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who broke through the army of the Philis- | præ triginta; and then the sense is clear, tines, and brought David water from the well that the three, who went down, were (not of Bethlehem. The Hebrew words are lite- three of the thirty captains, but) three, who rally tres ex (or præ) triginta caput; which were heads, or captains, over or above the last word may be rendered plurally. Our thirty. That this is the true meaning of English version renders the words, And three is farther evident from the same of the thirty chief, but this cannot be the expression applied to Benaiah, the second sense, because there were not thirty heads or captain in the second series; in verses the chiefs-there being thirty-seven, if we reckon 22d and 23d, These things did Benaiahall the mighty men; and there being but and had a name among the three mighty men; seven, if we reckon only those who were he was honourable above the thirty en 12 more honourable than the thirty, and to 11, but he attained not unto the first three, whom alone the name of , head, is at- the three captains of the first series. tributed; these being properly the HEADS of the other thirty.

The word " in Samuel being in all the ancient versions, and seeming to improve The English translators seem to have been the propriety of the sentence, was probably sensible of an incorrectness; and therefore, read at first also in Chronicles; but the inin the margin, render the words, And the sertion or omission makes no material difthree captains over the thirty. This is much ference in the sense. The two next words nearer to truth than the former, but not are very different in sense, and yet very exact; because there were not three, but similar in sound and in the letters; and seven captains over the thirty. The LXX therefore we may fairly presume that one of (Alexand. and Vat.) render the words, Kai them has been corrupted from the other; κατέβησαν τρεις απο των τριακοντα, but very which has been so corrupted, is then the improperly. For if these heroes were three question. Now the phrase seems to

of the mighty men in general, they must be corrupted, as those words never signify in have been three of the thirty-seven, and not the time of harvest throughout the Bible; three of the thirty. But this version is very the phrases for that being ' as in faulty in not translating the principal word

, at least not in the Alexand. and Vat., though it is in the Ald. and Complut. copies; and very false, because the three, that went down, were not of the last thirty, but of the first seven; three of the more honourable; and indeed the very three, that make the first series of generals.

Gen. xxx. 14; or as in Jer. L. 16; or pa as in Prov. vi. 8. That the LXX could not read it in this sense is plain from their translating it as a proper name; Kaowap in the Alexandrian, Kaoway in the Vatican, and Kaowa in the Aldine copy; but after the time of the LXX the corruption settled into what now obtains; as is evident from the later versions.

in

Josephus, after he had recorded the three first generals, Ιεσσαιμος, Ελεάζαρος, and On the contrary, the phrase Σeßas, speaking of this exploit, says, ou Tpeis Chronicles is supported uniformly by all the avopes OYTOI.-Lib. vii., cap. 12. Just so ancient versions, rendering the noun here the sacred historian mentions Jashobeam, the rock; which bears a proper relation Eleazar, and Shammah, as the generals of to the word cave just following it in the the first series, recording in what manner text. These two words are frequently each had particularly distinguished himself; mentioned together, the former as the and then adds this heroic action performed mountainous or upper part, and the latter as by them all together: after which, he the hollow part contained within the former: proceeds to the names of the second three; and none of the thirty are mentioned till many verses afterwards.

which two were frequently found in the mountainous parts of Palestine; and, on account of the difficulty and danger of The Vulgate renders the words, Nec non access, were called the holds, or places of et ante descenderant tres, qui erant principes safe retreat from an enemy. Thus 1 Sam. inter triginta. Here is made properly xxiv. 1, David went up, and dwelt mypa, to agree with N (tria capita, or tres duces), in the strong HOLDS of Engedi. 3 And Saul and this is true, because the title of N was went to seek David 13 upon the given only to the first seven, as before ob- Rocks; where we have the same preposerved. But inter triginta should have been sition preceding the same noun, as here in

VOL. II.

4 s

...

,אל קציר.

