be

food till the Philistines were destroyed. The result led to much vexation, and to the widening of that breach between Saul and his people which had already begun to appear. A day of terrible disaster had fallen on the enemies of Israel, but Saul unwisely interfered with the habits of the soldiery, and we are told that "the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground. And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honey-comb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day, and the people were faint. Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey; how much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?" (xiv. 24–30.)

In estimating the effects of the honey on Jonathan, the time at which he partook of it must be taken into account. It was evidently towards evening. Faint and weary, his strength had begun to fail, and the dimness of eye which comes with long-protracted fasting and exertion had stolen over him. In these circumstances he had eaten of the honey-comb found in the forest. The results were deliverance from great physical exhaustion, the passing away of dimness from the eye, and the recovery of his wonted strength-common physiological effects in such circumstances.

Some interpreters think that the honey mentioned in verse 25 was not the honey of wild bees, but the exudations from the leaves of certain trees, caused by the punctures of insects (Coccida). In this In this way the manna of commerce is produced from one of the tamarisks, the tarfa tree of the desert of Sinai-Tamarix manifera of botanists. But the whole narrative demands that the honey be regarded as honey of bees, such as that eaten in after days by the Baptist. (See under Matt. iii. 4.) The word (devāsh), rendered honey throughout this passage, is that

commonly used in Scripture for the produce of bees. As, however, this word means in some passages a preparation from grapes or from dates (see under 2 Chron. xxxi. 5), this might not be held conclusive. But the question is settled by the mention of "honey-comb " in verse 27, which is a compound of yaar, literally wood, and devash, honey, referring to the tree-like arrangement of the cells. Accordingly the usual word is met with in connection with the compound one in Song v. 1-"I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honey-comb with my honey.'

"Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal" (xv. 10-12). "Carmel," "where Saul set him up a place," or raised a memorial of his recent triumphs, is not the noted mountain of that name, but a town in the wild mountain districts of Judah, the residence of Nabal, and the native place of Abigail, thence named "the Carmelitess" (chapters xxv., xxvii).

Philistia seemed as if about to triumph. But at this crisis of their history the Lord again raised up a deliverer. The choice made by God through Samuel was about to be manifested in great historical facts. Three of the sons of Jesse, the Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah, had followed Saul to the war against the Philistines; and their father, careful of their comfort, said to his youngest son, David, "Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge" (xvii. 17, 18). The parched corn is still in common use in Bible-lands. "In the season of harvest," says Robinson, "the grains of wheat, not yet fully dry and hard, are roasted in a pan or on an iron plate, and constitute a very palatable article of food; this is eaten along with bread, or instead of it. Indeed the use of it is so common in this season among the labouring classes, that this parched wheat is sold in the markets." The condition of the grains and their preparation are noticed in Leviticus ii. 14-" And if thou offer a meat-offering of thy first-fruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer, for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits, green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten

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out of full ears." And that this corn dried by the fire was to be for food to the people likewise, is to be inferred from the prohibition in Leviticus xxiii. 14-" And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the self-same day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings." It was used in the harvest-field of Boaz as part of the food for the reapers-" At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left" (Ruth ii. 14). And when David fled from Absalom, among the gifts which Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai brought to him, were parched corn and parched pulse" (2 Sam. xvii. 28).

แ

In addition to the parched corn and the loaves, David was to take the produce of his flock likewise; he was to carry to the captain, under which his brethren served, "ten cheeses."-See under 2 Sam. xvii. 29.

:

"And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him: and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion (the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name) out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words and David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him' (ver. 20-27). Faith triumphed in the person of David. But then as now it awakened and called forth the enmity of the unbelieving. Eliab rebuked him :-"With whom hast thou left these few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart."

David meekly answered, "Is there not a cause? "Is there not a cause?" The name of that God with whom he had enjoyed sweet fellowship in the wilderness was blasphemed. This was cause enough for him to feel ashamed of the cowardice of those who trusted not in him. David's words reached the ears of Saul:-" And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him" (ver. 32-35).

