John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Samuel 3:1



INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 3



This chapter begins with the continuation of the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, 2Sa 3:1; and gives an account of the wives of David, and his sons by them, 2Sa 3:2; of a quarrel between Ishbosheth and Abner, 2Sa 3:6; and of Abner's proposal to make a league with David; but David would not see his face unless Michal his wife was returned to him, who was accordingly, 2Sa 3:12; and of the interest Abner made with the elders of Israel in favour of David, which he reported to him, and promised to make more, 2Sa 3:17; but Joab returning from a pursuit, and with great spoil, just as Abner departed, and hearing of it, chided David for letting him go, and privately sent for him back, and treacherously murdered him, 2Sa 3:22; from which murder David cleared himself and his kingdom, and for it made dreadful imprecations on Joab and his family, 2Sa 3:28; and buried Abner with great lamentation, expressing much concern for his death, and the high opinion he had of him, 2Sa 3:31.



Ver. 1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David,.... The recent battle, though so much in favour of David, did not, put an end to the war between him and Ishbosheth, which lasted five years longer; for it was when Ishbosheth had reigned two years that that battle was fought, and he reigned five years longer; for not till his death, and when David had reigned above seven years in Hebron, was he made king over all Israel; and during this time peace was not made, but the war carried on; though perhaps not in pitched battles, of which we no more read, but in skirmishes:



but David waxed stronger and stronger; he having the advantage in all such skirmishes, and persons continually coming over to his side from the several tribes:



and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker: being always worsted whenever they skirmished with David's men, and by continual revolts from them. This is reckoned an emblem of the kingdoms of Christ and antichrist, the one increasing more and more, as it has and will do, and the other decreasing, and before long will be consumed; and of the two parties in a regenerate man, grace and indwelling sin, the one as to its exercise growing stronger and stronger, and the other as to its influence on the outward conversation weaker and weaker.





2 Samuel 3:2



Ver. 2. And unto David were sons born in Hebron,.... He was married before he came there, had wives in his state of exile, but had no children by them there, at least no sons; if any, only daughters:



and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; who being mentioned first, and her son his firstborn, seems to have been his wife before be took Abigail; he had not much comfort of this firstborn son of his; see 2Sa 13:1.





2 Samuel 3:3



Ver. 3. And the second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite,.... That is: who had been the wife of Nabal. This son's name is called Daniel, 1Ch 3:1; and was the first name he had, and which his father gave him, because as if he should say, "God hath judged me", and pleaded the cause of his reproach from Nabal, 1Sa 25:39; but why he should be called Chileab is not easy to say; the name is commonly thought to signify "like unto his father", or "all father": had all the features of his father, and was exceedingly like him; the Jews have a fabulous story concerning this {w}, not worth relating:



and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; in 1Sa 27:8 we read of David's invading the land of the Geshurites; and the Jews say {x} that he then took the daughter of this king captive, and she being a beautiful woman married her, after made a proselyte according to the law in De 21:10; but it should be observed that David slew all the women of that country, and left not any alive; and besides that lay to the south of Judah, whereas this Geshur, of which Talmai was king, was a part of Syria, 2Sa 15:8; and lay to the north of the land of Israel; and with this king David hereby entered into an alliance, to strengthen his interest against Ishbosheth in those parts; of the trouble he met with from Absalom, see

2Sa 13:1, &c. contrary to the expectations he had raised when he gave him the name of Absalom, or Leabsalom, as in 1Ch 3:2; that is, one given "for his father's peace".



{w} Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abarbinel in loc. {x} Tanchuma apud Abarbinel in loc.





2 Samuel 3:4



Ver. 4. And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith,.... The same that usurped the throne before his father's death, to anticipate Solomon, and died by his order, 1Ki 1:5;



and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; of whom we read nowhere else.





2 Samuel 3:5



Ver. 5. And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife,.... Who also is not spoken of in any other place; only, in a like chronological account as the former, it is remarked that the mother of this only is called David's wife; the reason of which is supposed to be, either because she was a person of no note, and had nothing else to distinguish her; but the same may be said of the two foregoing; or because she was his beloved wife, his heifer, as her name signifies; hence the Jews {y} take her to be Michal his first wife, whom he greatly loved, and who, though she had no children after her contempt of David for playing before the ark, unto the day of her death, yet might have before: but it should be observed, that as yet she was not returned to David in Hebron; and when she was returned, did not seem to continue there long enough to have a son there; and besides, being his first wife, would not be reckoned last; but still more foreign is another notion of the Jews {z}, that she was Saul's widow, who though she might not be married to another might be married to a king, as David was; and this they suppose receives some confirmation from 2Sa 12:8; but after all it may be this phrase "David's wife", as some have observed, by a figure the rhetoricians call "zeugma", or "hypozeugma", is to be joined to everyone of the women before mentioned, 2Sa 3:2, who were his wives, and so called to distinguish them from his concubines, by whom he had sons also. Polygamy, or plurality of wives, which David gave into, is no favourable part of his character.



{y} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 1. Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 77. F. {z} In Kimchi & Ben Gersom in loc.





2 Samuel 3:6



Ver. 6. And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David,.... As long as that continued, as it did until the following quarrel happened between Ishbosheth and Abner:



that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul; or was strongly in the interest of that house, and used his utmost endeavours to support and confirm it.





2 Samuel 3:7



Ver. 7. And Saul had a concubine, whose name [was] Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah,.... By whom he had two sons, 2Sa 21:8. Josephus {a} calls her father's name Sibathus:



and [Ishbosheth] said to Abner; though the word "Ishbosheth" is not in the text, it is rightly supplied; for no other can be supposed to speak:



wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine? and defiled her; though perhaps it was not so much the act of uncleanness that so much offended him, or the dishonour reflected on him and his family thereby, as it discovered an ambitious view in Abner to get the kingdom into his own hands, to which this was the leading step; see 1Ki 2:22. Whether Abner was really guilty of this sin or no is not easy to determine; though, by his not absolutely denying it, it looks as if it was not merely a jealousy of Ishbosheth, or a false report made unto him; though, especially if he was not fully satisfied of it, it would have been his wisdom to have said nothing of it to him, since his continuance on the throne so much depended on him.



{a} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 4.





2 Samuel 3:8



Ver. 8. Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth,.... If false he had a good deal of reason for it; and if true, he thought he deserved better at his hands, than to be reproved for and upbraided with what he might think was a very small fault, and might easily be connived at, and especially in one that had been so serviceable to him:



and said, [am] I a dog's head; such a mean, vile, contemptible person with thee, as if no better than a dog, and as useless and as unserviceable as a dead dog, the head of a dog cut off; see 1Sa 24:14 2Sa 9:8; or am I esteemed and to be treated as a head of dogs, a keeper of a pack of hounds, and not as a general of the armies of Israel? so Jarchi and others; but it seems rather to respect the filthy nature of a dog, that will couple with any; and so the sense is, am I such a filthy lustful creature that care not with whom I lie, no more, than a dog?



which against Judah do show kindness to the house of Saul thy father,

to his brethren, and to his friends; who in opposition to the tribe of Judah, which alone abode by David, had shown respect to the family of Saul, and all his friends, by his close attachment to Ishbosheth:



and have not delivered thee into the hand David; when it was in his power to have done it many a tithe:



that thou chargest me today with a fault concerning this woman? he neither denies nor owns the charge, and yet, by his not denying it, tacitly owns it; though, by his way of speaking, he suggests as if it was no fault at all, at least a very trifling one, and such as ought not to have been mentioned to him, considering the services he had done to Ishbosheth and his family.





2 Samuel 3:9



Ver. 9. So do God to Abner, and more also,.... He wishes the worst of evils to himself, such as he cared not to name; but left them to be supposed what he meant as utter ruin and destruction of himself, soul and body:



except as the Lord hath sworn to David, even so I do to him; meaning if he did not do that David, which God had sworn should be done, namely, what follows, the translation of the kingdom to him; by which it appears that Abner knew of the promise and oath of God respecting this matter; and therefore acted against his conscience, in setting up Ishbosheth on the throne; which he knew would not prosper, and that he was fighting against God; which shows what a hardened wicked creature he was, and how far ambition, and being thought to be of consequence, will carry a man.





2 Samuel 3:10



Ver. 10. To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul,.... Which was what the Lord had sworn to do, 1Sa 15:28; and which Abner now threatens to do, insolently taking that to himself which belonged to the Lord, and as if he could not do it without him:



and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah; over the one as well as over the other; for it was set over Judah already:



from Dan even unto Beersheba; which were the utmost borders of the land of Israel, from north to south, and so includes the whole.





2 Samuel 3:11



Ver. 11. And he could not answer Abner a word again,.... That is, he would not, he durst not; otherwise, if it was fact he charged him with, he could have insisted on the truth of it, and aggravated the crime and scandal of it; and observed it to him, that the kindness he had shown him was no excuse for it; but such things, though he would, he durst not say:



because he feared him; he had the army at his command, and could dethrone him when he pleased; and it has been the fate of greater men than Ishbosheth to be awed by their generals, and even David himself; see 2Sa 3:39.





2 Samuel 3:12



Ver. 12. And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,.... On his own account, and not on the account of Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel; but to obtain terms for himself, or in his own name, as representing him and standing in his stead; or secretly, as Kimchi explains it, unknown to Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel. The Targum is,



"out of his place;''



he sent them from the place where he was, from Mahanaim:



saying, whose [is] the land? the land of Israel, is it not thine, David? verily it is; to whom does it belong but unto thee, to whom the Lord has given it? not to any of Saul's posterity: this he ordered the messengers to say in the first place, in order to ingratiate himself to David, and gain his messengers an audience. The Targum is,



"I swear by him that made the earth;''



so Jarchi says, it is an oath by him whose the earth is, even by the living God, whose is the earth, and the fulness thereof:



saying [also], make thy league with me; he desired to enter into a covenant of friendship with him, that everything that had passed might be forgiven and forgotten:



and, behold, my hand [shall be] with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee: he promises on his part to do his utmost to bring all Israel under his government and to obedience to him.





2 Samuel 3:13



Ver. 13. And he said, well, I will make a league with thee,.... He accepted of the offer, he was ready and willing to enter into a covenant of friendship with him, and forgive all past offences:



but one thing I require of thee; as the condition of this covenant:



that is, thou shall not see my face; be admitted into my presence, or have any mark of my favour and respect:



except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face; he insisted on it that Michal, Saul's daughter, and his wife, should be brought along with him, and presented to him; this was the preliminary to the league and covenant; if this was not complied with, the proposal would not be attended to. This shows the great affection David retained for his first wife, though he had had six since, see 2Sa 3:2, and though she had lived with another man, 1Sa 25:44; as also his great regard to the honour of Saul's family, that one of them might share with him in the grandeur of the kingdom; though this also might be a piece of policy in him, to gain the friends of Saul's family to him.





2 Samuel 3:14



Ver. 14. And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul's son,.... When Abner's messengers returned to him, and acquainted him with the condition of David's entering into a league with him, it is highly probable that Abner sent them or others to David, to let him know that he could not do this of himself; that it was advisable for him to write to Ishbosheth, whose sister she was, and demand her of him; and that then he would use his interest with Ishbosheth to grant it, and this method David took:



saying, deliver [me] my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines; two arguments he made use of to enforce his demand; one is, that it was his wife he required, to whom he had a right, and no other man; and the other is, that he had purchased her at a great expense, at the risk of his life, in slaying an hundred Philistines, whose foreskins he paid in for her at the instance of Saul; he mentions but one hundred, though he gave two hundred as her dowry, no more being required than one hundred; see

1Sa 18:25. Josephus very wrongly says six hundred {b}; the Syriac and Arabic have here two hundred.



{b} Antiqu. l 7. c. 1. sect. 4.





2 Samuel 3:15



Ver. 15. And Ishbosheth sent and took her from [her] husband,.... Her second husband, to whom Saul had given her, 1Sa 25:44;



[even] from Phaltiel the son of Laish; he is called Phalti in

1Sa 25:44.





2 Samuel 3:16



Ver. 16. And her husband went with her along weeping behind her,.... Because of his great affection to her, unwilling to part with her, but forced to it at the command of the king her brother:



to Bahurim; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, 2Sa 19:16; perhaps the same with Almon, Jos 21:18; these two words being of the same signification; and the Targum has it hero Almuth; so Alemeth in 1Ch 6:60. It seems to be the same Josephus {c} calls Bachures, and says it was not far from Jerusalem. Bunting {d} says it was something more than a mile towards the northeast, and at this time is a fair castle strongly fortified, standing in a high place, and in the valley near it, at the stone Bohan, Jos 15:6; see 2Sa 17:18;



then said Abner to him, go, return, and he returned; by which it appears that Abner came with her to introduce her to David, without whom he was not to see his face; and he did not choose her husband should go with her any further, and was at his orders obliged to go back, who otherwise would have gladly accompanied her further still, through his great affection for her.



{c} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. {d} Travels, p. 144.





2 Samuel 3:17



Ver. 17. And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel,.... Had a conference with the chiefs of the several tribes about the affairs of the kingdom:



saying, ye sought for David in time past [to be] king over you; that is, at the death of Saul, and not before; for it was pretty generally known throughout the kingdom that David was anointed by Samuel and Saul himself had declared that he knew the kingdom would come to him; so that upon his death it was the general expectation and desire of the people that the government would devolve upon him, as it doubtless would, if Abner had not set up one of Saul's house, and persuaded the Israelites to own him their king.





