KINGS:

DAVID (1055-1015 BC) AND SOLOMON (970-931 BC)

 

THE king who was placed at the head of the people through their own eager insistence, and with the unwilling consent of the prophet proved, more effectually than any objections could do, how little a monarchical constitution was fitted to realise the expectations founded on it; for the king, until his accession a simple and excellent man, with no thoughts of ambition or arbitrary power, did not shrink from cruelty and inhumanity in order to assert his dignity.

By the aid of prophetic guidance, care was taken that he should not resemble the repulsive prototype drawn by Samuel, or become so independent as to place himself above all laws and rules, but that he should ever remain mindful of his lowly origin. Samuel did not select a king from the haughty tribe of Ephraim, lest he should, act like Abimelech, who, in his presumption and ambition, had killed his own brothers, and laid waste whole districts; but the king was chosen from the smallest of the tribes, the tribe of Benjamin. His family, that of Matri, was one of the lowliest in Benjamin. His father, Kish, was not in any way distinguished; he was a simple country­man; and nothing could be said in his praise, except that he was an upright man. Saul was chosen because he was content to work at his plough, and watch the increase of his father’s flocks. He had no thought beyond the village in which he was born, and barely an idea that there were human beings to whom the possession of power was an attraction. In his shyness he displayed the ways of a true peasant; these circumstances, and the personal qualities of Saul seemed to be a security against any presumption or pride on the part of the first king of Israel.

The circumstances attending the choice of a king left a deep and pleasing impression. “See”, said Samuel, “this is the man whom God has chosen as king; his like is not to be found in all Israel”. Most of the bystanders, carried away by the solemn proceeding and by Saul’s appearance, shouted, “Long live the king!” Samuel then anointed the newly elected king with holy oil, by which he was believed to be rendered inviolable. The elders rejoiced that their heartfelt wish of having a king to rule over them was at length realised. They looked forward to happy days. This choice of a king was an important epoch in the history of the Jewish people; it determined their entire future. Yet during the joyful and solemn proceedings, discord had already arisen. Some discontented people, probably Ephraimites, who had hoped to have a king chosen from their own ranks, loudly expressed their disappointment. “How can this man help us!”. Whilst all the other elders, according to universal custom, brought the king gifts of homage, and a few of the most courageous followed him to Gibeah to assist him against the enemies of Israel, the malcontents kept apart and refused their allegiance.

Saul’s courage, after his elevation to the throne, must have increased greatly, or he must have felt himself guided by God after his unexpected elevation. He now boldly confronted the task of opposing his mighty enemies, and of settling the disorganised affairs of the commonwealth. The position of the people at his accession was very sad and humiliating, almost worse than in the days of the Judges. Their arms, such as bows and arrows, swords, etc., had been carried off by the victorious Philistines, who left no smith in the land to make new weapons. The newly elected king lacked a sword,—that symbol of royalty among all nations and at all times. His election was probably conducted so secretly that the Philistines knew nothing of it. The Philistine tax-gatherers exhausted the strength of the country, and at the same time repressed every attempt at revolt. So greatly were the Israelites humbled that some of them had to accompany the Philistines on expeditions against their own brethren. Nought but a miraculous event could have saved them, and such an event was brought about by Saul with his son and kinsmen.

Saul’s eldest son, Jonathan, was perhaps worthier of the kingly dignity than his father. Modest and unselfish perhaps to a greater extent even than his father, courageous in the very face of death, he combined with these qualities an almost excessive kindliness and gentleness,—a feature which endeared him to all, but which would have been a serious failing in a ruler who had to display a certain amount of firmness and severity. Jonathan was, besides, endowed with an enthusiastic nature which appealed to every heart. He was truthful, and an enemy to all deceit; he uttered his opinions freely, at the risk of displeasing, or of losing his position and even his life, all of which qualities made him a favourite with the people. Abner, the cousin of Saul, was of an entirely different disposition; he was a warrior of unbending firmness, and possessed a considerable degree of artfulness. To the inexperienced king and the people he, too, rendered important service in their distress. Surrounded by these and other faithful adherents of his family, and by the tribe of Benjamin in general, who were proud to gain importance through him, Saul set forth on the unequal contest with the Philistines. Jonathan commenced hostilities. In the town of Geba, or Gibeah of Benjamin, lived the Philistine tax-gatherers, surrounded by a host of warriors. Jonathan attacked this post and killed the garrison. This was the first declaration of war; it was made at Saul's command and with his full approval. The king now ordered that the trumpet-blast, announcing that the war with the Philistines had commenced, should sound throughout the land of Benjamin. Many heard the news with joy, others with sadness and dismay.

All who had courage assembled in order to stand by their king, determined to aid him in casting off the disgrace of Israel, or to perish in the attempt. Those who were cowards escaped to the opposite side of the Jordan, or hid in caverns, in clefts of the rocks, or in subterranean passages. A feeling of intense anxiety filled all minds as to the result of the contest. The meeting-place of the Israelites was then in Gilgal, the town most remote from the land of the Philistines. This place of meeting had been appointed by the prophet Samuel. He had directed Saul to repair thither, and stay there seven days to await his arrival and further instructions. Gilgal probably contained the choir of musicians and prophets, whose psalms and songs were to inspire the Israelite warriors with martial courage and with trust in the deliverance of their fatherland. Meanwhile the Philistines prepared themselves for a war of extermination against the Israelites. The news of Jonathan’s attack on their outposts had exasperated them; they were, however, more surprised than terrified. How could the cowardly, weaponless, unarmed Israelites dare to attack the Philistines, their masters? A numerous band of warriors, supported by cavalry, passed through the valleys of the southern mountain-range of Ephraim, and through the entire breadth of the land as far as Michmash; from this camping-place they spread their marauding bands in three directions, the most humiliating circumstance being that many Israelites were compelled to assist the Philistines in subduing their own tribesmen.

This was a critical time for the people of Israel. Whilst the Philistines were gradually pushing forward to Michmash, Saul, surrounded by the brave men of his tribe, awaited in Gilgal the prophet who was to give the warriors his inspired directions, and thus endow them with courage. But day after day passed and Samuel did not appear. Every hour spent in idleness seemed to destroy the chance of a successful issue. Saul feared that the enemy would descend from the mountains into the valley, attack Gilgal, and destroy or put to flight the small body of Israelites. Not a few of his soldiers had already deserted, looking on Samuel's absence as an inauspicious omen. Saul, becoming impatient, determined on the seventh day to attack the enemy on his own responsibility. According to ancient practice, he made a sacrifice in order to propitiate the Deity, and to ensure his success in the battle. Just as he was preparing the burnt-offering, Samuel suddenly appeared, and upbraided the king severely for being carried away by impatience. He resented this error with great austerity, departed from Gilgal, and left Saul to his own resources—a hard blow for him, as he had reckoned confidently on the prophet's assistance at this dangerous juncture. After Samuel had departed from Gilgal, Saul found it useless to remain there. He therefore repaired with the remnant of his troops to Gibeah. On reviewing his soldiers here, he found them to amount to not more than six hundred. It is not surprising that Saul and Jonathan became dispirited at the sight of this slight force, which was unarmed and had to fight the well-appointed armies of the enemy. Saul and Jonathan alone possessed swords. It was indeed a sad honey-moon for the young kingdom. The most painful blow for Saul was that, through Samuel’s absence, he was deprived of the means by which the people might ascertain the will of God.

Jonathan, however, made a good beginning at Gibeah, where Saul and his troops lay encamped, at scarce an hour's distance from Michmash, the site of the Philistine camp. Between the two armies lay a valley, but the road which led from one place to the other was impracticable, the valley being bordered by steep, almost perpendicular walls of rocks and precipices, which closed it up on the east till it became a mere gorge of about ten feet in width. On the west side, where the valley formed a wide pass, the Philistines had stationed their outposts. Thus the Philistines and Israelites could only come to an encounter in the narrow path. At last Jonathan determined to ascend the steepest part of the pass, and, accompanied by his sword-bearer, he climbed, on hands and feet, up the steep sharp points of the rock on the side of Michmash. One false step would have precipitated him into the depth, but happily he and his man arrived safely at the highest point. When the Philistines beheld them, they were not a little surprised that, on this rocky road, a path had been found to their camp. Deceived by this ruse, and fearing that other Israelites would follow, they called out scornfully, “Look at the Hebrews, they are crawling out of their hiding-places; come higher up, we wish to become better acquainted with you”.   It had been previously agreed between Jonathan and his sword-bearer that, should they receive such a challenge, they would press on and bravely commence the attack. The Philistines who first beheld the daring climbers, soon left off scoffing, for twenty men were killed at the first attack with pieces of rock and sling-stones. The Benjamites were very skilful in the use of the sling, and Jonathan and his sword-bearer advanced further, and continued hurling masses of rock at the Philistines. Terror-stricken by this sudden attack from a side where approach had seemed impossible, they could only imagine themselves attacked by supernatural beings, and, seized with fear, they fought each other, or broke the ranks in the wildest confusion. Saul, who was watching from a high eminence, no sooner perceived the enemy beginning to flee than he hurried to the scene of action, followed by his six hundred warriors, and completed the defeat of the Philistines. Those Israelites who had until then been compelled by the Philistines to fight against their own brethren turned their arms against their oppressors. Others who had hidden themselves in the clefts and grottoes of the mountains of Ephraim took courage, when they witnessed the flight of the Philistines, and swelled the ranks of the aggressors. Saul’s troops, thus increased, numbered ten thousand. In every town of Mount Ephraim through which the Philistines passed in their flight, they were attacked by the inhabitants, and cut down one by one. Though tired and exhausted, Saul’s troops pursued the retreating foe for eight hours.

An occurrence of apparently slight consequence, but which proved to be of great importance, put a stop to further pursuit. Saul had impressed on his soldiers that the destruction of their enemy was not to be interrupted even for food or refreshment, and he pronounced a curse on him who should take the slightest nourishment. Jonathan, who was always foremost, had heard nothing of this curse. Exhausted by the long fight and pursuit he could not restrain himself, and tasted wild honey into which he had dipped his staff. When his attention was drawn to his father's peremptory command, he openly avowed his act. Saul, however, made a serious matter of it, and determined to condemn Jonathan to death. But the people protested vehemently. “What!” cried the warriors, “shall Jonathan, to whom the people owes its great victory, be killed? No, not a hair of his head shall be touched”. The people offered a sin-offering for Jonathan, and thus released him from death. Through this episode, the pursuit of the Philistines to the west of Ajalon was suspended. Great was the joy of the Israelites at the victory they had so unexpectedly obtained. The battle of Michmash fully restored their reputation. They also had regained their weapons, and felt strong enough to fight under a king whose firmness of resolve they had experienced. But Saul returned humbly and modestly to his dwelling place in Gibeah, and ploughed, as heretofore, his father’s fields. He was not yet blinded by his new dignity. Meanwhile the hostilities of the Ammonites against the tribes on the other side of the Jordan had increased. Nahash, king of the Ammonites, besieged the fortress of Jabesh-Gilead. The inhabitants were unable to hold out for long, and negotiated with Nahash about a capitulation. He offered a hard, inhuman condition to the Gileadites of Jabesh. As a disgrace to Israel, all men should consent to lose their right eye. What were the Gileadites to do? They treated for a delay of seven days in order to send messages to their fellow-tribesmen. When Saul was one day returning home with his yoke of bullocks from the field, he met the inhabitants of Gibeah in great excitement and bathed in tears. Astonished at this, he asked the cause of their grief, and the messengers from Jabesh-Gilead related what would befall their town if speedy assistance were not at hand. Incensed at the disgraceful condition imposed by the king of the Ammonites, Saul immediately determined to bring aid to the Gileadites of Jabesh. For the first time he exercised his royal prerogative by summoning all Israel to take part in the campaign against the Ammonites.

Samuel supported this summons by declaring that he too would join in the expedition. By Saul’s command all the warriors assembled at the meeting-place. The anarchy of the era of the Judges was now at an end, and a stern will ruled. A large body of Israelites crossed the Jordan; the Ammonites, attacked on the south, north, and west, fled in all directions, and no two of them remained together. The people of Jabesh were saved, and ever after displayed the deepest gratitude to Saul and his house for the help so quickly and energetically rendered to them. On his recrossing the Jordan, after his second victory over the enemy, Saul was greeted with tumultuous joy. Samuel, who was a witness to these expressions of delight, thought it wise to remind the king and his people that their triumph should not turn into pride, and that they should not consider the kingly dignity as an end, but only as a means. He therefore summoned a large gathering of the Israelites, and determined to call the king’s and the people’s attention to their duties. Samuel again anointed Saul as king; the people renewed their homage, and made joyful offerings.

In the midst of these rejoicings Samuel delivered an address, which bears testimony to the powers of his mind and to his greatness as a prophet.

Saul’s two important victories, and the assemblage at Gilgal, where homage had been rendered to him by nearly all the tribes, confirmed his power, and the royal dominion was placed on a permanent basis. Although Samuel praised and extolled the days of the Judges, yet the people felt that it could better appreciate a king than a hero-judge. The nation willingly exchanged its republican liberty for the prize of unity and the power obtained thereby. The kingly estate led to various changes. Saul had to employ responsible men for the execution of his commands; he required a number of officers and servants. Officers of war were appointed to rule over hundreds and thousands respectively, and councillors, who were admitted to the king’s table. A special band of men served as runner, an armed force who became the obedient instruments of the king’s will. These and their chief formed the king’s, court. Saul’s leader of the guard was named Doag, an Idumaean by birth. Owing to the presence of the standing army and attendants, Gibeah, till then only a small town, now became the capital. Towards Samuel, Saul at first showed submission. When the prophet, in the name of God, commanded him to declare war to the death with the Amalekites, Saul immediately made preparations, and summoned his warriors. The Amalekites were the implacable and hereditary enemies of the Israelites, and had displayed the greatest cruelty towards them during their wanderings in the desert, and on their entry into the Holy Land. These enemies often joined other nations in order to crush the Israelites. The Amalekite king Agag appears to have caused great trouble to the tribe of Judah in the days of Saul.

It was, however, no light task to undertake hostilities against the Amalekites. Agag was considered a great hero, and inspired all around him with fear; but although the Amalekites were renowned for their courage and power, Saul did not hesitate to prepare for this hazardous campaign. He appears to have carried on the strife with skill and courage, and to have drawn the enemy into an ambush, by which he was enabled to obtain a complete victory. He took the capital (possibly Kadesh), killed the men, women and children, and captured the dreaded king Agag. Only a few of the people who escaped with their lives took refuge in the great neighbouring desert which leads to Egypt. The Israelite warriors carried off rich booty, including flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and camels. According to Samuel’s command, this spoil was to be destroyed, so that every trace of the memory of Amalek might be lost. The soldiers, however, did not wish this rich spoil to be given up to destruction. Saul, ordinarily so rigid in his discipline, permitted the preservation of the booty, and thus transgressed the prophet’s directions. Saul was very proud of his victory over the dreaded Amalekites, and he caused the king Agag to be led in chains as a living sign of triumph. His success in battle intoxicated him, and caused him to forget his former humility. On his return he erected a monument of his victory in the oasis of Carmel. Meanwhile, Samuel, in a prophetic vision, had learned that the king had not fulfilled the instructions given him, and was therefore to be punished.

Samuel had to announce this to the victorious king; but the task was difficult, and he struggled and prayed a whole night. At last he determined to proceed to meet Saul. But hearing on the way that Saul was so dominated by pride as to cause a monument to be raised, he turned back and repaired to Gilgal. When Saul heard of this journey, he followed him thither. The elders of Benjamin and the neighbouring tribes also proceeded to Gilgal to salute the victorious king. Here they were wit­nesses to a strife which foreboded evil times.

As though nothing had occurred, the king met the prophet with these words, “I have fulfilled God’s commands”. On which Samuel sternly replied to him, “What is the meaning of the bleating of the sheep which I hear?”. “It was the people”, answered Saul, “who spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, in order to sacrifice them on the altar at Gilgal”. At these words the prophet Samuel could no longer repress his anger, and he replied in winged words: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying His voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams. For the sin of witchcraft comes from rebellion, and the iniquity of Teraphim from stubbornness. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king”.

Saul was so deeply humiliated by these words and by the stern and austere attitude which the prophet adopted that he confessed his fault and, in the effort to prevent him from going away, he seized Samuel’s robe so firmly that it was torn. Samuel then said, “This is a sign: God will tear thy kingly dignity from thee and will give it to a better man, even though Israel be torn asunder in the act”. Once more Saul entreated the prophet. “At least honour me now before the elders of my tribe and of Israel, and return with me”.

In consideration of this entreaty, Samuel accompanied him to the altar, where the king humbled himself before God. Samuel then ordered that the fettered king Agag should be led forth. The Amalekite king exclaimed in his fear, “Oh! how bitter, how bitter is death!”. To this exclamation Samuel replied, “As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women”, and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the king in Gilgal.

After this scene in Gilgal, the king and the prophet avoided each other. The victory which Saul obtained over Amalek was a defeat for him—his pride was crushed. The announcement that God had abandoned him threw a dark shadow over his soul. His gloom, which later on developed into madness, owed its rise to the threatening words of Samuel, God will give the kingdom of Israel to a better man. These terrible words were ever ringing in Saul's ears. Just as he had at first hesitated to accept the reins of government, so he was now unwilling to let them pass from his hands. At the same time he felt himself helpless. What could he do against the severity of the prophet? In order to divert himself, he plunged into warfare. There were many enemies on the borders of Israel whom he wished to subdue. He also pursued another course in order to impress the people with a sense of his importance.

