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Sfnbgment of i^olomon
BT JACOB JORDAENB^ A GREAT MASTER OF THE FLEMISH SCHOOL^ DIED 1678.
+
"And the king 9aid, Divide the living child in iwo." — I, Kings, 3, 26.
HERE again is shown one of the celebrated biblical conceptions of the masters of the great days of painting, pictures to be studied, not for the costuming, which is incorrect, but for the spirit which is essentially true to hu- manity, and for the beauty and strength of the artist's thought.
Solomon being offered by God the grace of any one gift he might desire, asked for wisdom, that he might judge justly among his subjects. The first test of this wondrous gift was shown in the in- cident of the two women both of whom claimed the same child. Solomon bade one of his soldiers cut the child in half, and give a piece to each woman, foreseeing well that the real mother would yield everything rather than have her son thus slain. The result justified his wisdom, and when the true mother proved her devotion by offering to surrender the boy, Solomon bade her keep the little one herself. "And all Israel heard of the judgpnent which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment."
IV
I^olumt
jFourtti
Bible. €rfi\isW, A\a^Kd%-;3c *4 , Kt\0
The BIBLE
AND ITS STORr
*'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last"— AerelaMoiM, n, 13.
•
"The Bible Is a book of faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of mor- als, and a book of religion, of special revelation from God."— Dani«l Webster.
"It is a belief in the Bible, the fruits of deep mediUtion, which has senred me as the guide of my moral and literary- life."— Ooef^.
"The word unto the prophet spoken Was writ on tablets yet unbroken."— ^merton.
"The Gospel possesses a secret virtue, a mysterious efficacy, a warmth which penetrates and soothes the heart*'— TTafMleon.
"The grass withereth, the fiower fadeth; but the word of our Ood shall stand forever."— /«ala%, Jl/O, 8.
Edited by
Prof. Charles F. Home, M.S., Ph.D.
{Qf th& CoOege of th& OUy of New Tork) With the Assistance of
Rev. Prof, Julius A, Bewer, Ph,D.
Wf Union TheoloQical SenUnary)
Published by
FRANCIS R.NIGLUTSCH
New York
h
V. ^
COPTBIOHT, 1908, BT
F. R. NIOLUTSCH
COPTBIGHT, 1909, BT
F. R. NIGLUTSCH
COPTBIOHT. 1910, BT
F. R. NIGLUTSCH
11
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*M^¥¥S?¥5?TT?¥T???¥5¥f*T+¥*?T¥^?¥¥^^?T5^??T¥¥¥¥?TT?T¥¥?^??*?»*
Contents— l^olume iv
II SAMUEL 577
I KINGS S95
II KINGS 652
I CHKONICLES 706
n CHRONICLES 759
Hit of 3Uu£(trations;
|
Judgment of Solomon, |
|
|
Frontis]>iece |
|
|
Jerusalem (Map) . . |
. 378 |
|
David |
. 580 |
|
The Youth of David . |
. 582 |
|
Samuel Seeks a King Samuel Anoints David |
. 584 |
|
. 586 |
|
|
Saul's Despair |
. 588 |
|
David Soothes Saul . |
. 590 |
|
David Visits the Army |
. 592 |
|
The Lion Slain . . |
. 594 |
|
Samuel's Death . . |
. 594 |
|
Solomon's Temple |
. 595 |
Saul Gives David his Armor 596 "In the Nameof theLord" . 598 David Slays Goliath . . . 600 The Terror of the Philistines 602 The Rejoicing over Goliath's
Death 604
Saul Receives David . . . 606 Jonathan Welcomes David . 608 The End of the War . . .610 Saul Suspects David . . 612
The Evil Spirit Tempts Saul 614 Michal Presented to David . 616
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS — ^VOLUME IV.
TO FACS PACE
Jonathan Warns David . .618 Saul Again Attacks David . 620 David's Flight .... 622 Michal's Stratagem . . . 624 Saul Prophesies .... 626 The Hour of Need ... 628 Saul Threatens Jonathan . 630
The Signal 632
Goliath's Sword .... 634 David Among the Philistines 636 David's Parents in Exile . . 638 Saul Destroys the Priests . 640 The Friends' Last Parting . 642 Saul in David's Cave . . 644 The Proof of Mercv ... 646 Nabal . . . .' . . .648 Ahab's Death .... 650 Abigail Entreats Mercy . . 650 Abigail Summoned to David 652 The Chariot of Fire ... 652 David Among the Hosts of
Saul 654
"The Lord's Anointed'' . . 656 Israel Turns to David . . 658 David Serves the Philistines 660 The Witch of Endor . . 662 Samuel's Curse .... 664 The Egyptian Questioned . 666
The Rescue 668
Saul Slain 670
The Lamentation of Israel . 672 The Slayer Slain .... 674 David's Lament .... 676 The Crowning of David . . 678 The Twelve Against Twelve 680 Abner Summoned Back to
Jerusalem 682
Ish-bosheth's End ... 684 The Three Mighty Men . . 686 David Storms Jerusalem . 688 Da\id's Great Jubilee . . 690 Uzzah Smitten .... 692 The ^\rk Brought to Jerusa- lem 694
TO PACE rACB
Michal Scorns David
David Plans a Temple
Nathan Forbids David's Building ....
Moab Measured for Death
David's Ambassadors Insult- ed .... .
Sennacherib .
The Empire of Israel
David Defeats the Philistines
The Ammonites Harrowed
David's Temptation .
The Plot Against Uriah .
Nathan's Parable
David's Repentance
The Punishment .
Tamar
Absalom and Tamar
Amnon Slain . .
Absalom Pardoned
David's Flight .
Shimei Curses David
Ahithophel Rejected
David Welcomed in Exile
Absalom Slain
Absalom's Tomb
David Learns of His Son's Death . . .
David Mourns
David Restored .
Saeba's Rebellion
The Famine .
Rizpah.
The Pestilence
The Angel Stayed .
The Planning of God's House
The Last Rebellion .
God's Glory in the Temple
Benaiah
David's Last Song .
David's Last Counsel to Solo-
mon .... The Tomb of David Tailpiece .
696 698
700 702
704 704 706 706 708 710 712 714 716 718 720 722 724 726 728 730 732 734 736 738
740 742 744 746 748 750 752 754 756 758 759 760 762
764 766 768
THE SECOND BOOK OP
Samuel,
OTHERWISE CALLED, THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
chapter 18
1 Daaid vitvrbiQ Iht armitt In their march (rfwi* than diarge of Abialim. fl The Itraelitn are lore emiOeit in Ih4 vood of Bphraitn. 9 Abmlom, hanging in an oak. I'a tlain bv Joab and cad into a pit. IS Abtalom't place. 19 AAtmaiu and CuAi bring lidiTifft h David. 33 David moumelh Jar Abtaiom.
^ ND David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third
Sart under the hand of Abishai the son of eruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. Ana the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth "'' ~ with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we 6ee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now tkou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore now ii is better that thou succour us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them, Wiat seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate-side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying. Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge <roncermng Absalom.
578 SECOND SAMUEL XVIII — DEATH OF ABSALOM
6 ^ So the people went out into the field against Israel : and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 ^ And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went 9l^b.j.
10 And a certain man saw it^ and told Joab, and said. Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab said imto the man that told him. And, behold, thou sawest him^ and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground ? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thou- sand .shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying. Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own Uf e : for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet aUve in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pur- suing after Israel : for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom, and cast nim into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18 ^ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.
19 ^ Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies.
20 And Joab said unto him. Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day : but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But
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'*And David and all Israd went to JeruMlemf wkiek is Jdnu: where the JebusUes were^ the inhabitants ifike land** — I, Chron.^ 11^ 4-
JERUSALEM did not whollj and properly become a Hebrew city until David's time. It had indeed been captured in Joshua's day and used apparently as a capital by Saul. Yet the original inhabitants, the Jebus- ites, retained partial possession of it Then came David's first great military exploit as king. He stormed Jerusalem, conquered even its central portion, the citadel of the Jebusites, and made the dty his capital. Since then it has always remained the chief dty of Palestine.
King David ** dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the dty of David." He also "built the dty round about." His general Joab ''repaired the rest of the dty." Under David, Jerusalem became also the chief religious centre of the Israelites, the shrine of the celebrated ark. Then Solomon built "the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah." The site of this was a "threshing floor," whereon David had erected an altar to Grod in the time of a great plague, hence apparently Mount Moriah had not before been within the walls of the dty. Solomon extended these walls about his temple; then he built palaces for himself and his queens. David had also built himself a palace, so that the city now took on a look of splendor very different from its earlier ruggedness as a mountain fortress.
iv-3
^^^
SECOND SAMUEL XVIII — ^MOURNING OF DAVID 579
howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said. Wherefore wilt thou run, mv son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready ?
