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may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

Verse 2. Tekoah.'-This place was afterwards fortified by Rehoboam, and became the birthplace of the prophet Amos. It gave its name to the adjacent desert on the east. The place still bears the name of Tekùa, and lies about six miles south of Bethlehem. It is not mentioned in the New Testament. In 765 A.D., when visited by St. Willibald, it was a Christian place and had a church. In the time of the Crusaders, it was still inhabited by Christians, who afforded assistance to the Crusaders during the siege of Jerusalem; and ultimately King Fulco assigned it to the canons of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in exchange for Bethany. In 1138 A.D., it was sacked by a party of Turks from beyond Jordan; and no subsequent notice of it as an inhabited place is found. In the time of Quaresmius it was, as now, desolate, and not visited for fear of the Arabs. Later travellers have not seldom passed this way, sometimes on their route between Bethlehem and Hebron. Tekoah lies on an elevated hill, not steep, but broad on the top, and covered with ruins to the extent of four or five acres. These consist chiefly in the foundations of houses built of squared stones, some of which are bevilled. Near the middle of the site are the ruins of a Greek church, among which are several fragments of columns, and a remarkable baptismal font. There are many cisterns excavated in the rocks; and not far off is a living spring of fine water. See Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, ii. 182-184.

7. Kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew.' -This case, although a fiction, is very remarkable, as illustrating the operation of the custom of blood-revenge among the Jews. So inveterate was that principle, that, although the mother herself was the most aggrieved party, she had no influence in preventing the next male kin from avenging the blood of the slain son upon his slaying brother. She therefore applies to the king for his pardon and protection; and knowing, as doubtless the king knew, that, in such a case, strong measures were necessary, she is not satisfied with a general promise, but presses him with her apprehensions, till at last he confirms his promise by an oath: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.' She is then satisfied, and begins to develop her design. That design was to induce the king to satisfy his conscience in pardoning Absalom, by proving that, in so doing, he did not otherwise than he would have done in the case of a stranger, where no partiality could operate. It is clear that David wished to pardon his son, but was afraid, as a king, to do so. The device of Joab turned the balance which had so long wavered between private affection and public duty. That device was probably borrowed from the course taken by Nathan to make David pronounce his own condemnation. The two cases are strikingly analogous; and in both the crime stated in the fiction is inferior in its enormity to the actual offence.

9. The iniquity be on me,' etc.—that is, the iniquity of pardoning a homicide, whom the avenger had a right to slay wherever he should find him, except in a city of refuge.

14. We must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.'—Joab could not have found a more suitable advocate than this woman of Tekoah. What could be better calculated to impress a poet like David than the most beautiful figures of speech which she employs? In verse 7 she compares the prospective death of her only surviving son to the quenching of her last live coal; and here she compares death to water, which, once spilt upon the ground, can be gathered

up no more. With reference to the latter figure, the Rev. W. Jowett, in describing an Armenian funeral, says:'The corpse is now carried out into the churchyard. A slab lifted up discovered to our view that the whole churchyard is hollow under ground. The body was put into a meaner wooden coffin, and lowered into the grave. I did not observe that they sprinkled earth upon it, as we do; but, instead of this, a priest concluded the ceremony by pouring a glass of water on the head of the corpse. I did not learn what this meant; but it brought to my mind that touching passage in 2 Sam. xiv. 14-For we must needs die,' etc. On inquiry, Mr. Jowett would have learned that the water was holy water, and was intended to give the corpse its final purification and protection, before being shut out from the world for ever. The custom is however impressive; as is also another in use among the same people, who collect into one place the bones which may have become exposed, and every year sprinkle them with water, praying for the hastening of that time when the dry bones shall be quickened to eternal life. It may further contribute to the illustration of this fine image, to notice that it was the custom of the Jews to throw out of window all the water in the house in which any one has died, in the belief that the departed soul has cleansed itself therein. There is a somewhat similar custom in some of the provinces of France, only they throw away the milk instead of the water. The Formosans, who place their dead in green booths, set there every day a calabash full of fresh water, with a bamboo beside it, that the soul may be enabled to bathe and to assuage its thirst. Essais sur la Littérature des Hebreur, iii. 537.

26. Weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels.' -It appears that this handsome, but unprincipled and vain man, glorying in the abundance and beauty of his hair, wore it as long as he could without great inconvenience; and when it was cut caused it to be weighed, that the reputation of its quantity might compensate to his vanity for the present loss to his personal appearance. The sacred historian condescends to notice the circumstance, in order to explain and give point to the fact, that the locks which Absalom so fondly cherished became subsequently the occasion of his death. It would seem that, at this time, the custom for men to wear the hair short, or to shave the head, except in inourning, had not come into use. In the time of St. Paul it was a shame for men to wear long hair (1 Cor. xi. 14), but in the time of David it was a glory to have the hair long and abundant. The present is not the only indication of this fact. We shall find it also in Solomon's Song, and confirmed by Josephus, who observes that the picked men who formed the guard of that magnificent monarch wore their hair in long flowing tresses, which they sprinkled every morning with gold dust (having first anointed it, of course), so that their heads glittered in the sunbeams, as reflected from the gold. If this were the custom a little earlier, the weight of the unguents with which it was saturated, and of the gold dust it contained, may somewhat lessen our surprise at the weight of Absolom's hair, though it must still have been extraordinary. There have been various explanations as to the weight. In fact we do not know with certainty what was the weight of the Hebrew shekel at different periods. According to the common calculation the weight of 200 shekels would be 112 ounces troy; but the weight is here said to have been by the king's shekel,' which is generally understood to have been considerably less than the common shekel. Some, with

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reference to this, reduce the weight of Absalom's hair to half the above; some (as Bochart) still lower, to 3lb. 2oz., and even a pound lower than that. It may be even possible to bring down the quantity to four shekels, by sup posing that the quantity was originally stated in numeral letters, and that the letter daleth, which stands for four, became transmuted in the course of copying into the very similar letter resh, which, as a numeral, stands for two hundred. But a head of hair weighing only two ounces would not be very remarkable. These differences shew the difficulty of the matter, and that, in fact, we can know nothing with certainty, except that the hair of Absalom is intended to be described as remarkably fine and abundant. Harmer states that he had been told that it was a very good English head of hair that weighs more than five ounces. On this Jahn builds the hypothesis that the shekel by which Absalom's hair was weighed, could not have been more than a fifth, or perhaps a sixth of the legal shekel; for, he says, we can hardly suppose the hair of Absalom weighed more than double a good English head of hair, and therefore the shekel could not have exceeded that proportion to the legal shekel.-So much more wildly do men reason and infer on Scriptural topics than the common sense of mankind would tolerate on any other. In fact Harmer does not say to what kind of heads of hair his information applied-whether of males or females, or whether to the growth of one or of many years. It is certain, however, that heads of hair greatly exceeding his maximum have been known, especially among females, and only more particularly among them, probably, because their habit of allowing the hair to grow long has afforded more opportunity for comparison; for the hair of men will certainly grow as thick, or even thicker than that of women, and if we may judge from the long queues (which sometimes reach to the ground) of the Chinese, it will grow as long. Several curious instances of this are given in White's Regular Gradation in Man, pp. 92-94; and he adds, I have myself seen an Englishwoman, the wife of a theatrical gentleman, whose hair is six feet in length, and weighs upwards of three pounds, without that part which is nearly connected with the head. Its colour is of a light brown."

We have only to add the opinion of those, who, unable to satisfy their minds otherwise on the subject, suppose that two hundred shekels mean the value of the hair when sold: but it does not seem likely that the king's son would

CHAPTER XV.

1 Absalom, by fair speeches and courtesies, stealeth the hearts of Israel. 7 Under pretence of a vow he obtaineth leave to go to Hebron. 10 He maketh there a great conspiracy. 13 David upon the news fleeth from Jerusalem. 19 Ittai would not leave him. 24 Zadok and Abiathar are sent back with the ark. 30 David and his company go up mount Olivet weeping. 31 He curseth Ahithophel's counsel. 32 Hushai is sent back with instructions.

AND it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty

men to run before him.