There still lived amongst the Israelites a few Canaanite families and small clans who had not been expelled when the country was conquered, and could not be ejected now. These had led the Israelites to honour false gods, and to indulge in idolatrous errors. Saul therefore thought that he would greatly benefit the nation, and serve the law of Israel, if he removed these idolatrous neighbours, and everything that was foreign. Among the strangers who had been suffered to remain were the men of Gibeon, they having voluntarily submitted to the conquering Israelites. Saul did not respect the oath given to the Gibeonites, but ordered a wholesale massacre amongst them, from which but few escaped.

Together with the foreign Canaanite nations he also persecuted the sorcerers who took part in idolatrous practices. Whilst Saul, on the one hand, endeavoured to acquire the good will of his people, and showed himself the severe champion of the laws given by God, he tried, on the other hand, to impress the nation with submissive dread of the kingly power. He wore a golden crown on his head, as a sign of greatness and exaltation above the masses. His contemporaries, who had known him as a plough-man, and might have been inclined to treat him as their equal, were to forget his past and become accustomed to gaze at him with awe as the anointed wearer of the holy crown. Saul also indulged in the royal luxury of polygamy. He took wives in addition to his first wife Ahinoam, whom he had married when he was still a peasant. Among them was the beautiful and courageous Rizpah.

Saul showed much energy in his raids against the enemy and, no doubt in order to dissipate the fears aroused by the prophet’s harsh words, displayed great pomp and ostentation, until then foreign to his nature. But sooner than he had anticipated, the evil spirit of his imagination took form in the shape of a youth that charmed him despite himself.

It happened during one of the frequent fights with the enemy that Saul's troops were drawn up in martial array against the Philistines, and the two armies stood face to face, separated from each other only by a deep ravine. Both were fearful of taking the first decisive step. At length the Philistines made the proposal that the battle should be settled by single combat, and they sent forth as their champion the gigantic warrior Goliath. King Saul would gladly have seen one of his army go forth to the duel, and he promised the victor rich presents, exemption from taxes, freedom from compulsory, service, and the hand of one of his daughters. But not even at such a price did any one of the Israelite army dare to oppose himself to Goliath. Then, as if by chance, a shepherd boy of Bethlehem, a town near to the field of battle, presented himself, and brought about a decisive issue.

This shepherd of Bethlehem, directly or indirectly, was the cause of a revolution in the history of Israel, and in the history of the human race. David, then known only to the inhabitants of the village or town of Bethlehem, has since become a celebrated name throughout the world. After his disagreement with Saul, Samuel had received the prophetic mission to repair to Bethlehem in order to anoint the future king of Israel from amongst the eight sons of the aged Jesse as successor to Saul. Samuel set out in secret, lest he should be pursued by the king. The prophet selected David as the future king chosen by God, and anointed him as king of Israel in the presence of his brothers. This simple but important act was naturally performed in privacy, and was kept secret by David’s father and brothers.

Jesse, the father of David, was not descended from a distinguished house of Judah, but, like all the inhabitants of Bethlehem, belonged to a very humble family. David was about eighteen years old when he was anointed, and was not distinguished either by his experience or by any deed. The beautiful pasture-land round about Bethlehem had till then composed his world. But faculties lay dormant in him which only needed to be aroused to make him excel his contemporaries intellectually as Saul surpassed them physically. David was pre-eminently gifted with poetic and musical talent, and whilst he yet tended his, flock, his harp awakened the echoes of the mountains. A single circumstance, however, sufficed to change this youth into a man.

Samuel returned to Ramah as secretly as he had left; but he kept an eye on the youth whom he had anointed, and drew him into the circle of his disciples. Here David’s poetic talents were developed. Here he was able to perfect himself in the use of musical instruments. But he learnt something more in Samuel's surroundings; he learnt “to know God”. His spirit was pervaded with the Divine presence, and became instinct with that piety which refers all things to God, and submits in all things to Divine guidance. This reliance on God had been awakened and strengthened in him by the influence of Samuel. David frequently journeyed from Bethlehem to Ramah, and from Samuel’s house to the flocks of his father. The noble courage, with which his anointment and the influence of Samuel inspired him, did not desert him when he tended his flocks in the meadows of Bethlehem. When war with the Philistines broke out, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, David could no longer remain a shepherd of his flocks, and he gladly undertook to deliver a message to his brothers who were serving in the army, so as to have an excuse for entering the camp. On his arrival there, he timidly told the bystanders that he was willing to risk an encounter with the blaspheming Philistine that reviled the army of the living God. The news soon reached the king’s ears that a youth had offered himself for the combat. Half convinced, half in scorn, Saul gave him permission to engage in the duel, and offered him his own armour. The first stone, cast with his skilled hand from the sling, struck the heavily-armed giant from afar; he fell to the ground. David threw himself upon Goliath, drew the sword out of the scabbard, and cut off the giant's head. The Philistines, from the hilltops, had witnessed the fall of their champion, whom they had thought invincible; they declared themselves conquered, and no longer sought to prolong the war, but fled to their fastnesses. The troops of Israel, on the other hand, carried away by David’s victory, followed their enemy in hot pursuit.

Holding the bleeding head in his hand, the youthful victor was led before Saul, to whom he had till then been unknown. He had not the remotest suspicion that this youth, from whom he could not withhold his admiration, might become a dreaded rival. He felt great joy at the signal victory. His son Jonathan, who had an open, tender and unselfish heart, was enchanted with the young victor. His love and attachment for David became stronger than man’s love for woman. The fame of David’s name and the victory he had obtained in Ephes-Damim soon resounded throughout the valley of Terebinths, and in the territories of all the tribes. David, however, returned to his father's house as though nothing had happened, and merely took Goliath’s shield and armour with him as memorials. But he did not long remain at home. The destiny of Saul had begun to be fulfilled, and David was its chosen instrument. The gloom of dejection, which had obscured the soul of the king since his breach with the prophet, became still darker. His ill-humour deepened into sadness and melancholy, and sometimes paroxysms of wild madness took hold of him. “An evil spirit hath entered the king”, his servants whispered to each other. Instrumental music alone was capable of rousing him; his faithful servants therefore proposed that a skilled musician and poet should come to the court, and they advised him to select the son of Jesse, who was handsome, brave, eloquent, and a harpist. David came, and his musical talent, as well as his general bearing, delighted the king. Whenever Saul fell into melancholy, David touched the harp, and the king was relieved from his depression. Saul felt himself enchained by David. He began to consider him as a son, and at length entreated David’s father to leave him permanently at court. Saul appointed him his armour-bearer, thus securing to himself the cheering influence of his presence. This was the first step towards David’s rise. But not only was the king attracted by him, David exercised an influence over the entire court, and all hearts turned towards him. Jonathan, however, loved him best of all. Saul’s second daughter, Michal, was also secretly devoted to him. At the court, David learnt the use of weapons, and exchanged the harp for the sword. As he was full of courage, he soon distinguished himself in the small frays in which he took part, and came off victorious and successful. On one occasion, when David had inflicted a signal defeat on the Philistines, and when there were great rejoicings throughout the Israelite territory, the women and maidens of the various cities which he traversed on his return came forth to meet him with songs, timbrels and cymbals, dancing around him, and joyfully proclaiming him victor, saying: “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands”. These honours, unanimously and enthusiastically offered to the youthful hero, at length opened Saul’s eyes. This was “the better man”, the one whom God had chosen as king over Israel; the rival with whom Samuel had threatened him, whom he dreaded so greatly, but who had hitherto only appeared to him as a visionary being, was now actually before him in the person of his own favourite and that of his people.

It was a terrible disillusion for Saul. “To me they give but thousands, and to him tens of thousands—they place him above me. What is yet wanting to make him king?”. The joyous shouts of the singing and dancing choruses of women rang in his ears from that time, and brought to mind the words of the prophet: “You are deserted of God”. Saul’s love for David now changed to bitter hate, which soon turned to madness.

On the very day succeeding David’s return from his triumphal procession, Saul was seized with frenzy, and twice hurled a spear at David, who skilfully avoided the thrust. When the mad fit had left Saul, the failure of this attempt seemed to him a proof that God was protecting his enemy. From that time he sought to destroy his rival by stratagem. He pretended to honour David; made him the leader of the picked detachment of a thousand men, ordered him to direct attacks of great importance and danger, and offered him his eldest daughter, Merab, as a wife. Saul hoped to bring the man whom he hated to ruin by these apparent marks of favour. David, however, avoided the danger by refusing to marry Merab, and, on the other hand, he had the good fortune to defeat the Philistines. He was to have the king’s second daughter in marriage, if he brought proofs of having killed one hundred Philistines. He brought evidence of having slain double the number, and Saul was obliged to keep his promise, and give him his daughter Michal. She and Jonathan sided with David against their father, thus incensing Saul still more. He sought to take David’s life, at first secretly, and then openly by leading his forces against him. David was proclaimed an outlaw, and became utterly desperate. He was now joined by youths and men as forlorn as himself, and anxious for war. Chief amongst these was his kinsman, Joab, who, with his two brothers, formed the nucleus of the body of heroic warriors (Gibborim), by whose assistance David was to rise step by step to the throne. A prophet, named Gad, belonging to the school of Samuel, also joined him. The last representatives of the sacerdotal family of Eli, the high-priest, were driven by Saul into the arms of his supposed enemy. Saul, hearing that the priests of Nob, the relations and descendants of Eli, had been aiding David, caused them to be cruelly murdered, and the priestly city to be destroyed. One family alone, that of Abiathar escaped death, and fled to David, who received the fugitives with open arms. Hatred of his rival made Saul cruel and bloodthirsty. All attempts on the part of Jonathan, who desired to mediate between his father and his friend, proved fruitless, and only served to widen the breach. Saul being clearly in the wrong, a part of the nation sided with David; but unable to assist him openly, they gave him secret help, by which he was enabled to escape from repeated persecutions. It is to be deplored that David, in his wanderings and privations, was obliged to form friendly relations with the enemies of his country—with the king of Moab, with the Ammonite king, Nahash, and with the king of the Philistines, Achish. He thus incurred the suspicion of having become a traitor to his country, and apparently justified Saul’s enmity towards him. The terms of David’s alliance with Achish, by whom he had been at first refused protection, but with whom he had, on the second occasion, found refuge, seemed especially apt to implicate him. Achish granted him protection on the condition that he would break entirely with Saul and his country, so that, in case of war, he and his troops, amounting to six hundred men, might join the Philistines against his own tribe, and, in times of peace, make incursions on the remote portions of Judah, and deliver up a part of the booty to his liege lord. David, it is true, appears to have determined to evade these conditions, and eventually even to join his own people against his allies. But thus he was compelled to enter upon crooked ways, and to give up the honesty of purpose which had hitherto distinguished him. It is probable that the wild appearance of David’s troops did not make a very pleasant impression on the inhabitants of Philistia. The Philistine chiefs were displeased that their sovereign should ally himself with a leader who owed his glory to victories over their own people. King Achish, however, expected so much from this alliance that he paid no heed to the warning of his counsellors. But David himself felt the discomfort of living amongst the Philistine population. He therefore begged Achish to assign to him and his followers a dwelling-place in one of his citadels. This proposition being agreeable to the Philistine king, he gave David the town of Ziklag. No sooner had the news spread that a special city had been appointed for David’s occupation, than warlike men, both strangers and natives, joined him, many of whom distinguished themselves by their heroism later on. Achish believed that, in David, he had secured a faithful ally, who was employing his military knowledge and courage against members of his own tribe, and who, consequently, could never again make peace with his own people.

Thus adroitly deluded by David, Achish thought himself secure in undertaking a decisive war against the Israelites. Saul was sunk in melancholy, and since his quarrel with his son-in-law had lost his former energy in warfare. The strong arm which had fought for him, and the quick brain which had planned for him, were now turned against him. The bravest youths and men in Israel had placed themselves under David’s command. Achish summoned all his troops, in order to inflict a decisive blow on Israel. Marching through the plain along the coast of the Mediterranean (which belonged to the Philistines since their victory over the Phoenicians), he led his army right into the valley of Jezreel. This territory, apart from political considerations, offered a better field than the mountain regions for employing the cavalry and chariots. In consequence of their treaty, Achish demanded that David should aid him in this great war against Saul, and unite his troops with the Philistine army. David’s heart must indeed have been heavy when he joined the army, but he had no choice; he had sold himself to the enemies of his nation. The Philistine nobles, however, delivered him from his equivocal position. They loudly and vehemently demanded that the king should send away David and his soldiers, whose fidelity they mistrusted. The Philistine king was forced, by their almost rebellious demand, to dismiss David. After giving him the assurance of his unshaken confidence in his fidelity, he sent him back to Ziklag. This was fortunate for David, as he was thus saved from the dilemma of either becoming a traitor to his own people, or breaking faith with his ally Achish.

The Philistines meanwhile went forth to the number of thousands, and encamped near the town of Shunem. Saul, who had received news of the preparations of the Philistines, and of their final expedition, called together the Israelitish troops, advanced in forced marches to meet the enemy, and encamped at first at the foot of Mount Gilboa. He then marched around the opposite heights, and, having proceeded northward, encamped at the northwest base of the mountain range near Endor.

Saul lost heart at the sight of the great number of Philistines, especially when he beheld their cavalry; the evil days which he had brought on himself had deprived him of his former courage. He felt himself deserted by God, since neither priest nor prophet gave an answer to his inquiry as to the result of the war. Having waited in vain for an inspiration to come to him in a dream, he finally, in despair, went to a ventriloquist in Endor, who had escaped persecution, and practised her witchcraft in secret. It was peculiar that Saul had to have recourse to the arts of jugglery, which formerly he had desired to banish from his dominions. Discouraged by the ominous predictions of the witch, Saul went into battle with a heavy heart, and as though his fears had infected his troops, the result proved disastrous. The Israelites, indeed, fought bravely, and the battle lasted the whole day, but they could not contend with the cavalry and war chariots on the plain. They fled to the mountains of Gilboa, but they were pursued, and routed by the Philistines. Saul’s three sons, the amiable Jonathan, Abin-adab and Malchishua, all fell, and the father found himself suddenly alone, attended only by his armour-bearer, whilst the Philistine bowmen pressed on him. He did not wish to flee, nor to be taken prisoner, and exposed to the scorn of the Philistines. He, therefore, entreated his servant to give him the death-blow, and when the latter refused to lay hands on the king, Saul had no alternative but to fall on his own sword, and die a death worthy of a king. The destruction was fearful. The flower of the Israelite troops lay strewn on Mount Gilboa and the plain of Jezreel.

After resting during the night from their hard day’s work, the Philistines revisited the battlefield, and stripped the slain of their clothing and ornaments. Here they found the corpses of Saul and his three sons. The king’s head and his weapons they sent as trophies to Philistia; the skull they preserved in the temple of Dagon, and the weapons, in a temple of Astarte to commemorate the great victory over Israel. They then forced their way into the towns in the plain of Jezreel, and into those in the north­eastern territory near the Jordan and occupied them. The inhabitants, on hearing of the defeat at Gilboa, had fled to the opposite side of the Jordan. The Philistines, as an insult to the Israelites, hung the headless bodies of Saul and his son Jonathan on the walls of Bethshan. It appears that the Philistines, following up their victory, turned to the south of Mount Gilboa and Bethshan, and occupied every town of importance. Saul’s capital, Gibeah-Saul, was filled with terror at the approach of the Philistines. The inhabitants fled to the mountains, and while attempting to save Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, then five years old, his nurse dropped him, and he was lamed for life.

At his death, Saul left the country in a deplorable position, for things were even worse than they had been at his accession. The defeat was so thorough and unexpected that, at the moment, there was no thought of resistance, all courage having vanished. It was even considered an act of daring that some men of Jabesh-Gilead (from the opposite side of the Jordan), ventured, out of gratitude to Saul who had brought aid to their town, to rescue the king's body from its disgraceful exposure. They crossed the Jordan, at Bethshan, by night, took Saul’s and Jonathan’s bodies from the walls, buried them under a terebinth, and mourned for them during seven days. The tribes on this side of the Jordan were not equally courageous, or perhaps felt no gratitude to Saul, who had brought misery on the land by his persecution of David. Such was the end of a king whose election the nation had hailed with so much hope and joy.

 

DAVID AND ISHBOSHETH.  1055—1035 B.C.

 

DAVID, too, in whom the people had once set high hopes, seemed to be forgotten by them. What had he done while his fatherland was bleeding? Whether or not his expedition with the Philistines was known, it must have appeared strange to all that, in this sad crisis, he was keeping himself aloof from every danger, only caring for his own safety, and that, instead of hastening to the aid of his oppressed people, he was holding to his treaty with the Philistines. It is true, he was himself at that time in distress, but the events which concerned him became known only later on. Meanwhile it must have been mortifying to those who cared for the weal of the kingdom that David was allied with the enemy, and that, during the absence of king Achish, in the war against Israel, David seemed in a measure to guard the enemy's fron­tiers. When David was sent back from his intended expedition with the Philistines on account of the suspicions of the nobles, he found that his town of Ziklag had been burnt down, and the women and children and all those who had joined him had dis­appeared. The Amalekites, who had suffered from David’s incursions, had made use of his absence to undertake a raid against him. The grief of the troops was so great when they found that their belongings had disappeared and their town had been destroyed that they turned on David in their anger, and threatened him with death. However, they were encouraged by the oracular words of Abiathar, the priest, and permitted themselves to be appeased. Hurriedly David and his men then followed in pursuit. They discovered the camp of the Amalekites by the aid of an Egyptian slave whom they had found ill and deserted by the wayside. They pursued the Amalekites, and David's angry soldiers routed them so completely that most of them were left dead on the field of battle, and only a few could escape on camels. David and his troops returned to Ziklag, buoyed up by victory. They commenced to rebuild their town, and to settle down. Parts of the booty taken from the Amalekites David sent as gifts to the elders of the people and to his friends in many towns from Beersheba to Hebron, so as to spread the news of his victory, and, at the same time, gain partisans for himself. Hardly had he regained a firm footing in Ziklag, when he heard the evil tidings of the defeat and death of Saul.