23 But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him. Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
24 And David sat between the two gates : and the watchman went up' to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said. If he he alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace» and drew near.
26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watch- man called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
27 And the watchman said. Me thinketh the running of the fore- most is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said. He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.
28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto tne king. All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said. Blessed he the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up tne men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.
29 And the king said. Is the young man Absalom safe.^^ And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
30 And the king said unto him. Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said. Tidings, my lord the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
32 Ana the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe ? And Cushi answered. The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is,
S3 Tf And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
Cfiapter 19
1 Joob eauteth (he king to cease his motaming. 0 The Israelites are earnest to bring the king hack. 11 David rnndeth to the priests to incite them of Judah. 18 Shimei is pardoned. 24 Mephibotheth excused. 32 BarsiUai dismissed. Chtmham his son is taken into the king's family. 41 The Israelites expostulate trith Judah for bringing home the king without them,
ND it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. ^_^ 2 And the victorv that day was turned into mourning unto au ine people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.
580 SECOND SAMUEL XIX — DAVID's RESTORATION
3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamedsteal awinr when they flee in battle.
4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said. Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have -saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;
6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Aosalom had Uved, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.
7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the Lord if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying. Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
9 1 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying. The king saved us out of the nand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back ?
11 ^ And king iJavid sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying. Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying. Why are ve the last to bnng the king back to his house ? seeing tne speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king ?
13 And say ye to x\masa. Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh ? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man ; so that they sent this word unto the king. Return thou, and all thy servants.
15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.
16 if And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which wa^ of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.
17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziha the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his
; i
Babtb
BT GUBTAVE MOBEAU, A FRENCH ABTaSTT* DOED 1898.
4*
**Aitd the fame of David went out into aU lands; and the .Lord brought the fear of him upon all ruUions** — I, Chron., U. 17.
DAVID ia celebrated in history as the great founder of the Israelite monarchy, the wise and able chieftain who welded this loose federation of tribes into a single nation and used its forces successfully in the establishment of an empire. Next to Moses he is the most prominent figure in the Old Testament history of the Hebrew race.
To most of us, however, David is less familiar as a king than as a man, a man whose whole life has been laid bare before us with a frankness such as few lives could stand. No other portion of the Old Testament extends to such fullness of detail as do the chapters dealing with David's life. They are elaborately minute. Their hero is per- haps the most admirable and at the same time the most lovable figure in all history. His life was indeed stained by one great crime, which plunged his later days into sor- row, heroically endured. But that crime was sincerely repented and patiently atoned; and without it how should we have realized the full humanity of the man, his mingled strength and weakness, and, above all, his loyal, confident faith in his Maker's goodness and forgiveness. David has often been quoted as typifying man's true attitude toward God.
Yet a third fame belongs to David as a poet and
musician, composer of many of those beautiful
Psalms which form one of the great
treasures of the Bible.
iv-4
SECOND SAMUEL XIX — DAVID's MERCY 581
twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.
18 And there went over a ferry Iboat to carry over the king's house- hold, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto note, neither do thou remember that which thv servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, be- hold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said. Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed ?
22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me ? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel ? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel ?
23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And Ihe king sware unto him.
24 ^ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.
25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth ?
26 And he answered. My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.
27 And he hatn slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king t^ as an angel of God : do therefore what is good in thine eyes.
28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have 1 yet to cry any more unto the king.
29 And the king said unto him, Whv speakest thou any more of thy matters ? I have said. Thou and 2iba divide the land.
30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king. Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come, again in peace unto his own house.
31 t And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old:
582 SECOND SAMUEL XIX — ^BARZILLAl's FRIENDSHIP
and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he wds a very great man.
33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee ^th me in Jerusalem.
34 And Barzillai said unto the king. How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem ?
35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between
food and evil ? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? can hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women ? where- fore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king ?
36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward ?
37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let mm go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatso- ever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.
39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.
40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.
41 ^ And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan ?
42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this mat- ter ? have we eaten at all of the king's cost! or hath he given us any gift ?
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, ana said. We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more riqkl in David than ye; why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king ? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer Uian the words of the men of Israel.
Cfiapter 20
1 By oeeasion off the quarrd, Sheba makeih a party in Itrad. 3 IXtvicTa ten coneubinu an thut up in perpehtai prieon. 4 Amaaa, made captain over Judah, ie dain by Joab. 14 Jodb pureueth Sh^M wUo Abel. 16 A viee woman eaveth the city by Sheba*8 head. 23 David'e officere.
T^-TT^
there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a
trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have
we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.
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BT ALE88ANDRO TURCHI, CALLED OBBETIOk AN ITALIAN PAINTER, DIED 1648.
*
**ne was ruddy^ and wUhal of a beaut^id eouubnano^ and goodly to look to."—/. Sam., 16, 12.
THE childhood of this lemarkablf jouth David was such as to fit him most effectivdy for the great work of his later years. He was bom. in the tumultuous days of Saul's ill-balanced kingfhip» when Israel was struggling for her very life against the increas- ing power of the Philistines. The land knew no peace, no security; a Philistine attack was always possible, or a raid from the more distant desert tribes, or even some sudden blow from the hand of Saul himself.
David's birthplace was Bethlehem, that little mountain
city where Benjamin the youngest of the children of
Jacob had first seen the light, centuries before, and where
centuries later was to be bom a babe yet more marvelous.
David's father Jesse, while not a wealthy man, was a
leader in the tribe of Judah, grandson to that Ruth the
Moabitess whose loyalty had made her beloved of Boaz.
The boy was the youngest of ten children, and hence
in a family of full grown men he was the least noted, the
least important His duty was to tend his father's sheep,
a work involving much wandering over the bleak hills,
in storm as well as sunshine, in silence and in solitude,
a life tending to self reliance and to meditation, a life
which still finds its echo in many of those
wonderful Psalms which the shepherd
learned to sing.
iv-5
SECOND SAMUEL XX — ^REBELLION OF SHEBA 583
8 So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3 ^ And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 ^ Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.
5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.
7 And there went out after him Joab'3 men, and the Cherethites, And the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before tftem. And Joab's garment that he had put on was
£'rded unto him, and upon it a girdle wUh a sword fastened upon his ins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.
9 And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother ? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth ri&, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not s^ain; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said. He that favoiu** eth Joab, and he that is for David, let him ao after Joab.
12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the. people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.
13 When he was removed out of the highwav, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 ^ And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites : and they were gathered together, and went also after him.
15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
16 ^ Then cried a wise woman out of the city. Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.
17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said. Art
584 SECOND SAMUEL XX — DOWNFALL OF SHEBA
thou Joab ? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him. Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
18 Then she spake, saying. They were wont to speak in old time, saying. They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter,
19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel : why wilt thou swal- low up the inheritance of the Lord ?
20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy,
21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king,. even against David : deliver him only, ana I will depart from the city. And the woman said, imto Joab, 6ehold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city,, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king*
23 1[ Now Joab wa^ over all the host of Israel : and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada wa^ over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:
24 And Adoram wa^ over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:
25 And Sheva was scribe : and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests :
26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David,
Chapter 21
1 TJu three yeart? (amine for the Gibeoniies ceaeelh, by hanging eeven of Saul* 8 sons. 10 Rizpah^s kindness uni» the dead. 12 David burieth the bones of SatU and Jonathan in his father's sepulchre. 15 Four batUes against the Philistines, uAerein four valiants of Dand slay four giants.
IHEN there was a famine in the days of David three years» year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, // is for Saul, and for his bloody house^ because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you.^ and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord.^
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him. We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man m Israel. And he said. What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
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For Ihe^Lord seeth not a$ man seeth;for man lookeih on the outward appearance, but the Lord lookeih on the heaHJ*--!. Sam., 16, 7.
THE aged Samud, in those days of David's youth, was still a mighty figure in Israel. His position as "judg^'* the active leadership oi the people, he had resigned to Saul when he anointed Saul as king; but he was still the great prophet, interpreting the voice of God to Israd. Moreover he had founded at his home in Ramah a celebrated school in which the ablest and the purest oi the Hebrew youth learned their rdigioua faith from him.
