PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles
Philip Chapman Barker [d.1904] · 415,586 words · 458 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 301
that he put to death two parts of them, and satisfactory. '1 'he wealth of Zobah is, of kept the third part a.live. The reason of course, illustrato,l by these shields of gold. this <leliberate aud severe punishment i.s not Ver. 8.-Tibhath, and . . . Chun. 'fhese stated. Once David and the Moabites had names replace Be…
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lel, "from A.ram," unless, as some think, both :uii. 20; 2 Sam. xx. 25; 1 Kin_gs i. 7, 8, places were nFLmed in the original authority. suggests tbat the rig-ht reading would be l!'rom the ohildren of Ammon. Perhaps the "Abiathar the sou of Ahimelcch." With events narrated in our succeeding chapter this Mark ii. 26 agr…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-17.-The chapter that offers the sermons of facts with fewest words. The chapter which to indifferent reading might seem most bare of religious instruction will yield to careful attention the most forcible lessons. Facts bring the most impressive lessons to our lives. Facts teach the most impress…
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De.vid is doing. He" reigns over all Israel,'' and thus reigning he" executes judcrment and j11Btict among e.11 his people." He does not forget his responsibilities in the time of 111nk, dignity, luxury, nor surrender himself to indulgence. It is evident he holds himself, still the servant of God, the willing, consciou…
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Ver. 11.-Dedication of gifts. David was a generous giver. In his many campaigns he won great spoils from his enemies. We need not approve his conduct in all these military expeditions. But we cannot do other than commend the princely generosity which he displayed in the disposal of his booty. Though not himself permit…
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Vers. 1-12.-The Christian campaign. As "David smote the Philistines and aubdued them," so we, engaged in a holy warfllre, must live to smite and to subdue tho enemies of God. Our Christian life cannot be fully represented under any one image, but if it can be said to be one thing more than another, it is a long spiritu…
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chapter, though separated from it by a considerable length of time, it brings before us much s~iritual instruction. 'l'he previous chapter contains an account of the many "exceedmg great and precious promises" made to David, his confidence in them and also that which invariably flows out of such grace-his communion wit…
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Ver. 11.-Loyalty to God in the time of success. It is noted that the best of the spoils of David's wars he loyally "dedicated unto the Lord," thus proving himself as faithful in the time of prosperity and success as he bad proved himself in the time of failure and trouble. The testing power of adversity is often consid…
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Ver. 14.-King'sjustir-e. Of all the features of royalty the chronicler selects one, or apparently two, as special characteristics of David's reign. "He executed judo-ment and justice among all his people." Magistracy, the deciding of disputes, and the p;nish- ment of criminals, are always prominent parts of kingly duty…
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EXPOSITIO~. CHAl:"l'ER XIX. allude<l to is not recorded. There mC1y have been many opportunities and calls for it This chapter runs very closely parallel during David's persecuted life and when mth 2 Sam. x. 1-19; a chapter also of tho Ammonite king would fe~I a motive nineteen verses. The slight differences beyond …
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stand for respectively, they here substan- diviclecl his own hosts. He took the flower tially mean the same. It is possible that of all, under his own command, to face the the difference is that of a corrupt text or Syrians in the field, who were the most for- careless copying. The Arom-naharaim midable of the enemy. T…
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ratl,er than to that which, by reason of its frequency, would be likely to be the more useful. It cannot be told for how much civilized society has to be thankful that it possesses such models as the biography and history of Scripture afford, and mankind that it is offered such wealth of wisest and most needed instruct…
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bad adl"isers of suspicion. The pr;nccs of the children of Ammon, round Hanun, arc wise above what was written, above what was true. They were bad advisers, not because they meant ill to their master, not because they were false to him, not because, like Job's comforters, they were bard and unsympathetic, and their the…
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()pportunity for the display of these qualities. In times of health and prosperity there is comparatively little occasion for sympathy and tender kindness. But times of trouble, sickness, suffering, adversity, bereavement, must come to all men. Such times are the providentially appointed opportunities for kindly symp…
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sometimes been regarded as favourable to valour; but far more stimulating to courage is confidence in an all-wise Ruler and Disposer of events. The soldier will go bravely to battle, the labourer to work, the martyr to suffering, when the heart is i:lspired with the assurance of the Divine presence and favour and suppo…
