invaded the south, and Ziklag, which they burned with fire, and carried all the inhabitants away captive. This terrible calamity threw David and his whole company into the most violent transports of grief. They "lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep ;" and the people, in their madness and despair, even talked of stoning David.' He, however, succeeded in inspiring them with courage to pursue their enemies. They overtook them in the night; and, falling suddenly upon them while they were eating and drinking and dancing, because of the great spoil they had taken, the victory was complete; and all that had been taken from Ziklag was recovered, together with a vast amount of booty, which these Amalekites had gathered up from the land of the Philistines. There is a remarkable resemblance between this victory of David and that of Abraham over the kings who had carried Lot away captive. By this victory the exterminating malediction pronounced against this people by Jehovah himself, after the battle of Rephidim, some five hundred years before, received its final accomplishment. The Amalekites never again appear in history as a distinct tribe."

I was reminded of the poor Egyptian whom David found half dead, and brought to life again by giving him "a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins" to eat, and water to drink, by an incident which occurred to me when crossing the plain to Askelon. Far from any village, a sick Egyptian was lying by the roadside in the burning sun, and apparently almost dead with a terrible fever. He wanted nothing but "water! water!" which we were fortunately able to give him from our travelling-bottle; but we were obliged to pass on and leave him to his fate, whatever that might have been.

David's victory over the Amalekites was probably achieved on the very day that King Saul was defeated and slain on Gilboa; and when he had heard of that event, by which the way to the throne of Israel was open to himself, he took of the spoils, and sent presents to all the towns and villages where he used formerly to resort." He acted in this matter upon a principle which his wise son has expressed after this fashion: "A man's gift maketh room for him,

1 I Sam. xxx. I-20.

2 Exod. xvii. 8-16.

31 Sam. xxx. 26.

CHARACTER OF DAVID'S FOLLOWERS.

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235

and bringeth him before great men.' His gifts speedily made room for him in Hebron, and prepared the hearts of all Judah to welcome him as their king.

. It seems to have tasked all David's firmness and tact in government to control his heterogeneous troop of followers.

There were certainly some churlish sons of Belial amongst them, but this was not their general character. The servants of Nabal, in Carmel, gave a very different testimony concerning them: "The men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields." They were, therefore, in no sense a lawless set of robbers. Nabal's taunt to the messengers, "Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master,' was as unjust as it was insolent. It does not follow that because " every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented [or, rather, bitter of soul], gathered themselves unto him," that therefore they were the refuse and offscouring of the land, like a troop of irregular Turkish cavalry, or the followers of an outlawed Druse sheikh. The government of Saul had degenerated into a cruel despotism. David himself, and all his relations, had been obliged to flee from his outrageous and murderous jealousy; and there is abundant evidence that they were honorable and respectable people. Nor is it any wonder that many were in distress, and bitter of soul, under a king who could employ a savage Edomite to kill the whole family of the chief priest of the nation, merely because David had been innocently entertained for a night by them. The madness and ferocity of such a king would compel the noblest spirits in the land to flee unto David, and a large proportion of his retinue was actually composed of such men.

Even the debtors, in such a time of misrule, were, in most cases, better men than their creditors. Nearly everybody is in debt in these Oriental countries; and, owing to the tenure of land, the modes of raising taxes, and the claims of feudal chiefs, it is impossible for the villagers to keep free from it, either personally or as part of a community. Even in the cities, the number who

