Chronicles 10-29 — The history of King David, who made Jerusalem the political and religious centre of Israel, organised the Levitical ministry in its permanent shape, and amassed great stores of wealth and material for the Temple, which his son and successor was to build. X. A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PHILISTINES FOLLOWED HARD AFTER SAUL. — Literally, _clave to Saul,_ that is, hotly pursued him. (Comp. 1 Kings 22:31.) The destruction of the king and his sons would make their triumph complete. THE SONS OF SAUL. — Omit _the._ Eshbaal, Saul’s fourth son, was not in the battle (2 Samuel 2:8. Com... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BATTLE WENT SORE AGAINST SAUL. — Literally, _was heavy upon_ (Samuel, “unto”) _him,_ like a burden weighing him to the earth. AND THE ARCHERS HIT HIM. — Literally, _And they that shoot with the bow came upon him; and he shuddered_ (Sam., “greatly”) _before the shooters._ “He shuddered or tremble... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAUL SAID. — So Abimelech (Judges 9:54). LEST THESE UNCIRCUMCISED COME. — Sam. Adds “and thrust me through.” An inadvertent repetition there, or omission here, is possible. Or, we might say, Saul preferred death by a friendly stroke to the thrusts of insulting foemen. AND ABUSE ME. — The Hebre... [ Continue Reading ]
HE FELL LIKEWISE ON THE SWORD. — Sam., “his sword,” _i.e.,_ the sword of the armour-bearer. AND DIED. — Samuel adds “with him,” which seems to be omitted here for brevity, which may be the reason of other similar omissions. Loyalty to his chief, and perhaps dread of the foe, were the armour-bearer’... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL HIS HOUSE DIED TOGETHER. — Instead of this Samuel reads “and his armour-bearer; also all his men on that day together.” The LXX. adds “on that day” here, while in Samuel it omits “all his men,” thus minimising the differences of text. It is mere pedantry to press the phrases “all his men,” “... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WERE IN THE VALLEY. — Rather, _the plain,_ in which the main battle was fought — that of Jezreel. Samuel has “that were on the other side of the plain, and on the other side of the Jordan.” The curt phrase “who (dwelt) in the plain,” may be compared with 1 Chronicles 9:2. The people of the surr... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS SONS. — Samuel, “his three sons.” Otherwise the two verses are word for word the same.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD STRIPPED HIM. — Better, _and they stripped him, and carried off his head,_ &c. Samuel, “and they cut off his head, and stripped his armour off.” With the phrase “carried off his head,” comp. Genesis 40:19, “Pharaoh will lift thy head from off thee,” where the same Hebrew verb is us... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE HOUSE OF THEIR GODS. — Or god, as LXX. Samuel, “house of Ashtaroth,” which the chronicler or his source paraphrases, perhaps from a repugnance to mentioning the idol’s name. Ashtoreth had a great temple at Ascalon, as “Heavenly Aphrodite” (Herod., _Hist_ i. 108). The “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremi... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE VALIANT MEN. — Literally, _every man of valour._ Samuel adds, “and marched all the night.” TOOK AWAY. — _Carried off._ Samuel has “took,” (_ceperunt_). THE BODY. — A common Aramaic word, _gûfâh,_ only read here in the Old Testament, for which Samuel has the pure Hebrew synonym _a’wîyah._ S... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN AGAINST THE WORD OF THE LORD. — Saul’s unfaithfulness was twofold: (1) he did not observe the prophetic word of Jehovah (comp. 1 Samuel 13:13; 1 Samuel 15:11); and (2) he consulted a necromancer, to the neglect of consulting Jehovah (1 Samuel 28). AND ALSO FOR ASKING COUNSEL. — _And also by con... [ Continue Reading ]
A concluding reflection from the mind of the chronicler himself. He sums up his extract concerning the ruin of Saul by assigning the moral ground of it, viz., Saul’s “unfaithfulness whereby he showed himself unfaithful to Jehovah.” The same charge was made against the Transjordan tribes in 1 Chronic... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ENQUIRED NOT OF THE LORD. — Saul had, in fact, enquired of Jehovah before resorting to the witch of En-dor, “but the Lord answered him not, neither by the dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by the prophets” (1 Samuel 28:6). We shall not be reading a meaning of our own into the text if we say that Saul... [ Continue Reading ]