_Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, [It is] for Saul, and for [his] bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites._ Ver. 1. _Then there was a famine in the days of David._] _Bella fame excipiuntur:_ Wars u... [ Continue Reading ]
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.) Ver. 2. _And Saul soug... [ Continue Reading ]
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? Ver. 3. _Wherefore David said to the Gibeonites._] Who had complained to God of Saul's cruelty and perfidy; and he had heard them, for he is gr... [ Continue Reading ]
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 in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, [that] will I do for you. Ver. 4. _We will have no silver nor gold of Saul._] It is not pecuniary satisfaction that we seek,... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ver. 5. _The man that consumed us and devised against us._] Saul, who not only murdered and massacred many of us out of a blind and bloody z... [ Continue Reading ]
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]. Ver. 6. _Let seven men of his sons._] Saul and some of his sons perished in that last battle of his against the Philistines, f... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. Because of the Lord's oath that was betwixt them.] That oath, if it had been rightly thought on, should have saved Mephibosh... [ Continue Reading ]
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 Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: Ver. 8. _But the king took the two sons of Rizpah._] By God's warra... [ Continue Reading ]
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 [days], in the beginning of barley harvest. Ver. 9. _And they hanged them in the hill._] In some h... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _Took sackcloth, and sprea... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. Ver. 11. And it was told David what Rizpah … had done.] Who liked it well, and thought it no disparagement to make such a woman his pattern in showing kindness to the dead. We should not disdain to learn any go... [ Continue Reading ]
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: Ver. 12. _And David went and took the bones of Saul, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 13. _And they gathered the bones of them that were hanged._] This was some comfort to their afflicted mother. Some of Christ's martyrs were denied this honou... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 14. _And after that God was entreated for the land._] So pleasing to G... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 15. _Moreover the Philistines_] Trusting to their champions, which yet were all cut off, and way made thereby for Solomon's quiet a... [ Continue Reading ]
And Ishbibenob, 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 [sword], thought to have slain David. Ver. 15. _Which was of the sons of the giant._] Such as were those before the flood, and the Zamzumm... [ Continue Reading ]
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. Ver. 17. _That thou quench not the light of Israel._] As Epaminondas, by his d... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 18. _There was again a battle._] “ _Nunquam bella bonis, nunquam discrimina desunt:_ Et quicum certet, mens pia semper hab... [ Continue Reading ]
And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew [the brother of] Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear [was] like a weaver's beam. Ver. 19. _Slew the brother of Goliath._] The name of this monster was Lahmi, 1Ch 20:5 but i... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. _A man of treat stature._] Yet not so great, likely, as he of whom Pliny writeth, that he wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him._ Ver. 21. _Jonathan the son of Shimei._] Whom some hold to be the same with that Jonadab, 2 Samuel 13:3 _; _ 2Sa 13:5 and then though he were witty and valiant, yet he was _non nimus pius,_ not so honest as he sho... [ Continue Reading ]
These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. Ver. 22. _And fell by the hand of David._] Because by the hand of his servants and soldiers. Let us ascribe the honour of all our victories over enemies, corporal or spiritual, to Christ alone... [ Continue Reading ]