The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 114

not ~ve any rip:bt over the people ";thout e.n entrance, he finds the city divided by the con~ent of the people themselves. But another rl\vine into two pints; whereof tho all religious men would see in the Divine "·estcrn portion contnius the strong cit11dol command nn obligation upon their oon- of llrount Zion, while the e11stern 11nd science to accept as their 1.-ing the man smaller portion con tnins the less clevatod whom the prophet hod anointed; nnd Snul mountain of Moria.h. Though nctuiilly acted in an irreligious manner in seeking to raised above the sen-level sever11l hundred frustrate God's will. And this impiety cul- feet less than Hebron, it seems to the eye minated in his murder of the priests at Nob, more emphatically a mountain-city; and ·"·bich wne the open avowal that he would being well-nigh encircled by the valleys of ·trnmple all scruples of oonscience underfoot, Ben-Hinnom nnd Jehoshaphat, it seems to sit Yer. 4.-David we.e thirty yea.re old. As enthroned above the Jordan volley, compared DaYid WBS probably about eighteen or nine- w1tb which it enjoys a cool and refreshing teen yCRre of age at the time of his comhat climate. To its inhabitants it w11s" b~autiful "·ith Goliath, the events recorded in l Sam. in elevation, the joy or the whole earth" xvii.-xxxi. must have oooupied about ten (Pa. xl viii. :2, Revised VIN'Bion) ; to the or eleven ..-ears. exi\es it was "the city of God," to which Ver. 6...:....The king a.nd hi8 men went to their hearts ever turned; to us Christia.us it J'ernae.lem. Tllis expedition took plaM im- is the type of Christ's Uhurch on earth, a.nd mediately after Da..-id's coronation, and pro- of his kingdom in heaven. It was an act bably he was moved to it by the pr<'sence of worthy of David's genius to foresee the great so large a number of the warriors of Ismel. future of the plllce, and to iaau,rura.te his He had Jong foreseen the arri\"al of the time kingdom by its capture, We gather from when he would be king of all the tribes, Ezek. ni. 45 that at the time when the and must have debated in his mind the Hittites were the dominant race· in Syria, problem of his future capital. Re could Jerusalem was one of their fortresses. The not remain in Hebron, as it was too far to name ia a dual, liternlly Yerushalarm, and the south, nor would haughty tribes such probably the town was so callee! beca.use it as Ephraim have consented to be merged consisted of two parts-the upper and the into J odah. On the other hand, he could lower city. Shalaim means the "two not move far awe:r, as Judah was his main Saleme," thus carrying our minds baok to strength. But living in its neighbourhood, the city of Melchizedek (Gen. xiv. 18). In he must often have noticed the remarka.ble Ps. lxxvi. 2 Salem is apparently contrasted position of the city of Jebus, and admired its with Zion, and so would be the lower town, rock-girt strengtll (P~. xlviii. 2). Though containing Mount Morillh. Of the .other the Jebusites hod been conquered by Joshua. pa.rt of the word, Yeru, numerous deriva- (Josh. xi. 3), and Jerusalem captured (Judg. tions are given, of which the only probe.hie i. 8), yet, as the children of Judah did not one is that which connects it with" Yehovah- occupy it, but "set the city on fire," it seems yireh "-" God will see to it," the name to llave been soon repeopled by its old in- given to the spot where Abraham on this habitants, wlio there maintained their mountain offered a vicarious sacrifice for independence, and, owing to the impreg- hia son. We must, however, bear in mind nable nuture of its site, could not be treated that towns ret11in the names which they as Saul tree.led 1.he Gibeonite inhabi- bore in primitive times, and that the name tants of Decroth. Even subsequently, the of a Hittite fortress belongs probably to the Jebusite chief who possel!Sed what pro- langua.ge of that people. Exoept thou take bably was Mount Moriah, still bore the away the blind and the lame, thou sbalt not titular rank of king ; for the words in eh. oome in hither. These words ha.ve been a x.xi v. 23 literally are, "Ali this did Are.unah sore puzzle to commentators, and many the king give unto tLe king." TLe explana.- strange explanations ha.ve been given, tion of this long independence of the Je- Ra.shi so.ye tha.t the blind meant Isaa.o, and busites is to be fouud not only in the feeble- the lame Ja.cob, and that the words referred ness of the tribes during the troubled times to an old compact by which Abraham g11ve of the judges, but eren wore in the confor- Jerusalem to the Jebusit.es, and th11t Isaac mation of the site of their stronghold. and Jacob had confirmed this agreement: JerW10.lem is situated on the edge of the Unless, then, David was prepared to viola.to precipitous wall which forms the western this covenant, he must abstllin from the boundary of the valley of the Jordan, and attack. We get no help from 1 Chron. xi. occupies a promontory, on three sides of 5, e.a the words are there omitted, prob11bly which are raviDee so abrupt and steep tllat, because they were not supposed to have a.ny were it not for their vast depth, they might importa.nt meaning. The Orienta.ls delightecl seem to have been the work of man. On the in dark sa.yings, e.nd possibly ther!l was here north sine alone it is open to attack, but some local reference which ·the p6llple of even there, when the beeieger has obtained Jerusalem would understa.nd, but which is Clf, V, 1-25.) TIIE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 115