design implied in this remark met with the approbation of Nathan; who, however, was instructed by Divine revelation to remind David that no such structure had been required by Divine command, and to declare the will of God that it should be built, not by David himself (who had been 'a man of war, and had shed blood,' 1 Chr. xxviii. 3), but by his son and successor on the throne. At the same time, a mark of approbation was stamped on the pious intention from which the design proceeded; and Nathan was commissioned to announce the establishment of David's family in the kingdom. It was declared that, although individual sovereigns among his posterity might expose themselves to punishment, yet the sceptre should continue with his house ;-a promise which David seems to have rightly understood as involving the assurance that his descendants should include no less a personage than the expected Messiah (comp. 2 Sam. vii. 12-29, with Psalm lxxxix.). Filled with devout thankfulness at the announcement of this great honour, David abandoned his design of building the Temple during his own reign; but he afterwards employed himself in collecting materials for the structure, and in making preparations and regulations for the future celebration of Divine worship on a scale commensurate with the magnificence of the intended edifice. The attention of the new king was likewise directed, no doubt, at an early period of his reign, to the increase and organisation of the military forces of the kingdom. He surrounded himself with a body-guard, composed entirely or chiefly of foreigners (Cherethites and Pelethites), which served at once for the security of his person and as the nucleus of a standing army. These royal guards have been compared to the Roman prætorians; their captain, Benaiah, was a person of great importance at court, and his position has been compared to that of the præfect of the prætorian guards at Rome. detailed account of arrangements connected with the army is given in 2 Sam. xxiii. 8-39; 1 Chron. xi. 11-47; xxvii. 1–15. A We find David reaping the reward of his allegiance to the Most High, and of his implicit compliance with Divine direction, in a series of successes against several of the enemies of Israel. He obtained important victories successively over the Philistines, from whom he took Gath and its dependencies ;over the Moabites, who were made tributaries;-over Hadadezer or Hadarezer king of Zobah,* and over the Syrians of * Zobah, a city of Mesopotamia, otherwise called Nisibis, Antiochia Mygdoniæ (Gesenius). It has been supposed by some Jewish writers to be Aleppo. Ewald thinks that the site is still unknown; Nisibis being too far east, and Aleppo too Damascus, who came to the assistance of Hadadezer (hereby extending his dominions, according to the promise made to Abraham, as far as the Euphrates); -over the Idumæans (p. 35, n.)-thus opening a way for the navigation of the Red Sea, and consequently for a trade with the East;-and, lastly, over a powerful confederacy of the Ammonites (who had grossly insulted David's ambassadors, by partially shaving their beards and cutting off the lower part of their garments) and Syrian mercenaries. With this strong Northern League the contest was severe it terminated, as far as the Syrians were concerned, in a great battle at Helam, a city not far from the Euphrates, fought between the Israelites under David in person and the allies under Shobach, Hadadezer's general, in which large numbers of the enemy were slain; and by this means David was left at liberty to deal with the Ammonites alone, against whose chief city, Rabbah, Joab laid siege. It was during the siege of Rabbah that David committed the deep and complicated crime of adultery with Bathsheba, and the murder of her injured husband Uriah the Hittite (one of David's worthies, or heroes, i. e. distinguished and titled officers, 2 Sam. xxiii. 39);—a murder, disguised indeed by the fact that Uriah fell by the hands of the enemy while occupying a post of danger in the army of Joab, but no less criminal than as though it had been perpetrated by the king's own hand, since it was brought about as the desired result of his express and written instructions to his general. David was faithfully reproved for this sin by the prophet Nathan, in the well-known parable of the traveller and the poor man's lamb; and, having deeply repented of his iniquity in the sight of God, he received forgiveness, but not without an intimation that, on account of the scandal which had been occasioned by his transgression, and the mischief which it had done to the cause of godliness and virtue, he should witness the death of his infant child by Bathsheba, and should suffer trouble through other members of his family. The fifty-first Psalm is a record of David's penitential feelings on this melancholy occasion. We may well mourn over far north. [It seems rather to have been the name of a country east of CœleSyria, and extending to the Euphrates. See Smith's Dict. iii. 1404, 1859.] According to Josephus (Ant. vii. 5, 2), the king of Damascus at this time was Hadad, to whom reference is made by Nicolaus of Damascus. The first recorded example of mercenary warfare.'-KITTO, Daily Bible Illustrations, iii. 387. Rabbah, or Rabbath Ammon, the chief city of the Ammonites, consisted of a lower town, on the banks of a considerable stream, and a high citadel. Its ruins have been identified by modern travellers. (Rabbath Moab was the ancient Ar, capital of the Moabites, Gr. Areopolis.) The first example of epistolary correspondence recorded in Scripture.'Kitto. the whole narrative; and may learn from it the necessity of constant watchfulness against temptation, and of earnest prayer for the preserving and strengthening grace of God, to hold up our goings in His paths, that our footsteps slip not. As king of Israel, David was a man after God's own heart, faithful to the principles of that form of the Theocracy under which he had received the crown, and obedient to the Divine will as to his regal and public acts; but, as a moral and accountable individual, he needed pardon for his sins, and the abiding power of the Holy Spirit to preserve him from the dominion of evil. After a long siege, Joab succeeded in reducing Rabbah to the last extremity; and the place was captured by a final assault, which was conducted, at the request of Joab, by David in person. The inhabitants were treated with great severity;a severity, alas! no more than consistent with the existing laws of warfare, which David found it perhaps impossible, on this and on other occasions, to relax. Much valuable spoil here fell into the hands of David, including the king's crown of massive gold, richly jewelled. ELEMENTARY AND GENERAL QUESTIONS. 