1 Chronicles 12

2. S. 5:1 THEN came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Be- 2 hold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said to thee, Thou shalt feed 3 [or, be shepherd of] my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince [or, leader] over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Samuel. 4,5 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.

1. Chron. 12 : 23 And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, which came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD.

Verses 24-37. Numbers of the armed men of the several tribes.

38. All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to 39 make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for 40 their brethren had made preparation for them. Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel.

In the remaining text we harmonize 2 S. 5 : 6-10, and 1 Chron. 11 : 4-9.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and smite the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul. Wherefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about and inward: and Joab repaired the rest of the city. And David waxed greater and greater; for the LORD of hosts was with him.

The consummation to which events in God’s Providence had been leading was now come. Saul and Jonathan, Abner and Ishbosheth, were all dead; there was no one of the house of Saul capable of taking the lead; David was already head of a very large portion of Israel; the Philistines, and perhaps the remnants of the Canaanites, were restless and threatening; and it was obviously the interest of the Israelitish nation to unite themselves under the sovereignty of the valiant and virtuous son of Jesse, their former deliverer, and the man designated by the

Word of God as their Captain and Shepherd. Bib. Com.

2. S. 5 : 1-5. David’s final anointing and establishment as King of all Israel. Moved by a unanimity of spirit,—wrought indirectly and largely by the severe Providences through which they had been led, but effectually seconded by the Spirit of God, stirring into fresh glow the fire of devout patriotism through the remembrance of God’s great promises and deeds in their behalf as a people,—an immense representation from all the tribes came to David at Hebron. Three hundred thousand men (1 Chron. 12 : 23-40), gathered in convocation, expressed their desire for national unity, recognized his personal fitness for the throne, called to mind the days in which he so valiantly and successfully led the armies of Saul, frankly admitted and gladly accepted his Divine appointment to the kingdom (which, it plainly appears, they all, like Abner, had long understood); then, by their elders, entered into solemn covenant with David—the covenant being as solemnly accepted by him—and finally, “before the Lord they anointed David King over Israel.” The seven years of patient waiting in Hebron, years of trustful submission to God’s will, years of forbearance with the disunited tribes, even in their warfare against himself, years of Divine inward maturing of his own spiritual character, years of wise, faithful, foundation work in teaching and training the people of Judah, these long secluded years of patient waiting were not in vain. According to God’s plan, by the interworking of his Providence and Spirit, they had borne abundant fruit of good, and now had established him in the kingdom. And, let us not fail to remark it in passing, in the actual result, in the methods by which it was brought about, crowned and completed as these methods were by the spontaneous united action of the tribes, we find one of the most extended and effective illustrations in all history of the perfect accord of human freedom with Divine sovereignty; of voluntary human action in the widest combination of varying interests and events, in the end concentrating upon the fulfilment of Divine purpose and prediction. A kindred illustration we read in that other greater event in the history of David’s Son and Lord, His elevation through the Cross to a universal everlasting throne as the Redeemer King! B.

It is interesting to notice the grounds on which the elders offered him the crown (verses 1-3). He possessed the general but requisite qualification of being one of themselves—“Thou art our bone and our flesh.” He had been in former times their leader, and had proved himself worthy to be their king: “In time past, when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel.” But above all, the Lord had nominated him to the kingdom: “The Lord said to thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be captain over Israel.” They knew this seven years ago as well as they knew it then, and their acknowledgment is somewhat tardy. It is, however, satisfactory to find them so distinctly placing his nomination on this footing; and the acknowledgment of the constitutional validity of his claim to the throne is important. David then “made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord.” Certain conditions were agreed to on both sides, defining his rights and theirs; and where such conditions exist, the monarchy is constitutional, not absolute. The conditions were doubtless such as had been established by Samuel, forming something like a coronation oath—which all future kings seem to have taken at their accession, although the limitations it involved do not appear to have been very exactly observed by all of them—the tendency of all power in the East, however formally limited, being toward absolutism. David was then anointed king over all Israel—being the third anointing he had received. Kit.

Thus, without any advantage of birth, without any dexterous scheming or violent revolution, in ripeness of mind and body, at the moment when he was most needed, the greatest man of the age reached the highest position in it, the headship over the whole of God’s chosen people. The shepherd-lad, musician, courtier, warrior, poet, outlaw, and tribal king, had reached the throne of united Israel. He had experienced the trials of solitary watching in the wilderness, of jealousies and plots at court, of being hunted like a wild beast in the mountains, of being an exile in the land of Israel’s deadliest enemies. There remained the severest trial of all, the possession of supreme power. Plummer.