2 Samuel 3:18



Ver. 18. Now then do [it],.... Make him your king, and I shall no longer oppose it as I have done:



for the Lord hath spoken of David; concerning his being king, and the saviour of his people Israel:



saying, by the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies; and which, though where recorded in so many words, yet was the sense of the promise of making him king, and the design of his unction; and besides they might have been spoken to Samuel, though not written; and which he might report, and so might pass from one to another to be generally known.





2 Samuel 3:19



Ver. 19. And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin,.... Of the inhabitants of the tribe of Benjamin, of which tribe he was, and among whom he had the greatest influence; and with whom it was necessary to take some pains, because of their attachment to the family of Saul, which was of that tribe; and being near to that of Judah, might give David a good deal of trouble, if they were not won over to him:



and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron; having sounded the elders of Israel, and won their thoughts about the change of government, and found them well disposed to David, and had prevailed upon them to consent to make him king, and had gained the tribe of Benjamin on his side, went and reported to David the success he had:



all that seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin; how agreeable it was to the elders of Israel, and particularly to the tribe of Benjamin, to have David king over them.





2 Samuel 3:20



Ver. 20. So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him,.... Before he went privately to him, and conferred with him, but now, having gained so many of the Israelites in favour of David, he appeared more publicly and brought perhaps some of the principal of the nation with film, to join in the league and covenant to be made:



and David made Abner and the men that [were] with him a feast; not only in honour to them, as great personages, especially Abner, and as expressive of reconciliation; but as a token of the covenant they were entering into, and for the confirmation of it; it being usual to have feasts when covenants were made; see Ge 26:28.





2 Samuel 3:21



Ver. 21. And Abner said to David, I will arise and go,.... Into the several parts of the land of Israel:



and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king; the princes of the several tribes, and the elders of the people, their heads and principal men:



that they may make a league with thee; come into the league and covenant now made with Abner, and those with him:



and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth: which he supposed reached to all the people of the house of Israel and of Judah, though David had not expressed any eager and impatient desire of government, but waited the Lord's time to be put into the possession of the whole kingdom of Israel:



and David sent Abner away, and he went in peace; with inward satisfaction of mind, pleased that things were so well settled and adjusted to the content of all parties, and with outward satiety of body, no insults or attempts being made upon him by any of David's men; which perhaps would not have been the case if Joab had been at court, as may be concluded from what follows.





2 Samuel 3:22



Ver. 22. And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from [pursuing] a troop,.... A troop of robbers, that made an incursion into the land, taking the advantage of a civil war between Israel and Judah; such as the Edomites, Amalekites, and especially the Philistines; which Joab hearing of went out in pursuit of them, and overtook them:



and brought in a great spoil with them; which they took from them:



but Abner [was] not with David in Hebron: when Joab and his army entered the city with their booty:



for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace; he had just dismissed him, and he was gone off safely.





2 Samuel 3:23



Ver. 23. When Joab and all the host that [was] with him were come,.... To Hebron, or rather to David's court; for their coming to the city is before mentioned; this must be understood not of the whole army, of all the common soldiers, but of the chief officers, who with Joab came to court, to wait upon David, and report their success:



they told Joab, saying, Abner the son, of Ner came to the king; some of the courtiers informed him of it, who knew it would not be very agreeable to him:



and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace: instead of seizing him, and laying him in a prison as his enemy, he has let him go with all the marks of friendship and good will.





2 Samuel 3:24



Ver. 24. Then Joab came to the king,.... To the apartment where he was; perhaps he was told the above at his first entering into the king's palace, by some in waiting, before he came to the king, which filled him with wrath, so that he came to him in a passion:



and said to him, what hast thou done? which was very insolent in a subject to say to his prince:



behold, Abner came unto thee; I have been credibly informed of it, and am assured it is a fact which cannot be denied; he represents it as if he had done a wrong thing to admit him to come to him; but perhaps the great fault was that he had let him go:



why [is] it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? or "going, [is] gone" {e}; is clean gone off, when he ought to have been laid hold on as a traitor, and put in irons.



{e} Kwlh Klyw "et abiit eundo", Pagninus, Montanus.





2 Samuel 3:25



Ver. 25. Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner,.... Thou canst not be ignorant what a cunning deceitful man he is, nor of his designs; or dost thou not know? art thou ignorant? so read the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, with an interrogation:



that he came to deceive thee: with false hopes, or to lead into wrong measures with an intention to involve and ruin him:



and to know thy going out, and coming in; the affairs of his court, the secrets of his government, to observe his conduct and behaviour, and all his actions, and improve them against him:



and to know all that thou doest; he suggests that he came not as a friend, but as a spy, and therefore ought to have been taken up, and detained, and not dismissed. This Joab said to set David against him, fearing, if he should be received into favour, he would be a rival of his; and besides his breast was full of revenge against him for the death of his brother.





2 Samuel 3:26



Ver. 26. And when Joab was come out from David,.... Which perhaps he did at once, as soon as ever he had spoken his mind, and flew out of the room in a great passion, not waiting for the king's answer, since we read of none returned; though it may be the king disdained to give him one, or cared not to confer with him while in his passion, until it subsided; or chose not to provoke him more, for it is plain he had great power over him; which generals of armies at this time very much assumed, see 2Sa 3:39;



he sent messengers after Abner; in the name of the king, as Abarbinel rightly supposes, and so Josephus {f}; for otherwise it can hardly be thought he would have returned on a message from Joab only, who he knew bore him ill will:



which brought him again from the well of Sirah; which might have its name from the thorns and briers that grew about it. Josephus {g} calls it Besira, and says it was twenty furlongs or two and an half miles from Hebron:



but David [knew] it not; that Joab had sent messengers in his name after Abner to fetch him back; it was not done by his order, with his consent or knowledge; this is observed, to clear David from any concern in the death of Abner, as follows.



{f} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 5. {g} Ibid.





2 Samuel 3:27



Ver. 27. And when Abner was returned to Hebron,.... Alone, and not the twenty men with him; not to David's court, but just to the city, to the gate of it:



Joab took him aside in the gate: where he was waiting for him, and met him; this was a public place, where people were continually passing and repassing, and where courts of judicature used to be held; wherefore Abner might think himself safe here with Joab, and have no suspicion at all of his design, and shows how fearless Joab was of God or men:



to speak with him quietly; peaceably, in a friendly manner, as all his gestures towards him showed; so that Abner made no difficulty of turning aside with him, supposing he had something to communicate to him from the king, which he had forgot:



and smote him under the fifth [rib], that he died; in the same place that Abner had smote his brother, of which see 2Sa 2:23; and this he did:



for the blood of Asahel his brother; for Abner's shedding his brother's blood; but this was not the only reason, and perhaps not the chief; but, as Josephus {h} observes, because he was fearful if Abner was received into the friendship of the king, he would be preferred unto him, and take his place as general of the army, as being an older and more experienced officer; so Procopius Gazaeus, and Theodoret.



{h} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 5.





2 Samuel 3:28



Ver. 28. And afterward, when David heard [it],.... That Joab had sent to fetch Abner back, and that he had stabbed him in the gate of the city, and he was dead; it was some time after it was done that the news of it was brought to David; this circumstance is observed, the more to clear the king from any concern in this affair:



he said; in a public manner, in open court, before all his princes; he called God to witness, and, as Josephus {i} says, stretching out his right hand to God, he cried aloud:



I and my kingdom [are] guiltless before the Lord for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner; he was sensible it would be known that Abner had been with him, and that Joab his general had killed him; and therefore it might be suspected that he had an hand in it, and that it was done by his order, with his privy council; and therefore, to purge him and them from it, he made this public declaration, that neither he nor his council knew anything of it; and that it was not done with their knowledge and consent, and by their order, but through the resentment of a single person; and therefore hoped that no man would impute the shedding of this blood unto them, or that God would punish them for it; and he was the rather led to make this public declaration, because he knew that the death of Abner in this way would be resented by the friends of Saul's family, and be an obstruction to the union of the two kingdoms, which it was known Abner was endeavouring to bring about.



{i} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 6.





2 Samuel 3:29



Ver. 29. Let it rest on the head of Joab,.... That is, the blood of Abner, who was the shedder of it; let the guilt of it be charged to him, and let punishment for it be inflicted on him:



and on all his father's house; on Abishai his brother, and other relations that might be privy to the death of Abner, and advising to it, and ready to assist in it if necessary:



and let there not fail from the house of Joab; let there be always in his family, and of his seed, one or other of the persons described as follows:



one that hath an issue; a gonorrhoea, which was reckoned infamous, and very impure, according to the Jewish law, and rendered persons unfit for society; see Le 15:1;



or that is a leper; whose disease was very loathsome and infectious, and shut him out of the company of men; see Le 13:1;



or that leaneth on a staff; being blind, as Aquila renders the word; or through weakness of body, not being able to walk without one; or through some disease of the feet, as the Jewish writers generally understand it; and R. Isaiah interprets it of the gout particularly: the word for "staff" is rendered "spindle", Pr 31:19; and to this sense it is rendered here in, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and then the meaning is, let his posterity, or some of them, be so poor, that they shall be obliged to get their livelihood in so mean a way as by spinning; or let them be of such an effeminate disposition, as be more fit to handle the spindle, and do the, work of women, than to use the sword:



or that falleth on the sword; not by it honourably in the field of battle, but cowardly destroying themselves with it:



or that lacketh bread; and is obliged to beg it: all which David might say, not by a spirit of prophecy, but in a passion; and to show with what horror he resented the action, and how detestable it was to him, and how far it was for him to have any concern in it: but though it was a very wicked action in Joab to murder Abner in this manner, and for the reasons he did; yet it was a just vengeance from the Lord on Abner for fighting against God, and acting against the dictates of his own conscience; for his rebellion against David, and perfidy to Ishbosheth, and for having been the cause of much bloodshed in Israel.





2 Samuel 3:30



Ver. 30. So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner,.... For though it was only Joab that gave him the thrust of which he died, Abishai was in the secret, and was consenting and advising to his death, and so an accessory to it; and might be present, ready to assist in it, if occasion required; and so Josephus {k} expressly says, that Abishai his brother was with him when he drew his sword, and smote him:



because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle: which was no just reason at all; his blood was shed in war, this in peace, in cold blood, and under the guise of friendship; that was shed with reluctance, and after fair warning, and in defence of himself; but this wilfully in Joab, unawares to Abner, and in great deceit and hypocrisy; see 1Ki 2:5.



{k} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 6.)





2 Samuel 3:31



Ver. 31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that [were] with him,.... To his whole court, Joab being present: for he did not flee, nor was he laid hold on in order to be brought to justice; which shows how great his power was, and that he was too hard for David, as in 2Sa 3:39; however this he did, he enjoined his whole court, and Joab also, to express public mourning on this account:



rend your clothes and gird you with sackcloth; which were expressions of mourning used on various occasions, and on account of the dead, and which with the Heathens were carried to a greater excess, even to the tearing of their flesh,



and mourn before Abner; before his corpse, as carried to the grave, when it was usual to make great lamentations: see Ac 8:2;



and King David [himself] followed the bier; or "bed" {l} on which his body was laid, and carried to the grave. On these the rich and noble among the Greeks and Romans were carried, and those of the meaner sort on biers {n}; and so with the Jews; See Gill on "Lu 7:14"; some of which were gilded with gold, and were made of ivory, and had ivory feet {o}; that of Herod's was all of gold, inlaid with precious stones, and the body covered with purple, and followed by his sons and kindred, the soldiers going before armed, and their leaders following {p}; the bier or bed with the Romans was sometimes carried by six persons, sometimes by eight or more {q}. It was not usual for kings, as the Jews say {r}, to attend a funeral, to go out of the doors of their palace after their own dead, and much less others; but David did this to satisfy the people, and to root out of their mind all suspicion of his having any hand in Abner's death; and to show that he was not slain by his will, and with his consent.



{l} hjmh thv klinhv, Sept. "lectum", Piscator. {n} Salmuth. ad Pancirol. par. 1. tit. 62. p. 343. Kirchman. de Funer. Roman. l. 2. c. 9. p. 375. {o} Alstorph. de lect. vet. c. 19. p. 149. {p} Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 33. sect. 9. {q} Kirchman. ut supra. (de Funer. Roman. l. 2. c. 9. p. 375.) {r} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 3. Maimon in Hilchot Ebel. c. 7. sect. 7. David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 119. 4.





2 Samuel 3:32



Ver. 32. And they buried Abner in Hebron,.... According to the Jewish account of places of burial {s}, he was buried in the midst of the city, though burying places were generally without; and so Fuller {t} places this in his map; whether the cave of Machpelah, which was near Hebron, was now used for a burying place, is not certain:



and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner; made a great outcry, a loud lamentation, so as to be heard by all the people; and which no doubt was real and hearty, and not done merely with political views:



and all the people wept; through concern for the death of Abner, especially on account of the manner in which it was, and in imitation of the king, and being affected with his tears and cries.



{s} Cippi Heb. p. 8. {t} Pisgah-Sight, &c. in the Map of Judah.





2 Samuel 3:33



Ver. 33. And the king lamented over Abner,.... Delivered an elegy or funeral oration, which he had composed on this occasion, as Josephus {u} suggests: for he had cried and wept before, but now he expressed something as follows:



and said, died Abner as a fool dieth? the meaning of the interrogation is, he did not; the Targum is



"did Abner die as wicked men die?''



no, he did not; he did not die for any wickedness he had been guilty of; he did not die as a malefactor, whose crime has been charged and proved in open court, and sentence of condemnation pronounced on him righteously for it; but he died without anything being laid to his charge, and much less proved, and without judge or jury; he was murdered in a clandestine, insidious, and deceitful manner; so the word "fool" is often taken in Scripture for a wicked man, especially in the book of Proverbs; the Septuagint version leaves the word untranslated,



"died Abner according to the death of Nabal?''



no; but it could hardly be thought that David would mention the name of any particular person on such an occasion.



