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heartily sympathising in any measure which that tribe originated. But the prime agent in this schism was Abner, the commander of the army, who had drawn off the remnant of the defeated army to the other side the Jordan, and there, at Mahanaim, proclaimed Ishbosheth king. Abner was a bold and able, but unprincipled man; and doubtless expected to govern in the name of his feeble nephew; and he did so.

14. Let the young men now arise and play before us.'For two years no hostile acts between the two kingdoms took place. But war was at length provoked by Abner, who crossed the Jordan with the intention of subduing the tribe of Judah to the authority of Ishbosheth. David sent Joab to meet him, and the opposing forces met near the pool of Gibeon. But the men on each side felt that they were all Israelites, and were reluctant to fight against each other. The two generals, therefore, thought of a device which has often been employed in the East and elsewhere, to excite tribes or nations to battle, when relationship or other causes made them reluctant or wanting in zeal. (See the notes on 1 Sam. xvii.) Twelve men on each side were matched to fight against each other between the two armies; and so well were they matched that they no sooner came within reach of one another than each man seized his opponent by the head, and sheathed his sword in his rody, so that they were all killed on the spot. This kindled the opposing forces, and a desperate and most sanguinary battle followed.

16. They caught every one his fellow by the head.— Doubtless by the hair of the head-that is, either of the scalp or the beard. On account of the convenient hold which the hair of the head or beard affords to an enemy in battle, it has been the custom in most nations for soldiers to dispense with it. Among those nations who wear the hair of the head, and do not shave it off like the Mohammedans, it is usually cropped close, as among our own soldiers; and even among some of the nations that cherish the beard, the soldiers have been persuaded or obliged to submit to the loss of it. Among both the Russians and Persians the beard is highly venerated; but in both nations the soldiers have been obliged to part with that important ornament. On the comparatively recent introduction of European tactics into the Persian army, a great stand was at first made for the retention of the beard; and it was only through the occurrence of an accident to a bearded soldier, that the late prince royal, Abbas Meerza, was convinced of the unmilitary character of such an appendage, and reluctantly issued an order for his soldiers to be shaven. This is, however, no modern discovery. Plutarch relates in his Apophthegms that, when all things were prepared for a battle, the officers of Alexander asked him whether he had any further commands? He said, nothing; unless that the Macedonians shave their beards.' And when Parmenio expressed some surprise at this order, he added: 'Have you not observed that in fight, there is no better hold than the beard?'

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1 During the war David still waxeth stronger. 2 Six sons were born to him in Hebron. 6 Abner, displeased with Ish-bosheth, 12 revolteth to David. 13 David requireth a condition to bring him his wife Michal. 17 Abner, having communed with the Israelites, is feasted by David, and dismissed. 22 Joab, returning from battle, is displeased with the king, and killeth Abner. 28 David curseth Joab, 31 and mourneth for Abner.

Now there was long war between the house

the very first place in the estimation of the people. We hear much of physical characteristics and personal accomplishments, but never, or very rarely, of mental distinctions. Among physical endowments swiftness seems to have held no mean place in the esteem of the Hebrews. In the last chapter, we see Saul and Jonathan described as 'swifter than eagles:' and now Asahel is light of foot as a wild roe.' In like manner we find Homer thus distinguishing the hero of the Iliad, whose name continually recurs in the form of- Achilles, swiftest of the swift.'

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21. Lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take kis armour.'-From this we see that it was the custom with the Hebrews, as among other ancient nations, for the victor in a combat to strip the slain enemy of his armour, as the reward and honourable trophy of his conquest. In Homer we have continual examples of this. The heroes no sooner kill an enemy than they jump from their chariots to secure his armour; and they are so eager in this matter, that it almost looks, sometimes, as if the armour of the respective combatants was the sole object of the conflict. Sometimes there is a fight over the dead body-from the anxiety of the friends of the deceased to prevent his armour from being taken, and from the eagerness of the victor and his friends to secure such honourable prey. This practice was well calculated to confuse a battle; and seems therefore to have been restricted to the chiefs, the mass of the soldiers not being allowed to strip the dead until the next day, or at least not until after the battle. Thus also in 1 Sam. xxxi. we see that the Philistines did not come to strip the slain till the following day. If Saul had been killed in single combat, his armour would doubtless have been immediately seized by the victor. Nevertheless, under every modification, the practice was attended with much inconvenience, as we discover in the Iliad (vi. 70) from what Nestor says in his anxiety to prevent its bad consequences:

'Friends, heroes, Grecians, ministers of Mars!
Stay none behind, desirous of the spoil,
But slay we now; that done, ye may at ease

Traverse the plains, and strip them where they fell.'

