CHAPTER 23
. DAVID
PROFESSES HIS
FAITH IN GOD'S
PROMISES.
1. Now these be the last words of
David—Various opinions are entertained as to the precise
meaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from the
compiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as there
is no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, this
introduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of the
preceding song. Others regard this as the last of the king's poetical
compositions; while still others consider it the last of his
utterances as an inspired writer.
raised up on high—from
an obscure family and condition to a throne.
the anointed of the God of
Jacob—chosen to be king by the special appointment of that God,
to whom, by virtue of an ancient covenant, the people of Israel owed
all their peculiar destiny and distinguished privileges.
the sweet psalmist of
Israel—that is, delightful, highly esteemed.
2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by
me—Nothing can more clearly show that all that is excellent in
spirit, beautiful in language, or grand in prophetic imagery, which
the Psalms of David contain, were owing, not to his superiority in
natural talents or acquired knowledge, but to the suggestion and
dictates of God's Spirit.
3. the Rock of Israel—This
metaphor, which is commonly applied by the sacred writers to the
Almighty, was very expressive to the minds of the Hebrew people.
Their national fortresses, in which they sought security in war, were
built on high and inaccessible rocks.
spake to me—either
preceptively, giving the following counsels respecting the character
of an upright ruler in Israel, or prophetically, concerning David and
his royal dynasty, and the great Messiah, of whom many think this is
a prophecy, rendering the words, "he that ruleth"—"there
shall be a ruler over men."
4. as the tender grass springing out
of the earth by clear shining after rain—Little patches of
grass are seen rapidly springing up in Palestine after rain; and even
where the ground has been long parched and bare, within a few days or
hours after the enriching showers begin to fall, the face of the
earth is so renewed that it is covered over with a pure fresh mantle
of green.
5. Although my house be not so with
God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all
things, and sure—"the light of the morning," that is,
the beginning of David's kingdom, was unlike the clear brilliant dawn
of an Eastern day but was overcast by many black and threatening
clouds; neither he nor his family had been like the tender grass
springing up from the ground and flourishing by the united influences
of the sun and rain; but rather like the grass that withereth and is
prematurely cut down. The meaning is: although David's house had not
flourished in an uninterrupted course of worldly prosperity and
greatness, according to his hopes; although great crimes and
calamities had beclouded his family history; some of the most
promising branches of the royal tree had been cut down in his
lifetime and many of his successors should suffer in like manner for
their personal sins; although many reverses and revolutions may
overtake his race and his kingdom, yet it was to him a subject of the
highest joy and thankfulness that God will inviolably maintain His
covenant with his family, until the advent of his greatest Son, the
Messiah, who was the special object of his desire, and the author of
his salvation.
6. But the sons of Belial shall be
all of them as thorns—that is, the wicked enemies and
persecutors of this kingdom of righteousness. They resemble those
prickly, thorny plants which are twisted together, whose spires point
in every direction, and which are so sharp and strong that they
cannot be touched or approached without danger; but hard instruments
and violent means must be taken to destroy or uproot them. So God
will remove or destroy all who are opposed to this kingdom.
. A CATALOGUE OF
HIS MIGHTY
MEN.
8. These be the names of the mighty
men whom David had—This verse should be translated thus: He who
sits in the seat of the Tachmonite (that is, of Jashobeam the
Hachmonite), who was chief among the captains, the same is Adino the
Eznite; he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at
one time. The text is corrupt in this passage; the number eight
hundred should be three hundred [DAVIDSON,
Hermeneutics]. Under Joab he was chief or president of the
council of war. The first or highest order was composed of him and
his two colleagues, Eleazar and Shammah. Eleazar seems to have been
left to fight the Philistines alone; and on his achieving the
victory, they returned to the spoil. In like manner Shammah was left
to stand alone in his glory, when the Lord, by him, wrought a great
victory. It is not very easy to determine whether the exploits that
are afterwards described were performed by the first or the second
three.
15, 16. the well of Beth-lehem—An
ancient cistern, with four or five holes in the solid rock, at about
ten minutes distance to the north of the eastern corner of the hill
of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the natives as Bir-Daoud; that is,
David's well. Dr. ROBINSON
doubts the identity of the well; but others think that there are no
good grounds for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the
ancient well, Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further
to the north, and must have lain in times of old, not as now, on the
summit, but on the northern rise of the hill; for the well is by
or (1 Chronicles 11:7) at the
gate. I find in the description of travellers, that the common
opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast, in
order to obtain, at the risk of their lives, the so-much-longed-for
water; while it is supposed that David himself was then in the great
cave that is not far to the southeast of Beth-lehem; which cave is
generally held to have been that of Adullam. But (1 Chronicles 11:7) Adullam lay "in the valley"; that is, in the
undulating plain at the western base of the mountains of Judea and
consequently to the southwest of Beth-lehem. Be this as it may,
David's men had in any case to break through the host of the
Philistines, in order to reach the well; and the position of
Bir-Daoud agrees well with this [VAN
DE VELDE].
19-39. the first three—The
mighty men or champions in David's military staff were divided into
three classes—the highest, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; the
second class, Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class, the
thirty, of which Asahel was the chief. There are thirty-one mentioned
in the list, including Asahel; and these added to the two superior
orders make thirty-seven. Two of them, we know, were already dead;
namely, Asahel [2 Samuel 3:30] and
Uriah [2 Samuel 11:17]; and if the
dead, at the drawing up of the list, amounted to seven, then we might
suppose a legion of honor, consisting of the definite number thirty,
where the vacancies, when they occurred, were replaced by fresh
appointments.