{u} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 6.)





2 Samuel 3:34



Ver. 34. Thy hands [were] not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters,.... As malefactors are when they are taken up for any crime, and especially when proved upon them, and condemned for it, and brought forth to be executed. This was not his case, and had he been aware of the design against him, as his hands and feet were at liberty, he might have defended himself; or if he found he had too many to deal with, might have made use of his feet and fled:



as a man falleth before wicked men, [so] fellest thou; as a man being before bloodthirsty and deceitful men, falls before them, through treachery and deceit, privately and unawares, so fell Abner before Joab and Abishai; this David said in the presence of Joab, and before all the people, to declare the plain fact how it was, to express his detestation of it, and to show he had no hand in it; and Joab must be an hardened creature to stand at the grave of Abner, and hear all this, and not be affected with it:



and all the people wept again over him; over Abner, being laid in his grave; they had wept before, but hearing this funeral oration delivered by the king in such moving language, and in such a mournful tone, it drew tears afresh from them.





2 Samuel 3:35



Ver. 35. And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day,.... The custom was to bury in the daytime, and after the funeral was over to provide and send in food to the relations of the deceased, and come and eat with them; as was also the usage with the Greeks and Romans {w}; See Gill on "Jer 16:5" and

See Gill on "Jer 16:7"; and kings themselves used to attend those feasts; for the Jews say {x},



"when they cause him (the king) to eat, all the people sit upon the ground, and he sits upon the bed;''



but in this case David refused to eat with them:



David sware, saying, so do God to me, and more also; may the greatest evils, and such as I care not to mention, befall me; and even more and worse than I can think of and express:



if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down; perhaps the funeral was in the morning, as funerals with the Jews generally now are; for otherwise if it was now towards evening, his abstinence from food till that time would not have seemed so much, nor required much notice, and still less an oath.



{w} Vid. Kirchman. de Funer. Roman, l. 4. c. 5. & 6. {x} Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 3.) David de Pomis ut supra. (Lexic. fol. 119. 4.)





2 Samuel 3:36



Ver. 36. And all the people took notice [of it],.... Not only of his oath, that he would not eat food till evening, but of his whole conduct at the funeral of Abner; the sorrow he expressed for his death, and the oration he made on account of it, in which he pretty severely reflected on his murderer:



and it pleased them; that he showed such a concern for his death, and that it was a clear case he had no hand in it:



as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people; what he did at this time, burying Abhor with so much pomp and ceremony; and indeed he had so much the hearts of the people, and such a share in their affections, and they had such an high opinion of him, that all that he did in public and private affairs they reckoned well done; they were highly approved of by them, such an interest had he in them.





2 Samuel 3:37



Ver. 37. For all the people and all Israel understood that day,.... Not the people of Judah only, but of Israel also, to whom the knowledge of these things came; they knew and were satisfied by his conduct and behaviour, by his words and actions:



that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner; it was not by the counsel or advice of the king, as the Targum; it was without his knowledge and consent, was contrary to his mind and will; that he had no manner of concern in it, and that if it had been in his power he would have prevented it.





2 Samuel 3:38



Ver. 38. And the king said unto his servants,.... His courtiers, giving a reason why he mourned as he did; or "had said" {w}, and so is a reason why the people concluded, and were fully satisfied, he had no hand in his death; but the first is best, because what follows was said not to the people at the grave, but to his servants at court:



know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? a "prince", being of the royal family, his father was Saul's uncle, and he his own cousin; a "great" man, being general of the army, a very valiant and skilful commander, a man of great wisdom and parts. David says nothing of his grace and virtue, only of his grandeur, his high birth and civil excellencies; he praises him in what he was commendable, and proceeds no further; and this was sufficient to show there was just cause of mourning on civil accounts; and this they might easily know and perceive, that the fall or death of such a man, which had that day happened in Israel, was a public loss, and matter of lamentation; and the rather as he was employing all his excellent talents in civil affairs, and all his interest in the people of Israel, to unite them to Judah, and bring them under the government of David.



{w} rmawy "nam dixerat", Junius & Tremellius.





2 Samuel 3:39



Ver. 39. And I [am] this day weak, though anointed king,.... Which seems to be given as a reason, or for an excuse why he did not inflict just punishment upon the murderer, according to the law of God, because he was "weak"; not in body or mind, but with respect to the kingdom, that was like a tender branch, or in its infant state; and great care and caution were to be used that it was not overturned: he was a king by unction, not by birth; a son of the late king was yet up against him, and was possessed of the far greater part of the kingdom; he was indeed anointed by Samuel to be king over all Israel; but as yet he was not put into the possession of the kingdom he was anointed to; he was anointed and made king over Judah, and invested with the office of king there, and settled in it; and yet his power was not very great there, for as follows:



and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, [be] too hard for me; his sister's sons, Joab and Abishai, they were a check upon him; he could not do what he would, their influence was so great, both in the court and in the camp; the one was general of the army, and the other a considerable officer in it, and both variant men, and very respectable among the people, for their achievements in war, and the success they had; so that they were very much out of the reach of David to bring them to justice, without shaking his kingdom; and therefore in point of prudence he thought it best to connive at this fact until he was more established in the kingdom. Whatever may be said for this conduct, it is certain he was too dilatory, and which did not sit easy upon his mind, and therefore gave it in charge to Solomon before his death not to suffer Joab to go to his grave in peace, 1Ki 2:5. Some take these words, "weak" and "hard", in a different sense, that David was weak or "tender" {x}, as it may be rendered, tenderhearted, of a merciful disposition, and therefore spared Abner when he was in his hands, though he had done him so much harm, who was the Lord's anointed; but these men, his sister's sons, were of cruel tempers, more unmerciful than he, and therefore slew him; but the first sense seems best:



the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness; which may be considered either as an imprecation of evil on Joab, or a prediction, that sooner or later righteous judgment would be rendered to him by the Lord; with whom he leaves it to take vengeance on him, satisfying himself with this for the present, that though it was not in his power to do it, the Lord would in his own time and way: but after all that can be said in favour of David, he seems to have been too much in fear of men, and too distrustful of the power and promise of God to establish him in his kingdom, and was too negligent of public justice; which had it been exercised, might have prevented other sins, as the murder of Ishbosheth, to which the authors of it might be encouraged by this lenity.



{x} Kr "tener", Pagninus, Montanus.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Samuel 4:1



INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 4



This chapter relates the concern the death of Abner gave to Ishbosheth, and the men of Israel, 2Sa 4:1; the murder of Ishbosheth by two of his captains, who cut off his head, and brought it to David, 2Sa 4:2; by whom they were rewarded according to their deserts, he putting them to death, and exposing their bodies to shame and ignominy, 2Sa 4:9.



Ver. 1. And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron,.... By Saul's son is meant Ishbosheth, to whom tidings were soon brought of the death of Abner his general, and that he died in Hebron, where David his rival reigned, and was there murdered by Joab the general of his army:



his hands were feeble: not only in a natural sense, being quite dispirited at hearing such news; but in a civil sense, having lost his main support and strength, he being president of his council, and commander of his forces, and in whom he placed all his confidence: and if he knew nothing of his being at Hebron, it must surprise him to hear of his dying there; from whence he might conclude, that since he was there without his knowledge, it could not be in his favour, some plot was forming, and schemes laying with his rival to dethrone him; or if he knew of it, and understood it in this light, that he was endeavouring to make peace between him and David, and upon advantageous terms to him, of which now he might entertain no hopes; he was dispirited, and might conclude that Joab was against any terms at peace, and therefore had dispatched him:



and all the Israelites were troubled; at the loss of so great a man in their kingdom, and of whose designs to unite them to Judah, and put them under the government David, they were not ignorant; but now were in the utmost confusion, not knowing what step to take, and whom to send to carry on the treaty, in which Abner was concerned; and whether it would be safe for any to go upon it, since he who had the management of it was murdered, and no justice done on the murderer, and therefore might question David's sincerity and uprightness in this affair; these things greatly distressed and embarrassed them for the present, but Providence opened a way for their future establishment and prosperity.





2 Samuel 4:2



Ver. 2. And Saul's son had two men [that were] captains of bands,.... Of troops in the army, or of guards about the person of Ishbosheth son of Saul:



the name of the one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin; so that these men were brethren in nature, as well as in iniquity; they had the same father, who is described by his name and city, and their names are expressly mentioned and recorded to their infamy; and they were not only the servants of Ishbosheth, who had commissions under him, but were of the same tribe with him; all which is observed as an aggravation of their crime:



for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin; the place from whom Rimmon their father is denominated, and where he dwelt, as well as Gittaim, where they had sojourned, as in 2Sa 4:3. This place, Beeroth, originally belonged to the Gibeonites, and fell to the lot of Benjamin at the division of the land, see Jos 9:17.





2 Samuel 4:3



Ver. 3. And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until that day. At the death of Saul, when many of the Israelites deserted their cities, and left them to the Philistines, 1Sa 31:7; and so the inhabitants of Beeroth forsook their city, which was near the Philistines, and went to Gittaim, a city in the same tribe, though a little further off, see Ne 11:33.





2 Samuel 4:4



Ver. 4. And Jonathan, Saul's son,.... His eldest son, who died at the same time with him:



had a son [that was] lame of [his] feet; of both feet, which were broken or bruised by a fall, as later related: and



he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel: that is, when the tidings of their death came from Jezreel, the place where the battle was fought in which they died, to Gibeah, and the royal palace there; so that he was now twelve years of age:



and his nurse took him up and fled; fearing the Philistines would come thither and destroy the family of Saul; and this child being the son of Jonathan, the eldest son of Saul, was by birth heir to the crown, his father and grandfather being both dead, and which might make the nurse the more solicitous to save his life by flight:



and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame; in her hurry and fright he dropped out of her arms, and had some bone broken or dislocated, which was never rightly replaced, or had some contusion, of which he was never cured,



and his name [was] Mephibosheth, called Meribbaal, 1Ch 8:34; of the change of such names See Gill on "2Sa 2:8". This story of Mephibosheth, and of his nurse's flight with him, and what happened upon it, is here inserted on occasion of the flight of the Beerothites, 2Sa 4:3; but chiefly to observe in what condition Saul's family now was, and what encouraged the murderers of Ishbosheth to be guilty of the crime they were, since when he was taken off, there was none but this lame child of that family; and as the removal of Ishbosheth would be of so much service to David, they doubted not but it would be very acceptable to him, and they should be greatly rewarded and honoured; and which they might do with the greatest safety, since the nearest kinsman and avenger of blood was so young, and lame of both his feet: or rather this is mentioned to show that Ishbosheth had no right to the throne, his eldest brother's son being living; so that those murderers might think they did the right thing, to take away the life of an usurper.





2 Samuel 4:5



Ver. 5. And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah,

went,.... From Gittaim, where they were sojourners, 2Sa 4:3; or from the army, where they had commissions, wherever it was:



and came, about the heat of the day; the middle of the day, at noon, as follows:



to the house of Ishbosheth; which was at Mahanaim:



who lay on a bed at noon; as was usual in hot countries, especially for great personages, as kings; so the Targum,



"and he was sleeping the sleep of kings;''



or at a time when king's usually slept; though this is remarked by some as an instance and proof of the sluggishness and inactivity of this prince, who left the management of all affairs to Abner his general, and gave himself to sloth and sensuality; which, when indulged, bring ruin on princes and their kingdoms.





2 Samuel 4:6



Ver. 6. And they came thither into the midst of the house,.... They not only came unto it, but entered into it, and went into the inmost part of it; the guards being asleep also perhaps, or not on duty, so that there were none to obstruct them; or if there were, they deceived them, since they went in



[as though] they would have fetched wheat; out of the king's granaries, for the payment and support of the soldiers under them, who in those days were paid in corn, as were the Roman soldiers {y} in later times; and these granaries might not only be in the king's house, but near his bedchamber; for in those ancient ages of simplicity there was not such grandeur in the courts of princes as now; the Targum is,



"as sellers of wheat,''



in the guise and habit of such persons, pretending they came to sell wheat to the king's purveyors, who were at the granaries; or, as others interpret it, they went in along with the wheat merchants as if they belonged to them, and so found their way to the king's bedchamber:



and smote him under the fifth [rib]; See Gill on "2Sa 2:23";



and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped; they got out of the palace after they had committed the murder undiscovered and unsuspected.



{y} Vid. Valtrinum de re militar. Roman. l. 3. c. 15. p. 236.





2 Samuel 4:7



Ver. 7. For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber,.... This is repeated to give a more particular account of the murder; though Abarbinel thinks they went in twice; when they went in first they smote him under the fifth rib, and made their escape; but fearing they had not left him dead, they returned, and did as follows:



and they smote him, and slew him; so that it was out of all doubt with them that he was dead:



and beheaded him; to make sure work of it:



and took his head; along with them, perhaps in one of the sacks they had to fetch wheat in, and so passed undiscovered, to carry to David, to curry favour with him:



and gat them away through the plain all night; through the plain of Jordan; all the way from Mahanaim to Hebron being for the most part a plain country till they came to Hebron, which was mountainous; the way from Mahanaim to Hebron was a space of sixty eight miles, according to Bunting {z}.



{z} Travels, p. 145, 148.





