The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 519

eion. But, "oorde of death" mean the fatal Lebanon, on which the skis■ seem to rest. en&N!I! of the hunter, and &re not in keeping The ■moke signifies hailstorms a.nd, perhaps, with "t,orrente of wickedness." "Belia\," e.leo the re.in driven in wreaths along the literally, "worthleseneBB," is by many sup• ground by the wind. Bed hot oinden po!l0d from the oontext to mean here "de- burned from him describes the fluhing etrootion," that is, physical instead of moral lightning,i that were shot forth like the wickedness. So in N ah. i. 11 "a oounsellor ooala from the refinor's furnace when heated of Belia\ " means a ruinous, destructive to the full. H is to be regretted that the oouneellor. Sheo\ ie the world of the de- Revised Vereion retains the bathos of the parted, and is equivalent to" death." Cried old rendering, that God's fiery breath eat is the e&me verb twice used. In Ps. xviii, ooala on fire. 6 it is altered, in the former part of the Vere. ll-18.- veree unto "I oalled "-a change probably " And he rode upon a oherub, and did fly; suggested by the more fastidious taste of a And he was seen upou the wings of the le.ter age. For temple we should tr&nele.te wind. palace, or heat1enly te,iple. It is not the And he me.de darkneee booths round nbout temple in Jerll811.lem, which was not yet him· built, but God's h88venly dwelling, that is Gathering of waters, thickenings of olouda. meant. Instead of the terse ellipse, " And Out of the brightness before him my cry in his ears," the full but heavy Coe.ls of fire blll'ned." phre.ae, " My cry before him came into his ftlLlll," is substituted in Pe.. xviii. 6. In eh. vi. 2 Jehovah is described a.a sitting Vera. 8-10.- upon the cherubim; his presence there, called by the re.bbins hie Sheohine.h, that '" And the earth quaked e.nd trembled: is, dwelling, being indicated by a cloud of The foundations of the heavens shook, light. In this pee.Im the cherub is hi4 And quaked beoe.use he was wroth. cha.riot, on which he rides forth to judg- A smoke went up in his nostril, ment. He was seen. There can be little And fire out of his month devolll'ed; doubt the.t the right reading is preserved in Red hot cinders blll'ned from him. Ps. xviii. 10, where we find a verb signify- And he bowed the heavens and came down, ing the swooping down of e. bird of prey And darknll88 wa.s under his feet." upon its quarry (Deut. xxviii. 49; Jer. In describing the manifestation of God for xlviii. 40). The two words differ only in his deliverance, David bore in mind e.nd the substitution of ,. for d, and these letters repeated the description of God's descent to a.re so similar in Hebrew the.t they a.re con• earth given in Exod. :xil;. 16, 18. But the ete.ntly interchanged. Boothe; me.de of poetic vigour of David's imagination intensi- branches of trees, and forming e. tempora.ry fies the imagery, and makes it more grand abode, So the dark storm-clouds a.re gathered e.nd startling. Not merely is there the round the Almighty to veil hie awful form earthquake e.nd the volcano and the storm- from sight e.e he goes forth for judgment. cloud, but the dim form of the Almighty is Gathering of waters ; probably the right present, with the smoke of just anger &t reading, instead of which in the pee.Im we unrighteousness a.scending from his nostrils, find "dark waters." The gathering of and the lightnings :fl.e.shing forth to execute waters would describe the massing of the his wrath. But David certe.inly intended re.in-clouds, The duference here also con• that these metaphors should remain ideal; eiets only in one letter. Out of the bright- and it wa.s quite unnecessary for the Te.rgum ness, which closely surrounds the Deity in carefully to elimine.te all such expressions the midst of the black mass of the tempest, a.s seem to give the Almighty hume.nshe.pe. the lightning :fl.e.ehee forth, Thie brightness In so doing it merely changes poetry into is the Shechine.h (see above), to wl;lioh St. prose. Bnt even more dull and common• Paul also refers where he ae.ye that God's ple.ce is the explanation given by some dwelling is in "the une.pproe.che.ble light.,. modern commente.iora, that all that is meant (1 Tim. vi. 16). is that David wu once saved by a thunder- Vera. 14-16.- Btorm from some danger or other. Ree.Uy " J ehove.h thundered from heaven, this glorious imagery, ta.ken from e.11 that And the Most High uttered hie voice. is grandest on earth, is intended to magnify And he sent forth arrows, and soe.ttered to us the spiritue.l conception of God's them ( the evil-doers] ; justice coming forth to visit the earth and Lightning, e.n.d terrified them. do right and equity. In ver. 8 for "the And the eee.-beds became visible, foW1d&tione of the heavens," we find in Ps. The foundations of the world were le.id ,:viii 7 "the foundations of the hills." The be.re, • former is the grander metaphor, e.nd signifies At the rebuke of Jeho:ve.h, tbe utlght7 woun~ raniee, like tlioae of B7 the breatli of the wind of liie noutril." mr. i:xn. 1-51.] 'l'HE SECOND :BOOK OF SAMtJEt.