564. Where was David publicly anointed king by the men of Judah? 566. Where was the royal residence of David, and of Ishbosheth? 567. How did a civil war begin? Relate its events, and its result. 568. Relate the circumstances attending the death of Abner-and the death of Ishbosheth. 569. How long did David reign at Hebron over Judah alone? 570. Of whom was David a type? 571. What stronghold of the Canaanites did David capture, and make the seat of government, soon after his accession to the throne of the whole kingdom? 572. What further successes did he achieve? 573. Relate the circumstances connected, with the removal of the Ark to Jeru salem. 574. What was David's resolution concerning the erection of a Temple? How was he restrained from this undertaking? 575. What Psalm records the contrite sentiments of David after his sin in the matter of the wife of Uriah? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. 576. Compare the conduct of David towards the murderers of Ishbosheth with similar instances in profane history. 577. Describe the typical character of the Old Testament history. 578. Mention the conquests of David which took place after the removal of the Ark to Jerusalem. 579. Date the accession of David to the throne of Judah, and his full possession of the crown of all Israel. CHAPTER XXXI. THE LATTER PART OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. (2 Sam. xiii.-xxiv. 1 Kings i. ii. 1-11. 1 Chron. xx. 4-xxix.) ACCORDING to the Divine denunciation (p. 221), and as one of the many evils attendant on polygamy, troubles soon sprang up in the house of David. Amnon, the eldest son of David, having incurred the displeasure of his brother Absalom, was treacherously slain by his orders after an interval of two years from the date of his offence; whereupon Absalom, to escape punishment, took refuge with Talmai, king of Geshur, his maternal grandfather. After an absence of three years, Absalom was recalled to Jerusalem, with a promise of pardon obtained by the influence of Joab; but was not admitted into the royal presence until the expiration of two years more. Having suffered this disgrace, and, probably, having reason also to believe that Solomon, a son of David by Bathsheba, then a child, had been marked out by the Divine purpose as the successor of David on the throne, Absalom began to court popular favour with a view to his own exaltation, at the expense even of David himself. Under pretence of having occasion to discharge a vow, he repaired to Hebron, where David had begun his reign, and there openly set up the standard of rebellion, causing himself to be proclaimed king. David, who had now been on the throne about 30 years, found himself deserted by the great majority of his people, in favour of his rebellious son; his faithful adherents were but few, and Ahithophel (brother of folly), his favourite counsellor, was among the traitors. Thus abandoned by his people, and feeling that he was suffering affliction at the hand of God, David quitted Jerusalem, attended only by his Guards and six hundred warriors under Ittai the Gittite, not even suffering the priests with the Ark to accompany him. Weeping, and in the garb of a mourner, he crossed the brook Kidron, and mournfully ascended the mount of Olives, on the road towards Jericho. As he pursued this sad journey, his trouble was increased by false tidings of the desertion of Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, to whom he had generously restored the estates of Saul, which he now hastily conferred upon the treacherous informant, Ziba, Mephibosheth's steward. A little further on, near the village Bahurim, in the way to the * [Originally (as we may infer from 1 Chron. ix. 34; x. 40) called Merib-baal, strife of Baal. For the change of Baal into Bosheth, see note on p. 215. The meaning of the change in the former part of the name is uncertain.] Jordan valley, Shimei, a member of the house of Saul, running along the side of a hill at no great distance from the road, directed a volley of insults and reproaches against the king; which David patiently endured, referring this indignity to the will of Jehovah, and refusing to allow Abishai to put the offender to death. Immediately after the departure of David from Jerusalem, Absalom entered the city, where he was unanimously received as king. At a council which was immediately held, an instant pursuit of the fugitive David and his little company was advised by Ahithophel, who asked for permission to conduct the pursuit at the head of. 12,000 men; but this counsel was overruled by Hushai, who, being secretly in the interest of David, urged Absalom rather to wait until he could collect from all parts of the kingdom a large force, at the head of which he might march in person, so as to secure the final overthrow of David at a single blow. Aware of the danger involved in this delay, and vexed at the affront implied in the rejection of his counsel, Ahithophel hanged himself.† In the meantime, David and his followers crossed the fords of the Jordan, and reached Mahanaim, in the tribe of Gad, formerly the royal residence of Ishbosheth (p. 215); where the king succeeded in collecting a number of supporters, sufficient to give battle to Absalom, who approached the place with a considerable army, commanded by Amasa, the son of David's sister, Abigail. The rebels were met and defeated in the forest of Ephraim by the royalist forces under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai; and Absalom was hastening his escape, when his long hair was caught in the boughs of an oak (terebinth), in which situation he was found by Joab, who immediately put him to death. David, however, had given orders that the life of Absalom should be spared; and when the issue of the battle was reported to the king, he manifested intense grief at the death of his son;-a grief which he continued to indulge until he was aroused by the interposition of Joab, who urged him not to pursue a course of conduct so discouraging to his troops and people; when, at length, he appeared in public, and received the congratulations of his faithful followers on the suppression of the rebellion. After an absence of, probably, about three months, David might now have at once re-crossed the Jordan, and have made his entry into Jerusalem as undisputed sovereign; but he chose *The first cabinet council to which history admits us.'-Kitto. · + The first act of the kind on record.'-Kitto. |