The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 501

Ver. 8.-Miohal. H was Merab who that the Philistines had hanged the borlics borame the wife of Aclricl the Meholathite of Saul and of his sons ( I Sam. xxxi. 12). (l Sam. xviii. 19). Michal was childless The men of Jabeeh-Gilead; Hebrew, ,1,~ (see oh. vi. 23). Whom ■he brought up lords or owners of Jabe•h-Gilead. The for. Thie is one of the many cnees of un- phrase occurs also in I Sam. xxiii. 11, 12 of trustworthiness in the renderings of the the citizens of Keilah, and is found rLlso in Authorized Version. We have noticed a very the Books of Joshua. and Judges. (For the flagrant instance before in eh. v. 21. The brave exploit of these men in rescuing the object of these mistranslations is always the bodies of their king and his sons, see I Sam. some, namelv, to remove some verbal discre- xxxi. 11-13; and for David's generous ap- pancy in tlie Hebrew text. The Hebrew proval, eh. ii. 5.) s~ys here "five sons of Michal, whom she Ver.14.-The bones of Saul and Jonathan. bare to Aclriel; " but Michal never bore a The Septuagint adds, "and the bones of child, therefore something must be substi- them that were hanged." As it is expressly tuted which will eave the Hebrew from this said in ver. 13 that these bones were col- verbal inaccuracy, and Michal must be re- lectecl, we cannot doubt but that the remains presented as having taken Merab'e place of the seven grandsona were interred with (perhaps at her death), and been foster- those of Saul and Jonathan, in the tomb of mother to her children. This explanation Kish, their common ancestor. But whether is, it is true, taken from the Jewish Targnm; the Septuagint has preserved worcls that but the Targum never professes to be an have dropped out of the Hebrew text, or has exact translation, and constantly perverts aclded them to make the fact plain, is more the meaning of the plainest passages for than we can answer. Zelah. Nothing more preconceived reasons. is known of this place than that it was in Ver. 9.-Thebeginning of barley harvest. the tribe of Benjamin. The barley became ripe in April, about Ver. 15.-Moreover. A new narrative the time of the Passover (Deut. xvi. 9). The begins here, and the heroic acts related in wheat was not ripe till Pentecost. it are taken probably from some record of Ver. 10.-Rizpah . . . took saokoloth, the martial deecl.e of David and his mi~hties. and spread it for her upon the rock; rather, We have already seen that the Book of J asher against the rock, so as to form a little hut (eh. i. 18) was a. national anthology, full of or shelter to protect her from the glaring ballads and songs in praise of glorions exploits blaze of the sunshine. The word " upon " of Israel's worthies. The source of the nar- has led many commentators to suppose that ratives recorded here apparently was a his- she used it as a bed ; but this is not the tory in prose, and commenced, perhaps, with meaning of the Hebrew, though given by David's own achievement in slaying Goliath the Vulgate. The sackcloth was the loose -a deed which ea.lied forth the heroism of wrapper or cloak which formed the outer the nation, and was emulated by other dress of mourners. As regards the bodies brave men. These extracts were probably of those crucified or impaled, the Law re- given for their own sake, and are repeated quired that they should be taken down in 1 Chron. xx. 4-8, where they are placed aud buried that same evening(Deut. xxi. 23). immediately after the capture of Rabbah ; Here they remained exposed for six months, but they here form an appropriate intro- as a grim trophy of Gibeonite vengeance. duction to the psalm of thanksgiving in Until water dropped upon them out of heaven; eh. x.xii. It was usual in Hebrew, in Hebrew, was poured upon them; until copi- making q notations, to leave them withont ous and heavy rains came. The outpour- any attempt at adapting them to their new ing of these rains would put an end to the place; and thus the ••moreover" and "yet famine, and be regarded as a proof that the again," which referred to some previous wrath of Heaven was appeased. There is no narrative in the history, are left unchanged. reason for supposing that these rains came Ver. 16.-lshbi-benob. The Hebrew has before the usual period, in autumn, which Ishbo-benob, which Gesenius interprets as was about the middle of October. 'fhus, meaning "dweller upon the height." But for six months, with no other protection surely the man's name would not be than her mantle of sackcloth hung a~11inst Hebrew; he was a Raplia.h, aud we shall not the rock, this noble woman watched the be able to explain his name until we know decaying bodies of her loved ones, until at the language of the Rephaim. Of the sons last her devoted conduct touched David"s of the giant; Hebrew, of the children oj tha heart, and their remains were honourably Raphak; that is, he belonged to the race interred. of the Rephaim, the word not signifying Ver. 12.-Tha street of Beth-shan; He- "sons," but the members of a stock. It is brew, the broad place, or square, just inside translated "children" in Numb. xiii. 22, 28, the gate, where the citizens met for busi- etc. (For the Rephaim, see note on eh. v. ness. It w11s upon the wall of this square 18.) "The Raphl\h" may be the mythic pro- II. SAMUEL. 2 L  614 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, [cu. xxr. 1--22,