seems to have resigned itself to 
 despair till Samuel rallied their scattered energies, and routed the 
 Philistines at Ebenezer. But their power was not broken ; Saul was 
 constantly at war with them, and met his death fighting against them 
 on the fatal field of Gilboa. David captured Gath (i Chr. xviii. i), 
 and Solomon included Philistia in his empire (i Kings iv. 21, 24 
 Azzah = Gaza). But the Division of the Kingdom was the signal for 
 the revival of their power, and they continued enemies of both king- 
 doms to the end. It was not till after the time of the Maccabees that 
 their national existence finally came to an end, and Philistia was at 
 length annexed to the Roman province of Syria.
 
 240 APPENDIX. 
 
 Two notices in profane history may be mentioned to illustrate the 
 strength and importance of the Philistine cities. Ashdod held out 
 against Psamniitichus king of Egypt for twenty-nine years, about 
 650 B.C. (i.e. in thereign of Josiah), "the longest siege," says Herodotus, 
 "of any that we know" (Herod. II. 157). Three hundred years later 
 Gaza dared to challenge the triumphant progress of Alexander the 
 Great, and baffled all the efforts of his engineers to take it for at least 
 two months. See Grote's Hist, of Greece, ch. xciil. 
 
 (5) By a strange irony of fate the name of the territory of the 
 detested Philistines has become our familiar title for the whole of the 
 Holy Land. Palestine is a Greek form of Pelesheth, the Hebrew for 
 Philistia, and the name of the district with which Greek traders 
 became familiar through Philistine commerce gradually came to be 
 applied to the whole country of Canaan. In the E. V. "Palestine" is 
 only used as synonymous with Philistia, and though its modern and 
 extended meaning appears already in Shakespeare, the limited mean- 
 ing survived till the time of Milton, who speaks of Dagon as "that 
 twice battered god of Palestine." {Hymn on the Nativity, 199.) 
 
 NOTE V. 
 On the exterminating wars of the Israelites. 
 
 The "moral difficulty" of the exterminating wars of the Israelites is 
 admirably treated by Professor Mozley in his lectures on the Old Testa- 
 ment entitled Ridin^^ Ideas in Early Ages. (See especially Lectures IV 
 and x). Such wars, involving the innocent along with the guilty in a 
 common destruction, are incompatible not only with the Law of Love but 
 with the Idea of Justice taught by the Gospel. How, it is asked, could 
 they ever have been commanded by God? "It is replied that God is 
 the Author of life and death, and that He has the right at any time to 
 deprive any number of His creatures of life, whether by the natural 
 instrumentality of pestilence or famine, or by the express employment 
 of man as His instrument of destruction ^ This as an abstract defence 
 is unquestionably true, nor can it be denied that as soon as a Divine 
 command to exterminate a whole people becomes known to another 
 people, they have not only the right, but are under the strictest 
 obligation to execute such a command^." To some minds such a 
 command seems strange and perplexing, but it must be remembered 
 that there are times when a signal demonstration of Divine Justice is 
 needed for mankind in the interests of morality; that there are times 
 when stern judgment is the truest mercy; and that the penalty of pre- 
 mature physical death is by no means the most terrible fate which can 
 overtake men even in this world. 
 
 * This is Butler's defence in his Analogy, Part 11. ch. 3. 
 
 * Ruling Ideas, p. 84.
 
 APPENDIX. 241 
 
 But the difficulty still remains, how a nation could be convinced that 
 it was to be the executioner of God's judgments, and how it could execute 
 them in so terrible a way without injury to its moral consciousness. 
 
 The solution is to be found in the defective Oriental idea of Justice. The 
 destruction of a nation for the sin of its ancestors, or of a family for the 
 otifence of its head, was a common Oriental practice. It was not repug- 
 nant to the current sense of right; rather it satished a certain passionate 
 excess of justice, which craved for vengeance and desired to vent itself 
 on the criminal's surroundings as well as himself. This indiscriminating 
 kind of vengeance was due to the defective sense of human hidividuality, 
 the want of a true perception of the rights and responsibilities of each 
 man as an independent being. This feelmg was no doubt shared by the 
 Israelites. But with them such acts were expressly prohibited as a 
 part of ordinary judicial procedure (Deut. xxiv. 16), and in this 
 respect they were on a higher level than other Oriental nations. But 
 when God saw fit by the mouth of a prophet who was recognised as His 
 accredited messenger to enjoin the execution of such a sentence, there 
 was no moral resistance to it. It could be accepted without hesitation 
 as coming from God, and executed without any violation of their sense 
 of justice. 
 
 Such commands were an "accommodation" to the moral and religious 
 state of the nation to which they were given. Revelation is progressive, 
 and God's dealings with the chosen people, while designed to raise and 
 educate them, were necessarily conditioned by their moral state at any 
 given period. It need hardly be said that such commands are incon- 
 ceivable under the Gospel dispensation. The fanatics of the seventeenth 
 century, who sought to justify regicide by the example of Samuel and 
 Agag, "knew not what spirit they were of." 
 
 NOTE VI. 
 On the text of chapters xvii. and xviii. 
 
 1. The Septuagint Version in its oldest form as preserved in the 
 Vatican AIS. (B) differs considerably from the present Hebrew text in 
 chapters xvii. and xviii. It does not contain the following passages: 
 xvii. 12—31, 41, 48 (partly), 50, 55— 5^; xviii. 1—5, and the greater 
 part of 6, 9— II, 17 — 19, 29 b, 30. There are besides a few minor 
 variations. 
 
 Some of these passages are wanting in a few other MSS. beside B : in 
 the Alexandrine (A) and most other MSS. they have been inserted: but 
 it is clear that at least xvii. 12—31 was not in the archetype from which 
 A was copied, and the style of the version proves conclusively that it is 
 no part of the original Septuagint, but derived from some other source, 
 perhaps the version of Theodotion, which was executed in the second 
 century A. D. 
 
 I. SAMUEL 16
 
 242 APPENDIX. 
 
 The result of these omissions is a straightforward and consistent 
 narrative free from the difficulties of the Hebrew text. David, in virtue 
 of his appointment as armour-bearer (xvi. 21) has accompanied Saul into 
 the valley of Elah : he challenges and slays Goliath, and on his return 
 at the close of the campaign is welcomed by the songs of the women of 
 Israel : by his further mifitary successes he wins the affections of the 
 people and the love of Michal. Three stages in the development of 
 Saul's enmity are clearly marked : (a) xviii. 12, " he was afraid of him ; " 
 {d) xviii. 15, "he stood in awe of him," and endeavoured indirectly to 
 get rid of him; (c) xviii. 29, xix. i, "he was yet more afraid of David," 
 and gave orders for his murder. 
 
 2. The Hebrew text, on the other hand, presents serious internal 
 difliculties, and appears to combine two inconsistent accounts of David's 
 introduction to the court of Saul. Ch. xvi. 19 ff. relates how David 
 was summoned to court for his musical skill, won Saul's affection, and 
 became his armour-bearer : whereas in ch. xvii. we find him absent from 
 the army in time of war, and only accidentally brought to the camp by 
 
 . an errand to his brothers : regarded as a mere shepherd -boy unaccustomed 
 to the use of weapons : unknown apparently to the king and to Abner. 
 
 Minor objections are (a) that the notice of Jesse in ch. xvii. 12 ff. 
 appears superfluous after that in ch. xvi., and the Hebrew shews evident 
 signs of having been pieced together at this point : {d) that the anticipa- 
 tion in xviii. 5 of facts which are recorded in their natural order in ziz>. 
 13, 14 is strange: (c) that Saul's threat to murder David on the very day 
 after their return appears premature, and is inconsistent with his subse- 
 quent promotion of him : (d) that the marriage of Merab to Adriel is in- 
 volved in some doubt, for in 2 Sam. xxi. 8 the Heb. reads " the five sons 
 of Alic/ial... Vihom she bare to Adriel." 
 
