2 Samuel 23 commentary

These words of David are very worthy of regard. Let those who have had long experience of God's goodness, and the pleasantness of heavenly wisdom, when they come to finish their course, bear their testimony to the truth of the promise. David avows his Divine inspiration, that the Spirit of God spake by him. He, and other holy men, spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. In many things he had his own neglect and wrong conduct to blame. But David comforted himself that the Lord had made with him an everlasting covenant. By this he principally intended the covenant of mercy and peace, which the Lord made with him as a sinner, who believed in the promised Saviour, who embraced the promised blessing, who yielded up himself to the Lord, to be his redeemed servant. Believers shall for ever enjoy covenant blessings; and God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall be for ever glorified in their salvation. Thus pardon, righteousness, grace, and eternal life, are secured as the gift of God through Jesus Christ. There is an infinite fulness of grace and all blessings treasured up in Christ, for those who seek his salvation. This covenant was all David's salvation, he so well knew the holy law of God and the extent of his own sinfulness, that he perceived what was needful for his own case in this salvation. It was therefore all his desire. In comparison, all earthly objects lost their attractions; he was willing to give them up, or to die and leave them, that he might enjoy full happiness, Ps 73:24–28. Still the power of evil, and the weakness of his faith, hope, and love, were his grief and burden. Doubtless he would have allowed that his own slackness and want of care were the cause; but the hope that he should soon be made perfect in glory, encouraged him in his dying moments.

David once earnestly longed for the water at the well of Bethlehem. It seems to be an instance of weakness. He was thirsty; with the water of that well he had often refreshed himself when a youth, and it was without due thought that he desired it. Were his valiant men so forward to expose themselves, upon the least hint of their prince's mind, and so eager to please him, and shall not we long to approve ourselves to our Lord Jesus, by ready compliance with his will, as shown us by his word, Spirit, and providence? But David poured out the water as a drink-offering to the Lord. Thus he would cross his own foolish fancy, and punish himself for indulging it, and show that he had sober thoughts to correct his rash ones, and knew how to deny himself. Did David look upon that water as very precious which was got at the hazard of these men's blood, and shall not we much more value those benefits for purchasing which our blessed Saviour shed his blood? Let all beware of neglecting so great salvation.

CHAPTER 23

2Sa 23:1-7. David Professes His Faith in God's Promises.

1. Now these be the last words of David--Various opinions are entertained as to the precise meaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from the compiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as there is no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, this introduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of the preceding song. Others regard this as the last of the king's poetical compositions; while still others consider it the last of his utterances as an inspired writer.

raised up on high--from an obscure family and condition to a throne.

the anointed of the God of Jacob--chosen to be king by the special appointment of that God, to whom, by virtue of an ancient covenant, the people of Israel owed all their peculiar destiny and distinguished privileges.

the sweet psalmist of Israel--that is, delightful, highly esteemed.

2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me--Nothing can more clearly show that all that is excellent in spirit, beautiful in language, or grand in prophetic imagery, which the Psalms of David contain, were owing, not to his superiority in natural talents or acquired knowledge, but to the suggestion and dictates of God's Spirit.

3. the Rock of Israel--This metaphor, which is commonly applied by the sacred writers to the Almighty, was very expressive to the minds of the Hebrew people. Their national fortresses, in which they sought security in war, were built on high and inaccessible rocks.

spake to me--either preceptively, giving the following counsels respecting the character of an upright ruler in Israel, or prophetically, concerning David and his royal dynasty, and the great Messiah, of whom many think this is a prophecy, rendering the words, "he that ruleth"--"there shall be a ruler over men."

4. as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain--Little patches of grass are seen rapidly springing up in Palestine after rain; and even where the ground has been long parched and bare, within a few days or hours after the enriching showers begin to fall, the face of the earth is so renewed that it is covered over with a pure fresh mantle of green.

5. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure--"the light of the morning," that is, the beginning of David's kingdom, was unlike the clear brilliant dawn of an Eastern day but was overcast by many black and threatening clouds; neither he nor his family had been like the tender grass springing up from the ground and flourishing by the united influences of the sun and rain; but rather like the grass that withereth and is prematurely cut down. The meaning is: although David's house had not flourished in an uninterrupted course of worldly prosperity and greatness, according to his hopes; although great crimes and calamities had beclouded his family history; some of the most promising branches of the royal tree had been cut down in his lifetime and many of his successors should suffer in like manner for their personal sins; although many reverses and revolutions may overtake his race and his kingdom, yet it was to him a subject of the highest joy and thankfulness that God will inviolably maintain His covenant with his family, until the advent of his greatest Son, the Messiah, who was the special object of his desire, and the author of his salvation.

6. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns--that is, the wicked enemies and persecutors of this kingdom of righteousness. They resemble those prickly, thorny plants which are twisted together, whose spires point in every direction, and which are so sharp and strong that they cannot be touched or approached without danger; but hard instruments and violent means must be taken to destroy or uproot them. So God will remove or destroy all who are opposed to this kingdom.

2Sa 23:8-39. A Catalogue of His Mighty Men.

8. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had--This verse should be translated thus: He who sits in the seat of the Tachmonite (that is, of Jashobeam the Hachmonite), who was chief among the captains, the same is Adino the Eznite; he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. The text is corrupt in this passage; the number eight hundred should be three hundred [Davidson, Hermeneutics]. Under Joab he was chief or president of the council of war. The first or highest order was composed of him and his two colleagues, Eleazar and Shammah. Eleazar seems to have been left to fight the Philistines alone; and on his achieving the victory, they returned to the spoil. In like manner Shammah was left to stand alone in his glory, when the Lord, by him, wrought a great victory. It is not very easy to determine whether the exploits that are afterwards described were performed by the first or the second three.

15-16. the well of Beth-lehem--An ancient cistern, with four or five holes in the solid rock, at about ten minutes distance to the north of the eastern corner of the hill of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the natives as Bir-Daoud; that is, David's well. Dr. Robinson doubts the identity of the well; but others think that there are no good grounds for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the ancient well, Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further to the north, and must have lain in times of old, not as now, on the summit, but on the northern rise of the hill; for the well is by or (1Ch 11:7) at the gate. I find in the description of travellers, that the common opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast, in order to obtain, at the risk of their lives, the so-much-longed-for water; while it is supposed that David himself was then in the great cave that is not far to the southeast of Beth-lehem; which cave is generally held to have been that of Adullam. But (Jos 15:35) Adullam lay "in the valley"; that is, in the undulating plain at the western base of the mountains of Judea and consequently to the southwest of Beth-lehem. Be this as it may, David's men had in any case to break through the host of the Philistines, in order to reach the well; and the position of Bir-Daoud agrees well with this [Van De Velde].

19-39. the first three--The mighty men or champions in David's military staff were divided into three classes--the highest, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; the second class, Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class, the thirty, of which Asahel was the chief. There are thirty-one mentioned in the list, including Asahel; and these added to the two superior orders make thirty-seven. Two of them, we know, were already dead; namely, Asahel [2Sa 3:30] and Uriah [2Sa 11:17]; and if the dead, at the drawing up of the list, amounted to seven, then we might suppose a legion of honor, consisting of the definite number thirty, where the vacancies, when they occurred, were replaced by fresh appointments.

These be the last words of David - I suppose the last poetical composition is here intended. He might have spoken many words after these in prose, but none in verse. Other meanings are given; this I prefer.

The words of this song contain a glorious prediction of the Messiah's kingdom and conquests, in highly poetic language.

The sweet psalmist of Israel - This character not only belonged to him as the finest poet in Israel, but as the finest and most Divine poet of the whole Christian world. The sweet psalmist of Israel has been the sweet psalmist of every part of the habitable world, where religion and piety have been held in reverence.

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me - Hence the matter of his writing came by direct and immediate inspiration.

His word was in my tongue - Hence the words of this writing were as directly inspired as the matter.

The Rock of Israel - The Fountain whence Israel was derived.

He that ruleth over men must be just - More literally, מושל באדם צדיק moshel baadam tsaddik, He that ruleth in man is the just one; or, The just one is the ruler among men.

Ruling in the fear of God - It is by God's fear that Jesus Christ rules the hearts of all his followers; and he who has not the fear of God before his eyes, can never be a Christian.

He shall be as the light of the morning - This verse is very obscure, for it does not appear from it who the person is of whom the prophet speaks. As the Messiah seems to be the whole subject of these last words of David, he is probably the person intended. One of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. Supplies the word יהוה Yehovah; and he therefore translates, As the light of the morning ariseth Jehovah (see below) He shall be the Sun of righteousness, bringing salvation in his rays, and shining - illuminating the children of men, with increasing splendor, as long as the sun and moon endure.

As the tender grass - The effects of this shining, and of the rays of his grace, shall be like the shining of the sun upon the young grass or corn, after a plentiful shower of rain.

Although my house be not so with God - Instead of כן ken, so, read כן kun, established; and let the whole verse be considered as an interrogation, including a positive assertion; and the sense will be at once clear and consistent: "for is not my house (family) established with God; because he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all, and preserved? For this (He) is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it (or him) not to spring up." All is sure relative to my spiritual successor, though he do not as yet appear; the covenant is firm, and it will spring forth in due time. See the observations at the end of the chapter, 2Sam 23:39note).

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns - There is no word in the text for sons; it is simply Belial, the good-for-nothing man, and may here refer - first to Saul, and secondly to the enemies of our Lord.

As thorns thrust away - A metaphor taken from hedging; the workman thrusts the thorns aside either with his bill or hand, protected by his impenetrable mitten or glove, till, getting a fair blow at the roots, he cuts them all down. The man is fenced with iron, and the handle of his bill is like the staff of a spear. This is a good representation of the dubbing-bill, with which they slash the thorn hedge on each side before they level the tops by the pruning-shears. The handle is five or six feet long. This is a perfectly natural and intelligible image.

These be the names of the mighty men - This chapter should be collated with the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 11:11-47; and see Kennicott's First Dissertation on the printed Hebrew text, pages 64-471.

The Tachmonite that sat in the seat - Literally and properly, Jashobeam the Hachmonite. See 1Chr 11:11.

The same was Adino the Eznite - This is a corruption for he lift up his spear. See 1Chr 11:11.

