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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D S A M U E L</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The date of the events of this chapter is uncertain. I incline to think
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that they happened as they are here placed, after Absalom's and Sheba's
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rebellion, and towards the latter end of David's reign. That the
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battles with the Philistines, mentioned here, were long after the
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Philistines were subdued, appears by comparing
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+18:1,20:4">1 Chron. xviii. 1 with xx. 4</A>.
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The numbering of the people was just before the fixing of the place of
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the temple (as appears
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+22:1">1 Chron. xxii. 1</A>),
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and that was towards the close of David's life; and, it should seem,
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the people were numbered just after the three years' famine for the
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Gibeonites, for that which is threatened as "three" years' famine
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+21:12">1 Chron. xxi. 12</A>)
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is called "seven" years
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:12,13">2 Sam. xxiv. 12, 13</A>),
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three more, with the year current, added to those three. We have here,
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I. The Gibeonites avenged,
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1. By a famine in the land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:1">ver. 1</A>.
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2. By the putting of seven of Saul's posterity to death
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:2-9">ver. 2-9</A>),
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care, however, being taken of their dead bodies, and of the bones of
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Saul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:10-14">ver. 10-14</A>.
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II. The giants of the Philistines slain in several battles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:15-22">ver. 15-22</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Famine in Israel; The Gibeonites Avenged.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1021.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years,
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year after year; and David enquired of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>. And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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answered, <I>It is</I> for Saul, and for <I>his</I> bloody house, because
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he slew the Gibeonites.
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2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now
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the Gibeonites <I>were</I> not of the children of Israel, but of the
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remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn
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unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the
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children of Israel and Judah.)
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3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for
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you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless
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the inheritance of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>?
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4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor
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gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill
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any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, <I>that</I> will I
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do for you.
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5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and
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that devised against us <I>that</I> we should be destroyed from
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remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
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6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will
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hang them up unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in Gibeah of Saul, <I>whom</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> did
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choose. And the king said, I will give <I>them.</I>
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7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son
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of Saul, because of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s oath that <I>was</I> between them,
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between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
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8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of
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Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the
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five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for
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Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
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9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and
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they hanged them in the hill before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and they fell <I>all</I>
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seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in
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the first <I>days,</I> in the beginning of barley harvest.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here
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I. Were are told of the injury which Saul had, long before this, done
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to the Gibeonites, which we had no account of in the history of his
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reign, nor should we have heard of it here but that it came now to be
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reckoned for. The Gibeonites were of the remnant of the Amorites
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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who by a stratagem had made peace with Israel, and had the public faith
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pledged to them by Joshua for their safety. We had the story
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+9:1-27">Josh. ix.</A>,
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where it was agreed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>)
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that they should have their lives secured, but be deprived of their
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lands and liberties, that they and theirs should be tenants in
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villanage to Israel. It does not appear that they had broken their part
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of the covenant, either by denying their service or attempting to
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recover their lands or liberties; nor was this pretended; but Saul,
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under colour of zeal for the honour of Israel, that it might not be
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said that they had any of the natives among them, aimed to root them
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out, and, in order to that, slew many of them. Thus he would seem wiser
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than his predecessors the judges, and more zealous for the public
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interest; and perhaps he designed it for an instance of his royal
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prerogative and the power which as king he assumed to rescind the
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former acts of government and to disannul the most solemn leagues. It
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may be, he designed, by this severity towards the Gibeonites, to atone
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for his clemency towards the Amalekites. Some conjecture that he sought
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to cut off the Gibeonites at the same time when he put away the witches
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+28:3">1 Sam. xxviii. 3</A>),
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or perhaps many of them were remarkably pious, and he sought to destroy
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them when he slew the priests their masters. That which made this an
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exceedingly sinful sin was that he not only shed innocent blood, but
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therein violated the solemn oath by which the nation was bound to
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protect them. See what brought ruin on Saul's house: it was a bloody
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house.</P>
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<P>
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II. We find the nation of Israel chastised with a sore famine, long
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after, for this sin of Saul. Observe,
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1. Even in the land of Israel, that fruitful land, and in the reign of
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David, that glorious reign, there was a famine, not extreme (for then
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notice would sooner have been taken of it and enquiry made into the
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cause of it), but great drought, and scarcity of provisions, the
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consequence of it, for three years together. If corn miss one year,
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commonly the next makes up the deficiency; but, if it miss three years
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successively, it will be a sore judgment; and the man of wisdom will by
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it hear God's voice crying to the country to repent of the abuse of
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plenty.
