The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 293

felt it diflioult to withdmwfrom a fa.Jae posi- God and found b1m sitting under au oak tion. Or, finally, he may ht1ve taken the side [Heb. the oak; i.e., the well-known oak. of J croboo.m because of the greater honours Possibly there wae but one, or one of great o.ntl rewo.rds tho.t prince had to bestow size, in the neighbourhood-such trees are (see on ver. 18). There is o. s ~ g simi- comparatively rare in Pt1lestine. Possibly larity between hie position o.nd action and also this tree became well known from these that of Balaam]; and his sons [The Heb. events. It is singular that in another place ho.s son • The LXX., Syr., and Vulg., sons. (Gen. xxxv. 8) we reacl of '' the oak" (i\~~) It is qu/te true that a " very slight change in the Hebrew text would bring it into ac- of Bethel, whilst in_Judg. iv. 5 we read of cordance with the Septuagint here " (Raw- the "palm tree" (ir;ir-i) of Deborah, between lin<on similarly Ewald), but it would be Ramah and Bethel." And it is not at all 11."ainst sound principles of textual criticism improbable, seeing that in 1 Sam. x. 3 we t; make it. It is much more likely tho.t the read of the terebinth (1\)~) of Tabor-in LXX. and other versions have been a~tered the A. V. rendered "plain of Tabor"- already, and that the plura~ has been mtr?• which Ewald (" Hist. Israel," iii. 21; iv. 31) cluced here because it is uniformly found m considers to be only a dialectic variation of the later narrative. "His son" ( ,~~), as Deborah, and remembering the great e.ge to the tectio ardua, is therefore to be retained. which these trees attain, that the same tree The use of the singular indicates that one is referred to throughout. The word here of them was at first the principal speaker. Perhaps one hastened home with the news used, it is true, is i1?~ (which is generally before the rest. The sons of the prophet supposed to indicate the terebinth, but is are not to be confounded with "the sons also "used of any large tree" (Gesenius), (i.e., disciples) of the prophet,s" (2 Kings ii., and which, therefore, may be used of the iii., iv., passim); not merely because "the J\~~ of Bethel. Both names are derived latter would scarcely have witnessed the gol- from the so.me root ()~~fortis. Cf. Amos den calf-worship" (Biihr), but also because ii. 9), and both indicate varieties-what they would have been differently designated] varieties it is not quite clear-of the oak. came and told b1m all the works [Heb. Some expositors hav_e se_en in this bri_ef re~~ work] that the man of Go:l h:i.d done that the beginning of his sin, and certaJnly it day 1n Bethel : the words which he ha.d would seem against the spirit of his instruc- spoken unto the king, them they [obser".e tions to remain so ne~r a place (see note on the plural] told also_ to their father. . [I~ 1s ver.16) from which he was to vanish spee,lily, quite clear tho.t the virtno.l excommumca.t1on and, if possible, unperceived. In o.ny case which the man of God had pronounced had the action betrays his fatigue and exhaus- maclo as great an impression o.s the signs tion], and he said unto him, Art thou the which he had showed. The interdict was a. man of God that ca.mest from Judah 7 And matter which ea.me home to the Bethclites, he said, I am. a.s an affront to the whole co=unity.] Ver. 15.-Then he said unto him, Come Ver. 12.-And their father said unto homs with me [Heb. Come toith me to the them, What way went he 7 [The question house] and eat bread. The sting was in shows that the old prophet throughly under- the to.ii of thia invitation. If he would par- stood the import of tliose " wo1·tls," and take of food, he wouhl thereby remove the that his first tliought was tfo1t tho interdict ban and so neutralize one pa.rt of his mis- must be removed at any cost.] For his sion.] sons had seen [Heh. and his sons saw, or Ver. 16.-A.nd he sa.ld, I may not [Heb. slw1ccd. LXX. orn,v,,ov11,v. Similarly most of am not able to] return with thee, nor go iu the versions. A very slight change in the vowel with thee : neither will I ea.t bread nor points ~Wl'' for~~"!'' would give this sense] drink water with thee in this place. [The what way the man of God went which tro.nslr11-ion " in tluu place " a,lopted by ea.me from Judah. Wordsworth (after the Vnlgate, ill loco fat~) Ver. 13.-And he said unto hie sons, does not agreo with the Hebrew. And 1t 1s Saddle me the ass. [This prompt and not required by the context. The treo wa.J seemingly abrupt command-though we probably at no great distance from the cannot be sure that all tho conversation is town.] here reported-shows his instant resolve to Ver. 17.-For It was said to me [Heb. a follow. These are the words of one who had ,oord to me] by [Heb. in] the word of the made up his mind, co,ite que co,ite, to bring Lord, Thou ehalt eat no bread, nor drink the man of God back.j So they saddled h1m water tbere, nor turn again to go by the tbe ass : and ho rodo t!J.&raon. way that thou camest. Ver. 14.-And he wont after the man of Ver. 18.-He said un.to him, I am a 296 'l'HE FIRST BOOK 011' RINGS. [on. xur. 11-M.