2 Samuel 4:8



Ver. 8. And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron,.... Supposing it would have been a very acceptable present to him:



and said to the king, behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; all which, his relation to Saul, his enmity to David, and his designs upon his life, are artfully put together to raise the indignation of David against him, and make their present of his head to him the more agreeable:



and the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and of his seed; for all the evils and injuries they had done him; this being the last of the sons of Saul by a lawful wife, the two remaining were by a concubine; and these men impiously ascribe to the Lord what they with wicked hands had done.





2 Samuel 4:9



Ver. 9. And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite,.... In a manner they did not expect:



and said unto them, [as] the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity; spiritual and temporal, especially the latter is meant, and particularly what he had been brought into by the persecution of Saul, while living, and by those that adhered to his house since his death; which he ascribes to the Lord, and doubted not that he would still deliver him, and complete what he had designed for him, and that he needed not the assistance of such wicked hands as theirs; the words contain the form of an oath made to testify the truth of the following narrative, concerning the man that brought the tidings of Saul's death to him, or for the certainty of what he would do those persons for the murder of Ishbosheth.





2 Samuel 4:10



Ver. 10. When one told me, saying, behold, Saul is dead,.... No more is related, not that he killed him, or assisted in killing him, only that he was dead; by which it appears, as Abarbinel thinks, that the Amalekite did not slay Saul, and that David did not put him to death on that account, but for what follows:



thinking to have brought good tidings; which would have been very acceptable to David, that he would have rejoiced and exulted at it as he did; but he was mistaken; instead of that,



I took hold of him, and slew him at Ziklag; that is, ordered one of his young men to lay hold on him, and slay him, as he did, 2Sa 1:15;



who [thought] that I would have given him a reward for his tidings; a handsome present, as the Targum here, a gift, or raised him to some post of honour and profit.





2 Samuel 4:11



Ver. 11. How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person,.... As Ishbosheth was in comparison of the wicked men that slew him; though not with respect to David, if he knew of his divine designation to the throne; nor with respect to Mephibosheth his eldest brother's son, whose right to the throne was prior to his, which he must know; though with respect to his conduct towards David, in assuming the throne of Israel, it might not be owing to any bad principles of malice and injustice, but to his ignorance of David's having a right to the throne upon his father's death, and by the advice of his friends he took it: the sin of these men in murdering him is aggravated, in that they slew him



in his own palace, upon his bed? in cold blood, and not in the field of battle, not being engaged in war with him; in his own palace, where he might justly think himself in safety; on his bed asleep, and so at an unawares, when insensible of danger, and not in a posture of defence; and now David argues from the lesser to the greater, that if the man that brought him the tidings of Saul's death had no reward given him for bringing what he thought would be reckoned good tidings, then much less would any be given them who had actually slain their master, and that in such a base and barbarous way; and if the above person, who only was a bringer of tidings, was taken and slain, then how much more did they deserve to die, who had been guilty of such a cruel and barbarous murder?



shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hands, and take you away from the earth? avenge his blood on them, by putting them to death, out of the world, and from the land of the living, as men that deserved to live no longer on it.





2 Samuel 4:12



Ver. 12. And David commanded his young men, and they slew them,.... He ordered some of his guards about him to fall on them, and put them to death; and they accordingly did:



and cut off their hands and their feet; their hands, which had smote Ishbosheth, and cut off his head; and their feet, which had been swift to shed his blood, and made haste to bring his head so many miles to David; this was what the Jews call measure for measure:



and hanged [them] up over the pool in Hebron; not their hands and their feet, but the trunks of their bodies, thus mutilated; so Theodoret; though others think their hands and their feet were hung up, and not their bodies, because dead bodies were not to hang upon the tree more than a day; they were hung up over the fish pool in Hebron, because a public place, and where they were the more exposed to their shame, and the terror of others:



but they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried [it] in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron; by order of David no doubt, who it seems had made, or ordered to be made, a sepulchre, for Abner, see 2Sa 3:38; all which David did to show his regard to the family of Saul, his abhorrence of such execrable murders, and to remove all suspicion of his being concerned in them, and to conciliate the minds of the Israelites to him.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Samuel 5:1



INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 5



In this chapter we have an account of all the tribes of Israel coming to Hebron, and anointing David king over them, 2Sa 5:1; of his expedition against the Jebusites in Jerusalem, and taking from them the strong hold of Zion, 2Sa 5:6; of his building an house for himself, and of his building up his family, by taking more wives and concubines, and having more children, whose names are given, 2Sa 5:11; and of an invasion of the land by the Philistines, and David's victory over them, 2Sa 5:17.



Ver. 1. Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron,.... All the rest of the tribes, save the tribe of Judah, who had made him king over them in Hebron seven years ago. These were ambassadors sent in the name of the several tribes to him, quickly after the deaths of Abner and Ishbosheth; from having any hand in which David had sufficiently cleared himself, and which had tended to reconcile the minds of the people of Israel to him:



and spake, saying, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh; for though he was of the tribe of Judah, yet as all the tribes sprung from one man, they were all one bone, flesh, and blood; all nearly related to each other, all of the same general family of which David was; and so, according to their law, a fit person to be their king, De 16:18; and from whom they might expect clemency and tenderness, being so near akin to them.





2 Samuel 5:2



Ver. 2. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us,.... Even over all the tribes of Israel:



thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel; that led out the armies of Israel against their enemies, fought their battles for them, obtained victories, and brought the troops under his command home in safety; and the remembrance of these valiant acts of his, which then endeared him to the people, was now another reason for their choosing him king: and another follows, the chiefest of them all:



and the Lord said to thee; when anointed by Samuel; for though what follows is not recorded in so many words, yet the sense of it is expressed in the anointing him to be king, whose office, as such, lay in doing the following things:



thou shalt feed my people Israel; as a shepherd feeds his flock; hence kings were frequently called shepherds, and David particularly, in which he was an eminent type of Christ, see Ps 78:71;



and thou shalt be a captain over Israel; the Targum is,



"and thou shalt be king over Israel;''



which gives the true sense of the tribes, and which was the chief and prevailing reason with them to make him their king; and which they, at least many of them, would have done before, even immediately upon the death of Saul, but that they were persuaded by Abner to yield obedience to Ishbosheth he set up.





2 Samuel 5:3



Ver. 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron,.... Which either explains what is meant by the tribes coming to him, 2Sa 5:1; namely, coming by their elders as their representatives; or else the meaning is, that the messengers the tribes sent, when they returned and reported the favourable reception they had met with from David; the elders of the several tribes, the princes or principal men met, and came together to David in Hebron:



and King David made a league with them before the Lord; the states of the nation; he entered into a covenant with them; he on his part promising to rule them in justice and judgment according to the laws, and they promising to yield a cheerful obedience to him in all things just and lawful: and this was done "before the Lord"; either before the ark of the Lord, as Abarbinel; but that was in Kirjathjearim, from whence it was after this brought by David to this city; rather, as Kimchi observes, wherever all Israel, or the greater part of them, were assembled, there the divine Shechinah or Majesty dwelt; so that what was done in a public assembly was reckoned as done before the Lord, and in his presence; or this covenant was made before the Lord, and each party appealed to him as witness of it, so that it was a very solemn one:



and they anointed David king over Israel; that is, over all Israel, which was the third time of his being anointed; the first was by Samuel, pointing out the person the Lord chose and appointed king; the second was by the tribe of Judah, when they invested him with the office of a king over them; and now by all the tribes, when he was inaugurated into the whole kingdom of Israel; and not only the elders came at this time, but great numbers of the people from the several tribes, and continued with David some days, eating, drinking and rejoicing, see 1Ch 12:1.





2 Samuel 5:4



Ver. 4. David [was] thirty years old when he began reign,.... Over Judah, which was the age of his antitype Christ, when he entered upon his public ministry, Lu 3:23;



[and] he reigned forty years; and six months, as appears by 2Sa 5:5; but the months are not mentioned, only the round number of years given: two reasons the Jews {a} give for this; the one, that he fled six months from Absalom; the other is, that he was ill in Hebron so long, and therefore are not reckoned.



{a} Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 77. I.





2 Samuel 5:5



Ver. 5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,.... So long the kingdom of Israel continued in the house of Saul after his death; and by this it appears that David was near thirty eight years of age when the elders of Israel came and made him their king:



and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah; which in all made forty years and six months, see 1Ki 2:11; upon his being made king over all the tribes, as soon as he had taken the strong hold of Zion, which he immediately attacked, as follows, he removed the seat of his kingdom from Hebron to Jerusalem.





2 Samuel 5:6



Ver. 6. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem,.... Which, at least part of it, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and therefore until all Israel, and that tribe, with the rest, made him king, he did not attempt the reduction of it, but now he immediately set out on an expedition against it:



unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who inhabited the country about it, and even dwelt in that itself; for the tribe of Judah could not drive them out at first from that part of it which belonged to them, nor the tribe of Benjamin from that part which was theirs; in short, they became so much masters of it, that it was called, even in later times, Jebus, and the city of the Jebusites; see Jos 15:63 Jud 1:21;



which spake unto David; when he came up against them, and besieged them:



except thou take away the blind and lame, thou shalt not come in hither; which many understand of their idols and images, which had eyes, but saw not, and feet, but walked not, which therefore David and his men in derision called the blind and lame; these the Jebusites placed for the defence of their city, and put great confidence in them for the security of it, and therefore said to David, unless you can remove these, which you scornfully call the blind and the lame, you will never be able to take the place. And certain it is the Heathens had their tutelar gods for their cities as well as their houses, in which they greatly trusted for their safety; and therefore with the Romans, when they besieged a city, the first thing they attempted to do was by any means, as by songs particularly, to get the tutelar gods out of it {b}; believing otherwise it would never be taken by them; or if it could, it was not lawful to make the gods captives {c}: and to this sense most of the Jewish commentators agree, as Kimchi, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and R. Isaiah, who take them to be images; some say, made of brass, which were placed either in the streets of the city, or on the towers: it was usual with all nations to place on their walls both their household and country gods, to defend them from the enemy {d}. A learned countryman of ours {e} is of opinion that these were statues or images talismanically made, under a certain constellation, by some skilful in astrology, placed in the recess of the fort, and intrusted with the keeping of it, and in which the utmost confidence was put: but it seems better with Aben Ezra and Abarbinel, and so Josephus {f}, to understand this of blind and lame men; and that the sense is, that the Jebusites had such an opinion of the strength of their city, that a few blind and lame men were sufficient to defend it against David and his army; and perhaps in contempt of him placed some invalids, blind and lame men, on the walls of it, and jeeringly told him, that unless he could remove them, he would never take the city:



thinking: or "saying" {g}; this was the substance of what they said, or what they meant by it:



David cannot come in hither; it is impossible for him to enter it, he cannot and shall not do it, and very probably these words were put into the mouths of the blind and lame, and they said them frequently.



{b} Vid. Valtrinum de re militar. Rom. l. 5. c. 5. {c} Vid. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. 9. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 4. {d} Cornel. Nepot. Vit. Themistocl. l. 2. c. 7. {e} Gregory's Notes and Observations, &c. ch. 7. {f} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 1. {g} rmal "dicendo", Pagninus, Montanus.





2 Samuel 5:7



Ver. 7. Nevertheless, David took the strong hold of Zion,.... A fortress without the city, and separate from it, and which was very strong; and the taking it might facilitate the taking of the city, which yet as appears by what follows, was very difficult to do:



the same [is] the city of David; it was afterwards so called, where he built an house, and dwelt.





2 Samuel 5:8



Ver. 8. And David said on that day,.... On which he took the strong hold of Zion:



whosoever getteth up to the gutter; where it is generally supposed the blind and lame were, whether images or real men: but what is meant by "Tzinnur", we render "gutter", is not easy to say; we follow some of the Jewish writers, who take it to be a canal, or water spout, used to carry off the water from roofs of houses into cisterns, as the word is rendered in Ps 42:7; which is the only place besides this in which it is used in Scripture; but R. Isaiah takes it to be the bar or bolt of the gate, and the sense to be, whoever got up to the gate, and got in at that, unbolting it, or breaking through it; the Targum interprets it of the tower of the city, or strong fortress, and so Abarbinel; but Jarchi says it was a ditch, agreeably to which Bochart {h} translates the words, and indeed more agreeably to the order of them;



"whosoever smites the Jebusites, let him cast into the ditch (next the wall) both the blind and the lame, extremely hated by David.''



But a learned modern writer {i} gives a more ingenious and probable interpretation of these words thus;



"whosoever (first) smiteth the Jebusites, and through the subterraneous passages reaches the lame and the blind, &c.''



and which seems to be favoured by Josephus, as he observes; who says {k}, the king promised the command of the whole army to him who should

dia twn upokeimenwn faraggwn, "through the subterraneous cavities", go up to the citadel, and take it: to which I would add that the word is used in the Chaldee paraphrase of Ec 1:7, of the several subterraneous passages, through which the rivers flow out of and reflow into the ocean: remarkable is the note of Theodoret,



"a certain Hebrew says, Aquila renders it "through a pipe"; on which, he observes, David being willing to spare the walls of the city, ordered the citizens should enter into the city by an aqueduct;''



according to the Jews, there, was a cave underground, which reached from the king's house in Jerusalem to Jericho, when it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar; See Gill on "Jer 39:4"; in which story there may be a mixture of fable; yet it is not improbable that there was such a subterraneous passage; since Dio Cassius {l} speaks of several such, through which the Jews made their escape in the last siege of the city:



and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind; or even the lame and the blind men the Jebusites had placed to mock David; and therefore it follows,



[that are] hated of David's soul: because he was despised and jeered at by them, and through them: if these could be understood of their idols and images, the phrase would be easily accounted for, nothing being more abominable to David than idolatry:



[he shall be chief and captain]; these words are not in the original text here, but are supplied from 1Ch 11:6; that is, he shall be chief commander of the army, as Joab became, who was the first that went up and smote them:



wherefore they said, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house; that is, either the Jebusites said this, that their images, called in derision by David the blind and the lame, if these did not keep David out, they should never be intrusted with the safety of their fort any more {m}; or rather because the blind and the lame men said this of David, he shall not come into the house, the fort, or citadel, therefore David hated them; which is the sense of the above learned writer {n}.



