Книга вторая. Давид и его время

Chapter 10. David’s accession to the throne and his reign in Hebron With the death of Saul, it finally became possible for David to return to his native land and begin to fulfill the destiny that everyone had already recognized for him. He could move unhindered from the wild heights of the Negeb, where he was hiding from the persecutions of Saul, into the midst of his people. For some time, however, it was difficult to decide in which direction to take the first step. The country, after the defeat of Gilboa and the death of the king with his three sons, with all the best flower of the Israeli people and almost the entire detachment of bodyguards who died fighting for their king and for their fatherland, was extremely upset. In any case, David did not want to start a civil war for the royal crown, and since it was still unknown whether it would pass to someone from the family of Saul, he decided to stay for a while in Ziklag, waiting for a more favorable time that would show exactly how to act in this case, especially since the very grief that depressed David on the occasion of the fall of the king and the unfortunate fate of the people took away all his energy for some time. But the grief over the occasion of the national calamity, which for a time overthrew the monarchy and gave the promised land into the hands of the uncircumcised, was not, however, to keep David for long from the fulfillment of his destiny; on the contrary, after its first influx, it had to act on him in an exciting way, encouraging him to come forward as quickly as possible to occupy the throne in order to be able to quickly organize state affairs and rid the country of enemies. Unfortunately, David's alliance with the Philistine king Achish, even if only nominal, temporarily weakened his influence among his compatriots, so that even his own tribe of Judah was in no hurry to proclaim him king. Therefore, he had to first take measures to restore his popularity. Always prudent in his public affairs, he first of all found it necessary to send gifts from the spoils taken from the Amalekites to the various cities of the Negeb, in order, so to speak, to repay them for their friendship in the past and to win them over to his favor in the future. The favor that Samuel clearly showed him, the presence with him of the high priest Abiathar and the prophet Gad who had joined him, his sublime songs and hymns already spreading everywhere, with which he consoled himself during his exile and in which he sang of the changing fate of the life of his people, his marriage to the daughter of Saul, the great exploits in war from the time of the defeat of Goliath until his flight from Nob, and, finally, the assembled near him was a strong detachment, in which there were already well-known heroes - all this already spoke a lot in his favor and ensured sure success. Therefore, having asked for the highest advice through Urim and Thummim, he decided to go to Hebron, without any invitation, and make it the center for further action. This ancient holy city, as the possession of the famous Caleb at the time of the conquest of the Promised Land and the capital of the tribe of Judah, in which the chief elders of the tribe lived, was especially consistent with the plans that he had in mind. In addition, this city lay outside the area captured by the Philistines and therefore was not in danger of attack. The calculation turned out to be correct. As soon as he occupied more or less solid ground in his native country, his personal qualities and the influence of his friends soon were not slow in influencing the elders of Judah, who had long wanted to put their so famous tribesman at the head of the people (2 Sam. 2:4), especially since the death of Saul now freed this tribe’s hands for independent action. In any case, the elders were not slow in proclaiming David king. When they proposed their decision to the people's assembly in the tribe, the people accepted this proposal with enthusiasm, and thus David became king of the southern country, while northern and middle Palestine was still entirely in the hands of the Philistines and the masses of the people fled in horror even to the other side of the Jordan, leaving their cities and settlements without any attempt to defend them, as a result of which these cities were easily captured by the enemies. The tribe of Judah, due to its southern position, escaped this disaster and, given the current collapse of the state, could naturally desire to have an independent leader who would save it, at least, from general destruction. In addition, the very rights of the house of Saul to the throne were inferior to the election of the people, because simple heredity had not yet managed to abolish the free manifestation of the national will. Just as among many other peoples in primitive times the king occupied his throne not by inheritance, but by popular vote, so it was the same among the Israeli people. Therefore, the tribe of Judah considered itself fully entitled to act independently in this regard, at least in the area where its influence extended. Finally, David, as God’s anointed, already predestined for such a high position, had every right to accept dignity, which opened the way for him to fulfill his divine destiny to lead the destinies of the people. Meanwhile, the commanders of Saul's army, having escaped defeat at Gilboa, fled across the Jordan. Among