2 Samuel · Chapter 1

1-4. Over the Jebusites and Philistines, chap. 5. In the bringing up of the ark, chap. 6, 7. Over the neighbouring nations, chap. 8-10. II. His troubles; the cause of them, his sin in the matter of Uriah, chap. 11-12. The troubles themselves, from the sin of Amnon, chap. 13. The rebellion of Absolom, chap. 14-19. And of Sheba, chap. 20. From the famine, chap.

21. And the pestilence, for his numbering the people, chap. 24. His song we have, chap. 22. And his words and worthies, chap. 23. In many instances throughout this book, he appears as a great and a good man. Yet it must be confessed he had great vices: So that his honour shines brighter in his psalms than in his annals.

CHAPTER 1.

David receives an account of the death of Saul and Jonathan, ver. 1-10. He mourns over them, ver. 11, 12. Puts the man to death, who boasted he had killed Saul, ver. 13-16. His elegy upon Saul and Jonathan, ver. 17-27. V. 1. Ziklag-Which though burnt, yet was not so consumed by the fire, that David and his men could not lodge in it.

Verses 1, 2. David had abode two days in Ziklag — Which, it appears from this, the Amalekites had not so burned down that David and his men could not lodge in it. On the third day — From David’s return to Ziklag. With his clothes rent — As the manner of deep mourners was.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

V. 2. Third day-From David’s return to Ziklag. With his clothes rent, &c.-As a mourner.

Verse 2. A man came out of the camp] The whole account which this young man gives is a fabrication: in many of the particulars it is grossly self-contradictory. There is no fact in the case but the bringing of the crown, or diadem, and bracelets of Saul; which, as he appears to have been a plunderer of the slain, he found on the field of battle; and he brought them to David, and told the lie of having despatched Saul, merely to ingratiate himself with David.

Verses 1, 2. David had abode two days in Ziklag — Which, it appears from this, the Amalekites had not so burned down that David and his men could not lodge in it. On the third day — From David’s return to Ziklag. With his clothes rent — As the manner of deep mourners was.

2. His clothes rent — See on 1 Samuel 4:12, and references. Fell to the earth — Thus showing David the profoundest reverence. All his object evidently was to ingratiate himself with the person who, he supposed, would succeed Saul in the kingdom. See further in note on verse 6.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

4. The people are fled — This announcement of the bitter tidings is climacteric, like that of 1 Samuel 4:17, where see note.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verse 6. Behold, Saul leaned upon his spear — Endeavouring to run it through his body. It is plain, that what this Amalekite told David was a made story; for it is expressly said, in the foregoing chapter, that Saul fell upon his sword. Who this Amalekite was does not appear; but, as Delaney observes, there are always a great number of strollers that follow camps, and this lad probably was one of them. Their business is pillage and stripping the dead. This youth, it seems, knew his business, and got the start of the Philistines in the pillage of Saul. Having met with his body, he robbed it of its royal ornaments, and made the best of his way to David with them, in order to ingratiate himself with him, as he was likely to succeed to the throne: and he made up a story of such circumstances as he imagined would appear plausible, and gain David’s favour.

Verse 6. Mount Gilboa, two miles from mount Tabor. The battle was fought near the place where Barak fought with Sisera.

6. As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa — The account of Saul’s death here given is largely a fabrication of this Amalekite. The true account is given in the last chapter of the preceding book, and wherein the two accounts differ, that is to be regarded as right and this wrong. This is a much more natural supposition than that the compiler found two contradictory documents, and, not knowing which to prefer, inserted both! The messenger expected that David would be greatly pleased to hear of Saul’s death, and to receive the crown and bracelets of his enemy, and that he would honour the man by whose hand that enemy had fallen.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verse 8. I am an Amalekite.] Dr. Delaney remarks that an Amalekite took that crown from off the head of Saul, which he had forfeited by his disobedience in the case of Amalek.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verse 9. For anguish is come upon me — The Hebrew word xbv shabats, here rendered anguish, seems to be wrongly translated in this place. It is rendered ocellata chlamys, by Buxtorf, a wrought, embroidered, or speckled coat of mail: a translation which is countenanced by Exodus 28:4, and Psalm 14:14, where words of the same derivation are rendered broidered coat and raiment of needle-work. The sense of the sentence seems to be, my coat of mail hinders the spear from entering far enough to produce instant death, though my wound is mortal. Thus it is understood by many interpreters. This Amalekite pretended therefore that Saul desired him to draw out the spear from his wound, and to run it through his body with force where the coat of mail would give it a passage.

9. Anguish is come upon me — The margin, following the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius, reads: My coat of mail, or, My embroidered coat hindereth me. Septuagint: A fearful darkness has taken hold of me. Others render xbv, a spasm or cramp. The root xbv means to interweave, and its derivative, as here applied to Saul’s difficulty, most probably means confusion, perplexity of mind. Thus the meaning is, Confusion or bewilderment has seized upon me.

Verse 10. The crown-and the bracelet] The crown was probably no more than a royal fillet or diadem, both being the ensigns of royalty. It is sometimes customary in the East for a sovereign prince to give a crown and bracelets, when investing others with dominion or authority over certain provinces. Had Saul these in token of his being God’s vicegerent, and that he held the kingdom from him alone?

Verse 10. So I stood upon him and slew him — Saul, according to the true history, was afraid of being slain by the uncircumcised: and how was the matter mended by desiring to die by the hand of an Amalekite? And I took the crown that was upon his head — “Possibly the serious reader,” says Delaney, “may not think it an observation altogether unworthy of his regard, that an Amalekite now took the crown from Saul’s head, which he had forfeited by his disobedience in relation to Amalek.”