,אל הצר 15 .Par. xi 1

Chronicles. 4 And he came where was a scenderunt tres (ex triginta.) Nam triginta CAVE ; which cave was so large, that ex triginta nihil sententiæ habere potest. David with some of his little party lay conad messem. cealed in the inward recesses of it. Josephus calls it, σηλaιον Вaðν kaι κoidov, eis Tоλν каι μŋкos Avεwyos кαι Tλaros.-Lib. vi., cap. 13.

vel, ad rupem, quæ scriptura Lud. Cappello placebat, nobis etiam placet; quia locus hic notatur, ubi caverna erat Odollam. ...: Græci Intt. ráyμa, turma; legunt The case of Engedi then seems to have, quod omnino est legendum, nisi legitur been just the case of Adullam; where there, et castra, quomodo 1 Par. xi. 15. a strong hold, 1 Sam. Nam, bestia, aut bestia, scriptio non xxii. 4; and a cave, 1 Sam. xxii. 1; ferenda. both which words are also mentioned here

, מצדה was also

in Sam. xiv. and Chron. xvi.: we may there

(or

Ver. 14.

וְדָוִד אָז בַּמְצוּדָה וּמַעַב פְּלִשְׁתִּים or rather) הצר fore safely conclude, that

אָז בֵּית לָחֶם:

1) was here also the name for the rock of Adullam, and that it originally was so in Samnel as it is still in Chronicles. So that

was first corrupted into (or, as Houbigant tells us the was formerly written,) which was the form of it, when the LXX rendered it Kaowap; and thence it was corrupted into 7, as it now stands.

The only remaining word to be considered here is [see notes of Lee and Gesen, on ver. 11, p. 675], which in Chronicles is

; and we may infer, that the corruption is here also in Samuel. For it does not appear that ought for certain to be rendered a troop anywhere in the Bible; and it is never once rendered rayua by the LXX, but in this place: which therefore we may suppose to have been corrupted from, the regular word for a troop or host, and frequently occurring in Scripture and indeed

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Ver. 17.

It

chapters but three verses afterwards.

יְהוָה מַעֲשְׂתִי being the very word used in these same וַיֹּאמֶר חָלִילָה לִי יְהוָה זאת הֲרֵם הָאֲנָשִׁים הַהִלְכִים בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָם may be added, that the Vulgate seems to וְלֹא אָבָה לִשְׁתּוֹתָם אֵלֶה עָשׂוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת ,in this very place of Samuel מחנה have read

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by rendering the word there castra, which

never signifies. As to Rephaim, that was the name of the valley lying between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the distance of which two places, as Maundrell tells us, is two hours' travel, p. 87, Edit. 4.

καὶ εἶπεν, ἵλεώς μοι κύριε τοῦ ποιῆσαι τοῦτο, εἰ αἷμα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν πορευθέντων ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν πίομαι· καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησε πιεῖν αὐτό. ταῦτα ἐποίησαν οἱ τρεῖς δυνατοί.

The English version is, And there went Au. Ver.-17 And he said, Be it far from down three captains, who were over the me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not thirty, and came to the rock to David, into this the blood of the men that went in the cave of Adullam; and the host of the jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would Philistines was encamped in the valley of not drink it. These things did these three Rephaim. mighty men.

Houb.-13 Illi etiam tres ex triginta prima ad Davidem in rupem sub caverna Odollam descenderunt. Erant castra Philistæorum in valle Rephaim.

. וירדו שלשים

Ged.-17 For he said: "God preserve me from doing so: shall I drink [1 Chron. xi. 19, so Houb., Ken., Dathe, Booth.] the lifeblood of these men who have gone for it Recte Masora, et de- at the risk of their lives?" &c.

