2 Samuel 23:15

_AND DAVID LONGED, AND SAID, OH THAT ONE WOULD GIVE ME DRINK OF THE WATER OF THE WELL OF BETHLEHEM, WHICH IS BY THE GATE!_ The well of Beth-lehem. An ancient cistern, with four or five holes in the solid rock, at about ten minutes' distance to the north of the eastern corner of the hill of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the natives as Bir-Daoud-that is, David's well. Dr. Robinson doubts the identity of the well; but others think that there are no good grounds for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the ancient well, Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further to the north, and must have lain in times of old, not as now on the summit, but on the northern rise of the hill; because the well is by or (1 Chronicles 11:7) at the gate. 'I find in the descriptions of travelers that the common opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast,

8-39 David once earnestly longed for the water at the well of Bethlehem. It seems to be an instance of weakness. He was thirsty; with the water of that well he had often refreshed himself when a youth, and it was without due thought that he desired it. Were his valiant men so forward to expose themselves, upon the least hint of their prince's mind, and so eager to please him, and shall not we long to approve ourselves to our Lord Jesus, by ready compliance with his will, as shown us by his word, Spirit, and providence? But David poured out the water as a drink-offering to the Lord. Thus he would cross his own foolish fancy, and punish himself for indulging it, and show that he had sober thoughts to correct his rash ones, and knew how to deny himself. Did David look upon that water as very precious which was got at the hazard of these men's blood, and shall not we much more value those b...

Verse 2 Samuel 23:15. _THE WATER OF THE WELL OF BETHLEHEM_] This was David's city, and he knew the excellence of the water which was there; and being near the place, and parched with thirst, it was natural for him to wish for a draught of water out of that well. These three heroes having heard it, though they received no command from David, broke through a company of the Philistines, and brought away some of the water. When brought to David he refused to drink it: for as the men got it at the hazard of their lives, he considered it as their blood, and gave thereby a noble instance of self-denial. There is no evidence that David had requested them to bring it; they had gone for it of their own accord, and without the knowledge of David....

A cistern of deep, clear, cool water, is called by the monks, David’s Well, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of Bethlehem. Possibly the old well has been filled up since the town was supplied with water by the aqueduct....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 23:1 NOW THESE BE THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID. A long interval separates this psalm from the preceding. The one was written when David had just reached the zenith of his power, and, when still unstained by foul crime, he could claim God's favour as due to his innocence. These last words were David's latest inspired utterance, written, probably, towards the end of the calm period which followed upon his restoration to his throne, and when time and the sense of God's renewed favour had healed the wounds of his soul. DAVID THE SON OF JESSE SAID. It was probably this account of the author, and its personal character, which caused the exclusion of this hymn from the Book of Psalms. It seemed to belong rather to David's private history than to a collection made for use in the public services of the temple....

AND DAVID LONGED, AND SAID,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty: OH, THAT ONE WOULD GIVE ME DRINK OF THE WATER OF THE WELL OF BETHLEHEM, WHICH [IS] BY THE GATE! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say y. It is said to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the road z; and that there is now near Rachel's grave a good rich cistern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets, and a line, as usual in those countries a; but Mr. Maundrell b says it is a well, or rather a cistern, supplied only with rain, with...

3. THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID AND THE RECORD OF THE MIGHTY MEN CHAPTER 23 _ 1. His last words (2 Samuel 23:1)_ 2. The names and records of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8) In his last words an even greater and clearer vision is given to King David. “If Psalms 18 was a grand Hallelujah, with which David quitted the scene of life, these ‘his last words' are the divine attestation of all that he had sung and prophesied in the Psalms concerning the spiritual import of the kingdom which he was to found in accordance with the divine message that Nathan had been commissioned to bring to him. Hence these ‘last words' must be regarded as an inspired prophetic utterance by David, before his death, about th

DAVID'S HEROES (_continued)._ The Three and the Thirty (J). (_Cf._ above.) 2 SAMUEL 23:8. 2 Samuel 23:8 must be emended to read, instead of Josheb, etc., Ishbaal the Hachmonite, chief of the three, he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, etc. 2 Samuel 23:9 should read Eleazar ben Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men, was with David at Pas-dammim (1 Samuel 17:1), when the Philistines were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel retreated. Shammah's exploit was when the Philistines were assembled at Lehi ...

David's Heroes and their exploits = 1 Chronicles 11:11-41 This section is placed in Chronicles after the account of David's election as King of Israel and his capture of Zion, and is prefaced by the heading: "These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who shewed themselves strong with him in his kingdom with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel." The list therefore belongs, at any rate in substance, to the earlier part of David's reign....

DISCOURSE: 327 DAVID’S DESIRE FOR THE WATER OF THE WELL OF BETHLEHEM 2 Samuel 23:15. _And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought if to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it_. THE best of men are liable to err: but in this they differ widely from the ungodly, that they are glad, as soon as they find out their error, to have it rectified. David inconsiderately expressed a wish for some water out of the well of Bethlehem; but wh