 3. The following explanations of the chief difficulties have been 
 offered, (i) That David's residence at the court related in xvi. 22 was not 
 permanent; he was only summoned when Saul's madness required his 
 services; and the notice "he became his armour-bearer" refers to what 
 happened eventually after the slaughter of Goliath ; the writer, according 
 to a common practice of Hebrew historians, anticipating the course of 
 events. (2) That Saul's ignorance may be accounted for by supposing 
 that he had only seen David in his fits of madness, and possibly not 
 for some time, and so failed to recognise him ; while Abner would not 
 be likely to trouble himself to inquire about the family of a minstrel- 
 boy in occasional attendance on the king. (3) According to another 
 hypothesis, Saul's inquiry in xviii. 55 ff. concerns not David but his 
 father, and does not shew any want of recognition of David, but was 
 prompted by the wish to ascertain "whether his coming of any warrior 
 lineage might justify some hope of a prosperous issue of the unequal 
 conflict;" or by a desire to know the parentage of his future son-in- 
 law. (4) Another theory assumes that the events of ch. xvi. were really 
 subsequent to those of ch. xvii. ; and in support of this view stress is 
 laid upon the expression "man of war" applied to David in xvi. 18. 
 But this explanation is incompatible with xviii. 2, which definitely 
 states that David's residence at court after the slaughter of Gohath was 
 continuous.
 
 APPENDIX. 243 
 
 4. The most probable conclusion appears to be that the Septuagint 
 preser^-es the text of these chapters in the form in which it was originally 
 published, and that at some subsequent date the additions now found in 
 the Hebrew text were made from a different source, either documentary 
 or traditional. It is unlikely that the Septuagint translators would have 
 been guilty of a deliberate mutilation of the text; and still more unlikely 
 that a number of intentional omissions would have resulted in a simple 
 and connected narrative, if the Hebrew text was originally a homo- 
 geneous whole, derived from the same source or written by one hand. 
 
 5. The historical value of these additions must remain a moot ques- 
 tion. Perhaps the two narratives might be satisfactorily harmonized if 
 we had all the facts before us : as it is, the difficulties must be candidly 
 acknowledged. 
 
 It may seem to some rqaders rash to doubt the integrity of the Hebrew 
 text. But it must be borne in mind that the Septuagint is by far the 
 most ancient evidence we possess for the text of the O.T., the oldest 
 known Hebrew IMS. not being earlier than the loth (or possibly 9th) 
 century a.d., and that though the additions to the Hebrew text were 
 doubtless m.ade before the Christian era, the Greek Scriptures used by 
 the Evangelists and Apostles in all probability did not contain the pas- 
 sages of which the genuineness is suspected. 
 
 NOTE VII. 
 
 Ox THE Narratives of Chapters XXIII. 19 — XXIV. 22 and 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 The striking resemblance of the narrative of ch. xxvi. in many points 
 to that of ch. xxiii. 19 — xxiv. 22 has led some commentators to suppose 
 that it is only a more detailed account of the same event. The main 
 points of agreement between the narratives are (a) the conduct of the 
 Ziphites ; [d] Saul's pursuit of David ; (r) David's generous refusal to take 
 Saul's life. Besides these there are several minor coincidences both of 
 circumstance and language. 
 
 But on the other hand (a) there is no great improbability in supposing 
 that David twice occupied a convenient position in the hill of Ilachilah, 
 and was twice betrayed by the Ziphites. (I') Saul, it is said, must have 
 been "a moral monster" deliberately to repeat his pursuit of David 
 under the same circumstances. To this it may be answered that all" 
 the history proves Saul to have been fickle and untrustworthy, (c) David 
 may well have spared Saul's life on two different occasions, (d) It is 
 only natural that in the accounts of two similar events there should be 
 several close coincidences. 
 
 Further, if the narratives are closely examined, it will be found that 
 the differences outweigh the resemblances, and the difficulty of recon- 
 ciling the narratives, if they refer to the same occurrence, is far greater 
 than that of supposing that somewhat similar events happened twice,
 
 244 APPENDIX. 
 
 during a pursuit which lasted several years, and was confined to a 
 small district. The following points should be noticed. 
 
 (a) The section xxiii. 19 — xxiv. 22 contains a narrative of what took 
 place upon two distinct occasions, separated by Saul's being called away 
 to repel a Philistine raid (xxiii. 27); here there is no indication of such 
 an interval between Saul's arrival at Hachilah and David's visit to his 
 camp. 
 
 (6) The scene of the interview is different in each case. Here it is 
 the camp at Hachilah : there a cave at En-gedi. 
 
 {c) The ciratnistanccs differ. Here David deliberately enters Saul's 
 camp and takes his spear, &c.: there he accidentally gets Saul into his 
 power in the cave in which he was concealed, and deprives him of the 
 lappet of his robe. 
 
 (d) The persojis concerned here are mentioned by name : there only 
 "the men" in general are spoken of. 
 
 {e) The point of the conversation is different: here Saul only uses 
 general language; there he acknowledges that David will be king and 
 exacts an oath from him : here David indignantly demands to know why 
 he is persecuted ; there he lays stress on his having spared the king's 
 life as a proof of his innocence. 
 
 {/) The general circumstances of this narrative correspond to a later 
 period of David's life, when David was bolder, and Saul more hardened ; 
 and it would appear from xxvii. i that this pursuit was the final act of per- 
 secution which drove David to quit the country and take refuge at Gath. 
 
 NOTE VHT. 
 
 On the narrative of Chapter XXVHI. 7 ff. 
 
 Does the scene in the witch of Endor's house describe a real appa- 
 rition, or an imposture? In the former case, was it (i) Samuel himself 
 who appeared and spoke, or (2) a demon counterfeiting the form of 
 Samuel ? In the latter case, (3) was the woman self-deceived, or (4) did 
 she deliberately impose upon Saul ? 
 
 (i) That the spirit of Samuel himself appeared was the view of the 
 ancient Jewish church. This is attested {a) by the Sept. addition in 
 I Chr. X. 13; "Saul asked counsel of her that had a famihar spirit, to 
 inquire of her ; and Sanmel tnade ansiver to him : (b) by the book of 
 Ecclesiasticus (xlvi. 20); "After his death [Samuel] prophesied, and 
 shewed the king his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in pro- 
 phecy :" {c) by Josephus; and the generality of Jewish commentators. 
 
 The same opinion was maintained by early Christian writers, e.g. 
 Justin Martyr, Origen, Augustine, and others. 
 
 Unquestionably it is the plain and natural meaning of the narrative. 
 The expressions in v. 15, "Samuel said to Saul;" v. 16, "Then 
 said Samuel;" v. 20, "the words of Samuel;" leave no doubt of this.
 
 APPENDIX. 245 
 
 The objection however is made that it is impossible to believe that 
 God would have allowed the witch to call up the spirit of Samuel. 
 This objection has some weight. But it does not appear that his ap- 
 pearance is to be regarded as the result of the witch's incantations. 
 "None was more amazed at the success of her necromancies than the 
 sorceress herself." It was not the witch who compelled Samuel to ap- 
 pear but God M-ho sent the spirit of His servant to confound her, 
 and to punish the king and pronounce final sentence on him for his 
 sins. The apparition was a fulfdment of God's words by the prophet 
 Ezekiel (xiv. 4, 7) ; "Every one of the house of Israel... which separateth 
 himself from Me, and setteth up his idols in his heart. ..and cometh to 
 a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me; I the Lord will answer 
 him by myself." 
 
 (2) The view that the appearance of Samuel was a diabolical delu- 
 sion appears first in TertuUian, who says: "The pythonic spirit was 
 permitted to assume the form of Samuel, for it is inconceivable that 
 the soul of any saint, much less of a prophet, was drawn forth by a 
 demon" {Be am' wa c. 57). Jerome followed him; and the theologians 
 of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, led by Luther and Calvin, held 
 the same opinion, arguing that it was impossible that God should have 
 allowed His prophet to be the victim of diabolical sorceries. This view 
 starts from a priori reasoning as to what is possible and what is not, 
 instead of taking the plain sense of the narrative : and the difficulty on 
 which it is based has been answered above. 
 
 (3) A modern hypothesis supposes that the witch wrought herself 
 into a state of ecstasy in which she deceived herself into imagining that 
 she saw Samuel, and heard him speak. But though this may have 
 been the usual character of her sorceries, it would appear that on the 
 present occasion the apparition was of a character for which she was 
 not prepared ; and though it is not certain that Saul saw the figure of 
 Samuel, the dialogue is carried on between them directly, without the 
 witch's intervention. 
 