1. Chron. 12 : 23-38. Here is a record of the numbers from each of the tribes who had espoused the cause of David. But besides giving the numbers from each tribe, it often briefly characterizes them. Thus the two hundred captains of Issachar are described as men “who had understanding of the times so that they could see what Israel ought to do”—men, i.e., of fine political sagacity; “and all their brethren acted according to their mouth”—i.e., took the advice of these skilful statesmen. The fifty thousand of Zebulun are described as “expert in war, and in the use of all weapons of war,” as men “who could keep rank, because they were not of a heart and a heart, because they were animated by a single overmastering purpose, by an entire and perfect devotion. In each man, as in the whole army, there was a single and supreme aim. When the chronicler sums up, he says of the whole three hundred thousand what he had already said of the fifty thousand of Zebulun: “All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel.” No wonder that they succeeded in their aim. Three hundred thousand men who knew how to keep rank, and were of a single heart, might still overturn a kingdom, if not overrun the world. And it is this unity of heart, this singleness of motive and purpose, which is still the secret of order and victory. The secret of unity in our individual lives is one with the secret of unity in a camp or an army. We bring order and peace into our lives as we become of one heart, and a perfect heart before God. Coz.

38-40. And now Hebron witnessed a wondrous and joyful spectacle. The nation, wearied with war and persuaded toward David, not only send their elders, but in counted thousands and ten thousands come themselves, to crown him king over the whole country. The choice men, not only of the neighboring tribes of Simeon and Benjamin and Ephraim, but also of the tribes beyond the Jordan, and of Issachar in the plain of Esdraelon, and of the three tribes still farther north—all flock to Hebron, bringing “bread and meat, meal-cakes of figs and bunches of raisins, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly;” “on asses and on camels and on mules and on oxen.” This valley before Hebron and these hills surrounding it were doubtless covered with the joyful multitudes keeping the coronation festival and celebrating the praises of the new king of the united country. N. C. B.

28.6-10; 1 Chron. 11:4-9. Jerusalem chosen as the Capital. David—now thirty-eight years old—was established as king over Israel. A capital for the new kingdom was next to be chosen. This should contain the royal residence, should be the established seat of government and worship, and so be regarded as the centre of the national unity. A new site was desirable, in which all the tribes might have a common interest. Such a locality was chosen in the natural stronghold of Jebus, on the borders of Benjamin and Judah. For four hundred years it had withstood Israel’s assault. The situation combined beauty with strength, in both far surpassing any other city on earth. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” David justly said of it in its splendor. Between deep gorges on either side and on the south, and with a depressed valley on the north, rose up lofty elevations. The highest point, and most impregnable, was that so long held by the Jebusites, afterward called the hill of Zion. It was on the southwest of, and a hundred feet above, the whole city area. This fastness was taken by Joab, after its defenders had scornfully taunted David with the folly of his attempt to subdue it. Upon the next highest hill, on the east, Moriah, Abraham had erected the altar of sacrifice for Isaac, a type of the after sacrifice on Calvary. And upon Moriah the three Temples were afterward built. The name, Jerusalem, has been interpreted, Inheritance of Peace. And now at its founding, we remember that the hill of Zion, the Temple structure, and the City itself, after bearing distinguished and memorable part in the sublime associations of all the centuries to Christ, are reproduced in the apocalyptic symbols of the heavenly city. Thus in its duration, its wonderful yet incomplete history, and its typical connections with the heavenly state, we find ground for peculiar interest in Jerusalem, the City of the great King. B.

So great was their confidence in the natural strength of their citadel that the Jebusites believed the blind and lame of their number were adequate for its defence. Subsequently these words passed into a proverb: Because of the blind and the lame, he shall not enter the house; or as given by Perowne: “The blind and the lame are there; let him enter if he can.” Joab was the first to master the ascent and thus secure the honor of being David’s chief captain. The reference to “the watercourse” suggests that the ascent was made through some water-worn passage. The citadel once mastered, David proceeded to enlarge the area of this lofty summit and to strengthen its fortifications. H. C.