Eight hundred, whom he slew at one time - Three hundred is the reading in Chronicles, and seems to be the true one. The word חלל chalal, which we translate slain, should probably be translated soldiers, as in the Septuagint, στρατιωτας; he withstood three hundred Soldiers at one time. See the note on David's lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, 2Sam 1:21 (note), and Kennicott's First Dissertation, p. 101. Dr. Kennicott observes: "This one verse contains three great corruptions in the Hebrew text:

1. The proper name of the hero Jashobeam is turned into two common words, rendered, that sat in the seat.

2. The words, he lift up his spear, הואעורר את חניתו hu orer eth chanitho, are turned into two proper names wholly inadmissible here: הוא עדינו העצני hu Adino haetsni, he was Adino the Eznite; it being nearly as absurd to say that Jashobeam the Hachmonite was the same with Adino the Eznite, as that David the Beth-lehemite was the same with Elijah the Tishbite.

3. The number eight hundred was probably at first three hundred, as in 1Chr 11:11."

See Kennicott, ubi supr.

When they defied the Philistines that were there gathered - This is supposed to refer to the war in which David slew Goliath.

A piece of ground full of lentiles - In 1Chr 11:13 it is a parcel of ground full of barley. There is probably a mistake of עדשים adashim, lentiles, for שעורים seorim, barley, or vice versa. Some think there were both lentiles and barley in the field, and that a marauding party of the Philistines came to destroy or carry them off, and these worthies defeated the whole, and saved the produce of the field. This is not unlikely.

And three of the thirty - The word שלשים shalishim, which we translate thirty, probably signifies an office or particular description of men. Of these shalishim we have here thirty-seven, and it can scarcely be said with propriety that we have thirty-seven out of thirty; and besides, in the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 11:11-47, there are sixteen added. The captains over Pharaoh's chariots are termed שלשים shalishim, Exo 14:7.

The Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim - This is the same war which is spoken of 2Sam 5:17, etc.

The water of the well of Bethlehem - This was David's city, and he knew the excellence of the water which was there; and being near the place, and parched with thirst, it was natural for him to wish for a draught of water out of that well. These three heroes having heard it, though they received no command from David, broke through a company of the Philistines, and brought away some of the water. When brought to David he refused to drink it: for as the men got it at the hazard of their lives, he considered it as their blood, and gave thereby a noble instance of self-denial. There is no evidence that David had requested them to bring it; they had gone for it of their own accord, and without the knowledge of David.

Poured it out unto the Lord - To make libations, both of water and wine, was a frequent custom among the heathens. We have an almost similar account in Arrian's Life of Alexander: "When his army was greatly oppressed with heat and thirst, a soldier brought him a cup of water; he ordered it to be carried back, saying, I cannot bear to drink alone while so many are in want, and this cup is too small to be divided among the whole." Tunc poculo pleno sicut oblatum est reddito: Non solus, inquit, bibere sustineo, nec tam exiguum dividere omnibus possum. - Arrian, lib. vi.

The example was noble in both cases, but David added piety to bravery; he poured it out unto the Lord.

Two lion-like men of Moab - Some think that two real lions are meant; some that they were two savage gigantic men; others, that two fortresses are meant. The words שני אראל מואב sheney ariel Moab may signify, as the Targum has rendered it, ית תרין רברבי מואב yath terein rabrebey Moab, "The two princes of Moab."

He slew an Egyptian - This man in 1Chr 11:23 is stated to have been five cubits high, about seven feet six inches.

He went down to him with a staff - I have known men who, with a staff only for their defense, could render the sword of the best practiced soldier of no use to him. I have seen even a parallel instance of a man with his staff being attacked by a soldier with his hanger; he soon beat the weapon out of the soldier's hand, and could easily have slain him with his own sword.

We have a good elucidation of this in a duel between Dioxippus the Athenian and Horratas a Macedonian, before Alexander: "The Macedonian, proud of his military skill, treated the naked Athenian with contempt, and then challenged him to fight with him the ensuing day. The Macedonian came armed cap-a-pie to the place; on his left arm he had a brazen shield, and in the same hand a spear called sarissa; he had a javelin in his right hand, and a sword girded on his side; in short, he appeared armed as though he were going to contend with a host. Dioxippus came into the field with a chaplet on his head, a purple sash on his left arm, his body naked, smeared over with oil, and in his right hand a strong knotty club, (dextra validum nodosumque stipitem praeferebat). Horratas, supposing he could easily kill his antagonist while at a distance, threw his javelin, which Dioxippus, suddenly stooping, dexterously avoided, and, before Horratas could transfer the spear from his left to his right hand, sprang forward, and with one blow of his club, broke it in two. The Macedonian being deprived of both his spears, began to draw his sword; but before he could draw it out Dioxippus seized him, tripped up his heels, and threw him with great violence on the ground, (pedibus repente subductis arietavit in terram). He then put his foot on his neck, drew out his sword, and lifting up his club, was about to dash out the brains of the overthrown champion, had he not been prevented by the king." - Q. Curt. lib. ix., cap. 7.

How similar are the two cases! He went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hands, and slew him with his own spear. Benaiah appears to have been just such another clubsman as Dioxippus.

David set him over his guard - The Vulgate renders this, Fecitque eun sibi David auricularium a secreto, "David made him his privy counsellor;" or, according to the Hebrew, He put him to his ears, i.e., confided his secrets to him. Some think he made him a spy over the rest. It is supposed that the meaning of the fable which attributes to Midas very long ears, is, that this king carried the system of espionage to a great length; that he had a multitude of spies in different places.

Asahel - was one of the thirty - Asahel was one of those officers, or troops, called the shalishim. This Asahel, brother of Joab, was the same that was killed by Abner, 2Sam 2:23.

Shammah the Harodite - There are several varieties in the names of the following shalishim; which may be seen by comparing these verses with 1Chr 11:27.

Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all - To these the author of 1Chr 11:41 adds Zabad son of Ahlai. 1Chr 11:42 - Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and thirty with him. 1Chr 11:43 - Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 1Chr 11:44 - Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite, 1Chr 11:45 - Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 1Chr 11:46 - Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 1Chr 11:47 - Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel the Mesobaite.

The 4th and 5th verses are very obscure; L. De Dieu gives them a good meaning, if not the true one: - "The perpetuity of his kingdom David amplifies by a comparison to three natural things, which are very grateful to men, but not constant and stable. For the sun arises and goes down again; the morning may be clear, but clouds afterwards arise; and the tender grass springs up, but afterwards withers. Not so, said he, is my kingdom before God; it is flourishing like all these, but perpetual, for he has made an everlasting covenant with me, though some afflictions have befallen me; and he has not made all my salvation and desire to grow."

De Dieu repeats כ ke, the note of similitude, thrice; and the following is his version: - "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake unto me, (or concerning me): The just man ruleth among men; he ruleth in the fear of God. And, as the sun ariseth with a shining light; as the morning is without clouds by reason of its splendor; as, from rain, the tender grass springeth out of the earth; truly so is not my house with God: because he hath made an everlasting covenant with me; disposed in all things, and well kept and preserved in that order. Although he doth not make all my deliverance and desire to grow, i.e., though some adversities happen to me and my family; yet, that always remains, which, in the covenant of God made with me, is in all things orderly, disposed, and preserved."

See Bishop Patrick on the place.

Once more I must beg the reader to refer to the First Dissertation of Dr. Kennicott, on the present state of the printed Hebrew text; in which there is not only great light cast on this subject, several corruptions in the Hebrew text being demonstrated, but also many valuable criticisms on different texts in the sacred writings. There are two Dissertations, 2 vols. 8 vo.; and both very valuable.

Last words - Not simply the last that he spoke, but the last which he spake by the spirit of God, assisting and directing him in an extraordinary manner. When we find death approaching, we should endeavour both to honour God, and to profit others with our last words. Let those who have had experience of God's goodness, and the pleasantness of the ways of wisdom, when they come to finish their course, leave a record of those experiences, and bear their testimony to the truth of the promise. Raised - Advanced from an obscure estate, to the kingdom. Whom, God singled out from all the families of Israel, and anointed to be king. Psalmist - He who was eminent among the people of God, for composing sweet and holy songs to the praise of God, and for the use of his church in after ages: these seem not to be the words of David, but of the sacred penman of this book.

His word - The following words, and consequently the other words and Psalms composed and uttered by me upon the like solemn occasions, are not to be looked upon as human inventions, but both the matter and the words of them are suggested by God's spirit, the great teacher of the church.

Rock - He who is the strength, and defence, and protector of his people; which he manifests by directing kings and rulers so to manage their power as may most conduce to their comfort and benefit. Ruleth - Here are the two principal parts of a king's duty, answerable to the two tables of God's law, justice towards men, and piety towards God, both which he is to maintain and promote among his people.

Shall be - These words are a farther description of the king's duty, which is not only to rule with justice and piety, but also with sweetness, and gentleness, and condescension to the infirmities of his people; to render his government as acceptable to them, as is the sun - shine in a clear morning, or the tender grass which springs out of the earth by the warm beams of the sun after the rain.

Altho' - Although God knows, that neither I, nor my children have lived and ruled as we should have done, so justly, and in the fear of the Lord; and therefore have not enjoyed that uninterrupted prosperity which we might have enjoyed. Covenant - Notwithstanding all our transgressions whereby we have broken covenant with God, yet God, to whom all my sins were known, was graciously pleased to make a sure covenant, to continue the kingdom to me, and to my seed for ever, chap.7:16, until the coming of the Messiah who is to be my son and successor, and whose kingdom shall have no end. Ordered - Ordained in all points by God's eternal counsel; and disposed by his wise and powerful providence which will over - rule all things, even the sins of my house so far, that although he punished them for their sins, yet he will not utterly root them out, nor break his covenant made with me and mine. Sure - Or, preserved, by God's power and faithfulness in the midst of all oppositions. For this - Or, in this is, that is, it consists in, and depends upon this covenant. Salvation - Both mine own eternal salvation, and the preservation of the kingdom to me and mine. Tho' - Although God as yet hath not made my house or family to grow; that is, to increase, or to flourish with worldly glory as I expected; yet this is my comfort, that God will inviolably keep this covenant. But this refers also to the covenant of grace made with all believers. This is indeed an everlasting covenant, from everlasting, in the contrivance of it, and to everlasting, in the continuance and the consequence of it. It is ordered, well ordered in all things; admirably well, to advance the glory of God and the honour of the mediator, together with the holiness and happiness of believers. It is sure, and therefore sure, because well - ordered: the promised mercies are sure, on the performance of the conditions. It is all our salvation: nothing but this will save us, and this is sufficient. Therefore it should be all our desire. Let me have an interest in this covenant, and I have enough, I desire no more.