 (4) Another theory regards the affair as a deliberate imposture 
 practised upon Saul by the witch, who pretended to see Samuel when 
 she really saw nothing, and contrived to make Saul believe that her 
 own voice or that of a confederate was the voice of Samuel. This view 
 finds no sup]rart in the narrative, which implies throughout that the 
 sentence of doom pronounced upon Saul was a true prophecy ; and it 
 destroys the dread significance of the whole transaction. 
 
 NOTE IX. 
 
 The Site of Kirjath-jearim. 
 
 The usual identification of Kirjath-jearim with Kuryet-el-enab has 
 lately been called in question by Lieut. Conder, who proposes to place 
 it at 'Erma, four miles E. of Ain Slums (Beth-Shemesh), on the edge 
 of the Wady-cs-Siirar or Valley of Sorek. The name 'Erma cor- 
 responds to the form Arim, which took the place of the original
 
 246 APPENDIX. 
 
 yearim in later times (Ezra ii. 25) ; the dense brushwood still clothing 
 the hills agrees with the meaning of the name " City of Forests;" and 
 the position suits the data much better than the Kiiryet-el-eiiab site. See 
 Pal. Expl. Fund Quart. Paper for Oct. 1881, p. 261. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of 'Erma " the survey party fixed the situation 
 q{ Deir Aban, 'the Convent of the Stone,' which 8t Jerome identifies 
 with the site of Ebenezer, ' the Stone of Help.'. . . The situation of the 
 site seems to render the traditional view not improbably correct, for the 
 village stands at the mouth of the great valley down which undoubtedly 
 the Philistine hosts were driven." P. E. F. Quart. Paper for Jan. 1883, 
 
 P-43- 
 
 NOTE X. 
 
 On Chapter XV. 9. 
 
 The word mishntm which stands in our present Hebrew text does 
 not mean fallings, but, as it is rendered in the margin, of the second 
 sort, or, of the second birth. Animals of the second birth are said to have 
 been more highly prized, but this sense is doubtful : the context clearly 
 excludes the meaning second-j-ate: and it is best to emend the Hebrew 
 text by the insertion of a single letter, so as to get a word meaning /«A 
 lings. I'he E. V. follows some of the ancient versions (Targum, Syriac, 
 Arabic) in this rendering.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Words explained and modern names of places are printed in italics. 
 
 Atel, 84 
 
 Abel-Mcholah, 168 
 
 Abiathar, igo 
 
 Abishai, 208 
 
 Abner, probably Saul's cousin, 139; his 
 influence, 210 
 
 Achish, 184, 212 
 
 A da>!dt = lord, 236 
 
 Adullam, 185 
 
 Agag, 142 
 
 against, lot 
 
 Ahiah, perhaps = Ahimelech, 129 
 
 Ahimelech, 129 
 
 Aid el Ma, 18S 
 
 Ain-Jalild, 222 
 
 Ain-Jidy, 195 
 
 Ain-Shems, 82 
 
 Akir, 78 
 
 Amalekites, 140 ; final destruction of, 
 142 
 
 Ammonites, 113, 138 
 
 Amorites, gi 
 
 Anakim, 153 
 
 Anointed, the Lord's, 118 
 
 anointing, 105 
 
 Aphek, 70, 222 
 
 Arabah, 194 
 
 Ark, the, symbol of Jehovah's Covenant 
 with Israel, 71, 74; at Shiloh, 64; cap- 
 tured by the Philistines, 72 ff; at Kir- 
 jath-jearim, 87, 133 
 
 armour-bearer, 129 
 
 arms, exchange of, 164 
 
 army, formation of a standing, 123 
 
 Aroer, 229 
 
 arrogancy, 53 
 
 artillery, 181 
 
 Ashdod, 75 
 
 Asherah, 88 
 
 Ashtoreth, 83 
 
 Askelon, temple of Venus at, 233 
 
 assayed, 159 
 
 Attir, 229 
 
 Augustine, on David, 160 
 
 avoided, 166 
 
 Baal, 88 
 bear, 159 
 bed, 221 
 Bedan, 120 
 Beer-sheba, 68 
 beged, t.-ji 
 Beis&n, 233 
 Beit Fased, 152 
 Beitin, 92 
 
 Belial, son or daughter of, 48 
 Benjamin, tribe of, 103 
 Benjamites, expert slingers, 160 
 Besor, the brook, 225 
 Beth-aven, 125 
 Bf:th-car, 90 
 Bethel, 92 
 
 Bethel in Judah, 225 
 Beth-horon, 127, 134 
 Bethlehem, 148 
 Beth-shan, 233 
 Beth-shemesh, 82 
 Bezek, 115 
 
 W^jj;«^= present, 203 
 blood, eating with the, 135 
 bottle, 50, 202 
 bought, of a sling, 204 
 Bozez, 130 
 brass, 154 
 
 burnmg of the dead, 233 
 burnt-offering, 84, 89 
 
 came upon, 115 
 
 candlestick, the golden, 64 
 
 Carmel, 143 
 
 carriage, 157 
 
 ceremonial, useless when divorced from 
 
 devotion, 145 
 champion, 153, 162 
 cherent, 141 
 Chcrcthites, 226
 
 248 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chor-ashan, 230 
 
 Chdresh = wood, 192 
 
 chdzeh = ieer, 100 
 
 Chronicles, additional information from, 
 
 186, 213, 217 
 coast, 77 
 coat, 58 
 
 coat of mail, 154 
 coiniuHHe, 168 
 confectionaries, 96 
 congregation 0/ Israel, no 
 conversant, 201 
 
 coronation, English ceremonies of, 105 
 covert, 202 
 cross, the fiery, 1 15 
 cruse, 209 
 cubit, 153 
 cunning, 151 
 
 Dagon, 76 
 
 Dan, 63 
 
 dancing, 164 
 
 David, life and character of, 38 — 41 ; (<?) 
 at Bethlehem, 38; {l>) at court, 39; {c) 
 as an outlaw, 39, 40; training for the 
 throne, 40 ; contrasted with Saul, 40 ; 
 friendship with Jonathan, 41, 163; 
 meaning of name, 150; anointing of, 
 148 ff; "fight with Goliath, 159; faith 
 of, 159 ; celebration of his victory, 
 164; Saul's jealousy of, 165; marriage 
 with Michal, 168; advancement, 166; 
 hfe attempted by Saul, 165, 171 ; 
 escapes by Michal's help, 172 ; goes to 
 Samuel at Ramah, 173; at Nob, 183; 
 at Gath, 184, 212; at AduUam, 185; 
 character of his band of men, 186 ; 
 genius for ruling, 186 ; meeting and 
 marriage with Abigail, 203(1'.; at Ziklag, 
 213; falsehoods, 215, 223; imperfect 
 morality, 215 ; friends gained during 
 outlaw life, 230. 
 