From Millo and inwards. The fortification “inwards” must have consisted in the enclosure of Mount Zion with a strong wall upon the north side, where Jerusalem joins it as a lower town, so as to defend the place against hostile attacks on the north or town side. The “Millo” was at any rate some kind of fortification, probably a large tower or castle. The definite article before Millo indicates that it was a well-known fortress, probably one that had been erected by Jebusites. Keil.

The City of Jerusalem, said by the monkish writers to be the centre of the earth, is emphatically the centre of Palestine. It is exactly on the watershed of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, 2650 feet above the level of the former: a truly mountain city. Built on the very backbone of the country—the summit of that long ridge which traverses the Holy Land from north to south, and only approachable by wild mountain roads—the position of the city was one of great natural strength. The twin hills of Zion and Moriah are enclosed, excepting on the north, by the ravines of Hinnom and of

Kedron. They rise to the north of Jerusalem, very near each other. The westernmost, the Valley of Hinnom, runs southward for a mile and a quarter, skirting the city of David to the west, then turns suddenly to the east, and, passing through a deep gorge, joins the Kedron at Bir Eyub, a deep well, southeast of the city. The Valley of Kedron or Jehoshaphat, Wady en När, beginning to the north of the city, runs eastward for a mile and a half, and then makes a sharp bend southward, skirting the Mount Moriah, separating it from the Mount of Olives, and rapidly descends, till, at its junction with the Valley of Hinnom, it is 670 feet below its original starting point. H. B. T. (For diagrams, etc., see pp. 660-63, New Testament, Vol. I.)

Here David established his seat of government, and centuries of history have ratified the wisdom of his choice. The creation of the national capital is therefore contemporaneous with the establishment of the monarchy in its complete form, and both are the work of David. That it should be called “the city of David” was doubly justified by his having captured it, and by the use he made of it. Strategically its position is very strong. Most of the approaches to it are too intricate and precipitous for large armies; and the one that is least so, the one that has almost invariably been used by hostile armies, is very circuitous—from Jaffa and Lydda, over the pass of the Beth-horons to Gibeon, and thence over the hills to the north side of Jerusalem. History shows that the armies of Egypt and Assyria often marched by along the plain, and sometimes fought there, without in any way interfering with Jerusalem. Plummer.

Thus Jerusalem was the city of David, born to greatness in the first year of his reign over all Israel. In the result it came to be more richly embalmed in sacred song and hallowed with more sweet associations and blessed memories than any other city brought before us in the holy Scriptures; indeed, we might say, above any other city known to history. H. C.—Zion was memorable because it was God’s dwelling-place, Jerusalem because it was the city of the great King. If Jerusalem and Zion impress our imagination even above other places, it is because God had so much to do with them. We recall the unrivalled moral and spiritual forces that were concentrated there: the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of the martyrs, the glorious company of the apostles, all living under the shadow of Mount Zion, and uttering those words that have moved the world as they received them from the mouth of the Lord. We recall Him who claimed to be Himself God, whose blessed lessons, and holy life, and atoning death were so closely connected with Jerusalem, and would alone have made it forever memorable. Century after century, millennium after millennium has passed; and still Zion and Jerusalem draw all eyes and hearts. W. G. B.

Established at Jerusalem as his capital, David reigns for some ten years with unbroken prosperity over a loyal and loving people, with this for the summary of the whole period, “David went on and grew great, and the Lord God of Hosts was with him.” These years are marked by three principal events—the bringing up of the ark to the city of David, the promise by Nathan of the perpetual dominion of his house, and the unbroken flow of victories over the surrounding nations. A. M.

“NAMES OF THE MIGHTY MEN WHOM DAVID HAD” DURING HIS OUTLAW LIFE AND AT HEBRON, AND SOME OF THEIR HEROIC DEEDS.

2. S. 5 : 11** And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons : and they built David an house. And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.

Verses 13-16. Wives taken and children born in Jerusalem.

17. And when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David ; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. Now the 19 Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines ? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand ? And the LORD said unto David, Go up : for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into 20 thine hand. And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there ; and he said, The LORD hath broken mine enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he 21 called the name of that place Baal-perazim. And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away.

1. Chron. 14 : 12** And David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire.

2. S. 5 : 22** And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

1. Chron. 14 : 14** And David inquired again of God ; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them : turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry 15 trees. And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle : for God is gone out before thee to smite the host 16 of the Philistines. And David did as God commanded him : and they smote the host of the 17 Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. And the fame of David went out into all lands : and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations.

