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Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. (39) And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. (40) And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with 1pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

(41) And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? (42) And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah. said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. (43) And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. (44) And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and

1 Or, flutes.

haps of foreign troops-" the executioners and runners" (as some render them) to carry out the King's commands.

(39) An horn of oil out of the tabernacle.-The sacred oil, the making of which is described in Exod. xxx. 22-30, was to be used for anointing the Tabernacle itself, and the altars and vessels, as well as the priests. It was this oil, no doubt, which was used in this case. The Tabernacle proper was still at Gibeon (see 2 Chron. i. 3); but a tent or tabernacle had been set up in Zion over the ark (2 Chron. i. 4), and the haste with which all was done would necessitate the taking the oil from the nearer source, in spite of the fact that Abiathar presided in Zion, and Zadok only in Gibeon.

(40) Piped with pipes.-The Greek Version has "danced in dances," by a slight variation of reading. The graphic description of the acclamation of the people indicates something more than conventional loyalty. The attempt of Adonijah relied on the support only of the great men, and perhaps the army, but had no popular following.

(41) When Joab heard.-It is one of the many lifelike touches of the narrative that it is the old warrior Joab who, amidst the revelry of his companions, notices the sound of the trumpet, and the acclamation following. Adonijah affects to disregard it.

(42) Jonathan the son of Abiathar.-See 2 Sam. xv. 27, xvii. 17-21, where he is named, with Ahimaaz, as a swift runner, fit to be a messenger. It is curious that a similar greeting to his companion Ahimaaz is used by David in 2 Sam. xviii. 27-possibly as a kind of omen of good fortune.

(46) And also Solomon sitteth.-Jonathan's announcement here takes up the narrative of events after

Adonijah flees.

they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule: (45) and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. (46) And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. (47) And moreover the king's servants came to bless our Lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. (48) And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.

(49) And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his (50) And Adoway. nijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. (51) And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar,

verse 40. The public enthronement in the palace (ordered by David in verse 35) follows the anointing and acceptance by the acclamations of the people, as an integral part of the inauguration of royalty.

(47) The king bowed himself, that is, in worship (comp. Gen. xlvii. 31), at once joining in the prayer of his servants, and thanking God for the fulfilment of His promise.

(49) And all the guests.-Nothing is more striking than the sudden and humiliating collapse of the attempt of Adonijah, strongly supported as it was by Joab and Abiathar, in contrast with the formidable character of the rebellion of Absalom. This is another indication that the royal power had been greatly consolidated during the last peaceful years of David's reign. Perhaps, moreover, the usurpation of Adonijah, not being viewed as a rebellion against David, but only a presumption on his favour, was accordingly crushed at once by the expression of his will. It is strange that of all the conspirators Adonijah alone seems to have feared punishment at this time; his accomplices, the other conspirators, are apparently allowed to disperse in safety, and their rebellion is ignored.

(50) The horns of the altar.- The horns were projections from the altar, to which (see Ps. cxviii. 27) the victims were fastened, and on which the blood was sprinkled (Exod. xxix. 12). To take hold of them was, of course, to claim the right of sanctuary-a right, however, which the Law, ruled as usual by moral considerations, formally denied to wilful murder (Exod. xxi. 14), and which accordingly (see chap. ii. 30, 31) was refused hereafter to Joab. Adonijah, by the acknowledgment of "King Solomon," seems to represent his usurpation as one of those acts of haste and inadvertency, to which alone sanctuary was conceded.

Adonijah is Spared.

I. KINGS, II.

David counsels Solomon.

saying, Let king Solomon swear unto a Deut. 29.9; Josh. monies, as it is written in the law of

1.7.

me to day that he will not slay his ser-
vant with the sword. (52) And Solomon
said, If he will shew himself a worthy
man, there shall not an hair of him fallor, do wisely.
to the earth: but if wickedness shall be
found in him, he shall die. (53) So king
Solomon sent, and they brought him Sam. 7. 12.
down from the altar. And he came and
bowed himself to king Solomon: and
Solomon said unto him, Go to thine
house.