CHAPTER 23
. DAVID PROFESSES HIS FAITH IN GOD'S PROMISES.
1. Now these be the last words of David—Various opinions are entertained as to the precise meaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from the compiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as there is no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, this introduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of the preceding song. Others regard this as the last of the king's poetical compositions; while still others consider it the last of his utterances as an inspired writer.
raised up on high—from an obscure family and condition to a throne.
the anointed of the God of Jacob—chosen to be king by the special appointment of that God, to whom, by virtue of an ancient covenant, the people of Israel owed all their peculiar destiny and distinguished privileges.
the sweet psalmist of Israel—that is, delightful, highly esteemed.
2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me—Nothing can more clearly show that all that is excellent in spirit, beautiful in language, or grand in prophetic imagery, which the Psalms of David contain, were owing, not to his superiority in natural talents or acquired knowledge, but to the suggestion and dictates of God's Spirit.
3. the Rock of Israel—This metaphor, which is commonly applied by the sacred writers to the Almighty, was very expressive to the minds of the Hebrew people. Their national fortresses, in which they sought security in war, were built on high and inaccessible rocks.
spake to me—either preceptively, giving the following counsels respecting the character of an upright ruler in Israel, or prophetically, concerning David and his royal dynasty, and the great Messiah, of whom many think this is a prophecy, rendering the words, "he that ruleth"—"there shall be a ruler over men."
4. as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain—Little patches of grass are seen rapidly springing up in Palestine after rain; and even where the ground has been long parched and bare, within a few days or hours after the enriching showers begin to fall, the face of the earth is so renewed that it is covered over with a pure fresh mantle of green.
5. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure—"the light of the morning," that is, the beginning of David's kingdom, was unlike the clear brilliant dawn of an Eastern day but was overcast by many black and threatening clouds; neither he nor his family had been like the tender grass springing up from the ground and flourishing by the united influences of the sun and rain; but rather like the grass that withereth and is prematurely cut down. The meaning is: although David's house had not flourished in an uninterrupted course of worldly prosperity and greatness, according to his hopes; although great crimes and calamities had beclouded his family history; some of the most promising branches of the royal tree had been cut down in his lifetime and many of his successors should suffer in like manner for their personal sins; although many reverses and revolutions may overtake his race and his kingdom, yet it was to him a subject of the highest joy and thankfulness that God will inviolably maintain His covenant with his family, until the advent of his greatest Son, the Messiah, who was the special object of his desire, and the author of his salvation.
6. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns—that is, the wicked enemies and persecutors of this kingdom of righteousness. They resemble those prickly, thorny plants which are twisted together, whose spires point in every direction, and which are so sharp and strong that they cannot be touched or approached without danger; but hard instruments and violent means must be taken to destroy or uproot them. So God will remove or destroy all who are opposed to this kingdom.
. A CATALOGUE OF HIS MIGHTY MEN.
8. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had—This verse should be translated thus: He who sits in the seat of the Tachmonite (that is, of Jashobeam the Hachmonite), who was chief among the captains, the same is Adino the Eznite; he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. The text is corrupt in this passage; the number eight hundred should be three hundred [DAVIDSON, Hermeneutics]. Under Joab he was chief or president of the council of war. The first or highest order was composed of him and his two colleagues, Eleazar and Shammah. Eleazar seems to have been left to fight the Philistines alone; and on his achieving the victory, they returned to the spoil. In like manner Shammah was left to stand alone in his glory, when the Lord, by him, wrought a great victory. It is not very easy to determine whether the exploits that are afterwards described were performed by the first or the second three.
15, 16. the well of Beth-lehem—An ancient cistern, with four or five holes in the solid rock, at about ten minutes distance to the north of the eastern corner of the hill of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the natives as Bir-Daoud; that is, David's well. Dr. ROBINSON doubts the identity of the well; but others think that there are no good grounds for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the ancient well, Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further to the north, and must have lain in times of old, not as now, on the summit, but on the northern rise of the hill; for the well is by or (1 Chronicles 11:7) at the gate. I find in the description of travellers, that the common opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast, in order to obtain, at the risk of their lives, the so-much-longed-for water; while it is supposed that David himself was then in the great cave that is not far to the southeast of Beth-lehem; which cave is generally held to have been that of Adullam. But (1 Chronicles 11:7) Adullam lay "in the valley"; that is, in the undulating plain at the western base of the mountains of Judea and consequently to the southwest of Beth-lehem. Be this as it may, David's men had in any case to break through the host of the Philistines, in order to reach the well; and the position of Bir-Daoud agrees well with this [VAN DE VELDE].
19-39. the first three—The mighty men or champions in David's military staff were divided into three classes—the highest, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; the second class, Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class, the thirty, of which Asahel was the chief. There are thirty-one mentioned in the list, including Asahel; and these added to the two superior orders make thirty-seven. Two of them, we know, were already dead; namely, Asahel [2 Samuel 3:30] and Uriah [2 Samuel 11:17]; and if the dead, at the drawing up of the list, amounted to seven, then we might suppose a legion of honor, consisting of the definite number thirty, where the vacancies, when they occurred, were replaced by fresh appointments.