 deep sleep, 209 
 
 disarmament of the Israelites, 128 
 
 discomfit, 90 
 
 diviners, 79 
 
 Doeg, 184 
 
 dowry, 168 
 
 ^(Tr= plough, 96 
 
 Eben-ezer, 70, 90 
 
 Ecclesiasticus, quoted, 41, iig 
 
 Edom, a name for Rome in later Jewish 
 writings, 237 
 
 Edomites, 138 
 
 Ekron, 78 
 
 Elah, valley of, 152 
 
 elders, 94 
 
 Eli, his descent, 47; character, 67; doom 
 on his house fulfilled, 1S9 
 
 Eliab, 149 
 
 Elohtm, 59, 219 
 
 i;;«f/^= valley, 83, 153 
 
 Emerods, 77 
 
 En-dor, 218 
 
 Endor, witch of, 218, 244 
 
 En-gedi, 195 
 
 ephah, 50 
 
 Ephes-dammim, 152 
 
 Ephod, the, 133, 217 
 
 ephod, 57, 1S9 
 
 Kphraim, mount, 43 
 
 Ephrathite, 44, 155 
 
 £r-Ram, 43 
 
 Esdraelon, battles in the plain of, 231 
 
 Eshtemoa, 229 
 
 Es-Semfca, 229 
 
 Exodus, allusions to the, 72, 81 
 
 Ezel, 178 
 
 faint, 226; derivation of some Heb. words 
 for, 135 
 
 faith, victory of, 131, 160 
 fall, 68 
 
 familiar spirit, 216 
 for ever, 50, 126 
 
 friendships, famous, 163 
 
 Filleli, 222 
 
 Gad, 187 
 
 ^■•(rz = ravine, 153, 162 
 
 Gallim, 207 
 
 Gath, 78 ; traces of David's residence 
 at, 211 
 
 garrison, 107 
 
 Geba, 107, 123 
 
 Gerzites, 214 
 
 Geshurites, 214 
 
 Gezrites, 214 
 
 giants, 153 
 
 Ciibeah, 133; town or district, 107, 129 
 
 Gideon, 120 
 
 Gilboa, 217 
 
 Gilgal, 92 
 
 Glory, the=the Shechinah, 75 
 
 God, when printed in capitals in E.V., 
 236; vindicates His Holiness, 85; Om- 
 nipresence of, not yet realised, 107, 
 211; His repentance, 142, 146; said to 
 harden men's hearts, 59; to move men 
 to do evil, 210; His commands relative 
 to the condition of their recipients, 241 
 
 God save the king, origin of, 112 
 
 gods, 219 
 
 Gog, 238 
 
 Goliath, 153 
 
 gorget, 154 
 
 grave, 54 
 
 greaves, 154 
 
 groves, 88 
 
 Hachilah, 193 
 Hannah, 44 
 
 Haplitarah, 56, 117, 178 
 harden the heart, God said to, 59 
 Hareth, 1S7 
 harp, 108 
 
 harvest, scene described, 83; time of, 83; 
 rain in, 121
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ^49 
 
 Havilah, T42 
 
 Hazor, 120 
 
 lieart^ Scripture meaning of, 108 
 
 Hebrew MSS., 14; date of, 243; errors 
 
 of. S5, 93, 96, 123, 124, 162, 214, 220, 
 
 227 
 Hebrews, use of the name, 71, 124, 133 
 Hebron, 230 
 
 Hierarchy, period of the, 27 
 Iiigh-places, 125 
 High-priests, why two in David's reign, 
 
 217 
 Hircsh, 193 
 Hittites, 20S 
 hold, 187 
 holiness a special attribute of Jehovah, 
 
 86 
 Hoinoeoteleuton, 106, 137 
 honey, 133 
 Hormah, 230 
 horn, to exalt the, 52 
 hosts, 235 
 housetop, 104 
 
 Ibzik, 113 
 
 Ichabod, 73 
 
 increase, 62 
 
 inquire of the Lord, 11 1 
 
 Ishui, 139 
 
 Israel, epochs in the history of, («) The- 
 ocracy, 26, (/i) Monarchy, 27, (c) Hier- 
 archy, 27; subjection to the Philistines, 
 87, 128; congregation of, no; repre- 
 sented by elders, 94; divisions of the 
 nation, in; exterminating wars of, 
 240 
 
 Jabesh-Gilead. 114, 116; gratitude of its 
 inhabitants to Saul, 116 
 
 Jattir, -zii) 
 
 Jeba, 107, 123 
 
 Jebel Fjiklia, 217 
 
 'Jfbel Hadhireh, 120 
 
 Jehovah, true pronunciation of, lost, 236; 
 represented in E.V. by Lord, 236; the 
 living God, 157; the Name of, 161; 
 wars of, 167, 204; enemies of, 229 
 
 Jelbdn, 217 
 
 Jephthah, 120 
 
 Jerahmeelites, 215 
 
 Jeremiah, references to Shiloh in, 65 
 
 Jerubbaai, 120 
 
 Jerusalem, 162 
 
 yeshimon, 193 
 
 Jesse, 148 
 
 jewel, 82 
 
 Jezreel, 222 
 
 Jezreel of Judah, 207 
 
 Joab, 208 
 
 Jonathan, his friendship with David, 41, 
 163; meaning of the name, 123; his 
 unintentional transgression, 137; heroic 
 character, 137; rescued by the people, 
 138; gives his arms to David, 164; re- 
 
 I. SAMUEL 
 
 news his covenant with David, 176; 
 parting with David, 193; death and 
 burial, 223 
 
 Judas Maccabaeus, 131, 134 
 
 Judges, the period of, its character, 26; 
 chronology, 70; oppressions during, 
 119; judges referred to, 120; resem- 
 blance to language of book of, 120 
 
 justice, imperfect Oriental idea of, 241 
 
 Keilah, 190 
 
 Kenites, 141 
 
 Kharas, 1S7 
 
 Khoreisa, 193 
 
 Kkureitun, 1S6 
 
 Kila, 190 
 
 King, sin of the request for a, 94; why 
 granted, 26, 27 ; character of an Ori- 
 ental, 95; early allusion to a, 55 ; when 
 anointed, 105 
 
 kinndr, 108 
 
 Kirjath-jearim, 86 
 
 El Kolak, 194 
 
 Kthibh, 14 
 
 Kubbet Rahil, 106 
 
 Kuryet-el-enab, 86 
 
 Ktirmul, 143 
 
 Laish, 207 
 
 lamp of God, 64 
 
 Law, book of the, 112 
 
 lighted, 203 
 
 lion, 159 
 
 Lord = Jehovah, 236 
 
 Lord of Hosts, 235 
 
 lo}-ds of the Philistmes, 77 
 
 lots, use of, m, 137 
 
 lucre, 93 
 
 madness. Oriental regard for, 185 
 Magog, 238 
 Maon, 194 
 
 meals quickly prepared in the East, 221 
 measure, 202 
 meat, 179 
 vicil, 58 
 
 tnen cf Keilah, 192 
 Merab, 167, 242 
 
 Messiah, expectation of, developed by 
 the Monarchy, 27 ; meaning of title, 
 
 55, 105 
 mice, plague of, 77, 80, 81 
 Michmash, passage of, 129 
 Migron, 129 
 Mizpah, 88 
 Mizpeh of Moab, 186 
 Moabites, 113, 138 
 Monarchy, period of the, 27 
 mourning, signs of, 73 
 mother, reproach cast on a, 180 
 Miikhmas, 123 
 music, power of, 151 
 
 Nabal, 200 
 
 17
 
 250 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 jtdM=proph.et, 100 
 
 }iac/ia/=ia.vine, 141, 225 
 
 Nahash, 113 
 
 Naioth, jj^ 
 
 Name of Jehovah, 122 
 
 Nazarite vow, 47 
 
 iiebel, 108 
 
 Neby Diihy, 216 
 
 Neby Saimuil, 43, 88 
 
 necromancy, 218 
 
 AV?t'/'=south-country, 224 
 
 Ner, probably Saul's uncle, 139 
 
 new moon, 175 
 
 Nob, 1S2 
 
 Oaths characteristic of Samuel and Kings, 
 
 67 . . 
 
