The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 118

with no other protC'ction than 1h11.t of hie crRzc in past times. Tho Ileplll\im scorn, "mighty men." Saul h11.d cndmwourcd to howr.ver, to have been phyeirnlly n "·cll- havl' alwe.ys round him three thousand t!Molopcd people, And ecvornl races of tmiaetl men (1 Sam. 'li:iii. 2), nnd David snb- Canaan of greRt stature are described in sequen1ly he.d prob1tbly quite aa m1my (eh. Dent. ii. 11 as hnviug belonged to them, ns xv. 18); hut 11t this enrly stage he hnd did Og, who wna a man of extraordinnry prob1tbly not many more than he had dimensions (Deut. !ii. 11). brought "·ith him from Ziklag to Hebron. Yer. 20.-:Be.al-Perazim; literally, poe- He could not, therefore, me.ke head e.grdnst ee88or of breac11es, that ie, the place where the Phili~tines coming with e.11 the ni~litin. the e.ttllllk burst forth. It is called Mount of their Janel; but, leaving his wives e.nd Perazim, "the hill of~ breaches," in Ps. the wives of his mighty men in the Jebusite :s:xviii. 21, ancl ns we ho.vo seen, it wns tho stronghold nf Jeruralom, we mny well believe rocky height on tho north of the valley of that he sped awe.y to ge.ther the warriors of Rephnim. David must, therefore, have stolen Isre.el. But wh11t seems stmnge is that he round the army of the Philistines, creeping," should have gone to the rear of the Philis- probably by night, up to this ridge of Ben- tines. especie.lly 9.8 they had C'ome in such Hinnom, o.nd thence at the dawn of day vnst numbers as to occupy the whole coun- have rushed down upon tho camp. And try--e. garrison, for instance, being posted his onset wo.s sudden and irresistible, like at Bethlehem, and doubtless at other fit the rush of the waters of some roountnin spots. Still, this country was well kaown to le.ke when, swollen with re.ias, it bursts David, and he could gather there old friends, through the opposing dam, and c1uries hasty whose bra.very he had often tried before. destruction to everything that lies in its Ancl while thus wniting for the mustering of way. l!llch e..11 God would move to help him, in Ver. 21.-They left their images. This deep distress at eo telTihle a reverse.I fol- is a further proof of the su·ddenness of the lowing so quickly upon his exaltation, a attack, and the completeness of the Philis- strange longing for water from the well of tine discomfiture. For images we find his native town seized him. He was suffer- "gods" in the parallel place in l Chron. ing apparently from fever of body as well xiv. 12, e.nd the word used here is rendered- as from distress of mind, and eoon there we.s "idols" in I Sam. xxxi. 9. As the Philis- relief from both. For three of hie heroes tines supposed th11t these imo.ges of their heard ihe words burst from his parched deities would ensure their V1Ctory, they lips, and, hastening to Bethlehem, broke would set great store by them, ns the Israel- through the Pbilistine garrison, and filled ites did by the ark (l Sam. iv. 4), a.ad tho a waterskin from the well o.t the gate of French by the orifle.mme. Their ca.pture, the city. Such o.n act naturally me.de therefore, was a feat as great as the winning a great impression upon David. Whs.t of the eagle of a Roman legion. David and room wo.e there for despair when he had his men burned them ; Hebrew, took them snob men around him? Pouring oa.t, atcay. This transla.tion of the Authorized then, the water as a drink offering to Je- Version, me.de to force the words into verbal hovah, his heart was now filled with hope, agreement with I Chron. xiv. 12, is utterly and inquiring of the Lord whether he indefensible; and, like most wrong things, might attack the Philistinea, he received it is absurd. The Bible cannot be improved. the aesure.nce which he had already ga- by fraudl!, and really the two narratives thered from the exploit of his heroes, that complete one another. David and his men God would deliver tilem into his hand. ee.rried oft' these images as trophies, just as Ver. 18.-The valley of B.eph.aim. This the Philistines carried oft' the ark (1 Sam. fruitful valley (Isa. xvii 5) is about three iv. 11). Bot the ark proved mightier than miles in length, and two in breadth. Ocen- the Philistine gods, and in terror the people pying it in v11,11t numbers, the Philistines restored it to Israel. But no avenging hand sent out bodies of mca to plunder the whole interfered to rescue these gods, nnd, after eountrv, while a sufficient forr.e watched being paraded in ·triumph, they were made Jerusalem, intending to take it by famine. into a bonfire. • 'l'he Rephaim were an aboriginal race, first Ver. 22. -The Philistines oame up yet mentioned in Gen. xiv. 5, and evidently in again. Their first defeat had probably not ,-nrly times very widely spread in Palestine. been e.ccompanied by much slaughter; for The idea. ths.t they were giants bes no more David's men were] few in number, though to uc suid in its favour than that they were brave 9.8 lions. Retreating then to some ghosts-the meaning of the word in Isa. xxvi. distance, the Philistines called in their H. l'.I. No sensible philolngist will endea- garrisons, and waited also for reinforcements vour to explain the names of these primitive from home, and then advanced again to the J'Wl{.'i! and of tlieir towns l,y Hebrew roots, same sp0t. And as David was prepared though there has been too much of this to attack them in front, ho also mu.st now oa. v. 1-25.J THE SlWON!> BOOK OF SAMUEL. 119