tho "we.ter-oity," that is, tho town upon the soon e.e resistance became hopoles@. The Jabbok, whenoe the supply of wator we.a general population would, of course, scatter obto.ined. Tho oitadcl, which occupied B thomsel vee in every direction, but the misery high rook on the north-western side, must, caused by such a breo.king up of civil life, therofore, soon be sto.rvod into submission, as well as by the cruel bloodshed, must have nnd tho whole of" the royo.l oity," thnt is, been terrible. Instead of" he put them in ,. or tho metropolis of the Ammonites, be in saw," w~ find, in 1 Chron. xx. 3, "he SA.wed Joo.b's power, Ho therefore urges David to them with e. se.w." This readin"' differa come in person, both tlmt tho honour <Jf the from what we be.ve here only in on"'e letter conq nest may be his, o.nd o.lao beco.usil pro- o.ncl is plainly right, as the translation: bably the bloclcading force had boen reduced "under eaws," "under barrows of iron ,, to as smo.ll o. body of men o.s was safe, o.nd etc., found both in the Authorized anJ R~- the presonce of o. ·10.rge army wns necess1try vised Versions, is simply an expedient, ren- for completing the subjngntion of the dered necessary by the corruption of the country, which would follow upon the text. If we restore the passage by the help capture of the capito.l. of the parallel place, it runs on thus: "He Ver. 30.-Their king; Hebrew, Malcam. sawed with e. se.w, and with threshing- This is another mode of spelling Milcom, sledges of iron, e.nd with cutting instrn- the god of the Ammonites, and is found also ments of iron." What exactly the second in Zeph. i. 5, e.nd probably in Jer. xlix. I, 3; were we do not know, as the word does not Amos i. 15. Strictly, Milcom or Mo.loom is occur elsewhere. The Vulgate renders it a proper name for the supreme deity, formed "wains shod with iron," meaning, appa- from the word melec, e. king, or, e.s it was rently, those driven over the corn for thresh- pronounced in other Semitio dialect.a, Mo- ing purposes, and now driven over these loch. Gre.mmo.tice.lly, Malcam also means unfortunate people. The barbarity is not "their king," and even so belongs to Milcom. more horrible than that of se.wing prisoners For the crown weighed e. hundred pounds, asunder. He made them pa.as through the o. ponderous mass, which no mii.n could pos- briok-kiln. Both the Septuagint e.nd Vul- sibly bear, o.ud, lee.at of all, when. me.king, gate have "brick-kiln," Hebrew, malban, o.s was the case with the Ammonite king, which the Massorites have adopted, but the his le.st stcmd for his life.· But after the Hebrew text has malchan. No com- capture of the city, it was lifted from the mentator ha.a given any satisfactory expl.e.- head of the idol, e.nd placed formally upon ne.tion of what can be meant by me.king David's head, e.nd held there for a few the Ammonites pe.ss through a brick-kiln; moments, e.s e. sign of victory e.nd of re- but Kimchi gives e. very probable interpre- joicing over the fe.11 of the false god. There tation of the word really fonnd in the is no reason for supposing that there is any Hebrew, e.nd which, not being intelligible, exaggeration in the weight, nor will the he.a been corrupted. For the Malchan we.a, Hebrew allow us to understand the to.lent he says, the place where the Ammonites of gold e.s referring to its value. me.de their children pe.ss through the fire Yer. 31.-Ths people the.t were therein. to Maloch. He thinks, therefore, that David The cruel treatment described in this verse put some of the people to death in this way. was inflicted, first of e.11, upon those who We cannot defend these oruelties, but they Jie.d defended Re.bbah, now reduced to a unhappily were the rnle in Oriental war- small number by the long siege; but David fare, and would have been inflicted on their next proceeded through e.11 the cities, that enemies by the Ammo.nites. We have proof is; the fortified towns of the Ammonites, in LSe.m. xi. 2 e.nd Amos i. 13 that they were inflicting similar barbarities. 'fhey were e. be.rbo.rous re.oe ; but this did not justify confined probably to the fighting men, e.nd bo.rbe.rone rete.lie.tion. most of these would me.ke ilieir esce.pe e.s
HOMILETICS. Ver,. 1-:-14,-The facts e.re: 1. God sends Ne.than the prophet to David, who tells him a story of the greed of a wicked rich man, who, to satisfy his ave.rice, took away and slew the pet ewe laJn b of a poor man. 2. David, accepting the story a:i a matter of fact, is very .angry with this man, e.nd swears tbe.t for his deed e.nd le.ck of compassion he ought to die and restore fourfold. 3. Nathan thereupon reveals the parabolic character of his narrative, by saying unto David, "Thou e.rt the man I" 4. He then proceeds to .state (1) the goodness of God to him in anointing him king, in delivering h~ from Saul, in giving him the royal sui;:cessiou, and in guaranteeing all else that might be necided; (2) his despite to the commands of God-his murder of Uriah, and his taking 292 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, [clR. XII, 1-:n.