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the variation between the words nya mm
in Samuel and in Chronicles;
the last word of each may be right: for the
pronoun is found added to an infinitive in
the present manner, 1 Kings xxi. 3; though
such infinitive generally is without it, the
pronoun immediately preceding the infinitive
Thus in Gen. xliv. 17, we have the very

חלילה לי מאלהי יהוה .Sam ויאמר חלילה לי

הדם האנשים הדם האנשים .Sam מעשתי זאת .Chron האלה אשתה בנפשותם כי בנפשותם . ההלכים

.Chron. being sufficiently expressive of the person בנפשותם הביאום ולא אבה

.הלילה לי מעשות זאת,saine words as here

. ולא אבה

.Chron לשתותם אלה עשו שלשת .Sam לשתותם אלה עשו שלשת .Chron הגברים :

.Sam הגברים :

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Ιλεως μοι ο Θεος
Ιλεως μοι, Κύριε,
ρημα TOUTO' EL
TOUTO, EL

It does not appear, that DN is ever used in this solemn form of appeal to the Deity, the word being constantly ; as in 1 Sam. xxiv. 6; xxvi. 11; and 1 Kings xxi. 3. But then the word should have the mem preTOU fixed, as it is before ; and as we find it TOU in the several instances just referred to. apa This preposition is improperly omitted also apa in some other places; as Joshua x. 13; and in this very chapter of Sam., v. 24 and 32. How the sacred name of Jehovah came to be exchanged into God in this

πορευθεντων εν

Chron. Και ειπεν
Sam. Και είπεν
Chron. ποιησαι το
Sam. ποιησαι
Chron. ανδρων τούτων
Sam. των ανδρων των
Chron. πιομαι εν ψυχαις αυτών ;
Sam. ταις ψυχαίς αυτων πιομαι.
Chron. ψυχαις αυτών ηνεγκαν αυτο· Και ουκ
Sam.
Kas ouk
Tavτа ETоinσav

Chron. εβουλετο πιεν αυτό.
Sam. ηθέλησε πιεν αυτό.
Chron, οι τρεις δυνατοι.
Sam. οι τρεις δυνατοι.

οτι

Εν

.

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place, may probably be owing to the super-
stitious veneration the later Jews paid, and
do still pay to the name Jehovah (the nomen
ineffabile) which therefore they pronounced
Adonai or Elohim. A Jew then, who was
dictating to a transcriber, reading Elohim in
this place instead of Jehovah, and not giving
notice of such variation, the former word
was set down instead of the latter: and
probably the same mistake has been made
in many other places.

These two verses vary considerably; yet in such a manner, that we can easily see they were originally the same. The present reading in Chronicles, in the middle of the verse where the difference is greatest, is The original cause of this superstition exactly regular; and completely expressive (the not pronouncing the name Jehovah) of the wonder and surprise of David on probably was-that Jehovah was the namə such an occasion: but the present reading of the God of the Jews, in contradistinction in Samuel is evidently broken, and wants to all the deities, or false gods of other all that spirited emphasis, which gives so much beauty to the other. That it is so broken and defective is clear from the loss of the verbs (bibam) which is found in the ancient versions, and therefore existed formerly in the original. And as the text of Samuel is plainly deficient in that verb, so is it in many more words, which are regular in the corresponding passage.

The participle seems foisted in by some transcriber, to make the passage sense, as it now stands; but, even with that word, it is apparently incomplete, wanting still the necessary words. Or, at least, if we could suppose the sense to have been-Is

nations; as being the name of the ne-
cessarily-existent Being. And the Jews,
perhaps, had learnt at Babylon, amongst
ather heathenish superstitions, to conceal
the true name of the God of their country,
to prevent its destruction. For the heathens
had very early a superstitious notion, that a
country or city could not be taken, till the
tutelar god or presiding genius was invited
out of it, by invoking him in his real name,
The Jews, finding this a sacred custom
observed by other nations, absurdly adopted
the same precaution; and resolved, that the
true name of their God should also be a secret,
by declaring it unlawful to pronounce it,

That such a custom did obtain in the (vid. ad Jos. vi. 26) iverunt i. e., num aquam

haustam?

world very early, is evident from those cele- bibam ab hisce viris cum vitæ periculo brated lines in Virgil; Æneid. 2, 351, &c. Excessere omnes, adytis arisque relictis, Dii, quibus imperium hoc steterat

celatum esse voluerunt, in cujus Dei tutela y urbs Roma sit; et jure Pontificum cautum

Ver. 18.