2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy 'came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

1 Heb. to come.

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sell his hair, nor can we see to what use it could be applied by those who bought it. Wigs, though certainly at and before this time in use among the Egyptians, do not appear to have been ever used by the Jews. It remains to observe that the Hebrew does not say that Absalom polled his hair every year, but from time to time-occasionally; that is, as the text explains it, when it became heavy. This may have been at longer intervals than a year. After the king's weight.'-The preceding note has exhibited some of the opinions which have been held respecting this king's weight. It must denote some peculiarity. Perhaps it intimates accuracy only-meaning that the weight is given according to the accredited standard weight in the royal treasury. Of this opinion, Bishop Cumberland, in his standard work on the subject of Hebrew weights and measures (An Essay towards the Recovery of Jewish Measures and Weights, 1686) seems to have been, for he confesses himself unsatisfied with the arguments adduced by some modern Jews and Christians, for the existence of a shekel of inferior weight to the legal standard, p. 109. The prevailing opinion is, however, in favour of the king's shekel' being of weight much inferior to the other, in the proportion stated in the last note. But the conclusion is obviously founded upon this text, and must be therefore taken with the limitations which a just view of the text may itself suggest. One notion is, that the sacred books being revised after the captivity, the Babylonish weight, distinguished as 'the king's weight,' was introduced, as, at that time, more generally intelligible; and this, it is said, was only a third of the Jewish shekel. If we could rely upon this, it would remove most of the difficulty of the text as it stands. Another explanation is that of the always ingenious Michaelis, who concludes that as it was not forbidden the Israelites to deal in common life by different weights, there arose in process of time under the Judges, a shekel much smaller than that of the sanctuary: but at last, to prevent uncertainty and imposition, the kings fixed the weight of this common shekel more accurately; so that from this time there were two lawful shekels current among the people, the sacred and the royal.

27. Three sons.'-They seem to have died early, as their names are not given, and as Absalom is elsewhere described as building a monument to perpetuate his memory, because he had no son. See xviii. 18.

3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.

4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were every man which made judge in the land, that hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

5 And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.

6 And on this manner did Absalom to all

Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.

8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD

Or, none will hear thee from the king downward.

shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.

9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.

10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.

11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.

12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.

14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.

16 And the king went forth, and all his houshold after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.

17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off.

18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

19 ¶ Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.

20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.

21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.

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22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.

23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

24 And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.

25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:

26 But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.

27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a 'seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me.

29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem and they tarried there.

30 ¶ And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

32 And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head :

33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:

34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so

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will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.

35 And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Verse 1. Absalom prepared him chariots,' etc.-It would seem to have been during his retirement in Geshur, or rather, perhaps, during his seclusion at Jerusalem, that Absalom formed those designs for the ultimate execution of which he soon after began to prepare the way; this was no less than to deprive his father of the crown. As David was already old, Absalom would probably have been content to await his death, but for peculiar circumstances. If David properly discharged his duty, he must have led his sons to understand that although the succession to the throne had been assured to his family, the ordinary rules of succession were not to be considered obligatory or binding, inasmuch as the Supreme King possessed, and would exercise, the right of appointing the particular person who might be acceptable to him. In the absence of any contrary intimation, the ordinary rules might be observed; but, according to the principles of the theocratical government, no such rules could be of force when a special appointment intervened. It was already known to David, and could not but be known or suspected by Absalom, that not only he but some others of the king's sons were to be passed over, by such an appointment, in favour of Solomon, whom, by this time, the king probably treated as his destined successor. The fact that even the ordinary law of primogeniture, as applied to the government, had not yet been exemplified among the Hebrews, must have tended to increase the misgivings of Absalom respecting his own succession. Besides, in contending for the crown while his father lived, he had but one competitor, and that one fondly attached to him; whereas, if he waited until his father's death, he might have many vigorous competitors in his brothers. These, or some of them, were probably the considerations in which the designs of Absalom originated. But these desigus were not merely culpable as against his own father, but as an act of rebellion against the ordinations of the theocracy, since they involved an attempt to appropriate by force that which God had otherwise destinated, or which, at least, was to be left for his free appointment. The ultimate success of Absalom would therefore have utterly subverted the theocratical principle which still remained in the constitution of the Hebrew state.