Heb., be cut of from the from

the throne.

e2 Sam. 3. 27.

CHAPTER II. (1) Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, (2) I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; (3) and keep the charge of 2 Sam. 20. 10. the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testi-s Heb., put.

(52) There shall not a hair of him fall.-Solomon's pardon, though, according to Oriental ideas, an act of extraordinary grace, was yet characteristically cautious and conditional, to be withdrawn accordingly on the first symptom of any renewal of Adonijah's pretensions.

II.

The narrative in this chapter still continues much in the same graphic style and detail as in the previous chapter. During the interval between the two chapters we have in 1 Chron. xxviii., xxix. the record of a great assembly of the "princes of Israel" and the whole realm-a solemn farewell of David to the people, with charge to aid in building the Temple, followed by offerings for it, and the making of "Solomon king the second time" (chap. xxix. 22). This possibly represented his accession to the royalty not only over Judah, but over the rest of Israel, with formal acceptance by the representatives of all the tribes. (Comp. xii. 1, in respect of the accession of Rehoboam.) In this detailed record it is specially noticed (1 Chron. xxviii. 2) that the old king" stood up on his feet," as though the excitement of the great occasion had renewed for a time his strength, and enabled him to rise from his bed. It is also recorded that "all the sons of David," who had apparently favoured Adonijah, submitted themselves to Solomon the king (chap. xxix. 24).

(2) I go the way of all the earth.-Comp. Josh. xxiii. 14.

(3) Keep the charge.-The main charge to Solomon is noble enough. He is to “ show himself a man,' in spite of his youth; he is to take heed in all things to follow the Law of the Lord; he is to trust both in the general promise of God to obedience, and in the special promise made to the house of David (2 Sam. vii. 12— ❘ 16). It is remarkably in harmony with the beautiful Psalm, "the last words of David," preserved in 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-5, telling how "he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God," and, in spite of consciousness of shortcomings from this high ideal,

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Moses, that thou mayest alprosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: (4) that the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not 2 fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. (5) Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto "Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and 3shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. (6) Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in

trusting in the "everlasting covenant of God" with him, "ordered in all things, and sure." Nor does it accord less with the equally beautiful prayer of 1 Chron. xxix. 18, 19, for Solomon and for the people. In all this David speaks in the spirit of a true servant and saint of God. But in the special charges that follow we see the worldly prudence of the old statesman, and in one case some trace of long-remembered grudge, singularly true to imperfect human nature, although utterly unworthy of an ideal picture of a hero-king.

(5) What Joab. . . did.-The charge as to Joab has a certain righteousness in it. David could notprobably since Joab's knowledge of his great crime, he dared not-punish him as he deserved. There is a graphic vividness in the description of the blood of his victims, shed as "the blood of war in peace," spirting over the girdle and sandals of the murderer, which shows how the horror of the crimes had dwelt on David's imagination. The murder of Abner, treacherous as it was, probably had some show of justification in the rough justice wrought out by the duty laid in ancient law on the " avenger of blood." David disclaims it (2 Sam. iii. 28, 29, 37—39), without actually condemning it as inexcusable. The more recent and shameful murder of Amasa was simply one of revenge and ambition, because Amasa had been put in Joab's place; yet David, broken in spirit, does not dare to blame it, and quietly acquiesces in the resumption by Joab of the dignity conferred on the murdered man. That these crimes should be punished by a king whose hands were clean, and who owed Joab nothing, was perhaps just, certainly within the letter of the law; though clemency might have spared the old and now fallen warrior, who had at least served David ably with long and faithful service. It is singularly true to nature, that the old King makes no mention of the act for which nevertheless, in all probability, he most bore grudge against Joab-the reckless slaughter of Absalom against his own express commands and entreaties-and does not deign to allude to his recent treason, which probably had already embittered Solomon against him.

