1 Chronicles 12:1

_NOW THESE ARE THEY THAT CAME TO DAVID TO ZIKLAG, WHILE HE YET KEPT HIMSELF CLOSE BECAUSE OF SAUL THE SON OF KISH: AND THEY WERE AMONG THE MIGHTY MEN, HELPERS OF THE WAR._ Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag. There are three lists given in this chapter, arranged apparently according to the order of time when the parties joined the standard of David. WHILE HE YET KEPT HIMSELF CLOSE BECAUSE OF SAUL, х_ `AATSUWR_ (H6113) _ MIPªNEEY_ (H6440) _ SHAA'UWL _ (H7586), shut out from the presence of Saul] - i:e., when the king's jealousy had driven him into exile from the court and the country. "Ziklag" - (see the note at 1 Samuel 27:6.) It was during his retirement in that Philistine town that he was joined in ra

1-22 Here is an account of those who appeared and acted as David's friends, while he was persecuted. No difficulties or dangers should keep the sinner from coming to the Savior, nor drive the believer from the path of duty. Those who break through, and overcome in these attempts, will find abundant recompence. From the words of Amasai we may learn how to testify our affection and allegiance to the Lord Jesus; his we must be throughly; on his side we must be forward to appear and act. If we are under the influence of the Spirit, we shall desire to have our lot among them, and to declare ourselves on their side; if in faith and love we embrace the cause of Christ, he will receive, employ, and advance us....

CHAPTER XII _The different persons, captains, c., who joined themselves_ _to David at Ziklag_, 1-22. _Those who joined him at Hebron, out of the different tribes_ _Judah, Simeon, Levi, the house of Aaron, Benjamin, Ephraim,_ _Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Dan, Asher, Reuben,_ _ c., to the amount of a_ hundred and twenty thousand, 23-37. _Their unanimity, and the provisions they brought for his_ _support_, 38-40. NOTES ON CHAP. XII Verse 1 Chronicles 12:1. C

This chapter is composed wholly of matter that is new to us, no corresponding accounts occurring in Samuel. It comprises four lists: (1) One of men, chiefly Benjamites, who joined David at Ziklag 1 Chronicles 12:1; (2) A second of Gadites who united themselves to him when he was in a stronghold near the desert 1 Chronicles 12:8; (3) A third of Manassites who came to him when he was dismissed by the Philistines upon suspicion 1 Chronicles 12:19; and (4) A fourth of the numbers from the different tribes who attended and

EXPOSITION This chapter is retrospective, and the contents of it are not found elsewhere. It is occupied, first (1 Chronicles 12:1), with the names and some accounts of those who had come to the help of David in three great crises in time past, to join themselves to him and his cause. And afterwards (1 Chronicles 12:23-13), with an enumeration of those representatives from the tribes who came (1 Chronicles 11:1, 1 Chronicles 11:3) to support the proceedings of the occasion when he was being made king of the whole people. Thus the chapter would divide really into four parts, t

NOW THESE ARE THEY THAT CAME TO DAVID TO ZIKLAG,.... Given him by Achish to live in, when he fled from Saul, 1 Samuel 27:6 WHILE HE YET KEPT HIMSELF CLOSE, BECAUSE OF SAUL THE SON OF KISH; when he was an exile from his own country, and obliged to live retired in a foreign one, because of Saul's persecution of him, and seeking to take away his life: AND THEY WERE AMONG THE MIGHTY MEN, HELPERS OF THE WAR; not against Saul, with whom David had none, but with the Amalekites, and others, 1 Samuel 27:8....

2. DAVID'S WARRIORS AND FRIENDS CHAPTER 12 _ 1. The Benjamite warriors with David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:1)_ 2. The other warriors (1 Chronicles 12:8) 3. Those who came to make him king (1 Chronicles 12:23) And now those are given by name who stood by David, when he was an outcast, rejected and persecuted by Saul. They were mighty men, his helpers in war. The leading company were of Benjamin, the tribe to which Saul belonged. These joined him when he was at Ziklag. In the wilderness of Judah certain of the Gadites separated themselves unto him, “whose faces were like the faces of lions and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains.” May

DAVID'S SUPPORTERS. An enumeration of those who rallied round David during his outlaw life in Ziklag (_cf._ 1 Samuel 27:5 f.), and a list of those who were instrumental in setting him upon the throne. 1 Chronicles 12:2. they were of Saul's brethren of Benjamin: _cf._ 1 Chronicles 12:16 ff., 1 Chronicles 12:29; it is difficult to believe that Saul was deserted by his own kinsfolk (see 2 Samuel 2:25; 2 Samuel 2:31)

THESE ARE THEY. These not included elsewhere: showing the independence of Chronicles, Saul the son of Kish. See note on 1 Chronicles 8:33. MIGHTY MEN. Hebrew. _gibbor._ App-14....

Benjamite Adherents of David 1. _to Ziklag_ David at Ziklag was a client of Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel 27:5-6), so that the Benjamites in joining him were putting themselves under their hereditary enemies the Philistines. The yoke of Saul seemed heavy even to his own tribe (cp. 1 Samuel 8:11-18). _while he yet kept himself close_ Render, WHILE HE WAS YET SHUT UP. David was shut in, as in a prison, and unable to move freely through the land of Israel. _helpers of the war_ R.V. HIS HELPERS IN WAR....