But - Having in the foregoing verses described the nature, and stability of that kingdom which God had by a sure covenant settled upon him and his seed; and especially, upon the Messiah, who was to be one of his posterity; he now describes the nature and miserable condition, of all the enemies of this holy and blessed kingdom. As thorns - Which men do not use to handle, but thrust them away. And so will God thrust away from himself, and from his people, and kingdom, all those who shall either secretly or openly set themselves against it.

Fenced - He must arm himself with some iron weapon, whereby he may cut them down; or, with the staff of a spear, or some such thing, whereby he may thrust them away from himself, that they do him no hurt. Burnt - Or, if they do not cut them down or thrust them away they will burn and consume them. The place - Or, in their place, where they grow or stand.

These - But this catalogue, though placed here, was taken long before, as is manifest from hence, that Asahel and Uriah are named here. And whereas there are some difference between this list, and that, 1Chr 11:10 - 47, most of them are easily reconciled by these two considerations; that nothing is more common than for one person to have divers names. That as some of the worthies died, and others came in their stead; this must needs cause some alteration in the latter catalogue, 1Chr 11:10 - 47, from this which was the former. Learn hence, how much religion tends to inspire men with true courage. David both by his writings and example greatly promoted piety among the grandees of the kingdom. And when they became famous for piety, they became famous for bravery. Adino - This was his proper name. Lift up - Which words are fitly supplied out of 1Chr 11:11, where they are expressed. One time - In one battle, which though it be strange, yet cannot seem incredible, supposing him to be a person of extraordinary strength and activity, and his enemies to be discouraged, and fleeing away.

Gone away - That is, fled away, 1Chron 11:13, being dismayed at the approach of their enemies.

Lentiles - Or barley, as it is 1Chron 11:13. For both might grow in the same field, in divers parts of it. And this fact is ascribed to Eleazar, 1Chron 11:12, but it is implied, that he had some partner or partners in it; for it is there said, 1Chr 11:14 they set themselves, &c. So Eleazar might fight in that part where the barley was and Shammah where the lentiles were.

Lord wrought - How great soever the bravery of the instruments is, the praise of the achievement is to be given to God. These fought, but God wrought the victory.

Said - Being hot and thirsty, he expresses how acceptable a draught of that water would be to him; but was far from desiring, or expecting that any of his men should hazard their lives to procure it.

Would not - Lest by gratifying himself upon such terms, he should seem either to set too high a price upon the satisfaction of his appetite, or too low a price upon the lives of his soldiers. Poured it - As a kind of drink offering, and acknowledgment of God's goodness in preserving the lives of his captains in so dangerous an enterprize; and to shew, that he esteemed it as a sacred thing, which it was not fit for him to drink.

These three - Jointly: then two of them are mentioned severally.

Attained not - He fell short of them in strength and valour.

Pit - Where he put himself under a necessity, either of killing, or being killed. Of snow - When lions are most fierce, both from the sharpness of their appetite in cold seasons, and from want of provisions.

Harodite - In 1Chron 11:27, Shammoth the Harorite. Concerning which, and other changes of the names, which will be observed, by comparing this catalogue with that, it will be sufficient to suggest, that the same names of persons, or places, are differently pronounced according to the different dialects of divers places or ages. That one man had often two names. That David had more worthies than those here mentioned; and as some of these were slain in the former part of David's reign, as Asahel was; so others came up in their stead; and some were added to this number, as appears from 1Chron 11:10 - 47, where they are named, but not numbered, as they were here; and where there is a greater number than is here expressed.

In the way - Which seems added, to shew, how little the example of parents, or ancestors, is to be valued where it is opposed to the will and word of God.

NOw these be the last words of David : David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high , the anointed of the God of Jacob , and the sweet psalmist of Israel , said,

Not simply the last that he spoke, but some of the last uttered in his last days upon the approach of his death: or, the last which he spake by the Spirit of God, assisting and directing him in an extraordinary manner.

Advanced from an obscure Family and Estate, to the Kingdom.

Whom, though despised by Men, and rejected by his own Brethren, God himself singled out from all his Fathers House, and out of all the Families and Tribes of Israel, and anointed to be King.

Or, sweet, or delightful, or amiable in the Songs of Israel: Either, First, As the object of them: he whom the people of Israel mentioned in their Songs with joy and praise, as when they Sung, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands; and many others which doubtless they made and Sung concerning him, upon the occasion of his eminent Victories, and the blessings of his wife and righteous Government; some whereof we have in the Book of Psalms. Or, 2dly, As the Author of them: he who was eminent and famous among the people of God, for the composing of sweet and holy Songs to the praise of God, and for the use of his Church in after Ages: For he did not only indite most of the Book of Psalms, by the direction of Gods Spirit; but also invented the Tunes, or appointed Tunes to which they were to be Sung, and the Instruments of M[illegible: 1+ letters]sick which were used in and with those Holy Songs, 1 Chron. 25. 2, 6. Amos 6. 5. If the expressions here used seem arrogant, and not fit to be said by David in his own praise; let him consider, First, That Holy men spake by inspiration from God; and therefore must follow his suggestions impartially, as indeed they do, sometimes in the publishing their own praises; which yet is never done unnecessarily, and always moderately; and sometimes in the publishing of their own infirmities and shame, as they are moved thereunto, and as the Edification of the Church requires. Secondly, That these seem not to be the words of David, but of the Sacred Penman of this Book, to make way for, and gain the greater attention and respect unto David's following words.

2 The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue .

The following words, and consequently the other words and Psalms composed and uttered by me upon the like Solemn occasions, are not to be looked upon as my private fancies or human inventions, but both the matter and the words of them are suggested and governed by Gods Spirit, which is the great teacher of the Church.

3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me : He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God

He who is the strength, and defence, and protector of his people; which he here manifests by obliging and directing Kings and Rulers so to manage their Power and Authority as may most conduce to their comfort and benefit.

By way of command. Or, of me, by way of prediction and promise concerning me and my House, and the Messias who is to come out of my Loyns.

Thus it is a Precept or Declaration of the Duty of Kings, and particularly of Solomon his Son (to whom as a dying man he gives this advice) and of his Successors the Kings of Gods Israel, for whose instruction he gives this Rule. And so here are the two principal parts of a Kings duty, answerable to the two Tables of Gods Law, Justice towards men, and Piety towards God, both which he is to maintain and promote among his people. To which if you add benignity and clemency, whereby a King renders his Government not frightful and burdensom, but acceptable and amiable to his people, which possibly may be meant by the following similitudes, here is a compleat Character of an excellent Prince or Governor. Others make it a Prophesie of Christ, and then the words are or may be thus rendred, There shall be a Ruler over men (or rather, among men, as the Hebrew word properly signifies, to wit, the Messias, who, though he be the Eternal and Invisible God, yet shall visibly appear and rule among men) a Iust or Righteous one (a title oft given to Christ, as Isa. 53. 11. Ier. 23. 5, 6. and 33. 15. Zech. 9. 19.) ruling in the fear of the Lord, making it his great business to advance the Service, and Worship, and Glory of the Lord: or, as it is in the Hebrew, ruling the fear of the Lord, i. e. Governing and ordering the Worship of God, which is [illegible: 1 word] called, the fear of God. And so this clause i[illegible: 1+ letters] added to prevent or remove scandals and offences which might be taken at the Messias when he should come, because of his changing and abrogating the Ceremonial Law; and to insinuate that he should have no less power in the governing of Gods House and Worship, than Moses had; and that he might make such Laws as he thought meet. And if this be the meaning of the place, then as Iacob, being greatly afflicted with the troubles which he by the Spirit of Prophecy foresaw were coming upon his Posterity, comforts himself with the thoughts of that Great and Glorious Salvation of God, which he also foresaw and waited for, Gen. 49. 18. So David reflecting upon the great disorders, and miscarriages, and calamities which had already arisen in his house; and either, wisely presaging, or foreseeing by the Spirit of the Lord, v. 2. that the same sins and miseries should befal his Posterity and Successors; he supports and comforts himself with this Consideration, That one of them should be a most excellent Person; Just, and Pious, and Merciful, and an unspeakable Blessing to David himself, and to all his Family and People, and to the whole World, even the great Messias, who was undoubtedly Revealed to, and expected by David, as appears by many passages of the Psalms, and by other Scriptures.

Marginal references: Deut. [illegible: 1 word]; Or, Be [illegible: 1 word] ruler.

4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

These Words are either, 1. A further Description of the Kings Duty, which is not onely to Rule with exact Justice and Piety, but also with sweetness, and gentleness, and condescention to the Infirmities of his People; to render his Government as pleasant and acceptable to them, as is the Sun-shine in a clear Morning, or the tender Grass which springs out of the Earth by the warm and refreshing Beams of the Sun after the Rain, which hath a peculiar kind of sweetness and fragrancy in it. Or rather, 2. A Prediction or Declaration of the sweet and blessed Effects of such a Government, both to the Governour himself, in that Peace, and Prosperity, and Glory, and Happiness which it brings to him, and to his People; to whom it is no less grateful, and comfortable, and beneficial, than those great and publick Blessings of Sun-shine and Rain, and the Fruits which they produce: Which is true of every good King or Governour; but most eminently of the Messias.

Marginal references: Judg. 5. 31. Psal. 89. 36. Pro[illegible: 1+ letters]. 4. 18. Hos. 6. 5.

5 Although my house be not so with God ; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant , ordered in all things and sure : for this is all my Salvation , and all my desire , although he make it not to grow.

Although God knows, that neither I, nor my Children have Lived and Ruled as we should have done, so justly, and in the fear of the Lord; and therefore have not enjoyed that uninterrupted Prosperity which we might have enjoyed: but our Morning-light, or, the beginning of that Kingdom promised to me and mine for ever, hath been overcast with many black and dismal Clouds, and my Children have not hitherto been like the tender Grass springing out of the Earth, and thriving by the Influences of the Sun and Rain; but rather like the Grass that withereth away, or is cut off before its due time.

Notwithstanding all our Transgressions whereby we have broken Covenant with God, and the Confusions and Civil Wars which have threatned our Dissipation and utter Destruction; yet I comfort my self with this, That God, to whom all my Sins were fore-known before I committed them, was graciously pleased to make a sure Covenant, to give and continue the Kingdom to me, and to my Seed for ever; Chap. 7. 16. [illegible: 1 word] the Coming of the Messias; who is to be my Son and Successor, and whose Kingdom shall have no End.