them, Abner, Saul's cousin and commander-in-chief of his army, brilliantly proved his loyalty to the fallen house. Taking the youngest of Saul's four sons, namely Ishbosheth, he proclaimed him king, and chose for his capital the ancient sanctuary of Mahanaim, east of the Jordan, northwest of the Jabbok River, on the border between the tribes of Gad and half-Manasseh and outside the limits of the Philistine raids. If historically venerable memories can generally strengthen the royal throne, then this is precisely the meaning this place could have had for Ishbosheth, because it was here that the vision of two armies of angels took place, which Jacob was honored with on his way back from Haran. In addition, it was generally chosen wisely in view of its very location, because a large caravan road passed through it from the Red Sea to Damascus. But Ish-bosheth was too weak and indecisive to take full advantage of this situation. Although, being already 35 years old at the time of his father’s death, from the very beginning he became a toy in the hands of the energetic and shameless Abner, who, however, still acted as a completely loyal subject to him, although in reality he was a real king. If anywhere in these countries the desire to have David as king continued to exist among the people after the Battle of Gilboa, then Abner took measures to quickly suppress all such movements in order to strengthen the power of Ishbosheth. Gathering what forces he could, this brave and experienced commander slowly but persistently took back from the Philistines a large part of the country west of the Jordan. The eastern tribes recognized him as their ruler from the very beginning. Step by step, he conquered the district of Geshur, the plain of Esdraelon, the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin (the native tribe of the house of Saul), so that finally, after a stubborn five-year struggle, he could declare Ishbosheth king of all Israel, excluding the tribe of Judah (2 Sam. 2:8-10). Having thus come face to face with David and realizing the danger that could threaten the people from the division of the state, Abner immediately foresaw and feared the outbreak of internecine war. Naturally, the question arose about which of the two rival kings should receive sovereign power. Neither Ishbosheth, nor even more so David, wanted to give up the position they occupied, and it is very doubtful that such active people as Joab, the commander of David’s army, and Abner, the commander of Ishbosheth’s army, in turn, wanted to give up the advantageous positions they occupied and retire into the unknown. In addition, the unification was hampered by the rivalry that was already beginning to be noticed between Judah and the other tribes. The tribe of Ephraim always behaved arrogantly and arrogantly, like the tribe that boasted of its ancestor Joseph, and especially before Judah, which, as consisting of a rural people, had generally lived alienated from others. Therefore, only one sword could decide the fate of the future. The advantage in this thus inevitable struggle, apparently, from the very beginning was on the side of the tribe of Judah. Although smaller in number than all the other tribes taken together, it surpassed them in its unity, while the tribes that proclaimed Ish-bosheth were torn apart by internal rivalries. He did not have such a strong force as the 600 brave men who were David's devoted servants. Moreover, over the vast kingdom of Israel stood only the weak, non-warlike Ishbosheth, proclaimed king by Abner, who lived far from the main center of national life beyond the Jordan and did not have a higher purpose on the part of God; Meanwhile, the tribe of Judah could be proud of David, who was anointed king by the great Samuel, who, even in his youth, became famous for his heroism throughout the land, was a skilled and famous warrior, a capable and energetic statesman, who, finally, from his residence in Hebron could personally monitor everything that was happening in the country. Hence, when the struggle actually began between the houses of Saul and David, the results were constantly unfavorable to the former, notwithstanding the large number of his adherents. The biblical narrative contains only a few details regarding this struggle, but in any case, it is clear from them that the tribe of Judah, under the leadership of Joab, gradually expanded its area of ​​​​influence to other Israeli tribes that had hitherto recognized Ish-bosheth. Thus, by the way, some districts of the tribes of Benjamin and Dan were acquired, and many cities that were of considerable importance to the people came under the authority of David. These, by the way, were Kiriath-jearim, where the ark of the covenant was taken upon its return from the Philistines, and Mizpah, where Saul was anointed king, along with other Benjamin cities, which now became part of the tribe of Judah. Finally, the possessions of the tribe of Judah expanded to Gibeon in the northwest, which city received especially great importance due to the fact that after the destruction of Nob it became the seat of the tabernacle. The fierce struggle for the possession of this important place was renewed more than once, until finally Abner, in order to stop further bloodshed, proposed that the matter should be decided by a battle between twelve warriors on both sides. Here, obviously, the same kind of single combat was offered that Goliath