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Class-Book of Old Testament History

<hr class="sect_35" /> <h3> CHAPTER <abbr title="7">VII.</abbr> DAVID AT ZIKLAG. BATTLE OF MOUNT GILBOA. <abbr title="Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapters 24 through 31">xxiv.–xxxi.</abbr>   B.C. 1061<abbr title="through">–</abbr>1056.</h3> FROM Keilah David now removed to a stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph258, in the highlands of Judah, between Carmel and Juttah, about three miles south of Hebron. Hither Saul pursued him with ceaseless zeal, but was utterly unable to discover his hiding-place. Jonathan, however, sought him out and found him in a neighbouring wood, and strengthened his hand in God, assuring him of his belief that his father would never find him, that he would live to come to the throne, and that he himself should be next unto him. The former covenant was now for the third time ratified, and the two friends parted, never to meet again (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 23">xxiii.</abbr> 16<abbr title="through">–</abbr>18). Meanwhile Saul returned to Gibeah, whither messengers from the Ziphites followed him with news of David’s hiding-place, and offering to betray him into his hands259. Thereupon the king set out, and so close were the pursuer and pursued on one another’s track, that while David was climbing down one side of a cliff in the waste pasture ground of Maon, in the extreme south of Judah, Saul and his men were posted to intercept them on the other. But the arrival of a messenger, with news of a sudden inroad of the Philistines, obliged the king to discontinue the pursuit, and the name of the spot Sela-hammahlekoth, The Cliff of Divisions, long commemorated David’s narrow escape (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 23">xxiii.</abbr> 28). Engedi260, or The Spring of the Wild Goats, a town on the western shore of the Dead Sea, was his next hiding-place, and the scene of an instance of magnanimity on his part, rare at all times, especially rare amongst Oriental nations. The panic of the Philistine invasion being over, Saul advanced to Engedi at the head of 3,000 men, and on one occasion entered one of the numerous caves of the neighbourhood. David and his men, seeing but not seen, were concealed in the dark recesses of the same retreat. Had he listened to the advice of his men, he might now have surprised and slain his unsuspecting foe, but he contented himself with cutting off the skirt of the royal robe. Even for this, however, his heart smote him, and bidding his men remember that the king was his master and the Lord’s anointed (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 24">xxiv.</abbr> 6), he refused to permit them to rise up against him. Presently Saul left the cave, and then David followed, and cried after him, My lord the king! Saul looked behind him, and David, bowing before him with his face to the ground, expostulated with him in words of touching beauty, and in the skirt of his robe bade him behold a pledge of his unwillingness to do him any harm261. Even Saul himself was deeply moved, and lifted up his voice and wept, frankly acknowledging the generosity of his rival. He then owned how well he knew David was to be the future king, and made him solemnly swear not to visit his own ill-will on his posterity, or destroy his name out of his father’s house. All this David faithfully undertook to perform, but knowing well the capriciousness of the king did not quit his stronghold. About this time the aged prophet Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him within the walls of his own house at Ramah (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 25">xxv.</abbr> 1). The relations of David towards the neighbouring landholders is strikingly illustrated by an incident which now took place. On the neighbouring range of Carmel dwelt a rich sheep-master named Nabal. In these troublous times his shepherds experienced more than usual difficulty in safely keeping his 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. The presence, therefore, of David’s valiant men was a matter of no small importance, for instead of injuring or robbing them, they were a wall unto them both by day and by night (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 25">xxv.</abbr> 15<abbr title="through">–</abbr>17). Hearing that Nabal was about to shear his sheep, an occasion of much festivity, David sent ten of his retinue to request a small reward for the kindness he had ever shewn to his shepherds. This Nabal, who was notorious for his churlish temper, flatly and insultingly refused. Enraged at such selfish insolence, David resolved on vengeance. Leaving 200 men to guard the baggage, he marched with the remaining 400 towards Carmel, and would certainly have inflicted severe punishment on the churlish sheep-master, had he not on the way encountered his beautiful and prudent wife Abigail, who, informed of her husband’s uncivil conduct, had come forth to meet him with a long train of asses laden with provisions. In language courteous and politic she deprecated his vengeance, frankly allowing that as for her husband, Nabal (fool) was his name, and folly was with him (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 25">xxv.</abbr> 25). David consented to desist from his determined revenge, and Abigail returned to find her lord drinking to excess at the feast. The next morning she told him of the risk he had run, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 25">xxv.</abbr> 37). Smitten with a sudden stroke he only lingered ten days, when he died. Thereupon David married Abigail, and besides her, his wife Michal having been bestowed by Saul upon another, he espoused Ahinoam of Jezreel (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 25">xxv.</abbr> 43, 44), a town in the neighbourhood of the southern Carmel. (See <abbr title="Joshua">Josh.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 15">xv.</abbr> 56.) Returning once more to the old hiding-place in the pasture country of Ziph, and the neighbouring hill of Hachilah, the secret of his retreat was again betrayed to Saul by the Ziphites262, who at the head of 3,000 men went forth to capture David (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 26">xxvi.