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2. David enquired of God concerning it. Though he was himself a
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prophet, he must consult the oracle, and know God's mind in his own
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appointed way. Note, When we are under God's judgments we ought to
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enquire into the grounds of the controversy. <I>Lord, show me wherefore
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thou contendest with me.</I> It is strange that David did not sooner
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consult the oracle, not till the third year; but perhaps, till then, he
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apprehended it not to be an extraordinary judgment for some particular
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sin. Even good men are often slack and remiss in doing their duty. We
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continue in ignorance, and under mistake, because we delay to enquire.
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3. God was ready in his answer, though David was slow in his enquiries:
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<I>It is for Saul.</I> Note, God's judgments often look a great way
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back, which obliges us to do so when we are under his rebukes. It is
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not for us to object against the people's smarting for the sin of their
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king (perhaps they were aiding and abetting), nor against this
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generation's suffering for the sin of the last God often <I>visiteth
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the sins of the fathers upon the children, and his judgments are a
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great deep.</I> He gives not account of any of his matters. Time does
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not wear out the guilt of sin; nor can we build hopes of impunity upon
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the delay of judgments. There is no statute of limitation to be pleaded
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against God's demands. <I>Nullum tempus occurrit Deo</I>--<I>God may
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punish when he pleases.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. We have vengeance taken upon the house of Saul for the turning
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away of God's wrath from the land, which, at present, smarted for his
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sin.</P>
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<P>
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1. David, probably by divine direction, referred it to the Gibeonites
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themselves to prescribe what satisfaction should be given them for the
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wrong that had been done them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They had many years remained silent, had not appealed to David, nor
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given the kingdom any disturbance with their complaints or demands; and
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now, at length, God speaks for them (<I>I heard not, for thou wilt
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hear,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+38:14,15">Ps. xxxviii. 14, 15</A>);
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and they are recompensed for their patience with this honour, that they
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are made judges in their own case, and have a blank given them to write
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their demands on: <I>What you shall say, that will I do</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that atonement may be made, and that <I>you may bless the inheritance
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of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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It is sad for any family or nation to have the prayers of oppressed
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innocency against them, and therefore the expense of a just restitution
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is well bestowed for the retrieving of <I>the blessing of those that
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were ready to perish,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:13">Job xxix. 13</A>.
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"My servant Job, whom you have wronged, shall pray for you," says God,
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"and then I will be reconciled to you, and not till then." Those
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understand not themselves that value not the prayers of the poor and
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despised.</P>
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<P>
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2. They desired that seven of Saul's posterity might be put to death,
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and David granted their demand.
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(1.) They required no <I>silver, nor gold,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Note, Money is no satisfaction for blood, see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+35:31-33">Num. xxxv. 31-33</A>.
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It is the ancient law that blood calls for blood
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:6">Gen. ix. 6</A>);
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and those over-value money and under-value life, that sell the blood of
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their relations for corruptible things, <I>such as silver and gold.</I>
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The Gibeonites had now a fair opportunity to get a discharge from their
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servitude, in compensation for the wrong done them, according to the
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equity of that law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+21:26">Exod. xxi. 26</A>),
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<I>If a man strike out his servant's eye, he shall let him go free for
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his eye's sake.</I> But they did not insist on this; though the
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covenant was broken on the other side, it should not be broken on
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theirs. They were <I>Nethinim,</I> given to God and his people Israel,
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and they would not seem weary of the service.