had once desired, and Joab accepted this offer. Twelve men chosen from David's army set out to fight and were met by twelve Benjamites; but the outcome of this battle was as much unexpected as it was terrible. Twelve Benjamites, with their well-known military valor and ability to wield both their right and left hands equally, rushed furiously at their opponents, grabbed their heads with one hand, and with the other, with extraordinary force, plunged their swords into their chests. But David's soldiers, chosen from among those who also had the ability to act with the left hand as well as the right, immediately followed the same technique and in their turn plunged their swords into their opponents, so that all twenty-four people fell dead on the spot of this desperate fight. At the sight of such fierce combat, the hostile troops could no longer be restrained from clashing. They moved towards each other furiously; A fierce battle took place, in which Abner and his detachment were defeated and put to flight. The defeated army was pursued on the heels of the victors, and then one sad incident followed, which was of great significance later. Three of David's nephews or cousins: Joab, the eldest of them, Abishai, and Asahel, the youngest, the favorite of his brothers, were in David's army and rushed in pursuit of Israel. Asahel was especially “light on his feet, like a chamois in a field,” and, relying on his speed, he rushed to catch up with Abner himself. Heedless of the repeated entreaties on the part of this tried warrior to abandon this pursuit and not to force him into a task that might cause a bloody feud between himself and Joab, Asahel overtook him closer and closer, until Abner, to save his own life, turning his heavy spear, struck the pursuing Asahel right in the stomach. The spear went through him, and he fell there dead. But the sight of the slain young warrior enraged Joab and his army even more, and the desperate pursuit of the Israelites continued with the same fury as before, until the army of Abner, despairing of salvation, decided to sell their lives dearly, rallying around their leader on the top of one hill. From this height Abner shouted loudly to the Jews to stop their pursuit, threatening otherwise a war of extermination, and actually got Joab to call his men back. But even in doing this, he fully demonstrated his unyielding nature. “God lives! said Joab, if you had not said otherwise, then in the morning people would have stopped pursuing their brothers.” Of David's army, excluding Asahel, only 19 people fell, but Abner lost 360 (2 Sam. 2:30, 31). Taking his brother's corpse with him for burial in the family tomb in Bethlehem, Joab set out with his men back to Hebron so quickly that he reached it by dawn. Abner, having descended into the Jordan Valley and crossed the Jabbok Valley, headed towards Mahanaim with equal speed. Two years passed after that. The tribe of Judah, under the leadership of David, continued to increase in its power; Israel, under the weak Ishbosheth, on the contrary, lost to the same extent as its enemy grew stronger. In general, the advantage apparently leaned towards David, and this was especially clearly reflected in the fact that important disagreements occurred between Ishbosheth and Abner, the main support of his throne. Among the other members of Saul's family in Mahanaim was his concubine Rizpah, who was descended from the line of the famous Jewish leader Ai, the "falcon." Saul had two sons with her: Armon and Mephibosheth, but she was still young and attractive. True or not, in any case, only through rumors did Ishbosheth come to the idea that Abner married her, thus taking a very important step in the eastern court, where a relationship with the wife or concubine of the deceased king was considered a kind of step to the throne. The suspicion expressed by the king towards a man who had hitherto done so much to prove his loyalty extremely wounded the heart of the ambitious Abner, because even if he really wanted to become closer to the Saul family through marriage, he, in any case, in his opinion, deserved this honor much more than David. Annoyed by this, he attacked the helpless king in extreme anger and began to reproach him for such an attitude towards himself. “Am I a dog's head? he asked passionately. I have now shown kindness against Judah to the house of Saul your father, his brothers and his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David, and now you are exacting sin on me because of a woman. Let God do this and that for Abner, and even more for him! As the Lord swore to David, so I will do to him. I will take away the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and over Hudah, from Dan to Beersheba” (2 Sam. 3:8–10). Extremely powerless and helpless in the face of such a dangerous enemy, Ish-bosheth was completely at a loss from such a threatening speech by Abner, and could not answer him. His fate was sealed. Abner justified his words and entered into secret relations with David, offering to go over to his side and use his influence to subjugate all of Israel to him. It was clear that Ishbosheth’s reign was coming to an end; but David, although certainly pleased with this statement of Abner in his favor, was, however, too cautious to act on these instructions without further testing his straightforwardness and honesty. He conditioned his acceptance of these services on the condition that Michal, the