The chief grief of Samuel's declining days lay in his break with Saul, whom he had loved. Then one day there came to the aged prophet a divine rebuke that he should still mourn for Saul, and a command that he should go to Bethlehem, to the home of Jesse, to anoint another king. Samuel obeyed. When the sons of Jesse were brought before him, he would have selected the eldest, Eliab; for Eliab was even as Saul had been, a huge, powerful, reso- lute, savage-looking man, who might easily enforce his rule upon others. But the divine whisper chedced Samuel with those etemaUy comforting words, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth." As each of Jesse's seven older sons passed before Samuel, the Lord rejected each. The puz- zled prophet asked if there were no other son, and young David was summoned from the she^fold.
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iv-6
SECOND SAMUEL XXI — rRIZPAH 585
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the King spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of SauL
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah^ whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and mephibosheth: and the five sons of IMichaP the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord : and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first daySy in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 ^ And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aian, the concubine of Saul had done.
12 ^ And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
15 ^ Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
16 And Ishbi-benob; which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new swordy thought to have slain David.
17 fiut Abishai the son of Zeruian succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, sa3Hlng, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quenck not the light of Israel.
iBee I. Sam. 18, 19. The mother in this case must have been Merab not Mlchal.
SS6 SECOND SAMUEL XXU — DAVID's THANKSGIVING
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
Chapter 22
A psabn ^ fhofUugMng for Ocd^s powerful ddiverance, and mamfoid Mewftigt.
David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in
the day thai the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:*
2 And he said. The Ix>rd is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
4 I will call on the Lord, wJio is worthy to be praised: so 3hall I be saved from mine enemies.
5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry dtd enter into his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness wa^ under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
iTbe entire chapter foUowliis this vene is printed as a chant In the Revised Version.
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BT CLAUDE OELl£e, CAJJLED CLAUDB-LOaADr, A FBENCH MASTER, DIED 1^2.
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**And the Spirit of the Lord earns upon David from thai day forward,** — I, Sam,t 16y IS.
AT SIGHT of David, Samud knew at once that this youth was the one chosen of God to be His king. So the prophet made preparation, and anointed David there in presence of his family, pouring upon his head the horn of oil, perhaps the very same from which he had before anointed Saul.
This ceremony was no slight matter. Had knowledge of it come to Saul, he might well have slain not only Samuel and David, but the latter's entire family. Indeed Samuel had made this a plea to God for escaping the entire mission: "How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me." Hence the prophet had come to Bethlehem under ptetense of mjtlcing a religious sacrifice, and the anointment of David was not made before the general public, neither could it have been conducted in any such elaborate house or temple as the celebrated old master-painter here depicts. Only the solemnity of the scene can be accepted as genuine. Even David's own family do not seem to have known the true import of the ceremony. They continued to look upon the youth as a mere shepherd boy, not as a future king. Nay, the lad himself may not have been told at first for just what the Lord had chosen him. Yet his heart was thenceforth set upon the future; and his medita- tions turned to high and noble things.
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SECOND SAMUEL XXII — DAVID*S PSALM 587
IS Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and dis- comfited them.
16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the IjOrd, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
19 They prevented^ me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 The I^RD rewarded me according to my righteousness : accord- ing to the cleanness of my hands hath ne recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniqui^.
25 Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to ray cleanness in his eye-sight.
26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the forward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.
28 And the afiiicted people thou wilt save : but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.
30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he t^ a buckler to all them that trust in him.
32 For who is God, save the Lord ? and who is a rock, save our God?
33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
34 He maketh my feet hke hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places.
*Tlie Revised Venlon reads, "They came upon me," etc
588 SECOND SAMUEL XXII — DAVID's PSALAI
35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy^ gentleness hath made me great.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
38 1 have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.
39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle : them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord^ but he answered them not.
' 43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast deli vered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.
45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.
46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places.
47 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.
48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,
49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
Chapter 23
1 David, in hi$ latl words, professelh his faith in God's promises to be beyond sense or experience. 6 The different ataU at (he widced, 8 A caUUogue of David^s mighty men.
lOW these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,*
2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
The first seven verses of this chapter are printed as a chant in the Revised Version.
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*'Btd the spirit cf the Lord departed from Savly and an evU epiriifrom the Lord troubled him.** — I. Sam.^ 16» H,
WHILE David thus grew in purity and power,the life of Saul, the IdDg. mmk ever into bl»dcer deep.. Had Saul been only an evil man» he might have been less unhappy, being blinded and thus ignorant of his own fall. But he could never forget those earlier days when he had been indeed the chosen of the Lord, when he had listened to Samuel's teachings and printed under his guidance. Now, the king had grown covetous, and false, and treacherous. He no longer felt confidence in God, nor had he that earlier desire to aid his people. He used his kingship for his own selfish oods. Yet at times some- thing of his ancient inspiration, his you&ful courage and joy and noble purpose still returned to him. He was still the one man strong enough to defend Israel from the Philistines.
In addition to his naturaUy increasing gloom, Saul was also troubled by a specific malady; "an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him;" he had fits of actual insanity. Sometimes a brooding melancholy took possession <^ him, he sank into a stupor of sadness from which his servants could not rouse him. Or if roused, he flashed out into sudden murderous frenzy, striking wildly at those whom most he loved.
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SECOND SAMUEL XXIII — THE THREE MIGHTY MEN 5S9
3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that Tuleth over men mtist he just, ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a moraing without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
5 Although my house he not so with God ; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things^ and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
6 ^ But the sons of Belial shall he all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
7 But the man that sliall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the ^a7n€ place.
8 ^ These he the names of the mighty men whom David had: The T?achmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same wa^ Adino the Eznite : he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:
10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.
13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of AduUam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
14 And David wa^ then in an hold, and the garrison of the Phil- istines wa^ then in Beth-lehem.
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Phil- istines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that wa^ by the gate, and took ity and brought it to David : nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives ? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief
590 SECOND SAMUEL XXIII — THE THIKTY CAPTAINS
among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew inemy and had the name among three.
19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three,
20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of KabzeeU who had done many acts, he slew two Uonlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a Uon in the midst of a pit in time of snow :
21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man : ana the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men,
23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard.
24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one oi the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,
25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebimnai the Hushathite,
28 Zaimon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
29 Heleb the son of Baanah a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
36 Tgal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
37 ^lek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of 2^ruiah,
38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
Chapter 24
1 David, tempted bu Satan, farcdh Joab to number the people. 5 The captaine, in nine monthe and twenty daya^ bring the mueter of thirteen nundred thousand fighting men. 10 David, having three vlaguee propounded by Gad, repenteth, and chooeeth the three days' pestilence. 15 Alter the death of threescore and ten thousand, David by re- pentance prevcnteth the destruction of Jerusalem. 18 David, by Gad's direction, purdiaseth Araunah*s IAremin(r- floor; where having sacrificed, the plague stayeth.
ND again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say. Go, number Israel
and Judah.*
2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was
sThis should be compared with the other account of this numbering (I. Chron.. 21), in order to be under- itood.
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*^And it eame to pass^ when the evU epiritjrom Ood was upon Satd^ that David took an harp^ and fiayed wUh hie hand; eo Saul was refreshed" — /. SiMm^ I69 iSS.
OUT of Saul's bioodiiig sidmas. came his fint meeting with David. The king's servants, sedc- ing by every means to soothe their master, whom they still loved, found that music calmed his melancholy fits as naught else could. Now the lad David already began to be known as a singer and player upon the harp. Perhaps the Bible story here is slightly confused. It seems made up from two accounts of the same happenings; and perhaps David was only brought to Saul after the young man had become noted as the slayer of Goliath. Our present version, however, places his first coming to Saul before his earliest military ex{^oit.
Accepting this account, David would have been still in his first youth when Saul sent word to the lad's fa&er, Jesse, bidding him send the boy to the king's court So David came, bearing a simple present to the monarch; and there, playing on his harp, he so soothed Saul's troubled soul that the fierce warrior ** loved him g^reatly." The king owed gratitude also to David; for, because of the music, "Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."
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SECOND SAMUEL XXIV — THE NUMBERING OP THE PEOPLE 591
with him. Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the num- ber of the people.
3 And Joab said unto the king. Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the lang may see U: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing ?
4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
5 ^ And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lietk in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:
6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,
7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jeru- salem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were m Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 % And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
11 For when David was up in the mormng, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, jOavid's seer, saying,
12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I oflFer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him. Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days* pestilence in thy land ? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
15 ^ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there oied of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem
^94 SECOND SAMUEL XXIV — THE PESTILENCE
to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wick- edly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
18 ^ And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him. Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.
30 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him : and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, \\"herefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said. To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
33 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, ^ve unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king. The Ix)rd thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of Ihee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered biu-nt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, ana the plague was stayed from Israel.