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(2.) They required no lives but of Saul's family. He had done them the
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wrong, and therefore his children must pay for it. We sue the heirs for
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the parents' debts. Men may not extend this principle so far as life,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+24:16">Deut. xxiv. 16</A>.
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<I>The children</I> in an ordinary course of law, <I>shall never be put
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to death for the parents.</I> But this case of the Gibeonites was
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altogether extraordinary. God had made himself an immediate party to
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the cause and no doubt put it into the heart of the Gibeonites to make
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this demand, for he owned what was done
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
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and his judgments are not subject to the rules which men's judgments
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must be subject to. Let parents take heed of sin, especially the sin of
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cruelty and oppression, for their poor children's sake, who may be
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smarting for it by the just hand of God when they themselves are in
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their graves. Guilt and a curse are a bad entail upon a family. It
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should seem, Saul's posterity trod in his steps, for it is called a
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<I>bloody house;</I> it was the spirit of the family, and therefore
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they are justly reckoned with for his sin, as well as for their own.
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(3.) They would not impose it upon David to do this execution: <I>Thou
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shalt not for us kill any man</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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but we will do it ourselves, <I>we will hang them up unto the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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that if there were any hardship in it, they might bear the blame, and
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not David or his house. By our old law, if a murderer had judgment
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given against him upon an appeal, the relations that appealed had the
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executing of him.
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(4.) They did not require this out of malice against Saul or his family
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(had they been revengeful, they would have moved it themselves long
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before), but out of love to the people of Israel, whom they saw plagued
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for the injury done to them: "<I>We will hang them up unto the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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to satisfy his justice, not to gratify any revenge of our own--for the
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good of the public, not for our own reputation."
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(5.) The nomination of the persons they left to David, who took care to
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secure Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, that, while he was avenging
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the breach of one oath, he might not himself break another
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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but he delivered up two of Saul's sons whom he had by a concubine, and
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five of his grandsons, whom his daughter Merab bore to Adriel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+18:19">1 Sam. xviii. 19</A>),
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but his daughter Michal brought up,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Now Saul's treachery was punished, in giving Merab to Adriel, when he
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had promised her to David, with a design to provoke him. "It is a
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dangerous matter," says bishop Hall upon this, "to offer injury to any
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of God's faithful ones; if their meekness have easily remitted it,
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their God will not pass it over without a severe retribution, though it
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may be long first."
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(6.) The place, time, and manner, of their execution, all added to the
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solemnity of their being sacrificed to divine justice.
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[1.] They were hanged up, as anathemas, under a peculiar mark of God's
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displeasure; for the law had said, <I>He that is hanged is accursed of
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God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+21:23,Ga+3:13">Deut. xxi. 23; Gal. iii. 13</A>.
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Christ being made a curse for us, and dying to satisfy for our sins and
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to turn away the wrath of God, became obedient to this ignominious
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death.
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[2.] They were hanged up in Gibeah of Saul
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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to show that it was for his sin that they died. They were hanged, as it
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were, before their own door, to expiate the guilt of the house of Saul;
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and thus God accomplished the ruin of that family, for the blood of the
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priests, and their families, which, doubtless, now came in remembrance
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before God, and inquisition was made for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:12">Ps. ix. 12</A>.
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Yet the blood of the <I>Gibeonites</I> only is mentioned, because that
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|
was shed in violation of a sacred oath, which, though sworn long
|
|
before, though obtained by a wile, and the promise made to Canaanites,
|
|
yet is thus severely reckoned for. The despising of the oath, and
|
|
breaking of the covenant, will be recompensed on the head of those who
|
|
thus profane God's sacred name,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:18,19">Ezek. xvii. 18, 19</A>.