wife of his youth, be restored to him. She, as we know, was given by Saul to a certain Phaltius, and now it was desirable that she be returned to David, which was very important for him, since this could serve as an indication of at least his nominal connection with the house of Saul, and at the same time could serve as a test for the power and sincerity of Abner. When such a message was sent to Ishbosheth, the long-abandoned wife was immediately handed over, and Abner, offering his readiness to act as her guide to David, took advantage of this opportunity for a personal meeting with David. The matter was so important that the grief of Phalti could not upset this plan, although he followed his wife weeping almost to the Mount of Olives, and returned back only by the strict orders of Abner, and Michal then moved further towards Hebron. Meanwhile, between Abner’s first relationship with David and this visit, he entered into communication with the elders of the Israeli tribes and even the tribe of Benjamin, in order to determine the conditions under which all the tribes could transfer their allegiance from Mahanaim to Hebron. Upon his arrival in Hebron, both he and twenty of his companions were received with special favor, and they were offered a great feast, which in reality was, as it were, a solemn confirmation of the proposed agreement. Fearing the severe rage and rivalry of Joab, his chief warrior, David meanwhile removed him from Hebron for a time, sending him in pursuit of some Arabs or Philistines who were prowling the surrounding area. But Joab, having successfully completed his errand and burdened with booty, unfortunately arrived almost soon after Abner had been honorably released by David, with a declaration of every friendship on his part. The apology that the chief champion of Ish-bosheth had just been in Hebron and had been honored with a royal reception and feast, immediately awakened in Joab all his worst passions. He not only continued to carry within himself a feeling of bloody vengeance against Abner for the murder of his brother Asahel, but at the same time, in all likelihood, he feared that Abner might oust him from his position and win David’s favor to his side. Therefore, he decided to put an end to his rival now. Having quickly sent messengers after him, under the pretext that the king himself wanted him to return, he actually succeeded in this, and Abner, suspecting nothing, headed back to Hebron. This was all Joab needed. Having met him at the gates of Hebron, he, under the pretext of wanting to tell a secret in a secret conversation, took him aside and then, without saying a word, plunged his sword into his chest. In this way he avenged his murdered brother and at the same time finally eliminated his possible rival. But such cruelty and such treachery greatly upset David. He fell into deep sorrow and, declaring his innocence in the blood of Abner, even burst out with an uncontrollable curse on Joab, saying that “let this blood fall on the head of Joab and all his father’s house; let the house of Joab never be without one who has an issue, or a leper, or one who leans on a staff, or one who falls by the sword, or one in need of bread.” Having torn his clothes and put on sackcloth, David forced Joab to do the same and go before Abner’s tomb during his burial. During the burial, not only the king himself, but also the people cried about such an untimely death of such a valiant man. This was the man who alone was able and willing to unite all the Israelites under one banner, and he was killed just on the eve of his proposed act of reunification of the people. In this case, suspicion could fall on David himself that he deliberately lured Abner, as the main support of Ishbosheth, in order to destroy him, and this circumstance could arouse the Israeli tribes against him. In addition, it meant staining the first steps of his reign with blood and being a participant in the basest crime, while his whole heart strove for a dignified and peaceful life. All he could now do was to honor the deceased with such a burial that would fully prove his own innocence in relation to Abner. Refusing all food for a whole day, he wept uncontrollably over his coffin, infecting all the people around him with his weeping. This bitter lamentation was embodied in his funeral hymn: Is it a vile death for Abner to die? Your hands were not tied And you fell, as you fall from robbers! 60. At the same time, such a thing revealed all too vividly the dangerous power of Joab. David could express his indignation in the closest circle of his associates, but did not dare to express reproach to his face. “Do you know,” said David, “that a leader and a great man fell on this day in Israel? Now I am still weak, although I am anointed to the kingdom, and these people, the sons of Sarui, are stronger than me; Let the Lord reward the one who does evil according to his wickedness” (2 Samuel 3:38, 39). The news of Abner's death quickly spread throughout the country and led to very important results. For a time, as David feared, Israel completely withdrew from further relations with the man who, as it seemed to everyone, had so vilely killed such a highly respected and famous military leader. But this hesitation soon passed when the true circumstances of the case became fully known. For Ishbosheth himself, the death of his great accomplice was fatal. Knowing nothing of his treasonous relations