 Ob- familiar spirit, 216 
 
 obligations, conflict of ceremonial and 
 moral, 183 
 
 offering, 60 
 
 Old Testament, Hebrew division of, 25; 
 difference from secular histories, 24 ; 
 record of preparation for the Incarna- 
 tion, 25 ; periods of history in, 24 — 28 ; 
 moral difficulties of, 240 
 
 Omnipresence of God not yet realised, 
 107 
 
 OH — o(, 215 
 
 Ophrah, 127 
 
 Oriental custom of kings murdering their 
 predecessor's family, 177, 198 
 
 Palestine, derivation of, 240 
 Paran, wilderness of, 199 
 parched corn, 156, 202 
 /ar^-= share, 229 
 partridge, 211 
 Peninnah, 44 
 people — zxtaY, 70, 124 
 pe7-adveiitiire, 99 
 pertain, 202 
 
 Philistines, origin of, 23S; country of, 
 238; government of, 239; history of, 
 
 239 
 
 //«<■(' = monument, 143 
 
 polygamy, 44 
 
 prayer, postures for, 51 
 
 precious, 63 
 
 presents, 99, 113, 131 
 
 presumptuous sins, 66 
 
 priest's share of sacrifice, 56, 103; duties, 
 
 60 
 prophesy, 107, 166 
 prophet, 100 
 Prophets, order of, 33, 34; schools of, 33, 
 
 173 ; value to the nation, 34: national 
 
 historians, lo, 11, 34 
 Psalms illustrating this period of David's 
 
 life, 38 ; on Goliath, 162 ; referred to, 
 
 vii. 17s, 197; .xxxiv. 185; XXXV. 198; 
 
 lii. 188 ; liv. 193, 207 ; Ivi. 185 ; Ivii. 195 ; 
 
 lix. i7i;lxiii 187; cxlii. 195 
 psaltery, 108 
 
 put his life in his hand, 170 
 
 Qrt, 14 
 
 quit yourselves, 72 
 
 Rachel's sepulchre, loS 
 
 rain in harvest, 121 
 
 raisins, 202 
 
 Ramah, site of, 43 
 
 E am- Allah, 43 
 
 Ramoth, 229 
 
 7'edcinption, 119 
 
 rehearse, 97 
 
 repentance, God's, 142, 146 
 
 road=xsi\A, 214 
 
 roeh = seer, 100 
 
 ruddy, 150 
 
 runners, 96, 1S9 
 
 Sabaoth, 235 
 
 sacrifice, 60 
 
 sacrifice, description of a, s<5 
 
 sacrifice, family, 176 
 
 j(j/i^= thought, 149, 167 
 
 saints, 55 
 
 salvation, 53 
 
 Samson, contemporary with Eli, 70 
 
 Samuel, meaning of name, 49; life and 
 work of, 29 — 33 ; contrasted with Eli's 
 sons, 57; age at his call, 63 ; nature of 
 his ministry at Shiloh, 67 ; as inter- 
 cessor, 88, 143; farewell address, 117; 
 pastoral visits, 148; death and burial, 
 199; apparition, 219, 244; judgeship, 
 30, 89; work in establishing the 
 kingdom, 30; Saul's counsellor, 31; 
 founder of the Prophetic Order, 31; 
 priestly functions, 31, 32, 62, 63 ; 
 character, 32 
 
 Samuel, Books of, original unity of the 
 books, 9 ; titles in LXX. and Vulgate, 
 9; meaning of the title, 9; authorship, 
 10; sources, 10 — 12; date, 12; canon- 
 icity, 13 ; historical accuracy, 13 ; 
 materials for determining the text, 
 14 — 16 
 
 Analysis of the contents, 17 — 22 ; 
 chronology, 22 — 24 ; place in the his- 
 tory of the Kingdom of God, 24 — 29 ; 
 references to in N. T. 13, 127 ; probable 
 later additions to, 241 — 243; supposed 
 duplicate narratives in, 243 
 
 sanctify, 148 
 
 Saul, life and character of, 35 — 37; 
 length of his reign, 23, 123; reasons 
 for his rejection, 36; meaning of the 
 name, 97; confirmation of his kingdom, 
 117; anointed, 105, 117; sin at Gilgal, 
 126; his rash oath and its conse- 
 quences, 134; his wars, 13S; his family, 
 139; commission to destroy Amalek, 
 140; his failure, 144; abolition of 
 witchcraft, 145 ; never really penitent, 
 146; possessed by an evil spirit, 150;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 :?i 
 
 jealousy of David, 165 ; attempts on 
 David's life, 165, 171 ; Saul amors 5he 
 prophets, 109, 174; deserted by God, 
 217 ; consults the witch, 216 ff; death 
 and burial, 231 ff 
 
 Scopus, 88 
 
 scrabled, 185 
 
 scrip, 160 
 
 seer, 100 
 
 Sela-hammahlekoth, 195 
 
 Seneh, 130 
 
 Septuagint, date and character of, 14 — 
 16; value and interest, 15; j\ISS. of, 
 15; variations from Heb. text, 51, 69, 
 77, 81, 85, 103, iij, 118, 127, 131, 132, 
 133, 134, 137, 143. 153, 160. i62, 163, 
 165, i56, 167, 168, 185, 188, 191, T94, 
 213, 220, 224, 231, 241—243 
 
 Seren=\<:irA, 77 
 
 serpent, the brazen, 81 
 
 sen'aiits, 151 
 
 set by, i6g, 212 
 
 Shaarairn, 162 
 
 Shammah, 149 
 
 Shechincih, 75 
 
 sheep, 214 
 
 sheepfolds, 196 
 
 sheep-shearing, 200 
 
 Sheol, 54, 219 
 
 Shephelah=\ovi country, 190, 238 
 
 shewbread, 183 
 
 shield-bearer, 154 
 
 Shiloh, site of, 45 ; complete ruin of, 29, 
 86 ; not the only religious centre, 92 
 
 Slutk-ed-Dnbha, 127 
 
 Shunem, 216 
 
 Shur, 142 
 
 Shwweikeh, 152 
 
 single combats, 155 
 
 Siphmoth, 229 
 
 skirt, J 46 
 
 sling, 160 
 
 Sochoh, 152 
 
 Sola in, 216 
 
 songs, popular, 165, 1S5 
 
 span, 153 
 
 spear, a symbol of royalty, iCS 
 
 Spirit of the Lord, 108, 150 
 
 spirit, an evil, from the Lord, 150 
 
 spoil, division of, 228 
 
 Strengthof Isiael, 146 
 
 stripling, 163 
 
 stuff, 112 
 
 symbolical actions, 115, 146 
 
 tabernacle, at Shiloh, 47; at Nob 183; 
 
 w^omen serving in, 51 
 tabernacle oftlie congregation, 59 
 tabret, 108, 165 
 et Taiyibeh, 127 
 
 take thought for, 99 
 
 tale, i6q 
 
 target, '154 
 
 Targum, 16; specimen of, 236; quoted, 
 
 89. 144, 15s, 173 
 Telaim, 141 
 Telem, 214 
 
 Tell- or Tiileil-el-Ful, 107 
 Tell Main, 194 
 Tell-es-SdJi, 78 
 Tell Zakariya, 162 
 Tell Zif, 192 
 Temple, 47 
 Tei'aphim, 172 
 Theocracy, period of the, 26 
 timbrel, 108, 165 
 tofih, 108 
 trench, 157 
 trespass-offering, 80 
 troop, 2.2-J 
 
 uncircumcised, epithet for the Philistines, 
 131, 231 
 
 ■uncover the ear, 102 
 
 Urira and Thummim, 137, 217 
 
 ■utterly destroy, 141 
 
 valley, different Hebrew words for, 83, 
 
 141. 153. 225 
 versions, of the O. T. , 14 — 16 
 vows, 47 
 Vulgate, 16, 148 
 
 Wady Ararah, 229 
 
 IVady ISIalaki, 195 
 
 Wady es Skeriah, ■226 
 
 IVady es Sunt, 152 
 
 Wady es Suwcinit, 123 ; meaning of 
 
 name, 131 
 Wady Vubis, 114 
 war-cry, 157 
 wars, exterminating, 240 
 •ward, 170 
 
 watches of the night, 116 
 wax, 64 
 wealth, 61 
 weaning, 49 
 weeping, 114 
 ■wilderness, 158 
 witch of Endor, 244 
 •wizard, ■216 
 worship, many places for, during this 
 
 period, 32, 92, loi 
 
 Zeboim, valley of, 127 
 
 Zelzah, 106 
 
 Zerin, 222 
 
 Ziklag, 213; its value to David, 213 
 
 Ziph, 192 
 
 Zobah, 138 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: I'KINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. i SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
 THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 O^pim'onsj of ti)t \^vt^^* 
 
 "The modesty of the general title of this series has, we believe 
 led many to misunderstand its character and underrate its value. The 
 books are well suited for study in the upper forms of our best schools, 
 but not the less are they adapted to the wants of all Bible students 
 who are not specialists. We doubt, indeed, whether any of the 
 numerous popular commentaries recently issued in this country will be 
 found more serviceable for general use." — Academy. 
 
