Joab Slays Abner.'

a

b

in

was good

entire confidence in David is shown by his unsuspecting return.

The well of Sirah.-The only knowledge of this locality is from the testimony of Josephus (Antt. vii. 1, 5), that it was twenty stadia (two and a half miles) from Hebron; and there is still a spring and reservoir called Ain Sareh, rather more than a mile north of the town. If this is correct, Abner must have just left David when Joab arrived.

(27) Aside in the gate.-The gateway was a customary place of conference in the East, and Joab there awaited Abner's return; he then took him "aside to some place of privacy, as the LXX. reads, "by the side of the gate." On the phrase "fifth rib," sce Note on chap. ii. 23. The reason for this cold-blooded and treacherous murder on the part of Joab is expressly said to be "for the blood of Asahel his brother;" but no doubt his revenge was quickened by jealousy.

(28) I and my kingdom are guiltless.-This was true. Joab's act was entirely without David's knowledge, and was not only against his will on moral grounds, but was in danger of proving disastrous to him politically; hence he takes the strongest means of showing his abhorrence of the deed.

(29) Let it rest on the head of Joab.-The strong curse here pronounced by David shows that Joab's act could not be justified as that of the "Goel," or lawful avenger of his brother's blood, for Abner had slain Asahel in battle, unwillingly and in self-defence. It is also to be remembered that Hebron was a city of refuge (Josh. xxi. 13), and that here not even the "Goel" might slay the murderer without a trial (Num. xxxv. 22-25). The curse falls "on his father's house," since Abishai also (verse 30) had been concerned with him in the murder.

The phrase, "that leaneth on a staff," has been understood by many as "holding a distaff," i.e., a person unfit for war. The word has the sense of "distaff" in Prov. xxxi. 19, and is so rendered here by

David Mourns for Abner.

(32) And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. (33) And the king lamented over Abner, and said,

Died Abner as a fool dieth? (34) Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters as a man falleth before 5 wicked men, so fellest thou.

And all the people wept again over him. (35) And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down. (36) And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. (37) For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.

(38) And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?

the Vulgate; but the sense given by the Englishwhich is also that of the LXX. and Targum-is better, and more in accordance with the other particulars. For "on the sword" read "by the sword," there being no reference to the idea of suicide. On the violent end of Joab see 1 Kings ii. 31—34. (30) Slew . . . had slain.-The words are different in Hebrew, the former denoting_violence. Translate the latter had put to death. By this strong disapproval of Joab's act, David shows that it was done without his knowledge or consent. He still remains at fault, however, for continuing Joab in his high and responsible position; but this seems to have been the result of inability to inflict proper punishment upon so powerful a subject, an inability which David on his death-bed sought to remedy by his charge to Solomon. (See verse 39; 1 Kings ii. 5.)

(31) Rend your clothes. - David commands a public mourning with the usual signs of rent clothes and sackcloth, and lays this command especially upon Joab, who is thus required, as it were, to do public penance for his act. David himself followed the bier as chief mourner.

(32) In Hebron.-The family home, and therefore the natural burial-place, of Abner was at Gibeon (1 Chron. viii. 29, 33; ix. 33); but this may have been now under Ish-bosheth's control, and, at all events, a burial in the royal city of Hebron was more honourable and a more marked testimony to the grief of David.

(34) Thy hands were not bound.-The people were moved greatly by the sight of David's sorrow, but still more by this brief elegy over Abner. The whole circumstances are summed up in a few pregnant words: Abner, so valiant in war, with his hands free for defence, with his feet unfettered, unsuspicious of evil, fell by the treacherous act of a wicked man.

(35) To eat meat.-The fasting of David in his grief had already attracted attention, so that the people came to urge him to take food; but he utterly refused

(39) And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.

CHAPTER IV.-(1) And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. (2) And Saul's son had two men that were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite,_ of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin : (3) and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)

(4) And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was

five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it

B.C. cir. 1048.

"till the sun be down," the usual time of ending a fast. David's conduct had a good effect upon the people, and, indeed, they were generally disposed to look favourably upon whatever the king did.

(39) I am this day weak.-David's high appreciation of the importance and value of Abner shows that Joab's jealousy was not without ground, and there is a tone of deep sadness in his words, "these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me.' He knew their ungoverned passions, their bold lawlessness, and at the same time their great power and popularity with the army, and he dared not punish them. He leaves their judgment to God.

IV.

(1) All the Israelites were troubled.- The death of Abner affected both Ish-bosheth and his people. For the former, "his hands were feeble," the whole support and strength of his throne being gone; the latter were "troubled" because they had been carrying on negotiations with David through Abner, and these were now thrown into confusion, and it became uncertain how they might result.

(2) A Beerothite.-Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites (Josh. ix. 17), and was allotted with the others to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 25). It is identified with the modern El-Bireh, nine miles north of Jerusalem. It is mentioned here, in the past tense, that Beeroth "was reckoned to Benjamin," because in the time of the writer it was no longer inhabited. The fact that the murderers of Ish-bosheth were of his own tribe is made prominent.