The chief men of the tribe of Judah, at the instiga­tion of those friends whose interest he had won by his attention, chose David as king. He then entered into communication with the tribes on the other side of the Jordan, in order to win also their affection. To the tribes on this side of the river he could not appeal, as they were still under the yoke of the Philistines. To the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, he expressed his contentment and his thanks for having shown their fidelity towards Saul even after his death, and for having rescued the corpse of the king from ill usage. He also informed them of the fact that the tribe of Judah had elected him as Saul’s successor.

His unhappy fate, however, still kept him in alliance with the Philistines, and his prudence was struggling with his patriotism. The latter incited him to risk everything, in order to release himself from the fetters which bound him, whilst the former, on the other hand, warned him not to arouse the anger of his powerful neighbour. Achish gave David full permission to consider himself king of Judah, and to make incursions on the border lands of the desert, on condition that he received his share of the booty. But beyond this David was not permitted to advance a step. The deliverance of the land from the Philistines, which David, whose hands were bound, was unable to carry out, was effected by Abner, Saul’s general. He had succeeded in escaping in the great defeat at Gilboa, and he did not lose courage, but saved what he could from the ruin which befell the house of Saul. Attended by some fugitives, he took refuge on the other side of the Jordan (beyond the reach of the Philistines), where many hearts were still faithful to Saul and his house. Abner conducted the surviving son of Saul, Ishbosheth, and the remaining members of the helpless royal family to Mahanaim, and induced the tribes residing on that side of the river to acknowledge Ishbosheth as Saul’s successor. Having collected a powerful force from among the tribes and the Benjamites who joined him, he commenced his contest with the Philistines. Abner was successful in ousting the Philistines from the neighbouring border towns, but it was only after a struggle of four or five years that he was enabled to free the whole country(1055-1051), so arduous was the contest. The tribe of Benjamin was the most difficult to reconquer, as the Philistines could most easily march their troops into its territory. Every tribe which Abner delivered was eager to pay homage to the son of Saul. Abner achieved great results: he not only regained independence, but even induced tribes, which had shown themselves unruly under Saul’s government, to join the commonwealth. He was the actual founder of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes or Israel, and he firmly welded the links which bound them to one another. But, notwithstanding his victory and his exertions, the nation was suddenly divided into two kingdoms—that of Israel and that of Judah—and two kings ruled them. The tribe of Judah, which the energy of Samuel and of Saul had drawn from its seclusion, and reunited with the other tribes, was thus again separated from the whole.

Abner’s victories aroused no feelings of joy because they led to disunion. The historian’s pen hurries over his deeds, and touches but lightly on the hero’s achievements. The state of affairs made an amalgamation of the houses of Judah and Israel impossible. Not only were the two kings, David and Ishbosheth, averse to the reunion of the several tribes (as in this case one of the two would have to resign his kingly dignity), but their adherents, and especially their respective generals, Joab and Abner, displayed a great degree of mutual jealousy. The scales were turned by the fact that the house of Judah was led by a brave and martial king, who had been consecrated by Samuel, and whose person was therefore considered holy, whilst Ishbosheth, a king only in name, had not been confirmed in his dignity by the voice of God, and besides, it seems, was by no means of a warlike disposition. The whole power rested in the hands of his general Abner, while Ishbosheth remained in some remote corner of his possessions, whereas David had his dwelling-place in the midst of his tribe, and thus could direct everything from his residence in Hebron.

After Abner had won or reconquered all the tribes, with the exception of Judah, a civil war broke out between the houses of Israel and Judah, or, more correctly speaking, between the houses of Saul and David. This war lasted two years (1051-1049), and raged very fiercely. At length Abner called upon Joab to put an end to the slaughter of the masses. He cried, “Must the sword slay for ever; do you not know that only misfortune can arise from this warfare? Why do you not command your people to hold off from their brethren?”. At length Joab also found it advisable to put aside his weapons, and to proclaim an armistice. He and his people bore the corpse of his brother Asahel, whom Abner had slain against his will, to Bethlehem, in order that it might be interred in the ancestral tomb, and thence they repaired to Hebron. Abner and his followers crossed the Jordan, and went to Mahanaim. But a tragical destiny threatened the house of Saul. Abner had cast covetous glances at Rizpah, the beautiful slave of Saul, who dwelt in Mahanaim with her two sons. Although Ishbosheth allowed his general many liberties, he could not permit him to maintain intimate relations with his father’s widow, which implied the intention of laying claim to the throne. Abner, feeling himself slighted by the rebuke he received, reproached this mock king with ingratitude, and turning away from him, entered into secret negotiations with David, offering to secure to him the homage of all the tribes. In return for this service, he probably stipulated that he should retain his office of commander-in-chief of the Israelitish tribes. David gladly entertained his proposition, but demanded, as a preliminary concession, that his favourite wife Michal, who had been torn from him by Saul, and married to a Benjamite, should be restored to him. Ishbosheth himself no doubt saw the justice of this demand, and did not perceive in it any evil intention towards himself. Thereupon Abner, leaving the king under the pretext of bringing about Michal's separation from her husband, entered the Benjamite territory, compelled Phaltiel, Michal's husband, to give up his wife, whom he followed, with many tears, till Abner’s angry threats compelled him to turn back in sorrow, and David recovered the beloved wife of his youth. Abner then wandered about amongst the tribes trying to obtain secret adherents for David. Many Israelites no doubt privately wished that the luckless civil war would end with submission to the king of Judah; even some of the Benjamites were not averse to a union. Attended by twenty trusty followers whom he had secured for David, Abner secretly entered Hebron; David had succeeded in sending away Joab and his brothers (the distrustful and jealous sons of Zeruiah) on a predatory expedition. During their absence, David personally arranged with Abner and his twenty followers the manner in which the elders of the tribes should be won over to his side, and how the dethronement of Ishbosheth should then be effected. Abner had already left Hebron in order to call upon the elders of the tribes to follow his example, and do homage to the king of Judah. When Joab returned from his expedition, he heard the astonishing intelli­gence that Abner, the enemy of David’s house, had been received, and permitted to depart in full favour, and that the king had made a secret treaty behind his back. As it seemed to him inevitable that he must be the victim of such a compact, he quickly decided on his course, and sent messengers after Abner, who induced him to return. Joab and Abishai lay in wait for him at the gates of Hebron, and Abner, unaware and unwarned, was felled to the earth by their swords. David felt the death of Abner acutely. The man who alone was able and willing to obtain for him the adherence of all the tribes by peaceful measures was thus foully murdered, on the very eve of the realisation of his plan. David was placed in an awkward position. In order to destroy any suspicion which might arise against him, David gave solemn expression to his sincere grief at Abner’s loss. He commanded a grand, imposing funeral in Hebron for Israel’s fallen hero, ordered all his followers to attend the funeral procession, and accompanied it himself. He breathed forth his tearful grief in an elegiac poem, the beginning of which has been preserved, and which made a powerful impression on all hearers. All burst into tears, and were convinced of the sincerity of his sorrow by the manner in which he recited his threnody. On the other hand, David feared to take the sons of Zeruiah to account, or even to reproach them for their conduct; he could not spare their assistance. In the circle of his intimates only, uttering bitter complaints of them, he said, “Know that a great prince in Israel has fallen today”.

The news of Abner’s murder made a deep impression on Ishbosheth. He had no knowledge of his fallen general's treacherous league with David, and he therefore deeply mourned the death of a hero whom he supposed to be faithful, and whose loss seemed to be irreparable, for he considered Abner as the chief support of his throne.

After Ishbosheth’s death the kingdom of the ten tribes naturally fell to David. Among them, too, he had adherents of long standing, who remembered his warlike deeds against the Philistines in Saul’s time, and who honoured him as the chosen one of God through his prophet Samuel. Others had been won over to his side by Abner. Even those who took offence at David’s league with the enemies of Israel, could not hide from themselves the consideration that no choice was left them but to do him homage. The Benjamites also acknowledged him, but with a secret grudge, which they could hardly conceal. David’s dearest wish was now realised; from having been the ruler of a little, insignificant tribe he had become, after many obstacles and troubles, the king of all Israel. The breach between the houses of Judah and Israel was healed apparently, and everything seemed favourable to him. The priesthood and the prophets did not take a hostile attitude towards him, as they had done towards Saul, but joined with heart and soul in his cause. A descendant of the house of Eli, named Abiathar, who had shared David’s troubles, belonged to his court; and the prophets welcomed in him the man who had been anointed by Samuel, and had belonged to that great man’s circle of disciples. The prophet Gad was also a member of the court; and another prophet of the time, named Nathan, was to a certain extent the keeper of David’s conscience. Thus encouraged in all his undertakings by his spiritual advisers, everything tended to level the way for him, as far as the internal government was concerned. But his foreign relations occasioned him great difficulties, which had to be overcome before he could rule as an independent king.

In the first place, David was forced to break with the Philistines, if he wished to be independent, and to win back the love of his people. He had to prepare himself for fierce warfare with his former auxiliaries. But he did not immediately commence hos­tilities with them; they were too powerful for him. He wished first to free himself from other bonds. In the midst of the Benjamite territory was an enclosure, which had remained in the possession of the Jebusites, because the Israelites, on their entry into the land, had not conquered it. The high hill of ZION was rendered inaccessible on three sides by narrow valleys and artificial fortifications. The most impregnable point was the south side, where the rocky wall of the hill rose almost in a vertical line from an abyss below. From this mountain fortress, the Jebusites ruled the entire surrounding territory, and felt themselves secure from all intruders. They appear to have lived in a state of peace with the surrounding Benjamites and Judaeans, as even Saul did not disturb them in the possession of their territory. David, however, considered it conducive to his interest to obtain possession of this citadel of Zion before commencing hostilities with the Philistines. He therefore resolved to storm the citadel, and subdue its defenders. As soon as the Jebusites found all opposition useless they sued for peace, which was granted them by David. They were allowed to remain in their city, but not in the fortress; he permitted them to settle in the east of the town, on Mount Moriah. This victory, which had appeared so difficult, and had, in fact, been easily obtained, had been preceded by the boast of the Jebusites about the blind and the lame, which gave rise to a proverb.

After its conquest, David removed his capital from Hebron to Mount Zion, and it was henceforth known as the town of David. The city itself lost its old name of Jebus, and received the new name Jerusalem, the meaning of which is not known. Hither David removed with his warriors and their families, and his courtiers. The spot where the bravest soldiers had their dwellings was called after them the house of the brave. Such was the beginning of the place which since then, and for centuries, was to be known as the “Holy City”. The choice of this spot as a capital was a happy stroke, as circumstances soon proved. It is true, Shechem would have made a better metropolis, on account of its position in the midst of the tribes, and the fruitful territory around it. But David found it impossible to move his dwelling to the town of the Ephraimites. The inhabitants were not especially well disposed towards him, and rather unwilling that the half-savage king, who sprang from Judah, should prescribe laws to them. Besides, he needed the support of his own tribe, and this he could have in Jerusalem, which was situated on the boundaries of Benjamin and Judah, and which would serve as a protection in the event of unruliness on the part of the other tribes. The territory on which the new capital was erected was not sterile, though it could bear no comparison with the part of the country in which Shechem lay. In the valleys flow everlasting springs, the springs of Siloah and En-Rogel in the south, the Gihon in the west; so that in the dry season the town and fields can always be supplied with water. On three sides Jerusalem is surrounded by a range of hills which protect and embellish it. On the east is a high watershed (2724 feet), Mount Olivet, so named from the olive trees which cover it. In the south the hills are not so lofty, and the valley dividing them from the city is narrower. The valley is that of Henna (Gehenna), which was thus named after an individual or a family, and which was destined to acquire a sad renown, and to supply another appellation for hell (Gehenna). On the west the summits are also low, and can hardly be called hills. On the north, the hills gently slope down to the plain. By these hills and valleys, which form natural walls and ditches, Jerusalem is sheltered on three sides. Within Jerusalem, on the high plateau and between the three valleys on the east, south, and west, there are three ranges of hills rising above the plain. On the west is Zion, the loftiest summit. On the north is a hill of no great height; and opposite the third is Mount Moriah, which has an offshoot towards the south, called “Ophel”. Moriah, though much less lofty than Zion, was destined to eclipse it and the greatest heights on earth in importance.

The Philistines could not ignore the fact that the choice of David as king of the entire Israelite nation had not only greatly loosened the bond which united him to them, but that it must in the future force him to take up a hostile attitude towards themselves. They did not, however, wish to break with him. But when the conquest of Jebus (Jerusalem) took place, they considered the fact of his removing his dwelling thither as a premonitory sign. They hastened to join with him in battle, before he had time to arm the available troops of the various tribes. A Philistine band pressed forward across the plain into the mountains, and approached Jerusalem. Whether David was surprised by their attack, or whether he wished to avoid an action near his capital, is unknown, but he left it with his troops, and moved southwards to Adullam. Encouraged by this retreat, the Philistines pressed on to Bethlehem, David’s birth­place, where they encamped, and whence they sent out predatory expeditions to ravage the land of Judah. David delayed attacking the Philistines; his army was probably too weak, and he expected reinforcements from the tribes. In order to stimulate his warriors to trials of strength during the pause before the decisive contest, David expressed a wish to drink water from a well in Bethlehem, which was in the possession of the Philistines. Three of the chief warriors, Jesheboam, Eleazar, and Shammah, immediately set out against the Philistines, daringly drew water from the well, and brought it to David at Adullam. David, however, would not drink the water for which his warriors had risked their lives.   He had only put them to the test. At length the Israelite troops went forth to meet the Philistines, and utterly routed them at Mount Baal-Perazim. This victory was so decisive that it was compared with Joshua’s at Gibeon. In their hurried flight, the Philistines left behind them their idols, which were burnt by the Israelites. The enemy did not, however, relinquish their intention of subduing David and his people. They made repeated attacks, once in the valley of Rephaim, another time near Ephesdammim  in Terebinthea; David’s troops and warriors performed miracles of bravery, they defeated their enemies, and pursued them as far as Gaza. David did not content himself with mere defence, but he determined on attacking the Philistines. If he wished to protect his people, it was necessary either constantly to harass, or to subdue the small but powerful nation which depended on incursions and warfare for its maintenance. He therefore proceeded with his soldiers as far as Gath, the former capital of the Philistines, which was situated nearest to the land of Judaea. The Philistines made a very obstinate resistance, and violent conflicts arose, in which David’s heroes had ample opportunity for distinguishing themselves. It appears that the Philistines suggested, according to their custom, that there should be combats with the remnant of their Rephaitic giants. Times had changed, however, and whilst in David’s youth the Israelitish troops had not had among them a single soldier who would accept Goliath's challenge, there were now more than thirty who burned with eagerness to take part in the duels. On this occasion the warriors entreated the king not to expose himself in battle, and, in fact, not to go to war himself, in order that “the light of Israel” might not be extinguished.

At length the Israelites succeeded in utterly routing the Philistines, so that they were obliged to surrender their capital Gath, and its villages and the surrounding territory. The town in which the son of Jesse had first appeared, entreating help in the guise of an imbecile, thus fell before him. One of the thirty warriors, Sibbechai of Hushah, killed the giant Sippai of Gath; another man from Bethlehem named Elhanan, killed the brother of Goliath, named Lahmi, who had sallied forth to the contest like Goliath, laden with armour. David’s nephew Jonathan killed a giant who had an additional finger on each hand, and an additional toe on each foot. David himself was once, when exhausted from the long struggle, in imminent danger of being overcome by the giant Ishbi of Gath; Abishai, however, Joab’s brother, hurried to his aid, defeated the giant, and killed three hundred Philistines with his spear. The overthrow of the Philistines was an event of the greatest importance; it ensured lasting peace and freedom of action to the people, for none of" the other enemies of Israel harassed it so persistently. David did not push his victory further; he left the important cities of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod and Ekron undisturbed, and even the town of Gath he appears later on to have restored to its king. No doubt he had reasons for not using extreme measures with the Philistines. It appeared to him better to rule them as a tributary power than to drive them to a war of desperation.

By his victory over the Philistines, David attained great importance and respect in the eyes of the neighbouring peoples. Hiram, the king who had transferred the Phoenician power from Zidon to Tyre, despatched ambassadors to David, offering to make an alliance with him. He also offered to send supplies of cedar wood and building materials for adorning the new capital of Jerusalem in a fitting manner. He rejoiced at the subjection of the Philistines, probably because they would no longer be able to cast covetous glances at the Phoenician coast-lands. It was a matter of great interest to the king of Tyre to secure an alliance with David, in order that the Phoenician caravans might have free passage, and find protection for their goods when they passed backwards and forwards between Phoenicia and Egypt. David willingly accepted his advances, and thus a sort of friendship arose between him and Hiram. He accepted Hiram’s offer in order to fortify the capital which had been founded by him, and to obtain materials for adorning it with architectural works, so that Jerusalem might vie in outward appearance with the other capitals of those times. In the first place Jerusalem was fortified, especially on the north, where it was most liable to be attacked. The hill of Zion, or City of David, was, in fact, not sufficiently extensive to contain all the inhabitants who had already settled there, and it had become necessary to take measures to provide for the increasing population. For this reason, the hill which lay to the north of the town was included in its boundaries. Between Zion and this hillock lay a narrow valley. The northern elevation of the town was called Millo (border); it was considered the newer quarter of the town, in comparison with the more ancient city of David. Mount Moriah and its offshoot Ophel remained outside the circuit of the city, and in those days was not considered as belonging to Jerusalem, but was inhabited by the surviving remnant of the Jebusites. David also built a palace of cedar, the wood for which was procured from Lebanon. To Joab and the other important personages of David’s court were assigned roomy and well-built houses, which were not constructed of cedar wood, but of cypress.

