4-8. And David took from him a thousand chariots--(See on [2Sa 8:3-14]). In [2Sa 8:4] David is said to have taken seven hundred horsemen, whereas here it is said that he took seven thousand. This great discrepancy in the text of the two narratives seems to have originated with a transcriber in confounding the two Hebrew letters which indicate the numbers, and in neglecting to mark or obscure the points over one of them. We have no means of ascertaining whether seven hundred or seven thousand be the more correct. Probably the former should be adopted [Davidson's HERMENUTICS].
but reserved of them an hundred chariots--probably to grace a triumphal procession on his return to Jerusalem, and after using them in that way, destroy them like the rest.
9-13. Tou--or Toi--whose dominions border on those of Hadadezer. (See on [2Sa 8:9-12]; [1Ki 11:15]).
17. the Cherethites and the Pelethites--who formed the royal bodyguard. The Cherethites were, most probably, those brave men who all along accompanied David while among the Philistines, and from that people derived their name ([1Sa 30:14]; [Eze 25:16]; [Zep 2:5]) as well as their skill in archery--while the Pelethites were those who joined him at Ziklag, took their name from Pelet, the chief man in the company ([1Ch 12:3]), and, being Benjamites, were expert in the use of the sling.
Chapter 19
[1Ch 19:1-5]. David's Messengers, Sent to Comfort Hanun, Are Disgracefully Treated.
1. after this--This phrase seems to indicate that the incident now to be related took place immediately, or soon after the wars described in the preceding chapter. But the chronological order is loosely observed, and the only just inference that can be drawn from the use of this phrase is, that some farther account is to be given of the wars against the Syrians.
Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died--There had subsisted a very friendly relation between David and him, begun during the exile of the former, and cemented, doubtless, by their common hostility to Saul.
3. are not his servants come unto thee for to search?--that is, thy capital, Rabbah ([2Sa 10:3]).
4-5. shaved them--not completely, but only the half of their face. This disrespect to the beard, and indecent exposure of their persons by their clothes being cut off from the girdle downwards, was the grossest indignity to which Jews, in common with all Orientals, could be subjected. No wonder that the men were ashamed to appear in public--that the king recommended them to remain in seclusion on the border till the mark of their disgrace had disappeared--and then they might, with propriety, return to the court.
[1Ch 19:6-15]. Joab and Abishai Overcome the Ammonites.
6. when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David--One universal feeling of indignation was roused throughout Israel, and all classes supported the king in his determination to avenge this unprovoked insult on the Hebrew nation.
Hanun ... sent a thousand talents of silver--a sum equal to £342,100, to procure the services of foreign mercenaries.
chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia ... Syria-maachah, and ... Zobah--The Mesopotamian troops did not arrive during this campaign ([1Ch 19:16]). Syria-maachah lay on the north of the possessions of the trans-jordanic Israelites, near Gilead.
Zobah--(see on [1Ch 18:3]).
7. So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots--Hebrew, "riders," or "cavalry," accustomed to fight either on horseback or in chariots, and occasionally on foot. Accepting this as the true rendering, the number of hired auxiliaries mentioned in this passage agrees exactly with the statement in [2Sa 10:6]: twenty thousand (from Syria), twelve thousand (from Tob), equal to thirty-two thousand, and one thousand with the king of Maachah.
8. David ... sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men--All the forces of Israel, including the great military orders, were engaged in this war.
9-15. children of Ammon ... put the battle in array before the gate of the city--that is, outside the walls of Medeba, a frontier town on the Arnon.
the kings that were come were by themselves in the field--The Israelitish army being thus beset by the Ammonites in front, and by the Syrian auxiliaries behind, Joab resolved to attack the latter (the more numerous and formidable host), while he directed his brother Abishai, with a suitable detachment, to attack the Ammonites. Joab's address before the engagement displays the faith and piety that became a commander of the Hebrew people. The mercenaries being defeated, the courage of the Ammonites failed; so that, taking flight, they entrenched themselves within the fortified walls.
[1Ch 19:16-19]. Shophach Slain by David.
16. And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel--(See on [2Sa 10:15-19]).
18. David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men--(Compare [2Sa 10:18], which has seven hundred chariots). Either the text in one of the books is corrupt [Keil, Davidson], or the accounts must be combined, giving this result--seven thousand horsemen, seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen [Kennicott, Houbigant, Calmet].
Chapter 20
[1Ch 20:1-3]. Rabbah Besieged by Joab, Spoiled by David, and the People Tortured.
1. at the time when kings go out to battle--in spring, the usual season in ancient times for entering on a campaign; that is, a year subsequent to the Syrian war.
Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country ... of Ammon--The former campaign had been disastrous, owing chiefly to the hired auxiliaries of the Ammonites; and as it was necessary, as well as just, that they should be severely chastised for their wanton outrage on the Hebrew ambassadors, Joab ravaged their country and invested their capital, Rabbah. After a protracted siege, Joab took one part of it, the lower town or "city of waters," insulated by the winding course of the Jabbok. Knowing that the fort called "the royal city" would soon fall, he invited the king to come in person, and have the honor of storming it. The knowledge of this fact (mentioned in [2Sa 12:26]) enables us to reconcile the two statements--"David tarried at Jerusalem" ([1Ch 20:1]), and "David and all the people returned to Jerusalem" ([1Ch 20:3]).