</abbr> 3). Informed of his approach, David retired from the hill to the lower ground, the wood which then covered the country concealing him from view263. Saul advanced to the hill, and there pitched his tent, with Abner his captain-general, and his forces round about him. Accompanied by his nephew Abishai, David in the dead of the night penetrated through the lines to the spot where the king slept within the baggage, his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster264. Again Abishai bade him take advantage of the opportunity, and asked permission to smite but once the sleeping king, promising not to smite a second time. But again David refused, and contented himself with taking the royal spear, and the cruse of water from his bolster, and passing through the lines of sleeping warriors went over to the other side, and standing on the top of a hill afar off, called across the long intervening space to Abner, who was sunk in heavy sleep after the fatigues of the day. Roused by the strange voice disturbing the still midnight air, Abner awoke, and asked who called. Then David reproached him for the little care he had taken of his master, and in the well-known royal spear and the cruse of water bade him see a second proof of his generosity towards an unrelenting foe. Presently Saul himself awoke, and recognised the voice of David. Again the fugitive pleaded in moving words with the pursuer, and again Saul, touched to the heart with admiration for his magnanimous rival, acknowledged his own guilt, and bestowed a blessing upon him (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 26">xxvi.</abbr> 13<abbr title="through">–</abbr>25). This last occurrence seems to have convinced David that there was no hope of any permanent change in the king’s feelings towards himself (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 27">xxvii.</abbr> 1), and he therefore determined to seek refuge once more among the Philistines. No longer a solitary fugitive, but accompanied by his two wives, and his 600 followers with their households, he again presented himself before the king of Gath. In answer to his petition for a place in some town in the country265, Achish assigned to him and his retinue the town of Ziklag, situated at some distance from Gath, towards the south or south-east of the Philistine frontier266 (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 27">xxvii.</abbr> 5). His stay here lasted over a year and four months, and during this period he and his men made an expedition against the Geshurites, Gezrites, and Amalekites, who roamed over the desert plateau overhanging the Philistian plain, and having carried off enormous booty, lest the truth should reach the ears of Achish, saved neither man nor woman alive. The king, however, did hear of the expedition, but in reply to his enquiries, was assured that it had been directed against the country south of Judah, and against the south of the Kenites. Satisfied with this proof of the fidelity of his vassal, he rejoiced that David had made his own people Israel utterly to abhor him, and deemed it an earnest of still greater services (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 27">xxvii.</abbr> 8<abbr title="through">–</abbr>12). Before long the Philistines gathered their armies together for another and a decisive contest with the Israelites for the supremacy. Achish and his contingent prepared to take part in the expedition, and as his vassal, David consented to accompany him with his 600 men. Aphek, near Jezreel, was fixed upon as the place of rendezvous, and thither, probably along the sea-coast, the hundreds and thousands of the Philistines poured up from their fertile lowlands. As David passed on the way to Aphek, seven valiant chiefs, captains of thousands of the powerful tribe of Manasseh, instead of joining Saul’s army, preferred to throw in their lot with him and share his fortunes (<abbr title="First Chronicles">1 Ch.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 12">xii.</abbr> 19<abbr title="through">–</abbr>21). But the unsuspecting confidence of Achish in his new-found vassal was not shared by the other Philistine chiefs, and they protested against David’s followers being allowed to accompany them. Achish was, therefore, constrained much against his will to dismiss him, and with the first dawn David set out on his return to Ziklag (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 29">xxix.</abbr> 11). On arriving there, no town was to be found, nothing but a mass of burning ruins. During his absence the Amalekites had burst upon the place, burnt it to the ground, and carried off David’s wives and those of his retinue, whose faith in their leader, now for the first and only time, seems to have failed, and in the extremity of their grief they even threatened to stone him to death. It was a critical moment, but David’s old trust did not fail him, and he encouraged himself in the Lord his God (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 30">xxx.</abbr> 6). Abiathar was bidden to bring the ephod and ascertain the Divine Will. Shall I pursue after this troop? David enquired. The reply was favourable, and his six hundred men, accompanied by the chiefs of Manasseh, set out in the direction of the brook Besor, a wady somewhere in the extreme south of Judah. Here 200 of his forces were so spent that he was fain to leave them by the brook, while the remainder pressing on, found in a field an Egyptian at the point of death, who had neither eaten bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. But being supplied by David’s men with food and drink he revived, revealed that he was a slave of one of the Amalekite chiefs, and on promise of his life consented to guide the avengers to their foes. On coming up with them they were found spread abroad upon all the earth, eating, drinking, and dancing in honour of their late victory (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 30">xxx.</abbr> 16). The attack was instantly made, and David smote them from the twilight of the early dawn to the evening of the next day, till none remained, save only 400 young men, who effected their escape on camels. With all the captives recovered and enormous spoil267 the conqueror returned to Ziklag, and was now for the first time enabled to requite the kindness of many of his own tribe, who had protected him during the long period of his wanderings, and distributed of the spoil to the elders of many friendly towns (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 30">xxx.