David further sought to make Jerusalem the centre of religious life, in order that the eyes of the whole nation might be turned towards it. He therefore took measures to remove the ark of the sanctuary from the house of Abinadab at Kirjath-Jearim, where it had remained since its recovery from the hands of the Philistines. A splendid tent was built for its reception in the city of David. David had vowed not to remain in his house, nor to rest on his bed, nor to close his eyes in sleep until he had found a resting-place for the ark of the covenant. Accompanied by a great concourse, the king repaired to Kirjath-Jearim (which lay at about an hour’s journey to the north-west of Jerusalem), and many Levites followed in the king's train. The ark of the sanctuary was placed on a new carriage drawn by bullocks, which were led by two sons of Abinadab. Choirs of Levites sang hymns, and accompanied themselves on stringed instruments, and David also assisted them with all his might. An accident, however, occurred on the road. Uzzah, who walked next to the chariot, suddenly fell down dead. David was so shocked at this catastrophe that he hesitated to carry the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. He feared that it might bring down misfortune on the people, as it had done in the case of the Philistines. It was therefore placed in a house for three months, and, seeing that no evil came of it, David determined on making a second attempt at bringing it to Mount Zion. On this occasion, however, it was not placed on a chariot, but was carried by Levites. Followed by a mass of people, and amidst shouts of joy, blasts of trumpets, and dancing, the ark was conveyed to the tent appointed for it. The king himself, oblivious of his dignity, sang and danced in exultation before the ark. His conduct called forth a rebuke from his wife Michal, who scoffingly charged him with behaving like a public clown.

As it had done in the case of Shiloh, the arrival of the Ark raised Jerusalem to the dignity of a holy city. In such a place of public worship, it was necessary to maintain a priest, or rather a priesthood. Abiathar, David’s faithful follower in all his wanderings, was, as a matter of course, raised to the office of High Priest to the sanctuary in Zion. There was, however, another high priest in Gibeon, whom Saul had placed there after the destruction of Eli’s family in Nob. David could not entirely displace him, for such a course would have led to dissensions. He therefore confirmed his predecessor’s appointment, and thus retained two high priests in office at the same time—Abiathar in Jerusalem, and Zadok in Gibeon. A former pupil of the Levitical choirs, himself a poet and a musician, David naturally followed Samuel’s example and introduced choral singing into the solemn religious services. He also composed hymns of praise at times, when a victory over the enemy, or some other success filled his heart with thankfulness, and animated him with poetical fervour. It may be said that his songs have become the prototypes of this lofty and inspiring style of verse. Besides the royal psalmist there were other poets and musicians, such as Asaph, Heman, a grandson of Samuel, and Jeduthun. Their descendants were the Asaphites and Korachites (Bene Korach), who are named with David as the most famous composers of psalms. David arranged that Asaph and his choir should lead the choral service in the sanctuary at Jerusalem, whilst his fellow-musicians, Heman and Jeduthun, performed the same functions at the altar in Gibeon. Samuel’s creation of a spiritual divine service was thus firmly established by David; and though he was an upholder of sacrificial rites, he valued the elevating and refining influence of psalmody too highly not to make it an integral element of the public cult. At a time when poetry as an art had hardly awakened amongst the other nations, it already occupied a prominent place in the divine service of Israel.

As David was the actual founder of a sanctifying divine worship, he was also the creator of a system of government which was based on justice. He presided at the tribunal, listened untiringly to the disputes of individuals or of tribes, and administered justice with strict impartiality. His throne was not only the high seat of government and power, it was also that of order and justice. Succeeding generations pronounced David the ideal king. His throne was looked upon as the prop of justice, and his sceptre as the standard of civic peace. Jerusalem was by him made an ideal city, where a pure worship of God had been established, and justice, in its most exalted form, had found its earthly resting-place. A later psalmist says—

“Jerusalem, that art builded as a city that is compact together,

Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord;

For a testimony unto Israel,

To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

For there are set thrones for judgment,

The thrones of the house of David”.

         PSALM CXXII. 3-5.

Jerusalem was considered “a faithful citadel—full of righteousness— where justice had its dwelling-place”. These circumstances, the deliverance from the yoke of the Philistines, the universal safety, and the establishment of justice under David’s rule, rendered him again the favourite of the people, as he had been in his youth. A feeling of loyalty to him prevailed, which was of spontaneous growth, and in which force had no share.

David partly altered the internal arrangements of the country. The constitution of the tribes remained intact. The elders represented the families, and the head of the oldest family was also the prince of his tribe (Naszi-Beth-Ab). The princes were the representatives of the tribes with the king.   But it was necessary to limit the freedom, or rather the arbitrariness of the tribes, in regard to military arrangements. Each tribe, in case of war, was bound to con­tribute a number of capable soldiers (over twenty years of age) as its contingent to the national army (Zaba). A special officer was appointed over this contingent, who was called the enumerator (Sopher), or the keeper of the rolls. He wrote down on a list the names of the men fit for active service, looked to their enrolment, and compelled the attendance of all defaulters. This duty David delegated to a man named Shavsha, from whom it passed on to his heirs. As soon as the army was assembled, it was commanded by the field officer (Sar-ha-Zaba), who at this conjuncture was Joab. David also supported a troop of mercenaries whom he recruited from the heathen soldiery, the Cherethites, who came from a territory belonging to the Philistine dominions, and the Pelethites, whose origin is unknown. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, one of the bravest of David’s soldiers, was their commander. David also appointed a special officer on whom devolved the duty of reporting to the king all important, or apparently important events. He was called  the recorder (Maskkir). As favouritism is inseparable from kingly will, David also had a favourite (named Hushai the Arkhi) on whom he could rely under all circumstances, especially in cases requiring discretion. He was also fortunate in having an adviser at hand, who could give suitable counsel in various emergencies; his name was Ahithophel, and his birthplace was the Judaean town of Gilo. At that time his advice was currently said to be as infallible as the oracles uttered by the lips of the high priest. This wise and overwise councillor of David was destined to exercise a great influence over his royal master. At one time David’s judicial conscience was put to a severe test. A famine of long duration overspread the land on account of a two years’ drought. The distress continued to grow when, at the commencement of the third year, no rain had fallen, and the people turned to the king for help. This misfortune, in which the entire country shared, was interpreted as being God-sent retribution for some secret and unavenged sin. David therefore inquired of the priest Abiathar what sin required expiation, and the answer came, “on account of Saul and his ruthless persecution of the Gibeonites”. David then sent to the remnant of the Gibeonites, and inquired of them what atonement they desired. Not satisfied with an expiatory sum of money, they demanded that seven descendants of Saul should be hanged in Gibeah-Saul. The demand of the Gibeonites seemed just, for according to the views of the time, only blood could atone for the shedding of blood and a breach of faith. With a heavy heart David had to comply with the demand of the Gibeonites, and satisfy the desire of the nation. The two sons of Saul’s concubine Rizpah, and his grandson, the son of his daughter Merab, were sought out, handed over to the Gibeonites, and killed by them in cold blood, in Gibeah-Saul, the town in which their father had won a crown.

David spared only Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, for he remembered the oath made to his friend, that he would always protect his descendants. The corpses of the seven victims were to remain on the gallows until rain should fall from the heavens, but it was long ere the rainfall came. It was in those dire days that the beautiful Rizpah, for whose sake Abner had quarrelled with Ishbosheth, showed of what a mother’s love is capable. In order to prevent her sons’ corpses from being devoured by eagles and jackals, she made her couch on the rocks on which the bodies were exposed, and guarded them with a watchful eye through the heat of day. Nor did she relax her vigilance in the night, but continued her work of scaring away the beasts of prey from the dead. When at length in the autumn the rain fell, the seven bodies were taken down, and at David’s command the last honours were bestowed on them. He also seized this opportunity to remove the remains of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-Gilead, and to bury them, together with the remains of their kindred, in the family tomb of the house of Kish at Zelah. It appears that, on this occasion, David caused his deeply touching lament for the death of Saul and of Jonathan to be reproduced, in order to express publicly how deeply the destruction of the royal house of Benjamin had affected him. He directed that the elegy should be committed to memory by the youths of the country. Jonathan’s surviving son, Mephibosheth (who had been living in the house of a much-respected man on the other side of the Jordan) was brought to Jerusalem, and David received him in his own house, placed him at his own table, and treated him as one of his own sons. David also restored to him Saul’s lands in the tribe of Benjamin, and entrusted the management of them to one of Saul's slaves, named Ziba. Notwithstanding this, the Benjamites accused David of destroying the house of Saul, and of having pre­served Mephibosheth, because he was lame and unfit to rule. When David’s fortune was on the wane, the embittered Benjamites cast stones at him.

 

DAVID.   1035—1015. B.C.

 

WHEN David had completed two decades of his reign, he became involved in several wars, which withdrew him from the peaceful pursuits of regulating the internal affairs of the country, and of attending to the administration of justice. These wars with distant nations, forced on him against his will, gave him an immense accession of power, and raised the prestige of the people in a surprising degree. David first began a fierce warfare with the Moabites, who dwelt on the opposite side of the Dead Sea. With them he had been on friendly terms during his wanderings, and amongst them he had met with a hospitable reception. It is probable that the Moabites had ousted from their possession the neighbouring Reubenites, and that David hurried to their rescue. It must in any case have been a war of retribution, for, after his victory, David treated the prisoners with a severity which he did not display towards any of the other nations whom he conquered. The Moabite captives were fettered, and cast side by side on the ground, then measured with a rope, and two divisions were killed, whilst one division was spared. The whole land of Moab was subdued, and a yearly tribute was to be sent to Jerusalem.

Some time afterwards, when Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died, David, who had been on friendly terms with him, sent an embassy to his son Hanun, with messages of condolence. This courtesy only roused suspicion in Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites. The new king’s counsellors impressed him with the idea that David had sent his ambassadors as spies to Rabbah, in order to discover their weakness, to conquer them, and to deliver them over to the same fate that had befallen the Moabites. Hanun was so carried away by his suspicions that he offered an insult to the king of Israel which could not be passed over unnoticed. He obliged the ambassadors, whose persons, according to the laws of nations, were inviolable, to have their beards shaved off on one side, and their garments cut short, and thus disgraced he drove them out of the country. The ambassadors were ashamed to appear at Jeru­salem in this guise, but they informed David of the occurrence. He immediately prepared himself for battle, and the militia was called out; the old warriors girded their loins, and the Cherethite and Pelethite mercenaries sallied forth with their heroic leader Benaiah at their head. Hanun, who feared the valor of the Israelites, looked around for help, and engaged mercenary troops from among the Aramaeans, who lived in the regions between the mountains of Hermon and the banks of the Euphrates. Hadadezer, king of Zobah on the Euphrates, contributed the greatest number—20,000 men. David did not per­sonally conduct this war, but left the supreme command with the careful and reliable Joab. Having led the Israelite army across the Jordan, Joab divided it into two bodies. With the one he attacked the Aramaeans, the other he left under the command of his brother Abishai. He aroused the enthusiasm of his army by inspiring words: “Let us fight bravely for our people and the city of our God, and may the Lord God do what seemeth good unto Him”. Joab then dashed at the Aramaeans, and put them to flight. On this, the Ammonites were seized with such fear that they withdrew from the field, and took shelter behind the walls of their capital. It was a most successful achievement. Joab hurried to Jerusalem to report to the king, and to lay before him a plan by which the Aramaeans might be totally annihilated, and any future interference on their part prevented. The victorious army, having been recalled from the Aramonitish territories, was reinforced, and with the king himself at its head pursued the Aramaean enemy on the other side of the Jordan. King Hadadezer, on his part, also sent fresh troops to the aid of his defeated forces, but in a battle at Helam, the Aramaean army was again defeated, and its general, Shobach, fell in the encounter. The vassals of the mighty Hadadezer then hastened to make peace with David.

Toi (or Tou) the king of Hamath, who had been at war with Hadadezer, now sent his son Joram to David with presents, congratulating him on the victory over their common foe. David followed up his successes until he reached the capital of king Hadadezer, situated on the banks of the Euphrates. The Aramaeans were then defeated a third time; their chariots and soldiers could not withstand the attack of the Israelite army. The extensive district of Zobah, to which various princes had been tributary, was divided into several parts.

The king of Damascus, an ally of the king of Zobah, was also defeated by David, and the ancient town of Damascus henceforth belonged to the king of Israel. David placed land-overseers in all the Aramaean territories from Hermon to the Euphrates, in order to enforce the payment of tribute. David and his army themselves must have been astonished at the wonderful result which they had achieved. It rendered the king and his army objects of fear far and wide. Meanwhile the king of the Ammonites had escaped punishment for his insults to the ambassadors of Israel. In consequence of the campaign against the Aramaeans, which lasted nearly a year, the Israelitish army had been unable to resume the war against Hanun. It was only after the great events narrated above that David was again enabled to send his forces, under Joab, against Ammon. Yet another war arose out of the hostilities against this nation. The Idumaeans, on the south of the Dead Sea, had also assisted the Ammonites by sending troops to their aid, and these had to be humiliated now. David deputed his second general, Abishai, Joab’s brother, to direct the campaign against the Idumaeans. Joab was in the meantime engaged in a long contest with the Ammonites, who had secured themselves behind the strong walls of their fortified capital, and were continually making raids on their foes. The Israelitish army had neither battering rams nor other instruments of siege. Their only alternative was to storm the heights of the city, and in their attempts to carry out this plan they were often repelled by the bowmen on the walls. At length Joab succeeded, after repeated attacks, in gaining possession of one part of the city—the Water-Town; he reported this victory to David at once, and urged him to repair to the camp in order to lead in person the attack on the other quarters, so that the honour of the conquest might be entirely his own. When David arrived at Rabbah with fresh troops, he succeeded in subduing the whole town, and in obtaining rich booty. David himself put on his head the golden diadem, richly adorned with precious stones, which had heretofore crowned the Ammonitish idol Malchom (Milchom). It appears that David did not destroy the city of Rabbah, as he had intended. He merely condemned the male inhabitants, or perhaps only the prisoners, to do hard work, such as polishing stones, threshing with iron rollers, hewing wood with axes, and making bricks. He treated the other prisoners from the various towns in a similar manner. Hanun, the original cause of the war, who had so deeply insulted David, was either killed or driven out of the kingdom. In his stead David appointed his brother Shobi as king. Meanwhile Abishai had been engaged in a war against the Idumaean king, and had utterly routed him in the Valley of Salt—probably in the neighbourhood of the rock-salt mountain, near the Dead Sea. Eighteen thousand Idumaeans are said to have fallen there. The rest probably submitted; and for this reason David contented himself with placing excise officers and a garrison over them, as he had done in Damascus and the other Aramaean provinces. The Idumaeans, however, seem later on to have revolted against the Israelitish garrison and the tax collectors, and to have massacred them. Joab therefore repaired to Idumaea, caused the murdered Israelites to be buried, and all Idumaean males to be put to death. He was occupied with this war of destruction during half a year, and so thoroughly was the task executed that only a few of the male sex could save themselves by flight. Amongst them was a son or a grandson of the Idumaean king.

By these decisive victories, in the west over the Philistines, in the south over the Idumaeans, in the east (on the opposite side of the Jordan) over the Moabites and Ammonites, and in the north over the Aramaeans, David had raised the power of Israel to an unexpected degree. While, at the commencement of his reign, when he was first acknowledged king of all Israel, the boundaries of the country had been comprised between Dan and Beersheba, he now ruled over the widespread territory from the river of Egypt (Rhinokolura, El-Arish) to the Euphrates, or from Gaza to Thapsacus (on the Euphrates). The nations thus subdued were obliged annually to do homage by means of gifts, to pay tribute, and perhaps also to send serfs to assist in building and other severe labour.

These wars and victories were better calculated than his early hardships to bring to light the great qualities of David’s mind. Strong and determined as he was in every undertaking in which the honour and safety of his people were involved, he remained modest and humble, without a spark of presumption, after success had been attained. He erected no monument to commemorate his victories as had been done by Saul; like his general, Joab, he was imbued with the thought that to God alone was to be attributed the victory. The faith in God, to which David had given utterance when he prepared himself for the duel with the Rephaite Goliath (1 Samuel XVII. 47), he preserved in all great contests. David elaborated this guiding thought in a psalm, which he probably chanted before the ark at the close of the war, and in which he gives a retrospect of his entire past life.

In consequence of their great victories, two firm convictions were impressed on the minds of the people, and these actuated and possessed them in all times to come. The one idea occurs in various forms: “A king cannot escape by the multitude of his army, nor a warrior by his power; vain is the horse for safety”. God alone decides the fate of war, brings it to a close, gives victory or defeat, and “to Him it is equally easy to conquer with few or with many”. The other idea, in closest connection with it, is that God leads the armies of Israel to vic­tory, if they go forth to glorify His name or to save His people. The God of Israel was, in accordance with this idea, designated by a special name which fully expresses this thought; He was named the God of hosts (Adonai Zebaoth), the God who gives victory unto Israel in its conflicts. The King Zebaoth was invoked before every battle, and the Israelitish troops went forth with the firm conviction that they could never be defeated. This confidence, certainly, worked wonders in the course of time.