with David, he felt only sorrow for his loss and fell into hopeless despair. “Who will now defend the land against the Philistines or even against David?” he involuntarily thought. But the end of his worries and fears was near. His bodyguard, like his father's, was drawn from his own tribe of Benjamin. Among the Benjamites, however, were also the Canaanite population of Beeroth, one of the cities allied with Hebron, the citizens of which Saul had once subjected to such merciless massacres. Frightened by this massacre, the inhabitants of Beeroth fled to Giffaim, an area that some believed was in the Philistine plain. Two of them, namely the brothers Baanah and Rechab, went to Mahanaim and enlisted in the detachment of bodyguards of Ishbosheth, against whom they at the same time harbored an irreconcilable feeling of vengeance, as against the son of the murderer of their relatives. They now decided to carry out this bloody enmity by killing Ishbosheth, especially since they were quite confident that David, under the current circumstances, would reward them for this. If David, as it seemed to them and as they could judge from popular rumor, took part in the murder of Abner, then, of course, he would only be pleased with the deed they were planning. The palace of Ishbosheth, something like a large house, which are still found in Palestine, was a quadrangular building in which the rooms were adjacent to each other, each having its own door, and next to the walls there were also huge bins for bread. The murderers chose to carry out their criminal deed during the heat of the day, when the king, in accordance with the custom existing in that climate, went to his midday rest. The gatekeeper standing at the gate, who was cleaning the wheat, dozed off and fell asleep at that time, so that the murderers could freely enter the house, as if to take the wheat. Having penetrated into the very peace, they immediately began their work, killed the king with swords, then cut off his head and, taking it with them, set off along a deserted road to arrive in Hebron as quickly as possible. But when they arrived to David and, having brought him material proof of their feat, expected all sorts of praise and rich rewards from the king, they were extremely mistaken in this. Just as David had previously ordered the execution of the wild Amalekite for his alleged story about the murder of Saul, so now he did not spare the murderers. With truly royal generosity, David only grieved at the sight of the head of his rival and, turning to the murderers, exclaimed with grief: “As the Lord lives, he has delivered my soul from all sorrow. If the one who brought me the news, saying: Behold, Saul (and Jonathan) is dead, and who considered himself a glad messenger, I captured and killed him in Ziklag, instead of giving him a reward, then now, when wicked people have killed an innocent man in his house, on his bed, shall I not exact his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth? It was enough for him to give a sign to the soldiers surrounding him, and the murderers were subjected to immediate death penalty. To further discourage hunters from such feats, their arms and legs were cut off and hung over a pond in Hebron, one of those two pools that still exist today 61 . The head of Ishbosheth was carefully taken and buried also in Hebron, in the tomb of Abner, and such respect for the memory of his rival could best of all incline the hearts of the remaining tribes of Israel to David. Now only one male member of Saul's family remained alive, namely Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, a twelve-year-old boy, but lame in his legs and generally unfit for the throne at such a time. In view of these circumstances, there was nothing left for the Israelite tribes to do but acknowledge their allegiance to David, the only man who could now defend the land and govern the people. As a result, a majestic deputation of elders was drawn up from all of Israel, which went to him in Hebron, declaring a popular decision, and this deputation was generally accompanied by large masses of people. With full consciousness of the need for national unity, they sincerely declared their brotherhood with him by blood. “Behold,” they said, “we are your bones and your flesh. Yesterday and the third day, while Saul reigned over us, you brought Israel out and brought you in, and the Lord said to you, you will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be the leader of Israel.” Even the tribe of Benjamin, Saul's own tribe, sent 3,000 men from among them to declare allegiance to David. There was general joy on this occasion, because in the popular consciousness the glory of David came to life again, and all his exploits, which had already become the property of folk tradition and folk poetry, were retold everywhere. Loyalty and honor to the new monarch, expressed among the newest peoples by state officials by taking a solemn oath, in the east, from the most ancient times, was expressed by bringing gifts from the people in general to their new ruler, and such offerings, of course, in the simplest forms of the primitive natural products of the country, began to flock in huge masses to David from all the ends of the earth; even the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali generously brought gifts from the farthest reaches of the north (1 Chron. 