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Vers.10-14.-The conditions of suce,e,ss in the battle of life. When the time shall come that "devout men carry us to our burial," when good men will be formino- an est.imate of the life we have lived on the eai:th, will they be able to say of us that we ~vere victors in the strife, or will they have sorrowfully to a…
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krrible results follow from the misinterprebtion of motives I Yea, wars in families, in the Church, in nations, and among indiviJuals !,ave arisen times without number from the fal8e construction our hearts put upon the motives and conduct of others. We may depend upon it that in all such cases the "charity that thinke…
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Ver. 13.-Skill and trust ensurin_q victory. In one or two forms this subject has already been dealt with; so, under this heading, we propose to give here only a brief outline, as the filling up of it must of necessity involve some repetition of thought. A new outline may snggest some freshness of form. The principle ex…
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harmony with the necessities of government, often impede our path in the historical we know not, but certain it is, he was boob of the Old Testament. At the r.me tempted to make the unhappiest use of his that kings go out. It was no doubt the case "tarrying at Jerusalem." that, even in Palestine, the winter we.a often …
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of the Ammonitish and l\foabitish idol (i.q. usually incline to the handle instead ot l\folooh), and which we find (Authorized from it, With harrows of iron. The only Version) in Zeph. i. 5, aud probe.bly (though harrow known to have been used ,it this not Authorized Version) in Jer. xlix. 1, 3, time consisted of a …
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verse is to sto.nd corrected by o.ccepting from where it is probable that" nephew" should its pe.re.llel "the Bethlehemite " in place of be read for " uncle "). It is to be noticed our Lamhi, then either we have no no.me that the name of this child of the giant, of given for the brother of Goliath, the Git- twelve fing…
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away of vast populations by plague and famine, by fire, and by what we call the accident of sea or land, would not present a tithe of the difficulty that lies before our feet when the one element is produced .of the sword and weapon of warfare wielded consciously, deliberately, determinedly, by men on the battle-fie…
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are of a high, bencficei:.t, and far-reaching kind. But the final risk involved in war produces a phenomenon, and more than merely a phenomenon, in some aspects amon" the most terrible, nay, incomparably the most terrible, to be witnessed beneath the sun~ There are ever ascending and broadening forms of strife, as of p…
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hilitios or inactivity. It is more probable that duty to his people in the central seat of authority found him more in his place at Jerusalem than in the field of battle. That which reads confessedly as a rather peremptory style of summons on the part of Joab, in the fuller account of 2 Sam. xii. 28, cannot be relied u…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 3.-The barbarity of man to man. There are signal inconsistencies in the character of David. He was capable of kindness, self-denial, and generosity, but he was capable also of cruelty amounting to inhumanity and savagery. Perhaps no act more disgraceful and inexcusable is related to h…
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Vers. 1-3.-Further consequences of.folly, etc. We learn these five lessons- 1 THE LONG TRAIN OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLY. It is long before the whole penalty of a great mistake is paid. Hanun and his foolish princes (eh. xix. 3) doubtless felt crestfallen enough when they were miserably defeated in battle, but they…
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I. DIBTINOTION BASED ON BODILY PECULIARITY IS OF LITTLE WORTH. Great stature makes its possessor conspicuous among his fellows, if that be a desirable thincr; great muscular strength serves in good stead on those rare occasions when a man° has to resist by physical force. Unusual beauty of countenance attracts the eye …
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might and power is passed by, for there is no room in them for God to be glorified. If we are only low enough, only little enough, only nothing before him, he can and will use us; and the reason he has so often to pass by the "vessel" is, that it is too full and not "fit for the Master's use." "God hath chosen the fool…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XXI. markable sentence takes the place of the statements in the parallel, "And again the This very important chapter in David's anger of the Lord wwi kindled ago.inst history is the parallel of 2 Sam. xxiv.1-25, Israel, e.nd he moved David ago.inst them which contains some details not found here,…
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overt. And in this sense either altern11- narrated both in the beginning of the Book tiYe statement gives the prima J<reie facts. of Numbers (i.) 11nd toward the close Either is true, and both may be true in (xxvi.) had specific moral objeots as as- different chronological order. And further, signed by God-among tll…