Severely as David treated the idols of the nations whom he had conquered, he behaved with comparative leniency to the conquered idolaters. The Moabites alone were cruelly punished, and the Ammonites were enslaved, but the other conquered races were merely obliged to pay tribute. The offences of the former must have been very great to have deserved so heavy a punishment. The foreign races residing in the country were not molested; thus we find Jebusites in Jerusalem, and Canaanites and Hittites in other parts of the country. Hence we find many strangers and natives not of Israelitish descent enrolled in his corps of warriors, or leading their own troops in his service. The Hittite Uriah, one of David’s thirty heroes, who was destined to play a melancholy part in David’s career, was deeply attached to the Israelitish nation.

The joy over these great achievements remained, however, but for a short time unmarred. The happiness of a state, like that of individuals, is but seldom of long duration, and days of sunshine must be followed by periods of darkness, to prevent the enervation of the national vigour. By one false step David lost not only his own inward contentment and peace, but shook the very foundations of that state which it had cost him such exertions to establish. When David returned home from the Aramaean war, and was resting from the fatigues of battle, which Joab and his army were still undergoing in the land of Ammon, he beheld from the roof of his palace a beautiful woman, who was bathing. She was the wife of one of his most faithful warriors (the Hittite, Uriah), and her name was Bathsheba. The houses of the warriors were built on Zion in the vicinity of the king’s palace, and thus he happened to see Bathsheba. Carried away by his passion, he sent messengers to command her to repair to the palace, and Bathsheba obeyed. When David, some time after, found that this violation of the marriage tie had not been without consequences, his only thought was to save his honour, and thus he involved himself in deeper sin: He commanded Uriah to return to Jerusalem from the camp at Rabbah. He received him in a friendly manner, and gave him permission to rest, and enjoy the company of his wife. Uriah, however, made no use of this permission, but re­mained with the guard, who slept at the entrance of the king's palace, and protected his person. David was disappointed. He sought an escape from the dilemma, and this led him into a heinous crime. As he could not save his honour, he determined that Uriah should lose his life. David therefore sent him to the camp with a letter to Joab, saying that the bearer should be placed in a post of extreme danger—nay, of certain death—during one pf the sorties of the Ammonites. This command was fulfilled, and Uriah fell, struck dead by an Ammonite arrow. Bathsheba fulfilled the customary time of mourning for her husband, and was then received into the palace by David as his wife.

In every other State the court circle would have discussed a king’s fancy with bated breath; it would hardly have been blamed, and certainly it would soon have been forgotten. But in Israel there was an eye which could pierce this factitious darkness, and a conscience which declaimed in a loud voice against the crimes of even a royal wrong-doer. Prophetism pos­sessed this clear sight which never failed, and this conscience which never slept. It was its foremost duty not to allow sin to grow into a habit by hushing it up and screening it, but to expose it in glaring colors, and brand it with the stamp of public condemnation.

David no doubt believed that Bathsheba alone was cognisant of his sin, and Joab the only accessory to the plot against Uriah’s life. But this error was suddenly and rudely dispelled. The prophet Nathan one day came to David, and requested permission to bring a certain case to his notice. He then related the following parable:—In a great city there lived a rich man, who possessed great flocks and herds; and near him lived a poor man who possessed but one little lamb, which he had reared for himself. One day, when a guest came to the rich man, he was too stingy to kill one of his flock for the meal, but he took the lamb of the poor man to feast his friend. On hearing this complaint, David’s sense of justice was aroused, and he said indignantly that the heartless rich man deserved to die, and should pay the poor man four times the value of the lamb. Then the prophet replied, “Thou art the man!”

Any other king would have punished the moralist who had dared speak the truth to a crowned head, to the representative of God on earth. David, however, the pupil of the prophet Samuel, when the picture of his misdeeds was thus placed before him, penitently answered, “Yes, I have sinned”. He certainly did not fail to offer up heartfelt prayers, and to make atonement in order to obtain God's forgiveness. The child which was born died in early infancy, although David had worn himself away in fasting and prayers for its life. Bathsheba afterwards had a second son named Jedidiah, or Solomon (1033), who became the favourite of his father.

But though God pardoned the king for his heinous sins, humanity did not forgive them, and they proved fatal to domestic peace. Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was the daughter of Eliam (one of David’s warriors), and the granddaughter of his counsellor Ahithophel. The father and grandfather felt their honour disgraced through their daughter’s seduction, which they could never forgive, although they kept silence, and did not betray their hatred. Ahithophel especially nursed his vengeance in secret, and only awaited an opportunity to wreak it on the king. David did all in his power to appease them. He elevated Bathsheba to the rank of first queen, promised her secretly that her son should be his successor, and solemnly swore to fulfil this promise. He wished at any cost to make peace with Ahithophel, whose counsel was precious to him. Ahithophel, however, remained immovable. A scandalous event in the house of David involved matters to a still greater extent, and robbed his remaining years of all tranquillity. His eldest son Amnon seduced his half-sister Tamar, and thereby aroused the fierce anger of her brother Absalom, who determined to avenge her. Each of the king’s sons, six of whom had been born in Hebron, and eleven, in Jerusalem, had, when he attained manhood, his own house, household and lands. Absalom’s lands and herds were situated at Baal-Hazor, not far from the capital. Thither he invited all the king’s sons to the feast of sheep-shearing. Whilst they and their guests were enjoying the feast, and drinking freely, Absalom’s servants, at their master's command, attacked Am­non, and dealt him his death-blow. Absalom served a double purpose by this murder. He avenged the insult offered to his sister, and hoped to secure his own succession to the throne by ridding himself of his elder brother. The son of Abigail, the second in succession, was already dead, and so it seemed inevitable that he, as the third son, must be the successor. David’s son a fratricide!—What will be the consequences of this bloody deed? Only his faith in God saved him from becoming, like his predecessor, a victim to insanity, although the dire fate which had befallen him was but too real, and not merely the effect of a distrustful imagination.

David’s first impulse was to seek out the murderer, who had taken refuge with his grandfather, King Talmai, of Geshur, on the south-west boundary of Judaea, in order to deal with him as he deserved, even at the risk of going to war on his account. But there were various influences at work against such a policy. In fact, since the affair with Bathsheba, intrigues had been rife at David’s court. Joab was opposed to the succession of the last-born, Solomon, and was naturally on the side of Absalom, the eldest surviving son. Ahithophel, David’s infallible counsellor, also favoured Absalom’s claim to the throne, because he could use him as a tool against his father. On the other hand, Adonijah, David’s fourth son, advocated the infliction of condign punishment on Absalom. Adonijah thought his prospects of displacing the infant Solomon fairer than his chance with the remorseless Absalom. If the latter were punished for fratricide, Adonijah would be the next in succession. He and his mother Haggith may perhaps, therefore, have incensed David against Absalom, but Joab and Ahithophel were wiser, and knew how to exert their influence in favour of abandoning all warlike attempts upon him or his grandfather, whose protection he was enjoying.

When David had at length decided on seizing or demanding the surrender of his guilty son (though he had been absent for three years), Joab employed a ruse to turn the king from his resolve. He sent for a woman living in the adjacent town of Tekoah, who had a reputation for adroit and clever speech. With her he devised a plan to make the king realise how horrible it was for a father to be willing to put to death a son for the not altogether unjustifiable murder of his brother. The wise woman of Tekoah consequently appeared before the king in mourning garments, and as though invoking his mercy she called out in an entreating voice and with deep prostrations, Help! O king, help! When she stated her fictitious case, the king readily recognised the hidden point of her story, and the allusion to his own case, and he demanded an open answer from her as to whether Joab had assisted her in her disguise and invention. When the woman of Tekoah had confessed the truth, the king. sent for Joab, and assured him that he no longer entertained evil intentions against Absalom, and assigned to him the task of conducting his son to Jerusalem. The woman of Tekoah had, in her ingenious manner, made it clear to him that blood-revenge against his own son would be a contradiction in itself.

Joab himself brought Absalom from Geshur to Jerusalem. The son, however, was not permitted to appear before his father, but was obliged to remain in his own house. By this means Joab unconsciously sowed the seeds of dissension in the house of David. Night and day, Absalom, in his isolation and disgrace, brooded over the vile plan of deposing his father. But he dissembled in order to lull the latter’s suspicion. To this end it was absolutely necessary that a reconciliation should be effected. Joab, who earnestly desired peace between father and son, became the mediator, and David decided that, after a two years' exile from his pres­ence, his son might now be allowed to return. At this meeting, Absalom played to perfection the part of the penitent, obedient son; David then gave him a fatherly embrace, and the reconciliation was complete. Seven years had passed since the death of Amnon. But now Absalom’s intrigues commenced. No doubt he had frequent meetings with Ahithophel, and was following his advice. He obtained chariots and horses from Egypt, procured a guard of fifty men, and displayed regal grandeur. He arose betimes in the morning, listened to disputes, and found every one’s case just, but regretted that the king would not listen to all, and would not give justice to all. He hinted that were he the judge, no one would have to complain of difficulty in obtaining his dues. Absalom pursued this course for four years after the reconciliation with his father. He was the handsomest man of his times. He was then about thirty, and in the full pride of his strength. His beautiful thick hair fell in waves over his neck and shoulders, like the mane of a lion. His affability won him the hearts of all who approached him. David was so blinded that he did not see how his crafty son was alienating the affections of the people from their sovereign, whilst Absalom merely awaited a favourable opportunity to proceed against his father, to dethrone him, and perhaps to attempt his life. This opportunity soon offered itself.

It appears that David was occupied, in the last decade of his reign, with a comprehensive plan, apparently that of a great war which would require a numerous body of soldiers. He had already enlisted bands of mercenaries, six hundred Hittites, who, with their general Ittai, (whose admiration for David secured his unswerving attachment), had arrived from Gath. The king also wished to ascertain the number of able-bodied men over twenty years of age in all the Israelitish tribes, in order to determine whether he could undertake with their aid a campaign which would probably prove severe and tedious. The king delegated the office of numbering the men who could bear arms to his commander-in-chief, Joab, and the other generals. The work of enumeration lasted nine months and twenty days. From the numbers which were handed in, supposing them to be correct, it appears that, out of an entire population of 4,000,000, there were 1,300,000 men and youths capable of bearing arms.

This counting of the nation, however, proved to be a mistake for which David had to pay heavily. The people were highly incensed against him. In itself the act was displeasing to them, as they saw in it the preliminaries to enlistments for a war of long duration; added to this was the fear that the counting itself must be attended by evil results, for such was the view held in those days. A fearful pestilence broke out, which carried off great numbers, and confirmed all minds in the belief that it had arisen in consequence of the numbering of the people. The capital, being densely populated, naturally suffered the greatest loss from the pestilence. On seeing the heaps of corpses, or, to speak in the metaphorical language of those days, at sight of “the angel of Destruction” that had snatched away so many, David exclaimed:—“I have sinned and done wrong, but what has my poor flock done? Let thy hand strike me and the house of my fathers”. The plague having spared Mount Moriah, where the Jebusites had settled, the prophet Gad bade the king erect an altar, and offer up sacrifices on that mountain, and he announced that the pestilence would then be averted from Jerusalem. Without hesitation, David and his entire court repaired thither. When the chief of the Jebusites, Ornah (Araunah), saw David approaching, he hurried to meet him, saluted him humbly, and asked what was his desire. David then informed him that he wished to buy the mountain in order to build an altar on it. Ornah graciously offered him the spot and all appertaining to it as a gift, but David refused to accept it. No sooner was an altar hastily erected there and a sacrifice offered, than the pestilence ceased in Jerusalem. From that time Mount Moriah was considered a sacred spot, which destruction could not approach; it was also the mountain on which Abraham was supposed to have offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

In consequence of this plague the nation conceived a dislike to David; it condemned him for the loss of the thousands of human beings whom the Angel of Destruction had snatched away. Ahithophel made use of this dislike in order to avenge himself on David, and he employed Absalom as his tool, and, with him, contrived a conspiracy which could not fail to succeed.

Absalom secretly despatched messengers in every direction, in order to give those adherents who were already attached to him the necessary signal. The insurrection was to be set on foot in Hebron, an outpost of the tribe of Judah, whose elders had already been won for Absalom. The latter invented subterfuges by which to deceive David as to the true purpose of his visit to Hebron, and the king permitted him to depart without suspicion.

Absalom arrived at Hebron, attended by his friends and guards, and by two hundred prominent men of Jerusalem, whom he had invited under some pretext, and who did not suspect his real aims. These two hundred men, through their very ignorance of matters, contributed to the success of the project. The people of Hebron, seeing that even prominent men had joined Absalom’s party, gave up David’s cause as lost. Ahithophel, who had likewise invented a pretext to absent himself from court, openly declared for Absalom, thus giving his cause an immense accession of power, as he was known to be David’s right hand.

The traitorous plan succeeded but too well. The Hebronites and others present saluted Absalom as king, forswore their allegiance to David, and sacrificed burnt-offerings. Ambition prompted various members of David’s family also to join Absalom. This was more especially the case with Amasa, his cousin, who considered himself a great commander, and thought that Joab had unjustly been preferred to him. The messengers then gave the signal previously agreed upon, and the conspirators who sided with Absalom gathered together, and shouted “Long live King Absalom!”. They carried with them all who had been incensed against David for taking a census of the people, and in fact all who hoped to gain some advantage from changes and dissension. The Benjamites, whom the accession of David had deprived of supremacy, and the ever­dissatisfied Ephraimites, were more particularly delighted at David’s downfall, and willingly did homage to the usurper; they hoped to regain their former freedom through David’s misfortunes. They had greater chances of obtaining power under Absalom, who was very vain, and not likely to retain the favour of the nation for a long time, than under the rule of David. The chief towns of all the tribes sent ambassadors to Hebron to salute the new king, and his adherents daily increased in number. At first the conspiracy was kept secret from those in authority; no one was permitted to journey to Jerusalem, lest the news spread. David received the information of his own dethronement and the accession of his son simultaneously with the news that the houses of Judah and Israel had renounced their allegiance to him.

It was a terrible blow for the king. But his resolve was soon taken; he would not resort to a civil war, as the sons of Zeruiah and many other faithful followers probably urged him to do. Deserted by all the tribes, he would be obliged to shut himself up in his capital. The city would not be able to resist the attack of so large an army; and he saw, now that he was undeceived, that Absalom would not scruple to turn Jerusalem into a sea of blood. David felt deeply wounded by the alliance of Ahithophel with his usurping son, and he was greatly discouraged by it. He saw, too late, that the conspiracy was of long standing, that the plan had been maturely considered, and that resistance on his part would only lead to his own destruction. He therefore announced to his people that he would depart from Jerusalem in all haste, before Absalom could leave Hebron with his numerous followers.

This step was instrumental in proving to David that he still had faithful friends, who would be true to him till death. When, on leaving his palace, he passed the Place of the Sellers of Ointment, he observed to his great joy that a great concourse followed him. Not only his general, Joab, with his brother, Abishai, and their followers; not only a great number of the warrior-corps (Gibborim), the hired troops, Cherethites and Pelethites, with Benaiah their leader, but also the Hittite, with six hundred men, whom David had only a short time before enlisted. The entire population wept aloud, whilst David withdrew to the Vale of Kedron, where he mustered his followers before taking the road over the Mount of Olives to the desert near the Jordan. He did not venture to take refuge in a city from fear of treachery.

Later on the two high priests Zadok and Abiathar with all the Levites hurried after him, bearing the ark of the covenant with them. David, however, urged the priests to return to Zion with the ark, saying, “If by God’s mercy I shall be permitted to return to Jerusalem, then I shall again behold the ark of the covenant and the sanctuary; if not, if God rejects me, I am ready to endure what seemeth good unto Him”. It also appeared to him that the priests could be of more service to him if they remained in Jerusalem than if they joined him in exile. Whilst, then, the priests hastily took the ark back to Jerusalem, David ascended the Mount of Olives barefoot, his head covered, and his face bathed in tears. All his attendants wept bitterly. But when his grief and despair had reached their climax, a friend, who was to give him help, came from the other side of the Mount of Olives, and met him at its highest point. Hushai from the city of Erech was a confidant of David, and a counsellor of no less wisdom than Ahithophel. He advanced in mourning array, his garments torn, and earth upon his head, prepared to share the king’s flight. David, however, refused to permit this, because, being an aged man, he would only be a burden. In Absalom’s vicinity he might do valiant service by counteracting Ahithophel’s counsels, and by keeping David informed of all that occurred. Hushai therefore repaired to Jerusalem.

The first town through which David passed in his flight was the Benjamite city of Bahurim. Far from meeting with a friendly reception there, he was received with insult and neglect. A Benjamite named Shimei, of the house of Gera, reviled and cursed him, saying, “Thou outcast and man of blood, God will repay thee for thy treatment of the house of Saul, whose crown thou hast stolen”. He followed David's march for a long distance, throwing stones and earth at him, so that the soldiers had to shield the king. David, however, had some friends in Bahurim also. Humbled and exhausted, the king at length accomplished the journey through the desert, and reached the neighbourhood of Jericho with his forces.

Here he could recruit his energies after his recent bodily and mental exertions, while awaiting the news which his faithful adherents would transmit to him from Jerusalem.