12:40). Huge quantities of grain were brought to Hebron; flour, figs, raisins, wine, oil were brought on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen, and a multitude of all kinds of large and small livestock were brought in. All this was tangible evidence of the desire of the people to unite into a friendly force under the leadership of their new king. Finally, representatives of all tribes at a national meeting, listing David’s services for the country, solemnly proclaimed him king over all tribes, after which he was finally anointed king. The old rivalry between Judah and Ephraim was forgotten for the time being, and the divisions of the past ended in a sincere unity. Both priests and prophets came over to his side. Until now, all the vicissitudes of his life had been shared with him by Abiathar, a representative of the junior branch of the house of Aaron. Now the tribe of Levi, to honor him, sent out 4,600 of their sons, and with him from the branch of Eleazar, the first son of Aaron, came a deputation of 3,700 priests. The famous warrior Benaiah had already joined David, as well as Zadok, the future high priest under Solomon, along with 22 elders from his father’s family, and, apparently, with other 900 men. In a word, everyone who only valued the good and unity of the people unconditionally recognized the power of David and grouped around him to strengthen power. Among the most famous people who subsequently had a very great influence on the life of David was the famous prophet Nathan, who, together with the prophet Gad, who had previously been among David’s close associates, became the king’s chief adviser. Thus, the dawn of the new reign began very favorably and with good omens. All the tribes finally united into one people, the various parties that existed in it were reconciled with each other, and everyone was animated by the best feelings about the good of the people. And David fully justified the people’s trust in him, because his genius and state abilities were visible from the first steps of his accession to the throne. In his person, the people of Israel acquired their greatest king. David was thirty years old. During the war, he had already gained great national fame for his famous fight with Goliath, which, along with his other exploits, was sung in folk songs that so aroused Saul’s dark envy. During his wandering life, he, as an exile, walked the length and breadth of the country, became closely acquainted with the life of not only his own people, but also his closest neighbors, with whom he more than once had to seek refuge. During a difficult school trial, he learned to value life not from the heights of a distant royal throne, but in its actual needs and requirements, to be merciful and compassionate towards the common people, as well as generous to his enemies. But most of all, the trials he endured taught him complete trust in God and even more inflamed in him that spirit of religiosity, which was expressed in his wondrous, divinely inspired psalm songs, breathing boundless trust in God’s Providence. Such a king could not help but awaken sympathy among the people, and a large army was formed around him, the leaders of which completely placed themselves at the disposal of David. Thus his great destiny was now completely realized. From a simple head of one tribe, he became the sovereign ruler of an entire people. David reigned in Hebron for seven and a half years. During this time, he came to the conviction that for the final establishment of royal power in the country, he needed a capital, which, without belonging to any tribe individually, could serve as a common capital for the entire people. Hebron itself, being located in the south, was too distant from the center of the country to be its capital. To find a new capital for himself, David, for this purpose, outlined one strong fortress on the border between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which, despite all the efforts of the Israelites, defended its independence and hitherto belonged to the Canaanite tribe of the Jebusites, after whom the fortress itself was called Jebus. This fortress, having remained independent for centuries, was generally considered impregnable. Its position was, in fact, by its very nature, very strong, since the fortress was built on two hills, later called Sion and Morga, separated on three sides from the surrounding countryside by deep valleys, and strongly fortified on the north, where access to it was easiest. At one time, the Israelites even took it, but were forced to abandon it in favor of its ancient rulers and limited themselves to friendly relations with them. David, with his penetrating gaze, immediately saw how advantageous this position would be for the founding of a new capital. He first suggested to the Jebusites that they peacefully surrender their fortress to him, perhaps offering to pay a certain amount of money for this, but to this proposal he received only an insulting response. In absurd self-confidence, the elders of the city even called David to attack the city, arrogantly declaring that they only had to field the blind and lame to prevent David from taking their impregnable fortress (2 Sam. 5:8). Such mockery decided the fate of the fortress. The offended David decided to immediately begin the siege of the city and headed to its western side, where, due to the special height and steepness of the rock, the city was least fortified. Already relying on the courage and