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IF DAVID leaDy yisiled Saul at so early a period, then he must have beea whollj forgotten at the court. Perhaps Saul's malady left him with but feditle memory of his times of illness. At any rate David was again at home, undistinguished as ever» when a new war arose with the Philistines. Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, joined the Hebrew army with two of his brothers; and, as the troops lay encamped near Bethlehem, it chanced that David was sent to bear provisions to the brothers, and a present to their captain. He found the army in sad tor- mcnl. A deep valley or gully separated them from the Philistine forces, so that neither party could cross and mardi up to attadt the other except at great disadvantage. Therefore the hostile armies had lain long awaiting each other; and every day a diampion of the 'Philistines, the giant Goliath, near ten feet in height, strode forward, ridiculing Israel and diaUenging any one to fight him. No man dared.
Now David, coming to his brothers, began immediately to inquire of this thing; for it seemed to him disgraceful that Israel should be so shamed and insulted by her ene- mies. His brother Eliab, big enough perhaps and noted enough to have been diosen as Israel's champion, an- swered the lad angrily and sulkily, bid<Ung him tend to his sheep. David replied gently, yet pernsted in learning more of this sad matter.
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Sntroliuttton to t^ SixA liooit of iUng£(
The two books of Kings, like those of Samuel, were originally one, and appear to have been first divided bj the Greek translators. The point where the division is made is unim- portant, as b also that between Second Samuel and First Kings, ail four books forming a continuous narrative, and the life of David being carried over from Samuel to Klings.
There is, however, a marked difference of value and impression between Kings and Samuel. The earlier work tells of the formation and consolidation of the kingdom of the Israelites; the later one, after the story of the splendid reign of Solomon, speaks of its dis« integration and downfall. The fall of Northern Israel occurred in 722 B. C, the fall of Judah in 586 B. C.
The authorship of Kings is unknown; it has sometimes been assigned to Jeremiah. Modem criticism accepts the general idea that it must have been compiled about Jeremiah's day. Some of the passages seem to indicate positively that the bulk of the writing was done after King Josiah's reforms (621 B.C.), but not later than the early part of the Babylonian captivity, which began in 586 B. C. At this period, then, the narrative was probably put together in its present form. But the books explicitly declare themselves to be compiled from earlier sources. Three main sources thus mentioned in the biblical text are "The book of the Acts of Solomon," "The Annals of the Kings of Israel," and "The Annals of the Kings of Judah." We find mention of an "official recorder" under each of the four chief kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah; and presumably these recorders prepared the annab studied by the later scribe. Other works employed by him were doubtless, some andent history of the prophet Elijah, also one of Elisha, other prophetic narratives, and the records of the temple.
The purpose of the books is clearly a religious one. They are not primarily a history, but narrate the facts of history in order to insist always and passionately on one great re- ligious truth, that whole-hearted loyalty to Jehovah alone insures true national prosperity and that the downfall of the nation was the result of sin, and more especially the sin of idolatry, the most distinctive feature of which is the illegitimacy of all worship outside of the central sanctuary the temple at Jerutelem. In the framework of the compiler which begins and concludes the various narratives of the reigns of the Klings, this forms the basis of the judgment on the character of the particular king.
In First Kings, Solomon is the central figure of the first eleven chapters. His reign is not, however, told chronologically like David's. In the center of the story stands his activity in connection with the building of the Temple of the Lord and of his palace, with the con* nected events. This report is framed on either side with stories which celebrate his wisdom, inight and wealth.
In diapter eleven we get the warning of approaching disaster, in the rebellion of Edom,
of Damascus and of Jeroboam. After Solomon's death comes the division of his kingdom
593
594
INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS
nnder his stubborn and foolish son. Judah and the surrounding districts remain as a King* dom of Judah. But all the tribes of the north and east break away and set up their Kingdom (rf Israd, with its capital first at Tirzah and afterward at Samaria. Then follows the tragic [Hcture of the complete apostacy of Israel, and of the partial apostacy of Judah. The local deities of the Canaanites, the Baalim, ore worahipped, and excesses indulged in so abhorrent that they are not fully told. Punishment follows, warfare, plague, and famine, national defeat and decay, with iodiridual disgrace and death. Toward the close of First Kings the mighty figure of the prophet Elijah appears, the one stem upholder of the ancient faith against King Ahab and his queen, Jeiebel, who had introduced the worship of the Tyrian Baal into Northern Israel. The book closes with the grim verification of Elijah's misuon as proven by Ahab's tragic death.
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"Thy servard kept his father's sheep: and there came a luniy and a bear^ and took a lamb out of the Jlock/' — /. Sam., 17, 3J^.
DAVID'S questiomngs about Goliath came presentlj to the notice of the king, who sent for him. To Saul, the young hero promptly offered to fight the Philistine. Such an offer was not to be accepted lightly; for Goliath had repeatedly made the proposition that the war should be settled by this single combat, the countrymen of the vanquished were to submit and become servants to the others. Of course no such formal agree- ment had been made, but the result of the combat could not fail to have a vast effect upon the spirits of both sides. Hence Saul would have put aside David's offer con- temptuously; but the youth told him of two earlier com- bats in which he had already succeeded. A lion had attacked the flock of the shepherd lad, and so also had a bear. Each time the boy had met the ravager face to face, in defense of his helpless sheepi "When he rose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him."
Then David added to his story that solemn profession
of his faith, which set its eternal stamp on his young Hfe.
'*The Lord 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 Philistine.**
iv-11
THE riEST BOOK OF THE
Hinssi,
COMMONLY CALLED, THE THIRD BOOK OF THE
Cbaiittr I
I AbiAM dierMat Datid in hit txireme tut. G Adonijali, DaviiTt darling,
couiuel^ NaOusn, IS BaOi-Atba moteUi the king, 22 and Nathan t -■-"■ '-
SaU^JUM, 32 Solomon, by David't appointment, being anoinltd ki... .,
41 Jonathan Mnging Ihae neun, Adonijak't gvettt fly, SO Adonijah. flying to tht i ._. _^_.._ ^ ((jjBiinBd by Soiomon.
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lecondeth her. 28 David r«n«iM(fi Alia soul to by Zadot and Nathan, the people triumph, a.-- — i„.k. >, et the altar, upon hit good
lOW king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunam- mite, and brought her to the king.
4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and minis- tered to him: but the king knew her not.
5 t Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and nfty men to run before him.
6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying. Why ha.it thou done so P and he also was a very goodly man; and h/ts momer bare him after Absidom.
596 FIRST KINGS I — ^ADONUAH's REBELLION
7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Jiidah the king's servants:
10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.
11 f Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, sa^ng, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Hag- gith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not ?
12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.
13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and sav unto him. Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear imto thine handmaid, saying. As- suredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne ? why then doth Adonijah reign ?
14 Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thv words.
15 1[ And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.
16 And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said. What wouldest thou ?
17 And she said imto him. My lord, thou swarest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying^ Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.
18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not:
19 And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.
20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted oflFenders.
22 1[ And, lo. while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet.
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And Savl armed David wiik his armour^ and he put a hdmei of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail,** — I, Sam.^ 17, S8.
DAVID'S simple strength of oonfidenoe in God roused King Saul's own wavering faith. He saw in Dayid such a spirit as his own had been in his younger, happier days. Moreover David had pierced to the heart of the matter at issue, as no other had in all the army. This was not a mere question of man against man, but of brute strength against moral strength. The question was whether the Israelites reaUy believed that God ruled the world, and was able and willing to protect the righteous. In a sudden flash of inspiration Saul saw this, even as David saw it; and the king accepted the youthful champion: "Go, and the Lord be with thee."
Then doubt returned to Saul. He sought physical means of strength. He insisted on dothing David in a suit of the king's own armor. The lad submitted; he even girded on Saul's sword, and essayed to march forth in a huge panoply of mail which must have been a world too large for him and too heavy to bear. Then immediately his better sense checked him. He stripped off every bit of the armor. "I can not go with these," he said, **for I have not proved them.'
iv-12
FIRST KINGS I — SOLOMON CROWNED 597
And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne ?
25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the kind's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.
26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.
27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him ?
28 ^ Then king David answered and said. Call me Bath-sheba. And she came mto the king's presence, and stood before the
29 And the king sware, and said. As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,
30 Even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying. Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so \^Till I certainly do tliis day.
31 Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
32 f And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before tne king.
33 The kinff also said unto them. Take with you the servants of vour lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, ind bring him down to Gihon:
34 Ana let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.
35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in mv stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said. Amen : the Lord God of my lord the king say so too.