 "A very important work in the nature of a Scriptural text-book foi 
 the use of students has been undertaken by the Syndics of the Cam- 
 bridge University Press — namely, the separate issue of the several books 
 of the Bible, each edited and annotated by some Biblical scholar of high 
 
 reputation The value of the work as an aid to Biblical study, not 
 
 merely in schools but among people of all classes who are desirous to 
 have intelligent knowledge of the Scriptures, cannot easily be over- 
 estimated." — The Scotsman. 
 
 " Dr Maclear's commentary for Schools on Tlie Book of Joshua is, 
 as may be anticipated from him, clear and compendious. The historical 
 books of the Old Testament are especially adapted for such an exegesis, 
 elucidating many minute points, which might escape the observation of 
 a less careful student. Another volume of the same series, Tlie Gospel 
 of St Matthew, with Mr Carr's annotations, deserves equally high 
 praise. The commentary is terse and scholarly, without losing its 
 interest for ordinary readers. The maps, the index, and the tabulated 
 information in the Appendix all enhance the usefulness of this handy 
 little volume. The name of the editor, DrPLUMPTRE, is in itself enough 
 to recommend the edition of The General Epistle of St James, in 
 the same series. More copious than the companion volumes, it 
 contains some lengthy notes in the form of an excursus — e.g. on the 
 personal relation of St Paul and St James the Less." — Guardian. 
 
 The Book of Judges. J. J. Lias, M. A. " His introduction is clear 
 and concise, full of the information which young students require, and 
 indicating the lines on which the various problems sugge^ed by the 
 Book of Judges may be solved. We are greatly pleased with his 
 masterly and helpful addition to our Old Testament literature." — 
 Baptist Magazine. 
 
 1 Samuel, by A. F. Kirkpatrick. "Remembering the interest 
 with which we read \X\q Books of the Kingdom when they were appointed 
 as a subject for school work in our bo)hood, we have looked with some 
 eagerness into Mr Kirkpatrick's volume, which contains the first instal- 
 ment of them. We are struck with the great improvement in character, 
 and variety in the materials, with which schools are now supplied. A 
 clear map inserted in each volume, notes suiting the convenience of the 
 scholar and the difficulty of the passage, and not merely dictated by the 
 fancy of the commentator, were luxuries which a quarter of a century 
 ago the Biblical student could not buy. ...As to the notes themselves, we 
 
 IO,OCO 
 
 5/I2/S4
 
 1 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS & COLLEGES. 
 
 have found each single difficulty which puzzled us in our j-outh noticed 
 and fairly solved." — Church Quarterly Review, April, iSSr. 
 
 "To the valuable series of Scriptural expositions and elementary 
 commentaries which is being issued at the Cambridge University Press, 
 under the title 'The Cambridge Bible for Schools,' has been added 
 The First Book of Samuel by the Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick. Like 
 other volumes of the series, it contains a carefully written historical and 
 critical introduction, while the text is profusely illustrated and explained 
 by notes." — The Scotsman. 
 
 "To the volume on I. Samuel we give our very warm commenda- 
 tion. It is designed, not for teachers, but for learners, and especially 
 for young men in schools and colleges. At the same time, it will be 
 interesting and profitable to all who wish to read the Bible intelli- 
 gently. " — I\Iethodist Recorder. 
 
 II. Samuel. A. F. Kirkpatrick, M.A. "Small as this work is 
 in mere dimensions, it is every way the best on its subject and for its 
 purpose that we know of. The opening sections at once prove the 
 thorough competence of the writer for dealing with questions of criti- 
 cism in an earnest, faithful and devout spirit ; and the appendices discuss 
 a few special difficulties with a full knowledge of the data, and a judicial 
 reserve, which contrast most favourably with the superficial dogmatism 
 which has too often made the exegesis of the Old Testament a field for 
 the play of unlimited paradox and the ostentation of personal infalli- 
 bility. The notes are always clear and suggestive; never trifling or 
 irrelevant ; and they everywhere demonstrate the great difference in 
 value between tlie work of a commentator who is also a Hebraist, and 
 that of one who has to depend for his Hebrew upon secondhand 
 sources." — Academy. 
 
 "The Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick has now completed his commentary 
 on the two books of Samuel. This second volume, like the first, is 
 furnished with a scholarly and caiefally prepared critical and historical 
 introduction, and the notes supply everything necessary to enable the 
 merely English scholar — so far as is possible for one ignorant of the 
 original language — to gatlier up the precise meaning of the text. Even 
 Hebrew scholars may consult this small volume with profit." — Scotsman. 
 
 The Book of Job. "Able and scholarly as the Introduction is, it is 
 far surpassed by the detailed exegesis of the book. In this Dr Davidson's 
 strength is at its greatest. His linguistic knowledge, his artistic habit, 
 his scientific insight, and his literary power have full scope when he 
 
 comes to exegesis The bookis worthy of the reputation of Dr Davidson; 
 
 it represents the results of many years of labour, and it will greatly help 
 to the right understanding of one of the greatest works in the literature 
 of the world." — The Spectator. 
 
 "In the course of a long introduction, Dr Davidson has presented 
 us with a very able and very interesting criticism of this wonderful 
 book. Its contents, the nature of its composition, its idea and purpose, 
 its integrity, and its age are all exhaustively treated of.... We have not 
 space to examine fully the text and notes before us, but we can, and do 
 heartily, recommend the book, not only for the upper forms in schools, 
 but to Bible students and teachers generally. As we wrote of a previous 
 volume in the same series, this one leaves nothing to be desired. The
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. S 
 
 notes are full and suggestive, without being too long, and, in itself, the 
 introduction forms a valuable addition to modern Bible literature." — The 
 £.diicatwnal Times. 
 
 "Already we have frequently called attention to this exceedingly 
 valuable work as its volumes have successively appeared. But we have 
 never done so with greater pleasure, very seldom with so great pleasure, 
 as we now refer to the last published volume, that on the Book of Job, 
 by Dr Davidson, of Edinburgh.... We cordially commend the volume to 
 all our readers. The least .instructed will understand and enjoy it ; 
 and mature scholars will learn from it." — Methodist Recorder. 
 
 Ecclesiastes ; or, the PreachGr. — "Of the Notes, it is sufficient to 
 say that they are in every respect worthy of Dr Plumptre's high repu- 
 tation as a scholar and a critic, being at once learned, sensible, and 
 practical. . . . An appendix, in which it is clearly proved that the 
 author of Ecclesiastes anticipated Shakspeare and Tennyson in some 
 of their finest tlioughts and reflections, will be read with interest by 
 students both of Hebrew and of English literature. Commentaries are 
 seldom attractive reading. This little volume is a notable exception." — 
 The Scotsman. 
 
 "In short, this little book is of far greater value than most of the 
 larger and more elaborate commentaries on this Scripture. Indispens- 
 able to the scholar, it will render real and large help to all who have to 
 expound the dramatic utterances of The Preacher whether in the Church 
 or in the School." — The Expositor. 
 
 "The '■ideal biography' of the author is one of the most exquisite 
 and fascinating pieces of writing we have met with, and, granting its 
 starting-point, throws wonderful lighten many problems connected with 
 the book. The notes illustrating the text are full of delicate criticism, 
 fine glowing insight, and apt historical allusion. An abler volume 
 than Professor PlUiMPTRE's we could not desire." — Baptist Magazine. 
 
 Jeremiah, by A. W. Streane. "The arrangement of the book is 
 well treated on pp. xxx., 396, and the question of Baruch's relations 
 with its composition on pp. xxvii., xxxiv., 317. The illustrations from 
 English literature, history, monuments, works on botany, topography, 
 etc., are good and plentiful, as indeed they are in other volumes of this 
 series." — Church Quarterly Revic^u, April, 1881. 
 
 "Mr Streane's Jererniah consists of a series of admirable and well- 
 nigh exhaustive notes on the text, with introduction and appendices, 
 drawing the life, times, and character of the prophet, the style, contents, 
 find arrangement of his prophecies, the traditions relating to Jeremiah, 
 meant as a type of Christ (a most remarkable chapter), and other 
 prophecies relating to Jeremiah." — The English Churchman and Clerical 
 yournal. 
 