Some curious questions as to the right to such spoil must sometimes have arisen. We find an instance of this among the Arabian conquerors of Syria. In the single combats between the Greeks and Arabians, which preluded the great and decisive battle of Yermouk, Serjabil was near being killed by a Christian officer, when Derar came to his assistance, and stabbed the latter to the heart. Then it became a question between Serjabil and Derar which had the right to the dead man's armour. Derar claimed it as having killed him; Serjabil, as having wearied him in the combat. The difference was referred to the general, who hesitated to decide, and sent to submit the matter to the Khalif (Omar), concealing the names of the parties, and the armour being meanwhile kept by Serjabil; but it was taken from him and given to Derar, when Omar sent back his determination, to the effect that the spoil of an enemy was always due to the person by whom he was killed. See Ockley's Conquest of Syria, p. 237.

of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.

2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

3 And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalonr the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur ;

4 And the fourth, Adonijah the son of

Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

5 And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

6 And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul.

7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was 'Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine?

8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?

9 So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath sworn to David, even so I do to him;

10 To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba.

11 And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.

12¶ And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.

13 ¶ And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

14 And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

15 And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from 'Phaltiel the son of Laish.

16 And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

17 And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye sought for David in times past to be king over you:

18 Now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my

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servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.

19 And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin.

20 So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.

21 And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

22 And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.

23 When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in

peace.

24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.

26 And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not.

27 And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab 'took him aside in the gate to speak with him "quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of 'Asahel his brother.

28 And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

29 Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not "fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.

41 Sam. 25. 44, Phalti. 8 Or, peaceably.

Heb. be cut off.

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30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother 12 Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

31 T And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the "bier.

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

33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

34 Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. 35 And when all the people

12 Chap. 2. 23.

came to cause

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13 Heb. bed.

14 Heb. children of iniquity.

13 Ieb. was good in their eyes.

16 Heb. tender.

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Verse 6-8. Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul, etc.--The good and prosperous government of David in his small kingdom, together with the knowledge that he had been divinely appointed to reign over all Israel, appears insensibly to have inclined the other tribes towards him, by which, more even than by war, his cause gathered that strength which that of Ishbosheth lost. Abner was fully sensible that without himself the kingdom of his nephew would fall to pieces, or rather pass quietly into the hands of David. He rated his services at their full value; and although we do not ourselves see cause to suspect, as some bave done, that he contemplated taking the crown himself, it is certain that he was not disposed to consider himself responsible to the king for his conduct, or to allow any of his proceedings to be questioned by him. Now Ishbosheth had heard that Abner carried on a criminal intercourse with one of Saul's concubines, named Rizpah; and as, according to the usages of the East, the concubines of a deceased sovereign became the property of the successor in so strong and peculiar a sense, that such an act as that imputed to Abner might be interpreted into a design upon the crown, or at least was an insulting encroachment upon the peculiar rights of royalty, even the timid Ishbosheth was roused to question Abner on the subject. It is not very clear whether the charge was true or false; but it is clear that this overbearing personage was astonished and disgusted that the king should dare to question any part of

his conduct.