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And thus God would show that with him rich and poor meet together. Even
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|
royal blood must go to atone for the blood of the Gibeonites, who were
|
|
but the vassals for the congregation.
|
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|
[3.] They were put to death <I>in the days of harvest</I>
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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<I>at the beginning of harvest</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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to show that they were thus sacrificed for the turning sway of that
|
|
wrath of God which had withheld from them their harvest-mercies for
|
|
some years past, and to obtain his favour in the present harvest. Thus
|
|
there is no way of appeasing God's anger but by mortifying and
|
|
crucifying our lusts and corruptions. In vain do we expect mercy from
|
|
God, unless we do justice upon our sins. Those executions must not be
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complained of as cruel which have become necessary to the public
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|
welfare. Better that seven of Saul's bloody house be hanged than that
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all Israel be famished.</P>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Saul's Sons.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1021.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread
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it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until
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water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the
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|
birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the
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|
field by night.
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11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the
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|
concubine of Saul, had done.
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12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of
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Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen
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them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had
|
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hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
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13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the
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bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them
|
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that were hanged.
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14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in
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the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his
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father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after
|
|
that God was intreated for the land.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have,
|
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I. Saul's sons not only hanged, but hanged in chains, their dead bodies
|
|
left hanging, and exposed, till the judgment ceased, which their death
|
|
was to turn away, by the sending of rain upon the land. They died as
|
|
sacrifices, and thus they were, in a manner, offered up, not consumed
|
|
all at once by fire, but gradually by the air. They died as anathemas,
|
|
and by this ignominious usage they were represented as execrable,
|
|
because iniquity was laid upon them. When our blessed Saviour was made
|
|
sin for us he was made a curse for us. But how shall we reconcile this
|
|
with the law which expressly required that those who were hanged should
|
|
be buried on the same day?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+21:23">Deut. xxi. 23</A>.
|
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One of the Jewish rabbin wishes this passage of story expunged, <I>that
|
|
the name of God might be sanctified,</I> which, he thinks, is
|
|
dishonoured by his acceptance of that which was a violation of his law:
|
|
but this was an extraordinary case, and did not fall within that law;
|
|
nay, the very reason for that law is a reason for this exception. He
|
|
that is thus left hanged is accursed; therefore ordinary malefactors
|
|
must not be so abused; but therefore these must, because they were
|
|
sacrificed, not to the justice of the nation, but for the crime of the
|
|
nation (no less a crime than the violation of the public faith) and for
|
|
the deliverance of the nation from no less a judgment than a general
|
|
famine. Being thus made as the <I>off-scouring of all things,</I> they
|
|
were made a <I>spectacle to the world</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:9,13">1 Cor. iv. 9, 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
God appointing, or at least allowing it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
II. Their dead bodies watched by Rizpah, the mother of two of them,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was a great affliction to her, now in her old age, to see her two
|
|
sons, who, we may suppose, had been a comfort to her, and were likely
|
|
to be the support of her declining years, cut off in this dreadful
|
|
manner. None know what sorrows they are reserved for. She may not see
|
|
them decently interred, but they shall be decently attended. She
|
|
attempts not to violate the sentence passed upon them, that they should
|
|
hang there till God sent rain; she neither steals nor forces away their
|
|
dead bodies, though the divine law might have been cited to bear her
|
|
out; but she patiently submits, pitches a tent of sackcloth near the
|
|
gibbets, where, with her servants and friends, she protects the dead
|
|
bodies from birds and beasts of prey. Thus,
|
|
|
|
1. She indulged her grief, as mourners are too apt to do, to no good
|
|
purpose. When sorrow, in such cases, is in danger of growing excessive,
|
|
we should rather study how to divert and pacify it than how to humour
|
|
and gratify it. Why should we thus harden ourselves in sorrow?