37 As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than tne throne of my lord king David.
38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
598 FIRST KINGS I — ^ADONUAH PARDONED
39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle^ and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
41 ^ And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the soiind of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar.?
42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidinp.
43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king.
44 And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule:
45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoic- ing, so tnat the city rang again. This is tne noise that ye have heard.
46 And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.
47 And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed.
48 And also thus said the king. Blessed he the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.
49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.
50 Tl And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fearelh king Solomon : for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, sa3ang, Let king Solomon swear unto me to-day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
52 And Solomon said. If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.
53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And ne came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solo- mon said unto him, Go to thine house.
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" Then David said .... Thou contest to me vilh tword, and irilh a gpear, and with a ihteld: but I eome tkte in !he name of the Lord of fuMte." — 7. Sam., 17,
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SO DAMB went forth armed only with his slaff. just as he liad gone against the lion and the bear Pausing at the brook between the armies, he selected five smooth stones &tted for the sling he carried. Then clambering up the farther slope, he approached Goliath Now Goliath was no ordinary champion. Not onh was he a giant, descended we are told from the ancient race of giants who hod once peopled the land. lie was also a man practiced in war and famous for hia successes The Jewish ■"Targum" tells us that he had led the Phil- istines in that earlier war in which the ttrk had been cap- tured. He boasted that he had tlien slain both of \h'' Hebrew leaders, the two son.** of the highpriesi, Eli, huge men like their father. So when Goliath saw the stripling who advanced against him, he was too angry to laugh He thought some insult was intended him. "Am I a, dog," he cried, "that thou pomesl to me with staves?" The shepherd lad answered in those famous words which drew so sharply the distinction between himself and his boastful antagonist. His speech was brief, rising to its impassioned close: "And all this assembly i know that the Lord anveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our bands."
FIRST KINGS II — DAVID's DEATH 599
Chapter 2
1 DofBid, having ffivm a charge to Soiomon, 3 of reHaiougneaa , 5 of Jodb, 7 of Baneim, 8 of Shimti, ^OjiU^. 12 SoUmum nuxeeddh. 13 Adonijah, moving Baih-Jheba to me unto Solomon for Abishao, is vui to death. 2^ Atriathar, having his life given him, U deprived of the priesthood. 28 Joab fleeing to the horns of the altar w there slain. 35 Benaiah is mdin Joab*e room, and Zadok in Abiathar '«. 36 Shimei, confined to Jerusalem, by occasion of going thence to Oath, is put to death.
OW the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 1 go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore^ and shew thyself a man;
3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that tnou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
4 That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concern- ing me, saving, If thy children take heed to their way, to w alk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace. ^
7 But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table : for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.
8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Ben- jamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou dow^n to the grave with blood.
10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12 ^ Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.
13 1 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the
The Azneiican RevUAon changes ** the grave" to " Sheol " both here and In verse 9.
600 FIRST KINGS II — ^BATH-SHEBa's PETITION
mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably ? And he said. Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said. Say on.
15 And he said. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and thai all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother*s: for it was his from the Lord.
16 And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him. Say on.
17 And he said. Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
18 And Bath-sheba said. Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.
19 ^ Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand;
20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee: / pray ihee^ say me not nay. And the king said unto her. Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adoni- jah thy brother to wife.
22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother. And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah ? ask for him the kingdom also; for ne is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then kine Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now therefore, as the Lord liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
26 ^ Aiid unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Gret thee to Ana- thoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord; that he might fulfil the word oi the Lord, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ^
iSee I. Sun.' 2, 27->36 for the prophecy against EU's house, of which Abiathar was the sole reraatninc descendant.
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"So David preixiiled over the PkilUtin* vitk a tltng and xr'uk a gloat, and smote ike PhilUtine, arid ^cw him." — /. Sow., 17, 50.
THE match belween Dand and Goliath was not really so unequal as it seemed, except that men find it difficult to change their habits of thought, and thus those accustomed to a certain style of warfare can not easily invent or even conceive another. The fighting of David's day was done body to body, so tliat brute strength, especially when reinforced by the rare and costly armor, was the main retjuisite. But any red Indian of the plains, accustomed to arrow and tomahawk, would have declared the chances all in Da\1d's f»vor. He had his sling, and his enemy's face was unprotected by armor. The Israelites were man^ of them so expert with these slings that they could throw within a hair's breadth. Besides, even if David missed his first cast, he must have counted on being able tu keep at a distance from his heavily laden antagonist; for he hud picked up not one stone but five.
David's first missile struck the unready Golialh fair between the eyes, crashing into his skull. The giant sank prostrate; and. before his comrades could advance to ^uc their fallen champion. David rushed upon him Casting aside the stall which had aroused Goliath's foolish anger, David snatched up tne Rant's own sword and hewed off his head.
FIKST KINGS II — ^JOAB AND SHIMEI SLAIN 601
28 % Then tidings came to Joab : for Joab had turned after Adoni- jah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled into the taber- nacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah came to the taoernacle of the Lord, and said unto him. Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said. Nay; but I will die here. And Benaian brought the king word again, saying. Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him. Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
82 And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and sl«w them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to vnty Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the Lord.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 \ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
36 f And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him. Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.
37 For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou ?halt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good : as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shin/ei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, th^t two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of iMaacah }dng of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying. Behold, thy servants he in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his ser- vants from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again.
42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him.
602 FIRST KINGS III — GOD's GIFT TO SOLOMON
Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord, and protested unto thee, saying. Know for a certain, that on the day thou goest out, and walk- est abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely me? and thou saidst unto me. The word that I have heard is good.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oatn of the Lord, and the com- mandment that I have charged thee with ?
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wicked- ness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and tne throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Chapter 3
1 Solomon marrieth Pharaoh'8 daughter, 2 High places hein^j in use, Solomon saerifketh at Gibeon. 5 Sdomon at Gibeon, in the choice which God gave him, preferring unsdom, obtaindh wisdom, riches, and honour, 16 Solomon's judgment between the two harlots maketh him renowned.
ND Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of ouilding his own house.
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and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto tne name of the Lord, until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4 And the King went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon oflFer upon that altar.
5 Tl In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night : and God said. Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said. Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, sls it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thv servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: 1 know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people ?
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*'And the men of lerad and Judah aro»e^ and shouted^ and pursued the PhUMneSt wM thou come to the vaUey, and to the gates ofEknm.*'—!. Sam., 17, 5^.
GREAT was the terror of the PhOifltiiies, when they saw their diampion slain. Doubtless the victory of the slim joung shepherd lad seemed to them a direct evidence that Israel possessed a god more povreiv fill than Uieirs, and that Israd's god was bent on their destruction. To us Grod's aid seems to have lain in giving to EUs champion a stronger faith, a higher spirit and a keener brain than those of Goliath. As David held up the severed head, his own people came pouring across the ravine in triumph, and the Phihstiiies fled.
Down from Judah's mountains swept the lout, and out onto the plains of Philistia, the Israelites pursuing and slaying all whom they could reach, *'even unto Grath and unto Ekron." That is to say, the Philistines had to sedc shelter within their own walled cities from the avenging rage of the mountaineers. Philistia in its turn was lavaged and plundered.
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FIRST KINGS III — THE TWO WOMEN JUDGED 603
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern iudgment;
12 Behold, I have done accordmg to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and oflFered peace oflFerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16 ^ Then came there two women, tliat were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was aelivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said. No, but the dead is thy son, and the living^ is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith. This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith. Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said. Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the King.
25 And the king said. Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, ana half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king.
604 FIRST KINGS IV — SOLOMON's OFFICERS
for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, rive her the living child, and m no wise slay it. But the other said, Xet it be neither mine nor thine, bui divide it.
27 Then the kin^ answered and said. Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God wets in him, to do judgment.
Ctiapter 4
1 8oUfmon*s princes. 7 His twdve officers for provision, 20, 24 The peace and largeness of his kingdom. 22 His daily provision. 20 His sUMes. 29 His wisdom.
O king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, tne sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.
4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:
5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan wa^ principal officer, and the king's friend:
6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.
7 ^ And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which pro- vided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.
8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:
9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-snemesh» and Elon-beth-hanan :
10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:
11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Tap- hath the daughter of Solomon to wife:
12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Me-
g'ddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath JezreeU om Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam :
13 The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gileaa; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:
15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife :
16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:
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A FIX>HENTINE PAINTEB, DIED
1650. THX OBIOINAL IB IN THE IX>UVBB <
PARIS.