{h} Phaleg. l. 4. c. 36. col. 304. {i} Dr. Kennicott's Dissert. 1. p. 35. {k} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 1.) {l} Hist. l. 66. {m} Gregory, ut supra. (Notes and Observations, &c. ch. 7.) {n} Dr. Kennicott, ut supra. (Dissert. 1. p. 35.)





2 Samuel 5:9



Ver. 9. So David dwelt in the fort,.... The strong hold of Zion, which he took:



and called it the city of David; from his own name, to keep up the memory of his taking it, and of his habitation in it:



and David built round about, from Millo and inward; built a wall about it, and enlarged the place, increased the buildings both within and without. Millo is supposed to be a ditch round the fort, full of water, from whence it had its name; or was a large hollow place which divided the fort from the lower city, and which afterwards Solomon filled up, and made it a level, and therefore is called so here by anticipation; though Jarchi says it was done by David. According to Dr. Lightfoot {o}, it was a part or Sion, or some hillock, east up against it on the west side; his first sense is best, Millo being no other than the fortress or citadel; which, as Josephus says {p}, David joined to the lower city, and made them one body, and erecting walls about it made Joab superintendent of them; and this was the "round about", or circuit, which David made, reaching from Millo, or the citadel, to that again, which is meant by "inward", or "to the house" {q}, as it should be rendered; that is, to the house of Millo, as in 2Ki 12:20; and so it is said 1Ch 11:8; that David built the city "from Millo round about"; that is, to the same place from whence he began {r}.



{o} Works, vol. 2. Chorograph. Cent. c. 24. p. 25. {p} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 2. {q} htybw "et ad domum". {r} See Dr. Kennicott, ut supra, (Dissert. 1.) p. 49, &c.





2 Samuel 5:10



Ver. 10. And David went on, and grew great,.... In honour and wealth, in fame and reputation, in subduing his enemies, obtaining conquests over them, and enlarging his dominions:



and the Lord God of hosts, of armies above and below,



[was] with him: to whom all his prosperity and success was owing. The Targum is,



"the Word of the Lord God of hosts was for his help,''



or his helper.





2 Samuel 5:11



Ver. 11. And Hiram king of Tyre,.... This was father of that Hiram that lived in the times of Solomon, whose name was Abibalus before he took the name of Hiram, which became a common name of the kings of Tyre; his former name may be seen in the ancient historians quoted by Josephus {s}; of the city of Tyre, See Gill on "Isa 23:1"; which was built one year before the destruction of Troy {t}. This king, on hearing of David's being acknowledged king by all Israel, and of his taking Jerusalem out of the hands of the Jebusites,



sent messengers to David; to congratulate him upon all this:



and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons; these might not be sent at first, but David intending to build himself an house, might, by the messengers on their return, request of Hiram to send him timber and workmen for that purpose; the people of Israel being chiefly employed in cultivating their fields, and vineyards, and oliveyards, and feeding their flocks and herds, few of them had any skill in hewing: timber and stone, and building houses, at least not like the Tyrians and Sidonians; see 1Ki 5:6; and accordingly he sent him cedars from Lebanon, a great part of which was in his dominions, and artificers in wood and stone, to build his house in the most elegant manner:



and they built David an house; to dwell in, a stately palace, called an house of cedar, 2Sa 7:2.



{s} Contr. Apion. l. 1. sect. 17, 18. {t} Justin e Trogo, l. 18. c. 3.





2 Samuel 5:12



Ver. 12. And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel,.... By the prosperity and success which attended him in everything he set his hand to:



and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake; for their advantage and glory more than for his own.





2 Samuel 5:13



Ver. 13. And David took [him] more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron,.... He had six when he was at Hebron, 2Sa 3:2, and now he took more, which was not to his honour, and contrary to the law of God, De 17:17; the concubines were a sort of half wives, as the word may signify, or secondary ones, and under the others:



and there were yet sons and daughters born to David; besides those in Hebron mentioned in 2Sa 3:2.





2 Samuel 5:14



Ver. 14. And these [be] the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem,.... The names of his sons, for his daughters are not mentioned, and these seem to be such only that were born of his wives, see 1Ch 3:9;



Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon; these four were by Bathsheba; the first of these is called Shimea, 1Ch 3:5.





2 Samuel 5:15



Ver. 15. Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia. Elishua is called Elishama, 1Ch 3:6.





2 Samuel 5:16



Ver. 16. And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet. Seven more by some other wife or wives; nine are mentioned in 1Ch 3:6; there being in that account two Eliphalets, and another called Nogah; which two, one of the Eliphalets, and Nogah, might die without sons, as Kimchi thinks, and so are not mentioned here.





2 Samuel 5:17



Ver. 17. But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel,.... That the civil war in the nation was now at an end, which they hoped would have issued in their destruction, and therefore lay still and quiet; but now being united under the government of David, and he hereby greatly strengthened and become powerful; and hearing also of his success against Jerusalem, and the friendship he had contracted with Hiram king of Tyre, they thought it was high time to bestir themselves, and put a stop to his power and greatness; and now it was, as Kimchi thinks, that David penned the second psalm, which begins, "why do the Heathen rage", &c. Ps 2:1,



all the Philistines came up to seek David: in order to fight him, all the five principalities of the Philistines combined together against him; perhaps his old friend Achish king of Gath was now dead, or had now entertained a different opinion of him:



and David heard [of it]; that they had invaded his kingdom, and sought to fight him:



and went down to the hold; some fortified place or strong hold near Jerusalem, which lay lower than the city, or than the strong hold of Zion, in which David dwelt; hither he went, not so much for safety, or with an intention to abide there, but as a rendezvous for his men, and to prepare to meet the Philistines.





2 Samuel 5:18



Ver. 18. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. Or "of the giants", as Jos 15:8; which lay to the west of Jerusalem; of which, See Gill on "Jos 15:8"; the Philistines spreading themselves in it, shows that they were very numerous.





2 Samuel 5:19



Ver. 19. And David inquired of the Lord,.... By Abiathar, and the Urim and Thummim, in the ephod he had on:



saying, shall I go up to the Philistines? who by this time were gone from the valley to an higher place, to Mount Perazim, as in Isa 28:21;



wilt thou deliver them into my hand? here two questions are put together, and an answer returned to both, contrary to a notion of the Jews, See Gill on "1Sa 23:11";



and the Lord said to David, go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand; by which oracle he had both the mind of God that he should go up, and was assured of victory.





2 Samuel 5:20



Ver. 20. And David came to Baalperazim,.... As it was after called, for here it has its name by anticipation, and whither the Philistines were come from the valley of Rephaim; see 1Ch 14:11; which was at no great distance, the one being the hill, to which the other was the valley, computed to be about three miles from Jerusalem, in the way to Bethlehem {u}, between which places were two hours' travels {w}:



and David smote them there; there a battle was fought, in which David had the victory assured him:



and said, the Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters; as when waters, through their mighty force, break down the banks of rivers, and carry all before them; or as one breaks an earthen vessel full of water, so the Targum on 1Ch 14:11.



therefore he called the name of the place Baalperazim; which signifies "the master of breaches", where the Philistines were broke in upon, and broken to pieces, of which God was the author, and which gave David the mastery over his enemies; the Targum renders it "the plain of breaches", and seems to take it to be the same with the valley of Rephaim; see 2Sa 5:22.



{u} Bunting's Travels, &c. p. 138. {w} Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 87. ed. 7.





2 Samuel 5:21



Ver. 21. And they left their images,.... Their idol gods, which they brought with them to protect and defend them, and give them success; perhaps in imitation of the Israelites, who formerly brought the ark of God into their camp against the Philistines, 1Sa 4:3; and it appears to have been the custom of other countries, in later times, to bring their gods with them to battle {x}:



and David and his men burnt them: that is, his men burnt them at his command, 1Ch 14:12; agreeably to the law of God, that so no profit might be made of them, De 7:5; the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and others, render it, "and took them", or "carried them away" {y}; as they might do, and, after they had exposed them in triumph, then burnt them.



{x} "Omnigenumque Deum", &c. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 8. {y} Mavyw kai elabosan autouv, Sept. "tulit", V. L. Tigurine version, Montanus; "sustulit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.





2 Samuel 5:22



Ver. 22. And the Philistines came up yet again,.... And, as Josephus says {z}, with an army three times larger than the former:



and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim; in the same place where they were before, 2Sa 5:20.



{z} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 1.





2 Samuel 5:23



Ver. 23. And when David inquired of the Lord,.... For though he had success before, and got the victory, he would not engage again with them without having the mind and will of God, on whom he knew victory alone depended:



he said, thou shalt not go up; that is, directly, and in a straight line:



[but] fetch a compass behind them; and get to the rear of them, instead of falling upon them in the front:



and come upon them over against the mulberry trees: which grew in the valley of Rephaim, and near where the Philistines had pitched.





2 Samuel 5:24



Ver. 24. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,.... Of a going of the wind on the tops of these trees, making a rustling upon them, and that in such a manner as to resemble the going of men, or march of armies, as if they were moving in the air over the tops of the mulberry trees; which Jarchi and R. Isaiah interpret of angels being sent of God, and moving at that time to help David, and destroy the Philistines; so the Targum on

1Ch 14:15. These trees being in Judea account for silk there, Eze 16:10; though some think time was not known so early; others suppose it was, and to be the Hebrew byssus mentioned by Pausanias {a}, as being of a yellow colour:



that then thou shall bestir thyself; or move towards the camp of the Philistines, and fall upon them in the rear, who, by reason of the sound in the trees, would not hear the motion of the Israelites; or, if they heard it, would take it to be no other than the motion of the trees they heard, both sounds being confounded together; or they would take the sound they heard for the motion of the enemy in the front, and give way, and so fall into the hands of the Israelites in their rear, which must throw them into the utmost confusion and consternation:



for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines: by an angel or angels; so the Targum,



"for then shall go forth the angel of the Lord, to make thee prosperous to slay in the camp of the Philistines;''



that being the precise time for the salvation of Israel, and the destruction of the Philistines, and the token of it.



{a} Eliac. sive, l. 5. p. 294.





2 Samuel 5:25



Ver. 25. And David did so as the Lord commanded him,.... In all things he was obedient to the command of God; Saul was not: he got behind the army of the Philistines, as he was directed; and when he heard the sound in the mulberry trees, he arose and fell upon his enemies:



and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer; or from Gibeon, as in 1Ch 14:16; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, near to which this battle was fought, and where the pursuit began, which was carried as far as Gazer, a city that lay on the borders of the Philistines, as Josephus says {b}; and so far they were pursued, and were smitten as they fled; and, according to Bunting {c}, it was a space of eighteen miles.



{b} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 1. {c} Travels, &c. p. 138.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Samuel 6:1



INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 6



In this chapter we are told that David fetched the ark from Baale of Judah, with an intent to bring it to his own city, 2Sa 6:1; but Uzzah being smitten for his error concerning it, David was displeased, and left it at the house of Obededom, where it remained three months, and proved a blessing to his house, 2Sa 6:6; which David hearing of, went and brought it from thence with great expressions of joy before it as it came along, and offered offerings to the Lord at the setting it in its place, and gave gifts to the people, 2Sa 6:12; but Michal his wife was displeased with some of his gestures on that occasion, which made some difference between them, and which, on Michal's part, was resented by the Lord himself; for she became barren for it to the time of her death, 2Sa 6:20.



Ver. 1. Again, David gathered together all [the] chosen [men] of Israel, thirty thousand. Which was done by the advice of his officers, 1Ch 13:1; the word "again" refers either to the gathering of them when they made him king in Hebron, as the Jewish writers generally observe; but then they gathered themselves, and not David: or rather to his gathering them to fight the Philistines a little while ago; and as they were the choice and young men that were gathered for war, as being the fittest, so now to fetch up the ark with dancing and singing, and to protect it; the Septuagint version says they were about seventy thousand; but the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions, have thirty thousand, agreeably to the Hebrew text.





2 Samuel 6:2



Ver. 2. And David arose, and went with all the people that [were] with him,.... The thirty thousand chosen men gathered together, and as many else as chose to go:



from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God; that is, they first went to this place, as in 1Ch 13:6; in order to fetch the ark from thence, as here expressed, and then they came from thence with it; this place is the same that is called Baalah and Kirjathbaal, a city in the tribe of Judah; hence Judah is added to it, and the same with Kirjathjearim, Jos 15:9; the place where it was brought to when fetched from Bethshemesh, 1Sa 7:1; and had been here now near fifty years; nor was it any where else during this time, only once at Gibeah of Saul with him, 1Sa 14:18;



whose name he called by the name of the Lord of hosts, that dwelleth [between] the cherubim; not the ark, but the Lord, whose is the ark; his name is called by the name of Jehovah, the infinite, incomprehensible, eternal, and immutable Being, the Lord of armies above and below; whose habitation was between the cherubim that overshadowed the mercy seat, which was above the ark; all this is said, not only to express the greatness and majesty of God, but for the honour of the ark, which belonged to him.