1 Prov. xviii. 16.

21 Sam. xxv. 15.

I

31 Sam. xxv. 10.

41 Sam. xxii. 2.

are more or less involved is far greater than those who stand square with the world. I hardly ever knew an estate in this country which was not found encumbered when the death of the owner brought out the truth; and very generally those who are the creditors are cold, cunning usurers, hated and hateful. The fact, therefore, that a man is in debt is not necessarily any reflection on his character; and, in times of misrule and apprehension like that of Saul, the best families are suddenly reduced by extortion to utter poverty. To raise the enormous sums demanded of the head of the house, and enforced by the bastinado, the wife and children sell and pledge everything they possess to these lenders, and raise money at ruinous rates of interest. The tyrant government, also, from motives easily understood, enforces the collection of such debts with a rigor that knows neither delay nor mercy. That some of David's company fled from just such extortion is highly probable, and they may have been the most estimable people of the land. It is pleasant to believe that the noble and generous David was surrounded by a fair proportion of kindred spirits, and that, in the midst of his sore trials and perplexities, his heart was sustained and comforted by the reflection that he was able to furnish an asylum to many innocent victims of regal oppression. This is distinctly stated in the case of Abiathar, who escaped from the slaughter of the priests at Nob,' and must have been equally so in regard to his own father and all his family.'

These modern dwellers about old Gath or Beit Jibrîn appear to be actually taller and more warlike than the average inhabitants of this region.

The sheikh and his family might well be descendants of the ancient giants, for they are rough, fierce-looking fellows, and, indeed, the whole population now make a very savage display of guns, pistols, crooked swords, double-edged khanjars, long knives, and whatever else can aid them to cut, stab, and hack the human body to pieces. The sheikh says that they are thus armed in order to keep at a distance the Bedawîn Arabs, who would otherwise eat up their ripening harvests. This may be so, though I have never seen them without arms, and those who can get nothing better

11 Sam. xxii. 20-23.

I

21 Sam. xxii. 1.

carry tremendous clubs, like the weaver's beam of the giant, and in handling them they are as expert as any Irishman with his shillelah, and equally as dangerous.

Do these people now make any use of the sling, which, in the hand of David, was so fatal to their famous townsman ?

I have seen the sling used in mimic warfare at Hasbeîya, on Mount Hermon, and there merely waged by the boys of the town. The deep gorge of the Busîs divides Hasbeîya into two parts, and, when the war-spirit was up in the community, the lads were accustomed to collect on opposite sides of this gorge, and fight desperate battles with their slings. They chased one another from cliff to cliff, as in real warfare, until one of the parties gave way, and retreated up the mountain. I have seen the air almost darkened by their whizzing pebbles, and so many serious accidents occurred that the authorities often interfered to abolish the rude sport; but whenever there is a fresh feud, or a revolt against the government amongst the old folks, the young ones return again to the fight with slings across the Busîs.

It must have required careful drilling and long practice before the seven hundred left-handed Benjamites "could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss;" but this is a region where such a mode of warfare would be cultivated in ancient times, and be very effective.' The stones for the sling are everywhere at hand, and the country is cut up by deep gorges, with impracticable banks; and, before the invention of guns, there was no other weapon that could carry across these profound depths and reach the ranks of the enemy. David, while following his flocks over these rough mountains, practised other arts besides that of playing on the shepherd's pipe, for he became as expert in the use of the sling as any of the chosen men of Benjamin. He was manifestly one of nature's noblemen, born to excel in everything he undertook. Not only was he the most skilful musician, but the greatest poet; not merely the most daring shepherd, but the bravest soldier and the most successful general. It is nowhere stated in so many words that he possessed great physical strength, but this is implied in several anecdotes of his life. Without this he could not have wielded the sword of Go

1 Judg. xx. 16.

liath, and yet he chose that of all others for himself; and again, none but the very strongest could kill a lion and a bear in fair fight. What the lion is we all know, or at least imagine, and yet David says, "I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him." The Syrian bear, still found on the higher mountains of this country, is perhaps equally to be dreaded in a close personal encounter. The inhabitants of Hermon say that when he is chased up the mountain he will cast back large stones upon his pursuers with terrible force and unerring aim. You need not expect me to vouch for the literal accuracy of this statement, but the Syrian bear is a very large and formidable antagonist. The stoutest hunter will not venture to attack him alone, nor without being thoroughly armed for the deadly strife. David, however, caught him, as he was running away with a kid from his flock, and slew him; and this when he was yet but a youth, ruddy, and of a fair countenance, so that Goliath disdained him as an antagonist. It is interesting to remember that these personal adventures of David, both with giants and with wild beasts, took place in these mountains immediately above us.

1 1 Sam. xvii. 35.