2. Absalom rose up early.' This shews that the judicial and other public business of the kings was dispatched very early in the morning. The greatest Sovereigns in the East rise at day-break, and after their morning devotions proceed immediately to the transaction of public business. Thus, in describing the duties of the king of Persia, Sir John Malcolm says: At an early hour in the morning the principal ministers and secretaries attend the king, make reports upon what has occurred, and receive his commands. After this audience he proceeds to his public levee, which takes place almost every day, and continues about an hour and a half. At this levee, which is attended by the princes, ministers, and the officers of the court, all affairs which are wished to be made public are transacted; rewards are given, punishments commanded, and the king expresses aloud those sentiments of displeasure or approbation which he wishes to be promulgated.' (Hist. of Persia, ii. 434, 4to.) Such are the duties which, with little variation, an Oriental king has discharged in the early morning, before, in England, persons of consideration usually leave their beds. This explains why Absalom was obliged to rise early

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36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye can hear. 37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

when he wished to ingratiate himself with the persons who went to the morning levee, to present their petitions, or to submit their cases to the king's determination.

'Stood beside the way of the gate.'-The gate being here mentioned in connection with the administration of justice, it may be well to notice a custom which so frequently comes under our observation in the Old Testament -that of public affairs being transacted and causes tried at the gates of towns. In the Scripture we see transacted at the gate such business as the purchase and sale of lands (Gen. xxiii. 18); the transfer to another of a right of marriage, involving the conveyance of an estate (Ruth iv. 1-10); with numerous passages, in which the same place is described as the seat of justice. (Deut. xxii. 15; xxv. 7; Ps. cxxvii. 5; Prov. xxii. 22; xxxi. 23; Lam. v. 14; Amos v. 12; Zech. viii. 16, &c.) The cause commonly assigned for this is, that, as the Hebrews were chiefly an agricultural people, going out in the morning and coming back at night, it was convenient for them to have their affairs determined as they went or returned. The same circumstance rendered the gate a place of great resort, in consequence of which publicity was given to the proceedings of the judges- the elders of the gate,' as they are called. Allowing due weight to such considerations, we have no doubt that Goguet (Origine des Lois, i. 44) is right in considering that the custom originated in the ignorance, in the early times, of the art of writing, or the infrequent and reluctant employment of it, after it had come into use. Then, as decisions were not registered in writing, it was necessary to their establishment that they should be registered in the minds of men, who might be appealed to as witnesses when any dispute arose about the decison-or rather, whose presence gave such publicity to the determination of the judges, as was calculated to prevent any dispute from arising. We see

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this clearly in the procedure of Boaz in the gate of Bethlehem. Having formed his agreement with his relative, he calls unto the elders and unto all the people,' and says, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought,' etc.; and, having completed his statement of the compact, he again repeats, "Ye are witnesses this day." And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses."' This was the record of the transaction; and we read of no written record or document of any kind.

We find that precisely the same process of making the gate, or a place near the gate, the seat of judgment, continues to prevail among those semi-barbarous nations of Asia and Africa with whom written documents are not in use, and where therefore the publicity necessary to establish a judicial determination or a covenant can only be obtained in a place of public resort, such as the gate usually is. The same custom may be traced in Homer, in whose epics we do not recollect that any written documents are mentioned. The following passage is very remarkable:

'But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
Had tinged the East, arising from his bed
Gerenian Nestor issued forth, and sat
Before his palace-gate, on the white stones
Resplendent as with oil, on which of old
His father Neleus had been wont to sit
In council like a god; but he had sought,
By destiny dismissed long since, the shades.

On those stones therefore, guardian of the Greeks,

Sat Nestor now, his sceptre in his hand,
And thither from their chambers also came,
T' encircle him around, his num'rous sons.'
Odyss. iii.-CoWPER.