וַאֲבִישַׁי אֲחִי וְיוֹאָב בֶּן־צְרוּיָה הוּא On which words Servius remarks-Romani

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מֵאוֹת

השלשה ק'

AT

αὐτὸς ἄρχων ἐν τοῖς τρισὶ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐξήγειρε καὶ ̓Αβεσσὰ ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἰωάβ υἱὸς Σαρουίας τὸ δόρυ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τριακοσίους τραυματίας καὶ αὐτῷ ὄνομα ἐν τοῖς τρισὶν.

among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them [Heb., slain], and had the name among three.

Ken.-18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, he was head of (an order of) three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred soldiers [see notes on ver. 8, p. 667-673, and on i. 19, P. 491]; so he had a name among three.

est, ne suis nominibus Dii Romani appel-y bbn nisu why-by in larentur, ne exaugurari possent: et in Capitolio fuit clypeus consecratus — genio urbis Romæ, sive mas sit sive fœmina. Macrobius gives a whole chapter upon the words of the poet just cited, and says-De vetustissimo Romanorum more, et de occultissimis sacris vox ista prolata est: constat enim omnes urbes in alicujus Dei esse tutela, moremque of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief Au. Ver.-18 And Abishai, the brother Romanorum fuisse, ut cum obsiderent urbem hostium, certo carmine evocarent tutelares Deos: propterea ipsi Romani et DEUM in cujus tutela urbs Roma est, ut (et) ipsius URBIS Latinum nomen ignotum esse voluerunt; caventibus Romanis, ne quod sæpe adversus urbes hostium fecisse se noverant, idem ipsi quoque hostili evocatione paterentur. -Lib. iii., cap. 9. This then being the custom of the Romans at other sieges, and no such evocation having been practised at the siege of Jerusalem; it is probable, that their omission of that custom at a siege so remarkable was occasioned by their ignorance of the true name of the God of Jerusalem. The English version is-And he said, The Lord forbid, that I should do this thing! Booth.-18 And next to them was Abishai, Shall I drink the blood of these men, with the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, the their lives? (Shall I drink this water, which chief of the second three. For he, raising may be considered as the blood of these his spear, penetrated through three hundred men, who have brought it at the hazard of men; and had the first name, among the their lives?) for, at the hazard of their lives, second three. they have brought it!-And he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty

men.

Ged.-18 Next to them was ABISHAI BEN

ZERUIA, Joab's brother, the chief of the second three. He brandishing his spear, broke through three hundred men; and hence had the first name among the second three.

Ver. 19.

Au. Ver.-19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: Houb.-17 DON D, Sanguinem homi- howbeit he attained not unto the first num; vel addendum alterum, ut sit, three.

absit a me...ut, חלילה לי... מעשתי זאת • זאת הדם

hoc faciam; hoc est sanguis hominum... vel addendum nes, bibam, ut 1 Par. xi. 19, hoc modo,

nem hominum istorum, qui periculo suo (iverunt) bibam?

Ken.

1 Chron. xi. 21; 2 Sam. xxiii. 19.

נכבד -mum sangui), בנפשותם אשתה בשנים .Chron מן השלשה

השלשה .Sam מן .Chron ויהי וגו' .Sam ויהי וגו'

הדם Ita ut in vocabulo

[. הֲדַם הָאֲנָשִׁים הַהִלְכִים בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָם 17-.Maurer

sit interrogans. Vide locum parallelum.

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Sententia imperfecta sed facili negotio sup-
plenda num sanguinem horum virorum sc.
bibam ( 1 Chron. xi. 19, cf. G. Gr.
ampl. p. 850), qui cum vitæ suæ periculo Sam. και εγενετο, κ.τ.λ.

Chron. Απο των τριων υπέρ τους δυο ένδοξος,
Sam. Ek
των τριών εκείνων ένδοξος,

Chron. kat ην, κ.τ.λ.

great of acts], he slew two lionlike men [Heb., lions of God] of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.