Ordained in all Points by God's Eternal and Unchangeable Counsel; and disposed by his wife and powerful Providence, which doth and will over-rule all things, even the Sins and Sufferings of my House so far, that although he would punish them for their Sins, yet he will not utterly root them out, nor break his Covenant made with me and mine; as is said, Psal. 89. 31, 32, 33, 34.

Or, preserved or observed, or kept; to wit, on Gods part, and by Gods power and faithfulness in the midst of all the oppositions and uncertainties to which it seems to be exposed on our part; compare Rom. 3. 3. And 2 Tim. 2 13.

Or therefore, as the Hebrew Particle, chi, oft signifies; therefore, i. e. because God hath made such a Covenant.

Or, he is, he who hath made this Covenant: or, in this is, i. e. it consists in, and depends upon this Covenant.

Both my own Eternal Salvation, and the Temporal Salvation, or the Preservation of the Kingdom to me and mine.

Or, every desirable thing; the Word desire being oft put for Desired, or a Desirable Thing; as Psal. 21. 2. and 78. 29, 30. Ezek. 24. 16. David being deeply sensible, and having had large experience of the vanity and uncertainty of all Farthly things, here declares, That the Covenant made by God with him▪ and his in the Messias, is the onely happiness which he prizeth and desireth, in which he doth fully acquies[illegible: 1+ letters]e.

i. e. My House, mentioned before. So the sence is, Although God as yet hath not made my House or Family to grow; i. e. to increase, or to flourish with Worldly Glory and Prosperity, as I expected; but hath for my Sins [illegible: 1+ letters]ut off divers of my most eminent Branches, and sorely afflicted my Person and Family; and although he may for the future deal in like manner with my Sons and Successors for the like miscarriages, which it is probable they may commit: yet this is my great support and comfort, that God will constantly and inviolably keep this Covenant; and therefore, in the midst of all the shakings, and confusions, and interruptions, which may happen in my House, and Kingdom, will preserve my Line and Family until the coming of the Messias out of my Loins, whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom; who as he is the desire of all Nations, Hag. 2. 7. so in a special manner is my desire, and the Author of all my Salvation.

6 ¶ But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away , because they cannot be taken with hands.

Or, the Men of Belial, as it is expressed 2 Sam. 16. 7. and elsewhere. Having in the foregoing Verses described the nature, and felicity, and stability of that Kingdom which God himself had by a sure and everlasting Covenant setled upon him and his Seed; and especially, upon the Messiah, who was to be one of his Posterity; He now describes the quality, the mischievous nature, the hazardous and miserable condition, of all the Enemies of this Holy and Blessed Kingdom, whom he justly calleth sons of Belial, because they Rebelled against God's appointment, and against that King whom God had set over them: for which reason others are so called, 1 Sam. 10. 27. 2 Chron. 13. 7.

Which men do not use to handle, as they do other Trees, but thrust them away from themselves, by some Instrument chosen for that purpose. And so will God remove, or thrust away from himself, and from his People, and Kingdom, all those who shall either secretly or openly set themselves against it. And this may be here added, either 1. By way of Prescription to Rulers, whom, as before, he admonished to be just and kind to their People, ver. 3, 4. So here he requires them to be severe in Punishing, and Purging away Wicked and Incorrigible Men from about his Throne, and from among his People; the Encouraging of the Good, and the Punishing of the Bad, being the two chief Works of every good Magistrate, and the two Pillars of all Government. Or, 2. By way of Caution; to shew, That not withstanding the holiness, and happiness, and sureness of this Kingdom, yet there would be sons of Belial in it, who would endeavour to disturb, and overthrow it, but to no purpose; for all their Projects against it should be vain, and fall upon their own Heads.

7 But the man that shall touch them, must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear , and they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place z.

So the meaning is, He must fill his Hand, or Arm himself with some Iron Weapon, whereby he may cut them down; or, with the staff of a spear, or some such like thing, whereby he may thrust them away from himself, that they do him no hurt. Or thus, he will be filled, or will fill himself; i. e. his Hand, wherewith he attempted to touch, and take them with Thorns, as with iron and the staff of a spear. i. e. He will be as surely and sorely Wounded, as if one should run the Iron head, and part of the wood of a Spear, into his Hand.

Or, therefore, because men cannot safely touch them, therefore they will burn them up. Or, or i. e. if they do not cut them down with Iron, or thrust them away with the Staff of a Spear, they will burn and consume them. 2. Or, in their place, where they grow or stand; and they will not trouble or hazard themselves to remove them. Withal, it may imply, that they shall be Destroyed, when, and where they thought themselves most secure, even in their own place. And, it may possibly intimate, That those Children of Belial, the Wick edand Unbelieving Jews, who rejected and Rebelled against the Messiah, David's Successor, and their Lawful King, should be Destroyed in their Great, and Strong, and Holy City Ierusalem, where the greatest part of that People were gathered together as fewel for the fire, and were Destroyed together by the Romans under Titus, where also their wicked Predecessors had been Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in former times.

Marginal references: Heb. filled.; Or, or.

8 ¶ These be the names of the mighty men whom David had ; The Tachmonite that sate in the seat, chief among the captains (the fame was Adino the Eznite he lift up his spear against eight hundred , whom he slew at one time .

i. e. Of his chief and most valiant Commanders. And as it was noted upon Chap. 21. 1. that the things related in that Chapter were done before Absalom's and Sheba's Rebellion, though they be mentioned after them; so that Opinion is confirm'd by this Catalogue, which though placed here, was taken long before, as is manifest from hence, that Asahel and Uriah are named here. And whereas there are some differences between this list, and that, 1 Chron. 11. most of them are easily reconciled by these two Considerations; 1. That nothing is more common than for one person to have divers Names. 2. That as some of the Worthies died, and others came in their steads; so this must needs cause some alteration in the latter Catalogue, 1 Chron. 11. from this which was the former.

Or, Hachmonite, called Iashobeam, 1 Chron. 11. 11. from his place; or, as here, Iosheb-basshebeth, i. e. as we render it, that sate in the seat: i. e. Was, under Ioab, Chief, or President of the Council of War, or Lieutenant (locum tenens.)

This was his Proper Name.

So called, either from his Family, or from the place of his Birth or Education.

Which Words are fitly supplied out of 1 Chron. 11. 11. where they are expressed. Or thus, he was above 800; i. e. He conquered them. So there is onely an Ellipsis of the Verb substantive, which is most frequent.

In one Battel, which though it be strange, yet cannot seem incredible, supposing him to be a Person of extraordinary Strength and Activity, and his Enemies to be weak, or discouraged, and fleeing away; and especially, Gods singular Blessing, and Assistance: all which may very reasonably be supposed. Obj. But this man is said to have slain onely 300. in 1 Chron. 11. 11. Answ. 1. Possibly he slew 800 at one time, and 300 at another; whereof the former is related here, as being most considerable; and the latter in the Book of Chronicles, which supplies many Passages omitted in the former Writings. 2. He Slew 300 with his own Hands, and the other 500. though killed by his Men, are said to be Slain by him, because he was the chief Cause of all their Death; for he by his undaunted Courage killing 300. put the rest to Flight, who were easily Slain by his Soldiers, in the Pursuit. 3. Some of the Hebrew Writers Affirm, That these were Two distinct Persons, being called by differing Names; the one the Father, and the other the Son, who Succeeded his Father, as in Strength and Valour, so also in his place of Honour and Trust.

Marginal references: Or, Ioshebbassebet the Tachmonite head of the three, &c.; See 1 Chron. 11. 11. and 27. 2.; Heb. slain.

9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite , one of the three mighty men with David , when they de[illegible: 1+ letters]ied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battel, and the men of Israel were gone away .

Of the Children of Ahoah, 1 Chron. 8. 4.

i. e. One of the first Three, ver. 19.

Who were with David at this time: or, who usually attended upon David.

When he either in the name of all the Israelites, or with the countenance and help of some of them, Challenged the Philistines to Fight. Or, when some of, or among the Philistines desied them: i. e. The Israelites, according to their manner, and the Example of their great Goliath, 1 Sam. 17. 25, 36. Or, in Horpam (for some make it a proper name of a Place) among the Philistines.

i. e. Fled away, 1 Chron. 11. 13. being dismayed at the Approach of their Enemies. Heb. ascended, i. e. Vanished away like Smoke which ascends, and so disappears, as that Verb is oft used.

Marginal references: 1 Chron. 11. 12. and 27. 4.

10 He arose , and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword : and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him onely to spoyl.

i. e. He undertook the Work, as that Word sometimes is used. Or, he stood, (as it sometimes signifies) when the rest fled.

Either through Sweat or Blood, or by a Contraction of the Sinews. Or thus, yet did his hand cleave to his sword; i. e. Though he was weary, he did not desist, but continued Fighting.

i. e. To pursue the Enemy whom he had discomfited, and to take their Spoil.

11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite: and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles : and the people fled from the Philistines.

Or Barley, as it is 1 Chron. 11. 13. For both might very well grow in the same Field, in divers parts of it. And this fact is ascribed to Eleazar, 1 Chron. 11. 12. but so as it is implyed, that he had some Partner or Partners in it; for it is there said, v. 14. They set themselves, &c. So Eleazar might stand and Fight in that part where the Barley was; and Shammah there where the Lentiles were.

Marginal references: 1 Chron. 11. 27.; Or, for Forraging.

12 But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it , and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.

That the Philistines could neither burn, nor tread it down, and spoil it, nor carry it away.

13 And three of the thirty chief went down and came to David, in the harvest-time, unto the cave of Adullam : and a Troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim .

Either 1. The Three already named, as is generally supposed, because it is said of them, in the close of this History, 1 Chron. 11. 19. These things did those three mightiest. But in the Hebrew it is onely, these three mighty men, as the same Words are rendred here, ver. 17. Or rather, 2. The following three: for it is expresly said, both here, ver. 16. and 1 Chron. 11. 20. That Abishai was chief, and therefore one of the three: and this Three are plainly distinguished from the first Three, ver. 19. and 1 Chron. 11. 25.

Which was a strong Place where David had been before, 1 Sam. 22. 1, &c. and where he had now again Fortified himself in the beginning of his Reign, when the Philistines were too strong for him.

Of which see above, Chap. 5. 18.

Marginal references: Or, the three Captains [illegible: 1 word] the thirty.

15 And David longed, and said, O that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem , which is by the gate!

Being hot and thirsty, he expresseth how acceptable a draught of that Water would be to him; as is usual with men to do in such cases: but was far from desiring, or expecting that any of his men should hazard their Lives to procure it, as appears from ver. 17.

