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servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.

28 And now, O LORD God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: 29 Therefore now "let it please thee to

14 John 17. 17.

bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O LORD God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for

ever.

15 Heb. be thou pleased and bless.

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Verse 18. King David went in, and sat before the Lord. To our notions it may seem not properly respectful for David to go and address the Lord in a sitting posture. We have partly shewn by anticipation under 1 Sam. iv. 18, that this impression is groundless. The plain fact is, that in the East the sitting postures are various, and that one of them is considered as respectful, or even reverent, as any posture can be.

The Orientals now sit upon the ground, or on carpets or cushions laid on the ground. And although there is evidence that the Israelites used raised seats, such as chairs and stools, it is clear that they also sat on the ground in the various postures now used in the East. The

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introduced. The posture of crouching, shewn in the second figure of the cut, was very common among the Egyptians, but is now rather unusual in the East. Sitting cross-legged, a posture rather awkwardly represented in the last figure, is now the usual and ordinary posture in common life. It is the same as that which tailors adopt in this country, and which to those used to it, is really the sitting posture which gives more perfect repose to the body than any other. The postures in which the figures 1 and 3 are represented in the cut-of sitting on the heels -are more difficult, and give less repose. These two were postures of respect among the Egyptians; and they are figured in them when in the presence of their superiors, as well as when bearing sacred emblems before the shrines of their gods. And this posture of sitting on the heels-the only one in which the Egyptians could sit before the shrine of their gods, is obviously that in which David sat before the shrine of Jehovah. This continues to be the posture of respect in the East; and no one thinks of using any other in the presence of a superior. Great personages sit thus, if they sit at all, in the presence of kings; and it is one of the positions, and the only sitting one, which the Moslems take in their devotions.

19. The manner of man'—that is, a human custom, to which God had graciously condescended, in order to convey to his servant this intimation of His designs in a way which he had been accustomed to consider the most binding.

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2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of "Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took 'from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and 2 Or, the bridle of Ammah.

11 Chron. 18. 1, &c.

twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.

5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand

men.

6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.

7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.

9 ¶ When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,

10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to 'salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and

3 Psalm 60. 2. Heb. ask him of peace.

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11 Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;

12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 And David gat him a name when he returned from 'smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. 14 And he put garrisons in Edom;

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throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he

went.

15 ¶ And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the "scribe;

18 "And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.

9 Heb. his smiting. 121 Chron. 18. 17.

Verse 1. Metheg-ammah.-There has been some speculation about the signification of this name. It seems sufficient to know that it denotes Gath and her towns;' as in the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xviii. 1.

2. Measured them with a line.'-Some apply this to the country of Moab; but the plain meaning of the text seems to be, that David (in conformity, doubtless, with a known usage of Oriental warfare) caused all his captives to lie down, and instead of destroying the whole, as the law authorized, and as they all probably expected, marked off a certain proportion to be spared. What that proportion was is not very clear. Our version seems to make those who were destroyed two-thirds of the whole; but we prefer the reading of the Septuagint and Vulgate, which, although they differ in terms, concur in the sense of making the proportion one-half. The former says there were two lines for preserving alive, and two for putting to death: and the latter, that there were two lines, one for each purpose; and this is the clearest interpretation. As to the principle of the measure, all comment has been anticipated in the remarks on the ancient war-law of the Hebrews and their neighbours, in the notes to Deut. xx. 6, 7, and Judg. i., which will serve to shew that the procedure here described could scarcely at that time have been considered as a severe measure, but rather as an act of lenity, with the intention of sparing a part of the male captives, whom the law and the general custom of war doomed to death. 3. Zobah. See the note on 1 Chron. xviii. 3.