When David was approaching the banks of the Jordan, Absalom arrived in Jerusalem with his traitorous adherents, among them Ahithophel, the faithless coun­sellor. Ahithophel urged the usurper to commit ever greater crimes in order to widen the breach between him and his father, and render a reconciliation impossible; he advised him to take possession of his father’s harem. It mattered little to Ahithophel that Absalom would incur the hatred of the people through this fresh misdeed. His sole object was to revenge himself on David, and to ruin him. The weakminded sinner who called himself king, and who was incapable of undertaking anything, unless incited thereto by others, allowed himself to be induced to commit this crime. But, whilst Absalom was revelling in sin, the man who was destined to frustrate all his ruthless plans was near at hand. Hushai had apparently submitted to the new king, and had assured him that he would serve him as faithfully as he had served his father, and Absalom relied on this promise. He called a council to consider the most expedient plan for defeating and ruining his father. The elders of the tribes, who were in the city, were invited to attend. Ahithophel gave the diabolical advice to attack David that very night with a strong army, to disperse his following in a sudden onslaught made by a force its superior in point of numbers, and to capture and slay the king, whom he imagined to be utterly worn out and dispirited. But Absalom also consulted Hushai with regard to the campaign against his father, and Ahithophel’s advice was rejected by him as impracticable. Hushai urged such plausible objections that Absalom was duped by them; he advised that David should not be attacked with a small force, but that Absalom should raise from the entire nation—from Dan to Beersheba— an army whose numbers would render it irresistible. Hushai’s advice was more favourably received than Ahithophel’s, and steps were forthwith taken to act upon it. The attack was postponed, and the campaign was deferred till the numerous forces could be assembled. Hushai immediately conveyed the results of the meeting to David by means of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, the sons of the High Priest.

The first result of these events was favourable to the cause of David, for Ahithophel departed from Jerusalem, and hanged himself in his native town of Gilo. He was led to this course either by disgust at Absalom’s conduct in setting aside his counsel, or by the conviction that Absalom’s cause would be lost through delay, and that he himself would reap well-deserved punishment. This suicide was a severe blow to the usurper, for he had no capable man amongst his followers, and he himself was neither warlike nor prudent. His general Amasa had but little military genius. The enrolment of soldiers was actually begun, but before it could be completed David had obtained an important advantage. He went to Mahanaim, the inhabitants of which town received him with a welcome as cordial as that which in former times they had extended to the fugitive son of Saul. All the Israelites on the opposite side of the Jordan offered their assistance, and placed themselves under his command. Two men of Gilead outvied each other in attentions to the unhappy king and father, and provided him and his followers with all necessaries. They were old men—Barzillai from Rogelim, and Machir from Lodebar—and help came also from Shobi, king of Ammon, the son of Nahash. When at length Absalom or Amasa had succeeded in collecting a large force, they crossed the Jordan by means of rafts, and approached Mahanaim. The Absalomites encamped opposite the wood without any particular plan or order. David, on the other hand, divided his army into three divisions, commanded respectively by Joab, Abishai and Ittai, who were all proved and competent soldiers. David himself was not per­mitted to accompany them, as his generals knew too well his love for his wicked son. The contest cost many human lives. Although Absalom’s forces exceeded those of David in point of numbers, yet they were defeated, for they were not well disciplined, and were not able to find their way in the forest. David’s troops, on the other hand, fought valiantly. The forest was more destructive than the sword. Twenty thousand warriors are said to have fallen there. The forest of Rephaim was also the cause of Absalom’s personal destruction. His long hair, of which he was very vain, caught in the branches of an oak, and the mule he had been riding galloped away. It seems providential that the death-blow was dealt by Joab, who had formerly favoured him, and who had thus unwittingly assisted him in his conspiracy. Joab then sounded the horn as a signal for David’s army to cease from the contest, and the adherents of Absalom took to flight, and crossed the Jordan.

Thus ended the second civil war of David’s reign, a war which was the more unnatural because of the close relationship between the rival combatants, and the sad causes which led to the contest. The first duty of the victors was to transmit the news of their triumph to David. This was in itself a painful office, for all knew how deeply David would feel the death of his wicked son. David was terrified at the news, wept and sobbed, and cried repeatedly, “My son, my son, Absalom; would, I had fallen instead of thee!”. The depths of a father’s heart are unsearchable. Per­haps, he considered Absalom in the light of a victim whom Ahithophel had inveigled and urged on to rebellion. The warriors dared not enter Mahanaim as victors, but repaired homewards stealthily, as though humiliated after a defeat. David would see and speak to no one, but mourned continually for his son’s loss. At length Joab took heart, and reproached him in harsh terms for indulging in continued mourning, and thereby manifesting ingratitude towards his soldiers. In order to rouse the king, Joab further threatened that if he did not immediately show himself to his soldiers, and address them kindly, his faithful followers would leave the same night, and he would remain alone and helpless. These sharp words of the rough but faithful Joab induced David to rouse himself, and appear before the people. The corpse of Absalom was thrown into a cave, and covered with a heap of stones. He left a beautiful daughter, but his three sons had been snatched away by death before his revolt, as though it were destined that no son of his should witness the attempt against his father’s life. During his short reign at Jerusalem, he had erected a splendid monument in the “King’s Valley”, to perpetuate his own name. Intended for his glorification, it became the commemoration of his disgrace. After the close of the war, David contemplated returning to Jerusalem. He did not wish, however, to force the tribes into submission, he preferred to await their repentant return to him, and the renewal of their oaths of allegiance. It was a curious fact that the tribes of the north were the first to take this course. The voice of the people appealed to the elders to lead them back to their king. They cried, “The king who delivered us from our enemies, and freed us from the yoke of the Philistines, was forced by Absalom to flee from his own country. Absalom is now dead. Why do you not hasten to bring back our king? Come, let us lead him home”. Thereupon the elders of the tribes invited David to re­turn to his capital; and thus, a second time, they acknowledged him as king. Contrary to all expectation, the tribe of Judah, and naturally the tribe of Benjamin were still holding back. They did not move one step to welcome their king. Probably the men of Judah felt bitterly ashamed of the revolt they had started in Hebron, and did not venture to entreat David’s pardon. Perhaps, too, the discon­tent which had incited them to forswear their allegiance was still at work amongst them. It seems that Amasa, who had fled to Jerusalem after the defeat in the forest of Gilead, still exercised great influence over the men of Judah.

When David saw that the tribe of Judah was still holding aloof from him, he commanded the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, who had remained in Jerusalem, to admonish the elders of Judah to invite their king to return. He told the priests to assure Amasa that he would not only receive a free pardon, but even retain his rank as general. With this prospect before him, Amasa determined to accept David’s offers, and he persuaded the elders to accede to the king's proposal. The men of Judah thereupon sent an invitation to David, and an embassy went forth to meet the king, and receive him at Gilgal. The men of Benjamin were sorely puzzled by this conduct. What were they to do? The Benjamites had publicly shown themselves inimical to David when he had fled from Jerusalem through their territory; they had not thought it possible that he would ever return, and reclaim his throne. Now affairs had changed, and not only the northern tribes, but even Judah was preparing to do him homage. The Benjamites felt no attachment to David, but they could not isolate themselves, for then the king’s wrath would fall heavily on them. Shimei, whose insults had caused David such bitter pain during his flight, and who, in consequence, had most cause to fear the king’s anger, advised that they should display intense enthusiasm for David’s cause, exceeding that of the other tribes, since, by appealing to his generosity, they might incline him favourably towards them. In obedience to this advice, one thou­sand Benjamites went forward to meet David, joined the Judaean embassy, and, on arriving at the bank of the Jordan, threw a bridge across the river in order to facilitate the king’s transit. Meanwhile the king had left Mahanaim, and was approaching the Jordan, attended by his court, his servants, and the faithful followers who had joined him on the opposite shore. Shimei advanced before all the others, threw himself at the king’s feet as he was about to cross the river, acknowledged his fault, and entreated David's forgiveness. David now returned with a larger concourse of followers than had accompanied him on his flight across the Jordan: he was attended by the Judaean embassy, by a thousand Benjamites, and by the faithful friends who formed his guard of honour. The first town reached after crossing the Jordan was Gilgal. Here the ambassadors of the different tribes on this side of the river were assembled to renew their homage; they felt surprised and annoyed that the Judaeans had stolen a march on them by meeting the king at the very shore of the Jordan. They saw in this eager display of loyalty, which they could not consider sincere, an effort on the part of the house of Judah to regain the king’s favour, to the detriment of the house of Israel.

The elders of Israel made no secret of their displeasure, and gave vent to it in David’s presence; the Judaeans, however, retaliated on them. The question of precedency degenerated into a violent quarrel, the Judaeans making angry retorts, thus offending the northern tribes still more. Bitter animosity arose between the contending parties; David appears to have inclined to the side of the Judaeans. Sheba, a Benjamite of the family of Bichri, taking advantage of the general confusion, sounded the trumpet and cried, “We have no portion in David, and no share in the son of Jesse; let every Israelite return to his tent”. Heeding this cry, the elders of the northern tribes withdrew, and followed Sheba the Bichrite. The men of Judah alone remained faithful to David, and accompanied him to Jerusalem. The joy of their return was mingled with annoyance: a fresh breach had arisen, a civil war was imminent. At this sad juncture David had recourse to a step which may be considered either very wise or very foolish.   Joab had become obnoxious to him since the king had learned that he had killed Absalom, and David did not wish him to fill the office of general any longer. Besides this, he desired to keep his word with Amasa, and to appoint him to the office of commander-in-chief. David, being now dependent on the tribe of Judah, felt the necessity of retaining Amasa’s good-will, as the latter's influence had immense weight with the Judaeans. Without consulting Joab, he commanded Amasa to summon the forces of the tribe of Judah within three days, in order to proceed against the rebels. The time expired, and Amasa did not return. David became uneasy; he thought Amasa might have deceived him, and made common cause with the insurgents. It was necessary to be expeditious, lest Sheba’s followers increase in numbers, and also gain time to occupy fortified cities. David had no choice but to turn to the sons of Zeruiah, who, in their unswerving fidelity, had remained true to him in spite of frequent slights, and whose skill in matters of war he had amply tested. David would not, however, give the supreme command to Joab, but entrusted it to his brother Abishai. He set out with the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were to form the nucleus of the army which he hoped to collect on the way. Joab overlooked the insult which had been offered him, and joined the troops, or rather became their leader. He appears to have issued an appeal to the people to gather around him. When Amasa joined them in Gibeon, Joab killed him with one stroke of his sword, and the Judaeans, whom Amasa had collected, followed the sons of Zeruiah. In all the towns, fresh par­tisans and followers attached themselves to David’s cause. Sheba found but few adherents, the northern tribes being unwilling to begin a civil war for the sake of a man who was but little known, and who was followed only by a small band of soldiers. He had thrown himself into the fortified town of Abel, and a part of his followers occupied the town of Dan, which lay at an hour’s distance from the base of Mount Hermon, not far from the source of the Jordan. Joab quickly ordered a trench to be dug round the town of Abel, and without calling on the inhabitants to surrender, he began to undermine the walls. The inhabitants became greatly alarmed. Then a wise woman called from the wall to the sappers below to summon Joab. When he approached, she addressed him reproachfully, “Thou shouldst have asked first in Abel and Dan that thou mightest have heard, whether all those who are faithful and peace-loving have departed from Israel. Why wilt thou slaughter the mothers and the children of Israel? Why wilt thou destroy the inheritance of Jacob?”. Joab replied that he did not wish to do this, that he merely desired to capture the man who had lifted his hand against the king. On this the woman promised that the head of the rebel should soon be thrown over the wall. She kept her word, for she secretly persuaded her fellow-citizens to separate Sheba from his few followers, and to kill him. His gory head was cast over the wall, and Joab raised the siege, dismissed his soldiers, and returned to Jerusalem with the news of his victory. The king was obliged, against his will, to leave him in command of the army.

David returned to his capital with a purged soul. He had suffered and atoned heavily for his sins. He had taken away the wife of his faithful servant, and his son had taken away his wives. He had spilt Uriah’s blood, and the streams of bloodshed in his own house had almost overwhelmed him. He had found by bitter experience that even the best king cannot build on his peoples love. His plan of undertaking a great war against his heathen foes was shattered. He, therefore, in his old age, during the last years of his reign, confined his attention to the internal affairs of his kingdom. He wished to carry out, before death overtook him, an idea he had long cherished. He wished to build a magnificent temple to the God of Israel, who had rescued him in his many troubles. Before commencing, David consulted Nathan, the prophet; for in those days the prophet ranked higher than the priest. He said, “I live in a palace of cedar wood, whilst the Ark of God is only in a temporary tent. I will build a temple of cedar for it!”. Nathan approved the plan and said, “Carry out all that is in thy heart, for God is with thee!”. The next day, however, the prophet came to him, and revealed to David that he was not destined to build a temple, because he had shed blood, but that this task would be reserved for his son. At the same time David was informed that his throne was established for many years to come,—that a long succession of kings would descend from him, and occupy his throne, provided that they walked in the ways of God. Much as David had wished to build a stately temple in Jerusalem, he bowed humbly to the divine decree revealed to him by Nathan, and gave up his project. Before the ark of the covenant, he thanked God in a heartfelt prayer for the mercies bestowed on him, who had been raised up from the dust. His heart was filled with gratitude that his royal house and his throne were to be established for many years to come. David gave expression to this feeling in a psalm, which, however, has not the same verve as his former songs; it was, perhaps, his last poetic prayer.

Although David did not commence the erection of the temple himself, he began to make the necessary preparations. He devoted to the sanctuary a part of the booty which he had acquired from the conquered nations. He also regulated the order in which divine services were to be conducted, by having, according to Samuel's method, choirs of Levites to play on the harp and sing psalms, in addition to the ordinary sacrificial rites. He is also considered the inventor of the various musical instruments which were later on introduced into the service.

David’s vital energy began to decrease before he had attained his seventy-first year. The anxieties of his youth, the constant warfare, the exciting events in his own family, Amnon’s sinfulness and Absalom’s revolt caused him to grow old at a comparatively early age. He felt no warmth in his body; he felt cold despite the torrid heat of Jerusalem, and all the clothes which he could procure did not seem to supply him with the necessary vital heat.

Adonijah, the king's fourth son, endeavoured, by taking advantage of David’s failing powers, to secure the succession. He was the next heir after Amnon and Absalom, but he feared that he might be passed over if he awaited the death of his father, and he had probably heard of the secret understanding, according to which the son of Bathsheba, his youngest brother, was to succeed to the throne. Adonijah had no desire to rebel against his father as Absalom had done, he merely wished to have his right to the succession recognised by the chief dignitaries of the kingdom. He therefore took counsel with those of David’s court who were opposed to Solomon’s succession. Foremost amongst these was Joab, who supported him as he had formerly supported Absalom. Adonijah’s other confidant was Abiathar, the second of the high priests, who seems to have been placed in an inferior position by David. Zadok, whose family had been appointed hereditary high priests by Saul at Gibeon, had been retained in that position by David, who wished to secure his support, and therefore bestowed upon him the highest rank in the sanctuary. Abiathar may have felt hurt by this neglect, and perhaps took the part of Adonijah in order to secure the position he could not hope to obtain under Solomon. The other sons of the king also wished to see the throne assured to Adonijah, and thus intrigues at the court commenced afresh. Adonijah was as handsome arid as popular as Absalom had been, and also, it appears, as thoughtless and as unfit for governing. Like Absalom, he began to draw the eyes of the people upon himself by a truly royal display; he procured chariots and attendants on horseback, and kept a guard of fifty runners, who preceded him wherever he went. David was weak in his behaviour to him, as he had been to Absalom—permitted him to have his own way, and thus tacitly acknowledged him as his successor. One day Adonijah invited his confidants, Joab, Abiathar, and all the king’s sons excepting Solomon, to a meeting. They offered up sacrifices near a well, and during the feast his followers cried, “Long live King Adonijah!”.

The first to take exception to Adonijah’s proceedings was Nathan the prophet. He knew of the secret promise, given by David to his wife Bathsheba, that Solomon should inherit the crown. He had also revealed to David that Solomon was appointed by God to be his successor. He seems to have had confidence in Solomon's character, and to have expected better things from him than from Adonijah. Nathan, therefore, went to Bathsheba, and they devised a plan by which Adonijah’s scheme might be overthrown. Bathsheba then repaired to the king, reminded him of his oath, and directed his attention to the fact that, in the event of Adonijah’s succession, she and her son both would be lost, and her marriage would be branded with ignominy.

Hardly had she ended the description of the sad fate which awaited her if Solomon’s claims were set aside, when the prophet Nathan was announced, and confirmed her assertions. David's resolve was quickly taken, and carried into effect on the same day, for he was most anxious to keep his oath to leave the sceptre to Solomon. He called upon the dignitaries who had not conspired with Adonijah, on Zadok, Benaiah and the warriors, and announced to them his resolve that Solomon should be anointed king during his own lifetime, and they all solemnly promised to acknowledge Solomon. Thereupon, David summoned the Cherethites and Pelethites to attend his son. Solomon then mounted one of the royal mules, and proceeded to the valley of Gihon, to the west of the town. A crowd of people joined the procession, and when the high-priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan had anointed him with oil from the tent of the sanctuary, the soldiers blew their trumpets, and all the people cried, “Long live King Solomon!”

Great excitement now prevailed in Jerusalem. While the eastern mountains echoed with the cry of “Long live King Adonijah!” the western chain was resounding with shouts of “Long live King Solomon!”. Had both the king’s sons and their adherents remained obstinate, a civil war must have ensued. But Adonijah was not like Absalom—he did not wish to excite a rebellion. Nor would his chief supporters, Joab and Abiathar, have assisted him in such an attempt. No sooner did Adonijah hear that Solomon had been anointed king by his father’s command than his courage failed him. He hastened to the sanctuary at Zion in order to seek refuge in the holy of holies. Solomon, however, who had immediately taken the reins of government, sent to inform him that he might leave the sanctuary, that not a hair of his head should be touched so long as he did not attempt any fresh revolt. Ado­nijah then repaired to the young king, paid him due homage, and was dismissed with presents. Thus the contest for the succession ended.