On this passage it is well remarked by Pope,- We have here an ancient custom recorded by the poet; a king placing himself before the gate of his palace on a seat of marble; worn smooth by long use, says Eustathius, or perhaps smoothed exquisitely by the hand of the workman. What I would chiefly observe is, that they placed themselves thus in public for the dispatch of justice. We read in Scripture of judges sitting in the gate; and that this procedure of Nestor was for that purpose is probable from the expression, "He sat in the seat where Neleus used to sit" (which seems to express his wisdom in the discharge of justice). Nestor is also described as bearing his sceptre in his hand, which was never used but on some act of regality, in the dispatch of business, or other solemn occasion. But this was at the gate of the palace, not at that of the town. Neither was David's court held at the gate of Jerusalem. When kings came to acquire some state, their sittings, wherever held, were sure to command a sufficient attendance to give publicity and to establish their determinations. Therefore they changed their seat of judgment to the gate of their own palace; while, probably, inferior magistrates continued to adjudicate causes of small importance at the gate of the town in which the court was held, and, in other towns, all causes, except those which were carried by appeal or referred by the local judges to the king. The continued operation of the same causes ultimately induced kings to discontinue the sitting even at their own palace gates; although probably the custom of associating judicial procedure with gates occasioned a longer continuance of the custom than the constant attendance of a court wherever the king sat publicly, and the growing use of written documents, required. But even when this removal to the interior was effected, it seems probable that respect to ancient usage did not at first induce them to withdraw farther than to a room of state over the gate, and which therefore preserved the idea of the gate as the seat of justice; while, at the same time, this continued association of the court of justice with the gate, maintained the idea of that facility of access to the complaints of their subjects, about which the Oriental kings are particularly careful. It is not clear that David, or any other king of Israel, administered justice in the open gate; and it is therefore uncertain what is meant by

'gate' in the present text. As it is mentioned independently, without saying what gate it was, some think it was the city-gate, others, the palace-gate; and Jahn supposes that here (and in Est. ii. 19, 21; iii. 3; Dan. ii. 49, etc.) the word 'gate' is equivalent to 'palace.' We are willing to allow this in a general sense, as the name of 'gate' is still very commonly applied in the East to the court of a prince (see D'Herbelot, s. v. ‘BAB'): but, in the present instance, we incline to think that the gate of David's palace is simply intended; but that it is not neces sary to suppose that he held his morning levee for the administration of justice in the open gate, but in the room over it, from which there is usually access from the gate itself, on the one hand, while it communicates (if part of a palace or other habitable building) with the interior of the residence, on the other. (See the note on chap. xviii. 24.) So also, we imagine, when we read that the principal entrance to the Alhambra (the palace of the Moorish kings of Granada) was called the Gate of Judgment,' that this was with reference to the king's tribunal being held over the gate, or in a room to which there was access from the gate; not, as some travellers suppose, that it was held in or before the open gateway; or else it might be with a respect to the idea that the royal residence, generally, was the fountain of justice, whence its principal gate might be called the Gate of Judgment. We have no historical information that the Moorish kings of Spain held their tribunals in the gateways of their palaces or cities; and the more renowned khalifs of Bagdad, whom they in general imitated, certainly did not. It was a very ancient custom, long retained, but ultimately discontinued under altered circumstances, although many ideas and expressions connected with it are still preserved, and even the custom itself is still exhibited under circumstances analogous to those in which it originated.

6. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.'— At the first view, such an enterprise as this against such a man as David, and by his own son, must have seemed wild and hopeless. But in the contest between youth and age,-between novelty and habit,-between the dignity and authority of an old king, and the ease and freedom of one who has only popularity to seek,-the advantages are not all in favour of the old governor. Besides, it seems that there was much latent discontent among the people, arising in a considerable degree from that very confidence in the justice and wisdom of the king by which his throne ought to have been secured. It is the duty of an Oriental king to administer justice in his own person, and that duty is not seldom among the heaviest of those which de volve upon him. This grew in time to be so sensibly felt, that ultimately among the Hebrews, as in some Oriental and more European states, the king only undertook to attend to appeals from the ordinary tribunals. But under the former state of things, the people will rather bring their causes before a just and popular king than to the ordinary judges; and he in consequence is so overwhelmed with judicial business, that there remain only two alternatives-either to give up all his time to these matters, to the neglect of the general affairs of the nation; or else to risk his popularity by fixing a certain time every day for the hearing of causes, whereby some of the suitors must often wait many days before their causes can be brought under his notice. This hindrance to bringing a case immediately before the king is calculated to relieve him by inducing the people to resort to the inferior judges from whom prompt justice might be obtained; but on the other hand, it is well calculated to endanger his popularity with the unthinking multitude, who deem their own affairs of the highest importance, and attribute to his neglect or indolence the delay and difficulty which they experience. David made choice of the latter alternative and incurred the inevitable consequences.

7. After forty years.-There is no convenient point from which the commencement of this period might be dated: certainly not from the commencement of David's reign, as its entire duration was but forty years. It is generally concluded that the difficulty arose from the error

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