DAVID ANOINTED SECRETLY AS THE FUTURE King of Israel. 631 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I A.C. 1093. have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor re- Or, eternity, pent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. 30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. 32¶Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. or, victory. 11. Num. xiv. 33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women y Exod. xvii. childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. 45. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34¶Then Samuel went to Ramah ; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. SECTION III. David anointed secretly as the future King of Israel. 1 SAMUEL XVI. VER. 1-14. 1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 1063 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer + with + Heb. in thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. thine hand. A.C. 1063. Ing. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his Heb. meet coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? z Ch. xvii. 13. called Elihu, 1 Chr. xxvii. 18. + Heb. eyes. alChr. xxviii. 9. Ps. vii. 9. Jer. xi. 20. & xvii. 10. & xx. 12. b 2 Sam. vii. 8. Ps. lxxviii. 70. Heb. round. cyes. * 5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6¶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on 2 Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him. 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the † outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the a heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, b Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, Heb. fair of and withal § of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. SECTION IV. David overcomes Goliath. 1 SAMUEL XVII. VER. 1-41. 1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and AzeOr, the coast kah, in || Ephes-dammim. of Dammim, called Pasdammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in A.C. 1063. array against the Philistines. *Heb. rang 3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one ed the battle. side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4 ¶ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat + Heb. clothwas five thousand shekels of brass. ed. 6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a ‡ tar- Or, gorget. get of brass between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. с 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth- cCh. xvi. 1. lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Beth-lehem. 16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 18 And carry these ten § cheeses unto the || captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Heb. cheeses Heb. captain of milk. of a thousand. A.C. 1063. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had *Or, place of commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the the carriage. Ch. xxvi. 5. + Or, battle array, or, place of fight. + Heb. the vessels from upon him. Heb. asked his brethren of peace, as Judg. xviii. 15. battle. 21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and § saluted his brethren. 23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled Heb. from from him, and were sore afraid. his face. 25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will end Josh. xv. 16. rich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 30 ¶ And he turned from him toward another, and spake *Heb. word. after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. 31 And when the words were heard which David spake, + Heb. took they rehearsed them before Saul: and he † sent for him. him. 32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a A.C. 1063. youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. And 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 38 And Saul † armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. 40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 1 SAMUEL XVII. VER. 55, 56 £6. 55¶And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, 26 Towards the conclusion of 1 Sam. xvi. we read Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, saying, Send David thy son. Pursuant to this order, David played on the harp before the king, when the evil spirit of melancholy was upon him. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armour bearer, and resided constantly at his court; for Saul sent a second message to Jesse: "Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight." Yet in verse 55 of the next chapter, we read that Saul enquired of Abner, whose son was the conqueror of Goliath. He speaks of him as an entire stranger; and Abner, to gratify the king's curiosity, introduces David to him after the combat, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. Bishops Warburton and Hall suppose, that the encounter with Goliath took place before David was required to play the harp before Saul; and this solution of the difficulty is espoused by Bp. Horsley, whose arguments are so satisfactory, that I insert his own words. "It appears, indeed, "from many circumstances of the story, that David's combat with Goliath was Imany years prior in order of time to Saul's madness, and to David's introduc❝tion to him as a musician. 1st. David was quite a youth when he engaged Goliath, (verses 33. 42.); when he was introduced to Saul, as a musician, he * Or, kid. +Heb. cloth his clothes. ed David with Or, valley. Heb. vessel. |