Ver. 10. The crown—and the bracelet. A true mercenary soldier. He first killed, and then plundered his sovereign for a reward. Some say he was son of Doeg the Edomite, who was of Amalek’s race, but is called an Idumean, because he had lived among Esau’s race. David in one week, after being rejected by the lords of Philistia, was made king. Happy reverse of exile for glory.

10. I took the crown — By his disobedience in not smiting the Amalekites, Saul forfeited his crown and his kingdom, and now, behold, that crown is taken from his head by the hand of an Amalekite and transmitted to the man he hated and sought to destroy! Bracelet — Or armlet, an ornament for the arm or wrist.

11. David took hold on his clothes, and rent them — The sign of most bitter humiliation and grief. See references. Likewise all the men — David’s anguish was contagious, so that all his attendants caught the spirit of his sorrow, and wept with him.

Verse 12. They mourned and wept, and fasted — This is an evident instance of the disinterestedness and tenderness of David’s heart, in that he could not forbear bewailing this melancholy end of Saul, though he was his bitter enemy, and sought his life.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verses 13, 14. The son of a stranger — This expression signifies one who resided among the Israelites, and had embraced their religion, though not admitted into their communion. David said, How wast thou not afraid to destroy the Lord’s anointed? — Who possibly might have recovered, and been carried off by some of his own men; the Philistines, by some extraordinary providence of God, being diverted from the pursuit. It was the greater presumption in this young man to do it, since none of Saul’s own servants durst venture upon such an act.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verses 13, 14. The son of a stranger — This expression signifies one who resided among the Israelites, and had embraced their religion, though not admitted into their communion. David said, How wast thou not afraid to destroy the Lord’s anointed? — Who possibly might have recovered, and been carried off by some of his own men; the Philistines, by some extraordinary providence of God, being diverted from the pursuit. It was the greater presumption in this young man to do it, since none of Saul’s own servants durst venture upon such an act.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verse 15. He smote him that he died — Abarbinel thinks that, as the man was an Amalekite, David supposed that he had killed Saul out of revenge for the slaughter he had made of the Amalekites. But, if not; if the fact were as this Amalekite stated, and Saul bid him despatch him, “David rightly judged, that Saul had no power over his own life; and, consequently, should not have been obeyed in such a command: God and the state had as much right to his life when he was weary of it as when he most loved it. And, besides all this, it behooved David to vindicate his own innocence to the world, by so public an execution: he might otherwise, perhaps, have been branded with the guilt of employing that wretch to murder his persecutor. David also, doubtless, had it in view to deter others by this example. He consulted his own safety in this, as Cesar is said, by restoring the statues of Pompey, to have fixed his own. This was a wise lecture to princes, and many of them have unquestionably profited by it.” — Delaney.

DAVID HEARS OF THE DEATH OF SAUL AND OF JONATHAN, 1-16.

As soon as the results of the fearful battle of Gilboa became known, great must have been the excitement through all the land of Israel. Saul’s partisans and all his loyal subjects must have felt the spell of mingled alarm and grief, and even the bitterest malcontents must have been ill at ease when they learned that the whole army of Israel was demoralized and put to flight by the Philistines. In this chapter we learn with what anguish David’s loyal heart received the bitter tidings.

1. Two days in Ziklag — The town had not been so utterly destroyed (see 1 Samuel 30:1) that it was impracticable still to abide there.

Verse 16. Thy blood be upon thy head] If he killed Saul, as he said he did, then he deserved death; at that time it was not known to the contrary, and this man was executed on his own confession.

16. Thy blood be upon thy head — Thy infamous deed of slaying the king can be atoned for only by the immediate shedding of thine own blood. Thy mouth hath testified against thee — David regarded an offence against the person of the king as most execrable sacrilege, and therefore, to his mind, a man who gloried in slaying the Lord’s anointed deserved death.

Verse 17. David lamented] See this lamentation, and the notes on it at the end of this chapter. See Clarke “2 Samuel 1:21”.

Verse 17. David lamented with this lamentation — He and his servants had lamented over Saul and Jonathan before, verse 12. But now he composed a song for a public and universal lamentation, than which there is nothing more elegant and passionate to be found in all antiquity. The bursts of sorrow are so strong, so pathetic, so short, so various, so unconnected, that no grief was ever painted in such living and lasting colours. And it is one sure sign and beautiful effect of this sorrow, that David’s heart was so softened and melted by it as to lose all traces of Saul’s cruelty to him. He remembered nothing now but the brave man, the valiant leader, the magnificent prince, the king of God’s appointment, his own once indulgent master, his Michal’s and his Jonathan’s father. In the mean time there are the utmost decency and propriety in the concern which David discovers, and in the encomiums respectively passed on Saul and Jonathan; nothing but what became the character of both, and suited the situation of him who penned it. Saul he celebrates for his former victories, his swiftness, and strength, and sheds a tear over him for his defeat, and the indignities which were offered to him after his death; which humanity would draw from the eye, even over an enemy that was otherwise brave, and died fighting for his country; but without the least expression of sorrow for him on his own account; and, what deserves to be mentioned to his honour, without a single reflection upon his past injustice and cruelty toward himself. But as to Jonathan, how just and warm is the grief he manifests! I am distressed for thee, &c. — Delaney and Chandler.

DAVID’S LAMENTATION OVER SAUL AND JONATHAN, 17-27.