 Ohadiah and Jonah. " This number of the admirable series of 
 Scriptural expositions issued by the Syndics of the Cambridge Univer- 
 sity Press is well up to the mark. In his separate introductions to 
 Obadiah and Jonah, Archdeacon Perowne has briefly but clearly and 
 judiciously treated of the authorship, date of composition, and critical 
 difficulties connected with either book . . . Tlie numerous notes are 
 excellent. No difficulty is shirked, and much light is thrown on the 
 contents both of Obadiah and Jonah, Scholars and students of to-day
 
 4 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS & COLLEGES. 
 
 are to be congratulated on having so large an amount of information on 
 Biblical subjects, so clearly and ably put together, placed vviihin their 
 reach in such small bulk. To all Biblical students the series will be 
 acceptable, and for the use of Sabbath-School teachers and those 
 preparing for examination in Biblical literature the several treatises 
 will prove invaluable." — North British Daily Mail. 
 
 " It is a very useful and sensible exposition of these two Minor 
 Prophets, and deals very thoroughly and honestly with the immense 
 difficulties of the later-named of the two, from the orthodox point of 
 vie w .' ' — Expositor. 
 
 "The Cambridge University Press has not made of late years a 
 more valuable contribution to the literature of the age than this series 
 of books of the Bible, which has been prepared specially for schools.... 
 We have been most careful to examine St Matthew, edited by Rev. A. 
 Carr, M. a., as our thoughts are directed in the line of the International 
 Lessons for the first six months of the next year, and we are very pleased 
 to direct our readers' attention to a work which is calculated to be so 
 helpful to them." — 77?;? Sunday School Chronicle. 
 
 " Tlie Gospel according to St Matthew, by the Rev. A. Carr. The 
 introduction is able, scholarly, and eminently practical, as it bears 
 on the authorship and contents of the Gospel, and the original form 
 in which it is supposed to have been written. It is well illustrated by 
 two excellent maps of the Holy Land and of the Sea of Galilee." — 
 English Ckiirchnian. 
 
 "St Matthew, edited by A. Carr, M.A. The Book of Joshua, 
 edited by G. F. Maclear, D.D. The General Epistle of St James, 
 edited by E. H. Plumptre, D.D. The introductions and notes are 
 scholarly, and generally such as young readers need and can appre- 
 ciate. The maps in both Joshua and Matthew are very good, and all 
 matters of editing are faultless. Professor Plumptre's notes on 'The 
 Epistle of St James' are models of terse, exact, and elegant renderings 
 of the original, which is too often obscured in the authorised version." — 
 Nonconformist. 
 
 "With Mr Carr's well-edited apparatus to St Matthew's Gospel, 
 where the text is that of Dr Scrivener's Cambridge Paragraph Bible, 
 we are sure the young student will need nothing but a good Greek 
 
 text We should doubt whether any volume of like dimensions could 
 
 be found so sufficient for the needs of a student of the first Gospel, from 
 whatever point of view he may approach it." — Saturday Reviro). 
 
 "St Mark, with Notes by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. Into 
 this small volume Dr Maclear, besides a clear and able Introduc- 
 tion to the Gospel, and the text of St Mark, has compressed many 
 hundreds of valuable and helpful notes. In short, he has given us 
 a capital manual of the kind required — containing all that is needed to 
 illustrate the text, i. e. all that can be drawn from the history, geography, 
 customs, and manners of the time. But as a handbook, giving in a 
 clear and succinct form the information which a lad requires in order 
 
 to stand an examination in the Gospel, it is admirable I can very 
 
 heartily commend it, not only to the senior boys and girls in our High 
 Schools, but also to Sunday-school teachers, who may get from it the 
 very kind of knowledge they often find it hardest to get."— Expositor.
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "With the help of a book like this, an intelligent teacher may make 
 'Divinity' as interesting a lesson as any in the school course. The 
 notes are of a kind that will be, for the most part, intelligible to boys 
 of the lower forms of our public schools; but they may be read with 
 greater profit by the fifth and sixth, in conjunction with the original 
 text." — The Academy. 
 
 "St Mark is edited by Dr Maclean, Head Master of King's 
 College School. It is a very business-like little book. The text is 
 given in paragraphs, and each paragraph has a title, which reappears as 
 a division of the notes. The introduction, which occupies twentv pages, 
 is clear and good, and concludes with an analysis of the book." — Con- 
 teriiporary Heview. 
 
 "Canon Farrar has supplied students of the Gospel with an ad- 
 mirable manual in this volume. It has all that copious variety of illus- 
 tration, ingenuity of suggestion, and general soundness of interpretation 
 which readers are accustomed to expect from the learned and eloquent 
 editor. Any one who has been accustomed to associate the idea of 
 •dryness' with a commentary, should go to Canon Farrar's St Luke for 
 a more correct impression. He will find that a commentary may be 
 made interesting in the highest degree, and that without losing anything 
 of its solid value. . . . But, so to speak, it is too good for some of the 
 readers for whom it is intended." — The Spectator. 
 
 "Canon Farrar's contribution to The Cambridge School Bible 
 is one of the most valuable yet made. His annotations on The Gospel 
 according to St Luke, while they display a scholarship at least as sound, 
 and an erudition at least as wide and varied as those of the editors of 
 St Matthew and St Mark, are rendered telling and attractive by a 
 more lively imagination, a keener intellectual and spiritual insight, a 
 more incisive and picturesque style. Wis St Luke isworthy tobe ranked 
 with Professor Plumptre's St James, tlian which no higher commend- 
 ation can well be given." — The Expositor. 
 
 "St Luke. Edited by Canon Farrar, D.D. We have received with 
 pleasure this edition of the Gospel by St Luke, by Canon Farrar. It is 
 another instalment of the best school commentary of the Bible we pos- 
 sess. Of the expositoiy part of the work we cannot speak too highly. 
 It is admirable in every way, and contains just the sort of informa- 
 tion needed for Students of the English text unable to make use of the 
 original Greek for themselves." — 7'he A'oncovfornnst atid Indipcndcnt. 
 
 "No one who has seen Canon Farrar's 'Life of Christ' and 'St 
 Paul,' will doubt us when we say that every page of his 'St Luke' 
 contains useful and suggestive comments. It is intended to issue the 
 whole of the Bible in similar style. We strongly advise our readers to 
 obtain a prospectus of this publication." — The Lay Preacher. 
 
 "As a handl)ook to the third gospel, this small work is invaluable. 
 The author has compressed into little space a vast mass of scholarly in- 
 formation. . . The notes are pithy, vigorous, and suggestive, abounding 
 in pertinent illustrations from general literature, and aiding the youngest 
 reader to an intelligent appreciation of the text. A finer contribution to 
 'The Cambridge Bible for Schools' has not yet been made." — Baptist 
 Magazine. 
 
 "We were quite prepared to find in Canon Farrar's St Luke a
 
 6 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS & COLLEGES. 
 
 masterpiece of Biblical criticism and comment, and we are not dis- 
 appointed by our examination of the volume before us. it reflects very 
 faithfully the learning and critical insight of the Canon's greatest works, 
 his 'Life of Christ' and his 'Life of St Paul', but differs widely from 
 both in the terseness and condensation of its style. What Canon Farrar 
 has evidently aimed at is to place before students as much information 
 as possible within the limits of the smallest possible space, and 
 in this aim he has hit the mark to perfection." — The Examiner. 
 
 The Gospel according to St John. "Of the notes we can say with 
 confidence that they are useful, necessary, learned, and brief. To 
 Divinity students, to teachers, and for private use, this compact 
 Commentary will be found a valuable aid to the better understanding 
 of the Sacred ^tyX.'' —School Guardian. 
 
 "The new volume of the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools' — the 
 Gospsl according to St John, by the Rev. A. Plummer— "shows as 
 careful and thorough work as either of its predecessors. The intro- 
 duction concisely yet fully describes the life of St John, the authenticity 
 of the Gospel, its characteristics, its relation to the Synoptic Gospels, 
 and to the Apostle's First Epistle, and the usual subjects referred to in . 
 an 'introduction'."— 77/a-C/i;-«//a« C/«<;r/i. 
 
