_LAST BATTLES AND THE MIGHTY MEN._
2 SAMUEL xxi. 15-22; xxiii. 8-39.
In entering on the consideration of these two portions of the
history of David, we must first observe that the events recorded
do not appear to belong to the concluding portion of his reign. It
is impossible for us to assign a precise date to them, or at least
to most of them, but the displays of physical activity and courage
which they record would lead us to ascribe them to a much earlier
period. Originally, they seem to have formed parts of a record of
David's wars, and to have been transferred to the Books of Samuel
and Chronicles in order to give a measure of completeness to the
narrative. The narrative in Chronicles is substantially the same
as that in Samuel, but the text is purer. From notes of time in
Chronicles it is seen that some at least of the encounters took place
after the war with the children of Ammon.
Why have these passages been inserted in the history of the reign of
David? Apparently for two chief purposes. In the first place, to give
us some idea of the dangers to which he was exposed in his military
life, dangers manifold and sometimes overwhelming, and all but fatal;
and thus enable us to see how wonderful were the deliverances he
experienced, and prepare us for entering into the song of thanksgiving
which forms the twenty-second chapter, and of which these deliverances
form the burden. In the second place, to enable us to understand the
human instrumentality by which he achieved so brilliant a success, the
kind of men by whom he was helped, the kind of spirit by which they
were animated, and their intense personal devotion to David himself.
The former purpose is that which is chiefly in view in the end of the
twenty-first chapter, the latter in the twenty-third. The exploits
themselves occur in encounters with the Philistines, and may therefore
be referred partly to the time after the slaughter of Goliath, when he
first distinguished himself in warfare, and the daughters of Israel
began to sing, "Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his tens of
thousands;" partly to the time in his early reign when he was engaged
driving them out of Israel, and putting a bridle on them to restrain
their inroads; and partly to a still later period. It is to be observed
that nothing more is sought than to give a sample of David's military
adventures, and for this purpose his wars with the Philistines alone
are examined. If the like method had been taken with all his other
campaigns,--against Edom, Moab, and Ammon; against the Syrians of
Rehob, and Maacah, and Damascus, and the Syrians beyond the river,--we
might borrow the language of the Evangelist, and say that the world
itself would not have been able to contain the books that should be
written.
Four exploits are recorded in the closing verses of the twenty-first
chapter, all with "sons of the giant," or, as it is in the margin, of
Rapha. The first was with a man who is called Ishbi-benob, but there
is reason to suspect that the text is corrupt here, and in Chronicles
this incident is not mentioned. The language applied to David, "David
and his servants went down," would lead us to believe that the incident
happened at an early period, when the Philistines were very powerful
in Israel, and it was a mark of great courage to "go down" to their
plains, and attack them in their own country. To do this implied a long
journey, over steep and rough roads, and it is no wonder if between the
journey and the fighting David "waxed faint." Then it was that the son
of the giant, whose spear or spearhead weighed three hundred shekels
of brass, or about eight pounds, fell upon him "with a new sword,
and thought to have slain him." There is no noun in the original for
sword; all that is said is, that the giant fell on David with something
new, and our translators have made it a sword. The Revised Version in
the margin gives "new armour." The point is evidently this, that the
newness of the thing made it more formidable. This could hardly be said
of a common sword, which would be really more formidable after it had
ceased to be quite new, since, by having used it, the owner would know
it better and wield it more perfectly. It seems better to take the
marginal reading "new armour," that is, new defensive armour, against
which the weary David would direct his blows in vain. Evidently he was
in the utmost peril of his life, but was rescued by his nephew Abishai,
who killed the giant. The risk to which he was exposed was such that
his people vowed they would not let him go out with them to battle any
more, lest the light of Israel should be quenched.
During the rest of that campaign the vow seems to have been
respected, for the other three giants were not slain by David
personally, but by others. As to other campaigns, David usually
took his old place as leader of the army, until the battle against
Absalom, when his people prevailed on him to remain in the city.