Solomon succeeds David.

I. KINGS, II. peace. (7) But shew kindness unto the a 2 Sam. 19. 31. sons of a Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother. (8) And, 2 Sam. 16. 5. behold, thou hast with thee 'Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a 1grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: Heb., strong. but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying,

:

I will not put thee to death with the sword. (9) Now therefore hold him not guiltless for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.

(10) So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. (11) And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

2 Sam. 19. 23.

d Acts 2. 29 & 13. 36.

e 2 Sam. 5. 4: 1
Chron. 29. 26, 27.

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(7) Shew kindness.-The charge of favour to the sons of Barzillai (see 2 Sam. xix. 37-40) stands out in pleasant contrast. It has been noted that in Jer. xli. 17 there is a reference to "the habitation of Chimham," as being" by Bethlehem," David's own birthplace; as if David had given him inheritance there, out of what was especially his own.

(8) Thou hast with thee Shimei.-The most ungenerous charge is the virtual withdrawal of the pardon, freely granted to Shimei long before (2 Sam. xix. 1823). It is, perhaps, partly dictated by policy; for the notice of Shimei (2 Sam. xvi. 5-8, xix. 17) shows that he was powerful, and that he assumed a dangerous championship of the fallen house of Saul. But there are unmistakable traces of the old grudge rankling in David's heart, reminding us of the bitterness of such psalms as Ps. lxix.

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(10) Buried in the city of David-that is, evidently in Mount Sion. In Neh. iii. 16 the "sepulchres of David are noticed, and they are plainly alluded to in Ezek. xliii. 7, 9. They became the regular tombs of the kings, with some exceptions particularly noticed. It was in token of special honour that the high priest Jehoiada, the preserver of the royal dynasty, was buried therein (See 2 Chron. xxiv. 16).

(12) His kingdom was established greatly.From the notice in the closing verse of the chapter, that after the deaths of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei, and the degradation of Abiathar, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon," it would seem that, under the smooth surface of apparent loyalty, there lurked some elements of disaffection and danger-perhaps aggravated by enmity from without; for we

Bath-sheba sues Solomon.

said, Comest thou peaceably? And he
said, Peaceably. (14) He said moreover,
I have somewhat to say unto thee. And
she said, Say on. (15) And he said, Thou
knowest that the kingdom was mine,
and that all Israel set their faces on me,
that I should reign: howbeit the king-
dom is turned about, and is become my
brother's: for it was his from the LORD.
(16) And now I ask one petition of thee,
2deny me not. And she said unto him,
Say on. (17) And he said, Speak, I pray
thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he
will not say thee nay,) that he give me
Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
(18) And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will
speak for thee unto the king.

(19) Bath-sheba therefore went unto
king Solomon, to speak unto him for
Adonijah. And the king rose up to
meet her, and bowed himself unto her,
and sat down on his throne, and caused
a seat to be set for the king's mother;
and she sat on his right hand. (20) Then
she said, I desire one small petition of
thee; I pray thee, say me not nay.
And the king said unto her, Ask on, my
mother: for I will not say thee nay.
(21) And she said, Let Abishag the Shu-

gather from chap. xi. 14-25 that the death of David was the signal for some attempts at rebellion in the conquered nations. But these are apparently crushed without the slightest effort, though with no little fierceness and severity; and the royalty of Solomon rises at once to a colossal greatness.

(13) And Adonijah .. came. The application of Adonijah to Bath-sheba, and the signs of honour paid to her by the king-of which there is no trace in her approach to the presence of David (chap. i. 15, 16, 28, 31) -illustrate the universal custom of Eastern monarchies; by which, while the wives of the king, being many, are seldom held to be of any great political account, the mother of the reigning king is a person of great dignity and influence. We may notice how constantly the name of each king's mother is recorded in the history.