The only various reading here is, that] Au. Ver.-20 And Benaiah the son of in Samuel is in Chronicles ; which Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of variation does not affect the sense, and there- Kabzeel, who had done many acts [Heb., fore both words may have been original. For, as Abishai has been proved to be the first general of the second ternary, the sense is the same whether we say, Of the three was he not most honourable? or, Of the three he Ken.-The word is evidently defective, was more honourable than two. But, as the for want of the last letter, which is preancient versions do not acknowledge an served in Chronicles; and which is also interrogation in the first instance, and as the preserved in the margin of most editions in first instance is evidently corrupt in the Samuel, and in the text there of the ComLXX by reading EKELOV (which is extremely plutensian. The word in Samuel should improper, as his inferiors had not been yet be [So Houb.] as in Chronicles; and, mentioned) it seems much more eligible to being compounded of ", leo and, Deus, prefer the last reading, as in Chronicles; is used here as the strongest compound which is adapted with great propriety to the word for a man or men of valour [so most circumstances of the history. To which it commentators]: and this sense of the word must be added, that one of the Greek ver- is confirmed by Vitringa, in his excellent sions in Origen's Hexapla seems to have Commentary on Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 138. read in Samuel; by rendering the words there, υπερ τους δυο ενδοξος.

Ged., Booth.-19 Of the three, he was the most honourable, and became their chief; yet he attained not the rank of the first three.

Ged., Booth.-20 And next to him was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada (the son of a wealthy man of Kabzeel,) great in exploits. He slew two huge lions of Moab: he went down also and slew another lion in the midst of a pit, in time of snow.

Ver. 21.

19 I greatly suspect that one worthy has been here dropped out of the text both of Sam. and Chron. as one, namely Shamah, we w97)

אשר וְהוּא הִכָּה אֶת־אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַרְאֶה וּבְיַד הַמִּצְרִי חֲנִית וַיֵּרֶד אֵלָיי .has certainly been dropped out of the latter בַּשֶׁבֶט וַיִּגְזֶל אֶת־הַחֲנִית מִיַּד הַמִּצְרִי We evidently want one worthy of the second

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איש קרי

ternary; unless with Kennicott we make him out of Ashael; which the text, I think, does not authorize us to do.—Ged.

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Ver. 20.

STT

αὐτὸς ἐπάταξε τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, ἄνδρα ὁρατὸν, ἐν δὲ τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου δόρυ ὡς ξύλον διαβάθρας· καὶ κατέβη πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν ῥάβδῳ, καὶ ἥρπασε τὸ δόρυ ἐκ τῆς Xepòs Tоû Alyvπтíoν, κaì áttékteivev avtòv év τῷ δόρατι αὐτοῦ, κ.τ.λ.

Au. Ver.-21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man [Heb., a man of countenance, or, sight: called, 1 Chron. xi. 23, a man of great stature]: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him

בֶן־יְהוֹיָדָע בֶּן־אִישׁ חַי וּבְנָיָהוּ with a staff, and plucked the spear out of רַב־פְּעָלִים מִקַבְצְאֵל הִוּא הִכָּה אֶת־ Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his שְׁנֵי אֲרִאֵל מוֹאָב וְהוּא יָרַד וְהִכָּה אֶת־הָאֲבִיה בְּתוֹךְ הַבְּאֵר בְּיוֹם הַשָּׁלֶג:

the

חיל קרי

הארי קרי

הבר קרי

καὶ Βαναίας υἱὸς Ιωδαὲ ἀνὴρ αὐτὸς πολλοστὸς ἔργοις, ἀπὸ Καβεσεὴλ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπάταξε τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς ̓Αριὴλ τοῦ Μωάβ·

own spear.

22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.

Ken.

1 Chron. xi. 23; 2 Sam. xxiii. 21.

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איש .Sam והוא הכה את

מצרי

μέσῳ τοῦ λάκκου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς χιόνος.

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