(3) Fled to Gittaim.-Neither the cause of their flight, nor the place to which they fled, can be certainly determined. The Beerothites here appear as of the tribe of Benjamin, and it is probable that they fled from the incursions of the Philistines, and that Gittaim is the place mentioned in Neh. xi. 35 as occupied by the Benjamites returning from Babylon. The expres

by Baanah and Rechab.

came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

(5) And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. (6) And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. (7) For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them away through the plain all night. (8) And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

sion "until this day" makes it likely that the time of the writer was not very far removed from the events which he relates.

(4) A son that was lame.-The reason for the introduction here of this account of Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, is to show that, he being physically incapacitated for the throne, the house of Saul became practically extinct with the death of Ish-bosheth. There were other descendants, but either illegitimate or of the female line (chap, xxi. 8, 9), and hence there was none other of his house to claim the throne.

(5) Who lay on a bed at noon-according to the custom in hot countries of taking a siesta at midday. Ish-bosheth's bed was, of course, in the coolest and most retired part of the house.

=

(6) As though they would have fetched wheat.-Literally, fetching wheat. The English version gives the sense, since the fetching wheat (probably for their soldiers) was a pretext to cover their purpose. The LXX. has here a curious addition: "And, behold, the portress of the house was cleansing wheat, and she slumbered and slept, and the brothers slipt through." On" the fifth rib = abdomen, see Note on chap. ii. 23. (7) Took his head.-There is no difficulty with the repetition in verse 7 of what has been already mentioned in verse 6, for it is common in the Scripture narratives to repeat statements when any additional fact (as here, the carrying off of the head) is to be mentioned. (See, e.g., chap. iii. 22, 23, where Joab's arrival is twice mentioned, and chap. v. 1-3, where the mention of the assembly at Hebron is repeated.)

Through the plain.-As in chap. ii. 29, the Arabah, or valley of the Jordan, the natural way from Mahanaim to Hebron.

(8) The Lord hath avenged.-It is not to be supposed that the murderers pretended a Divine commission for their wicked deed; they only meant to say that, in the providence of God, David was thus avenged on the seed of his cruel persecutor. Yet they state the

Their Punishment.

a ch. 1. 15.

(9) And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, (10) when a one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, 1 thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings: (11) how much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? (12) And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off a Ps. 78. 71. their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and

b ch. 3. 32.

buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

:

e ch. 2. 11.

fact in the way they thought best calculated to awaken the gratitude of David towards themselves.

(9) Who hath redeemed.-David's answer shows that he could trust in God to avenge him, and did not encourage or need the crimes of men to help him.

(10) Who thought that I would have given him.-The words thought that I would are not in the original, and the literal translation of the margin is better: "which was the reward I gave him." This shows very plainly David's view of the motive which prompted the Amalekite to his lie recorded in chap. i. 10.

(11) A righteous person-i.e., righteous, not at fault, so far as the matter in hand and his relation to the assassins is concerned.

Take you away from the earth.-" Rather, put you away out of the land. The word is one specially used of removing evil or the guilt of evil from the land (Deut. xix. 13, 19, &c.). The guilt of murder defiled the land, until expiated by the execution of the murderer. (Num. xxxv. 33.) "—Kirkpatrick.

(12) Over the pool in Hebron.—The mutilation of the bodies of the criminals was itself a disgrace, and the hanging them up near the pool, to which all the people resorted, made this as public as possible and a terrible warning against the commission of such crimes by others. On the other hand, the head of Ish-bosheth was honourably buried in the sepulchre of his chief friend and supporter, Abner.

Chapters v.-x. contain the account of the first half of David's reign over the whole nation. All the events mentioned in them occurred within this period, but are not arranged with a strict regard to chronology within themselves, it being the object of the historian to describe first the internal improvement of the kingdom, and then afterwards the external development of its power.

(1) All the tribes.-Not only as represented by their elders (verse 3), but by the large bodies of their warriors enumerated in 1 Chron. xii. 23-40. It is to be noticed, then, that the "children of Judah" (verse 24), over whom David was already king, joined in the

e

assembly, and that there were 4,600 Levites with Jehoiada as the leader of the priestly family of Aaron, while Zadok appears only as a conspicuous member of that family (verses 27, 28).