17. This lamentation, which evidently sprang from deep and sanctified emotions, is an elegy of surpassing tenderness, and one of the most beautiful odes of the Old Testament. The fallen power and beauty of Israel, as represented by the king and his noble-hearted son, is the poet’s theme, and though that king had burned with a deadly fury towards David, chased him like a partridge in the mountains, and sought his life in many ways, not the slightest trace of resentment or cherished passion, not the most distant allusion to the persecutions which he had suffered from him, appear in all this tender song. It is the pure lamentation of a loving heart that has forgiven and forgotten the injuries of the past, and knows no other feeling than that of profoundest sympathy and sorrow for the heroic dead. “It is almost impossible,” says Dr. Clarke, “to read the noble original without feeling every word swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob. A heart pregnant with distress, and striving to utter expressions descriptive of its feelings, which are repeatedly interrupted by an excess of grief, is most sensibly painted throughout the whole.” We give, as usual in our notes on poetical passages, a new and literal version, in which the order and idiom of the Hebrew original is, as far as possible, exhibited.

V. 18. Judah-These he more particularly teacheth, because they were the chief, and now the royal tribe, and likely to be the great bulwark to all Israel against the Philistines, upon whose land they bordered; and withal, to be the most true to him, and to his interest. The bow-That is, of their arms, expressed, under the name of the bow, which then was one of the chief weapons; and for the dextrous use whereof Jonathan is commended in the following song: which may be one reason, why he now gives forth this order, that so they might strive to imitate Jonathan in military skill, and to excel in it, as he did. Jasher-It is more largely and particularly described in the book of Jasher.

Verse 18. The use of the bow] The use of is not in the Hebrew; it is simply the bow, that is, a song thus entitled. See the observations at the end. See Clarke “2 Samuel 1:21”.

Verse 18. And bade them teach the children of Judah — Among whom he now was, and over whom he first reigned; the use of the bow — While he made lamentation for the dead, he did not neglect the living: that they might be provided with better means to defend themselves, as the king designed of God to reign over them, he ordered that they should immediately learn to be skilful in the use of bows and arrows, by which principally the Philistines had gained this victory. The Israelites seem hitherto to have chiefly used slings, spears, and swords; but were now taught to shoot with bows and arrows. As, however, the words, the use of, are not in the original, but literally translated it is, He bade them teach the children of Judah the bow; many learned men are of opinion that it was not the use of the bow, which they were to learn, but this song of David, termed The Bow. There does not appear, however, to be any proof that this song bore any such title, nor is any sufficient reason given why it should bear any such. It seems much more probable, for the reason just named, that our translators have given us the true interpretation of the passage. Behold it is written in the book of Jasher — That David enjoined the use of the bow to be taught. It is more largely and particularly described there. Or, if The Bow meant this song, the sense is, that the song was recorded in that book, which some think to have been a book of odes and hymns, in which were recited the successes or misfortunes of the Israelites in battle.

Ver. 18. Teach—the use of the bow. David’s men had learned this part of the art of war in Philistia. The Greeks used the spear, but threw missile weapons against a column advancing to the charge. The Romans had short heavy swords, with shields on their left arm. Though this was not the best armour in the onset, it was far the best at close quarters. The bow was terrible against an advancing foe, and on the flanks, as the Greeks experienced to their sorrow on the plains of Troy; and it was terrible on a routed army, as now on Gilboa, and when Ahab fell. Bows were made by our ancient kings, of yew trees and strings of catgut. But what has military exercises to do in the midst of a sublime elegy? Saul fell by the bow: “the archers hit him.” 1 Samuel 31:3. Hence the Alexandrine Greek regards BOW as the title of the elegy, and reads, “David enjoined them to teach it [the song entitled the Bow] to the children of Judah.” Its celebrity gained its admission into the book of Jasher; that is, the book of the Just. It is understood to have been a collection of national odes, celebrating the grand achievements of the nation; its calamities and its deliverances, sometimes by miracles, and sometimes by valiant men. Some of those odes and hymns were written by inspired men; but others had not so high a claim. Hence this book sustained a high reputation; and it is worthily quoted in the sacred text. The latter part of this verse should have stood at the head of the elegy, being the authority cited here. The Voluspa; the Edda; and the Ossian, are of like character with the Jasher of the Hebrews.

18. Teach the children of Judah the use of the bow — Because, say some of the older interpreters, the chiefs of Israel had fallen by the arrows of the enemy, therefore David thought it necessary that the warriors of Judah should also become skilled in archery. This interpretation our translators have countenanced by adding the words the use of, which are not in the original. But the Israelites were already skilled in the use of the bow, and in verse 22 the poet celebrates the fearful power of the bow of Jonathan. The word Bow is therefore to be regarded as the title of this elegy. The second chapter of the Koran is entitled THE COW, because it contains the words, “God commands you to sacrifice a cow.” So this dirge is called THE BOW from the mention in verse 22 of the bow of Jonathan. This title would tenderly remind David of that affectionate interview with Jonathan when the latter shot from his bow the arrows that were to warn him of his danger. 1 Samuel 20:20, 36. Compare, also, the titles to some of the Psalms. (Psalm 23; 45.) David commanded his own tribe to learn to sing this mournful strain in order to show that they had no hardness and jealousy towards Benjamin, the tribe of Saul. At a later time all the singing men and singing women were required to learn Jeremiah’s lamentation over the good Josiah. 2 Chronicles 35:25. Book of Jasher — A book of national songs; a Hebrew anthology. It was probably a compilation begun early in the history of Israel, enlarged by additions at later periods. Like several other ancient works quoted by writers of the Old Testament, this book is now lost. See on Joshua 10:13. “In a fighting age the bard stands in the same relation to civilization as the newspaper of the present day. He was the organ of intelligence, the bearer of news, the representative of the ideas of his times. When men take to reading, the bard becomes a plaything. He may beguile the long hours of a winter evening, or increase the pleasures of a feast, but no more. In early times he was the educator also. His days, as sung by himself, and repeated from mouth to mouth, formed the minds of his countrymen. The song, the ballad, these were the intellectual food of the people. Of such ballads probably consisted the book of Jasher, and the book of the wars of Jehovah, mentioned in the Bible.” — SMITH’S Bampton Lecture for 1869.