2. S. 9 : 1** And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may 2 shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake ? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him unto David ; and the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba ? 3 And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him ? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath 4 yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he ? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from 6 Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came unto David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold, thy servant ! And David said unto him, Fear not : for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father ; and thou 8 shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant, 9 that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am ? Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, All that pertained to Saul and to all his house have I given unto 10 thy master’s son. And thou shalt till the land for him, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants ; and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have bread to eat : but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons 11 and twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king commandeth his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he 12 shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem : for he did eat continually at the king’s table ; and he was lame on both his feet.

28.5:11. With a just and generous appreciation of David’s Divine appointment to the throne, Hiram, King of Tyre, proposed to erect a palace for the royal residence. David assented, and the structure was erected, with all the art and beauty of the times. Thus was laid the foundation of a lasting friendship with Hiram, continued after David’s death by Solomon. B.—When we look to the name borne by this prince—the first Phœnician mentioned by name in Scripture—we are at once struck with its authentic character. That Hiram was really a Phœnician name, and one which kings were in the habit of bearing, is certain from the Assyrian Inscriptions and from Herodotus, as well as from the Phœnician historians, Dius and Menander. And these last-named writers show moreover that the name was actually borne by the Tyrian king contemporary with Solomon and David, and they speak distinctly of the close connection between Hiram and Solomon; adding facts, which, though not contained in Scripture, are remarkably in accordance with the sacred narrative. G. R.

11. Tyre.** One of the two great cities of Phœnicia, celebrated for its commerce, its mechanical skill, and its wealth. When the Israelites entered Canaan, it was already noted for its strength (Josh. 19:29). Three causes co-operated to bring Phœnicia into close and friendly relation with Israel. (a) The contiguity of the countries, and the short distance between their capitals. From Tyre to Jerusalem by land was scarcely more than one hundred miles, so that intercourse was easy. (b) Similarity of language. Phœnician so closely resembles Hebrew, that it must have been readily intelligible to the Israelites. (c) Tyre depended upon Palestine for its supplies of wheat and oil, and in return sent to Jerusalem its articles of commerce, and provided skilled workmen for the buildings erected by David and Solomon. A. F. K.—This kind of intercourse accounts for the remarkable fact that the Phœnicians are the only neighboring nation with whom the Israelites never had any war. The Israelites could thus possess themselves in large abundance of the various foreign commodities which abounded in the Phœnician markets, while their diffusion through the land produced a marked change for the better in the attire, the arms and armor, the dwellings, the furniture, the domestic utensils, and probably the agricultural implements of the Hebrews. Of this we find frequent indications in the later books of Scripture. What was a convenience to the Hebrews became in time a vital necessity to the Phœnicians, and always continued to be such. So late as the time of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Phœnicians of Tyre taking the most earnest and even humiliating means of overcoming some resentment that Herod Agrippa had conceived against them, and why? “Because their country was nourished by the king’s country” (Acts 12:20). Kd.

Build David an house. This was erected upon Mount Zion, the highest and the largest of the hills on which the city stood. The crest of Zion is more than three hundred feet above the Kedron at En-Rogel. It was the first spot in Jerusalem occupied by buildings. Probably the Salem of Melchizedek, Zion was certainly the Jebus of the Jebusites, and then the City of David. Here David built his palace, and for more than a thousand years the kings and the foreign rulers who succeeded him resided here. In it David constructed the Royal Sepulchre, where he and fourteen of his successors were laid in the grave. Zion was the last spot which held out against Titus and the Romans. When the Temple fortress had been stormed, the last remnant of the Jews crossed the Tyropœon by the bridge, and held the City of David and the old palace of their kings till the very last, and perished among its ruins. H. B. T.

12. And David perceived that the Lord had established him to be king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel’s sake.** When David saw that all conspired steadily and harmoniously to the enlargement and establishment of his kingdom, he perceived that the Lord was with him, and was now visibly fulfilling to him that great principle of His government which He had so solemnly declared to Eli, “Them that honor Me, I will honor.” W. G. B.—David’s kingdom was lifted up on high, not for his own sake, that he might look great; but because of his people Israel, that he might be a guide and protector to them. We are therefore blessed, that we may be blessings. We are not born, nor do we live, for ourselves. H.