Thy bone and thy flesh.-The Israelites, oppressed by the Philistines and their other enemies, and having seen the utter failure of the house of Saul and the death of their head, Abner, felt the necessity of union under a competent leader, and it is probable that this gathering to David, already prepared for by the negotiations of Abner, took place immediately after the death of Ish-bosheth. They assign three reasons for their action: (1) that they were of the same flesh and bone with David (comp. Gen. xxix. 14; Judges ix. 2; 2 Sam. xix. 12)-i.e., were of such common descent that it was unfitting for them to constitute separate nations; (2) that David, even in Saul's reign, had been their military leader, and hence they knew him and had confidence in his prowess and sagacity; (3) that the Lord had chosen him for their king. The exact language of the Divine promise quoted is not found in the record, but is either (as in the case of Abner's words, chap. iii. 18) a summary of the communications made to David, or else some unrecorded language of one of the prophets.

and Dwells in it.

but, as being only the fraction of a year, is generally omitted in the summary of the length of his reign, as in verse 4; 1 Chron. xxix. 27. It was the habit of the sacred historians either to omit such fractions or else to count them as whole years, thus introducing a certain element of indefiniteness into the chronology, which is very marked in the parallel narratives of the kings of Israel and of Judah.

(6) Went to Jerusalem.-The king of Jerusalem had been defeated and slain by Joshua (Josh. x. 23-26; xii. 10), and the city had been subsequently taken and destroyed by Judah (Judges i. 7, 8). It was, however, only partially occupied by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (Judges i. 21; xv. 63), and at a later time fell again entirely into the hands of the Jebusites (Judges xix. 11, 12). That Jebus and Jerusalem were two names of the same city is stated in 1 Chron. xi. 4. This expedition must have taken place immediately after the coronation, since the length of reign over all Israel and of the reign in Jerusalem are said in verse 5 to be the same. David doubtless saw the importance of at once uniting the tribes in common action as well as the advantages of Jerusalem for his capital (Hebron being much too far southward), and the necessity of dislodging this remnant of the old Canaanites from their strong position in the centre of the land.

Except thou take away.-A better translation is, Thou shalt not come hither; but the blind and the lame shall keep thee off. The Jebusites, confident in the natural strength of their fortress, boast that even the lame and the blind could defend it. Their citadel was upon Mount Zion, the highest of the hills of Jerusalem, south-west of the temple hill of Moriah, and surrounded on three sides by deep valleys.

(8) Getteth up to the gutter.-The sense of this passage is obscure, partly from the difficulty of the Hebrew construction, partly from the uncertainty of the meaning of the word translated gutter. This word occurs elsewhere only in Ps. xlii. 7, where it is translated waterspouts. The ancient versions differ in their interpretations, but the most probable sense is watercourses, such as were connected with the precipices around Mount Zion. The two clauses also are unnecessarily transposed in our version, and the word getteth, by a very slight change in the Masoretic vowels, becomes cast or hurl. The whole clause will then read, "Whosoever smites the Jebusites, let him hurl into the watercourses (i.e., down the precipice) the lame and the blind." David thus applies to all the Jebusites the expression they had just used of those who would suffice to resist his attack. The clause "that are hated of David's soul," shows that in this

B.C.

(11) And 'Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and

siege no quarter was to be given; the Jebusites were under the old ban resting upon all the Canaanites, and were to be destroyed. The English version inserts the clause," he shall be chief and captain," which is not in the original, and is here obscure. In 1 Chron. xi. 6, however, the same statement is made more fully and is important: "David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up and was chief." It thus appears that David promised the command of his army to the man who should successfully lead the forlorn hope; Joab did this, and won the place in the armies of all Israel which he had hitherto filled in that of Judah. This fact helps to explain the sense of obligation and restraint which David afterwards felt towards Joab.

Wherefore they said.-Rather, they say. This became a proverbial expression: no intercourse is to be had with such people as the Jebusites, here again called "the blind and the lame."

(9) The fort. The same word as strong hold in verse 7.

Millo.-A word always used in Hebrew with the definite article (except in Judges ix. 6, 20), the Millo. It is probably an old Canaanitish name for the fortification on the northern end of Mount Zion, "inward from which the palace was situated. Subsequent kings, as Solomon (1 Kings xi. 27) and Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxxii. 5), saw its importance and added to its strength. On all other sides Zion was protected by precipitous ravines. There is, however, some difference of opinion about the topography of ancient Jerusalem.

(11) Hiram king of Tyre.-This is the same Hiram, variously spelt Hirom and Huram, who was afterwards the friend of Solomon (1 Kings v. 1; 2 Chron. ii. 3), and was still living in the twenty-fourth year of Solomon's reign (1 Kings ix. 10-14; comp. vi. 1, 38; vii. 1); either, therefore, he must have had a reign of some fifty-seven years, or else his embassy to David must have been some time after the capture of Jerusalem. It is not unlikely that several years may have elapsed between the two events, during which "David went on and grew great" (verse 10), thereby attracting the attention and regard of Hiram. But the statement quoted by Josephus from Menander (c. Apion, i. 18) cannot be correct, that Hiram reigned only thirtyfour years; for David was already in his "house of cedar" (chap. vii. 2) when he formed the purpose of building the Temple, and this was before the birth of Solomon (chap. vii. 12; 1 Chron. xxii. 9). Huram's father, however, was also named Huram (2 Chron. ii. 13).