|
|
|
|
2. She testified her love. Thus she let the world know that her sons
|
|
died, not for any sin of their own, not as stubborn and rebellious
|
|
sons, <I>whose eye had despised to obey their mother;</I> if that had
|
|
been the case, she would have suffered the <I>ravens of the valley to
|
|
pick it out and the young eagles to eat it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:17">Prov. xxx. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
But they died for their father's sin and therefore her mind could not
|
|
be alienated from them by their hard fate. Though there is not remedy,
|
|
but they must die, yet they shall die pitied and lamented.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The solemn interment of their dead bodies, with the bones of Saul
|
|
and Jonathan, in the burying-place of their family. David was so far
|
|
from being displeased at what Rizpah had done that he was himself
|
|
stirred up by it to do honour to the house of Saul, and to these
|
|
branches of it among the rest; thus it appeared that it was not out of
|
|
any personal disgust to the family that he delivered them up, and that
|
|
he had not desired the woeful day, but that he was obliged to do it for
|
|
the public good.
|
|
|
|
1. He now bethought himself of removing the bodies of Saul and
|
|
Jonathan from the place where the men of Jabesh-Gilead had decently,
|
|
but privately and obscurely, interred them, <I>under a tree,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+31:12,13">1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though the shield of Saul was vilely cast away, as if he had not been
|
|
anointed with oil, yet let not royal dust be lost in the graves of the
|
|
common people. Humanity obliges us to respect human bodies, especially
|
|
of the great and good, in consideration both of what they have been and
|
|
what they are to be.
|
|
|
|
2. With them he buried the bodies <I>of those that were hanged;</I>
|
|
for, when God's anger was turned away, they were no longer to be looked
|
|
upon as a curse,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
When <I>water dropped upon them out of heaven</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, when God sent rain to water the earth (which perhaps was not
|
|
many days after they were hung up), then they were taken down, for then
|
|
it appeared <I>that God was entreated for the land.</I> When justice is
|
|
done on earth vengeance from heaven ceases. Through Christ, who was
|
|
hanged on a tree and so made a curse for us, to expiate our guilt
|
|
(though he was himself guiltless), God is pacified, and is entreated
|
|
for us: and it is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:29">Acts xiii. 29</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,</I> in
|
|
token of the completeness of the sacrifice and of God's acceptance of
|
|
it, <I>they took him down from the tree and laid him in a
|
|
sepulchre.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Sa21_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Giants Subdued.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1020.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and
|
|
David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against
|
|
the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
|
|
16 And Ishbi-benob, which <I>was</I> of the sons of the giant, the
|
|
weight of whose spear <I>weighed</I> three hundred <I>shekels</I> of brass
|
|
in weight, he being girded with a new <I>sword,</I> thought to have
|
|
slain David.
|
|
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the
|
|
Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him,
|
|
saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou
|
|
quench not the light of Israel.
|
|
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a
|
|
battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite
|
|
slew Saph, which <I>was</I> of the sons of the giant.
|
|
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines,
|
|
where Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew <I>the
|
|
brother of</I> Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear <I>was</I>
|
|
like a weaver's beam.
|
|
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of
|
|
<I>great</I> stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every
|
|
foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to
|
|
the giant.
|
|
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the
|
|
brother of David slew him.
|
|
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the
|
|
hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the story of some conflicts with the Philistines, which
|
|
happened, as it should seem, in the latter end of David's reign. Though
|
|
he had so subdued them that they could not bring any great numbers into
|
|
the field, yet as long as they had any giants among them to be their
|
|
champions, they would never be quiet, but took all occasions to disturb
|
|
the peace of Israel, to challenge them, or make incursions upon
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. David himself was engaged with one of the giants. The Philistines
|
|
began the war yet again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The enemies of God's Israel are restless in their attempts against
|
|
them. David, though old, desired not a writ of ease from the public
|
|
service, but he <I>went down</I> in person to fight <I>against the
|
|
Philistines (Senescit, non segnescit</I>--<I>He grows old, but not
|
|
indolent</I>), a sign that he fought not for his own glory (at this age
|
|
he was loaded with glory, and needed no more), but for the good of his
|
|
kingdom. But in this engagement we find him,
|
|
|
|
1. In distress and danger. He thought he could bear the fatigues of war
|
|
as well as he had done formerly; his will was good, and he hoped he
|
|
could do as at other times. But he found himself deceived; age had cut
|
|
his hair, and, after a little toil, he <I>waxed faint.</I> His body
|
|
could not keep pace with his mind. The champion of the Philistines was
|
|
soon aware of his advantage, perceived that David's strength failed
|
|
him, and, being himself strong and well-armed, <I>he thought to slay
|
|
David;</I> but God was not in his thoughts, and therefore in that very
|
|
day they all perished. The enemies of God's people are often very
|
|
strong, very subtle, and very sure of success, like Isbi-benob, but
|
|
there is no strength, nor counsel, nor confidence against the Lord.
