Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, Ver. 1. _Now the days of David._] Days are one of the shortest measures of time; but long enough to decipher man's life by. We are Eρημεροβιοι . _ That he should die._] Death is the only king against whom t... [ Continue Reading ]
I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; Ver. 2. _I go the way of all the earth._] Behold, I die, as Genesis 48:21 . _ Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man._] _sc., _ In understanding and courage, 1Co 14:20 making up thy want of years by thy vir... [ Continue Reading ]
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 thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: Ver. 3. _And keep the char... [ Continue Reading ]
That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk 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. Ver. 4. _If thy children take heed to their w... [ Continue Reading ]
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 hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace._ Ver. 6. _Do therefore according to thy wisdom,_] _q.d., _ He is of a turbulent spirit, and will be apt enough to give thee just occasion to fall upon him. See that it be thoroughly done, for it lieth up... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. _For so they came to me._] So as I now desire thee to do to them, as did they to me when I was in distress - viz., t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And, behold, [thou hast] with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite 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._ Ver. 8. _Thou ha... [ Continue Reading ]
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 down to the grave with blood. Ver. 9. _Hold him not guiltless._] But when he shall have "added iniquity to his iniquity," pay him home for the new and the old... [ Continue Reading ]
So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. Ver. 10. _So David slept with his fathers._] When he had served out his time, Act 13:25 when he had done his work, God sent him to bed. Isa 57:2 In 1 Chronicles 29:28, it is said that "he died in a good old age, full of days, ric... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 11. _Were forty years._] Scarce any king of Judah reigned so long. Our Queen Elizabeth reigned four and forty years, and lived about seventy yea... [ Continue Reading ]
Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. Ver. 12. _And his kingdom was established greatly,_] _sc., _ After that he had cut off those three arch-rebels Joab, Adonijah, and Shimei.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. Ver. 13. And Adonijah … came to Bathsheba.] Being put on and advised thereunto, as it is thought, by Joab and Abiathar. _ Comest thou peaceably?_] She had reason to... [ Continue Reading ]
He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on. Ver. 14. _I have somewhat to say unto thee._] But take heed that your tongue cut not your throat, as the Arabic proverb hath it.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and [that] 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. Ver. 15. _Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine,_] viz., By right of succession, I b... [ Continue Reading ]
And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. Ver. 16. _Deny me not._] Heb., Turn not away my face, _i.e., _ _Ne reiecias me more denegantium,_ reject me not as those do that deny one a request. _Quaeque repulsa gravis:_ A repulse is grievous.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _For he will not say thee nay._] He knew that a mother might do much, as Olympias with Alexander, Agrippina with Nero, &c. The Romanists blasphemously pra... [ Continue Reading ]
And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king. Ver. 18. _Well; I will speak for thee._] Though Bathsheba were a wise woman, grandchild to Ahithophel, yet she perceived not Adonijah's drift - viz., to undermine her son Solomon, and to shoulder him out of the throne. Hence she was so... [ Continue Reading ]
Bathsheba 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. Ver. 19. _And bowed himself unto her._] Sir Thomas... [ Continue Reading ]
Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; [I pray thee], say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay. Ver. 20. _I desire one small petition of thee._] Small she called it, but Solomon, who saw further into the matter, judged otherwise of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. Ver. 21. Let Abishag … be given to Adonijah to wife.] Overcome by Adonijah's fair words and her own melting thoughts of compassion towards him, Bathsheba, not considering the consequents, proposeth the suit, and pres... [ Continue Reading ]
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 he [is] mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. Ver. 22. _Ask for him the kingdom also._] For that... [ Continue Reading ]
Then king 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. Ver. 23. _And Solomon sware._] That his mother, seeing him so resolute, might no more solicit.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 24. _Adonijah shall be put to death this day._] This day; before tomorrow, lest delay should bree... [ Continue Reading ]
And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died. Ver. 25. _And he fell upon him that he died._] This was another piece of the punishment of David's two great sins: the small and short pleasure whereof, behold, what a train and tail of calamities i... [ Continue Reading ]
And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, 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 wa... [ Continue Reading ]
So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. Ver. 27. _So Solomon thrust out Abiathar._] Our Henry II could not so easily rid his hands of Thomas Becket, that arch-traitor; but having... [ Continue Reading ]
Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. Ver. 28. _For Joab had turned after Adonijah._] And that was his bane. If men do not cast away all their trans... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, [he is] by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. Ver. 29. _Go, fall upon him._] Wilful murderers were to be drawn from the altar to the slaughter. Exo 21:14... [ Continue Reading ]
And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. Ver. 30. _Nay, but I will die here._] He dreamed not now of death; as... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 31. _Do as he hath said._] Slay him, though it be at the altar. Becket, the traitor, was so served by some... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing [thereof, to wit], Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 33. _And upon the head of his seed for ever._] See 2 Samuel 3:29. _See Trap... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 34. _And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness,_] _i.e., _ In a forest, fit for pasturage, and but thinly inhabited. The Hebrews say that Joab's house here... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 35. _And Zadok the priest did the king put, &c._] Abiathar, the fourth from Eli, was of the race of Ithamar, the younger brother. Zadok was the right heir of E... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 36. _Build thee a house in Jerusalem._] Shimei was no further to be trusted than he might be seen, and is therefore confined, and kept within comp... [ Continue Reading ]
For it shall be, [that] on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. Ver. 37. _And passest over the brook Kidron._] The black brook, the town ditch: this was between Jerusalem and Bahuri... [ Continue Reading ]
And Shimei said unto the king, The saying [is] good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. Ver. 38. The saying is good: … so will thy servant do.] The false heart praiseth the law and promiseth obedience, but faileth in performance; here it... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants [be] in Gath. Ver. 39. _At the end of three years._] When he might haply hope that Solomon had forgotten him, or did... [ Continue Reading ]
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. Ver. 40. _And Shimei arose, &c._] The dust of covetousness had blinded him: his passions also miscarried him - as they oft do better men - to his cost. _ And... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. Ver. 41. _And it was told Solomon._] Kings have long ears, and more eyes than their own. _ And was come again._] He thought by a secret escape and a speedy return haply to do it unnoticed.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word [that] I have heard [is]... [ Continue Reading ]
Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with? Ver. 43. _The oath of the Lord._] Made in his name, and to be kept to his glory, whereof he is jealous.... [ Continue Reading ]
The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head; Ver. 44. _Thou knowest all the wickedness._] To know other things is science: but to know ourselve... [ Continue Reading ]
_And king Solomon [shall be] blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever._ Ver. 45. _And king Solomon shall be blessed._] For such due execution of justice. See Num 25:11-12 Psalms 106:30 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 46. _And the kingdom was established._] _Hoc est, sine aemulis regnare coepit; _ the contrary faction was destroyed, and none left to oppo... [ Continue Reading ]