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volved together in indisputoble sin. Thouuh so that we can borrow no !iuht O thence. But there were no unfeigned assent and con~nt Benjamin was " the least of the tribes " in the great body of the nation to the (Judg. xxi. 1-23), and Poole has suooooested numbering, yet they would become par- that God wonld not permit…
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Ver. 12.-Three yean' famine. The the Hill of Moriah (Conder's • Bible H11.nd• pRrallel place he.s, in our Hebrew text, book,' 2nd edit., 236 [6)). The threshing• "seven " instead of "three." But the floor. The primitive threshing-floors of the Septmi.gint indicates this to be but a cor- Israelites still essentially …
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Ver. 23.-0rnan's offer to Do.vid or the ment with that of the parallel place, which threshing-floor and all its belongings, BB a (2 Sam. xxiv. 24) speaks of "fifty shekels gift, reminds of Ephron'B offer to Abraham of silver" (i.e. ta.king the shekel at 2s. 8d., (Gen. xxiii. 11). Oman's prompt offer of equal to a.bout …
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by his own forcible confession in the seventeenth verse of the present chapter. The brunt of the su_ffering, on the other hand, falls upon the people, who were cut down by the pestilence, and upon those who, from the ties of nature, to say none other, mourned the!r loss. This is so entirely the tenor of the history, …
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yes, there are sins of the heart, of the subtle undergrowth of pride and ambition, and trust of self, which far surpass all others in significance and heinousness. Surely it Vl"ere enough for the quondam shepherd-boy, now King of Israel, to be vicegerent of the King of kings? But David has slipped the charm of modest …
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angels looked on,and might have come to the rescue, no voice said "Forbear;" and the only voice that did then speak as with authority-authority notwithstanding what it must say and how it must say it--said this, "Not my will be done;" and acrain, "It is finished "-a signal for the awful sacrifice to go on to its solemn…
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Ver. 13.-Falling into the hand of the Lord. There is something very simple and touching in this expression. "The band of the Lord" is, for the most part, mentioned in Scripture as the emblem of God's protecting, upholding, preserving power. Here it indicates chastisement. How truly submissive and filial was the spirit …
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Ver. 11.-Sin taken home. It is a l)lOSt pathetic scene, The angel of the Lord, who had smitten with his destroying sword "throughout all the coasts of Israel," was pass- ing by the threshing-floor of the Jebusite. His drawn sword was stretched out over Jerusalem; yet it tell not, for he was bidden to "stay bis hand." T…
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Vers. 1-8.-Buman action. Probably there will always remain a measure or mystery about this act of numbering the nation. We shall always be more or less uncertain as to the precise elements of wrong which God saw in it, and which brouo-ht down so terrible a condemnation and penalty. There are, however, some features of …
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Vers. S-13.-The human and the DiviM in the hour of penitence. We have illus- trated here- I. THE HUMAN A.PPROAOB TO Goo in the hour of penitence. "David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant," etc. (ver. 8). Here is, what ther…
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devotion, the source of them is a positive alleviation of our pain of mind. 2. When they arrive as the consequence of forces with which we have nothin<> to do, our mental pain is neither soothed nor aggravated by their source. 3. When° we have to reproach ourselves as the authors of our own miseries, our souls smart wi…
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condemning their ingratitude and disobedience, rewarding the one and punishing the other. II. THAT IT WAS LARGELY DUE TO THE KING'S INTERCESSION. (Vers.16,17.) Thouo-h it is not positively stated that fhe withdrawal of the angel's hand was owing to the attitude and action of the king and the elders, yet we may safel…
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to hew stones (ver. 2), and prepared abundance of iron and brass, and of cedar (vers. 2-4). Thus his zeal discovered a sphere of activity; nor was he wantin" in the discernment of a reason for action. He might have argued that while his actvanciu_g age would excuse inaction on his part, the youth of Solomon would ensur…
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Vers. 7-18, 29, 30.-Ejfects of David's sin. The first effect of David's act was that of incurring God's severe displeasure. David's eyes were opened to see his sin and its greatness. In earnest prayer he besought God,to "do away the iniquity of thy servant· tor I have done very foolishly." This, however, cannot be. …
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Vers. 18-27, eh. xxii. 1.-0rnan's threshing-floor. It was in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite that the angel of the Lord sheathed his sword and where the voice of the Lord was heard, "It is enough, stay now thine hand." There, by Divine command, the altar was to be reared. The Lord's altar in a barn l Well, wh…