|
|
|
|
2. Wonderfully rescued by Abishai, who came seasonably in to his
|
|
relief,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Herein we must own Abishai's courage and fidelity to his prince (to
|
|
save whose life he bravely ventured his own), but much more the good
|
|
providence of God, which brought him in to David's succour in the
|
|
moment of his extremity. Such a cause and such a champion, though
|
|
distressed, shall not be deserted. When <I>Abishai succoured him,</I>
|
|
gave him a cordial, it may be, to relieve his fainting spirits, or
|
|
appeared as his second, <I>he</I> (namely, David, so I understand it)
|
|
<I>smote the Philistine and killed him;</I> for it is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
that David had himself a hand in slaying the giants. David fainted, but
|
|
he did not flee; though his strength failed him, he bravely kept his
|
|
ground, and then God sent him this help in the time of need, which,
|
|
though brought him by his junior and inferior, he thankfully accepted,
|
|
and, with a little recruiting, gained his point, and came off a
|
|
conqueror. Christ, in his agonies, was strengthened by an angel. In
|
|
spiritual conflicts, even strong saints sometimes wax faint; then Satan
|
|
attacks them furiously; but those that stand their ground and resist
|
|
him shall be relieved, and made more than conquerors.
|
|
|
|
3. David's servants hereupon resolved that he should never expose
|
|
himself thus any more. They had easily persuaded him not to fight
|
|
against Absalom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+18:3"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
but against the Philistines he would go, till, having had this narrow
|
|
escape, it was resolved in council, and confirmed with an oath, that
|
|
<I>the light of Israel</I> (its guide and glory, so David was) should
|
|
never be put again into such hazard of being blown out. The lives of
|
|
those who are as valuable to their country as David was ought to be
|
|
preserved with a double care, both by themselves and others.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The rest of the giants fell by the hand of David's servants.
|
|
|
|
1. Saph was slain by Sibbechai, one of David's worthies,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:18,1Ch+11:29"><I>v.</I> 18; 1 Chron. xi. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Another, who was brother to Goliath, was slain by Elhanan, who is
|
|
mentioned
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:24"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. Another, who was of very unusual bulk, who had more fingers and toes
|
|
than other people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+21:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and such an unparalleled insolence that, though he had seen the fall of
|
|
other giants, yet he defied Israel, was slain by <I>Jonathan the son of
|
|
Shimea.</I> Shimea had one son named <I>Jonadab</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+13:3">2 Sam. xiii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
whom I should have taken for the same with this Jonathan, but that the
|
|
former was noted for subtlety, the latter for bravery. These giants
|
|
were probably the remains of the sons of Anak, who, though long feared,
|
|
fell at last. Now observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is folly for the strong man to <I>glory in his strength.</I>
|
|
David's servants were no bigger nor stronger than other men; yet thus,
|
|
by divine assistance, they mastered one giant after another. God
|
|
chooses by the weak things to confound the mighty.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is common for those to go down slain to the pit who have been
|
|
<I>the terror of the mighty in the land of the living,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+32:27">Ezek. xxxii. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The most powerful enemies are often reserved for the last
|
|
conflict. David began his glory with the conquest of one giant, and
|
|
here concludes it with the conquest of four. Death is a Christian's
|
|
last enemy, and a son of Anak; but, through him that triumphed for us,
|
|
we hope to be more than conquerors at last, even over that enemy.</P>
|
|
|
|
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