16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines , and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof x, but poured it out unto the LORD .

Which was in the Valley of Rephaim, v. 13. and in the way to Bethlehem. Lest by gratifying himself upon such terms, he should seem either to set too High a Price upon the satisfaction of his Appetite, or too low a Price upon the Lives of his Soldiers, or should encourage others to the like Vain-glorious and Foolish Attempts.

As a kind of Drink-offering, and acknowledgment of Gods goodness in preserving the Lives of his Captains in so dangerous an Enterprize; and to shew, that he esteemed it as a Sacred thing, which considering all things, it was not fit for him to drink it.

17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men .

i. e. The Price of their Blood or Lives, which they rashly exposed to manifest hazard.

Either one of these Three are here omitted, as one of the first Three is not named, 1 Chron. 11. Or Asahel, who follows next, was one of these three.

18 And Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three, and he lift up his spear against three hundred, and slew them , and had the name among the three .

He fought with, and killed 300 Men in one Battel.

i. e. Was the most famous and Eminent among them.

Marginal references: 1 Chron. 11. 20.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit, he attained not unto the first three .

He fell short of them in Strength and Valour.

20 And Benajah the son of Jehojadah, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel , † who had done m shy acts , he slew two l[illegible: 1+ letters]on-like men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow .

A Place in Iudah, Iosh. 15. 21.

This may belong either to Benaiah, or to his Father; to note, that Benaiah was a Son becoming such a Father.

For Courage and Strength. Or, Lions of God, i. e. Great and Strong Lions. Or, two Gigantick Persons; and therefore both so called, as being either equal in Might, or Brethren by birth.

Where he put himself under a necessity, either of Killing, or being Killed.

When Lions are most fierce, both from the sharpness of their Appetite in cold Seasons, and from want of Provision, Cattel being then shut up, and fed at home.

Marginal references: ‡ Heb. [illegible: 1 word] acts.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] of God.

21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man : and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff , and plucked the spear out of the Egyptians hand, and slew him with his own spear.

For Stature, as it is expressed, 1 Chron. 11. 23.

Without a Sword, or any Warlike Weapon.

Marginal references: Heb. a man of countenance, or sight. Called 1 Chr. 11. 23. A man of great stature.

23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard .

Heb. over (for el is sometimes put for al) the men (which is oft understood, as hath been noted before) of his command. So his Guard is called, because they were always at the Kings hand, ready to hear and receive the King's Commands, and to put them in Execution. Over the Cherethites and Pelethites; as appears by comparing 2 Sam. 8. 18. and 20. 23. who were faithful and obedient to him, when others Revolted from him; chap. 15. 18.

Marginal references: Or, honourable among the thirty.; Or, councel.; Heb. at his command.

24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty , Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

Heb. with, or among the thirty; not onely as one, but as the Chief of them.

Marginal references: Chap. 2. 18.

25 Shammah the Harodite , Elika the Harodite,

In 1 Chron. 11. 27. Shammoth the Harorite. Concerning which, and such like alterations, and other changes of the Names, which will be observed, by comparing this Catalogue with that, it will be sufficient to suggest, 1. That the same Names of Persons, or Places, are differently pronounced according to the different Dialects used by Men of divers Places or Ages. 2. That one man had oft two Names. 3. That David had more Worthies than those here mentioned; and as some of these were Slain in the former part of David's Reign, as Asahel was; so others came up in their steads; and some were added to this Number, as appears from 1 Chron. 11. where they are named, but not numbred, as they were here; and where there is a greater number than is here expressed.

39 Uriah the Hittite; thirty and seven in all .

Here are but 36 named. Either therefore one must be supplied whose name is not expressed among the three second Worthies: or, Ioab is comprehended in the number, as being the Lord General of all.

2Sa 23:1-2   1  Divine saying of David the son of Jesse,

Divine saying of the man, the highly exalted,

Of the anointed of the God of Jacob,

And of the lovely one in the songs of praise of Israel.   2  The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through me,

And His word is upon my tongue.

This introduction to the prophetic announcement rests, both as to form and substance, upon the last sayings of Balaam concerning the future history of Israel (Num 24:3, Num 24:15). This not only shows to what extent David had occupied himself with the utterances of the earlier men of God concerning Israel’s future; but indicates, at the same time, that his own prophetic utterance was intended to be a further expansion of Balaam’s prophecy concerning the Star out of Jacob and the Sceptre out of Israel. Like Balaam, he calls his prophecy a נאם, i.e., a divine saying or oracle, as a revelation which he had received directly from God (see at Num 24:3). But the recipient of this revelation was not, like Balaam the son of Beor, a man with closed eye, whose eyes had been opened by a vision of the Almighty, but “the man who was raised up on high” (על, adverbially “above,” is, strictly speaking, a substantive, “height,” used in an adverbial sense, as in Hos 11:7, and probably also 2Sa 7:16), i.e., whom God had lifted up out of humiliation to be the ruler of His people, yea, even to be the head of the nations (2Sa 22:44). Luther’s rendering, “who is assured of the Messiah of the God of Jacob,” is based upon the Vulgate, “cui constitutum est de Christo Dei Jacob,” and cannot be grammatically sustained. David was exalted on the one hand as “the anointed of the God of Jacob,” i.e., as the one whom the God of Israel had anointed king over His people, and on the other hand as “the lovely one in Israel’s songs of praise,” i.e., the man whom God had enabled to sing lovely songs of praise in celebration of His grace and glory. זמיר = זמרה does not mean a song generally, but a song of praise in honour of God (see at Exo 15:2), like מזמור in the headings to the psalms. As David on the one hand had firmly established the kingdom of God in an earthly and political respect as the anointed of Jehovah, i.e., as king, so had he on the other, as the composer of Israel’s songs of praise, promoted the spiritual edification of that kingdom. The idea of נאם is explained in 2Sa 23:2. The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through him; his words are the inspiration of God. The preterite דּבּר relates to the divine inspiration which preceded the utterance of the divine saying. בּ דּבּר, literally to speak into a person, as in Hos 1:2. The saying itself commences with 2Sa 23:3.

2Sa 22:3   3  The God of Israel saith,

The Rock of Israel speaketh to me:

A Ruler over men, just,

A Ruler in the fear of God.   4  And as light of the morning, when the sun rises,

As morning without clouds:

From shining out of rain (springeth) green out of the earth.   5  For is not my house thus with God?

For He hath made me an everlasting covenant,

Provided with all, and attested;

For all my salvation and all good pleasure,

Should He then not cause it to grow?

As the prophets generally preface their saying with “thus saith the Lord,” so David commences his prophetic saying with “the God of Israel saith,” for the purpose of describing it most emphatically as the word of God. He designates God “the God” and “The Rock” (as in 2Sa 22:3) of Israel, to indicate that the contents of his prophecy relate to the salvation of the people of Israel, and are guaranteed by the unchangeableness of God. The saying which follows bears the impress of a divine oracle even in its enigmatical brevity. The verbs are wanting in the different sentences of 2Sa 23:3 and 2Sa 23:4. “A ruler over men,” sc., “will arise,” or there will be. בּאדם does not mean “among men,” but “over men;” for בּ is to be taken as with the verb משׁל, as denoting the object ruled over (cf. Gen 3:16; Gen 4:7, etc.). האדם does not mean certain men, but the human race, humanity. This ruler is “just” in the fullest sense of the word, as in the passages founded upon this, viz., Jer 23:5; Zec 9:9, and Psa 72:2. The justice of the ruler is founded in his “fear of God.” אלהים יראת is governed freely by מושׁל. (On the fact itself, see Isa 11:2-3.) The meaning is, “A ruler over the human race will arise, a just ruler, and will exercise his dominion in the spirit of the fear of God.”

2Sa 23:4 2Sa 23:4 describes the blessing that will proceed from this ruler. The idea that 2Sa 23:4 should be connected with 2Sa 23:3 so as to form one period, in the sense of “when one rules justly over men (as I do), it is as when a morning becomes clear,” must be rejected, for the simple reason that it overlooks Nathan’s promise (2 Samuel 7) altogether, and weakens the force of the saying so solemnly introduced as the word of God. The ruler over men whom David sees in spirit, is not any one who rules righteously over men; nor is the seed of David to be regarded as a collective expression indicating a merely ideal personality, but, according to the Chaldee rendering, the Messiah himself, the righteous Shoot whom the Lord would raise up to David (Jer 23:5), and who would execute righteousness and judgment upon earth (Jer 33:15). 2Sa 23:4 is to be taken by itself as containing an independent thought, and the connection between it and 2Sa 23:3 must be gathered from the words themselves: the appearance (the rise) of this Ruler will be “as light of the morning, when the sun rises.” At the same time, the Messiah is not to be regarded as the subject to בּקר אור (the light of the morning), as though the ruler over men were compared with the morning light; but the subject compared to the morning light is intentionally left indefinite, according to the view adopted by Luther in his exposition, “In the time of the Messiah it will be like the light of the morning.” We are precluded from regarding the Messiah as the subject, by the fact that the comparison is instituted not with the sun, but with the morning dawn at the rising of the sun, whose vivifying effects upon nature are described in the second clause of the verse. The words שׁמשׁ יזרח are to be taken relatively, as a more distinct definition of the morning light. The clause which follows, “morning without clouds,” is parallel to the foregoing, and describes more fully the nature of the morning. The light of the rising sun on a cloudless morning is an image of the coming salvation. The rising sun awakens the germs of life in the bosom of nature, which had been slumbering through the darkness of the night. “The state of things before the coming of the ruler resembles the darkness of the night” (Hengstenberg). The verb is also wanting in the second hemistich. “From the shining from rain (is, comes) fresh green out of the earth.” נגהּ signifies the brightness of the rising sun; but, so far as the actual meaning is concerned, it relates to the salvation which attends the coming of the righteous ruler. ממּטר is either subordinate to מנּגהּ, or co-ordinate with it. In the former case, we should have to render the passage, “from the shining of the sun which proceeds out of rain,” or “from the shining after rain;” and the allusion would be to a cloudless morning, when the shining of the sun after a night’s rain stimulates the growth of the plants. In the latter case, we should have to render it “from the shining (and) from the rain;” and the reference would be to a cloudless morning, on which the vegetation springs up from the ground through sunshine followed by rain. Grammatically considered, the first view (? the second) is the easier of the two; nevertheless we regard the other (? the first) as the only admissible one, inasmuch as rain is not to be expected when the sun has risen with a cloudless sky. The rays of the sun, as it rises after a night of rain, strengthen the fresh green of the plants. The rain is therefore a figurative representation of blessing generally (cf. Isa 44:3), and the green grass which springs up from the earth after the rain is an image of the blessings of the Messianic salvation (Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8).