Davi’s weakness gradually increased, until after a stormy reign of forty years and six months (1015), he expired peacefully. He was the first to occupy a place in the royal mausoleum which he had built in a rocky cave on the southern slope of Mount Zion.

David’s death was deeply mourned. He had made the nation great, independent and happy, and death transfigured him. When he had passed away, the nation began to realise the true value of his work, and what he had been to them. He had reunited the various tribes, each of which had before followed its own special interests, and he formed them into one nation. The revolts of Absalom and Sheba proved sufficiently how strong the feeling had become which bound the tribes together. The house of Israel did not seize the opportunity offered by his death of severing itself from the house of Judah, and great as was their jealousy of each other, they held together. David had removed every inducement for party divisions, and had knit them together with a kind but firm hand. During his reign the priesthood and the prophets worked amicably together. Thus Solomon was anointed by the high priest Zadok in conjunction with the prophet Nathan. David maintained friendly relations between the priestly houses of Eleazar and Ithamar, represented by Zadok and Abiathar respectively. The nation had no reason to complain of oppression, for he dealt justly to the extent of his ability. By destroying the power of the Philistines, who had so long held the neighbouring tribes in subjection, and by conquering the nations inhabiting the banks of the Euphrates, he had not only established internal prosperity, but had also founded a great empire which could vie in power with Egypt, and had cast into the shade the Chaldean and Assyrian kingdoms on the Euphrates and the Tigris. By this means he had roused the people to the proud con­sciousness that it constituted a mighty nation of the Lord, the possessor of the law of God, the superior of the neighbouring nations. David’s sins were gradually forgotten, for his atonement had been both grievous and manifold. Posterity pronounced a milder judgment on him than did his contemporaries. The remembrance of his great deeds, his kindness, his obedience to God, caused him to appear invested with the traits of an ideal king, who served as a pattern to all later rulers,—one who had always walked in the ways of God, and never departed therefrom. The kings of his house who succeeded him were measured by his standard, and were judged by the extent of their resemblance to him.

David’s reign shone through the ages as perfect,—as one in which power and humility, fear of God and peace were united. Every succeeding century added its tribute to David’s character, until he became the ideal of a virtuous king and sacred poet.

 

SOLOMON (970-931 BC)

 

DAVID had left affairs in Israel in such perfect order that his successor, unless he were a fool or a knave, or the victim of evil advice, would have but little trouble in governing. Solomon, however, carried David's work still further. He shed such lustre upon Israel that even the most distant generations basked in the light that emanated from his wise rule. Indeed, a king who solidifies and increases, if he does not actually found, the greatness of the State; who permits his people the enjoyment of peace; who sheds the bounties of plenty over his land, driving poverty away from the meanest hovel; who opens up new channels for the development of his people's powers, and who thus increases and strengthens them; a king who has the intelligence to arouse his subjects to exercise their mental gifts, and cultivate their love of the beautiful; who, by his material and spiritual creations, elevates his country to the dignity of a model State, such as had never been before him and scarcely ever after him;—such a monarch assuredly deserves the high praise which posterity has accorded to him. Carried away by the greatness of his deeds—for all these grand characteristics were strikingly prominent in Solomon—men shut their eyes to his weaknesses, and considered them the inevitable result of human imperfection. In the first place he strove to preserve peace for his country, though his father had left him ample means for making fresh conquests. He was called the king of peace—“Shelomo”. By giving to his people the comforts of prosperity, he widened its horizon, and raised its self-respect. He ruled it with wisdom and justice, and decided with strict impartiality all contests between individuals as well as tribes. He increased the number of towns, and secured the safety of the roads and of the caravans. He filled the city of Jerusalem with splendour, and built therein a magnificent temple in honour of God. He himself cultivated the fine arts and poetry, and thereby endowed them with fresh attractions in the eyes of the people. Lastly, he set great aims before the nation, and was rightly called the wise king.

History, the impartial arbitress, cannot, however, be blinded by his dazzling virtues to the blemishes which attach to his government, and which must be accounted the cause of the unfortunate breach which commenced when his grave was scarcely closed. The beginning of Solomon’s rule was not free from stains of blood, and its end was clouded with mists, which dimmed its brightness; his love of splendour became injurious to morality; it made him despotic, and imposed a burden on the people, which it bore for a considerable time, but shook off at the first favourable opportunity. Solomon converted the kingly power into an autocracy, under which every will had to be subservient to his. But these blemishes were entirely hidden by the greatness of the achievements under his rule. It is impossible now to decide how far the responsibility of Solomon for these evils goes, how much of the blame rests with his too officious servants, and to what extent their existence must be attributed to the irresistible force of circumstances, to which the exalted and the lowly-alike must submit. It is the curse of crowned heads that the worthiest wearer of a crown, in order to consolidate his power, is induced to take steps which his conscience would under other circumstances condemn, and the misdeeds of his servants are also added to his account.

Solomon was young—scarcely twenty—when he ascended the throne. After his accession, whilst visiting the altar at Gibeon, we are told, he had a vision in which God asked him to express the innermost wish of his heart, with the promise that it should be fulfilled. He did not choose long life, nor riches, nor honour, nor the death of his enemies; but he chose wisdom, in order that he might rule his people with justice. In fact, this wisdom, this power of entering into the feelings and minds of the dissenting parties who appeared before him, of seizing on the true state of the case in spite of exaggeration and subtle arguments, Solomon possessed to an extraordinary degree. The Solomonic judgment is well known. By giving a verdict which was well adapted to reveal the real feeling of a mother, he recognised, in a dispute between two women for the possession of a child, on which side was truth, on which side falsehood. “Cut the child in half”, he said. But its real mother could not accept this decision, and offered rather to give up her child. He was determined that no one in his kingdom should suffer from injustice. Though he may not have been the first that uttered the saying, “through justice a throne is established”, yet it was a maxim after his own heart.

The wisdom of Solomon is also displayed to great advantage in another direction, namely, in his poetic productions. These were chiefly allegorical poems (Mashal); in them he caused the lofty cedars of Lebanon, and the lowly creeping wall plants, to appear as the emblems of what is highest and humblest; quadrupeds, birds of the air, reptiles, and even dumb fish are given voice and speech. Each of these fables probably ended with an appropriate moral lesson. It has been related that Solomon composed three thousand of such fables and five thousand songs or proverbs.

But Solomon was by no means the originator of this style of fiction. Long before him such compositions had been common among the Israelites. Standing on Mount Gerizim, Jotham, the son of the Judge Gideon, addressed the misguided people of Shechem in an ingenious parable. The prophet Nathan had disguised his exhortation to David respecting his sin with Bathsheba in the form of a parable. But though not the inventor of this branch of poetry, Solomon is still deserving of praise for devoting the time left unoccupied by the cares of government to its further development. His rare qualities of mind were displayed in yet another direction. In some of his compositions he delineates types of persons and things by means of allusions, the hidden meaning of which is. left to guessing. Such enigmas, presented in a poetic form, were in those days the favourite diversions of social gatherings and feasts, and Solomon possessed remarkable ingenuity in devising these recreations of the human mind.

He was, however, guilty of errors, the greater part of which arose from an exaggerated idea of his royal dignity, and from imitating the kings of the neighbouring states of Tyre and Egypt, with whom he was in constant intercourse. He claimed for himself a prerogative almost impious in a mortal, namely, that of being considered identical with the State,—all interests were to centre in him, and all else was to be of comparatively little importance. Solomon's wisdom ran aground on this rock. The truth of Samuel’s prediction, at the time of the election of a ruler, was better proven by the wise king than by his predecessors.

Unfortunately Solomon was a younger son, to whom the throne had been allotted contrary to the ordinary laws of succession, whilst Adonijah, whom a portion of the people had recognised as king, was considered the rightful heir. So long as the latter lived, Solomon's government could not be on a firm basis, and he could never feel himself secure. Adonijah, therefore, had to be removed; the leader of the body guard, Benaiah, forcibly entered his house, and killed him. As an excuse for this act of violence, it was asserted that Adonijah had attempted to win the hand of Abishag, the young widow of David, and thus had revealed his traitorous intention of contesting his brother’s right to the throne. No sooner had he fallen than Joab, the former adherent of Adonijah, feared that a similar fate would overtake him. This exemplary general, who had contributed so considerably to the aggrandisement of the people of Israel and the power of the house of David, fled to the altar on Mount Zion, and clung to it, hoping to escape death. Benaiah, however, refused to respect his place of refuge, and shed his blood at the altar. In order to excuse this crime, it was given out that David himself, on his deathbed, had impressed on his successor the duty of revenging the death of Abner and Amasa. Joab, who had killed them in times of peace, was not to be allowed, in spite of his venerable age, to die in peace.

It is uncertain whether Benaiah was Solomon’s evil adviser, or merely his instrument. Joab’s death was the cause of great joy amongst the enemies of Israel, and aroused in them the courage to plan a rebellion. Adonijah’s priestly partisan, Abiathar, whom Solomon did not dare touch, was deprived of his office as high priest, and Zadok was made the sole head of the priesthood, and his descendants, invested with that dignity, maintained it for over a thousand years, whilst the offspring of Abiathar were neglected.—The Benjamite Shimei, who had pursued David with execrations on his flight from Jerusalem, was also executed, and it was only through this threefold deed of blood that Solomon’s throne appears to have gained stability.

Solomon then directed his attention to the formation of a court of the greatest magnificence, such as was befitting the powerful king whose commands were obeyed from the boundaries of Egypt to the banks of the Euphrates. In those days many wives were considered a necessary adjunct to the king’s dignity; David had about sixteen wives, but this was an insignificant number as compared with that of the kings of Egypt and Phoenicia, whom Solomon had taken for his pattern. It was only in compliance with this common but corrupt practice that Solo­mon formed an immense harem. His first wife was Naamah (the beautiful), an Ammonite princess; he also had other wives from the Moabite and Aramaean courts, and even from those of the Hittite and Caananite kings; but what most gratified his pride was that the Egyptian king Psusennes gave him his daughter in marriage. Solomon thought that in acting thus he had taken a wise step, and that his country and his dynasty would be benefited by the alliance. But the result proved the contrary. The daughter of Psusennes was naturally received with every mark of attention in the Israelitish capital; she became the first queen in Solomon's harem, but it seemed to him a disgrace that he could not place a magnificent palace at the disposal of this queen. What was the cedar palace built by David on Mount Zion, when compared with the gigantic edifices and labyrinthine palaces of the kings of Egypt? Solomon, therefore, determined to build a palace worthy of her.

Through the alliance with Egypt, innovations of great consequence were made in Israel, among them the introduction of horses and chariots.

Solomon also entered into close and friendly connection with Hiram, king of Tyre, with whom David had already established a neighbourly intimacy. He appears to have married a daughter of Hiram, too, and this close bond between Solomon and Hiram seems to have led to important and extensive undertakings.

The establishment of a large harem demanded an immense body of servants. Solomon maintained a most brilliant court. The ambassadors of tributary and friendly powers had to be received with great pomp, for Solomon laid great stress on the display of splendour, and the maintenance of his court demanded the expenditure of large sums of money. As he could not otherwise obtain means, the royal house not having extensive estates in its own right, the people had to defray his enormous expenses. The whole land was divided into twelve parts, and a Governor was placed over each division to see that the inhabitants contributed one month’s provisions every year; the purpose of this division seems to have been that the old system of tribal organisation might cease. A superior, or Vizier, whose duty it was to see that the tribute of natural products was sent in regularly, was appointed over these twelve officials. Solomon displayed heightened grandeur in his buildings. He was anxious in the first instance to raise a splendid temple to the God of Israel in the capital of his country. It could not be a matter of indifference to him that in the neighbouring lands of Egypt and Phoenicia, with the rulers of which he was intimately acquainted, gigantic temples were raised for the various gods, whilst in his country the sanctuary was merely placed in a tent. Solomon, therefore, immediately after his accession to the throne, made preparations for commencing the erection of a sacred edifice; the site was already chosen. It was to be on Mount Moriah, to the north-east of the city, where David had raised an altar after the pestilence had ceased. Silver and gold had been collected for the purpose, but building materials, stones and cedar wood still had to be procured. Freestones and blocks had to be hewn from the rocks in the quarries north of Jerusalem, where they were so dovetailed as to be easily joined after reaching the spot. But whence procure workmen for this troublesome business of hewing, preparing and conveying the stones? Solomon had learnt from Pharaoh Psusennes, his father-in-law, the means of obtaining workmen without incurring heavy expense. He employed the remnant of the Canaanite population still living in the country. Although Saul had begun to decrease their numbers, he could not proceed against them with his full strength, on account of his continual strife with David. David had left them undisturbed, so that they lived quietly, mixed peaceably with the Israelites, and served the king faithfully in his wars against the Philistines and other nations. Solomon, on the contrary, declared the remnant of the Ammonites, Hittites, Perizzites and Hivites, as well as the Jebusites (whom David had permitted to live in the outskirts of Jerusalem), to be bondmen, and compelled them to perform the hardest labour. They numbered 150,000 youths and able-bodied men, and comprised the working class. More than 3,000 Israelitish superintendents kept the enslaved natives to their work. A superior officer, Adoniram, watched over the superintendents and the workmen. Eighty thousand of these unhappy beings worked in the stone quarries day and night by the light of lamps. They were under the direction of a man from Biblos (Giblim), who understood the art of hewing heavy blocks from the rocks, and of giving the edges the necessary shape for dovetailing. Twenty thousand slaves removed the heavy blocks from the mouth of the quarry, and carried them to the building site.

Hiram, the King of Tyre, Solomon’s friend, supplied cedar and cypress wood. The trees were felled on Lebanon, for which purpose Hiram placed skilled workmen at Solomon's disposal. The trunks were forwarded from Lebanon to Tyre or to the other harbours, whence they were conveyed in rafts to the port of Jaffa, and from there with much toil over hills and dales to Jerusalem, a distance of at least a ten hours’ journey. As the Canaanite slaves were not sufficiently numerous to remove the cedar and cypress trees, and to convey them to their destination, Solomon employed Israelites to assist in the work, thirty thousand being impressed for the duty. Each ten thousand were sent for a month to work in the forests, to fell the trees, and convey them to their destination. After a month had passed, the workmen were relieved by another body of ten thousand. These thirty thousand Israelites were not enslaved—they remained free, and even received wages—but they were not allowed to withdraw voluntarily from the work.

It was not to be expected that Hiram would cut down his cedar and cypress forests, or that he would place carpenters and builders at Solomon’s disposal without receiving some return. So long as the buildings were in course of erection, Solomon sent him annually a certain amount of corn, wine and oil, with the raising of which tribute the people were probably taxed. But Hiram was also obliged to advance gold for the adornment of the interior of the temple. Solomon’s fleet had not yet imported the precious metal. In return for the supply of gold, Solomon yielded up to Hiram twenty towns of the borderland, in the tribe of Asher, between Phoenicia and the territory of Israel. Though these were not important, and did not please Hiram, still it was a transference of Israelitish territory to the Phoenicians. Hiram permitted various races to colonise the towns, from whom the territory received the name “Gelil Haggoyim” (the district of nations), later Galilee. As soon as the stones and blocks of wood had been removed to the building site of the temple, the erection of which was to occupy three years, the work was commenced.

The temple was built of freestone, and the walls were covered with cedar planks on the inside. On these were traced designs of palms, open flower cups, and cherubim (winged heads with human faces), and these designs were inlaid with gold. The temple was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. It was divided into the Holy of Holies (Debir, the inner chamber, a square of twenty cubits), and the Holy Place (Hechal, which was forty cubits long). The Holy of Holies seems to have been situated on higher ground than the sanctuary. At the sides were two cherubim of gilded olive wood, each ten cubits high, the wings of which were five cubits wide. At the entrance of the sanctuary was an open vestibule (Ulam), which was of the same width as the sanctuary, and ten cubits in length, and in front of this hall there were artistically wrought columns of bronze. The artist, Hiram, was a half-Jew, his father being a Syrian and his mother a Naphtalite. The Holy of Holies was to face the west, contrary to the custom of the Gentiles, whose temples faced the rising sun; the gates were of olive wood, adorned with gilded cherubim as well as with palms and flower-cups. The folding doors of the sanctuary, made of cypress wood, were ornamented in a like manner, and the floor was of cypress wood inlaid with gold. In the Holy of Holies nothing was visible but the cherubim, intended to enshrine the ark of the covenant, in which the tablets of the law were kept. In the sanctuary there was an altar of cedar wood gilded on all sides, with five gilded candlesticks at each side, and a large gilded table for twelve loaves. The temple was surrounded by an extensive courtyard. Inside the vestibule stood a large iron altar, and a spacious water reservoir, called the “iron sea”, adorned with a border of open flower-cups and lily-buds, and on the lower part with colocynths. This reservoir was supported by twelve iron bulls, each three of which turned in a different direction. The water was intended for washing the hands and feet of the officiating priests whenever they entered the sanctuary, the flow of water probably being regulated by a faucet. Ten small basins on wheels, artistically engraved, could be pushed to any spot where they might be wanted. Vessels for the sacrificial rites were cast in large quantities by the order of the king. The whole building inside and outside was stamped with the impress of wealth and grandeur. At the completion of the building, it was consecrated (1007) with solemn rites. The erection of the temple had occupied seven years, and the month selected for the consecration was that in which the harvest and the vintage were completed. The chiefs of all the tribes and the elders of families were invited, and people streamed from every quarter to gaze in astonishment at the splendours of the temple, and to look upon the unaccustomed spectacle.