V. 19. Beauty-Their flower and glory. Saul and Jonathan, and their army. High places-Heb. upon thy high places; that is, those which belong to thee, O land of Israel. How-How strangely! How suddenly! How universally!

Verse 19. The beauty of Israel — Hebrew, ybxh, hatsebi; the honour, glory, flower, or ornament, meaning Saul and Jonathan, and their army. Delaney understands the expression only of Jonathan, and observes, as Jonathan’s death touched him nearest, it was natural he should be the first object of his lamentation; and, to put it out of all doubt that Jonathan is meant, he varies the expression in a subsequent verse — Jonathan slain in thy high places! The word rendered slain, llj, chalal, properly means stabbed, and does not appear anywhere to bear the sense that Dr. Kennicott would put upon it, who would understand it as a noun, and not as a participle, and translate it a warrior. How moving a circumstance is this here noticed! Jonathan’s falling on his own high places! those in which he might naturally have expected safety; those in which he delighted; those in which he had long enjoyed peace and pleasure. Or thine, O land of Israel. How are the mighty fallen — How untimely and lamentably Jonathan! How sadly and shamefully Saul by his own hand! How strangely! how unexpectedly! how universally the army! This solemn, noble, and pathetic exclamation of sorrow was probably repeated at the close of every verse of this mournful song.

19. Gazelle — The word ybx primarily means ornament, beauty, and is so rendered by the common version and most interpreters. But it also Signifies in many places a gazelle, or antelope, one of the fleetest and most beautiful of eastern animals. We prefer this rendering here because of its appropriateness and beauty. The allusion is to Jonathan, not to both Saul and Jonathan. This is seen in verse 25, where, instead of gazelle of Israel, we have the name Jonathan. Hence the mistake of those who urge that mighty ones of one member of the parallelism must be equivalent to the corresponding word of the other. Thy mountains — The mountains of the gazelle. The image is that of a fleet and beautiful animal pierced with arrows, and dead upon its own native heights.

V. 20. Tell it not-This is not a precept, but a poetical wish; whereby he doth not so much desire, that this might not be done, which he knew to be impossible; as, express his great sorrow, because it would be done, to the dishonour of God, and of his people. The daughters-He mentions these, because it was the custom of women in those times and places to celebrate those victories which their men obtained, with triumphant songs and dances.

Verse 20. Tell it not in Gath, &c. — Such a lamentable misfortune and disgrace, David would, if possible, have concealed from all the enemies of Israel. And he finely insinuates in these words what matter of triumph it would be to the Philistines, and seems scarce able to bear the thought of it, especially as it would be greatly to the dishonour both of God and his people. Lest the daughters, &c. — He mentions these, because it was the custom of women in those times and places to celebrate with triumphal songs and dances those victories which their men obtained.

Ver. 20. Tell it not in Gath, lest the virgin choir should celebrate their fall in songs of triumph.

20. Tell it not — For bitterly humiliating would it be to have the women of Philistia celebrate with singing and dancing and instrumental music (comp. 1 Samuel 18:6) this victory over Israel.

V. 21. Let there be, &c.-This is no proper imprecation; but a passionate representation of the horror which he conceived at this publick loss; which was such, as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it, were fit to bear the tokens of divine displeasure, such as this is, when the earth wants the necessary influences of dew and rain. Fields of offerings-That is, fruitful fields, which may produce fair and goodly fruits fit to be offered to God. Vilely-Dishonourably: for it was a great reproach to any soldier, to cast away or lose his shield. Cast away-By themselves, that they might flee more swiftly as the Israelites did, and Saul with the rest. As though, &c.-As if he had been no more, than a common soldier: he was exposed to the same kind of death and reproach as they were.

Verse 21. As though he had not been] In stead of ylb beli, NOT, I read ylk keley, INSTRUMENTS.

Anointed with oil.] See the observations at the end. 2 Samuel 1:18, &c.: He bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, tvq kasheth.

The word kasheth is to be understood of the title of the song which immediately follows, and not of the use of the bow, as our translation intimates.

Many of David’s Psalms have titles prefixed to them; some are termed Shosannim, some Maschil, Nehiloth, Neginoth, &c., and this one here, Kadesh or The Bow, because it was occasioned by the Philistine archers. 1 Samuel 31:3: “And the archers hit him.”

But especially respecting the bow of Jonathan, “which returned not back from the blood of the slain,” as the song itself expresses. And David could not but remember the bow of Jonathan, out of which “the arrow was shot beyond the lad,” 1 Samuel 20:36. It was the time when that covenant was made, and that affection expressed between them “which was greater than the love of women.”

On these accounts the song was entitled Kasheth, or The song of the Bow, and David commanded the chief musicians, Ethan, Heman, and Jeduthun, to teach the children of Judah to sing it.

“It is written in the book of Jasher.” Sept., epi bibliou tou euqouv, “in the book of the upright.”

atyrwad arps siphra deoraitha, “The book of the Law.”-Jonathan. The Arabic says, “Behold it is written in the book of Ashee; this is the book of Samuel;” the interpretation of which is, “book of songs or canticles.”

This lamentation is justly admired as a picture of distress the most tender and the most striking; unequally divided by grief into longer and shorter breaks, as nature could pour them forth from a mind interrupted by the alternate recurrence of the most lively images of love and greatness. His reverence for Saul and his love for Jonathan have their strongest colourings; but their greatness and bravery come full upon him, and are expressed with peculiar energy.

Being himself a warrior, it is in that character he sees their greatest excellence; and though his imagination hurries from one point of recollection to another, yet we hear him-at first, at last, everywhere-lamenting, How are the mighty fallen!

