The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 332

that if they strike not where God hM commanded to st1ike, they and their throne arc criminal and guilty of the wickedness which abounds upon th~ face of the earth for lark of punishment" (John Knox). ll. U:1n,ARRANTED DY ADEQUATE REASONS. In Israel (1\8 in Persia and other Eastern countries) the king, as vicegerent of heaven, had a large discretionary po,ver of dis- pensing with the penalties of the Law; but it behoved him to exercise it without partiality and on sufficient grounds. Although David's omission to punish is not expressly condemned, yet the consequences by which it Wl\8 followed show that it took place (not, as some have supposed, on "principle," or because it was I' impossible" for him to do otherwise, but) without such grounds. 1. The affection <if a father. This, however, ought not to have prevented punishment by a father or judge; as it did bein" i~or~inate all:d blamable, in_ Eli (1 Sam. ii. 22, 30). 2. The ronk of the o_ffende~; th~ kmg s son, his firstborn, heir to the crown. But he was not above the law· nor less guilty than another of inferior position would he.ve been. "God is no re;pecter of persons." 3. The transgression and forgiveness of the king himself. Nevertheless whilst both may have exerted a pernicious influence, Amnon was responsible for hi~ own conduct; and David's exemption (only from legal punishment) rested on grounds which did not exist in the case of his un:i:odly and impenitent son. The kin"•~ wrath proves his full conviction of Arnnon's guilt and his moral abhorrence of its e~ormity; his failure to "grieve," or inflict suffering upon him, indicates his own weakness and dereliction of duty. " Punishment is an effort of man to find a more exact relation between sin and suffering than this world affords us. A duty is le.id upon us to make this relationship of sin to suffering as real, and as natural, and as exact in proportion as it is possible to be made. This is the moral root of the whole doctrine of punish- ment. But if the adjustment of pain to vice be the main ground of punishment, it must be admitted that there are other ends which society has in view in its infliction. '.l'hese secondary elements in punishment appear to be (1) the reformation of the offender ; (2) \the prevention of further offences by the offender ; (3) the repression of offences in others" (Edward Fry, Nineteenth Century, No. lxx.ix. p. 524). III. PnoDUCTIVE OF DISASTROUS EFFECTS. 1. It does not appear to have produced any other effect on the o_ffender than to confirm him in recklessness and fancied security. "Punishment connected with sin operates towards reform in two ways: (1) by the association of ideas-the linking together of that from which our nature shrinks with that from which it ought to i;hrink, so that the temptation to sin recalls not only the pleasure of sin. but the pain of suffering; (2) by the shock to the habits of thought and of practice which suffering prod0.ces, by the solution of continuity in the man's life which it ea.uses, by the opportunity for reflection and thought which it thus affords" (Lord Justice l<'ry). 2. On others, also, it was injurious; weakening respect for royal authority and public justice, causing the law to be despised, furnishiag grounds for private revenge, leading to further impunity (ver. 39; eh. xiv. 24, 33), more daring crimes (eh. xv. 7; xvi. 21), widespread disaffection and rebellion. 3. On the king himself. Further impairing his personal, moral, kingly energy, and accumu- lating" sorrow upon sorrow" (vers. 31, 37; eh. xv. 13). It was another link in the chain of painful consequences resulting from his great transgression; naturally, slowly, effectually wrought out under the direction and control of the perfect justice of the supreme King; accomplishing a beneficent end, in purifying his heart, restoring him to God, averting his final condemnation, and teaching, warning, benefiting mankind. "The dark sin of which he had been guilty spoke of e. character that had lost its self- control, its truthfulness, its generosity. Hie penitence was not able to undo all its consequences and to bring back the old energy and life. Over and above its direct results in alienating the hearts of his most trusted counsellors, and placing him at the mercy of a hard taskmaster, that dark hour left behind it the penalty of an enfeebled will, the coward.ice of a hidden crime, the remorse which weeps for the past, yet cannot rouse itself to the duties of the present. He leaves the sin of Amnon unpunished in spite of the fearful promise it gave of a reign of brutal passion,' because he loved him, for he was hie firBtborn.' Half suspecting, apparently, that Absalom had some scheme for revenafog the wrong which he had failed to redress, he he.s no energy to stop its executio;. He shrinks only from being present at a meeting tht> meaning and issues of which he does not comprehend, and yet dimly fears. When the OH, XIII, 1-39.] THE SECOND IlOOK OF SAMUEL. 337