Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 1:47 — ” And Claudian thus bespeaketh Honorius the emperor - “ Aspice, completur votum; iam natus adaequat Te meritis, et quod magis est optabile, vincit. ” And the king bowed himself upon the bed. — Worshipping God, as Genesis 47:31 , and joining in prayer with his servants for his son. Some think he bowed himself to his son now crowned king: what, then, would he have done to his Lord, if present?, Psalms 110:1 quos non honores in illum supplex ac venerabundus certatim contulisset?

1 Kings 18:5 — whom he suffered to be cut off by his wicked wife Jezebel. That we lose not all the beasts. — The loss of their souls, meanwhile, is never thought on; though our Saviour - who only went to the price of souls - showeth that the loss of a soul is, (1.) incomparable, (2.) irreparable. Matthew 16:26

1 Kings 2:26 — should have been resident at Jerusalem. Because thou hast been afflicted. — But for this, he had been now a dead man. So God by the rod preventeth the sword; and therefore will not condemn his saints for their sins, because they have suffered, 1 Corinthians 11:31 and in his account suffered double. Isaiah 40:2

1 Kings 6:22 — and impassibility of him who sitteth at the right hand of his heavenly Father? And the polished cedars overlaid with fine gold, show the beauty of the Church, saith another, to be inward, pure, and precious, though unperceived of the world. Psalms 45:1-17

1 Samuel 12:17 — and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness [is] great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. Is it not wheat harvest today? — And so, no usual season for rain; Proverbs 26:1 because the parching heat of the sun drieth up the exhalations and vapours. It was a fair day, howsoever, when these things were spoken: and the change was as sudden as that at Sodom. Genesis 19:22 I will call unto the Lord. — And could ye not

1 Samuel 15:9 — without attendants as their persons, - which they ought not to have done, because together with those spoils, the memory also of the nation remained, which God had decreed utterly to blot out. They should have done as they did once at Jericho. Joshua 6:17 But the dust of covetousness had put out their eyes; neither was it godliness, - as they pretended, - but gain, that made them so to fly upon the spoil. 1 Samuel 15:19

1 Samuel 16:2 — not so much out of diffidence - for he was old and experienced; and if Solon could say, I fear not to oppose Pisistratus the tyrant, because I am old and must shortly die howsoever, much better might Samuel - as out of a desire to be directed, as Luke 1:34 . And say, I am come to sacrifice. — This a prophet might do at any time, and in any place. "In everything give thanks." But when a king was to be anointed, there was a kind of necessity in this service. Neither was Samuel bound to

1 Samuel 21:8 — strengthened by it as his faith. At this therefore did his suit here aim. It is good to take all occasions of renewing the remembrance of God’s mercies to us, and our obligations to him. Because the king’ s business. — Another lie. See 1 Samuel 21:2 . Sin is of an encroaching nature, one lie makes way for another. See Psalms 119:69 . See Trapp on " Psalms 119:69 "

1 Samuel 23:13 — and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. Which were about six hundred. — Not four hundred only, as Josephus here misreckoneth. Indeed, they were but four hundred, 1 Samuel 22:2 but now they are become more. Persecution doth not diminish, but increase the number of good people. The lily grows and spreads by the juice that floweth from itself: Plin. so the Church. Plures efficimur quoties metimur, saith Tertullian. And

1 Samuel 31:9 — quittance with him. Men love to retaliate. To publish it in the house of their idols. — Heb., Their fray-bugs object of fear . So called, because they fright their superstitious followers, instead of instructing and comforting them. See Psalms 16:4 . See Trapp on " Psalms 16:4 " And among the people. — This David would not have had done, 2 Samuel 1:20 but God suffered it, though he some way suffered in it, to show his singular hatred of sin, and show he is set upon the punishment

2 Samuel 12:18 — he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? And it came to pass on the seventh day, — viz., Of the child’s sickness, a critical day; or, After his birth, and then he died without circumcision, and yet was saved. 2 Samuel 12:23 Gratia non est alligata symbolis, God’s grace is not tied unto the signs. That the child died. — Repentance may come too late in respect of temporal chastisements, 1 Corinthians 11:32 which yet are not penal but medicinal. Thus Moses

2 Samuel 12:25 — wonder. David signifieth beloved: but Jedidiah, the Lord’s beloved: and this, Because of the Lord. — That is, For the Lord Christ’s sake, as Junius senseth it, in whom alone Solomon was, and all the elect are, beloved of God. Matthew 3:17 Ephesians 1:6 Psalms 127:3

2 Samuel 15:11 — were] called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem. — These were, doubtless, the principal men of the city; and this was likewise done by the policy of Ahithophel, (1.) That the plot might be the better concealed, since such confiding men were invited; (2.) That other cities, thinking that Jerusalem was for Absalom, might the sooner be drawn to follow him also. And they went in their simplicity. — So did many

2 Samuel 23:6 — that is, powerfully proceeded against; they shall be stubbed up by the roots, and burnt, viz., in hell fire. Those refractory Jews, for instance, on whom wrath came to the utmost, because "they pleased not God, but were contrary to all men," 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 and the same is and shall be seen in Antichrist and his adherents, cast alive into the lake of fire. Revelation 19:20

2 Samuel 24:24 — bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee. — That I may honour the Lord with my substance, Proverbs 3:9 and be at cost for him, as she was with her spikenard of great price, John 12:3 and as Justinian the emperor with his rich communion table, which had in it, saith Cedrenus, all the riches of land and sea. David’s preparations for building the temple, where now he built an altar, were exceeding great, as shall be seen hereafter. For

2 Samuel 4:2 — Abner’s death, returned secretly and slew Ishbosheth. Thus R. Solomon, Rabanus, Cajetan, … But who told them all this? and what footing have they for it in Scripture? By Saul’s son here, we may better understand Ishbosheth, as 2 Samuel 3:14 ; 2 Samuel 3:1 . Captains of bands. — Or, Of rovers, robbers, Latronum (so the Vulgate), raiders, tories.

2 Samuel 5:1 — Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh. Then came all the tribes, — i.e., Great numbers out of all tribes: out of Zebulun only, fifty thousand. 1 Chronicles 12:33 Josephus saith Lib. vii. cap. 2. that Zebulun came full and whole: and the Scripture saith that they were not of a double heart. Christ’s subjects are a willing people; Psalms 110:3 they flee to him as clouds, and as doves to

2 Samuel 7:3 — of religion, as here both David and Nathan were; neither is it safe to pin our faith on another man’s sleeve - for who knoweth whither he may carry it? - but to "prove all things," and to "hold fast only that which is good." 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Nathan himself was here too well persuaded of David, as if he had been infallible: and why? For the Lord is with thee. What? always, and in all things? No, nor with any man in this life, surely. Nimis augusta res est nuspiam errare.

2 Samuel 8:14 — of Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went. And he put garrisons in Edom. — He cast out his shoe over them, as Psalms 60:8 . See Trapp on " Psalms 60:8 " he set a deputy or viceroy there; 1 Kings 22:47 and here the elder brother began to serve the younger, according to the oracle, Genesis 25:23 . And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. — Neither preserved him only, but prospered him: and this is twice noted in this chapter.

2 Samuel 8:18 — Illis erat commissa cura corporis regii. - Vatab. who might be native Philistines, great and mighty men of stature, but proselytes and professors of the true religion. And David’s sons were chief rulers. — Or, Princes, chief about the king, 1 Chronicles 18:17 which preferment haply might puff up Absalom and Adonijah, and put them upon ill exploits. Our Henry II was very unhappy in his eldest son Henry, whom he crowned whilst he was yet alive, but killed him with that kindness; in his second