 "The notes are extremely scholarly and valuable, and in rnost cases 
 exhaustive, bringing to the elucidation of the text all that is best in 
 commentaries, ancient and modern." — The English Churchman and 
 Clerical Journal. 
 
 "(i) The Acts of the Apostles. By J. Rawson Lumby, D.D. 
 (■2) The Second Epistle of the Corinthians, edited by Professor Lias. 
 The introduction is pithy, and contains a mass of carefully-selected 
 information on the authorship of the Acts, its designs, and its sources. 
 
 The Second Epistle of the Corinthians is a manual beyond all praise, 
 
 for the excellence of its pithy and pointed annotations, its analysis of the 
 contents, and the fulness and value of its introduction." — Examiner. 
 
 "The concluding portion of the Acts of the Apostles, under the very 
 competent editorship of Dr Lumby, is a valuable addition to our 
 school-books on that subject. Detailed criticism is impossible within 
 the space at our command, but we may say that the ample notes touch 
 with much exactness the very points on which most readers of the text 
 desire information. Due reference is made, where necessary, to the 
 Revised Version; the maps are excellent; and we do not know of any 
 other volume where so much help is given to the complete understand- 
 in<T of one of the most important and, in many respects, difficult books 
 of^the New Testament." — School Guardian. 
 
 "The Rev. PI. C G. Moule, M.A., has made a valuable addition 
 to The Cambridge Bif.le for Schools in his brief commentary on 
 the Epistle to the Romans. The "Notes" are very good, and lean, 
 as the notes of a School Bible should, to the most commonly ac- 
 cepted and orthodox view of the inspired author's meaning; while the 
 Introduction, and especially the Sketch of the Life of St Paul, is a model 
 of condensation. It is as lively and pleasant to read as if two or three 
 facts had not been crowded into well-nigh every z&nitnce."— Expositor. 
 "The Epistle to the Romans. It is seldom we have met with a 
 work so remarkable for the compression and condensation ot all that
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 is valuable in the smallest possible space as in the volume before us. 
 Within its limited pages we have 'a sketch of the Life of St Paul,' 
 which really amounts to a full and excellent biography; we have 
 further a critical account of the date of the Epistle to the Romans, of 
 its language, and of its genuineness. The notes are numerous, full of 
 matter, to the point, and leave no real difficulty or obscurity unex- 
 plained." — The Examiner. 
 
 "The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Edited by Professor Lias. 
 Every fresh instalment of this annotated edition of the Bible for schools 
 confirms the favourable opinion we formed of its value from the exami- 
 nation of its first number. The origin and plan of the Epistle are 
 discussed with its character and genuineness." — The Noncoiifoj-niist. 
 
 • " The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. By Professor Lias. The 
 General Epistles of St Peter and St Jude. By E. H. Plumptre, D.D. 
 We welcome these additions to the valuable series of the Cambridge 
 Bible. We have nothing to add to the commendation which we 
 have from the first publication given to this edition of the Bible. It is 
 enough to say that Professor Lias has completed his work on the two 
 Epistles to the Corinthians in the same admirable manner as at first. 
 Dr Plumptre has also completed the Catholic Epistles. " — Nonconformist. 
 
 "The General Epistle of St James, by Professor Plumptre, D.D. 
 Nevertheless it is, so far as I know, by far the best exposition of the 
 Epistle of St Jam.es in the English language. Not Schoolboys or 
 Students going in for an examination alone, but Ministers and Preachers 
 of the Word, may get more real help from it than from the most costly 
 and elaborate commentaries." — Expositor. 
 
 The Epistles of St John. By the Rev. A. Plummer, M.A., D.D. 
 "This is a volume of the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges' 
 series (a very useful series, with a modest title), and a very good volume 
 this is. It forms an admirable companion to the 'Commentary on the 
 Gospel according to St John,' which was reviewed in The Chiirchinan 
 as soon as it appeared. Dr Plummer has some of the highest qualifica- 
 tions for such a task ; and these two volumes, their size being considered, 
 will bear comparison with the best Commentaries of the time." — The 
 Chitrchi7ian. 
 
 "His small volume is, for all practical purposes, complete, both in 
 the Introduction and Notes. He is an accomplished scholar, a keen 
 dialectician, a sound critic, and a judicious expositor, in mil sympathy, 
 also, with the utterances of the great Apostle of Love. Our space does 
 not admit us to enter into details, but the estimate we have expressed 
 is the result of a full and minute acquaintance with this delightful 
 little book." — The Baptist Magazine. 
 
 " Dr Plummer's edition of the Epistles of St John is worthy oi its 
 companions in the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools' Scries. The 
 subject, though not apparently extensive, is really one not easy to 
 treat, and requiring to be treated at length, owing to the constant 
 reference to obscure heresies in the Johannine writings. Dr Plummer 
 has done his exegetical task well." — The Saturday Review.
 
 GREEK TESTAMENT, 
 
 THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT 
 
 FOR SCHOOLS AiND COLLEGES, 
 
 with a Revised Text, based on the most recent critical authorities, and 
 
 English Notes, prepared under the du-ection of the General Editor, 
 
 The Very Reverend J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D., 
 
 DEAN OF I'ETERBUROUGH. 
 
 St Matthew. "With the 'Notes,' in the volume before us, we are 
 much pleased ; so far as we have searched, they are scholarly and 
 sound. The quotations from the Classics are apt ; and the references 
 to modern Greek form a pleasing feature." — The Churchman. 
 
 "Copious illustrations, gathered from a great variety of sources, 
 make his notes a very valuable aid to the student. They are indeed 
 remarkably interesting, while all explanations on meanings, applica- 
 tions, and the like are distinguished by their lucidity and good sense." — 
 Fall Mall Gazette. 
 
 St Mark. ' ' The Cambridge Greek Testament of which Dr ^L^Clear's 
 edition of the Gospel according to St Mark is a volume, certainly 
 supplies a want. Without pretending to compete with the leading 
 commentaries, or to embody very much original research, it forms a 
 most satisfactory introduction to the study of the New Testament in 
 
 the original Dr Maclear's introduction contains all that is known of 
 
 St Mark's life ; an account of the circumstances in which the Gospel 
 was composed, with an estimate of the influence of St Peter's teaching 
 upon St Mark ; an excellent sketch of the special characteristics of this 
 Gospel; an analysis, and a chapter on the te.xt of the New Testament 
 generally. " — Saturday Revirui. 
 
 St Luke. "Of this second series we have a new volume by 
 
 Archdeacon Farrar on St Luke, completing the four Gospels It 
 
 gives us in clear and beautiful language the best results of modern 
 scholarship. We have a most attractive Introduction. Then follows 
 a sort of composite Greek text, representing fairly and in very beautiful 
 type the consensus of modem textual critics. At the beginning of the 
 exposition of each chapter of the Gospel are a few short critical notes 
 giving the manuscript evidence for such various readings as seem to 
 deserve mention. Tiie expository notes are short, but clear and helpful. 
 The volume concludes with seven dissertations on matters of special 
 interest. For young students and for those who are not disposed to 
 buy or to study the much more costly work of Godet, this seems to us 
 to be the best book on the Greek Text of the Third Gospel." 
 
 St John. "We take this opportunity of recommending to ministers 
 on probation, who this year are studying St John's Gospel and the 
 Book of Acts, the very excellent volumes of the same series on these 
 parts of the New Testament. But for the Gospel of St John we hope 
 that most or all of our young ministers will prefer to study the volume 
 in the Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools, a series corresponding 
 with the Bible for Schools, and by the same authors." — Methodist 
 Recorder. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
 University Press, Cambridge. 
 
 December, 1884. 
 
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 The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English 
 
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 other Principal Editions, the Use of the Italic Type made uniform, 
 the Marginal References remodelled, and a Critical Introduction 
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 Revisers of the Authorized "Version. Crown Quarto, cloth gilt, i\s. 
 The Student's Edition of the above, on good -writing paper, with 
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 tions adapted to the Calendar and Tables of Lessons of 1871. 
 Crown Octavo, cloth, 3^. 6d. 
 
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 Fasciculus I. In quo continentur Kalendarium, et Ordo Tem- 
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