The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 39

WM that De.vid me.int11ined friendly rele.- irlol. Origlm1lly ho was niimed EshbMl tiona with Aobish, and pe.id him tribute. (1 Chron. viii. 33 ; ix. 89), that is, " man This exple.ine the curious fact tbllt Zikle.g of B1111l," the word e8h. being merely a rontinued to be the prive.te property of the dialectio variation for ish., equivalent. to honae of David (I 811.m. xxvii. 6). '!'he " man." At this early date DnCLl wn.s doing!! of a ve.ssal of the King of Ge.th were not the epecifio nllmo of nny idol, but re!!"-rded RR of little importnn~e. H11d he simply meant" lord,"" mnstor," "husband." not even marohed with th<'m to Aphek, na In the e11rlicr books of the Bible we find one of the een-snts of Achish? But when tlie word used of many local deities, who he endf'Rvoured to restore the kingdom of were lords of this or that, but had nothing Sanl, they first made a hMty rush upon in comm('ln mth the Phamici11n B1111l, whoso him, and, when repelled, they gatl1ered their worship Ahab attempted to introduce into forces for Rs formid11hle an invasion as that Ierool. Fron1 that time Dnal became a term whicli had ended in their victory at Gilboa. of reproach, and Boeheth, "the shnme," was Yer. 5.-David sent meesengera unto the substituted for it in tbe old names of which men of Jabeeh-Gilea.d. This w11S Da,•id's it had formed part. Thus Gideon is still :first act as king, and it was worthy of him. called Jerubbae.l in 1 Sam. xii. 11, but the Some ~uppose that when David was told title is transformed into J erubbeeheth, or of their deerl, it was with a view of pre- more correctly, Jernbbosheth, "let the judicing him against them. But this is sbnme plead," in eh. xi. 21. Originally, not credible. Bv this time all men 1--new therefore, the name Ishbaal had no dis- how loval and "affectionate were David's creditable meaning, but signified, "man of feelings towards his former king ; and more- the Lord," or, as Ewald supposes, "lordly over the men of Jabesh were bound to Saul man." It was not till long afterwards, by no ordinary ties of gratitude (I Sam. xi. ). when Israel hnd been horrified by Jezebel's Nor could David '\Vish that Saul's remains, doings, that Baal, except in the sense of and those of Jonathan. should be subject to " husband," became an ill-omened word. indignity. We may well feel sure that Jonathan, whose own name, "Jehovah's information reepeoting Saul was eagerly gift," in Greek Theodore, is proof snfficient welcomed at Hebron, and the valiant men that Saul's family were worshippers of the there would all rejoice at :finding that the true ,God, called his son's name Merib- high spirit of the nation was not quenched. baal, "the Lord's strife" (1 Cbron. viii. 34). But in sending to thank them, in promising In some strange way this was altered into to requite them, and in bidding them per- Mephibosbeth. that is, "from the face of severe in similar conduct, David Wll8 acting the shameful thing" ( eh. iv. 4. etc.). Pos- as the head of the nation; and, to jnstify sibly it is a corruption of Meribboeheth, but his action, be informs them that the men of it it! remarkable that a son of Baul by his Judah had made him their king. concubine Rizpah also bore the name (eh. Ver. 8.-.!.bner. This hero had been pre- :n:i. 8). Among the ancestors of Saul, the sent at the battle of Gilboa, and probably simple name Baal, "Lord," occurs (I Chron. had rallied many of the defeated lsraelitee, viii. 30). l'llahana.im. Abner chose this town and made as much resistanee as was possible because it was on the ea.stem side of the to the onward march of the Philistines. Jordan, and so beyond the range of the And as soon as he had effected liis retreat Philistines, who never seem to have crossed into the region beyond the Jordan, his power the river. It was sitnnted on the borders would be supreme. There was no one there of the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of to oppose the commander-in-chief of what Manasseh, from both of which valiant remained of Saul's army. Certainly all warriors had joined David; but the people that remained of Saul's body-guard of three generally were not ill affected to the house thousand men would gather round Abner, of Sa.nl. As having been assigned to the and as the Philistines did not push their Levites (Josh. :x.xi. 38), it had a quasi- pursuit further than the Jordan, he was religious character, inherited from the vision free to do as he chose. Nor would there be ofangels seen there by Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 2). e.ny opposition. Abner was bound to do .Ail a safe, out-of-the-way place, David hiB best for Se.nl'e family, and the people subsequently took refuge there ( eh. xvii. would feel this, and approve of his conduct 24). (On its exact site, see Conder'e 'Heth in standing up for the children of their king. and Moa.b,' pp. 177-181.) Moreover, David by his condnct bad made Ver. 9.-Make him king over. A differ- himself an object of suspicion to all the ent preposition is used with the first three valiant men who had formed Saul's army, names from that employed afterwards, as 1111.d these wonld be the more embittered though lshbosheth's reign over Gilead and against him by their defeat. lllhbolheth. Jezreel was a reality, but that he had only a This name signifies '' man of shame," that shadowy claim to dominion over Ephraim, is, " man of the shameful thing," the Benjamin, and all Israel. Gilead. As Ma- oa. n. 1-32.J THE Sll:COND BOOK or SAMUEL. 37