IN HIS HOUSE AT RAMAH - Probably in the court or garden attached to his dwelling-house. (Compare 2 Chronicles 33:20; 2 Kings 21:18; John 19:41.) THE WILDERNESS OF PARAN - The Septuagint has the far more probable reading “Maon.” The wilderness of Paran lay far off to the south, on the borders of the... [ Continue Reading ]
CARMEL - Not Mount Carmel on the west of the plain of Esdraelon, but the Carmel close to Maon (marginal references). SHEARING HIS SHEEP - Which was always a time of open-handed hospitality among flock-masters Genesis 38:12; 2 Samuel 13:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT LIVETH IN PROSPERITY - The Hebrew is obscure, and is variously interpreted. The simplest rendering is, “And ye shall say thus about (his) life,” i. e., with reference to his life, health, circumstances, etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
The mention of water indicates a country where water was scarce (compare Joshua 15:19). Or “bread and water” may be equivalent to “meat and drink.”... [ Continue Reading ]
RAILED ON THEM - The marginal reading, “flew upon them,” is nearer to the original.... [ Continue Reading ]
A WALL - To protect them from the attacks of the Bedouins, etc. They had been as safe with David’s men around them as if they had been dwelling in a walled town.... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO BOTTLES - Rather, “two skins,” each of which would contain many gallons. These leather vessels varied in size according to the skin they were made of, and the use they were to be put to. The smaller and more portable kind, which may not improperly be called bottles, were made of the skin of a ki... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COVERT OF THE HILL - Probably a defile or glen, literally a “secret place,” as in 1 Samuel 19:2. She was riding down into this glen from one side, while David and his men were descending the opposite hill. It is perhaps mentioned that she came by this “secret place,” because she chose this path... [ Continue Reading ]
IN VAIN - i. e., under false expectation.... [ Continue Reading ]
The concluding phrase denotes the utter destruction of a family, and is rightly explained to mean “every male,” perhaps with the idea, “down to the very meanest member of the household.”... [ Continue Reading ]
The passage should be rendered as follows: “And now my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth,” it is “the Lord” that “hath withholden thee from coming” into blood-guiltiness (as in 1 Samuel 25:33), “and from saving thyself with thine own hand;” and “now” all “thine enemies” shall be as Na... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD WILL MAKE ... A SURE HOUSE - Compare 1 Samuel 2:35, and 2 Samuel 7:16; 1 Kings 11:38. Abigail’s firm persuasion of David’s kingdom stands upon the same footing as Rahab’s conviction of God’s gift of Canaan to the Israelites Joshua 2:9. Both testified to God’s revelation and their own fa... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE BUNDLE - Rather, “the bag,” in which anything precious, or important to be preserved, was put, and the bag was then tied up (compare Genesis 42:35). THE SOULS ... SHALL HE SLING OUT - The comparison is especially appropriate as addressed to David, whose feat with his sling was so celebrated... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BECAME AS A STONE - Probably his violent anger at hearing it brought on a fit of apoplexy to which he was disposed by the drunken revel of the night before. After lying senseless for ten days he died.... [ Continue Reading ]
There is no note of the exact interval that elapsed between Nabal’s death and David’s hearing of it, or, again, between David’s hearing of it and his message to Abigail; nor is there any reason to suppose that the marriage took place with unbecoming haste. The widow of such a husband as Nabal had be... [ Continue Reading ]
In the list of David’s wives Ahinoam is mentioned first 2 Samuel 3:2; 1 Chronicles 3:1. But this may be only because her son was the first-born. David’s now taking two wives was an indication of his growing power and importance as a chieftain. The number was increased to six when he reigned in Hebro... [ Continue Reading ]
Saul’s giving Michal to Phalti was intended to mark the final rupture of his own relations with David (compare Judges 14:20; 2 Samuel 3:7; 2 Samuel 16:21). Phalti or Phaltiel Was compelled by Abner to restore Michal to David 2 Samuel 3:15. GALLIN - A city of Benjamin, and in the neighborhood of ano... [ Continue Reading ]