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4. Houghed all the chariot horses.'-See the notes on Deut. xvii. 16, Josh. xi. 6. The neighbouring nations, with some exceptions, continue strong in cavalry; while the Hebrews, according to the intentions of their lawgiver, remain without horses. In David's own Psalms there are frequent references to this, chiefly as contrasting their own confidence in Jehovah with the reliance which their enemies placed on their strong bodies of cavalry (Ps. xx. 7; xxxiii. 17; lxxvi. 6; cxlvii. 10); and such expressions occurring in hymns, were well calculated to foster in the minds of the Hebrews, those feelings of contempt towards cavalry which they unquestionably entertained. The direction to hough the horses of the enemy is not in the Law; but was given to Joshua on occasion of his war with the northern Canaanites: but whether David in the present instance acted with reference to that direction, or according to the common practice of the time, is not very clear. The practice of thus treating the horses of the adverse party, when they cannot be brought off, has been continued in modern warfare, for the purpose of disabling the animals and rendering them unserviceable to the enemy. The Hebrews had more reason for such a pro

13

10 Or, remembrancer, or, writer of chronicles. 13 Or, princes.

ceeding than any modern European nation: for they were forbidden to employ horses in war, and did not employ them for travelling or agriculture and it is therefore difficult to see what they could have done with these animals, if they had preserved them. It is true they might have sold them; but then their enemies might have contrived to buy them back again, and employed them anew against their conquerors. The policy therefore was to diminish, as far as possible, the race of these animals, as possessed by their neighbours; and the importance of this we cannot estimate without recollecting that the immediate neighbours of the Hebrews do not appear to have had any native breed of horses, but to have obtained them by purchase from Armenia or Egypt-a circumstance which rendered it not easy to repair the loss which the destruction of their horses involved. The same course was adopted by the Romans towards elephants, which they killed, because, on the one hand, they had no desire themselves to obtain the assistance of such auxiliaries, and knew, on the other, that these creatures were sometimes dangerous to the troops in which they were employed.

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8. Brass.'-Josephus says that this brass was of most excellent quality, surpassing in value gold itself, like the famous Corinthian brass among the Greeks.

10. Vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass.'--If what Denon says be true, that the arts of other nations are only spoils of those of the Egyptians, it will be right to consider that the vases and other vessels, whether of pottery or metal, in use among that most ingenious people, furnished the models for the style, fashion, and material of those possessed by, at least, their more immediate neighbours-including the Hebrews, Syrians, and others. We have therefore figured a small collection of Egyptian vessels; and our conviction that they may be taken as examples of some of the vessels mentioned in Scripture, is founded on stronger reasons than the alleged derivation of all the arts from Egypt-and that is, on their ancient universality and their existing prevalence. Wherever they originated, certain it is, that we everywhere recognize the same essential forms in the ancient vases and domestic vessels. The Greek vases do not more certainly resemble those of Egypt, from which they are confessedly derived, than do those of ancient Persia and Babylonia. But then, also, they are modern European and modern Oriental. We may well derive the former from the Egyptians, or indirectly from the Greeks, and we see them preserved, more or less, in our water pitchers, jars, ewers, bowls, ale and wine glasses, goblets, flower-glasses, tea-pots, and many other examples. But then again we recognize the same forms-or at least many of them-in

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DOMESTIC AND ORNAMENTAL VESSELS OF THE EGYPTIANS, COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS EGYPTIAN SCULPTURES.

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China, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria-everywhere in the East. In Baghdad, or in any other town in that most ancient of historical regions in which Baghdad is situated, we see in the shop of an ordinary potter a variety of forms of common vessels, which we do not hesitate at once to recognize as classical,' or as Egyptian.' If we dig in the neighbouring primitive soil of Babylonia, or Chaldæa, or the 'plain of Shinar,' we there find precisely the same wares as are exhibited in the shop of the potter, whose forms we hesitate any longer to call "classical' or Egyptian.' They are universal: and therefore they are Egyptian, and Syrian, and Hebrew: although, of course, we must make some allowance for occasional peculiarities, resulting from the individual wants or tastes of a particular nation. Now, of these ancient universal forms, the remains of Egypt certainly furnish the most complete and various specimens; and it is almost impossible to be much mistaken in referring to them for the purpose of Scriptural illustration: it being only necessary to recollect that in such specimens we sometimes discover a tendency to the grotesque in style and ornament, which we may reject as a general illustration, regarding it as a peculiarity of Egyptian taste.