9-21. Except, as the Lord hath sworn to David, even so I do to him.'-From this it would seem that Abner was conscious that he had been acting against a higher duty in setting up Ishbosheth as king; but this cannot justify the grounds on which he now declared his intention to act against him. What he said was no vain threat, although he was probably willing afterwards that the son of Saul should take it for an unmeaning outbreak of passion. He sent messengers to David to enter into a treaty with him, under which he would engage to use his great influence in bringing all Israel to acknowledge him as king; and after this he found a pretext for going himself unsuspectedly to Hebron to complete the agreement and arrange the steps to be taken. David had sent to Ishbosheth to desire him to restore to him his wife Michal, whom Saul had given to another. He had a perfect right to make this demand if so inclined; and we may suppose that he was particularly induced to reclaim her at this juncture in consideration of the satisfaction the measure was likely to give to those attached to the family of Saul.

As this claim was doubtless supported by Abner, it was granted; and having obtained an order to demand her from her present husband, that personage himself undertook to escort her to David. From this transaction it would seem that the war had latterly been allowed to die away, although without any concession or treaty having been made on either side. That he was escorting Michal to David, proved to Abner a favourable opportunity, on his way, of explaining his present sentiments to the elders of the tribes through which he passed: especially to those of Benjamin, which was naturally the most attached to the house of Saul, while his own influence in it was the greatest. He dwelt strongly on the public benefits which might be expected from the government of one who had been expressly nominated by Jehovah to the kingdom; and such a representation, coming from such a quarter, coupled with the favourable dispositions towards David which had grown up during his reign in Hebron, was attended with such effect, that Abner was authorized to make overtures to him in behalf of the tribes which had hitherto adhered to the house of Saul.

24. Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done?'-Through the energy of his character, his abilities, and experience in the affairs of peace and war, his influence and popularity with the army which was under his command, and his unquestioned devotion to the interests of David, Joab had great authority with the king. His standing, indeed, in the kingdom of Judah, had much resemblance to that of Abner in the other kingdom: nor were their characters unlike. In the points of difference the advantage was on the side of Abner; for his experience in military and public affairs was larger, from which, toge ther with his near relationship to Saul and his son, and the high station he had occupied under them, his influence with the people was far greater than that which Joab or any other man in Israel could pretend to; and hence his greater power at this time of rendering essential services to the king of Judah. Abner and Joab also served very different masters; and thus it happened that while Abner was, in the public eye, the greatest man in the kingdom of Israel, Joab was, in that of Judah, only the greatest man next to David. Upon the whole, Abner was the only man in the country of whom Joab had cause to be afraid, and by whom it was likely that his own influence would be superseded in case the two kingdoms were united through his instrumentality. It was probably more from such considerations than any other that his displeasure at the intercourse between David and Abner arose.

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30. Because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.'-This was what Abner himself feared, when he killed Asahel (ch. ii. 22). We have already stated the considerations which probably led Joab to dread the influence of such a man as Abner with the king. But it is also probable that he doubted the sincerity of Abner's intentions, and entertained the fears he expressed, that his true object was to get such information respecting his condition and resources as he might afterwards employ to his disadvantage. These considerations may have sharpened the weapon of the avenger; but there is no reason to question that a leading motive to his conduct is that which the Scripture here distinctly assigns-vengeance for a brother's blood. This will be the more clearly seen if the reader turns to the note on blood-revenge, in Num. xxxv. It would therefore seem, that, with the Hebrews, as among the Arabians, the claim of revenge for blood extended to persons killed in war, when the slayer was known. Burckhardt observes that the Arabs always desire to know by whom a man has been killed in a battle between different tribes, that it may be determined against whom the avenger has his claim for blood: and he thinks, with great probability, that their anxiety on this subject has influenced their mode of warfare, since this fact is better ascertained in single combats and skirmishes than in the confusion of a general action. In Antar we continually observe that the next relative of a man killed in a fair fight acts and talks as one bound to avenge his death on the slayer. To obviate the bad effects of this practice, it is sometimes customary for the sheikhs of both parties, with the consent of the majority of their people, in concluding a peace, to agree that the claims for the blood shed in the war shall on both sides be remitted. But to such terms of peace the Arabs, whose friends have been slain, are generally very unwilling to assent; and it often happens that, rather than do so, they leave their own tribe for a time, and settle with another, in order to reserve their right of seeking revenge. It must therefore, we think, be conceded that the existence of a blood-feud between Abner and Joab must have extenuated, if it did not justify, the act of Joab in the eyes of Israel. The extent to which the law of Moses had interfered with this custom only provided for the safety of the man-slayer while in a city of refuge. Hebron was a city of refuge, and if Joab had slain Abner within that city, the law would have allowed David to treat him as a murderer. This Joab knew; and hence his meeting Abner at the gate, and drawing him aside before he entered the city. These details we judge necessary, to shew that those who most suffered from the death of Abner, and abhorred the manner in which it was inflicted, knew that his offence was not punishable by the king or by the law; and hence that it was not merely the rank and influence of Joab which prevented David from calling him to account for this barbarous deed. Perhaps he could not have punished Joab in any case; but it is important to know that in the present case, the law, custom and public opinion did not require or permit him to do so.