Three of the four duels recorded here took place at Gob,--a place not
now known, but most probably in the neighbourhood of Gath. In fact,
all the encounters probably took place near that city. One of the
giants slain is said in Samuel, by a manifest error, to have been
Goliath the Gittite; but the error is corrected in Chronicles, where
he is called the brother of Goliath. The very same expression is used
of his spear as in the case of Goliath: "the staff of whose spear was
like a weaver's beam." Of the fourth giant it is said that he defied
Israel, as Goliath had done. Of the whole four it is said that "they
were born to the giant in Gath." This does not necessarily imply
that they were all sons of the same father, "the giant" being used
generically to denote the race rather than the individual.
But the tenor of the narrative and many of its expressions carry us
back to the early days of David. There seems to have been a nest at
Gath of men of gigantic stature, brothers or near relations of Goliath.
Against these he was sent, perhaps in one of the expeditions when Saul
secretly desired that he should fall by the hand of the Philistines.
If it was in this way that he came to encounter the first of the four,
Saul had calculated well, and was very nearly carrying his point.
But though man proposes, God disposes. The example of David in his
encounter with Goliath, even at this early period, had inspired several
young men of the Hebrews, and even when David was interdicted from
going himself into battle, others were raised up to take his place.
Every one of the giants found a match either in David or among his men.
It was indeed highly perilous work; but David was encompassed by a
Divine Protector, and being destined for high service in the kingdom of
God, he was "immortal till his work was done."
We have said that these were but samples of David's trials, and that
they were probably repeated again and again in the course of the many
wars in which he was engaged. One can see that the danger was often
very imminent, making him feel that his only possible deliverance
must come from God. Such dangers, therefore, were wonderfully fitted
to exercise and discipline the spirit of trust. Not once or twice,
but hundreds of times, in his early experience he would find himself
constrained to cry to the Lord. And protected as he was, delivered
as he was, the conviction would become stronger and stronger that
God cared for him and would deliver him to the end. We see from all
this how unnecessary it is to ascribe all the psalms where David
is pressed by enemies either to the time of Saul or to the time of
Absalom. There were hundreds of other times in his life when he had
the same experience, when he was reduced to similar straits, and his
appeal lay to the God of his life.
And this was in truth the healthiest period of his spiritual life.
It was amid these perilous but bracing experiences that his soul
prospered most. The north wind of danger and difficulty braced him
to spiritual self-denial and endurance; the south wind of prosperity
and luxurious enjoyment was what nearly destroyed him. Let us not
become impatient when anxieties multiply around us, and we are beset
by troubles, and labours, and difficulties. Do not be tempted to
contrast your miserable lot with that of others, who have health
while you are sick, riches while you are poor, honour while you are
despised, ease and enjoyment while you have care and sorrow. By all
these things God desires to draw you to Himself, to discipline your
soul, to lead you away from the broken cisterns that can hold no
water to the fountain of living waters. Guard earnestly against the
unbelief that at such times would make your hands hang down and your
heart despond; rally your sinking spirit. "Why art thou cast down,
O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?" Remember the
promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you;" and one day you
shall have cause to look back on this as the most useful, the most
profitable, the most healthful, period of your spiritual life.
We pass to the twenty-third chapter, which tells us of David's mighty
men. The narrative, at some points, is not very clear; but we gather
from it that David had an order of thirty men distinguished for their
valour; that besides these there were three of supereminent merit,
and another three, who were also eminent, but who did not attain to
the distinction of the first three. Of the first three, the first was
Jashobeam the Hachmonite (see 1 Chron. xi. 11), the second Eleazar, and
the third Shammah. Of the second three, who were not quite equal to the
first, only two are mentioned, Abishai and Benaiah; thereafter we have
the names of the thirty. It is remarkable that Joab's name does not
occur in the list, but as he was captain of the host, he probably held
a higher position than any. Certainly Joab was not wanting in valour,
and must have held the highest rank in a legion of honour.