In Psa 72:6, Solomon takes these words of David as the basis of his comparison of the effects resulting from the government of the true Prince of peace to the coming down of the rain upon the mown grass.

2Sa 23:5

In 2Sa 23:5, the prophecy concerning the coming of the just ruler is sustained by being raced back to the original promise in 2 Samuel 7, in which David had received a pledge of this. The first and last clauses of this verse can only be made to yield a meaning in harmony with the context, by being taken interrogatively: “for is not my house so with God?” The question is only indicated by the tone (לא כּי = הלא כּי: 2Sa 19:23), as is frequently the case, even before clauses commencing with לּא (e.g., Hos 11:5; Mal 2:15 : cf. Ewald, §324, a.). לא־כן (not so) is explained by the following clause, though the כּי which follows is not to be taken in the sense of “that.” Each of the two clauses contains a distinct thought. That of the first is, “Does not my house stand in such a relation to God, that the righteous ruler will spring from it?” This is then explained in the second: “for He hath made an everlasting covenant with me.” David calls the promise in 2Sa 7:12., that God would establish his kingdom to his seed for ever, a covenant, because it involved a reciprocal relation-namely, that Jehovah would first of all found for David a permanent house, and then that the seed of David was to build the house of the Lord. This covenant is בכּל ערוּכה, “equipped (or provided) with all” that could help to establish it. This relates more especially to the fact that all eventualities were foreseen, even the falling away of the bearers of the covenant of God, so that such an event as this would not annul the covenant (2Sa 7:14-15). וּשׁמוּרה, “and preserved,” i.e., established by the assurance that even in that case the Lord would not withdraw His grace. David could found upon this the certainty, that God would cause all the salvation to spring forth which had been pledged to his house in the promise referred to. כּל־ישׁעי, “all my salvation,” i.e., all the salvation promised to me and to my house. כּל־חפץ, not “all my desire,” but “all the good pleasure” of God, i.e., all the saving counsel of God expressed in that covenant. The כּי before לא is an energetic repetition of the כּי which introduces the explanatory thought, in the sense of a firm assurance: “for all my salvation and all good pleasure, yea, should He not cause it to spring forth?”

2Sa 23:6-7   6  But the worthless, as rejected thorns are they all;

For men do not take them in the hand.   7  And the man who touches them

Provides himself with iron and spear-shaft,

And they are utterly burned with fire where they dwell.

The development of salvation under the ruler in righteousness and the fear of God is accompanied by judgment upon the ungodly. The abstract בליּעל, worthlessness, is stronger than בליּעל אישׁ, the worthless man, and depicts the godless as personified worthlessness. מנד, in the Keri מנּד, the Hophal of נוּד or נדד, literally “scared” or hunted away. This epithet does not apply to the thorns, so well as to the ungodly who are compared to thorns. The reference is to thorns that men root out, not to those which they avoid on account of their prickles. כּלּהם, an antiquated form for כּלּם (see Ewald, §247, d.). To root them out, or clean the ground of them, men do not lay hold of them with the bare hand; but “whoever would touch them equips himself (ימּלא, sc., ידו, to 'fill the hand' with anything: 2Ki 9:24) with iron, i.e., with iron weapons, and spear-shaft” (vid., 1Sa 17:7). This expression also relates to the godless rather than to the thorns. They are consumed בּשּׁבת, “at the dwelling,” i.e., as Kimchi explains, at the place of their dwelling, the place where they grow. For בּשּׁבת cannot mean “on the spot” in the sense of without delay. The burning of the thorns takes place at the final judgment upon the ungodly (Mat 13:30).

2Sa 23:8-39

The following list of David’s heroes we also find in 1 Chron 11:10-47, and expanded at the end by sixteen names (1Ch 11:41-47), and attached in 1Ch 11:10 to the account of the conquest of the fortress of Zion by the introduction of a special heading. According to this heading, the heroes named assisted David greatly in his kingdom, along with all Israel, to make him king, from which it is evident that the chronicler intended by this heading to justify his appending the list to the account of the election of David as king over all the tribes of Israel (1Ch 11:1), and of the conquest of Zion, which followed immediately afterwards. In every other respect the two lists agree with one another, except that there are a considerable number of errors of the text, more especially in the names, which are frequently corrupt in both texts, to that the true reading cannot be determined with certainty. The heroes enumerated are divided into three classes. The first class consists of three, viz., Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah, of whom certain brave deeds are related, by which they reached the first rank among David’s heroes (2Sa 23:8-12). They were followed by Abishai and Benaiah, who were in the second class, and who had also distinguished themselves above the rest by their brave deeds, though they did not come up to the first three (2Sa 23:18-23). The others all belonged to the third class, which consisted of thirty-two men, of whom no particular heroic deeds are mentioned (vv. 24-39). Twelve of these, viz., the five belonging to the first two classes and seven of the third, were appointed by David commanders of the twelve detachments into which he divided the army, each detachment to serve for one month in the year (1 Chron 27). These heroes, among whom we do not find Joab the commander-in-chief of the whole of the forces, were the king’s aides-de-camp, and are called in this respect השּׁלשׁי (2Sa 23:8), though the term השּׁלשׁים (the thirty, 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, 2Sa 23:24) was also a very customary one, as their number amounted to thirty in a round sum. It is possible that at first they may have numbered exactly thirty; for, from the very nature of the case, we may be sure than in the many wars in which David was engaged, other heroes must have arisen at different times, who would be received into the corps already formed. This will explain the addition of sixteen names in the Chronicles, whether the chronicler made us of a different list from that employed by the author of the books before us, and one belonging to a later age, or whether the author of our books merely restricted himself to a description of the corps in its earlier condition. 2Sa 23:8-12 Heroes of the first class. - The short heading to our text, with which the list in the Chronicles also beings (1Ch 11:11), simply gives the name of these heroes. But instead of “the names of the mighty men,” we have in the Chronicles “the number of the mighty men.” This variation is all the more striking, from the fact that in the Chronicles the total number is not given at the close of the list as it is in our text. At the same time, it can hardly be a copyist’s error for מבחר (selection), as Bertheau supposes, but must be attributable to the fact that, according to 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, and 2Sa 23:24, these heroes constituted a corps which was named from the number of which it originally consisted. The first, Jashobeam, is called “the chief of the thirty” in the Chronicles. Instead of ישׁבעם (Jashobeam), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here בּשּׁבת ישׁב (Josheb-basshebeth), unquestionably a spurious reading, which probably arose, according to Kennicott’s conjecture, from the circumstance that the last two letters of ישׁבעם were written in one MS under בּשּׁבת in the line above (2Sa 23:7), and a copyist took בשׁבת from that line by mistake for עם. The correctness of the reading Jashobeam is established by 1Ch 27:2. The word תּחכּמני is also faulty, and should be corrected, according to the Chronicles, into בּן־חכמוני (Ben-hachmoni); for the statement that Jashobeam was a son (or descendant) of the family of Hachmon (1Ch 27:32) can easily be reconciled with that in 1Ch 27:2, to the effect that he was a son of Zabdiel. Instead of השּׁלשׁים ראשׁ (head of the thirty), the reading in the Chronicles, we have here השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ (head of the three). Bertheau would alter our text in accordance with the Chronicles, whilst Thenius proposes to bring the text of the Chronicles into accordance with ours. But although the many unquestionable corruptions in the verse before us may appear to favour Bertheau’s assumption, we cannot regard either of the emendations as necessary, or even warrantable. The proposed alteration of השּׁלשׁי is decidedly precluded by the recurrence of השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ in 2Sa 23:18, and the alteration of השּׁלשׁים in the Chronicles by the repeated allusion to the שׁלשׁים, not only in 2Sa 23:15, 42; 2Sa 12:4, and 1Ch 27:6 of the Chronicles, but also in 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:23, and 2Sa 23:24 of the chapter before us. The explanation given of שׁלשׁי and שׁלשׁים, as signifying chariot-warriors, is decidedly erroneous;This explanation, which we find in Gesenius (Thes. and Lex.) and Bertheau, rests upon no other authority than the testimony of Origen, to the effect that an obscure writer gives this interpretation of τριστάτης, the rendering of שׁלישׁ, an authority which is completely overthrown by the writer of the gloss in Octateuch.  (Schleussner, Lex. in lxx t. v. p. 338), who gives this explanation of τριστάτας: τοὺς παρὰ χεῖρα τοῦ βασιλέως ἀριστερὰν τρίτης μοίρας ἄρχοντας. Suidas and Hesychius give the same explanation (s. v. τριστάται). Jerome also observes (ad Ezek 23): “It is the name of the second rank next to the king.” for the singular השּׁלישׁ is used in all the passages in which the word occurs to signify the royal aide-de-camp (2Ki 7:2, 2Ki 7:17, 2Ki 7:19; 2Ki 9:25; 2Ki 15:25), and the plural שׁלישׁים the royal body-guard, not only in 2Ki 15:25, but even in 1Ki 9:22, and Exo 14:7; Exo 15:4, from which the meaning chariot-warriors has been derived. Consequently השּׁלשׁי ראשׁ is the head of the king’s aides-de-camp, and the interchange of השּׁלשׁי with the השּׁלשׁים of the Chronicles may be explained on the simple ground that David’s thirty heroes formed his whole body of adjutants. The singular שׁלשׁי is to be explained in the same manner as הכּרתי (see at 2Sa 8:18). Luther expresses the following opinion in his marginal gloss with regard to the words which follow (העצנו עדינו הוּא עדינו): “We believe the text to have been corrupted by a writer, probably from some book in an unknown character and bad writing, so that orer should be substituted for adino, and ha - eznib for eth hanitho :” that is to say, the reading in the Chronicles, “he swung his spear,” should be adopted (cf. 2Sa 23:18). This supposition is certainly to be preferred to the attempt made by Gesenius (Lex.) and v. Dietrich (s. v. עדין) to find some sense in the words by assuming the existence of a verb עדּן and a noun עצן, a spear, since these words do not occur anywhere else in Hebrew; and in order to obtain any appropriate sense, it is still necessary to resort to alterations of the text. “He swung his spear over eight hundred slain at once.” This is not to be understood as signifying that he killed eight hundred men at one blow, but that in a battle he threw his spear again and again at the foe, until eight hundred men had been slain. The Chronicles give three hundred instead of eight hundred; and as that number occurs again in 2Sa 23:18, in the case of Abishai, it probably found its way from that verse into this in the book of Chronicles.