*'And David iook the head of ike PhUMne^ and hrovght %i to Jerueaiemr^l. Sam., 17, 6J^
IN THE pursuit of the Fhilistmes* David apparently took no part He had done his woik, bj arousing the religious faith of his oountrymen, letnspiring them with their old confidence in the right Also he had stirred the superstitious tenor of their enemies. Now, in high, uplifted mood, the young champion paused to gloiy in the might of God.
Doubtless there were many to join him in his joy. Tliey stripped the mail from the huge body of Goliath, haTwiling the armor with amasement, weighing and measuring it, and finally bearing it in trium[^ to David's home, whence ultimately it was placed in one of their temples as a memo- rial. The mighty sword of the giant, which had wrought his own death, was also sanctified, and was placed in the care of the highpriest of Israel, where in later days David was to find it for his own good use. The head of Goliath, the grimmest trophy of all, was borne by David himself to Jerusalem, that all the people mi^t see and know from what enemies God had delivered theou
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FIRST KINGS IV — SOLOMON's SPLENDOR 605
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei tne son of Elah, in Benjamin.
19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land,
20 ^ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of E^pt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 ^ And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, ana fallowdeer and fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the reqion on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah,^ over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 ^ And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots,^ and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.
28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries' brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to Ms charge.
29 Tf And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men: than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame Was in all nations round about.
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and nve.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the nyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake, also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, wnicn had heard of his wisdom.
. , 'Arzah is tbe same as Gaza, the Philistine city. <In II. Chron. 9, 25. the number of stalls is given as lour thousand. iTbe Aerlied Vanion alters "dromedaries" to "swift steeds."
606 FIRST KINGS V — THE TREATY WITH HIRAM
Cbopter 5
1 Hiram, sending to eongraitUaU Solomon, is certified of his purpose to huUd the temple, and desired to fumiA him with timber thereto. 7 Hiram, blessing God lor S^Aomon, and requesting food for his family, fumiAeth him vriih trees. 13 The number of Solomon's workmen and labourers.
ND Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as tne Lord spake unto David my father, saying. Thy son, whom I wdll set upon tny throne in thy room, he shall build an nouse unto my name.
6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
7 T[ And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed he the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring ihevi down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for rny household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his housenold, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon: and they two made a league together.
13 ^ And kinff Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty tnousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses:
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ABTIffr.
**Abner took kinij and brought him before Savl with the head of the Philistine in his hand:'--!. Sam., 17,67.
THE head of Gdiath ms abo brought to Saul, though whether after or beloie it had been dis^ pkijed in Jerusalem, is not quite dear. The king in the extremity of his need had promised enormous rewards to the nuin who should conquer Goliath. The victor was to have great riches, his family were to be made free from all taxes or other obligations forever; and, quite in the style of ancient romance, he was to be wedded to the king's daughter.
Immediately that the victory was achieved, IQng Saul, with his shrewd, practical mind, must have turned to the question of the promised payment If David had already sung to him, the king had forgotten the affair; for he ques- tioned eagerly as to who this strange youth might be who had appeared so suddenly among the soldiers and spoken so confidently of Grod's aid. Nor oould his closest associates tell him. Abner, the chief general and ever loyal servant of Saul, was sent to enquire. He found David, still with Goliath's head, and brought him to the king. There is no record that Saul welcomed the youth or repeated his previous promises. Already the crafty king may have been weighing with human wisdom the dangers of his extravagant offer. His only recorded words of greeting sound hard, "And Sanl said to him. Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.'*
iv-17
FIRST KINGS VI — ^BUILDING THE TEMPLE 607
a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home : and Ado- niram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon haa threescore and ten thousand that bare bur- dens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them^ and the stonesquarers:^ so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
Chapter 6
1 The huddino of Solomon's temple. 5 The chambere thereof. 11 God*8 promise unto U. 15 The ceiling and odoming of U. 23 The chervbime. 31 The doore. 30 The court. 37 The time of buHding U.
ND it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of
Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in
the month Zif , which is the second month, that he oegan to build the house of the Lord.
2 And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the len^h thereof wa^ threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubtis, and the heieht thereof thirty cubits.
S And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.'
5 7 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle : and he made chambers round about :
6 The nethermost chamber wa^ five cubits broad, and the middle V)as six cubits broad, and the third wa^ seven cubits broad: for with- out in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither ham- mer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
8 The door for the middle chamber wa^ in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the nuddle chamber^ and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
'Instead of ••stoneoquarers" this should read with the Revised Version " Geballtes." Qebal was a dty netr Lebanoti, about 20 miles north of Beirut. >The Revised Version calls these ** windows of fixed lattice vork." What Is meant by fixed lattice work here Is not certain.
608 FIRST KINGS VI — THE HOLY OF HOLIES
10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high : and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
11 Tf And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, ana keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word witn thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the w^alls of the ceiling: and he cov- ered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.^
16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
17 And the house, that w, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the house within wa^ carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LiORD.
20 And the oracle in the forepart wa^ twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twentv cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; ancf so covered the altar which was of cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gola.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had fin- ished all the house: also the whole altar that wa^ by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 Tf And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.
24 And five cubits wa^ the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub : from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub wa^ ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.
26 The height of the one cherub wa^ ten cubits, and so was ii of the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched
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**And a came to pan . . . that As tout qf JomP' than was knU with (he soul of Davids and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.** — /. <Sam., 18^ i.
THOUGH King Saul wavered in his attitude toward David, there was one who did not hesitate. That was the king's heioic son Jonathan. Jonathan who» in just such spirit as David's, had won for Saul his earlier great victory over the PhilistineH, was quick to reoogniie in the younges man a natuie kindred to his own. Perhaps also he felt the coldness of his father's reception of their deliverer; for it must be remembered that Jona* than himself had suffered from the wfld and unjust temper of his father, who would have slain him in the very hour of their greatest victory.
. So Jonathan welcomed David at once at that first meet- ing; his soul went out to the victorious youth as to a brother. Perhaps the two young men left Saul's presence together; for we learn that they made an immediate compact of friendship. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his gar* ments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle." If the father had no prompt reward for their heaven-sent champion, the son gave all that he could.
iv-18
FIRST KINOS VI — THE TEMPLE FINISHED 609
the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 T[ And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the hntel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were of olive tree ; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and over- laid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.
33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.
34 Ana the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers : and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
36 T[ And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
37 T[ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif :
38 And in the eleventh jear, in the month Bui, which is the eighth month, was the house fimshed throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
Clbapter 7
1 The fmOdino of Solomon* s house. 2 Of the houee of Lebanon. 6 Of the porch of piUars. 7 Of the vorch cf fudomenl. S Of the houee far Phcaraoh*a daughter. 13 Hiram'a work of the two piUare. 23 Of the moUen eea, 71 Of the ten baeee. ^ Of the ten lavere, 40 and aU the vesaele.
|UT Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2 Tf He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon;^
the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fiftv cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar oeams upon the pillars.
3 And it was covered with ceclar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.
5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.
iThe Revised Verston altera this verae, so that the entire passage refers to Solomon's own houae as being built of the Lebanon wood.
610 FIRST KINOS Vn — THE SMITH's WORK
6 ^ And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof wcls fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch wcls before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.
7 ^ Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
8 ^ And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife^ like unto this porch.
9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones and cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.
13 ^ And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tvre.
14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father wa^ a man of Tyre, a worker in brass : and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars : the height of the one chapiter wa^ five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter wa^ five cubits :
17 And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.
19 And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.
20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars hxid pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he
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** The women cams out of all cUiee qf leraei, singing and dancing J to meet king Saul, wUh taJbrete^ with joy^ and wiA inetmmente of mueie" — I, Sam.^ 18^ 6.
SAUL may not have been unjust in his first treatment ofDaTkL TTwugh the king made no immediate move toward fulfilling liis glowing promises, he yet kept Dand by him throughout the war against the Riil- istines. He even made him a leader among the soldiers, their general in some sort, so that the untried youth must have led Israel to victory even as the pure maid Joan of Arc led Fnmoe.
It is lecovded diat *'David went out whithersoever Saul seat him, and bdiaved himself wisdy.'* Then, at the dose of the war, which may have been a year or more after the defeat of Goliath, there was a great oeldbration In Jerusalem. The victorious troops were welcomed with songs and dances and processions, at which David **WBS accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul*s servants/*
As the rejoicing people saw David they sang a song» vdiose very words have come down to us:
"Saul hath slain his thousands. And David his ten thousands.'*
iv-19
FIRST KINGS VII — THE TEMPLE FURNISHINGS 611
set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin : and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.^
22 And upon the top of the pillars ivas lily work: so was the work of the oillars finished.
23 ^ And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops com- passing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about : the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea wa^ set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward,
26 And it wa^ an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
27 ^ And he made ten bases of brass ; four cubits wa^ the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.