</abbr> 26<abbr title="through">–</abbr>31). Two days after his return news arrived of the utmost importance respecting the Philistine invasion. With their chariots and horses the Philistines had pressed forward towards the plain of Esdraelon and pitched their camp by Shunem268, on the southern slope of the range now called Little Hermon, or Jebel ed Dûhy, while Saul encamped his forces on the opposite heights of Mount Gilboa, at the fountain that is in Jezreel269, on the eastern side of the plain. As he beheld the masses of his foes passing on by hundreds and thousands, the Israelite king was filled with the utmost alarm (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 28">xxviii.</abbr> 5). In this dreadful crisis he felt himself utterly alone. Samuel, his old adviser, had been sometime dead; the cruel massacre at Nob had alienated from him the entire priestly body; he enquired of the Lord, but the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 28">xxviii.</abbr> 6). Alone, and distrusted even by his own army, he bade enquiry be made for a woman that had a familiar spirit. After diligent search it was ascertained that by going a distance of about 7 or 8 miles to Endor, he would find, in one of the dark and gloomy caverns270 with which the mountain here is hollowed, a woman who might serve his purpose. Disguising himself, therefore, and accompanied by two of his retinue, the unhappy king set out under cover of night. It was an undertaking perilous in the extreme, and nothing but the agony of despair would have induced him to venture upon it. Stealing down the mountain from the camp, the three crossed the shoulder of the very hill on which the Philistines were entrenched, and made for Endor, which lay behind Shunem. Reaching the cave, the king told the witch the object of his coming. He longed to have one more interview with his old adviser, the prophet Samuel, and desired her by her arts to bring him up. At first the woman demurred, and pleaded the danger of exciting the wrath of the king, who in better days had distinguished himself by his zeal against all magic and sorcery. But her visitor calmed her fears. She exercised her arts, and the awful form of Samuel, an old man, and covered with a mantle, appeared. Bowing himself with his face to the earth, Saul made known his deep distress. The Philistines, said he, make war against me: God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 28">xxviii.</abbr> 15). In reply the Prophet could only inform the king that the Day of Doom was near. To-morrow, said he, the Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. This awful sentence utterly prostrated the unhappy king. He fell with the fulness of his stature all along upon the earth (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 28">xxviii.</abbr> 20, <abbr title="margin">marg.</abbr>). For a day and a night he had eaten nothing, and now there was no more strength in him. With the utmost difficulty the woman and his two attendants succeeded in compelling him to partake of food, and then he rose up, once more crossed the shoulder of the hill, and reached the heights of Gilboa (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 28">xxviii.</abbr> 21<abbr title="through">–</abbr>25). The next morning broke, and the Philistines made their onset. The Israelite leader, with his doom upon him, could do little in such a crisis. His army was driven up the sides of Gilboa, and as it fled from the victorious Philistines, numbers were slain on the heights. Resolved on striking a decisive blow, the Philistine archers and charioteers followed hard after Saul and his sons. Three of the latter, including the valiant Jonathan, were slain outright, and Saul himself was sore wounded. In this extremity he implored of his armour-bearer to thrust him through with his sword, and put an end to his sufferings. But his armour-bearer refused, and Saul, taking his own sword, fell upon it and died, and the other then followed his example. The rout of the Israelites was now complete, and extended even to the tribes beyond the Jordan. Even here the Israelites fled from their cities, and the Philistines dwelt in them (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 31">xxxi.</abbr> 7). On the morrow after this disastrous battle, the bodies of Saul and his three sons were found by the Philistines, when they came to strip the slain. With savage glee they cut off his head, stripped him of his armour, and sent it into their own land, to be placed as a trophy in the temple of Ashtaroth, probably at Ashdod, and fastened his body and those of his three sons to the wall overhanging the open space in front of the gate of the Canaanite city of Beth-shan271. On the mountain-range beyond Jordan in full view of Beth-shan272 was the town of Jabesh-Gilead, by his heroic relief of which Saul had inaugurated his reign273. Hearing from the fugitives what had occurred to their king, the grateful inhabitants, mindful of past services, determined that his remains should not continue thus dishonoured. Their valiant men arose, crossed the Jordan, and under cover of night took down his body and those of his sons, buried them under the terebinth of their native town, and fasted seven days (<abbr title="First Samuel">1 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 31">xxxi.</abbr> 13). Such was the news David now received at Ziklag from a young Amalekite, who had been present at the battle. Deeming himself sure of the reward that greeted the bearer of glad tidings, he had brought with him Saul’s crown and the bracelet that was on his arm, and pretended to have slain him at his own request (<abbr title="Second Samuel">2 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 1">i.</abbr> 1<abbr title="through">–</abbr>12). But David’s wrath was kindled, and having sternly rebuked him for touching the Lord’s anointed, he bade one of his young men put him to death, and then burst into a strain of passionate lamentation over Saul and Jonathan. Forgetting all that had passed between him and the fallen king, he remembered only the better features of his character, while towards Jonathan his whole soul gushed forth in expressions of the tenderest affection (<abbr title="Second Samuel">2 Sam.</abbr> <abbr title="chapter 1">i.</abbr> 17<abbr title="through">–</abbr>27). <hr class="chap_50" /> <h2 class="vm_30 h2head"> BOOK <abbr title="9">IX.</abbr> THE REIGNS OF DAVID AND SOLOMON.</h2> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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