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difficulty to us that times of moral trial should be found, and subjection to evil entice- ments should form part of the Divine plan. We know that God tries and tests us by thi11gs, and it should not be difficult for us to realize that he may try and test us by persons. This is, indeed, our most subtle and most seve…
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Ver. 3.-The spirit that refuses good advice, Joab was not always a good adviser. More than once he bad led David into difficulties. But he was a skilful and bold statesman. He looked rather to the consequences and ultimate influences of political actions than to the maintenance of high political principles. In this cas…
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6in in its proper light until they come under the sufferings which it involves. lllustrat, by the licentious man and the drunkard._ God's plan i~ to affix consequences to sin, and make these always to be of an affi1ct1ve and d1stress1ng and humiliating character, so that by them the character and quality of sin might b…
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loyalty. Even in the matter of his own judgment, God may take David, the "man after his own heart," into his counsel. I. THE POINT OF THE THREEFOLD OFFER, It tested David's trust in God. Would he prefer judgment which came very evidently through human agency, or would he prefer judgment which was plainly sent direct f…
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as though he were a man, doing a man's deeds and feeling a man's feelings. Some explanation of anthropomorphism and anthropopathism may here suitably be given. In the verses now for consideration, we find a double vision and a double repentance. God saw the angel and repented, so did David. I. A DOUllLE VISION-GoD'…
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of the field and cave of Mnchpclah, There, considerations of personal dignity pre- vented his taking the property ; and he felt that he could not lay his beloved partner down, save in a place which was his by purchase. Here, in the case of David, the feeling is a different one, yet it is in full harmony with the sentim…
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Ver. 28.-.Answer to prayer consecrating the place of prayer. It is notoo that David felt the threshing-floor to have become a sacred place, precisely becausa there he had gained the answer to his prayer. A similar feeling is illustrated in the case of the patriarchs. Abraham erected his altars where the signs of the D…
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become mere sentiment and superstition. The house of God where our fathers wor• shipped should be sacred to us. The sanctuary where the truth of God's savin" love first came home to our hearts must seem sacred to us. And it should be easier to win reverence, worship, and power of prayer in such consecrated places. III…
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EXPOSITION. CHAP'£ER XXII. It was not David's object merely to gain Frum the commencement of this chapter cheap or compulsory work (2 Chron. ii. 17, 18), but to obtain a skill, which immigrants to the clo;e of the First Book of the Chro- from oertain places would possess, in excess nicles we again travel alone, and,…
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Bidonians, gave it me when his pal!LCB also had been divinely given (2 Se.m. xii. sheltered me on my return thither;" 24, 25). 'Odyssey,' xv. 424, "I boa.et to come from Ver. 10.-The. sub!ta.nce of this verse is Bidon, fe.med for its skill in the working of found also in Nathan's language ( eh. xvii. brass." Similar re…
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rele,tive ve,lue which the precious metals valents of these weights are very uncertain. bore to the commodities of life, than the Both the silver e.nd the gold talent have estimate made by Dr. Prideaux of the been very variously calculated in this treasures left by David, amounting to eight relation. Some of the best a…
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 8.-Religiou, enthusiasm in old age-a model soli1oquy. This soliloquy exhibits the settled thought of years past. The house that is to be builded for the Lord, remaining still to old age, the imperial thought of David's heart. A.nd we may notice that- I. THE PURPOSE THAT IB HALLOWED m OWNING FOB ITS C…
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Ver. 8.-The stain of blood. We distinctly read here, as also in the stricter parallel of this place (eh. xxviii. 3), that it was because David had" shed blood abundantly'' had" shed much blood on the earth" in the sight of God, had "made great wars" th;t the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Thou shalt not buil…
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Vers. 11-13.-The aged king's charge to his son and successor. The la.nguage of David to his son here, and shortly afterwnrds to the prince~ of the kingdom, indicnte well his recognition and lively memory of the fact that stone and wood, gold and iron, will need willing hands, earnest minds, devoted hearts, und that eve…
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be expected, nor always wise or right, that a father "make a clean breast of it" to a young son. But David has done this now, and adds advice, and the tones of an earnest deep feeling which failed not to betray itself. 3. Urges the far more potent inducement of the Divine designation. " Build the house of the Lord thy …
869 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.