28 And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had bor- ders, and the borders were between the ledges :
29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims : and upon the ledges there was a base above : and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.*
30 And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters : under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.
31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above wa^ a cubit : but the mouth thereof wa^ round (ifter the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.
32 And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base : and the height of a wheel wa^s a cubit and half a cubit.
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten.
34 And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base : and the undersetters were of the very base itself.
35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high : and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.
1 Jachin means '*he shall establish"; Boax perhaps means *' in it Is strength." *The Revised Version cuofes the last phrase to '* wreaths of haniglng work."
612 FIRST KINGS VII — THE IMPLEMENTS OF WOBSHIP
36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.
37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.
38 * Then made he ten la vers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.
39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house : and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.
40 ^ And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord :
41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that toere on the top of two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;
42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;
43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Uiram made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of bright brass.
46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.
48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord : the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread waSy
49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right sidcy and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of ffold,
50 And the Dowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place y and for the doors of the house, to wity of the temple.
51 So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated ; even the silver, and the golcl, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord.
**And Saul eyed David from thai day forward J* — /. Sam., 18, 9,
THE people's song of welcome proved unfortunate for David. Its phrasing caught the jealous ear of the king. He argued the matter D^-ith himself: "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me thev have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom.^'* That is to say, he felt David to be more popular than himself, and more de- serving. On what did his own tenure of his position depend? The prophet Samuel had repudiated him; the religious portion of. the people shrank from him in horror. If David did but proclaim himself king, would not all Israel join him against Saul? Thus did Saul revolve the question in his mind, thinking now not of Israelis good, but only of his own.
Meanwhile David had long been the established musician of the king, soothing him in those fits of melancholy mad* ness, as no other had the skill to do. He was also one of Sau]*s arraorbearers. But the jealous king now lost all pleasure in David's music and watched him with suspicious eyes, often doubtless as our picture shows him, inter- rupting the strains of melody to peer deeply into the frank* ly upturned face, as if to wrest from it some secret pk>t.
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Cfiopter 8
1 The featl of thededtieaUonof ihetempU. 12, 64 Soloinon'9 bleutng. 22 8dUmon'9 prayer, 62 HU meriHoB of peace offminffe,
HEN Solomon assembled the elders of- Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children
of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that thev might
brinff up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, whicn IS Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solo* mon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the taber- nacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place^ even under the wings of the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy pUice before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy ylace^ that the cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12 ^ Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congre- gation of Israel : (and all the congregation of Israel stood ;)
15 And he said. Blessed he the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulnlled . t(, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that
614 FIRST KINGS VIII — SOLOMON's PRAYER
my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
20 And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David mv father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22 % And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the pres- ence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
23 And he said. Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy vnth thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
24 Who hast kept wdth thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled tt with thine hand, as it is this day.
25 Therefore now. Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying. There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded ?
28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day:
29 That thine eyes mav be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said. My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer wnich thy servant shall make toward this place.
30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and
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" The evil spirit from God eame upon Saul . . . and Saul cast the javdin.** — I. Sam.^ 18^ 11.
THERE came a day on which Saul's jealousy burst bounds. His evil spirit was plaguing him. Why should he worry his mind ceaselessly about David, when a sin^e blow would end all doubt? The sudden impulse overcame the horror of the deed, the slaying of his own benefactor, of Israel's rescuer. Snatching up hn keen bladed javelin, which lay at hand, Saul hurled it at David.
Apparently he strove twice to pierce his victim thus; but the quick witted David evaded the blow, sudd«i as it must have been. Perhaps dreading Saul's increasing madness, he was ever on the watch for some such out- break. He does not seem, nor do any of the court, to have blamed Saul for the deed, attributing it not to ddiber- ate purpose but to the evil spirit which possessed the king. Indeed we are told almost immediately afterward that Saul began to talk seriously of performing his earlier pledge and wedding David to his elder daughter, Merab. The affair, however, came to nothing, David showing little enthusiasm for it, while on Saul's part it may have been a mere pretense; for shortly after we find him be- stowing Merab on another and wealthier suitor.
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iv-21
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FIRST KINGS VIII — THE OCCASIONS OF PRAYER 615
hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
SI % If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid Upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justi- fjing the righteous, to give him according to nis righteousness.
33 % When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
35 ^ When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, wnen thou affictest them:
36 Then hear thou in heaven, cand forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
37 ^ If there oe in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the chil- dren of men;)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
616 FIRST KIXGS VIII — ^SOLOMON BLESSES GOD
44 ^ If thy people 20 out to battle against their enemy, whitherso- ever thou shalt send tnem, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and towara the house that I have built for thy name:
45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry tnem away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying. We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
49 Then hear thou their prayer and their suppUcation in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintam their cause,
50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and fflve them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy ser- vant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54 Tf And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised : there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
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**Wherefare Savl said to David, Thau •Aott tkit day he my mm-inriaw.'* — I, Sam^ 18, 21.
IT WAS after Merab's wedding that the lomanoe of love first entered David's checkered life. King Saul had a younger daughter, lUchal. Seeing David so often in her father's house, Midial had learned to care deeply for the bold yet gentle youth. Apparently he returned her affection. The wily Saul, learning how the matter stood* seized the opportunity to expose David to new danger. To himself the king said, "Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him." So he had his servants hint to David that while a poor man could pay Saul no such dowry as was customary for a king's daughter, yet that Saul had declared he would accept as dowry the slaughter of a hundred Philistines.
By this time David must have known the little worth of kingly promises, yet with a lover's eagerness, he seized the chance. He promptly headed a raid into the enemy's land; and, having slain not one but two hundred of the dreaded Philistines, he returned and laid at Saul's feet the bloody evidences of their death.
This time the king kept his promise. His wavering mind saw in David's unexpected success a further proof that God was befriending the young man. Doubtless also his daughter's desire swayed him, for except in his passionate moments Saul was ever a loving father. So he presented Michal to David, and the young lovers were married.
iv-22
FIKST KINGS VIII — THE SACRIFICE OFFERING 617
58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which ne commanded our fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep nis commandments, as at this day.
62 ^ And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hun- dred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord : for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
Cijapter 9
1 G€d^» wtenani in a vUion with Solomon. 10 The mtUudl presents of Solomon and Hiram. 15 In Solomon^a works the Gentiles were his bondmen, the Israelites honourable servants. 24 Pharaoh^s daughter removeth to her Aoiue. 25 Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices. 26 His navy fetcheth gold from Ophir.
ND it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solo- mon's desire which he was pleased to do,
2 That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David tny father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that
618 FIRST KINGS IX — GOD'S COVENANT
I have commanded thee» and wilt keep my statutes and my judg- ments:
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kin^om u]K>n Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, Tnere shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
6 BtU if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of mv sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
8 And at this house, which, is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house ?
9 And they shall answer. Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon tnem all this evil.
10 % And it came to pass at the ena of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king's house,
11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 And Siram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.
13 And he said. What cities are these which thou hast riven me, my brother ? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.
15 ^ And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and IVIillo,* and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and G^zer.
16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, ana slain tne Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the \^ilderness, in the land,
19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem,^ and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 And air the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites,
'What this "Millo" was is not positively known; probably an arsenal or military exerdsinff ground, or perhaps a fortified viaduct connecting the palace hill with the temple hill. See chapter 10. Terse 5. Tna Eevlsed Version reads *' desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem."
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"And Jonathan UJd Darid. »aying, Satd my father seeketii to kill Oue."~I. Sam., 19, 3.
FOR a moment, as Michal'a hnsband, DaWd stood at the pinnacle uf his earl)* fortunes, Saul had set his harsh rule finnly upon the Hebrews, and 'o be bis son-in-law was to be a very great persona^ in the land. The king's trusted comrade Abner seems to have re- mained his chieF geaeral. Jonathan, Saul'a eldest, best beloved son was ever at his father's side. But after these, David was the chief man of the kingdom. He was the active champion, always taking the field agaJnst the Phil- istines; and, a new war arising with the old enemy, David led the Israelites with such success that again the people hailed him as their savior. Again the offensive echo of their songs of praise rang through Saul's burning brain.
The king's wavering dwtrust of his popular general, settled into a deadly malignity. He spoke plainly to his more trusted servants, asking them to slay David. He even broached the matter to his son Jonathan. This loyal friend went at once to David with warning of hia danger, and the two planned for Da>id's flight. But meanwhile Jonathan faced hia father openly, rebuking him with sternness, and reminding him of David's faith- fulness and of his vast services to Israel. Once more Saul's heart was touched with remorse, and he swore a great oath, *'As the Lord livcUi, he shall not be slain."