2. David took the crown of their king ..., and found it to weigh a talent of gold--equal to one hundred twenty-five pounds. Some think that Malcom, rendered in our version "their king," should be taken as a proper name, Milcom or Molech, the Ammonite idol, which, of course, might bear a heavy weight. But, like many other state crowns of Eastern kings, the crown got at Rabbah was not worn on the head, but suspended by chains of gold above the throne.
precious stones--Hebrew, a "stone," or cluster of precious stones, which was set on David's head.
3. cut them with saws, &c.--The Hebrew word, "cut them," is, with the difference of the final letter, the same as that rendered "put them," in the parallel passage of Samuel [2Sa 12:31]; and many consider that putting them to saws, axes, and so forth, means nothing more than that David condemned the inhabitants of Rabbah to hard and penal servitude.
[1Ch 20:4-8]. Three Overthrows of the Philistines and Three Giants Slain.
4. war at Gezer--or Gob (see [2Sa 21:18-22]).
Chapter 21
[1Ch 21:1-13]. David Sins in Numbering the People.
1. Satan stood up against Israel--God, by withdrawing His grace at this time from David (see on [2Sa 24:1]), permitted the tempter to prevail over him. As the result of this successful temptation was the entail of a heavy calamity as a punishment from God upon the people, it might be said that "Satan stood up against Israel."
number Israel--In the act of taking the census of a people, there is not only no evil, but much utility. But numbering Israel--that people who were to become as the stars for multitude, implying a distrust of the divine promise, was a sin; and though it had been done with impunity in the time of Moses, at that enumeration each of the people had contributed "half a shekel towards the building of the tabernacle," that there might be no plague among them when he numbered them ([Ex 30:12]). Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected ("the atonement money," [Ex 30:16]) appeased Him. Everything depended, therefore, upon the design of the census [Bertheau]. The sin of David numbering the people consisted in its being either to gratify his pride to ascertain the number of warriors he could muster for some meditated plan of conquest; or, perhaps, more likely still, to institute a regular and permanent system of taxation, which he deemed necessary to provide an adequate establishment for the monarchy, but which was regarded as a tyrannical and oppressive exaction--an innovation on the liberty of the people--a departure from ancient usage unbecoming a king of Israel.
3. why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?--or bring an occasion of punishment on Israel. In Hebrew, the word "sin" is often used synonymously with the punishment of sin. In the course of Providence, the people frequently suffer for the misconduct of their rulers.
5. Joab gave the sum of the number of the children of Israel--It amounted to one million one hundred thousand men in Israel, capable of bearing arms, inclusive of the three hundred thousand military ([1Ch 27:1-9]), which, being already enlisted in the royal service, were not reckoned ([2Sa 24:9]), and to four hundred seventy thousand men in Judah, omitting thirty thousand which formed an army of observation stationed on the Philistine frontier ([2Sa 6:1]). So large a population at this early period, considering the limited extent of the country and comparing it with the earlier census ([Nu 26:1-65]), is a striking proof of the fulfilment of the promise ([Ge 15:5]).
6. Levi and Benjamin counted he not--If this census was ordered with a view to the imposition of taxes, this alone would account for Levi, who were not warriors ([1Ch 21:5]), not being numbered (see on [Nu 1:47-54]). The population of Benjamin had been taken (see on [1Ch 7:6-11]), and the register preserved in the archives of that tribe. This, however, was taken on another occasion, and by other agency than that of Joab. The non-numbering of these two tribes might have originated in the special and gracious providence of God, partly because Levi was devoted to His service, and Benjamin had become the least of all the tribes ([Jud 21:1-25]); and partly because God foresaw that they would remain faithful to the house of David in the division of the tribes, and therefore He would not have them diminished [Poole]. From the course followed in this survey (see on [2Sa 24:4-8]), it would appear that Judah and Benjamin were the last tribes that were to be visited; and that, after the census in Judah had been finished, Joab, before entering on that of Benjamin, had to return to Jerusalem, where the king, now sensible of his great error, gave orders to stop all further proceedings in the business. Not only the remonstrance of Joab at the first, but his slow progress in the survey ([2Sa 24:8]) showed the strong repugnance and even horror of the old general at this unconstitutional measure.
9. the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer--Although David was himself endowed with a prophetic gift, yet, in matters relating to himself or his kingdom, he was in the habit of consulting the Lord through the medium of the priests; and when he failed to do so, a prophet was sent on extraordinary occasions to admonish or chastise him. Gad, a private friend, was occasionally employed as the bearer of these prophetic messages.
11-12. Choose thee, &c.--To the three evils these correspond in beautiful agreement: three years, three months, three days [Bertheau]. (See on [2Sa 24:13]).
13. let me fall now into the hand of the Lord ... let me not fall into the hand of man--Experience had taught him that human passion and vengeance had no bounds, whereas our wise and gracious Father in heaven knows the kind, and regulates the extent, of chastisement which every one needs.
14-15. So the Lord ... sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it--The infliction only of the pestilence is here noticed, without any account of its duration or its ravages, while a minute description is given of the visible appearance and menacing attitude of the destroying angel.
16. David and the elders ... clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces--They appeared in the garb and assumed the attitude of humble penitents, confessing their sins, and deprecating the wrath of God.
[1Ch 21:18-30]. He Builds an Altar.
18. the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say--The order about the erection of an altar, as well as the indication of its site, is described ([2Sa 24:18]) as brought directly by Gad. Here we are informed of the quarter whence the prophet got his commission. It is only in the later stages of Israel's history that we find angels employed in communicating the divine will to the prophets.