2 Samuel 23

2Sa 23:1-7.

DAVID

PROFESSES

HIS

FAITH IN

GOD'S

PROMISES.

1. Now these be the last words of David--Various opinions are

entertained as to the precise meaning of this statement, which, it is

obvious, proceeded from the compiler or collector of the sacred canon.

Some think that, as there is no division of chapters in the Hebrew

Scriptures, this introduction was intended to show that what follows is

no part of the preceding song. Others regard this as the last of the

king's poetical compositions; while still others consider it the last

of his utterances as an inspired writer.

raised up on high--from an obscure family and condition to a throne.

the anointed of the God of Jacob--chosen to be king by the special

appointment of that God, to whom, by virtue of an ancient covenant, the

people of Israel owed all their peculiar destiny and distinguished

privileges.

the sweet psalmist of Israel--that is, delightful, highly esteemed.

2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me--Nothing can more clearly show

that all that is excellent in spirit, beautiful in language, or grand

in prophetic imagery, which the Psalms of David contain, were owing,

not to his superiority in natural talents or acquired knowledge, but to

the suggestion and dictates of God's Spirit.

3. the Rock of Israel--This metaphor, which is commonly applied by

the sacred writers to the Almighty, was very expressive to the minds of

the Hebrew people. Their national fortresses, in which they sought

security in war, were built on high and inaccessible rocks.

spake to me--either preceptively, giving the following counsels

respecting the character of an upright ruler in Israel, or

prophetically, concerning David and his royal dynasty, and the great

Messiah, of whom many think this is a prophecy, rendering the words,

"he that ruleth"--"there shall be a ruler over men."

4. as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining

after rain--Little patches of grass are seen rapidly springing up

in Palestine after rain; and even where the ground has been long

parched and bare, within a few days or hours after the enriching

showers begin to fall, the face of the earth is so renewed that it is

covered over with a pure fresh mantle of green.

5. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an

everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure--"the light of

the morning," that is, the beginning of David's kingdom, was unlike the

clear brilliant dawn of an Eastern day but was overcast by many black

and threatening clouds; neither he nor his family had been like the

tender grass springing up from the ground and flourishing by the united

influences of the sun and rain; but rather like the grass that

withereth and is prematurely cut down. The meaning is: although David's

house had not flourished in an uninterrupted course of worldly

prosperity and greatness, according to his hopes; although great crimes

and calamities had beclouded his family history; some of the most

promising branches of the royal tree had been cut down in his lifetime

and many of his successors should suffer in like manner for their

personal sins; although many reverses and revolutions may overtake his

race and his kingdom, yet it was to him a subject of the highest joy

and thankfulness that God will inviolably maintain His covenant with

his family, until the advent of his greatest Son, the Messiah, who was

the special object of his desire, and the author of his salvation.

6. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns--that is, the

wicked enemies and persecutors of this kingdom of righteousness. They

resemble those prickly, thorny plants which are twisted together, whose

spires point in every direction, and which are so sharp and strong that

they cannot be touched or approached without danger; but hard

instruments and violent means must be taken to destroy or uproot them.

So God will remove or destroy all who are opposed to this kingdom.

2Sa 23:8-39.

A

CATALOGUE OF

HIS

MIGHTY

MEN.

8. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had--This verse

should be translated thus: He who sits in the seat of the Tachmonite

(that is, of Jashobeam the Hachmonite), who was chief among the

captains, the same is Adino the Eznite; he lift up his spear against

eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. The text is corrupt in this

passage; the number eight hundred should be three hundred

[DAVIDSON, Hermeneutics].

Under Joab he was chief or president of the

council of war. The first or highest order was composed of him and his

two colleagues, Eleazar and Shammah. Eleazar seems to have been left

to fight the Philistines alone; and on his achieving the victory, they

returned to the spoil. In like manner Shammah was left to stand alone

in his glory, when the Lord, by him, wrought a great victory. It is not

very easy to determine whether the exploits that are afterwards

described were performed by the first or the second three.

15, 16. the well of Beth-lehem--An ancient cistern, with four or five

holes in the solid rock, at about ten minutes distance to the north of

the eastern corner of the hill of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the

natives as Bir-Daoud; that is, David's well.

Dr. ROBINSON doubts the

identity of the well; but others think that there are no good grounds

for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the ancient well,

Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further to the north,

and must have lain in times of old, not as now, on the summit, but on

the northern rise of the hill; for the well is by or

(1Ch 11:7)

at the gate. I find in the description of travellers, that the

common opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast,

in order to obtain, at the risk of their lives, the so-much-longed-for

water; while it is supposed that David himself was then in the great

cave that is not far to the southeast of Beth-lehem; which cave is

generally held to have been that of Adullam. But

(Jos 15:35)

Adullam lay "in the valley"; that is, in the undulating plain at the

western base of the mountains of Judea and consequently to the

southwest of Beth-lehem. Be this as it may, David's men had in

any case to break through the host of the Philistines, in order to

reach the well; and the position of Bir-Daoud agrees well with this

[VAN DE VELDE].

19-39. the first three--The mighty men or champions in David's military

staff were divided into three classes--the highest, Jashobeam, Eleazar,

and Shammah; the second class, Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the

third class, the thirty, of which Asahel was the chief. There are

thirty-one mentioned in the list, including Asahel; and these added to

the two superior orders make thirty-seven. Two of them, we know, were

already dead; namely, Asahel

[2Sa 3:30]

and Uriah

[2Sa 11:17];

and if the dead, at the drawing up of the list, amounted to seven, then

we might suppose a legion of honor, consisting of the definite number

thirty, where the vacancies, when they occurred, were replaced by fresh

appointments.