It is almost impossible to read the noble original without finding every word swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob. A heart pregnant with distress, and striving to utter expressions descriptive of its feelings, which are repeatedly interrupted by an excess of grief, is most sensibly painted throughout the whole. Even an English reader may be convinced of this, from the following specimen in European characters:—

19. Hatstsebi Yishrael al bamotheycha chalal;

Eych naphelu gibborim;

20. Al taggidu begath,

Al tebasseru bechutsoth Ashkelon;

Pen tismachnah benoth Pelishtim,

Pen taalozenah benoth haarelim.

21. Harey baggilboa al tal,

Veal matar aleychem usedey terumoth;

Ki sham nigal magen Gibborim.

Magen Shaul keley Mashiach bashshamen!

22. Middam chalalim, mecheleb gibborim,

Kesheth Yehonathan lo nashog achor;

Vechereb Shaul lo thashub reykam.

23. Shaul Vihonathan,

Hannee habim vehanneimim bechaiyeyhem,

Ubemotham lo niphradu.

Minnesharim kallu, mearayoth gaberu!

24. Benoth Yishrael el Shaul becheynah;

Hammalbishchem shani im adanim,

Hammaaleh adi zahab al lebushechen.

25. Eych naphelu gibborim bethoch hammilchamah!

Yehonathan al bamotheycha chalal!

26. Tsar li aleycha achi

Yehonathan, naamta li meod

Niphleathah ahabathecha li meahabath nashim!

27. Eych naphelu gibborim,

Vaiyobedu keley milchamah!

The three last verses in this sublime lamentation have sense and sound so connected as to strike every reader.

Dr. Kennicott, from whom I have taken several of the preceding remarks, gives a fine Latin version of this song, which I here subjoin:— O decus Israelis, super excelsa tua MILES!

Quomodo ceciderunt FORTES!

Nolite indicare in Gatho,

Nolite indicare in plateis Ascalonis:

Ne lætentur filiæ Philistæorum,

Ne exultent filiæ incircumcisorum.

Montes Gilboani super vos

Nec ros, nec pluvia, neque agri primitiarum;

Ibi enim abjectus fuit clypeus fortium.

Clypeus Saulis, arma inuncti olec!

Sine sanguine MILITUM,

Sine adipe FORTIUM.

Arcus Jonathanis non retrocesserat;

Gladiusque Saulis non redierat incassum.

Saul et Jonathan

Amabiles erant et jucundi in vitis suis,

Et in morte sua non separati.

Præ aquilis veloces!

Præ leonibus fortes!

Filiæ Israelis deflete Saulem;

Qui coccino cum deliciis vos vestivit,

Qui vestibus vestris ornamenta imposuit aurea!

Quomodo ceciderunt FORTES, in medio belli!

O Jonathan, super excelsa tua MILES!

Versor in angustiis, tui causa,

Frater mi, Jonathan!

Mihi fuisti admodum jucundus!

Mihi tuus amor admodum mirabilis,

Mulierum exuperans amorem!

Quomodo ceciderunt fortes,

Et perierunt arma belli!

DISSERTATION I., p. 122.

In verse 21 I have inserted ylk keley for ylb beli. Dr. Delaney rightly observes that the particle ylb beli is not used in any part of the Bible in the sense of quasi non, as though not, in which sense it must be used here if it be retained as a genuine reading: The shield of Saul as though it had not been anointed with oil.

In a MS. written about the year 1200, numbered 30 in Kennicott’s Bible, ylk keley is found; and also in the first edition of the whole Hebrew Bible, printed Soncini 1488. Neither the Syriac nor Arabic versions, nor the Chaldee paraphrase, acknowledge the negative particle ylb beli, which they would have done had it been in the copies from which they translated. It was easy to make the mistake, as there is such a similarity between b beth and k caph; the line therefore should be read thus: The shield of Saul, weapons anointed with oil.

In verse 22 gwvn nashog, to obtain, attain, seems to have been written for gwsn nasog, to recede, return. The former destroys the sense, the latter, which our translation has followed, and which is supported by the authority of 30 MSS., makes it not only intelligible but beautiful. In verses 19, 22, and 25, חלל and חללים chalal and chalalim occur, which we translate the SLAIN, but which Dr. Kennicott, I think from good authority, renders soldier and soldiers; and thus the version is made more consistent and beautiful. llj chalal signifies to bore or pierce through; and this epithet might be well given to a soldier, q.d., the PIERCER, because his business is to transfix or pierce his enemies with sword, spear, and arrows.

If it be translated soldiers in the several places of the Old Testament, where we translate it SLAIN or WOUNDED, the sense will be much mended; see Judges 20:31, 39; Psalm 89:11; Proverbs 7:26; Jeremiah 51:4, 47, 49; Ezekiel 11:6, 7; 21:14. In several others it retains its radical signification of piercing, wounding, &c.

AFTER these general observations I leave the particular beauties of this inimitable song to be sought out by the intelligent reader. Much has been written upon this, which cannot, consistently with the plan of these notes, be admitted here. See Delaney, Kennicott, Lowth, &c.; and, above all, let the reader examine the Hebrew text.

II SAMUEL

Verse 21. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, &c. — This is not an imprecation, but a passionate expression of the sorrow and horror which he felt at this public disgrace and loss, which were such as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it ought to bear tokens of the divine displeasure, such as the earth does when it is deprived of the influence of dew and rain. Nor fields of offerings — That is, fertile fields, which may produce fair and goodly fruits fit to be offered to God. For there the shield of the mighty is vilely (that is, dishonourably) cast away — “Throwing away the shield was a matter of the highest reproach in all the accounts of antiquity. And this in the practice of so brave a prince as Saul was an example of terrible consequence, and therefore must not go unreproved, especially in a song which soldiers were to learn. David could not censure Saul; he was his prince and his enemy; the infamy, however, must fall somewhere; let the place in which it happened be accursed. Poetry justifies this, and we need not scruple to say, it is the most masterly stroke the science will admit. And with what inimitable address has he conducted this reproach! For at the same time that the mountains are cursed for it, he hath contrived to turn it into praise upon Saul: There the shield of the mighty was cast away; no hint by whom.”

