The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 28

political aml military experience by service abrMd; and David probably learned much from the excellent military system of the Philistines. One more point of resemblance, and it is the highest of all. Both kings were qualified for doing far more than restoring unity and energy to a disorganized and disheartened people : they were fit and ready to start then on a new career of order, and hope, and progress. Thus, without any advantage of birth, without any dexterous scheming or violent revolution, in ripeness of mind and body, at the moment when he was most needed, the greatest man of the age reached the highest position in it, the headship over the whole of God's Chosen People. The shepherd-lad, musician, courtier, warrior, poet, outlaw, and tribal king, had reached a pinnacle to which no one had risen before, the throne of united Israel. He had experienced the trials of solitary watching in the wilderness, of jealousies and plots at court, of being hunted like a wild beast in the mountains, of being an exile in the land of Israel's deadliest enemies. There remained the sever~st trial of all, the possession of supreme power. It remained to be seen whether one who had met with such transcendent success would now lose his reliance on Jehovah, and begin to trust in himself. His first exploit is strong proof both of his sagacity and of his vigour. As king of all Israel he could not remain at Hebron, it was not nearly central enough. On the other hand, it would have affronted his own tribe to seek a capital entirely away from Judah. Therefore some strong place on the northern frontier of Judah was wanted. J ebus flllfilled all these conditions, and the fact that the Canaanites had been able to maintain themselves there for centuries, was evidence of its value as a stronghold; indeed, they scoffed at the notion of its being taken. Joab won the post of commander-in-chief by being the first to sea.le the rocky side of the fortress, a fact of no small influence on David's reign ; and then the citadel of Zion, now first named in history, was soon taken. Here David established his seat of government, and centuries of history have ratified the wisdom of his choice. The creation of the national capital is therefore contemporaneous with the establishment of the monarchy in its complete form, and both are the work of David. That it should be called "the city of Davitl" was doubly justified by his having captured it, and by the use he made of it. It com- ma,nds the country as no other place does ; for it stands on the broadest ritlge of the network of hills which runs through Palestine, from Carmel to the wilderness of Parnn, forming the watershed between the Great Sea a,nd the Jordan. Stra,tegically its position is very strong. Most of the approaches to it are too intricate and pre- cipitous for large armies; and the one that is least so, the one that has almost invariably been usetl by hostile armies, is very circuitous-from J affo and Lydda, over the pa,ss of the Beth-horons to Gibeon, and thence over the hills to the north side of Jerusalem. History shows that the armies of Egypt o.nd Assyri,t often marched by along the plain, and sometimes fought there, without in a,ny way interfering with Jerusalem. The moral effect of the capture was i=ense. All the surrounding na,tions wo.itecl in suspense to see what tho conqueror would attempt next. The effect was felt as far as Tyre, for Hiram sends workmen and cedar-wood to build a palace for David in his new capita,). The po.lace was built; and we once more see the weakness of frail humanity in David's gi·eat work, in his violating the law (Deut. xvii. 17), by multiplying wives to himself; though he never seems to have done as Solomon did to his own ruin, take wives from. heathen nations. The Philistines o.lso were  xxxii INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.