31. Gird you with sackcloth.'-Sacks are usually made of hair in the East; whence we may understand that where sackcloth is mentioned hair-cloth is intended. Hence the idea is different from that which we, whose sacks are not of the same material, would affix to the term. That this is correct, seems to be confirmed by the fact, that the use of hair-cloth, as a penitential dress, was retained by the early Oriental monks, hermits, and pilgrims, and was adopted by the Roman church, which still retains it for the same purposes. Hair-cloth was, moreover, called 'sackcloth' by the early Greek and Latin fathers, and this seems conclusive. Perhaps, in a general sense, the word means any kind of very coarse cloth: but, undoubtedly, more particularly cloth of hair than any other. Our wood-cut represents one of the hair-cloth penitential dresses worn by the early devotees, designed after the old church prints of Italy. There are some remarks on this practice of assuming a mortifying dress as an expression of grief or repentance in the note to Exod. xxxiii. 4. The principle is so obvious that there are few nations among which, in

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6

SACKCLOTH.

mittah, which

much used for this purpose in the East; but ornaments are relinquished, the usual dress is neglected, or it is laid aside, and one coarse or old assumed in its place. - Bier.'-The original word is n generally denotes a bed or couch of any kind, on which a man lies in sleep. Whether therefore the sense is, that the term includes, from the analogy of use, a bier as something distinct from a bed, or that Abner was carried to his sepulchre on a proper bed, is not easy to determine. Our woodcut below represents an Egyptian bier, which, it will be seen, looks very much like a bed. The forms of the biers which appear in the funeral processions of this people are very diversified, many of them exhibiting most elaborate and expensive decorations. Our cut is a fair average specimen. It seems, then, that the Egyptians conveyed the remains of persons of distinction on bed-like biers, and such may have been the usage among the Jews. We cannot determine whether they were the same beds that were used for sleeping on, or were specially prepared for the occasion. If the former, it would prove that the Hebrews had moveable beds; and we have allowed that they might have some such, although we have supposed that in general they did, as the modern Orientals usually do, sleep on the ground, or on the immoveable divans or sofas of their rooms. (See the note to Deut. iii. 11.) Upon the whole, we may conclude that persons of high distinction were carried to their sepulchres in rich beds, but the common people on biers, such as are still used in the East, and which are little other than hand-barrows. Thus, Herod was, according to Josephus, carried to his sepulchre on a bed (or rather bedstead, or bedstead-like bier) of gold, enriched with precious stones, upon which the body lay on a purple bed, and was covered with a purple counterpane or pall. The corpse had a crown on the head, and sceptre in the right hand. This bier was surrounded by Herod's sons and kinsmen, after whom came his guards and foreign troops accoutred as if for war, who were followed by five hundred domestic servants and freedmen, with sweet spices in their hands. The bier was preceded by the bulk of Herod's army, in proper order, under their officers. This perhaps suggests a good idea of Abner's funeral procession.