(15) Thou knowest.-Adonijah's words show craft, flattering Bath-sheba by extolling her influence, and making merit of his surrender to Solomon, in obedience to the Lord's decree, of a kingdom which, in evident contradiction to fact, he asserts to have been destined to him by popular desire. The petition, however, apparently harmless, and (since Abishag was concubine of David only in name) involving nothing unnatural, had perhaps a covert design: for, by universal Eastern custom, to take a king's wives was the known privilege or duty of his successor. Hence the counsel, most unseemly but still probably politic, given by Ahithophel to Absalom (2 Sam. xvi. 21). If, therefore, Adonijah had publicly espoused Abishag, it might have seemed a virtual renewal of his claim to the crown. This Solomon sees at once, though Bath-sheba, strangely enough, does not see it.

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nammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.

(22) And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. (23) Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life. (24) Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he "promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. (25) And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

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a 2 Sam. 7. 12, 13.

Joab flies to the Altar.

(26) And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was of afflicted. (27) So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

1 Heb., a man of
death.

b 1 Sam. 2. 31, 35.

B.C. 1014.

(22) And why dost thou ask? In Solomon's answer there is a certain bitterness, venting itself in irony, which seems to argue the mingling with kingly dignity and policy of some passionate feeling, not unlike the bursts of passion in his father, as in the case of Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 21, 22). It certainly gives some probability to the conjecture (see Note on i. 3) that Abishag was the "fair Shulamite" of the Song of Solomon, already loved by the youthful king. In his wrath he infers, rightly or wrongly, that the hand of the conspirators is seen in this petition, and executes vengeance accordingly, summarily and without giving them any trial or opportunity of excusing themselves.

(23) God do so to me, and more also.-See Ruth i. 17; 1 Sam. iii. 17, xiv. 44, xx. 13, xxv. 22, 2 Sam. xi. 14, &c. This well-known formula of imprecation-which the LXX. renders, " May God do these things to me and add these things also -was probably accompanied with some gesture signifying utter destruction.

(24) As the Lord liveth, which hath...-There is something characteristic in this adjuration, as compared with that of David in chap. i. 29. In David we always see the living man, whose soul longs after God with a vivid personal devotion. Solomon is emphatically the king, sitting on the throne of David, with his house established for ever. In the majesty of his royalty his individual character is to us almost entirely merged.

(25) Sent by the hand of Benaiah.-The chief of the body-guard is the chief of "the executioners" (see chap. i. 38), apparently, in the case of great criminals, carrying out the sentence of condemnation with his own hand. (Comp. Judges viii. 20, 21.)

(26) Anathoth is noted, in Josh. xxi. 18; 1 Chron. vi. 60, as a city of the priests in the territory of Benjamin, but a few miles from Jerusalem, and is best known to us as the birthplace of Jeremiah (Jer. i. 1, xxxii. 7).

It is notable that it is not Abiathar's priestly character which protects him, but the remembrance of his long friendship to David in adversity, and probably of that special promise which David made to him, perhaps

(28) Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. (29) And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent

not without remorse, when he found that his deceit to Ahimelech had drawn down Saul's bloody vengeance upon him and his family (1 Sam. xxii. 20-23).

(27) That he might fulfil.-In these words is described, not the purpose, but the effect of Solomon's action. The prophecy referred to is, of course, that of 1 Sam. ii. 30-35, iii. 11-14, fulfilled by the degradation, in Abiathar's person, of the house of Ithamar, and the exaltation, or restoration, in Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, to whom, as the elder son of Aaron, the primacy would have seemed naturally to belong. It seems clear from verse 35 that Abiathar had hitherto had some superiority, although in the various notices of the two, Zadok's name stands first; but whether of actual authority, or only of priority of dignity, cannot be determined. While the Tabernacle remained at Gibeon under Zadok's charge, and the Ark was in Mount Zion under Abiathar, there might, indeed, be something like co-ordination between the two. This, in any case, must have disappeared at the building of the Temple; and the disgrace of Abiathar determined that the undivided dignity should pass to Zadok.