2 Samuel 6:3



Ver. 3. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart,.... Which was a great mistake, since it ought not to have been put upon a cart, old or new; it was to be borne upon men's shoulders, and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath, to whom no wagons were given, when others had them, for the above reason, Nu 7:9; it is strange that so many priests and Levites, and of the people of Israel gathered together on that account, and David also, so well versed in the law of God, should not refer to it; perhaps they were led by the example of the Philistines, who put it in a new cart, and set it forward towards Bethshemesh, and were not punished for it; but it should have been considered they were an ignorant Heathen people, and who had no proper persons among them to bear it, and so might be dispensed with. This mistake was afterwards seen by David, and rectified, 1Ch 15:2; wherefore there is no reason to charge the text with an error or escape, and that the word "Kirjathjearim" is wanting, and to be supplied, as Spinosa {d} suggests:



and brought it out, or "after they had brought it out" {e},



of the house of Abinadab that [was] in Gibeah; or which was on the hill in Kirjathjearim, 1Sa 7:1;



and Uzzah and Ahio the sons of Abinadab drew the new cart; perhaps not only Abinadab himself was dead, but Eleazar also, his eldest son, who was sanctified to keep the ark, as in 1Sa 7:1; and these might be his younger sons who at this time had the care of it, and it may be especially Uzzah.



{d} Tractat. Theol. Politic. c. 9. p. 176. {e} whavyw "quum extulissent", Piscator.





2 Samuel 6:4



Ver. 4. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which [was] at Gibeah,.... That is, the new cart, which is the last thing spoken of, 2Sa 6:3; and the bringing of the ark out of his house is mentioned before; though some take this to be the coffer in which were the presents of the Philistines, which was now brought out along with the ark, see 1Sa 6:8;



accompanying the ark of God; or "with the ark of God" {f}; that is, they brought the new cart "from" the house of Abinadab on the hill, with the ark of God upon it:



and Ahio went before the ark; guiding the oxen that drew it, and Uzzah might go behind, or on one side, to take care that the ark fell not out of it.



{f} Myhlah Nwra Me "cum arca Dei", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator.





2 Samuel 6:5



Ver. 5. And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord,.... That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord:



on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood: which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow {g};



even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals; harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise", &c. Ps 68:1, words used by Moses when the ark set forward, Nu 10:35.



{g} Suidas in voce kumbala.





2 Samuel 6:6



Ver. 6. And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor,.... Who is called Chidon, 1Ch 13:9; he seems to have had two names; or it was a place that had two names, as say the Jews {h}; according to a tradition of theirs {i}, Chidon is the name of the place where it was said to Joshua, stretch out the spear or shield in thine hand towards Ai, Jos 8:18; so indeed the word signifies, nor was it unusual to stretch out the shield as a signal on occasion. Thus Aeneas lifted up his shield in his left hand, as a token to his Trojans that he was come to relieve them {k}: where this threshingfloor was is not said; some say {l} it was the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite; it could not be far from Jerusalem, since Baalejudah or Kirjathjearim was but about a mile from it, according to Bunting {m}, from whence they fetched the ark:



Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; to keep it from falling: the reason was,



for the oxen shook [it]; the same word is used in 1Ch 13:9; and there it is rendered, "for the oxen stumbled"; and by their stumbling the cart was shaken, and the ark in it, and in danger of falling, as Uzzah thought: or "the oxen shook", for the word "it" is a supplement; they shook as if their members were plucking asunder and parting, as Kimchi expresses it, because of the holiness of the ark; as if they were sensible it was wrong for them to draw it, when it ought to have been carried on the shoulders of Levites; and by this way, as well as by the death of Uzzah the error committed was pointed out: but others render it, "for the oxen stuck in the clay" {n}, and could not go on; which Uzzah observing, and fearing that in their struggle to get out the cart should be overturned, or that the procession would be retarded too much, took hold of the ark to take it out, and carry it the remainder of the way, it not being far from Jerusalem.



{h} T. Bab Sotah, fol. 35. 2. {i} Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Paralipom. fol. 83. G. {k} Virgil. Aeneid. 10. ver. 261, 262. Vid. Diodor. Sic. l. 20. p. 787. {l} Gloss. in T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 35. 3. {m} Travels, &c. p. 138. {n} rqbh wjmv yk "nam luto haeserunt boves", Noldius, p. 396. No. 1343. so Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 37. col. 374. ex Arabica Lingua.





2 Samuel 6:7



Ver. 7. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah,.... And which was manifest by smiting him:



and God smote him there for [his] error; committed at this time, which was complicated; as that the ark was put upon a cart, to which he might be the chief adviser, as Procopius Gazaeus notes, when it should have been carried on the shoulders of the Levites; and that be touched it with his hand, which none but priests might do, supposing him to be a Levite, which it is not clear he was, however not a Kohathite; and he took hold of it in order to carry it in his arms, which even Levites, and those Kohathites, might not do, but with staves put into it, which only they were to hold; and besides, as Abarbinel observes, he showed little faith in the power and providence of God, as if he could not take care of the ark without him:



and there he died by the ark of God; directly, upon the spot, by the side of it; whether he was struck by lightning, or in what way, cannot be said; however, he died by the immediate hand of God, in token of his displeasure: and this shows that it is dangerous in matters of worship to act contrary to the command of God, even in things that may seem small and trivial; and though what may be done may be done with a good intention, as this was, yet that will not excuse the sin; nor are those who are the most forward and zealous in religious matters exempted from marks of God's displeasure when they go wrong.





2 Samuel 6:8



Ver. 8. And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah,.... He could not easily submit, and be reconciled to the providence; his heart was ready to rise up against God, and murmur at him for striking him dead in such an awful manner, for so small a matter as this might seem to be; and the rather, as this put a stop to the procession, and cast a damp upon their joy and mirth on this occasion, and might seem to be an ill omen to David, and be improved by his enemies against him:



and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah unto this day; the name he gave the place, which signifies "the breach of Uzzah", continued to the time of writing this book.





2 Samuel 6:9



Ver. 9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day,.... Lest he should be smitten for his error also, and especially as he had discovered some resentment at the Lord's dealing with Uzzah; when he ought to have been still and quiet, and submitted to the will of God, and owned his justice in it, confessed his own error, and been thankful for his sparing mercy vouchsafed to him:



and said, how shall the ark of the Lord come to me? the meaning of which is not, how it should be brought to the place provided by him in Jerusalem, now Uzzah was dead, for there were Levites enough to carry it, as they afterwards did; but as signifying that it would be either boldness and presumption in him to do it, since God had shown such a mark of his displeasure at their proceeding, that he might be in doubt whether it was the will of God it should come to him; or as fearing it would be dangerous to him to have it with him, since he might be guilty of such an error, of the same, or like it, that had been committed.





2 Samuel 6:10



Ver. 10. So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of David,.... As yet, but wait a little longer, until he had more thoroughly considered of it, and made himself acquainted with everything relative to the ark, that he might know how to behave for the future, without giving offence:



but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite; which was close by, on one side of the place where they were; this man was a Levite, as appears from his being afterwards appointed to be doorkeeper for the ark, and to sing praise before it, and so a proper person to commit the care of it to, 1Ch 15:18; he is called a Gittite, either because he had sojourned in Gath some time, or rather because he was of Gathrimmon, a city of the Levites, Jos 21:24.





2 Samuel 6:11



Ver. 11. And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months,.... David, and those with him, returned to their habitations, where they continued during this time:



and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household; him, and all his family, with spiritual blessings, and with an affluence of temporal good things; for godliness has the promise of this life, and of that which is to come; men are not losers but gainers, even in things temporal, for their attachment to the cause of religion, and the service of God, and their regard to that in their own houses, as well as in the house of God. Josephus {o} says, that Obededom was very poor before, and in a low condition, out of which he soon emerged, and came into affluent circumstances, so as to be taken notice of by his neighbours, and reported abroad; by which means David came to the hearing of it, as follows.



{o} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 2.





2 Samuel 6:12



Ver. 12. And it was told King David,.... By some of his courtiers who had heard of it:



saying, the Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that [pertaineth] unto him, because of the ark of the Lord; it was so suddenly, in so short a time, and so largely, that it could not escape the notice and observation of men that knew him; and this increase was not in any natural way by which it could be accounted for; so that it could be ascribed to no other cause but the blessing of God, and that on account of the ark of God that was with him; nothing else could be thought of:



so David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness: being animated and encouraged by the blessing of God on the house of Obededom, because of it, and thereby freed from those slavish fears he was before possessed of, and filled with hopes of being blessed also on account of it; if not with temporal blessings, he needed not, yet with spiritual ones.





2 Samuel 6:13



Ver. 13. And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of the Lord,.... The Levites; for now David had seen the former mistake, and rectified it, and ordered the Levites to "carry" it, as they did upon their shoulders, with the staves therein, see 1Ch 15:2; when these



had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings; upon an altar, which was at once erected for that purpose; the number and kind of sacrifices offered were seven bullocks and seven rams, 1Ch 15:26; and these David offered, not by himself, but by the priests that were with him, and that as soon as they had gone six paces from the house of Obededom; whereby they perceived the Levites, were able to carry the ark, with what was in it, the Lord helping them, as in 1Ch 15:2, and without stumbling and falling, or any evil attending them; and Kimchi thinks these six paces were just the measure of the ground Uzzah went before what befell him; but it is highly probable that he had gone further; however, no doubt by the order of David, the Levites set down the ark, and sacrifices were offered by way of thanksgiving to God, and for the continuance of his goodness, and for atonement for former errors. Some think these seven oxen and rams were offered, at seven different times and places, at every six paces an ox and a ram; but this is not very likely.





2 Samuel 6:14



Ver. 14. And David danced before the Lord with all [his] might,.... That is, before the ark of the Lord; not a set dance, or along with others; but he leaped and skipped as "car", a lamb, does, and that for joy that the ark was like to be brought home to his house, without any token of the divine displeasure, as before; the Targum is,



"he praised before the Lord with all his might;''



exerted himself to the uttermost in singing the praises of God vocally, or by playing on an instrument; to which sense are the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, which is approved of by Castel {p}; who observes, it nowhere appears to have been a custom to dance before the ark; but it might be now done, though not usual, and therefore was observed by Michal with contempt, 2Sa 6:16; a later writer {q} shows that dancing is the proper sense of the word:



and David [was] girded with a linen ephod; which others, besides priests, sometimes wore, as Samuel did, and which David might choose to appear in, rather than in his royal robes, as being more agreeable to the service of God, and lighter for him both to walk and dance in on this occasion.



{p} Lexic. col. 1793. {q} Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. p. 156, 157.





2 Samuel 6:15



Ver. 15. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord,.... The elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, 1Ch 15:25; besides the common people; there might be as large a number with him now as before:



with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet; with the shouts of the people in common, and with blowing of trumpets by those who were appointed for that purpose, and with other instruments of music, see

1Ch 15:27; Josephus says {r}, that seven choirs went before the priests bearing the ark, as the king commanded, he himself playing on the harp; so the Septuagint version.



{r} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 2.





2 Samuel 6:16



Ver. 16. And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David,.... Being brought thither on the shoulders of the Levites:



Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window; in the king's palace, to see the procession, which was very grand, and in great pomp, attended by a vast number of people, and with music of all sorts. She is said to be Saul's daughter, though David's wife, as having a good deal of her father's haughty temper and disposition, as appears by what follows:



and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; the ark of the Lord, by these outward gestures expressing the inward joy of his heart on this occasion;



and she despised him in her heart; as acting a mean part, quite beneath himself, and unbecoming his royal dignity.





2 Samuel 6:17



Ver. 17. And they brought in the ark of the Lord,.... Into the city of David, the strong hold of Zion:



and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: or "stretched out"; for this was not the tabernacle of Moses, David pitched any where; that was at this time at Gibeon, where it continued to the time of Solomon, 1Ch 21:29; but this was a curtain, or curtains, which he had stretched out or drawn around for the ark to be pitched in the midst of; and this was not in his own house, for he is afterwards said to go to that, but somewhere in Jerusalem or the city of David:



and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord; that is, before the ark, and that by way of thanksgiving for its being brought safe thither, without any error or mistake on the side of him, the Levites, and the people, and without offence to God, and any mark of his displeasure as before. This must be supposed to be done by priests, and not by David himself, who was no priest.





2 Samuel 6:18



Ver. 18. And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings,.... Or these were performed according to his order:



he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts; not as a priest, but as a prince, as the common father of them, wishing them all happiness and prosperity outward and inward, praying to God to bless them with all blessings temporal and spiritual, who is the God of armies above and below, and can do what he pleases, and more than his people can ask or think.





2 Samuel 6:19



Ver. 19. And he dealt among all the people,.... Gave a dole unto them, divided among them:



[even] among the whole multitude of Israel: and if there were so many as at first, there were thirty thousand of them, 2Sa 6:1; and perhaps more, since it follows:



as well to the women as men; to both the one and the other; and the women, it is very probable, were not among those that went to fetch the ark, but assembled to attend the entrance of it into the city, and were present at the solemnities of its settlement:



to everyone a cake of bread; or a loaf of bread, of what quantity is not said, no doubt sufficient for anyone person, or more:



and a good piece [of flesh]: not only that was good in quality, but large in quantity, a very large piece of it; the Jews say {s} the sixth part of a bullock, they dividing it into six parts as we into four quarters; but it is not likely that such a quantity of flesh should be given to each person;



and a flagon [of wine]; but what such a vessel held cannot be said, though at least we may suppose it equal to a bottle of ours, or more; see So 2:5;



so all the people departed everyone to his house; to refresh themselves with the provisions David had given them.