Ver. 21. As though he had not been anointed. Many MSS. and Versions read, The shield of Saul—instruments anointed with oil.

21. Mountains in Gilboa — “Even nature is to join in the mourning. May God withdraw his blessing from the mountains upon which the heroes have fallen, that they may not be moistened by the dew and rain of heaven, but, remaining in eternal barrenness, be memorials of the horrible occurrence that has taken place upon them!” — Keil. Fields of offerings — Fertile fields, producing the best and most suitable fruits for offering in sacrifice to God. Vilely cast away the shield — Ingloriously and with abhorrence cast away by the mighty heroes themselves upon realizing that it no longer defends them from the arrows of the enemy. Not anointed with oil — It is difficult to determine whether this refers to Saul or his shield. The English version, after the Vulgate, supplies the words as though, and refers it to Saul. It favours this interpretation that the word jyvm is always elsewhere applied to persons, never to things. The Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic omit the negative particle, and read: The shield of Saul who was anointed with oil. But these versions evidently aimed to correct the Hebrew text. Some have thought to read ylk, instruments, for ylb, not, but this is mere conjecture. Others refer the epithet to the shield, and understand that Saul had not properly anointed his shield previous to the battle. Compare Isaiah 21:5. Keil, on the other hand, supposes that the shield had not after the battle been polished with oil, so that the marks of Saul’s blood still adhered to it. We prefer, however, to refer the word anointed to Saul, and understand David as implying that after the shield was vilely cast away, and Saul himself was ignobly fallen, he could no longer be regarded as the anointed of Jehovah. Thus: The shield of Saul, (who, after his inglorious fall, is) not (now the) anointed with oil. Comp. Isaiah 51:21. “Thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine.”

V. 22. Not back-Without effect: their arrows shot from their bow, and their swords did seldom miss, and commonly pierced fat, and flesh, and blood, and reached even to the heart and bowels. Returned not, &c.-But filled and glutted with blood: for the sword is metaphorically said to have a mouth, which we translate an edge; and to devour. And this their former successfulness is mentioned as an aggravation of their last infelicity.

Verse 22. The bow of Jonathan returned not back — Without effect. The arrows shot from his bow did not miss their mark, but pierced deep into the fat and flesh, the heart and bowels, and shed the blood of the mighty. The sword of Saul returned not empty — Always did great execution (as we now speak) upon those with whom he fought.

22. Turned not back — This verse celebrates the heroism and unusual success of the mighty dead as warriors.

V. 23. Lovely-Amiable, and obliging in their carriage and conversation, both towards one another, and towards their people: for, as for Saul’s fierce behaviour towards Jonathan, it was only a sudden passion, by which his ordinary temper was not to be measured; and for his carriage towards David, that was from that jealousy and reason of state which usually engageth even well-natured princes, to the same hostilities. But it is observable, that David speaks not a word here of his piety; but only commends him for those things which were truly in him. A fit pattern for all preachers in their funeral commendations. Swifter, &c.-Expeditious in pursuing their enemies, and executing their designs; which is a great commendation in a prince, and in a soldier. Stronger, &c.-In regard of their bodily strength, and the courage of their mind.

Verse 23. Saul and Jonathan were lovely — Hebrew, µybhanh, hanneehabim, were loved, namely, by each other, and by the people. And pleasant in their lives — Amiable and obliging in their carriage and conversation, both toward one another and toward others: for, as for Saul’s fierce behaviour toward Jonathan, it was only a sudden passion, by which his ordinary temper was not to be measured; and as for his carriage toward David, it proceeded from that jealousy, and those reasons of state, which too often engage even well-natured princes in similar hostilities. And in their death they were not divided — They were united in life and death; in life by the same common affection; in death by the same common fate. This is just what David intends to express. He does not, by any means, appear to design a commendation of their lives in any other respect. Nor does he speak, a word of Saul’s piety; he only commends him for those qualities which he really possessed; a fit pattern for all preachers in their funeral commendations. Dr. Lowth has beautifully expressed David’s meaning: —

“Nobile par, quos junxit, amor, quos gloria junxit,

Una nunc fato jungit acerba dies.”

We will not attempt to give our readers a translation of this elegant couplet, but we will present them below with a paraphrase not inferior, perhaps, in elegance or spirit, on this and two or three of the other stanzas of this elegy, from a poetical version of it by Thomas Roberts, Esq., late of Bristol, with which he has kindly favoured us, and in which both the beauty and force of the original seem to be well imitated. We wish the narrow limits of our work would admit of our inserting the whole. They were swifter than eagles — In pursuing their enemies, and executing their designs: which is a great commendation in a prince, and a requisite quality in a warrior. They were stronger than lions — Or, rather, more courageous than lions. According to Agur’s observation, Proverbs 30:30, the lion never betakes himself to flight, but faces his foe to the last. Courage then seems the most remarkable property of the lion. And since David uses the same word here in speaking of Saul and Jonathan which Agur uses in speaking of this property of the lion, he evidently means to celebrate the courage of his heroes rather than their strength; and to say that, in facing the enemy and braving of danger, they were undaunted as lions.

23. Beloved and pleasant in their lives — Jonathan was eminently so, and though Saul in his madness had even threatened his son’s life, (1 Samuel 20:33,) and sought for successive years to destroy David, yet David’s tender heart seems to forget all the injuries of the past, and celebrates only the virtues of his fallen enemy. Saul’s love for his son Jonathan was exceedingly strong, as may be seen from such passages as 1 Samuel 14:39; 19:6; 20:2; and while Jonathan’s love for David was wonderful, it was so much stronger for his father that he cast in his lot with the sinking fortunes of the latter, rather than with the growing greatness of his friend David. Swifter than eagles — Fleetness of foot was an admired qualification of a warrior. 2 Samuel 2:8. The mightiest hero of Greece was the “swift-footed Achilles.”