Of the three mighties of the first rank, and the two of the
second, characteristic exploits of remarkable courage and success
are recorded. The first of the first rank, whom the Chronicles
call Jashobeam, lifted up his spear against three hundred slain at
one time. (In Samuel the number is eight hundred.) The exploit was
worthy to be ranked with the famous achievement of Jonathan and his
armour-bearer at the pass of Michmash. The second, Eleazar, defied
the Philistines when they were gathered to battle, and when the men
of Israel had gone away he smote the Philistines till his hand was
weary. The third, Shammah, kept the Philistines at bay on a piece of
ground covered with lentils, after the people had fled, and slew the
Philistines, gaining a great victory.
Next we have a description of the exploit of three of the mighty men
when the Philistines were in possession of Bethlehem, and David in a
hold near the cave of Adullam (see 2 Sam. v. 15-21). The occasion of
their exploit was an interesting one. Contemplating the situation,
and grieved to think that his native town should be in the enemy's
hands, David gave expression to a wish--"Oh that some one would give
me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem which is before the gate!"
It was probably meant for little more than the expression of an
earnest wish that the enemy were dislodged from their position--that
there were no obstruction between him and the well, that access to
it were as free as in the days of his youth. But the three mighty
men took him at his word, and breaking through the host of the
Philistines, brought the water to David. It was a singular proof of
his great personal influence; he was so loved and honoured that to
gratify his wish these three men took their lives in their hands to
obtain the water. Water got at such a cost was sacred in his eyes;
it was a thing too holy for man to turn to his use, so he poured it
out before the Lord.
Next we have a statement bearing on two of the second three. Abishai,
David's nephew, who was one of them, lifted up his spear against
three hundred and slew them. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, slew two
lion-like men of Moab (the two sons of Ariel of Moab, R.V.); also,
in time of snow, he slew a lion in a pit; and finally he slew an
Egyptian, a powerful man, attacking him when he had only a staff
in his hand, wrenching his spear from him, and killing him with
his own spear. The third of this trio has not been mentioned; some
conjecture that he was Amasa ("chief of the captains"--"the thirty,"
R.V., 1 Chron. xii. 18), and that his name was not recorded because
he deserted David to side with Absalom. Among the other thirty, we
cannot but be struck with two names--Eliam the son of Ahithophel
the Gilonite, and apparently the father of Bathsheba; and Uriah the
Hittite. The sin of David was all the greater if it involved the
dishonour of men who had served him so bravely as to be enrolled in
his legion of honour.
With regard to the kind of exploits ascribed to some of these men,
a remark is necessary. There is an appearance of exaggeration in
statements that ascribe to a single warrior the routing and killing of
hundreds through his single sword or spear. In the eyes of some such
statements give the narrative an unreliable look, as if the object
of the writer had been more to give _éclat_ to the warriors than to
record the simple truth. But this impression arises from our tendency
to ascribe the conditions of modern warfare to the warfare of these
times. In Eastern history, cases of a single warrior putting a large
number to flight, and even killing them, are not uncommon. For though
the strength of the whole number was far more than a match for his, the
strength of each individual was far inferior; and if the mass of them
were scarcely armed, and the few who had arms were far inferior to him,
the result would be that after some had fallen the rest would take to
flight; and the destruction of life in a retreat was always enormous.
The incident recorded of Eleazar is very graphic and truth-like. "He
smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto
his sword." A Highland sergeant at Waterloo had done such execution
with his basket-handled sword, and so much blood had coagulated round
his hand, that it had to be released by a blacksmith, so firmly
were they glued together. The style of Eastern warfare was highly
favourable to deeds of great courage being done by individuals, and
in the terrific panic which followed their first successes prodigious
slaughter often ensued. Under present conditions of fighting such
things cannot be done.