David’s early and later life illustrates to us the value of discipline to right character and conduct. In his earlier years, the long period of persecution and the patient waiting at Hebron, and in his later years, the sore visitations of God because of his fearful sin, were the means by which, first patience and fortitude, and then penitence and a deeper trust were wrought in his soul. But, apart from this teaching, the life and character of David interest and instruct us at every point. In his youth he is brightest, noblest, most attractive. Then he is modest and manly, heroic and meek, wise, trustful, and devout. Faith prompts and nerves his acting, and humility quenches the natural pride and self-relation of victory or success. It is true, he failed again and again in the subsequent days of adversity, and therefore these days were lengthened that he might not only learn patience, but the higher lesson (the highest we all can learn) that he and his life were not for himself but for God. Well he learned this lesson, during the seven years of quiet waiting at Hebron, and never afterward was it forgotten, even in his greatest exaltation. Well may it be emphasized! This rare excellence in David was not simply the utter absence of self-will—by which indeed he was always distinguished—but higher and better than this, it was the conviction that himself, his faculties, gifts, possessions, and honors, his very crown and kingdom, all were supremely, entirely, for God’s use and glory, not for his own. And no sin of David, many and enormous as were his sins, revealed the least forgetfulness of this, the least tendency unduly to exalt himself. B.—The king ruled so long as his throne was based upon righteousness; the moment he sought for any other foundation, he would become weak and contemptible. All David’s discipline had been designed to settle him in this truth. He was the man after God’s own heart, because he so graciously received that discipline and imbibed that truth. The signal sin of his life confirmed it still more mightily for himself and for all ages to come. Maurice.

13-16. “David took to him more concubines and wives” in Jerusalem. With all his light and grace, he had not overcome the prevalent notion that the dignity and resources of a kingdom were to be measured by the number and rank of the king’s wives. W. G. B.—David stopped short of that fatal step contemplated in the warning of Moses, and taken by Solomon, of multiplying to himself wives from heathen nations, so as to turn away his heart from God; but the miseries he suffered in his family give the best answer to the folly which quotes Scripture in sanction of polygamy. P. S.

71-20. David’s first victory over the Philistines. This warlike and powerful people had been for centuries the cause of Israel’s sorest trials, since Joshua’s death the chief hindrance to any approach to unity and consolidation of the tribes. The first necessity of the new government, the thing most essential not merely to peace and general prosperity among the tribes, but to their existence and homogeneous develdevelopment as a nation, was the utter overthrow of this long dominant and powerful foe. And the achievement of this overthrow was brought about, still under the overruling of God’s Providence, first and foremost by the natural yet aggressive action of the Philistines themselves. So soon as they saw all Israel united under the only man who had in former days invariably vanquished their forces in conflict, they saw that their dominant power, nay, their very existence was threatened. At once, therefore, before time or opportunity could be given for the consolidation and training of the forces of Israel, they gather in mighty force in the Valley of Rephaim, southward from Jerusalem, on the frontier which separated Judah from all the other tribes. And now mark the trustful spirit and the dauntless courage of David, in meeting this immense array of Philistia. Well he still understands and believes that the battle is the Lord’s, and that the people are the Lord’s. So he asks of the Lord not merely direction to go against the Philistines, but a Divine assurance that the Lord will give him the victory. And with the certainty of success, wrought by his implicit faith in God, he leads his unprepared, unequal army to conflict and to an overwhelming victory. And then in the same faith (verse 20) he reverently and gratefully ascribes the success to Him whose interposition had assured it. B.

20,21. David called the field of battle Baalperazim—i.e., “God has by my hands scattered mine enemies.” In this war the Philistines lost even their images, which must have reminded them of Israel’s loss of the ark on a former occasion. David burned them. C. G. B.—By this David afforded sufficient evidence that he regarded hostility to idolatry as belonging to the functions of his office, being the only indication of practical hostility against the gods of the heathen, when not introduced for worship among the Israelites, that has hitherto appeared. Kit.

1. Chron. 14: 14-17.** Israel’s final and decisive triumph over the Philistines. With a yet more numerous and mightier force the Philistines return to the same battle-field. But now the Lord gave another answer to the inquiry of His anointed King. Now He will more directly and effectually interpose for the utter destruction of his people’s enemies. He bids David set his army in ambush, aside from their foes, and declares that He will go before them and smite the host of the Philistines. But he commands that David shall follow up and complete the work of destruction. “And David did so.”

He obeyed the Divine direction, and God fulfilled his promise. The hosts of Philistia fled panic smitten from the field, and were pursued for a great distance with immense slaughter, so that their power was permanently broken. B.