{s} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 36. 3.





2 Samuel 6:20



Ver. 20. Then David returned to bless his household,.... His wife, children, and servants, to wish all happiness to them on this occasion, and pray to God for blessings on them temporal and spiritual. This was done when he came from the place where the ark was set, and was come to his own palace:



and Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David; before he had gotten quite to his own house:



and said, how glorious was the king of Israel today; which she spoke in an ironical jeering way, meaning the reverse, how inglorious, mean, and despicable he had made himself to be, by his airs and gestures:



who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! because he had put off his royal robes, and put on a linen ephod; for that he had stripped himself naked cannot be supposed, nor do her words import so much though a passionate exaggeration of the case.





2 Samuel 6:21



Ver. 21. And David said unto Michal, [it was] before the Lord,.... Before the ark of the Lord, what was done was done there; she upbraided him with his dancing and singing, which was designed for the honour and glory of God, and in thankfulness to him for the bringing the ark to his city, and therefore she ought not to have reproached him with it, and he adds,



which chose me before thy father, and before all his house; see

1Sa 13:14; which he observed to humble her pride, and mortify her, as well as to remark the distinguishing goodness of God to him, which laid him under obligation to express his thankfulness to him in every shape:



to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; which was a high honour conferred upon him, and required the utmost gratitude:



therefore will I play before the Lord; upon the harp, or praise before him, as the Targum, sing his praise before the ark, unto any instrument of music, without once imagining I disgrace myself, on the contrary think it to be the highest honour to me to be employed in such service.





2 Samuel 6:22



Ver. 22. And I will yet be more vile than thus,.... If this is to be vile, I will endeavour to be viler still; if to dance before the ark, and sing the praises of God, be reckoned a lessening of me, I will more and more be found in doing such things, or what is similar to them:



and will be base in mine own sight: humble himself, and lie low in his own eyes, admiring the grace and goodness of God to him, thinking he could never condescend too low to exalt the Lord, and magnify the riches of his goodness:



and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour; who the more humble I am, and the more I condescend, by laying aside all state in acts of devotion and religion, the more shall I be honoured and spoken well of by them.





2 Samuel 6:23



Ver. 23. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day of her death. The children she brought up for Adriel were not her own, but adopted ones, or Adriel's by another woman, 2Sa 21:8; however, she had none after this time, whatever she had before, and it does not appear that she had any, though the Jews say she was Eglah, and Ithream her son, See Gill on "2Sa 3:5". And thus she that vilified David brought a reproach upon herself, as barrenness was always reckoned, and no one descending from her arrived to royal dignity, and sat on the throne of David; and so it was ordered in Providence, as Abarbinel observes, that the seed of David and of Saul might not be mixed.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Samuel 7:1



INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 7



This chapter expresses David's concern for building an house for the ark of God, which he communicated to Nathan the prophet, and was approved of by him, 2Sa 7:1; and who was that night sent by the Lord to David, to acquaint him, that as he had for many years dwelt in a tent, and had never given directions to the tribes of Israel, and the rulers of them, to build him an house, so neither should David build him one; but his son that would succeed him in the throne should; and also observes to him the many great things he had done for him, and promises him more, and particularly the establishment of his throne and kingdom for ever, in which he has respect to the Messiah, that should spring from him, 2Sa 7:4. Then follows a prayer of David, in which he expresses the sense he had of the greatness and goodness of God, and of his own unworthiness to receive such favours from him he had, returns him thanks for the promises he had made, and prays for the performance of them, 2Sa 7:18.



Ver. 1. And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house,.... Which Hiram's servants had built for him, having no occasion to go out to war:



and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; both at home and abroad; though this rest and peace did not last long; for the next chapter gives an account of each of the people he was engaged in war with, 2Sa 8:1.





2 Samuel 7:2



Ver. 2. That the king said unto Nathan the prophet,.... This is the first time this prophet is made mention of, but often afterwards, yet who he was, and from whence he came, is not known; he appears to be a man of great piety and prudence, as well as endowed with a prophetic spirit, and was very familiar with David, and perhaps dwelt in his palace; being a man on all accounts fit for conversation with princes, to whom David imparted what he had been meditating upon in his heart. The Jews have a tradition {t} that he was the same with Jonathan the son of Shimea, the brother of David, 2Sa 21:21; which is not very likely:



see now, I dwell in an house of cedar; made of the cedars of Lebanon; see what a spacious palace it is:



but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains; in a tabernacle within curtains, as the Targum; not the tabernacle of Moses, for that was at Gibeon, 1Ch 21:29; but that which David had made for it, which consisted of curtains that were drawn around it, 2Sa 6:17. It gave him a concern that he should dwell in so magnificent a palace, and the ark of God should have so mean an habitation; wherefore it was upon his mind to build a grand edifice for it, and this he suggested hereby to Nathan, and so he understood him, as appears by what follows; and the rather he was led to such a thought, being now at rest and in peace; for then it was an house was to be built for God, in which he would cause his name to dwell, as David might easily learn from De 12:9; and who so proper to set forward such a work as a king, and he when at rest from his enemies?



{t} Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 79. M. & in lib. Paralipom. fol. 89. B. F.





2 Samuel 7:3



Ver. 3. And Nathan said to the king, go, do till that [is] in thine heart,.... He perceived it was in his heart to build an house for God; he knew an house was to be built at one time or another, by some person or another; he knew it was a good work, and fit for a king to do, and might think this was a proper time any, he being at leisure, and therefore encouraged him to it: but inasmuch as the time when and the person by whom this was to be built were not pointed out particularly in the word of God, David and he should have consulted the Lord about it; in this they erred, and for which they were tacitly reproved; for, as the event shows, this was not the time when, nor David the person by whom, it was to be built. Nathan said this as a pious and good man, in a private capacity, not as a prophet, or under a spirit of prophecy; for prophets did not always speak under such an influence, but, as private men, said some things ignorantly and through mistake; see

1Sa 16:6;



for the Lord [is] with thee; prospering and succeeding him in all he undertook, giving him rest from all his enemies; and he might think that this motion he now made of building an house was from the Lord; the Targum is,



"the Word of the Lord shall be for thine help,''



or thine helper, and shall assist thee in this work. David being thus encouraged by the prophet, his thoughts were more employed about it, and he was resolute and eager to perform it; and now it was he penned the hundred thirty second psalm, in which he expresses his oath and vow to find a place to build on, Ps 132:1.





2 Samuel 7:4



Ver. 4. And it came to pass that night,.... The same night following the day in which David and Nathan had had the above conversation, that neither of them might continue long in their error and mistake, and especially lest David, in his great zeal and warm affection, should take an hasty and improper step:



that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan; the word of prophecy, as the Targum; before he was not under a prophetic influence, but spoke in his own words, and had not the word of God; but now it came to him:



saying; as follows.





2 Samuel 7:5



Ver. 5. Go and tell my servant David,.... The Lord speaks very honourably and respectfully of him, owns him to be his servant in other things, though he did not choose to employ him in this; and though he was not the person, nor this the time, to build the house of the Lord, yet, as he showed a good will towards it, so far it was acceptable to God:



thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? no, thou shalt not, as appears from 1Ch 17:4; which seems to be expressed with much spirit, and some degree of resentment, to resolve on such a work, without seeking to know his mind in it. Eupolemus {u} an Heathen, confirms this account, only instead of a prophet he speaks of an angel, whose name he says was Dinnathan, who, when David was desirous of building a temple for God, and very anxious to be shown the place where the altar was to be erected, this angel appeared to him; and, though he showed him the place for the altar, forbad him building it, because he was polluted with human blood, and had been engaged in wars many years, and bid him leave the building of it to his son.



{u} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.





2 Samuel 7:6



Ver. 6. Whereas I have not dwelt in [any] house,.... Fixed, stated, habitation:



since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,

even to this day; a space of five or six hundred years, though he might before:



but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle; moving from place to place while in the wilderness, and since in the land of Canaan, first at Gilgal, then at Shiloh, afterwards at Nob, and now at Gibeon. "Tent" and "tabernacle" are distinguished, though they were but one building and habitation; the tent was the curtains of goats' hair, and the tabernacle the linen curtains, see Ex 26:1. In 1Ch 17:5 it is "from tent to tent, and from [one] tabernacle [to another]"; which does not intend variety of tabernacles, but change of place.





2 Samuel 7:7



Ver. 7. In all [the places] wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel,.... See Gill on "2Sa 7:6" on the places mentioned there:



spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel; or rather the sceptres of Israel; so the word is rendered, Ge 49:10; the sceptre bearers, rulers, and governors, whose custom was to carry a sceptre in their hands, as Ben Melech observes; and so in a parallel text, 1Ch 17:6, it is, "to any of the judges of Israel"; any of those from the times of Moses and Joshua to the times of Saul and David, and this is confirmed by what follows:



whom I commanded to feed my people Israel; that is, to rule and govern them, protect and defend them, which cannot be said of the tribes, but of the rulers of them; and the Lord asks this question, whether ever he had said a word to any of those, in all that space of time, expressing anything of this kind:



saying, why build ye not me an house of cedar? they never were bid to do it, or expostulated with why they did not, or ever reproved for not doing it; therefore why should David think of doing it?





2 Samuel 7:8



Ver. 8. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David,.... For it was taken well at his hands, in part, that it was in his heart, and he had a desire to build an house for God, though he was wrong in determining upon it without seeking the Lord; and lest he should be discouraged by the prohibition of him from building, the following things are observed to assure him it was not from disregard unto him, or displeasure at him, that he would not be employed in this service; since the Lord had given sufficient tokens of his favour to him, and with which he should be content, as having honour enough done him; it was enough that God had raised him up from a low estate to great grandeur and dignity:



thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel; for that was his employment, to keep his father's sheep, before he was taken into Saul's court, and married his daughter, when after his death he came to have the crown, of Israel: now this is said, not to upbraid him with his former meanness, but to observe the goodness of God unto him, and what reason he had for thankfulness, and to look upon himself as a favourite of God, who of a keeper of sheep was made a shepherd of men, to rule and feed them; so Cyrus is called a shepherd, Isa 44:28; and Agamemnon, in Homer {w}, is called "the shepherd of the people".



{w} Iliad. 2.





2 Samuel 7:9



Ver. 9. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest,.... When he went against Goliath, when he went forth against the Philistines, when in Saul's court, when he fled from Saul, and was obliged to go to various places, God was with him protecting and preserving him, prospering and succeeding him every where, and in everything:



and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight: as Saul, and others in the land of Israel, and the Philistines, and other enemies round about him, so that he had rest from them all;



and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great [men] that [are] in the earth; a name for a mighty king, warrior, and conqueror, such as some mighty kings and great men of the earth had obtained, and such fame, being made king over all Israel; and his success against the Jebusites had got him a name, as well as former victories he had been favoured with; on account of all which his name and fame had been spread abroad in the world, and he was reckoned as one of the greatest princes in it.





2 Samuel 7:10



Ver. 10. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel,.... The land of Canaan: this the Lord had of old appointed to them, and had introduced them into and settled them in it, but not entirely and alone; in many places the Canaanites had inhabited; but now they should be expelled, and the Israelites should have the place to themselves:



and will plant them; so that they shall take root and flourish, and continue:



that they may dwell in a place of their own; and not as they dwelt in Egypt, in a land that was not theirs; or "under themselves" {x}; under their own rulers and governors:



and move no more; as they did in the times of the judges, when, sinning against God, they were often delivered into their enemies' hands, and carried captives:



neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime; when in Egypt, and in the times of the judges; all which is supposed, provided they did not depart from the Lord, but abode by his word, worship, and ordinances, and obeyed his will; for it was by their obedience they held their tenure of the land of Canaan, see Isa 1:19; or all this may respect future times, when they shall be converted to the Messiah, and return to their own land, and ever continue in it, and never more be harassed and distressed, Jer 32:41.



{x} wytxt, "sub se", Montanus.





2 Samuel 7:11



Ver. 11. And as since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over my people Israel,.... Before the time the judges were raised they were greatly afflicted by one nation or another around them, and between judge and judge, but now they should be no more so; here the parenthesis should end:



and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies; this belongs to David personally, and intends the same as in 2Sa 7:1;



also the Lord telleth thee, that he will make thee an house; not only build up his family, and make that numerous, but establish the house of his kingdom, as the Targum; that whereas he was desirous of building an house for God, God would build up an house for him; which would be a clear proof, that though he did not think fit to make use of him in the building of his house, yet he was not cast out of his favour, nor was it to be so interpreted by himself or others.





2 Samuel 7:12



Ver. 12. And when thy days be fulfilled,.... The days of his life, which were appointed by the Lord for him to live, and when he had filled up the common term of man's life, as he exactly did; for he lived just seventy years, see 2Sa 5:4;



and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; die and be buried; for this is a phrase expressive of death, and the grave the common portion of men:



I will set up thy seed after thee; sons to succeed in the kingdom, as they did for the space of five hundred years; though here it respects one particular seed or son, even Solomon, as appears by what follows:



which shall proceed out of thy bowels; be begotten by him, and born unto him, and has regard to a future son of his not yet born; not Absalom nor Adonijah, nor any of the rest born in Hebron were to succeed him in the kingdom, but one as yet unborn:



and I will establish his kingdom; so that he shall have a long and happy reign, as Solomon had.





