48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then she spake, saying, they were wont to speak in old time,.... It was a common saying, a proverbial expression among the ancient sages: saying, they shall surely ask [counsel] at Abel, and so they ended [the matter]. Abel, it seems, had been a city so famous for wise and prudent men, that it was common for the inhabitants of other cities, in the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I [am one of them that are] peaceable [and] faithful in Israel,.... Her meaning is, that she was of a city which consisted of peaceable and faithful men, that were peaceable among themselves, and faithful to their king, who never were concerned in any insurrection or rebellion, not in the late one under Absalom: thou seekest to destroy a city, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joab answered and said, far be it from me, far be it from me,.... He repeats these words, to show how detestable it was to him to do what she suggested: that I should swallow up or destroy; any in a violent and unrighteous manner, and especially a city of which she had given such a character for its greatness and worth, and for the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The matter [is] not so,.... I am not come with the army against this city with any ill will to it, and with an intention to destroy it: the case is this, but a man of Mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name; for though he was by birth a Benjaminite, his dwelling was in Mount Ephraim in that tribe; unless there was a place of this name in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom,.... Went from the wall of the city into it, and convened the principal inhabitants together, and made so wise a speech to them, and represented things in such a light, and so prudently conducted, that they unanimously agreed to her motion: and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now Joab [was] over all the host of Israel,.... Established in the post in which he formerly was; either having been never displaced, which though David thought to do, he was not able to effect it, because of his power and influence with the people; or if he had displaced him, which by some things in this chapter seemed to be the case, yet Amasa...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Adoram [was] over the tribute,.... Or over those that collected and brought it, as the Targum; this was a new office, and which respected both the revenue he received from his own people, and the tribute brought him from the nations conquered by him: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] recorder; who was in this office before, and now...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Sheva [was] scribe,.... Either the same with Benaiah, or he was dead or removed, and Sheva was put in his place, see 2 Samuel 8:17; and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests; as before; [See comments on 2 Samuel 8:17].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Ira also the Jairite,.... Which some take to be the same with Ira the Ithrite, 2 Samuel 23:38; a son of Jether or Ithra the Israelite, 2 Samuel 17:25; though others suppose he was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 2 Samuel 23:26; and so the Targum here calls him Ira the Jairite, which was of Tekoah; and Tekoah being the chief place in Israel...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 21 A famine being in the land three years, the Lord was inquired of, to know the reason of it; and it being answered, that it was on account of Saul's slaughter of the Gibeonites, they were summoned by David to know what satisfaction they required for the cruel usage of them, 2 Samuel 21:1; to which they replied, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year,.... That is, three years running, one after another; some think this, though here related, was before the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba, and not after, and there are several things which may incline to it, as that the sin of Saul should otherwise be so long unpunished,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The date of the events of this chapter is uncertain. I incline to think that they happened as they are here placed, after Absalom's and Sheba's rebellion, and towards the latter end of David's reign. That the battles with the Philistines, mentioned here, were long after the Philistines were subdued, appears by comparing 1 Chron. xviii. 1 with xx....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king called the Gibeonites,.... Sent messengers unto them, and summoned them to come to him, and said unto them; what is expressed in 2 Samuel 21:3; for what follows is in a parenthesis: (now the Gibeonites [were] not of the children of Israel; originally, though they were proselyted to the Jewish religion, and were employed in the menial...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, what shall I do for you,.... By way of satisfaction for the injuries done them: and wherewith shall I make the atonement; for the offences committed, that so the wrath that was gone forth against the land in a famine might be appeased: that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? pray for a blessing upon...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And, the Gibeonites said unto him,.... In reply to his motion: we will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; this shall not be the ransom or atonement; it was not silver and gold Saul took from them, but the lives of their brethren, and therefore they insist upon life for life: neither for us shall thou kill any man in Israel; who...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they answered the king,.... Declaring expressly what they would have done: the man that consumed us; meaning Saul, who lessened their number by cruel oppressions of some, and by taking away the lives of others: and that devised against us, [that] we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel; who had formed schemes, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us,.... They settled upon this number, either because they were seven, and no more of the Gibeonites, whom Saul slew, as the Jew say (i); two hewers of wood, two drawers of water, a keeper (of a synagogue), a scribe, and a servant; but perhaps the true reason was, they knew there were no more besides...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,.... As they did not name particular persons, only required seven sons, it was at the option of the king what sons to deliver to them, and therefore kept back Mephibosheth, who is thus described, to distinguish him from a son of Saul's of the same name, after mentioned: because...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,.... Saul's concubine, 2 Samuel 3:7; whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; of whom we read nowhere else; after the name of the latter, it is probable, Jonathan's son was called, before mentioned: and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites,.... The two sons of Rizpah and the five sons of Merab, two sons of Saul and five grandsons: and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord; in the hill at Gibeah, that they might be seen by all that passed by, and serve to deter from such evils, which brought on them that punishment;...