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David's Character difcuffed, with regard tö his Polygamy, and the Murder of Uriah

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A fhort Comparison of David with Alexander, Cæfar, and Scipio. His Character concludes this Work

342

AN

AN

Hiftorical Account

Of the LIFE and REIGN of

King DAVID.

BOOK III.

CHAP. I.

DAVID, beholding Bathsheba batheing berfelf, falls under the Temptation; and bath criminal Commerce with ber: Uriah's Death the inevitable Confequence of this Commerce.

I

'N the clofe of the last book, we left David in the heighth of honour and happiness; his country flourishing, his armies fuccessful, and his enemies at his feet. But the heighths of fortune and felicity are VOL. III.

B

not

not here the secureft and the steadiest stations:

tempefts and temptations encompass them which fuffer nothing ferene and permanent, in this frail, unstable state.

;

the

THE feafon of warfare returned ; Ammonites were the enemies; and indignities, perfonal to David, were to be vindicated; decency and dignity more naturally referred them to the chastisement of others. Joab therefore, and all Ifrael with him, were fent into the field, and David continued at home.

JOAB, altho' he came off victorious in the laft expedition, had however been reduced to great ftreights; feemingly from fome defect in his own conduct. And therefore David feems to have been now more than ordinarily careful, to fend him out well attended. Inafmuch as he fent out not only all the flower of the Ifraelite forces, but likewise his own life-guard (his worthies, as I apprehend, included) along with him *. And the effects were anfwerable: for the text tells us, that they deftroyed the children of Ammon, and

So I think we are well warranted to understand those words, 2 Sam. xi. 1. David fent Joab, and his fervants with him, and all Ifrael.

besieged

befieged Rabbah, (their capital) but David tarried ftill at Jerufalem.

And it came to pass, that whilst he was there, rifing one evening from his afternoon's reft, and walking upon the roof of his house, to enjoy the refreshment of the evening air; the ufual relief of warmer climates; he happened unfortunately to caft his eye upon a most beautiful woman, who was batheing herself for health and refreshment, in that cool and feasonable hour: but whether in her garden, or court-yard, overlooked by the palace, or in fome apartment of her house, whose windows opened that way, is not certain. Tradition points out the place of a fountain, ftill called after her name: which fhould make it probable, that the bathed in a garden, did not Jofephus exprefly declare, that it was in her own house. And indeed the natural modefty and decency of the sex, and circumftance of the time, (the evening) make his account much more credible. And it is certain, that the declining rays of the fun, fhooting into the inmost receffes of her chamber, at that time of the day, and throwing a great luftre around her, might difcover her very clearly, to very B 2 diftant

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