^
FIRST KINGS IX — SOLOMON S GREATNESS 61ft
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,
21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.
22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and hia captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief of the. oflScers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24 Tf But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.
25 t And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 1 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought U to king Solomon.
Ctiapter 10
1 The queen of Sheba admireth the toi^dom of Solomon. 14 Solomon*8 gold. 10 Hie tarpets, 18 The thron9 of ivory. 21 Hie veeeele. 24 His preeenie. 26 Hie dtariote and horeemen. 28 Hie triJbutie.
ND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.
2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
3 And Solomon told her all her questions : there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.
6 And she said to tne king. It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
620 FIRST KINGS X — SOLOMON's WEALTH
7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel : because the Lord Toved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11 And tne navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees,* and precious stones.
12 And the king ^lade of the almug trees pillars^ for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
14 ^ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, '
15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the gov- ernors of the countrv.
16 ^ And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.
17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 ^ Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and over- laid it with the best gold.
19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there ivere stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.
20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps : there was not the like made in any kingdom.
21 ^ And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold ; none were of silver : it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of
'These almue or algrum trees were probably sandal wood. *The word translated "pillar" means in Hebrew a '*prop,*' '^support.*' But the precise meaning here is unloiown. *666 talents of gold would havB a value of about twenty million dollars.
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"And Saul ttmght to »mite Dai'id even to the icalt witk the ;oi«/tn."— /. Sam.. 19, 10.
NO PERUAXEXT peace betrreen Saul and David was possible, thougb thev knew it not; for God had wholly abandoned the one because of bis evil heart, and had chosen the other to succeed to Israel's throne. Yet another time the Wgorous Toung general drew the attentioo of the entire country by bold eiploils against the Philistines; and yet another time the king's i^etter mood vas shaken by that "evil spirit from the Lord."
David was playing on the harp for the king, as aforetime, in the palace; and Saul rushed upon the musician with his javelin seeking lo thrust him through, to pin him to the wall. "But he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the ja^'elin into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night." That was the final break between the two men. Never again did "the sweet muddan" seat himself with his harp in the presence of the crazed and jealous king.
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FIRST KINGS X — THE HORSES OF EGYPT 621
Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
24 ^ And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
26 ^ And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen : and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
28 ^ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn : the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. ^
29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for "an hundred and fifty : and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
Chapter II
1 Solomon' i toives and concubines. 4 In his old age theu draw him to idolatry. 9 God threaieneth him. 14 Solo- mon'a adversaries were Hadad, who was entertained in Egypt, 23 Rexon, who reigned in Damascus, 25 and Jero* •^oom, to wham Ahijah prophesied. 41 Solomon's acts, reign, and death: Rehoboam succeedeth him.
|UT king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women oi the Moabites, Ammon- ites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you : for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods : Solomon clave unto these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines : and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned awav his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abom-
iThe wofd InmaUted "linen yam" is altered in the Revised Version to "droves" meaning droves
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622 FIRST KINGS XI — SOLOMON*S IDOLATRY
ination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt in- cense and sacrificed unto their gods.
9 % And the Lord was angry \^ith Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him t\^ice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord com- manded.
11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and \^dll give it to thy servant.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: bvi I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13 How^beit I will not rend away all the kingdom; btU will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
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14 If And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.
15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;
16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom :)
17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's ser- vants with him, to go into E^pt; Hadad being yet a little child.
18 And they arose out of 3lidian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; w^hich gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave nim land.
19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pha- raoh s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.
22 Then Pharaoh said unto him. But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.
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NOTED FOB THEIR DRAMATIC VIGOR.
4- **So Miehal let David down through a window: and ks went, andfled^ and etoaped,** — /. 8am^ 19^ 12.
SAD indeed was the sitoatioii thus estaUisIied in the family of Saul. The young folk were bound to- gether by the tenderest ties. Midud was David's beloved wife; Jonathan not only his lMothe»n-law but his very brother, his doaest, most loyal friend* another sdf . Yet these three had either to submit to the savagery of Saul or rebel against him. Saul's diildren loved their father. David also gave him affection, honored him to some extent, and held him in reverence as the "Lord's anointed." How could David, who had himself been anointed by the prophet Samuel, dedare that that scJemn ceremony was of no effect, and lebd against Saul, whose title to the kingship was {«ior and exactly similar to his own?
When David fled from the mad king's presence, the latter sent men to watdi his houaeand seise him. Miehal learned of this; and, making hasty choice between duty to her father and to her husband, she- warned David. *'If thou save not thy life to-night, to-moRow thou shalt be slain." Perhaps Uieir house stood upon the dty wall, even as Rahab's had stood in Jericho in the days of Joshua; for Miehal lowered her husband from a window by some hastily arranged device, perchance of her own garments. So David fled from Jerusalem.
iv-25
FIRST KINGS XI — ^AHIJAH's PROPHECY 623
23 If And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of !Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah :
24 -And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.
25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.
26 ^ And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.
27 And this wa^ the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built JVIillo, and repaired the oreaches of the city of David his father.
28 And the man Jeroboam wa^ a mighty man of valour : and Solo- mon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad nimself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that wa^ on him, and rent it in twelve pieces :
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee :
32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel :)
33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god ot the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eves, and to Jceep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandment and iny statutes :
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his -son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a Ught alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reira according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
624 FIRST KINGS XII — ^REHOBOAM's TYRANNY
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 ^ And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon ?
42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Cbapter 12
1 The Israelites^ assembled at Shediem to crown Rehoboam, by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him. 6 RAo' bocan, refusing the old men's counsel, by the advice of young men, answereth them roughly. 16 Ten £ri6et revoliing, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam to flee. 21 Rehoboam, raising an army , is forbidden by Shemaiah. 25 Jeroboam- ttrengtheneth himself by cities, 26 and by the idolatry of the tux) calves.
ND Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it^ (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
3 Tnat they sent and called him. And tleroboam and all the con- gregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
6 ^ And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said. How do ye advise that I may answer this people ?
7 And they spake unto him, saying. If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good w^ords to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with nim, and which stood before him:
9 And he said unto them. What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying. Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter ?
10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto
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BY OmCAB ELLIGER THE YOUNGER, A DtTTCH ABTI8T, NOTED 1T>B ma ABCHXTIBCIHJKAL SnLENPOB OF DESIGN, DIED 17S2.
4- *And when the messengers were eome in, behold^ there woe an image in the hedy with a pillow <^ goafs hair for his bolster:*— I. Sam., 19, 16.
LIKE tlie true-hearted wife aihe was, Michal, when left alone after David's flight to shelter herself from her father's wrath, did not think first of her own danger. She wanted to secure her husband from pursuit. So she made use of an "image," apparently a lifesize figure of some god, the presence of which in Saul's household hints stron^y at his waning faith in the Lord. This image she arranged in David's bed; and, when Saul's messengers came for her husband, she pointed to the figure and told than David was too ill to go with them. When they reported this to Saul, the fierce king bade them drag the sick man to him on the bed, that he might slay him with his own hand. When they came to do this, the trick was discovered; but so much time had been gained that David was safe.
Michal, being confronted by her angry father, escaped his wrath by further deception. Though strong for those she loved, she was not strong in truth for truth's own sake. She pretended that she would have hindered David, but that he had terrified her with threats. "He said unto me. Let me go; why should I kill thee ?" So Michal remained dwelling in favor with her father, a fact which afterward brought her to much
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iv-26
FIRST KINGS XII ISRAEL'S REBELLION 625
him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying. Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; tnus shalt thou say unto them. My little ^ngrer shall be thicker than my father's loins.
11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 ^ So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying. Come to me again the third day.
13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel mat they gave him;
14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying. My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you witn scorpions.
15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilomte unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 ^ So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying. What portion have we in David ? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute^; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel : there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21 ^ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
>For "tribute" the Revised Version substitutes "levy."
626 FIRST KINGS XII — ISRAEl's IDOLATRY
24 Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his nouse; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.
25 % Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart. Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David :
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of
gold, and said unto them. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem : ehold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not oi the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar and burnt incense.
Chapter 13
1 Jeroboam' 8 hand, that offered violence to him that prophesied aaainst hi^ altar at Beth-<i, wWurdh. t and at the- prayer of the prophet is restored. 7 The prophet, refusing the king^s entertainmetU, departeth from BHh-el. 11 ilf» old prophet, seducing him, bringeth him back. 20 He is reproved by God, 23 slain by a lion, 20 buried