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Concerning the paintings of Egyptian metallic vases, Mr. Long, in his Egyptian Antiquities,' observes-The art of working in the precious metals, such as the making of golden ornaments on gold vases, of large size and beautiful workmanship, might be inferred from a variety of incidental notices in ancient writers, but is confirmed by the representations given in Rosellini. Here we see numerous vases, painted yellow, which no doubt is intended to represent gold. Many of these, though exceedingly grotesque in some of their details, are often very finely formed, and indicate not only a high state of manual skill, but much taste and imagination. Other plates in the same work contain drawings of a great variety of vases and vessels, some of which, for the lightness and beauty of their form, are not to be surpassed by any specimens of ancient or modern art.'

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of salt.'-See 2 Kings xiv. 7. That not the Syrians, as here, but the Edomites, are intended, is evident from the following verse, and is clearly expressed in 1 Chron. xviii. 12, where we doubtless have the correct reading, from which it would appear that a whole line has here been dropped after 'Syrians,' which we might insert thusMeanwhile Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites, in the valley, etc. Thus it appears that while David carried on the war in person against the Syrians, his general Abishai brought the Edomites under subjection. 17. Zadok 6 and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests.'-This is an obvious error of transcription, and we must read Abiathar the son of Ahimelech. We know that it was Abiathar who was priest; that he was the son of Ahimelech, and that this Ahimelech had been slain some years before by Doeg. This is the first occasion in which Zadok is mentioned as high priest; but afterwards, throughout the reign of David, he and Abiathar are often named separately or together, as both bearing that character-a singular innovation, resulting probably from circumstances over which the king had little control. It seems likely that after Saul had slain the priests of Ithamar's line at Nob, he restored the pontificate to the line of Eleazer, in the person of Zadok; while David and his people, during his wandering and his reign in Judah, had been accustomed to look to Abiathar, the escaped son of Ahimelech, as the high-priest; that he thought it proper and prudent to recognize Zadok in that character without depriving A biathar of the consideration he had previously enjoyed. If this explanation be correct, Zadok would have had this advantage over Abiathar, that he had actually discharged the regular functions of high-priesthood at the tabernacle, which the other had never an opportunity of doing. It is probably on this account that wherever the two names occur together that of Zadok is placed first.

18.

Cherethites . . . Pelethites.'--See 1 Chron. xviii. 17. In the notes on the same chapter will be found some remarks on other particulars mentioned here.

1

CHAPTER IX.

1 David by Ziba sendeth for Mephibosheth. 7 For Jonathan's sake he entertaineth him at his table, and restoreth him all that was Saul's. 9 He maketh Ziba his farmer.

AND David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.

3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is 'lame on his feet.

4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.

5¶ Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.

6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!

7 ¶ And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.

8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.

10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son

1 Chap. 4. 4.

may have food to eat but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.

Verse 11. He shall eat at my table, as one of the king's SORS.-The general reader may be perplexed to know why, when David intended Mephibosheth to eat at his own table, he yet directed Ziba to bring to Jerusalem the produce of his estate, that he might have food to eat (v. 10). The fact seems to be, that David by no means intended that Mephibosheth, or any one else, should eat constantly with him; but only that he should have a right to the honourable distinction of a place at his table, on those public occasions and festivals when the king was accustomed to dine with the princes of his own family, and,

12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micah. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.

13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.

perhaps, with the chief officers of state. This is still customary in the East, where the king usually eats alone, but on certain occasions admits his relations and great functionaries to his table. This is a very great privilege; but of course it does not affect the favoured person's ordinary means of subsistence. The situation of Jonathan's son in David's court seems to have been analogous to that of David himself in the court of Saul. He, as the king's son-in-law, had an assigned place at the royal table, but was not expected to occupy it till the new moon. (See the note on 1 Sam. xxv. 5.)

CHAPTER X.

1. David's messengers, sent to comfort Hanun the son of Nahash, are villainously entreated. 6 The Ammonites, strengthened by the Syrians at Helam, are overcome by Joab and Abishai. 15 Shobach, making a new supply of the Syrians at Helam, is slain by David.

AND it came to pass after this, that the 'king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.

2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, "Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

5 When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then

return.

6¶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of

11 Chron. 19. 1.

Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish-tob twelve thousand

men.

7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

8 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

9 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians:

10 And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.

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11 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee.

12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.

13 And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.

14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So

Heb. In thine eyes doth David.

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