V. 24. Daughters-These he mentions; because the women then used to make songs both of triumph, and of lamentation, and, because they usually are most delighted with the ornaments of the body here following. Clothed you-This he did, because he procured them so much peace as gave them opportunity of enriching themselves: and, because he took these things as spoils from the enemies, and clothed his own people with them.

Verse 24. Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep over Saul — “Nothing,” says Dr. Dodd, “can be more elegant than this verse: while the warriors of Israel lamented their chiefs, the divine poet calls upon the women of the land to shed their tears over the ashes of princes, whose warlike exploits had so often procured them those ornaments which are most pleasing to the sex, and had enriched them with the spoils of their enemies.” Who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights — The word other seems to be unnecessarily supplied here by our translators, there being nothing for it in the Hebrew, which, literally rendered, is, Who clothed you in scarlet with delights; that is, in scarlet, wherewith you are so much delighted. For this seems to have been the colour in which the Israelitish women delighted.

24. Daughters… who clothed you in scarlet — “The idea is, that under Saul the land had attained to such a degree of wealth that elegance and splendour of dress were within the reach of all. Scarlet was the favourite colour of the wealthy and noble. Proverbs 31:21; Lamentations 4:5; Daniel 5:7, 16, 29. This appeal to the instinctive taste of the sex well comports with the general character of oriental females; Compare Judges 5:28-30.” — Robinson. With delights — With other delightful things of a similar nature to scarlet-coloured clothing.

V. 25. Thine-Which were in thy country, and (had not thy father disinherited thee by his sins) in thy dominions.

Verses 25-27. O Jonathan, slain in thy high places — He says thy, for they were in Jonathan’s country; and, had not his father disinherited him by his sins, in his dominions. Thus David’s grief, which began with Jonathan, naturally ends with him. It is well known that we lament ourselves in the loss of our friends; and David was no way solicitous to conceal this circumstance. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan — In the former part of this lamentation David celebrates Jonathan as a brave man, in the latter he laments him as a friend. And in this respect he had certainly as great obligations to him as ever man had to another. For, as he here observes, Jonathan’s love to him was indeed wonderful, passing the love of women. And the weapons of war perished — All military glory gone from Israel! “It may be the work of fancy in me,” says Dr. Delaney, “but to me, I own, this last stanza is the strongest picture of grief I ever perused. To my ear every line in it is either swelled with sighs, or broken with sobs. The judicious reader will find a break in the first line of it, very probably so left in the original, the writer not being able to find an epithet for Jonathan answering to the idea of his distress.” Our translators have supplied the interjection O! O Jonathan, stabbed in thy high places! “To conclude: Few have ever perused this lamentation with so little attention as not to perceive it evidently animated with a spirit truly martial and magnanimous! It is the lamentation of a brave man over brave men. It is, in one word, a lamentation equally pathetic and heroic. To this may be added, it is not less generous. For in the most noble spirit David passes over in entire silence all the ill-treatment which he, and his friend Jonathan on his account, had received from Saul; he does not make the most distant allusion to it, but seems through the whole song to strive to conceal every thing that might cast any reflection upon him.” The lines we promised are as follows: — “Mid the throng’d phalanx, where the battle press’d,

The bow of Jonathan, infuriate, burn’d;

Nor e’er, from slaughter’s sanguinary feast,

The sword of Saul unsatiated return’d!

All eyes, all hearts, admired the lovely pair,

The princely parent and the pious son;

Whom life united, not divided are

In death, whose dire catastrophe is one.

With rapid pinion through th’ aerial plain

The lightning eagle flies, but swifter they;

Strong is the monarch of the wood’s domain,

But more their might indignant o’er the prey.

Ye weeping nymphs, attune the mourning lyre

To solemn strains of sympathetic wo;

Daughters of Israel, who the brave admire,

Bid for the brave the lay funereal flow!

‘Twas Saul returning from the battle’s toils,

Triumphant chief! amidst his warriors bold,

Who crown’d your beauties with Philistia’s spoils,

Who deck’d your charms with diamonds and gold,”

For the rest, see the Arminian Magazine for June 1811.

DAVID’S LAMENTATION OVER SAUL AND JONATHAN, 17-27.

17. This lamentation, which evidently sprang from deep and sanctified emotions, is an elegy of surpassing tenderness, and one of the most beautiful odes of the Old Testament. The fallen power and beauty of Israel, as represented by the king and his noble-hearted son, is the poet’s theme, and though that king had burned with a deadly fury towards David, chased him like a partridge in the mountains, and sought his life in many ways, not the slightest trace of resentment or cherished passion, not the most distant allusion to the persecutions which he had suffered from him, appear in all this tender song. It is the pure lamentation of a loving heart that has forgiven and forgotten the injuries of the past, and knows no other feeling than that of profoundest sympathy and sorrow for the heroic dead. “It is almost impossible,” says Dr. Clarke, “to read the noble original without feeling every word swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob. A heart pregnant with distress, and striving to utter expressions descriptive of its feelings, which are repeatedly interrupted by an excess of grief, is most sensibly painted throughout the whole.” We give, as usual in our notes on poetical passages, a new and literal version, in which the order and idiom of the Hebrew original is, as far as possible, exhibited.

V. 26. Distressed-That is, for the loss of thee. For, besides the loss of a true friend, which is inestimable; he lost him who both could, and undoubtedly would have given him a speedy, and quiet, and sure possession of the kingdom, whereas now, he met with long and troublesome interruptions. Of women-That is, that love wherewith they love their husbands, or children for their affections are usually more ardent than mens.

