29 And David gathered all the people together 6 : and went to Rabbah : and fought againſt it, and took it. b Either becauſe Joab needed more help for the ſtorming of the City : or, at leaſt, for the Proſecution of the Victory, and Execu* tion of Juſtice upon the whole Land : or becauſe he would have them all to partake of the ſpoil of the City, which was there in great a= bundarce,v.zo. the rather becauſe they were allexpoſed to the hazard 5 of utter Ruine, in caſe the Ammonices had prevailed againſtthem. + 1 Chrogdll 39 * And he took their Kings Crown trom off his , OP head, ( the weight whereof was a talentof gold c, with the precious ftones ) and it was /es on Davids head : A and he brought forth the ſpoil of the city | in great f Heb. wes
abundance. ry great,
c Or rather, the price whereof, &c. For as the Hebrew Shekel fig. nifies both a Weighr, and a piece of Money of a certain price ; 10 alſo may miſbkal, as proceeding from the ſame Roor. And in $ene- ral, the ſame words both in Hebrew, Greek and Latmm, are promiſcu« ouſly uſed, to ſignifie either Weight, or Price ; as is wellknownto the Learned. Andthe addition of precious fonesr, which are never valued by the Weight of Gold, makes this ſignification here moſt proper, and probable. Moreover, the Weight mightſeem too great either for the King of Ammon, or for David to wear it upon his Head. Although, if this were meant of the Weight, it might be ſaid, that this was not a Crown to be worn ordinarily, but meerly to be put on upon the King's Head at his Coronaticn, or upon to- lemn Occaſions, as here where this -was done, in token of the Tranſlation of this Kinzdomto David: and, it may be, it was held up, orſupported by rwo Officers of State, that ir might nor be too burdenſom to him, and after a little while taken off.
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214,e Tothe Tabernacle, to cenfeſs his Sin before the Lord, and to owne his Juſtice in this ſtroke,and the other Threatnings, and ro deprecat his great and juſt Diſpleaſure, and to acknowledge God's rich Mercy, in ſparing his own Life ; and to offer ſuch Sacrifices , as were Proper and required in ſuch Caſes. Nor did Davida tranſ- | greſs that Law, Numb. 19. 14. in going thither before the ſeven days were expired. For neither is there the ſame Reaſon of a Tent, and of a Dwelling-Houſe, where the ſeveral Rooms of the Houſe ; are as diſtin as teveral Tents ; nor is it here ſaid, that David was | in the ſame Room, or in the ſame Houſe where the Child died.
21. Then faid his ſervants unco him, what thing is: this that thou haſt done ? thou gidft faſt and weep for the child while it wasalive, but when the child was dead, thou didſt riſe and eat bread. *
| 22 And he ſaid, while the child was yet alive, I fa- *Se Tfa. fted and wept : * for I ſaid, whe can tell whether God
Þ !.* will be gracious to me, that the child may live o ? WM 3: 9-. , For God's threatning of the Childs death might be conditio- nal, as that was of Ninevehs deſtruttion, Jonah 3. 4.
23 But now ke is dead, wherefore ſhould I faft p?
can I bring bim back again? I ſhall go to him q, but
he ſhall not return to me.
p Secing Fa%ing and Prayer cannot now prevail with God for his Life. 9 Iato the State of the Dead, in which he is, and into Heaven, where I doubt not I ſhall find him.
24 And David comforted Bathſheba his wife r, and
went in unto ner s, and lay with her : and * ſhe bare a ſon, and *© he called his name Solomon ; and the LORD loved him ez.
r Who was now much deje&ed, both for her former Sin, which : ſhe truely repented of, as may be gatheret from Prov. 31. 1, 2. 3, , &c. and for the loſs of that Child which was very dear to her; and : which might ſeem to be the only tie of Davia's AffeQtion to her; which being now dead, ſhe might think that David would utterly | caſt her off, 'and leave her to that Shame and Puniſhment which ſhe had deſerved. s To wit, into her Chamber or Bed. *# z. e. The Lord declared to David, that he loved his Son, notwithſtan- ding the juii cauſe which David had given to God to alienat his
AfffeCGtions from him. 25 And he ſent by the hand of Nathan the Pro-
phet ; and he called his name || Jedidiah, becauſe of the ORD «.
# Either, becauſe of the Lord's Love to him, as the Name figni- flies: or becauſe the Lord commanded him to do fo.
26 And Joab fought againſt Rabbah of the children
of Ammon, and took the royal city x.
x 7. e. That part of the City. where was the King's Palace, where he ordinarily reſided ; though now it ſeems he was retired to a ſtrong Forr. :
27 And Jo«b ſent Meſſengers to David and ſaid, I have fought againſtRabbah,. and have taken the city of
waters ,
3 The fame Royal Ciry ſo called, becauſe it either flood befde the River, or was encompatſcd with Water, both for defence and delighr. Although the words are by ifome learned Men rendred thus, 1 have taken, or intercepted, or cut off Water from the City. which well agrees, both with the Words, «th being here put for meeth, which is frequent ; as Gen. 4. 1 aud 44+ 4. Exod. 9. 29, &Cc. and with the RcJarion of 7oſ: phus the Few who ſaith, rhe Conduits of Wa- ter Were cur oft, and to the City was taken: And witha Relation of Pclybiis' coaccrning the tame Ciry, which was takerFafrerwards by Anticchus in the tame manner, by cutting off Warer from the City.
28 Now therefore, gather the reit of che people to-
gerher, andencamp againſt the cicy, and rake it 2: leſt
, . .
{ }
*Matt.1.6. * iChron.
22, 9.
| That 1s, beloved » of the LORD,
.in 4d, and put thcm under ſaws e, and under harrows
: Cities of the children of Ammon.
21 And he brought forth the people that were there-
of iron, and under axes of iron f, and made them paſs through the brick-kiln g : and thus did he unto all the So David and all the
peopie returned unto Jeruſalem.
d The words are indefinit, and therefore not neceſſarily to be underitood of all the People ; for it had been barbareus to uſe Wo- men and Children thus ; but of the Men of War, and eſpecially, of thoſe who had been the chief Agors or Abbettors of that V1l- lainous AQtion againſt Davia's Ambaſſadors, ( which was contrary to the Law of Nature, and of Nations, and of a!l Humanity, ) and of the dreadful War enſuing upon it ; for + hich, they might ſeem to deſerve the ſevereſt Puniſhments. Although indeed there ſeems to have been roo much Rigour uled ; eſpecially, becauſe theſe drezd-