The solemnities commenced with the transfer of the ark from Mount Zion, the town of David, to Mount Moriah. The bars attached to the ark were those which had been used during the wanderings in the desert. They were so placed that all present could see that holy relic of past ages, the two stone tables inscribed with the ten commandments. During the transfer of the ark of the covenant, and during the consecration, many thousands of sacrifices were offered, and also psalms were sung. No sooner had the ark of the covenant been brought into the Holy of Holies than a thick cloud filled the body of the temple, so that the Aaronites were interrupted in their service. This was considered a token of God's mercy, and a sign that the consecration had been performed in accordance with His will. The vast assembly was thus swayed by the feelings of joy, piety and devotion. The king gave expression to the general sentiments in a few grave words: “God has promised to dwell in a cloud. I have built a dwelling for thee, O God—an abode for thee to dwell in for ever”. Mount Moriah thus appeared like Mount Sinai, where the voice of God had spoken from out of a dense cloud. The temple became an object of veneration to the people, who believed that from between the two cherubim, God would make known to them the ways in which they were to walk. A prophet who was present (perhaps Ahijah of Shiloh) announced to King Solomon in the name of God, “If thou wilt walk in my law, and obey my commands, and fulfil my behests, then I will fulfil unto thee the promise I made unto David, thy father—I shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not desert my people”.

The nation celebrated the autumn festivals, which occurred simultaneously with the consecration, most joyfully. Deep and lasting was the impression made by this temple, gleaming with gold and bronze, sumptuous and imposing in its structure, containing no visible image of the Deity, yet filled with His invisible presence. The house of God offered something tangible to those whose imaginations could not conceive of the spiritual, divested of material form. The temple was the pride and strength of Israel, and the delight of its eyes. At the time of the consecration there was inaugurated a religious service, such as had been impossible within the narrow limits of the sanctuary in Shiloh or, during the transition period, in the tent at Zion. A priesthood had certainly existed even in former times, and belonged exclusively to the descendants of Aaron. It was, however, only under Solomon that a high priest was put at the head of the others, and that gradations in rank were introduced. Azariah, the son of Zadok, was advanced to the office of high priest after the death of his father, and was assisted by the inferior priests. A new order of service was arranged for the Levites, who were subordinate to the priests: A part of them assisted at the sacrificial services. Another part kept guard at four sides of the temple, and were charged with the care of the sacred vessels, and with all preparations for the temple service. Lastly, certain families took part in the singing and the instrumental music that accompanied the services. It was the temple and the new order of worship introduced there that actually raised Jerusalem to the position of the capital of the country. Pilgrims from all the tribes attended the autumnal festivals there, in order to witness the solemn divine services, such as could be held at no tribal altar. Jerusalem gradually becoming an important commercial town, in which foreign goods and curiosities were displayed, attracted ever greater numbers of visitors from all the tribes. Thus the youngest of the cities in the land of Israel surpassed and outshone all the older towns. Solomon gave orders that the capital be fortified on all sides, and that the temple also be included within the line of fortifications.

The erection of the royal palace occupied a period of more than thirteen years. It consisted of a series of buildings which extended over a great area on the northern hill, in the quarter called Millo. Next to the entrance was the House of the Forest of Lebanon, which took its name from the numerous pillars of cedar, which were ranged in rows of fifteen each. This house served as the Armoury for the king’s protection. Here thirteen hundred guards kept watch; they were provided with spears and shields of gold, and acted as the king’s attendants when he proceeded to the temple. Great attention was given by Solomon to the fitting up of the Judgment or Throne Chamber. The walls from the floor to the ceiling were covered with cedar wood, and adorned with gold fretwork. In this hall Solomon’s throne was placed. It was considered a marvel of workmanship. It was ornamented with ivory, and inlaid with gold. Six steps led up to it, and on each step were two artistically wrought lions, the symbols of power and of royal dignity. The seat was supported on each side by arms, and on it also were two lions. In the hall of public justice Solomon heard contesting parties, and pronounced judgment: he considered his office of judge one of the holiest and most important connected with his kingly dignity. Here he also received the ambassadors of the various countries, who attended his court to offer their homage, or to negotiate new treaties. A special palace was built for the king, his servants and his wives, a separate house being reserved for the Egyptian princess. It appears that her removal from David's house to her own residence was effected with great pomp. Probably Solomon had also an aqueduct built so as to supply the town of Jerusalem and the temple with water from the rich spring of Etam, which was at a two hours' journey from Jerusalem.

The practice of building splendid edifices of cedar was not confined to Solomon; the great nobles and princes who lived in Jerusalem, the high officers, and his favourites, all followed his example. With the wealth that streamed into the land through the opening of three important channels, the love of show, which spread from the king to the higher classes, could be freely gratified. Phoenician merchants of high standing, who carried on a large wholesale trade, money-changers, men of wealth who lent money on interest, now settled in Jerusalem. They composed a special corporation or guild, and were under the protection of the treaty between Solomon and Hiram. They were permitted to live according to their own laws, and were even allowed to practise their religious or, rather, idolatrous rites. The three great sources of wealth were the Powerful Position of the State, the Alliance with Egypt, and the Indian Trade. Those princes who had entered into treaties with David confirmed them with his successor, and other potentates sought his friendship. On swearing allegiance, all these princes and nations sent the customary tribute and rich gifts, such as gold and silver vessels, valuable garments, spices, horses and mules. The alliance with Egypt was also the source of considerable additions to the national wealth, as that kingdom furnished horses to the mountainous districts, and war chariots, which were in great demand in foreign parts. The princes of Aram and of the territories on the Euphrates who had formerly procured their horses and chariots from Egypt, were to buy these war materials from Solomon’s merchant guild. The latter established a station for his own riders and horses on the plain not far from the sea. He kept twelve thousand horses and fourteen hundred war chariots (each drawn by two horses), and for these he erected spacious buildings, containing four thousand stalls. Solomon’s greatest gains, however, were acquired in trade with India. To the Phoenicians the journey to this distant country was attended with insuperable difficulties, so long as the country near the Red Sea was rendered unsafe by the uncivilised and predatory bands that dwelt there. By his alliance with Hiram, Solomon had opened up a safer and nearer route to India. The strip of land extending from the southern border of Judah to the eastern coast of the Red Sea, the Points Elath and Eziongeber, had been rendered accessible. The caravans with their loaded camels could proceed in safety from Jerusalem and from the coast to the northern point of the Red Sea. At Hiram's suggestion, Solomon had a fleet of strong and large ships (ships of Tarshish) built, and equipped on the coast at Eziongeber. Hiram sent his most skilful sailors, who knew the route thoroughly, to man the vessels. Israelites of the tribes of Asher and Zebulun, who lived on the coast and were acquainted with the sea, were also employed.

When the Israelitish fleet was complete, it sailed out of the harbour of Eziongeber to the Red Sea, which separates Palestine from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia, and proceeded along the coast to the Gulf which washes the shores of Southern Arabia, as far as the mouth of the Indus, in the land of Ophir (now called Scinde). After a period of two years, Solomon’s fleet returned richly laden with the proceeds of this first expedition. Vast droves of camels carried the treasures to Jerusalem, to the great astonishment of the whole population. More than four hundred talents (kikhar) of gold, silver in great quantities, ivory, ebony, apes, and exquisitely coloured peacocks, sandal-wood, and sweet-smelling plants were thus transported. Solomon caused a throne to be made of the ivory, and the sandal-wood was used for ornamenting the harps and lutes of the musicians who played in the temple. The palings of the bridge which led from the palace to the temple were also made of this rare and costly wood. Solomon sent his fleet several times to Ophir or India, and each time new riches and curiosities were brought into the country. The port Elath became a place of great importance. Judaeans settled there, and the land of Israel thus extended from the extreme end of the Red Sea to the Euphrates. In order to convey horses and chariots from Aramaea to the Euphrates, as also the various importations from Phoenicia, roads had to be made, and measures taken to ensure the safety of the caravans. In a mountainous country it is not easy for beasts of burden, and certainly not for horses and chariots, to traverse great distances, obstructed as the way is by steep cliffs, abrupt precipices, and masses of rolling stones. Solomon, however, had roads made which led from Jerusalem to the north; these were the king’s high-roads.

He probably employed the services of the Canaanite natives, who were obliged as bondmen to take part in this work. Heights were levelled, depths filled up, and stones removed. The roads were passable by carriages, which could proceed without hindrance from the south to the north, and the caravans passing from the Jordan to the sea could travel without difficulty. A chain of fortresses protected the roadways, and served as resting places. Besides these stations for riders and carriages, Solomon also founded towns for storing goods; these were also used to house grain for future years of scarcity.

Thus Solomon settled the affairs of Israel, and provided for its future security. He had no sharp-sighted counsellor, such as David had had in Ahithophel, to assist him in establishing order; his own wisdom was his sole counsellor. But he had to choose responsible officers, who would give effect to his instructions, and carry out the plans which he devised. The great extent of his state and his court demanded the establishment of new offices. For the better reception of strangers he had placed over his vast household a majordomo (al-hab-Baith). Ahishar was the name of this officer. The twelve officials who provided for the wants of the household were supervised by a chief whose name was Azariah-ben-Nathan. A high official, Adoniram, the son of Abda, was also placed (al-ham-Mas) over the many thousand bondmen who worked on the roads and in the fortresses. Thus three high posts were newly created by Solomon.

Its great extent and the riches which Solomon had amassed enabled the kingdom of Israel to hold its place amongst the greatest nations in the ancient world. Princes and nations who lived in strife with each other sought the aid of the ruler of this mighty dominion, and called upon him to act as arbitrator, for his wisdom was famed far and wide. The greatest blessing in Solomon’s reign was the peace and undisturbed quiet which obtained throughout the land. From Dan unto Beersheba the Israelites could peacefully enjoy their home, “everyone under his own vine and under his own fig-tree”.

The commercial treaties, the prosperity of the country, the security to life arising from the long peace maintained in Solomon’s reign, all contributed to attract the surrounding tribes of Moabites, Ammonites, Idumaeans, and even Egyptians to the country. It is probable, too, that the high religious culture of the Israelites, so superior to idolatry, and its splendid manifestation in the temple at Jerusalem influenced enlightened foreigners to seek shelter under the “wings of the God of Israel”. The country, the people, and the God of Israel acquired widespread renown in Solomon's time. The Israelitish mariners, who visited so many harbours, coast-lands, and marts, and the Israelitish merchants who entered into connections with foreign parts carried reports of their fatherland to the remotest climes and nations. The praise of the wise, mighty, and brilliant king Solomon resounded far and wide in his times. In the eyes of the world he elevated the name of the God whom he honoured, and to whose glory he had erected a magnificent temple. The Israelitish sailors and merchants unconsciously became the first messengers and pioneers of the religion of Israel among the idolatrous nations.

One day Jerusalem was surprised by an extraordinary embassy. A wise queen, from the spice-bearing land of Sabia (Sheba), which is situated on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea, came to visit Jerusalem. As she had heard so much of the great­ness of Solomon, and in praise of the God of Israel, she wished to see, with her own eyes, how much truth or falsehood lay in the reports which had come to her ears. She was received with marked attention by Solomon, and had many interviews with him. The queen (whom tradition calls Belkis) greatly admired his wisdom, and was much impressed by the temple which he had erected to God, and by the brilliancy of his court. It is said that she propounded enigmatic riddles to him in order to test his powers, and these he answered in a manner which excited her astonishment.

Solomon’s brilliant rule, however, became the source of a serious division between the tribes, which he had unavailingly striven to consolidate into one indissoluble whole. Notwithstanding that the temple formed a bond of union for the whole people, and that Solomon tried to abolish the tribal isolation which prevailed, he succeeded only in the case of Benjamin, which became more closely united with Judah. This was owing to the fact that the temple was built on Benjamite territory, and consequently several Benjamite families settled in the capital. Probably Solomon also preferred the tribe of Benjamin and his own ancestral tribe to the other tribes. The mutual dislike of the houses of Israel and Judah, or the northern and southern tribes, had not ceased. Among the northern tribes a deep sense of discontent prevailed against Solomon, de­spite the prosperity to which he had raised them; they resented the pressure put upon them to forward regular supplies for the court, and to perform compulsory service in the erection of public buildings. Their discontent was not expressed aloud, but it needed only an occasion for it to vent itself. Wise as Solomon was, he had not sufficient foresight to perceive that his faults were sure to weaken the future security of the state. Amongst the officials whom Solomon employed to supervise the buildings was an Ephraimite, who was clever, courageous and ambitious. This was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, from the town of Zereda or Zorathan, on the other side of the Jordan. He was the son of a widow; thus, free from paternal restraint, he could follow out his own impulses uncontrolled. Jeroboam had supervised the erection of the walls of Jerusalem, and had displayed great skill and firmness in managing the bondmen. Solomon was, in fact, so well pleased with him that he bestowed on him a high position in the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh. Here Jeroboam had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the discontent of the people, which was probably strongest amongst the ever-discontented Ephraimites. The popular feeling accorded well with his ambitious plans, and he decided to utilise it when a favourable opportunity should occur.

Solomon was guilty of the folly of permitting sacrificial altars to be built for various idols. It may have been his foreign wives who induced him to make this concession, or perhaps it was due to the foreigners, the Phoenicians and other races, who had taken up their residence in Jerusalem, and had received permission to worship their gods in the land of Israel according to their custom. However this may have been, altars were raised on the high northern point of the Mount of Olives, in honour of Astarte of the Zidonians, Milcom of the Ammonites, Chemosh of the Moabites, and other idols. The religious convictions of the nation were not so deeply rooted that the people could witness all kinds of idolatrous practices without falling into the errors of idol-worship themselves. A prophet, Ahijah of Shiloh, had the courage to reprimand the king, and to warn him of the danger which his conduct rendered imminent. Solomon, however, seems to have given little heed to his representations, and the prophet, indignant at the king’s obtuseness, deter­mined to use Jeroboam (whose ambitious schemes he had probably divined) as the instrument of Solomon’s destruction. When Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet approached him, seized his garment, tore it into twelve pieces, and handing him ten of them, he said, “Take these ten pieces; they portray the ten tribes which will separate themselves from the house of David, and recognise thee as their king”. Jeroboam wanted no further encouragement to mature his plans, since a prophet had commended them. He hurried to the territories of Ephraim, and called on the Ephraimites to separate themselves from the house of David. Meanwhile Solomon had received tidings of the event, and before the revolution could spread, he sent his guards to kill the rebel. Jeroboam then fled to Egypt, where a new dynasty now occupied the throne. Shishak (Sheshenk, Sesonchosis, 980-959) was the first king of the new line. Under his rule was severed the bond which had united Israel and Egypt since Solomon’s marriage with the Egyptian princess. Shishak in fact was inimical to the Israelitish nation, which had become more powerful than was agreeable to him. He therefore received Jeroboam with kindness, intending to use him against Solomon. Shishak also gave a friendly reception and protection to an Idumaean prince, who had special reasons for avenging himself on the Israelitish nation. Hadad (or Adad) was a relation of the Idumaean king whom David had conquered. He had, when a boy, escaped the massacre ordered by Joab in consequence of a revolution in Idumaea. When Shishak ascended the throne, the Idumaean prince hurried to Egypt, and was graciously received. Shishak gave him the queen’s sister in marriage, and his first-born son Genubath) grew up among the Egyptian princes. Hadad also acquired possessions in Egypt, and was honoured in every way; notwithstanding this, he yearned to return to Edom, and to regain the territories which had been snatched away from him. He car­ried this desire into effect with the aid of Shishak, who was fully aware that the warlike spirit which had obtained under David and Joab, had diminished under Solomon’s peaceful rule, and that petty warfare in the mountainous districts would be connected with little danger, while it might be productive of great benefit to himself. Hadad and the troops which he had mustered in Idumaea did great damage to Solomon’s caravans, which carried goods between the bay of Elath and the Israelitish boundaries; and Solomon’s warriors were powerless to prevent these attacks.

Unnoticed by Solomon, another cloud, which threatened Israel with destruction, was gathering in the north. Rezon (of Zobah), one of the servants of King Hadadezer, whom David had overthrown, had taken to flight after the defeat of his sovereign; he assembled a predatory troop, and made raids in the districts lying between the Euphrates and the northern ranges of the Lebanon. Rezon’s troops gradually increased in numbers, and with their numbers grew his courage and power. At last he ventured to proceed against the ancient city of Damascus. He succeeded in capturing it and in having himself chosen king. Advancing from the north, Rezon also committed hostilities against the Israelites and their allies, without any opposition on the part of Solomon, who either had a dislike of war, or had no troops available to ward off the attacks from the north and the south. Thus arose, from small beginnings, powers inimical to Israel, which might easily have been nipped in the bud. Besides this, an internal breach was in store for Israel.

Solomon, however, did not live to see the development of the impending evils and the decay of his kingdom. He died in peace at the age of about sixty years (in 977). His body was buried, no doubt with great pomp, in the rocky mausoleum of the kings which David had built on the south of Mount Zion. It was said later on that Solomon, as well as his father, had heaped up untold treasures and wealth in these vaults and cells, which were discovered many centuries after by the later Jewish kings.

Although Solomon had numerous wives, it appears that he left but few children, a son named Rehoboam and two daughters, Taphath and Basmath, whom their father married to two of his officers. Posterity, which has greatly exaggerated Solomon’s wisdom and ability, has also attributed to him power over mystic spirits and demons, who, obeying his will, could be invoked or dismissed as he chose. Even a ring on which his name was engraven was supposed to exercise a mighty spell over the demons, and keep them in subjection.

The power to which Solomon had elevated Israel resembled that of a magic world built up by spirits. The spell was broken at his death.