2 Samuel 7:13



Ver. 13. He shall build an house for my name,.... For the honour of it, for the worship and service of God, as it is well known Solomon did; and so his antitype the Messiah, Zec 6:12;



and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever; that is, for a long time. Solomon's reign was forty years, and the kingdom of Judah continued in his posterity until the Babylonish captivity, and a prince that descended from him was the ruler of the people when they returned: this has its fulfilment more eminently in Christ, who was of his seed, to whom God has given "the throne of his father David", and who "shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever", Lu 1:32.





2 Samuel 7:14



Ver. 14. I will be his father, and he shall be my son,.... That is, I will be as kind unto him, and careful of him, as a father of a son; or he shall be, and appear to be my son, by adopting grace, as no doubt Solomon was, notwithstanding all his failings. This is applied to Christ, the antitypical Solomon, who was, in an higher sense, the Son of God, even by natural and eternal generation; see Heb 1:5;



if he commit iniquity; which cannot be supposed of Christ; for though he was made sin by imputation, he neither knew nor did any, but may be supposed of his spiritual offspring, whom he represented as an head and surety, as of Solomon, who committed many sins and transgressions:



I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; either with men themselves, as Hadad the Edomite, Rezon the son of Eliadah, and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by all whom he was afflicted and distressed, after he felt into idolatry, 1Ki 11:14; or with such rods and stripes as men correct their children with, not to destroy them, but to chastise them for their good; and so the phrases denote humane, kind, gentle, moderate corrections given in love, and which answer some good purposes.





2 Samuel 7:15



Ver. 15. But my mercy shall not depart away from him,.... Which is not to be understood of special mercy and grace, though it is true of these with respect to Solomon, and so to all the adopted children of God, see

Ps 89:32; but then this here designs such mercy as may be taken away from another, and as it was from Saul, as it follows:



as I took [it] from Saul, whom I put away before thee; and therefore must be understood of his mercy and kindness, in giving him a kingdom, and setting him on the throne; this should not be taken away from him, as it was from Saul, whom God rejected from being king; not him personally, but his posterity; but so the Lord would not do, nor did he, to Solomon, in whose posterity the kingdom of Judah continued to the Babylonish captivity.





2 Samuel 7:16



Ver. 16. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee,.... That is, both his family and his government should be perpetuated, or he should always have one of his family to sit upon his throne; the accomplishment of which, in the beginning of it, he saw with his eyes in his son Solomon, and with an eye of faith in his greater Son the Messiah, in whom only these words will have their complete fulfilment; and so Abarbinel says this vision or prophecy is explained by some of the days of the Messiah; and this house and kingdom, in 1Ch 17:14; are called by the Lord "my" house, and "my" kingdom:



thy throne shall be established for ever; which is a repetition of the same in other words for the confirmation of it.





2 Samuel 7:17



Ver. 17. According to all these words, and according to all this vision,.... All the words of this prophecy, just as they were delivered to Nathan, were exactly expressed by him; he did not vary from them in the least, but with the greatest faithfulness related them:



so did Nathan speak unto David; though in the part which related to the history of the house of God, it was contrary to the advice which he had given; but he was not ashamed to retract his sense, when he was made acquainted with the mind of God.





2 Samuel 7:18



Ver. 18. Then went King David in,.... Into the tabernacle where the ark was, which he had prepared for it, 2Sa 6:17;



and sat before the Lord; before the ark, the symbol of his presence, and prayed, and gave thanks, as follows: from whence it appears that a sitting posture was sometimes used in prayer, of which we have other instances, Ex 17:11. It is said {y} that Pythagoras, and also Numa, ordered that worshippers should sit. So that this act of devotion is not to be limited to any particular posture, though it seems most agreeable either to stand or kneel; and the Jews look upon this to be a peculiar case, and infer from hence that none were allowed to sit in the court but the kings of the house of Judah {z}; and some of them {a} will not allow that to them, since the seraphim above are even said to stand, Isa 6:2; and suppose the meaning of this to be only that David supported himself in the court; and some render the words, "he remained before the Lord" {b}; he continued in meditation, prayer, and thanksgiving, and such like acts of devotion, for a considerable time; so the Targum, in 1Ch 17:16.



"King David came and continued in prayer before the Lord:''



and he said, who [am] I, O Lord God? a creature, a sinful creature, a mean and unworthy one, undeserving of a place in the house of God, and of access unto him, and to receive any favour from him, less than the least of all saints, less than the least of all mercies:



and what [is] my house: or family of which he was, the family of Jesse; for though it sprung from a prince in Israel, yet was but low and mean, in comparison of some others, and especially unworthy of the regard of the great God:



that thou hast brought me hitherto? to such grandeur and dignity, as to be king over all Israel and Judah, to have all his enemies subdued under him, and to be at peace and rest from them, and established in his kingdom; and which he signifies the Lord alone had brought him to, through many difficulties and tribulations, and which he could never have attained unto by his own wisdom and power, nor by the assistance of his friends; it was all the Lord's doing, and wondrous in his eyes.



{y} Vid. D. Herbert. de Cherbury de Relig. Gent. c. 7. p. 65. {z} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 69. 2. Maimon & Bartenor. in Misn. Yoma, c. 7. sect. 1. {a} Midrash in Abarbinel in loc. {b} bvyw "et mansit", Vatablus.





2 Samuel 7:19



Ver. 19. And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God,.... This of raising him to the throne, and settling him on it, was but a small thing in comparison of what he promised to do for him and his:



but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come; since he had not only spoken of a son that should succeed him in the kingdom, but that he would make him an house, and establish his kingdom; yea, that the throne of his kingdom should be established for ever, that a race of kings should spring from him, and especially the King Messiah, of whose kingdom there would be no end; and so the Targum,



"thou hast spoken of the house of thy servant unto the world to come,''



a phrase often used by the Jews for the times of the Messiah; see Heb 2:5; and so Abarbinel thinks this clause has respect to Messiah the son of David:



and [is] this the manner of man, O Lord God? to bestow their favours on their inferiors, persons of no worth and merit, and is a profuse manner? it is not; and yet to one so much below thee, and so undeserving, hast thou most largely and liberally given such great and unmerited mercies: or is it the manner, or customary to deal thus with men mean and abject, though it may with great personages that make a great figure in the world? it is not: and yet I am regarded by thee as if I was one of the greatest monarchs on earth: this sense agrees with the parallel text in 1Ch 17:17; "and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree"; or, "this is the law", or "doctrine of the man [who is] the Lord God" {c}. This doctrine contained in the promise now made respects the seed of the woman, the promised Shiloh, the illustrious man, Jehovah's fellow, the incarnate God, the Messiah, who is Jehovah our righteousness, the true God and eternal life.



{c} So Luther and Osiander; or "this is the delineation of the man who is the Lord", &c. So Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 447.





2 Samuel 7:20



Ver. 20. And what can David say more unto thee,.... In a way of self-abasement, or in thankfulness for such wonderful favours, or in prayer for more and other mercies; he wants words, as if he should say, to express his sense of his own nothingness and unworthiness, and to praise the Lord for all his benefits; and so large are the grants and promises made, that there is no room for him to ask for more:



for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant; what a sense he has of his own meanness and vileness, what gratitude his heart is filled with, and what his wants and necessities are, which God only can supply, and does abundantly, even more than he is able to ask or think. The Targum is,



"and thou hast performed the petition of thy servant, O Lord God.''





2 Samuel 7:21



Ver. 21. For thy word's sake,.... For the sake of the promise he had made to him by Samuel, that he should be king, and his kingdom should be established; or for the sake of the Messiah, that should spring from him; the Memra, as the Targum, the essential Word of God; and so the Septuagint version, "because of thy servant", with which agrees the parallel text in 1Ch 17:19;



and according to thine own heart; of his own sovereign good will and pleasure, of his own grace, as the Arabic version, and not according to the merits and deserts of David:



hast thou done all these great things; in making him king of Israel, and settling the kingdom in his posterity to the times of the Messiah, who should spring from him:



to make thy servant know [them]; as he now did by Nathan the prophet, what he and his should enjoy for time to come; so that it is not only a blessing to have favours designed, purposed, and promised, but to have the knowledge of them, to know the things that are freely given of God.





2 Samuel 7:22



Ver. 22. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God,.... In his name, nature, persons, and perfections, purposes, promises, and works:



for [there is] none like thee; for his essence and attributes, for his greatness and goodness, for what he is in himself, for what he is to his people, and has done for them:



neither [is there any] God beside thee; there is but one God, the living and true God, the former and maker of all things; all others are but fictitious and factitious gods, see 1Sa 2:2;



according to all that we have heard with our ears; concerning what he did in the land of Egypt upon the Egyptians, and in the wilderness, in favour of the Israelites, and in the land of Canaan, by driving out the inhabitants before the people of Israel, and in the times of the judges, in raising them up to deliver his people.





2 Samuel 7:23



Ver. 23. And what one nation in the earth [is] like thy people, [even] like Israel,.... For the knowledge and worship of the true God among them, for laws and or given them, and for blessings of goodness bestowed upon them:



whom God went to redeem for a people to himself; the words are plural, "whom the gods went to redeem"; the Targum is,



"they that were sent from the Lord,''



meaning Moses and Aaron, of whom Jarchi interprets them, of the first of which it is said, "I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh", Ex 7:1; but Kimchi and R. Isaiah understand it of the true God, only suppose, as the former, that the plural expression is used for the sake of honour and glory; whereas, no doubt, respect is had to the three divine Persons in the Trinity, who were all concerned in the redemption of Israel, see Isa 63:9, where mention is made of the Lord, and of the Angel of his presence, and of his holy Spirit, as engaged therein:



and to make him a name; either to get himself a name, and honour and glory in the world, to show forth his power and might, as well as his mercy and goodness, or to make his people famous, great, and glorious in the earth:



and to do for you great things and terrible; as he did in the land of Ham, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan, great things for his people, and terrible ones to their enemies:



for thy land; which is either spoken to God, whose was the land of Israel, and which he had chosen to dwell in, and had given to his people; or else to Israel, to whom the grant of this land was made, and who were put into the possession of it:



before thy people which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt: that is, the great and terrible things were done in their sight, when they were redeemed from the bondage of Egypt, see Ps 78:12;



[from] the nations, and their gods? meaning, that they were redeemed not only from Egypt, but the nations of the Canaanites were driven out before them; nor could their idols save them, but destruction came upon them as upon the gods of the Egyptians: some leave out the supplement "from", and interpret this of the persons redeemed, even of the nations and tribes of Israel, and their great men, their rulers and civil magistrates, sometimes called gods.





2 Samuel 7:24



Ver. 24. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel [to be] a people unto thee for ever,.... So long as they were obedient to him, and observed his laws and statutes, and abode by his worship and ordinances, otherwise he would write a "loammi" on them, as he has, see Ho 1:9;



and thou, Lord, art become their God; their covenant God, they having avouched him to be their God, and he having avouched them to be his people, De 26:17.





2 Samuel 7:25



Ver. 25. And now, O Lord God,.... From confessions of unworthiness, and of the goodness of God, and a recital of favours conferred on him and the people of Israel, David proceeds to petitions:



the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish [it] for ever: he prays for the sure performance of the promise of God respecting himself and his family, and the stability and perpetual continuance of the kingdom in it, and has, no doubt, a special regard to the Messiah, the promised seed that should spring from him:



and do as thou hast said: for though God had purposed and promised to do those several things, and would do them, yet it was expected by him, and it was right in David to pray for the performance of them; see

Eze 36:37.





2 Samuel 7:26



Ver. 26. And let thy name be magnified for ever,.... David desired the performance of the above things not so much for his own sake, and for the sake of his family, as for the glory of God; his great concern was, that God might be magnified, and his greatness displayed, in making him and his family great; and particularly that he might be magnified and glorified in that famous Son of his, the Messiah, as he has been, Joh 13:31; and by all his people in succeeding ages:



saying, the Lord of hosts [is] the God over Israel; the Lord of armies above and below, is God over all, and in a special and peculiar manner God over Israel, literal and spiritual, that takes care of them, supplies, protects, and defends them:



and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee; as he had promised, 2Sa 7:16.





2 Samuel 7:27



Ver. 27. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel,.... As he is called in 2Sa 7:26:



hast revealed to thy servant; which he otherwise could not have known:



saying, I will build thee an house; see 2Sa 7:11;



therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee; found his heart disposed to this service, or found freedom and boldness in him to put up this prayer to God; what encouraged and emboldened him to do it was the gracious promise of God, that he would build up his family, and establish his kingdom; or otherwise he could not have taken such liberty, and used such boldness with God in prayer, as to have requested it of him.





2 Samuel 7:28



Ver. 28. And now, O Lord God, thou [art] that God,.... Who is the Lord of hosts, and the God of Israel, that has promised and is able to perform, and is faithful to his promise:



and thy words be true; are truly, punctually, and faithfully performed, never fail:



and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant; concerning building and establishing his house. David repeats this promise as being greatly affected with it, and fully assured of the performance of it.





2 Samuel 7:29



Ver. 29. Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant,.... Not according to the merits of him or his family, but according to the sovereign will and pleasure of God; the Targum is, begin and bless; let the promised blessings begin to descend, that there may be some appearance of the performance of the promise, which may give encouragement that the whole will be fulfilled:



that it may continue for ever before thee; under his care and protection:



for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken [it]; whose words never fall to the ground, but have a sure accomplishment:



and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever; even both with temporal and spiritual blessedness.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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