(28) Joab had turned.—It is strange that Joab should have been in no danger or anxiety immediately after the actual failure of the conspiracy; and it is also notable that, although the real motive for putting him to death was to punish his support of Adonijah, now renewed, yet Solomon's words in pronouncing sentence on him refrain from mention of any thing except the old crimes dwelt upon in the dying charge of David. Possibly this was done to bring Joab's case within the emphatic declaration of the Law, that no sanctuary should protect the wilful and treacherous murderer, and that innocent blood, so shed and left unavenged, would pollute the land (Exod. xxi. 14; Num. xxxv. 33). It is significant, moreover, of the increased power of the monarchy, even in hands young and yet untried, that the old captain of the host, who had been "too hard" for David, even before David's great sin, should now fall, as it would seem, without a single act of resistance or word of remon

Joab and

B.C. 1011.

I. KINGS, II. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. (30) And Benaiaha 2 Sam. 3. 27. came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. (31) And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. (32) And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, a Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and 'Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. (33) Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD. (34) So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. (35) And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

:

(36) And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. (37) For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that

b2 Sam. 20, 10.

c 2 Chr. 1. 1.

strance on his behalf, after a long career of faithful service, only once tarnished by disloyalty. It has been noticed that if (as is probable) the "Tabernacle of the Lord" at Gibeon is meant, Joab falls close to the scene of his murder of Amasa, "at the great stone in Gibeon (2 Sam. xx. 18).

(35) And the king put.-Benaiah succeeds to Joab's command over the host: but it is notable that in the Hebrew text of chap. iv. 2-6, there is no mention of any successor to his command over the body-guard.

(36) Called for Shimei.-The command given to Shimei is in itself a reasonable precaution against treason, in one already powerful and of doubtful fidelity; and the reference to crossing the Kedron shows that it was designed to prevent his resorting to his native place, Bahurim. But it is difficult, in face of David's charge, to doubt that it was in some degree intended as

Shimei are Slain.

thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall
be upon
thine own head. (38) And Shimei
said unto the king, The saying is good:
as my lord the king hath said, so will
thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in
Jerusalem many days. (39) And it came
to pass at the end of three years, that
two of the servants of Shimei ran
away unto Achish son of Maachah king
of Gath. And they told Shimei, say-
ing, Behold, thy servants be in Gath.
(40) And Shimei arose, and saddled his
ass, and went to Gath to Achish to
seek his servants: and Shimei went,
and brought his servants from Gath.
(41) And it was told Solomon that Shimei
had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and
was come again. (42) And the king sent
and called for Shimei, and said unto
him, Did I not make thee to swear by
the LORD, and protested unto thee, say-
ing, Know for a certain, on the day
thou goest out, and walkest abroad any
whither, that thou shalt surely die?
and thou saidst unto me, The word that
I have heard is good. (43) Why then
hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD,
and the commandment that I have
charged thee with? (44) The king said
moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all
the wickedness which thine heart is
privy to, that thou didst to David my
father: therefore the LORD shall return
thy wickedness upon thine own head;
(45) and king Solomon shall be blessed,
and the throne of David shall be estab-
lished before the LORD for ever.
(46) So
the king commanded Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell
upon him, that he died, and the king-
dom was established in the hand of
Solomon.

a snare; and this view is confirmed by Solomon's words in verse 44, which refer back to the old offence of Shimei against David. The narrative gives no hint that Shimei's expedition to Gath was not made in good faith, simply to regain his slaves; and a command, which had its justification in the danger likely to result from his residence in Bahurim, among his own people, could hardly be disobeyed in spirit by a temporary journey to a foreign country. Legally the execution was justifiable, and it may have been politic; but it cannot stand examination on the ground of equity or generosity. It is here probably related by anticipation.

(39) Achish son of Maachah.-In 1 Sam. xxvii. 2 we read of Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath; but chronology makes it most unlikely that the same person should here be referred to. The name may have been hereditary.

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