XX. (1) The siege and storm of Rabbah. Completion of the Ammonite campaign (1 Chronicles 20:1). (2) A fragment, relating how three heroes of Israel slew three Philistine giants (1 Chronicles 20:4). Section (1) is parallel to 2 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 12:26; 2 Samuel 12:30. The chronicler omits the lo... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED. — Heb., _at the time of the return of the year: i.e.,_ in spring. (See 1 Kings 20:22; 1 Kings 20:26.) AT THE TIME THAT KINGS GO OUT. — See 1 Kings 20:16. Military operations were commonly suspended during winter. The Assyrian kings have chronicled their habit of making y... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CROWN OF THEIR KING. — Or, “of Milcom” or “Moloch,” their god. The Heb. _malkâm,_ “their Melech” (i.e., king), occurs in this sense (Zephaniah 1:5. Comp. Amos 5:26.) The same title is applied by the prophets to Jehovah (Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 44:6, “Jahweh, the king [melech] of Israel.” Comp. Zephan... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE BROUGHT. — Better, _“And the people that were in it he brought out, and sawed with the saw, and with the iron threshing-drags_ (Isaiah 41:15), _and with the axes.”_ SAWED. — The Hebrew is an old word, only found here. Samuel reads, by change of one letter, “set them in,” or “among,” the saws... [ Continue Reading ]
II. This section corresponds to 2 Samuel 21:18. The chronicler has omitted the history of Absalom’s rebellion, with all the events which preceded and followed it, as recorded in 2 Samuel 13-20; and, further, the touching story of the sacrifice of seven sous of Saul at the demand of the Gibeonites (2... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WAS WAR AGAIN. — Samuel adds, “in Gob.” The proper name is probably a transcriber’s repetition; the Syriac and Arabic there are without it. ELHANAN THE SON OF JAIR SLEW LAHMI THE BROTHER OF GOLIATH THE GITTITE. — The Hebrew text and LXX. of Samuel have the very different statement: “And Elhana... [ Continue Reading ]
MAN OF GREAT STATURE. — See Margin. Samuel has a slightly different form. WHOSE FINGERS... — The Authorised Version here agrees with the Hebrew text of Samuel. The Hebrew text of Chronicles is abridged: “And his digits six and six — twenty and four.” WAS THE SON OF THE GIANT. — _Was born to the Re... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE (_’çl_)_,_ a rare word, found eight times in the Pentateuch with the article, here only without; perhaps an error of transcription. Samuel, “these four.” The chronicler has omitted one giant. (See 1 Chronicles 20:4.) THE GIANT. — _The Rephaite:_ that is, the clan or tribe of Rephaim. They nee... [ Continue Reading ]