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He shall

be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom. build a house, for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men ; but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee; and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for evermore.

And David came and sat before Jehovah, and said, who am I, O Jehovah, God,† and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God, for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Jehovah, God; and is this the manner of man, O Jehovah, God? What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou, Jehovah, God, knowest thy servant. O Jehovah, for thy word's sake,‡ and according to thine own heart, hast

* It is remarkable that this son was even pointed out and promised, by the name of Solomon, before even David's sinful intercourse with his mother first commenced. 1 Chron. xxii. 9. xxviii. 6.

+ Preferring to adopt the incommunicable name, JEHOVAH, throughout this work, whenever it is so written in the original Hebrew, instead of the English word, Lord, which frequently embarrasses the sense; I am aware of an apparent awkwardness when that name stands coupled, as in this place, with the word, Elohim, which is plural, and should be rendered, Jehovah the Gods. I prefer, however, adhering to the common translation in this respect; referring the reader to Kidder on the Messiah, Parkhurst, and other works of that description, for the learning connected with the word Elohim,

↑ 2 Sam. vil. 21. Servant's sake, 1 Chron. xvii. 19.; but there can be little doubt the difference has arisen from the similarity between the Hebrew letters Daleth and Resh. Thus we see a similar

thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O Jehovah, God; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make him a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou redeemedst to thee out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, to be a people unto thee for ever, and thou, Jehovah, art become their God. Therefore now, O Jehovah, let the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, Jehovah of Hosts is the God of Israel, even a God over Israel; and let the house of David, thy servant, be established before thee. For thou, O Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, hast told thy şervant, that thou wilt build him a house; therefore thy servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer before thee. And now, O Jehovah, God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. Now, therefore, let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Jehovah, God, hast spoken it, and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."*

David next prosecuted the work assigned him, of driving

mistake occurring in the name of Hadadezer, the author of the Second Book of Samuel using the letter Resh, whilst that of the Book of Chronicles writes Daleth. See 2 Sam. viii. 3. 1 Chron. xviii .8.

2 Sam. vii. 1 Chron. Xvii.

out the remnants of the former inhabitants, for he smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Methegammah, or Gath, and their other towns out of their hands. He next advanced against the Moabites, and smote them, destroying two thirds of them, and bringing the rest under subjection to him; for they became his servants, and brought gifts; and thus the celebrated prophecy of Balaam* was fulfilled. He also smote Hadarezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, unto Hamath, as he went to recover his border, and establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.† And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 footmen, houghing all the chariot horses, except enough to supply 100 chariots.

The Syrians from Damascus having marched to relieve Hadarezer, David advanced to meet them and slew 22,000; and put garrisons in Syria of Damascus and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem; and from Betah and Berothai ‡, cities of Hadarezer, he took a great quantity of brass, with which Solomon afterwards made the brazen sea, the pillars, and various vessels.

David gat him a great name as he returned from smiting the Syrians, for Abishai, one of his generals, engaged with a large army of Edomites in the valley of salt, and slew 18,000 men.§

When Toi,|| king of Hamath, heard of the victories which David had obtained over Hadarezer and his allies, he sent

Numb. xxiv. 17.

+ Harmer suspects that this might be Tadmor in the Wilderness, or Palmyra. Vol. iii. 369.

2 Sam. viii. 8. Called Tibbath and Chun, 1 Chron. xviii. 8. 2 Sam. viii. 13. 1 Chron. xviii. 12.

his son Hadoram* to David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had vanquished Hadarezer, with whom Toi also had been engaged in war: and Hadoram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass; all which David also dedicated unto Jehovah, as well as the silver and gold of all the nations which he subdued, viz: of Syria, of Edom, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadarezer.

And David put garrisons into all the cities of Edom, and they became tributary to him, and Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went.

And David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice to all his people; and appointed Joab captain of the host, Jehoshaphat recorder, Zadock and Ahimelech priests, Seraiah† scribe, and Benaiah captain of the Cherethites and Pelethites.+

Mindful of his oath to Saul, and his love for Jonathan, David caused an enquiry§ to be instituted, whether any of the posterity of Saul were yet alive, in order that he might shew kindness to them for Jonathan's sake. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.|| Ziba, one of Saul's servants, having introduced Mephibosheth into his presence, he fell on his face, and did reverence, when David said, fear not, for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul, and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.

1 Chron. xviil. 10. + 2 Sam. viii. 17.

Burder, O. L. 491.

Called Joram, 2 Sam. viil. 10. Called Shavsha in 1 Chron. xviii. 16. § 2 Sam. ix. 3. || 2 Sam. iv. 3.

Then the king said to Ziba, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul, and to all his house. Thou, therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat; but he shall eat bread always at my table, as one of my sons. And Mephibosheth dwelt at Jerusalem, and had a young son, whose name was Micha, and Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants, all of whom were servants to Mephibosheth.*

Upon the death of Nahash, the king of Ammon, David, bearing in mind the civilities he had formerly received from that monarch, sent a respectful embassy to his son Hanun, to condole with him on his loss, and to congratulate him on his own accession. The Ammonitish counsellors, either through ignorance or perverseness, formed the notion that the real object of this embassy (as indeed has but too often been the case), was to spy into the actual state of their country; and the young monarch, weakly yielding to their suggestions, treated the ambassadors of the King of Israel with the extremest indignity, by shaving one half of their beards, and cutting their garments off in the middle. great was this insult considered by David, that he ordered the ambassadors to stop in the city of Jericho, and not make their appearance in Jerusalem, till their beards had grown again.

So

It may be well imagined that David was disposed to resent such an injury, and it is probable he had given some expression to his resentment, although we are not informed he had actually prepared for warlike measures, until he heard that the Ammonitish monarch, anticipating the probable results of his own insolence and aggression, was proceeding to form an army, chiefly composed of Syrian auxiliaries, whom he hired

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