Lion," Heb. ari. Five different words are used in the Old Testament for lion. That which occurs here is the common name. It is employed about ninety times. This implies that it must have at one time been abundant in Palestine, though it is not now to be met with. A classification of these passages shows that Canaan was infested by lions, 2 Kings xvii. 25, 26. Described as-superior in strength, Judg. xiv. 18; active, Deut. xxxiii. 22; courageous, 2 Sam. xvii. 10; fearless even of man, Isa. xxxi. 4; Nah. ii. 11; voracious, Ps. xvii. 12; greatness of its teeth alluded to, Joel i. 6; God's power exhibited in restraining, 1 Kings xiii. 28; Dan. vi. 22, 27; lurketh for its prey, Ps. x. 9; roars when seeking prey, Ps. xxxi. 4; rends its prey, Ps. vii. 2; often carries its prey to its den, Nah. ii. 12. Inhabits— forests, Jer. v. 6; thickets, Jer. iv. 7; mountains, Song of Solomon iv. 8. Attacks the sheep folds-1 Sam. xvii. 34; Amos iii. 12; Mic. v. 8. Attacks and destroys men-1 Kings xiii. 24; 1 Kings xx. 36. Universal terror caused by roaring of, Amos iii. 8. Criminals often thrown to, Dan. vi. 7, 16, 24. Slain by-Samson, Judg. xiv. 5; David, 1 Sam. xvii. 35, 36; Benaiah, 2 Sam. xxiii. 20. A swarm of bees found in the carcass of, by Samson, Judg. xiv. 8. Disobedient prophet slain by, 1 Kings xiii. 24, 26. Illustrative-of Israel, Numb. xxiv. 9; of the tribe of Judah, Gen. xlix. 9; of the tribe of Gad, Deut. xxxiii. 20; of God in protecting his church, Isa. xxxi. 4; of God in executing judgments, Isa. xxxviii. 13; Lam. iii. 10; of brave men, 2 Sam. i. 23; 2 Sam. xxiii. 20; of cruel and powerful enemies, Jer. xlix. 14, li. 38; of persecutors, Ps. xxii. 13; of imaginary fears of the slothful, Prov. xxii. 13, xxvi. 13; of the natural man subdued by grace, Isa. xi. 7, lxv. 25.

Ari is sometimes joined to el (God), and is translated lion-like in

2 Sam. xxiii. 20; 1 Chron. xi. 22. It is used as a proper name, Ariel, for Jerusalem in Isa. xxix. 1, 2, 7; and is rendered altar in Ezekiel xliii. 15, 16. The Chaldee form aryeh occurs in Daniel throughout.

Fig. 79.

Skull of Tiger.

"The lion" (Felis leo, Plate XVI., Fig. 2) is one of the largest of the carnivorous group of animals (Carnivora). It is ranked with the tiger, leopard, &c., under the family Felidae, or cats. The Carnivora are sometimes grouped according to the mode in which they plant the organs of motion on the ground. Thus we have the fin-footed animals (Pinnipedia), as the seals, &c.; the animals which walk on the whole hand (carpus), and the whole foot (tarsus), or plantigrade animals (Plantigrada), as the bears; and the animals which walk on the digits or fingers (Digitigrada), as the lion, tiger, &c. As in birds of prey, so here, we find great beauty of adaptation between the form of the head and the feet when we take their habits into account. The Felidæ have only one true molar tooth above and below. This naturally goes to the shortening of the jaws, which, to correspond with their habits, require to be very strong. The premolar teeth are three above and two below. The great strength of the bones of the head corresponds to the rest of the osseous skeleton.-See skeleton of the lion, Plate XXI. Fig. 1. The structure of the limbs is equally suggestive of beautiful adaption between organs and functions. The bones of the fore arm are not only very powerful, but they are put together in a way adapted in the highest degree to give greatest force to them, in those terrible encounters to which they are exposed, when preying on some of the most formidable of the grass-eating quadrupeds.

Fig. 80.

The toes of the lion are armed with curved, acute, retractile claws. These are preserved from being broken or blunted by highly elastic bands attached to the claw joint and the joint behind it.

When the soft pad of the

sole is pressed to the ground, the claws are hid in the show the muscles, &c. sheaths and wholly concealed by the hair. Such power of jaw and limbs united to great strength of body, generally made it a much more daring feat to grapple with one sword in hand, than it is now to encounter one, armed with the deadly rifle. David traced his deliverance to God-"The Lord that delivered me out