The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 115

lost for us. But eviclently it wa.s a. bonstful Solomon, and through it,or some sn~h tnnncl. dcfl[lnco, a.nrl mny menu tha.t the Jobusites Joab e.nd e. fow men may have worked focir pretenclccl thnt it would be enough to post way, and so he.ve effected nn entmnco i11to only their feeblest men, the blind e.nd the the city, which otherwi8e we., impregnable. le.me, for defenoe, e.nd tha.t David would try It was probn.bly the ent,-ance neo.r the Vir- in vnin to bree.k through them. Thinking; gin's Fountain which they had ob<P,rvecJ aucl Hebrew, to say; answering to our phrase David's words mean," Wh"ever will u~der- "tho.t is." It should be tro.nslo.tod, "mean- take this cle.ngerous enterprise, let him try ing." this underground passage, and when he Ver, 7.-The stronghold of Zion: the so.ma has entered the fortifications by its means, is the oity of David. Zion was the hill on Jet him smite the lame e.nd the blind the south-western side of the city; but we the.t ore hated of David's soul," becau.;~ learn from ver. 9 that the J ebusites he.d of the boast of the J ebusites, that their not occupied the whole of it, but e. po.rt only, cripples were a match for his heroes, It which was their stronghold, round which must be noticed, however, that the K'tib there would be scattered dwellings, e.s the or written text, has "who hate Davirl'~ whole tribe dwelt there. The total e.rea sonl;" e.nd as this is what the Jewish of the hill-top was about sixty e.cres, and it Mo.ssorites found in the manuscripts, it bas we.a now quickly covered with houses, and more authority than their correction. These co.lied "the city of Da.vid," after its captor, Jebusites he.d probably, in their boastful The view of Dr. Birch o.nd others, the.t the iusult, spoken of David with contempt, and stronghold of Zion wo.s Ophel, is rendered even said, like Goliath, that they would untenable by the fe.ot the.t this southern give his flesh to the vultures (l Sam. xvii. tongue of Mount Moriah is completely 44). We learn from 1 Chron. xi. 6 that commanded by other pe.rts of the -hill. Ac- David promised the office of commander cording to Gesenius, Zion mee.ns "sunny; " of the host to the man who undertook this others render it "the dry hill ; " others, exploit; e.nd when Joab he.d volunteered "lofty;" e.nd Fiirst, "the ce.stle," None of and succeeded, he regained thereby the these derivations is of o.ny rea.l ve.lue, aa post which he ha.d forfeited by the murder the word is probably Hittite. of Abner. The blind e.nd the le.me shall Ver. 8.-Whosoever getteth up to the not oome into the house. The proverb is gutter. The word rendered" gutter " occurs one of contempt for these poor cripples, and elsewhere only in Ps. xiii. 7, where it is forbids the exercise of hospitality to them. translated "waterspont." Josephus thinks Such people, if they took to mendicancy, that it was an underground passage or drain. were to meet with refusal, though e.t their Ewe.Id argues that it was e. precipice, and own homes they were fit objects of charity. others the.t it was e. dent or hollow in the This way of describing tramps e.s "the rocky fe.ce of the ravine, which David he.d blind e.nd lame" a.rose, we e.re here told, noticed and thought practicable. The view from this Jebusite taunt. of Josephus, suggested to him proba.bly by Ver. 9.-De.vid dwelt iD the fort. It was his knowledge of the way in which the site the stronghold or citadel of Ziou which of Jerusalem is honeycombed by tunnels, David took for his abode ; but e.s he needed has been wonderfulJy confirmed by the dis- space for the dwellings of his mighty men, coveries me.de by Sir 0. Warren (' Re- and for those who would soon flock for covery of Jerusalem,' pp. 240, sqq.). At the trade e.nd ,-security to the capital, David northern encl of the Pool of Siloam he found proceeded- to fortify the whole of the sum- an arched passage gradually narrowing down mit. His works began from "the Millo," from 11 considerable height, till finally there rendered "the citadel" by the, LXX. l\lflny, was e. pe.ssa.ge of only fourteen iuohes, and deriving the name from e. Hebrew root as there was e. depth of ten inches of wo.te,r, :Signifying "to fill,'' think that it was 11 there were left but four inches of space for mound, but Nature had herself supplied fit brea.thing. But through this his men strug- heights for defence, e.nd it is evident that gled, e.nd, o.t the end of four hours' le.hour, the plaoe was called "the l\Iillo" when they reached the light of de.y e.t the spring D.,vid captured the city. We find "Beth- called the Virgin's Fount. 'Beginning here Millo" e.lso in Judg. i:s:. 6, 20, where it on e. subsequent day, they went along 11 pas- signifies those who held the oite.del of sage sixty-seven feet in length, e.nd came to 8bechem; e.nd this Millo at Jerusalem we.a e. perpendicular she.ft leading up through the without doubt the old Jebusite keep, and solid stone of the hill; nnd, having see.led the explanation of its name must be sought this, they next ea.me upon e. sloping pe.sse.ge, in the Jebusite language. As it formed which finally conducted theru to a spot on one of the strongest defences of the city, tho hill of Ophcl within the fortifications. it was rebuilt by Solomon (1 Kings i:s:. 24; Now, there are reasons for believing tho.t xi. 27), and repaired by Hezckit\h (2 Chron. this passage is older th11n the wall built by x:s::s:iL 5) in prepe.wtion for the Assyrian  116 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [011. v. 1-25,