David's Last Words. (b. c. 1015.)

1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. 3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. 6 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: 7 But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

We have here the last will and testament of king David, or a codicil annexed to it, after he had settled the crown upon Solomon and his treasures upon the temple which was to be built. The last words of great and good men are thought worthy to be in a special manner remarked and remembered. David would have those taken notice of, and added either to his Psalms (as they are here to that in the foregoing chapter) or to the chronicles of his reign. Those words especially in v. 5, though recorded before, we may suppose he often repeated for his own consolation, even to his last breath, and therefore they are called his last words. When we find death approaching we should endeavor both to honour God and to edify those about us with our last words. Let those that have had long experience of God's goodness and the pleasantness of wisdom, when they come to finish their course, leave a record of that experience and bear their testimony to the truth of the promise. We have upon record the last words of Jacob and Moses, and here of David, designed, as those, for a legacy to those that were left behind. We are here told,

I. Whose last will and testament this is. This is related either, or is usual, by the testator himself, or rather, by the historian, v. 1. He is described, 1. By the meanness of his original: He was the son of Jesse. It is good for those who are advanced to be corner-stones and top-stones to be reminded, and often to remind themselves, of the rock out of which they were hewn. 2. The height of his elevation: He was raised up on high, as one favoured of God, and designed for something great, raised up as a prince, to sit higher than his neighbours, and as a prophet, to see further; for, (1.) He was the anointed of the God of Jacob, and so was serviceable to the people of God in their civil interests, the protection of their country and the administration of justice among them. (2.) He was the sweet psalmist of Israel, and so was serviceable to them in their religious exercises. He penned the psalms, set the tunes, appointed both the singers and the instruments of music, by which the devotions of good people were much excited and enlarged. Note, The singing of psalms is a sweet ordinance, very agreeable to those that delight in praising God. It is reckoned among the honours to which David was raised up that he was a psalmist: in that he was as truly great as in his being the anointed of the God of Jacob. Note, It is true preferment to be serviceable to the church in acts of devotion and instrumental to promote the blessed work of prayer and praise. Observe, Was David a prince? He was so for Jacob. Was he a psalmist? He was so for Israel. Note, the dispensation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, and therefore, as every man has received the gift, so let him minister the same.

II. What the purport of it is. It is an account of his communion with God. Observe,

1. What God said to him both for his direction and for his encouragement as a king, and to be in like manner, of use to his successors. Pious persons take a pleasure in calling to mind what they have heard from God, in recollecting his word, and revolving it in their minds. Thus what God spoke once David heard twice, yea often. See here,

(1.) Who spoke: The Spirit of the Lord, the God of Israel, and the Rock of Israel, which some think is an intimation of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead—the Father the God of Israel, the Son the Rock of Israel, and the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, who spoke by the prophets, and particularly by David, and whose word was not only in his heart, but in his tongue for the benefit of others. David here avows his divine inspiration, that in his psalms, and in this composition, The Spirit of God spoke by him. He, and other holy men, spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This puts an honour upon the book of Psalms, and recommends them to our use in our devotions, that they are words which the Holy Ghost teaches.

(2.) What was spoken. Here seems to be a distinction made between what the Spirit of God spoke by David, which includes all his psalms, and what the Rock of Israel spoke to David, which concerned himself and his family. Let ministers observe that those by whom God speaks to others are concerned to hear and heed what he speaks to themselves. Those whose office it is to teach others their duty must be sure to learn and do their own. Now that which is here said (v. 3, 4) may be considered, [1.] With application to David, and his royal family. And so here is, First, The duty of magistrates enjoined them. When a king was spoken to from God he was not to be complimented with the height of his dignity and the extent of his power, but to be told his duty. "Must is for the king," we say. Here is a must for the king: He must be just, ruling in the fear of God; and so must all inferior magistrates in their places. Let rulers remember that they rule over men—not over beasts which they may enslave and abuse at pleasure, but over reasonable creatures and of the same rank with themselves. They rule over men that have their follies and infirmities, and therefore must be borne with. They rule over men, but under God, and for him; and therefore, 1. They must be just, both to those over whom they rule, in allowing them their rights and properties, and between those over whom they rule, using their power to right the injured against the injurious; see Deut. i. 16, 17. It is not enough that they do no wrong, but they must not suffer wrong to be done. 2. They must rule in the fear of God, that is, they must themselves be possessed with a fear of God, by which they will be effectually restrained from all acts of injustice and oppression. Nehemiah was so (Neh. v. 15, So did not I, because of the fear of God), and Joseph, Gen. xliii. 18. They must also endeavor to promote the fear of God (that is, the practice of religion) among those over whom they rule. The magistrate is to be the keeper of both tables, and to protect both godliness and honesty. Secondly, Prosperity promised them if they do, this duty. He that rules in the fear of God shall be as the light of the morning, v. 4. Light is sweet and pleasant, and he that does his duty shall have the comfort of it; his rejoicing will be the testimony of his conscience. Light is bright, and a good prince is illustrious; his justice and piety will be his honour. Light is a blessing, nor are there any greater and more extensive blessings to the public than princes that rule in the fear of God. As the light of the morning, which is most welcome after the darkness of the night (so was David's government after Saul's, Ps. lxxv. 3), which is increasing, shines more and more to the perfect day, such is the growing lustre of a good government. It is likewise compared to the tender grass, which the earth produces for the service of man; it brings with it a harvest of blessings. See Ps. lxxii. 6, 16, which were also some of the last words of David, and seem to refer to those recorded here. [2.] With application to Christ, the Son of David, and then it must all be taken as a prophecy, and the original will bear it: There shall be a rule among men, or over men, that shall be just, and shall rule in the fear of God, that is, shall order the affairs of religion and divine worship according to his Father's will; and he shall be as the light to the morning, &c., for he is the light of the world, and as the tender grass, for he is the branch of the Lord, and the fruit of the earth, Isa. xi. 1-5; xxxii. 1, 2; Ps. lxxii. 2. God, by the Spirit, gave David the foresight of this, to comfort him under the many calamities of his family and the melancholy prospects he had of the degeneracy of his seed.

2. What comfortable use he made of this which God spoke to him, and what were his devout meditations on it, by way of reply, v. 5. It is not unlike his meditation on occasion of such a message, 2 Sam. vii. 18, &c. That which goes before the Rock of Israel spoke to him; this the Spirit of God spoke by him, and it is a most excellent confession of his faith and hope in the everlasting covenant. Here is,

(1.) Trouble supposed: Although my house be not so with God, and although he make it not to grow. David's family was not so with God as is described (v. 3, 4), and as he could wish, not so good, not so happy; it had not been so while he lived; he foresaw it would not be so when he was gone, that his house would be neither so pious nor so prosperous as one might have expected the offspring of such a father to be. [1.] Not so with God. Note, We and ours are that really which we are with God. This was what David's heart was upon concerning his children, that they might be right with God, faithful to him and zealous for him. But the children of godly parents are often neither so holy nor so happy as might be expected. We must be made to know that it is corruption, not grace, that runs in the blood, that the race is not to the swift, but that God gives his Spirit as a free-agent. [2.] Not made to grow, in number, in power; it is God that makes families to grow or not to grow, Ps. cvii. 41. Good men have often the melancholy prospect of a declining family. David's house was typical of the church of Christ, which is his house, Heb. iii. 3. Suppose this be not so with God as we could wish, suppose it be diminished, distressed, disgraced, and weakened, by errors and corruptions, yea, almost extinct, yet God has made a covenant with the church's head, the Son of David, that he will preserve to him a seed, that the gates of hell shall never prevail against his house. This our Saviour comforted himself with in his sufferings, that the covenant with him stood firm, Isa. liii. 10-12. (2.) Comfort ensured: Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Whatever trouble a child of God may have the prospect of, still he has some comfort or other to balance it with (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9), and there is none like this of the Psalmist, which may be understood, [1.] Of the covenant of royalty (in the type) which God made with David and his seed, touching the kingdom, Ps. cxxxii. 11, 12. But, [2.] It must look further, to the covenant of grace made with all believers, that God will be, in Christ, to them a God, which was signified by the covenant of royalty, and therefore the promises of the covenant are called the sure mercies of David, Isa. lv. 3. It is this only that is the everlasting covenant, and it cannot be imagined that David, who, in so many of his psalms, speaks so clearly concerning Christ and the grace of the gospel, should forget it in his last words. God has made a covenant of grace with us in Jesus Christ, and we are here told, First, That it is an everlasting covenant, from everlasting in the contrivance and counsel of it, and to everlasting in the continuance and consequences of it. Secondly, That it is ordered, well ordered in all things, admirably well, to advance the glory of God and the honour of the Mediator, together with the holiness and comfort of believers. It is herein well ordered, that whatever is required in the covenant is promised, and that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that it puts our salvation, not in our own keeping, but in the keeping of a Mediator. Thirdly, That it is sure, and therefore sure because well ordered; the general offer of it is sure; the promised mercies are sure on the performance of the conditions. The particular application of it to true believers is sure; it is sure to all the seed. Fourthly, That it is all our salvation. Nothing but this will save us, and this is sufficient: it is this only upon which our salvation depends. Fifthly, That therefore it must be all our desire. Let me have an interest in this covenant and the promises of it, and I have enough, I desire no more.

3. Here is the doom of the sons of Belial read, v. 6, 7. (1.) They shall be thrust away as thorns—rejected, abandoned. They are like thorns, not to be touched with hands, so passionate and furious that they cannot be managed or dealt with by a wise and faithful reproof, but must be restrained by law and the sword of justice (Ps. xxxii. 9); and therefore, like thorns, (2.) They shall, at length, be utterly burnt with fire in the same place, Heb. vi. 8. Now this is intended, [1.] As a direction to magistrates to use their power for the punishing and suppressing of wickedness. Let them thrust away the sons of Belial; see Ps. ci. 8. Or, [2.] As a caution to magistrates, and particularly to David's sons and successors, to see that they be not themselves sons of Belial (as too many of them were), for then neither the dignity of their place nor their relation to David would secure them from being thrust away by the righteous judgments of God. Though men could not deal with them, God would. Or, [3.] As a prediction of the ruin of all the implacable enemies of Christ's kingdom. There are enemies without, that openly oppose it and fight against it, and enemies within, that secretly betray it and are false to it; both are sons of Belial, children of the wicked one, of the serpent's seed; both are as thorns, grievous and vexatious: but both shall be so thrust away as that Christ will set up his kingdom in despite of their enmity, will go through them (Isa. xxvii. 4), and will, in due time, bless his church with such peace that there shall be no pricking brier nor grieving thorn. And those that will not repent, to give glory to God, shall, in the judgment-day (to which the Chaldee paraphrast refers this), be burnt with unquenchable fire. See Luke xix. 27.