The glimpse which these little notices give us of King David and
his knights is extremely interesting. The story of Arthur and his
Knights of the Round Table bears a resemblance to it. We see the
remarkable personal influence of David, drawing to himself so many
men of spirit and energy, firing them by his own example, securing
their warm personal attachment, and engaging them in enterprises
equal to his own. How far they shared his devotional spirit we have
no means of judging. If the historian reflects the general sentiment
in recording their victories when he says, once and again, "The Lord
wrought a great victory that day" (xxiii. 10, 12), we should say
that trust in God must have been the general sentiment. "If it had
not been the Lord that was on our side, ... they had swallowed us up
quick, when their wrath was kindled against us." It is no wonder that
David soon gained a great military renown. Such a king, surrounded by
such a class of lieutenants, might well spread alarm among all his
enemies. One who, besides having such a body of helpers, could claim
the assistance of the Lord of hosts, and could enter battle with the
shout, "Let God arise; and let His enemies be scattered; and let them
also that hate Him flee before Him," might well look for universal
victory. Trustworthy generals, we are told, double the value of the
troops; and the soldiers that were led by such leaders, trusting in
the Lord of hosts, could hardly fail of triumph.
And thus, too, we may see how David came to be thoroughly under the
influence of the military spirit, and of some of the less favourable
features of that spirit. Accustomed to such scenes of bloodshed, he
would come to think lightly of the lives of his enemies. A hostile
army he would be prone to regard as a kind of infernal machine, an
instrument of evil only, and therefore to be destroyed. Hence the
complacency he expresses in the destruction of his enemies. Hence the
judgment he calls down on those who thwarted and opposed him. If,
in the songs of David, this feeling sometimes disappears, and the
expressed desire of his heart is that the nations may be glad and
sing for joy, that the people may praise God, that all the people may
praise Him, this seems to be in the later period of his life, when all
his enemies had been subdued, and he had rest on every side. Even in
earnest and spiritually-minded men, religion is often coloured by their
worldly calling; and in no case more so, sometimes for better and
sometimes for worse, than in those who follow the profession of arms.
But in all this military career and influence of David, may we not
trace a type of character which was realised in a far higher sphere,
and to far grander purpose, in the career of Jesus, David's Son?
David on an earthly level is Jesus on a higher. Every noble quality
of David, his courage, his activity, his affection, his obedience and
trust toward God, his devotion to the welfare of others, reappears
purer and higher in Jesus. If David is surrounded by his thirty
mighties and his two threes, so is Jesus by His twelve apostles,
His seventy disciples, and pre-eminently the three apostles who
went with Him into the innermost scenes. If David's men are roused
by his example to deeds of daring like his own, so the apostles and
disciples go into the world to teach, to fight, to heal, and to
bless, as Christ had done before them. Looking back from the present
moment to David's time, what young man of spirit but feels that it
would have been a great joy to belong to his company, much better
than to be among those who were always carping and criticising, and
laughing at the men who shared his danger and sacrifices? And does
any one think that, when another cycle of ages has gone past, he
will have occasion to congratulate himself that while he lived on
earth he had nothing to do with Christ and earnest Christians, that
he bore no part in any Christian battle, that he kept well away from
Christ and His staff, that he preferred the service and pleasure of
the world? Surely no. Shall any of us, then, deliberately do to-day
what we know we shall repent to-morrow? Is it not certain that Jesus
Christ is an unrivalled Commander, pure and noble above all His
fellows, that His life was the most glorious ever led on earth, and
that His service is by far the most honourable? We do not dwell at
this moment on the great fact that only in His faith and fellowship
can any of us escape the wrath to come, or gain the favour of God.
We ask you to say in what company you can spend your lives to most
profit, under whose influence you may receive the highest impulses,
and be made to do the best service for God and man? It must have been
interesting in David's time to see his people "willing in the day of
his power," to see young men flocking to his standard in the beauties
of holiness, like dewdrops from the womb of the morning. And still
more glorious is the sight when young men, even the highest born
and the highest gifted, having had grace to see who and what Jesus
Christ is, find no manner of life worthy to be compared in essential
dignity and usefulness with His service, and, in spite of the world,
give themselves to Him. Oh that we could see many such rallying to
His standard, contrasting, as St. Paul did, the two services, and
counting all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus their Lord!