Once more the sacred oracle was consulted, and this time he was forbidden to go out and assail them in front, but to fetch a compass, and to come out secretly behind them over against a certain mulberry plantation. He was to remain quiet till he heard “the sound of a going upon the tops of the mulberry trees”—a sound probably like the rush of a mighty host to battle—which was to be a signal to him that the Divine power was moving forth to destroy and defeat his enemies; and then he was to march out against them. The king followed these directions implicitly, and the enemy hearing, it would seem, the sound of a mighty army in their rear, which they might easily imagine to be even more numerous and formidable than that led by David, and which appeared at the very moment these sounds were heard, fell into panic and confusion and were easily put to the rout. The victors pursued them hard for many long miles, even to the frontier of their own territory. Kit.

Let David’s inquiry of God, once and again, upon occasion of the Philistines’ invading him, direct us in all our ways to acknowledge him, in distress to fly to him, when we are wronged, to appeal to him, and when we know not what to do, to ask counsel at his oracles, to put ourselves under his conduct, and to beg of him to show us the right way. And let the sound of the going in the tops of the mulberry trees direct us to attend God’s motions, both in his providence and in the influence of his Spirit. When we perceive God to go before, let us gird up our loins, gird on our armor, and follow him. H.

Being thus repulsed, and then reduced to a tributary condition, the Philistines appear to have done little mischief during the remainder of David’s reign or during that of Solomon his successor. In the after-portion of the period of the kings, they sometimes encroached on Judea and sometimes in turn yielded the advantage, until, by-and-by, they became involved in the wars of the great empires of Assyria and Egypt, being on the highway of communication between those countries. Just when the Philistines lost their identity as a people is not known; perhaps not before the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century. Their country has outlived them, and on the field of their goings for two thousand years other races have come. N. C. B.

David’s Kindness to Jonathan’s Son.

The wars of David occupy but a small space in the history of his reign. An act of kindness toward the son of his early friend, Jonathan, is told at greater length than the battles and triumphs of these numerous wars. Of his own accord, and in remembrance of his vows of friendship, he caused inquiries to be made for any of the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness. Sime.—When Ishbosheth was slain, and all Israel went over to David, Mephibosheth was about twelve years old, and there were obvious reasons why the friends who had taken charge of him should desire his existence to be forgotten. Thus Mephibosheth lived a quiet and peaceful life among his friends at Lo-de-bar; and when he grew to manhood, he married and had a son. When David was well established on his throne, he inquired one day of those about him, “Is there yet any left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” One Ziba, a servant of Saul, now a prosperous man with fifteen sons and twenty servants, it was supposed could acquaint the king with that which he desired to know. This man was sent for. The king asked: “Is there yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?” Ziba then told him of Mephibosheth, and where he was to be found; on which the king forthwith sent messengers to bring him to Jerusalem. Kit.—The kindness he promised to show, he calls the kindness of God; kindness in pursuance of the covenant that was between him and Jonathan, to which God was a witness. Jonathan’s request to David was, “Show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not, and the same to my seed.” The kindness of God is kindness done with an eye to God and his honor and favor.

9,10. He gives him all the land of Saul his father,—that is, his paternal estate, which was forfeited by Ishbosheth’s rebellion, and added to his own revenue. Though he had thus given him a good estate, sufficient to maintain him, yet, for Jonathan’s sake, he will take him to be a constant guest at his own table, where he will not only be comfortably fed, but have company and attendance suitable to his birth and quality. H.—The estate now made over to Mephibosheth was assigned for cultivation to Ziba, who, with his sons and servants, was to devote himself to it, and was to retain one half the produce in recompense for his expense and labor, paying the other moiety as rent to the owner of the land. Mephibosheth was thus enabled to keep up a becoming establishment for his family in Jerusalem, while habitually taking his principal meals at the royal table, and associating with the king’s sons, some of whom were nearly of his own age. As men do not sit down at table with their wives and children in the East, this constant dining at court was a distinction unaccompanied by any of the drawbacks it would bring to us. Kit.

THE ARK REMOVED FROM KIRJATH-JEARIM. UZZAH SMITTEN, AND IT REMAINS THREE MONTHS WITH OBED-EDOM. TAKEN TO ITS TENT IN JERUSALEM. DAVID’S PSALM FOR THE FIRST APPOINTED SONG-SERVICE.