David's Mighty Men. (b. c. 1054.)

8 These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: 10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. 11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory. 13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. 14 And David was then in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! 16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord . 17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord , that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. 18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three. 19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three. 20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: 21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men. 23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. 24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.

I. The catalogue which the historian has here left upon record of the great soldiers that were in David's time is intended, 1. For the honour of David, who trained them up in the arts of exercises of war, and set them an example of conduct and courage. It is the reputation as well as the advantage of a prince to be attended and served by such brave men as are here described. 2. For the honour of those worthies themselves, who were instrumental to bring David to the crown, settle and protect him in the throne, and enlarge his conquests. Note, Those that in public stations venture themselves, and lay out themselves, to serve the interests of their country, are worthy of double honour, both to be respected by those of their own age and to be remembered by posterity. 3. To excite those that come after to a generous emulation. 4. To show how much religion contributes to the inspiring of men with true courage. David, both by his psalms and by his offerings for the service of the temple, greatly promoted piety among the grandees of the kingdom (1 Chron. xxix. 6), and, when they became famous for piety, they became famous for bravery.

II. Now these mighty men are here divided into three ranks:—

1. The first three, who had done the greatest exploits and thereby gained the greatest reputation—Adino (v. 8), Eleazar (v. 9, 10), and Shammah, v. 11, 12. I do not remember that we read of any of these, or of their actions, any where in all the story of David but here and in the parallel place, 1 Chron. xi. Many great and remarkable events are passed by in the annals, which relate rather the blemishes than the glories of David's reign, especially after his sin in the matter Uriah; so that we may conclude his reign to have been really more illustrious than it has appeared to us while reading the records of it. The exploits of this brave triumvirate are here recorded. They signalized themselves in the wars of Israel against their enemies, especially the Philistines. (1.) Adino slew 800 at once with his spear. (2.) Eleazar defied the Philistines, as they by Goliath, had defied Israel, but with better success and greater bravery; for when the men of Israel had gone away, he not only kept his ground, but arose, and smote the Philistines, on whom God struck a terror equal to the courage with which this great hero was inspired. His hand was weary, and yet it clave to his sword; as long as he had any strength remaining he held his weapon and followed his blow. Thus, in the service of God, we should keep up the willingness and resolution of the spirit, notwithstanding the weakness and weariness of the flesh—faint, yet pursuing (Judg. viii. 4), the hand weary, yet not quitting the sword. Now that Eleazar had beaten the enemy, the men of Israel, who had gone away from the battle (v. 9), returned to spoil, v. 10. It is common for those who quit the field, when any thing is to be done to hasten to it when any thing is to be gotten. (3.) Shammah met with a party of the enemy, that were foraging, and routed them, v. 11, 12. But observe, both concerning this exploit and the former, it is here said, The Lord wrought a great victory. Note, How great soever the bravery of the instruments is, the praise of the achievement must be given to God. These fought the battles, but God wrought the victory. Let not the strong man then glory in his strength, nor in any of his military operations, but let him that glories glory in the Lord.

2. The next three were distinguished from, and dignified above, the thirty, but attained not to the first three, v. 23. All great men are not of the same size. Many a bright and benign star there is which is not of the first magnitude, and many a good ship not of the first rate. Of this second triumvirate two only are named, Abishai and Benaiah, whom we have often met with in the story of David, and who seem to have been not inferior in serviceableness, though they were in dignity, to the first three. Here is,

(1.) A brave action of these three in conjunction. They attended David in his troubles, when he absconded, in the cave of Adullam (v. 13), suffered with him, and therefore were afterwards preferred by him. When David and his brave men who attended him, who had acted so vigorously against the Philistines, were, by the iniquity of the times, in Saul's reign, driven to shelter themselves from his rage in caves and strong holds, no marvel that the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim, and put a garrison even in Bethlehem itself, v. 13, 14. If the church's guides are so misled as to persecute some of her best friends and champions, the common enemy will, no doubt, get advantage by it. If David had had his liberty, Bethlehem would not have been now in the Philistines' hands. But, being so, we are here told, [1.] How earnestly David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem. Some make it a public-spirited wish, and that he meant, "O that we could drive the garrison of the Philistines out of Bethlehem, and make that beloved city of mine our own again!" the well being put for the city, as the river often signifies the country it passes through. But if he meant so, those about him did not understand him; therefore it seems rather to be an instance of his weakness. It was harvest-time; the weather was hot; he was thirsty; perhaps good water was scarce, and therefore he earnestly wished, "O that I could but have one draught of the water of the well of Bethlehem!" With the water of that well he had often refreshed himself when he was a youth, and nothing now will serve him but that, though it is almost impossible to come at it. He strangely indulged a humour which he could give no reason for. Other water might quench his thirst as well, but he had a fancy for that above any. It is folly to entertain such fancies and greater folly to insist upon the gratification of them. We ought to check our appetites when they go out inordinately towards those things that really are more pleasant and grateful than other things (Be not desirous of dainties), much more when they are thus set upon such things as only please a humour. [2.] How bravely his three mighty men, Abishai, Benaiah, and another not named, ventured through the camp of the Philistines, upon the very mouth of danger, and fetched water from the well of Bethlehem, without David's knowledge, v. 16. When he wished for it he was far from desiring that any of his men should venture their lives for it; but those three did, to show, First, How much they valued their prince, and with what pleasure they could run the greatest hardships in his service. David, though anointed king, was as yet an exile, a poor prince that had no external advantages to recommend him to the affection and esteem of his attendants, nor was he in any capacity to prefer or reward them; yet those three were thus zealous for his satisfaction, firmly believing the time of recompence would come. Let us be willing to venture in the cause of Christ, even when it is a suffering cause, as those who are assured that it will prevail and that we shall not lose by it at last. Were they so forward to expose themselves upon the least hint of their prince's mind and so ambitious to please him? And shall not we covet to approve ourselves to our Lord Jesus by a ready compliance with every intimation of his will given us by his word, Spirit and providence? Secondly, How little they feared the Philistines. They were glad of an occasion to defy them. Whether they broke through the host clandestinely, and with such art that the Philistines did not discover them, or openly, and with such terror in their looks that the Philistines durst not oppose them, is not certain; it should seem, they forced their way, sword in hand. But see, [3.] How self-denyingly David, when he had this far-fetched dear-bought water, poured it out before the Lord, v. 17. First, Thus he would show the tender regard he had to the lives of his soldiers, and how far he was from being prodigal of their blood, Ps. lxxii. 14. In God's sight the death of his saints is precious. Secondly, Thus he would testify his sorrow for speaking that foolish word which occasioned those men to put their lives in their hands. Great men should take heed what they say, lest any bad use be made of it by those about them. Thirdly, Thus he would prevent the like rashness in any of his men for the future. Fourthly, Thus he would cross his own foolish fancy, and punish himself for entertaining and indulging it, and show that he had sober thoughts to correct his rash ones, and knew how to deny himself even in that which he was most fond of. Such generous mortifications become the wise, the great, and the good. Fifthly, Thus he would honour God and give glory to him. The water purchased at this rate he thought too precious for his own drinking and fit only to be poured out to God as a drink-offering. If it was the blood of these men, it was God's due, for the blood was always his. Sixthly, Bishop Patrick speaks of some who think that David hereby showed that it was not material water he longed for, but the Messiah, who had the water of life, who, he knew, should be born at Bethlehem, which the Philistines therefore should not be able to destroy. Seventhly, Did David look upon that water as very precious which was got at the hazard of these men's blood, and shall not we much more value those benefits for the purchasing of which our blessed Saviour shed his blood? Let us not undervalue the blood of the covenant, as those do that undervalue the blessings of the covenant.

(2.) The brave actions of two of them on other occasions. Abishai slew 300 men at once, v. 18, 19. Benaiah did many great things. [1.] He slew two Moabites that were lion-like men, so bold and strong, so fierce and furious. [2.] He slew an Egyptian, on what occasion it is not said; he was well armed but Benaiah attacked him with no other weapon than a walking staff, dexterously wrested his spear out of his hand, and slew him with it, v. 21. For these and similar exploits David preferred him to be captain of the life-guard or standing forces, v. 23.

3. Inferior to the second three, but of great note, were the thirty-one here mentioned by name, v. 24, &c. Asahel is the first, who was slain by Abner in the beginning of David's reign, but lost not his place in this catalogue. Elhanan is the next, brother to Eleazar, one of the first three, v. 9. The surnames here given them are taken, as it should seem, from the places of their birth or habitation, as many surnames with us originally were. From all parts of the nation, the most wise and valiant were picked up to serve the king. Several of those who are named we find captains of the twelve courses which David appointed, one for each month in the year, 1 Chron. xxvii. Those that did worthily were preferred according to their merits. One of them was the son of Ahithophel (v. 34), the son famous in the camp as the father at the council-board. But to find Uriah the Hittite bringing up the rear of these worthies, as it revives the remembrance of David's sin, so it aggravates it, that a man who deserved so well of his king and country should be so ill treated. Joab is not mentioned among all these, either, (1.) to be mentioned; the first, of the first three sat chief among the captains, but Joab was over them as general. Or, (2.) Because he was so bad that he did not deserve to be mentioned; for though he was confessedly a great soldier, and one that had so much religion in him as to dedicate of his spoils to the house of God (1 Chron. xxvi. 28), yet he lost as much honour by slaying two of David's friends as ever he got by slaying his enemies.

Christ, the Son of David, has his worthies too, who like David's, are influenced by his example, fight his battles against the spiritual enemies of his kingdom, and in his strength are more than conquerors. Christ's apostles were his immediate attendants, did and suffered great things for him, and at length came to reign with him. They are mentioned with honour in the New Testament, as these in the Old, especially, Rev. xxi. 14. Nay, all the good soldiers of Jesus Christ have their names better preserved than even these worthies have; for they are written in heaven. This honour have all his saints.