But these customs were not peculiar to the East, though

BIER. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN.-From a Bas-relief at Thebes.

probably derived from thence. The great men of Rome were, after the same manner, carried to the funeral pile on beds of state. Some of these beds were of gold, or gilded, with ivory feet, or were wholly of ivory, the body being covered with a rich pall. These bed-biers were carried by the nearest relatives or the freedmen of the deceased; but, according to Tacitus, the principal magistrates of Rome carried the funeral bed of emperors and dictators. And not only was there the bed on which the deceased lay, but many others were carried in the procession, adorned with garlands and crowns of flowers, and containing the images of the ancestors of the deceased. As many as six thousand of these beds are said to have been carried at the funeral of the dictator Sylla, and six hundred at that of M. Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus. As we are only illustrating that part of the subject which relates to biers, we need not here state other particulars concerning the Roman funerals. Yet we may add that the procession stopped at the place of the Rostra, where a funeral oration was delivered in honour of the deceased, which may be taken, in some degree, as analogous to the king's lamentation over Abner.

33. Died Abner as a fool dieth?-This short but emphatic lament over Abner may be rendered, with stricter adherence to the form of the original, as follows:—

'Should Abner die as a villain dies?—
Thy hands-not bound,

Thy feet-not brought into fetters:

As one falls before the sons of wickedness, fellest thou!'

As to the syntactical structure of these lines, it is important to observe that the second and third lines are two propositions of state belonging to the last, which describe the condition in which he was when he was slain. This kind of proposition is marked by the subject being placed first, and by the verb generally becoming a participle. On the right knowledge of this structure the beauty and sense of many passages altogether depend; and the common ignorance of it is to be ascribed to the circumstance, that the study of Hebrew so very seldom reaches beyond the vocabulary into the deeper-seated peculiarities of its construction. (See Ewald's Hebr. Gram. § 556.) As to the sense of the words, J. D. Michaelis (in his Uebersetzung des Alten Test.) saw that the point of this indignant, more than sorrowful, lament, lies in the mode in which Abner was slain. Joab professed to kill him for the blood of Asahel bis brother' (2 Sam. iii. 27). But if a man claimed his brother's blood at the hand of his murderer, the latter (even if

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he fled to the altar for refuge, Exod. xxi. 14) would have been delivered up (bound, hand and foot, it is assumed) to the avenger of blood, who would then possess a legal right to slay him. Now Joab not only had no title to claim the right of the Goel, as Asahel was killed under justifying circumstances (2 Sam. ii. 19); but, while pretending to exercise the avenger's right, he took a lawless and private mode of satisfaction, and committed a murder. Hence David charged him, in allusion to this conduct, with 'shedding the blood of war in peace' (1 Kings ii. 5); and hence he expresses himself in this lament, as if indignant that the noble Abner, instead of being surrendered with the formalities of the law to meet an authorized penalty, was treacherously stabbed like a worthless fellow by the hands of an assassin.-Dr. J. Nicholson, in Kitto's Cyclopædia, Art. ABNER.

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35. Till the sun be down.'--The Oriental fasts do not consist of abstinence from particular articles; but of absolute abstinence during the day, while at night any usual food is eaten. The Mohammedan fast of Ramazan, for instance, is observed by such fasting by day and eating at night; while the Christians keep the fast of Lent by daily abstinence from some particular sorts of food, as flesh-meat, etc., to which they are accustomed. The former was doubtless the Jewish mode of fasting.

39. I am this day weak, though anointed king.'-Like other eastern sovereigns David must have been deeply impressed with the evils attending the inveterate custom of blood-revenge-under which Abner had, at least ostensibly, been slain-and with the extent to which it interfered with good government. Nor was he insensible to the insult offered to himself, in the present and other instances by the sons of Zeruiah,'--Joab and Abishai, and the high hand with which they wrought their own will. As it was of the highest importance to him that he should be clear of any suspicion of having had any part in the death of Abner, he publicly, before Jehovah,' declared himself guiltless of the blood which had been shed, and invoked the full burden of that blood on Joab and on his house. He ordered a public i act of solemn mourning, in which he himself took a prominent part; and at the funeral he followed the body, as chief mourner to the grave, where he stood weeping, and where he lamented in elegiac verse, over the prince and great man, who had that day fallen in Israel. This conduct tended still further to satisfy and conciliate the tribes attached to the house of Saul; and by them the murder of Abner was never imputed to him. Indeed, the event must at the time have seemed to himself and others, anything but advantageous for his cause. But we, who have his

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