Verses 25-27. O Jonathan, slain in thy high places — He says thy, for they were in Jonathan’s country; and, had not his father disinherited him by his sins, in his dominions. Thus David’s grief, which began with Jonathan, naturally ends with him. It is well known that we lament ourselves in the loss of our friends; and David was no way solicitous to conceal this circumstance. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan — In the former part of this lamentation David celebrates Jonathan as a brave man, in the latter he laments him as a friend. And in this respect he had certainly as great obligations to him as ever man had to another. For, as he here observes, Jonathan’s love to him was indeed wonderful, passing the love of women. And the weapons of war perished — All military glory gone from Israel! “It may be the work of fancy in me,” says Dr. Delaney, “but to me, I own, this last stanza is the strongest picture of grief I ever perused. To my ear every line in it is either swelled with sighs, or broken with sobs. The judicious reader will find a break in the first line of it, very probably so left in the original, the writer not being able to find an epithet for Jonathan answering to the idea of his distress.” Our translators have supplied the interjection O! O Jonathan, stabbed in thy high places! “To conclude: Few have ever perused this lamentation with so little attention as not to perceive it evidently animated with a spirit truly martial and magnanimous! It is the lamentation of a brave man over brave men. It is, in one word, a lamentation equally pathetic and heroic. To this may be added, it is not less generous. For in the most noble spirit David passes over in entire silence all the ill-treatment which he, and his friend Jonathan on his account, had received from Saul; he does not make the most distant allusion to it, but seems through the whole song to strive to conceal every thing that might cast any reflection upon him.” The lines we promised are as follows: — “Mid the throng’d phalanx, where the battle press’d,

The bow of Jonathan, infuriate, burn’d;

Nor e’er, from slaughter’s sanguinary feast,

The sword of Saul unsatiated return’d!

All eyes, all hearts, admired the lovely pair,

The princely parent and the pious son;

Whom life united, not divided are

In death, whose dire catastrophe is one.

With rapid pinion through th’ aerial plain

The lightning eagle flies, but swifter they;

Strong is the monarch of the wood’s domain,

But more their might indignant o’er the prey.

Ye weeping nymphs, attune the mourning lyre

To solemn strains of sympathetic wo;

Daughters of Israel, who the brave admire,

Bid for the brave the lay funereal flow!

‘Twas Saul returning from the battle’s toils,

Triumphant chief! amidst his warriors bold,

Who crown’d your beauties with Philistia’s spoils,

Who deck’d your charms with diamonds and gold,”

For the rest, see the Arminian Magazine for June 1811.

26. Distress is upon me — Filled with heart-rending grief. Thy love to me was wonderful — See note on 1 Samuel 20:13.

Verses 25-27. O Jonathan, slain in thy high places — He says thy, for they were in Jonathan’s country; and, had not his father disinherited him by his sins, in his dominions. Thus David’s grief, which began with Jonathan, naturally ends with him. It is well known that we lament ourselves in the loss of our friends; and David was no way solicitous to conceal this circumstance. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan — In the former part of this lamentation David celebrates Jonathan as a brave man, in the latter he laments him as a friend. And in this respect he had certainly as great obligations to him as ever man had to another. For, as he here observes, Jonathan’s love to him was indeed wonderful, passing the love of women. And the weapons of war perished — All military glory gone from Israel! “It may be the work of fancy in me,” says Dr. Delaney, “but to me, I own, this last stanza is the strongest picture of grief I ever perused. To my ear every line in it is either swelled with sighs, or broken with sobs. The judicious reader will find a break in the first line of it, very probably so left in the original, the writer not being able to find an epithet for Jonathan answering to the idea of his distress.” Our translators have supplied the interjection O! O Jonathan, stabbed in thy high places! “To conclude: Few have ever perused this lamentation with so little attention as not to perceive it evidently animated with a spirit truly martial and magnanimous! It is the lamentation of a brave man over brave men. It is, in one word, a lamentation equally pathetic and heroic. To this may be added, it is not less generous. For in the most noble spirit David passes over in entire silence all the ill-treatment which he, and his friend Jonathan on his account, had received from Saul; he does not make the most distant allusion to it, but seems through the whole song to strive to conceal every thing that might cast any reflection upon him.” The lines we promised are as follows: — “Mid the throng’d phalanx, where the battle press’d,

The bow of Jonathan, infuriate, burn’d;

Nor e’er, from slaughter’s sanguinary feast,

The sword of Saul unsatiated return’d!

All eyes, all hearts, admired the lovely pair,

The princely parent and the pious son;

Whom life united, not divided are

In death, whose dire catastrophe is one.

With rapid pinion through th’ aerial plain

The lightning eagle flies, but swifter they;

Strong is the monarch of the wood’s domain,

But more their might indignant o’er the prey.

Ye weeping nymphs, attune the mourning lyre

To solemn strains of sympathetic wo;

Daughters of Israel, who the brave admire,

Bid for the brave the lay funereal flow!

‘Twas Saul returning from the battle’s toils,

Triumphant chief! amidst his warriors bold,

Who crown’d your beauties with Philistia’s spoils,

Who deck’d your charms with diamonds and gold,”

For the rest, see the Arminian Magazine for June 1811.

27. Implements of war — The shields and other implements that were vilely cast away. Verse 21. Some understand here, not the weapons of war but the heroes, considered figuratively as the instruments by whom the war was carried on, and Isaiah 13:5, is referred to as a parallel. But though persons are sometimes in this sense termed instruments, we nowhere find them called instruments of war; and as this elegy makes mention of military weapons as cast away with abhorrence, we feel obliged to adhere to the most obvious signification of the word.