patriotism of his brave army, David also appointed a large reward, declaring that the first person to plant the banner of David on the walls of Jebus would be made commander of his entire army. This honor fell to the brave Joab, who with his courage and bravery wanted not only to achieve his own ambitious plans, but also at the same time to make amends for his guilt in the eyes of David. The fortress was taken, and David founded his royal capital in Jebus, calling it Jerusalem, that is, the city of peace or the city of David. Thanks to its magnificent position on Mount Zion, rising 2,610 feet above sea level and dominating the entire surrounding area, Jerusalem, with its elevation to the status of capital, quickly began to attract the Jewish population; the new capital soon blossomed magnificently and richly, and Jerusalem became one of the most famous cities in the history of not only the entire Israeli people, but also all of humanity. The choice of Jerusalem as the capital was undoubtedly partly determined not only by its natural strength, but also by its belonging to the tribe of Judah. David could well count on the loyalty of his own tribe, while at the same time knowing that his rival, the tribe of Ephraim, could not be relied upon for everything. Throughout the entire period of the judges, the Ephraimites laid claim to primacy among the people, and more than once in these claims they did not retreat even from violating public peace, as was the case under Gideon and Jephthah. Being located among the central hills in the richest part of Palestine, the tribe of Ephraim was especially rich, and of course, it found a considerable source of pride in the memory of its famous ancestor Joseph. In Shechem and Samaria it possessed two such points, which in themselves were worthy of becoming the centers of a united country, and indeed subsequently were successively the capitals of the divided kingdom of Israel. But David wisely chose Jerusalem. And the wisdom of this choice was brilliantly proven later, when, with the fall of the tribe of Ephraim and the entire north from his grandson, Rehoboam, only the tribe of Judah and part of Benjamin remained faithful to his house. Jerusalem henceforth became, so to speak, the heart of the Israeli people, and with all subsequent vicissitudes of fate, the Israelis’ passionate love for this capital never weakened. Already in Babylon, as captives, the Jews mourned the ruins of their capital in deeply moving words, saying: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, forget me, my right hand. Let my tongue cleave to my throat, if I do not remember you, and if I do not put Jerusalem at the head of my joy” (Ps. 137:5, 6). And in the following centuries, when the people of Israel were already scattered throughout the whole earth, this love for the city of David never weakened in them, so that in every synagogue throughout the world public prayers were offered up that Jehovah, in his mercy, would restore Jerusalem to its former glory and again make it his own city. This was especially facilitated by the construction of a church in it, which made Jerusalem the center of religious life. For the psalmist, after the defeat of Sennacherib, the thought that God dwelled in this city seemed to be a guarantee that it would never move in its foundation. The spring flowing from the rock of Moriah, in the popular imagination, represented the source of those waters that filled the vast reservoirs of the church, and, according to the enthusiastic saying of the psalmist, “native streams gladdened this city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High” (Ps. 46:5). There has never been such a hill in the whole country as Zion. Bashan could also be considered the mountain of God, but Zion was precisely the one that, according to popular belief, enjoyed the special favor of God and on which He deigned to dwell forever. By the very elevation of its position, Jerusalem was like a royal city. The deep potholes surrounding it on three sides made it like an island among the surrounding rabbis and, distinguishing it from the surrounding area, gave it special beauty, royalty and charm. It was like a completely special city. Rising from its walls, it was guarded on all sides by artificial strongholds. All around it lay the mountains - closest to Olivet, then further to Mizpah, to the north Gibeon and Ramah, and to the south the ridge of Bethlehem, and further to the east the purple chain of the Moab mountains was visible, so that on all sides there were hills and mountains that presented an extremely striking and beautiful picture. The capture of Jerusalem was the beginning of a new magnificent era in the history of the people. From that moment on, David prospered and exalted himself, and “the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.” One of his first steps, in addition to further strengthening the city, was to build a palace worthy of such a capital. True, among the Israeli people, the art of construction did not stand at a sufficient level to fulfill this task, and the country itself could not provide a sufficient amount of timber necessary for this. But now that David was firmly established on the throne, the influence began to be felt beyond the borders of the country. The king of wealthy Tire, Hiram, sent envoys to congratulate David on his accession to the throne and the conquest of Jerusalem, and David probably took advantage of the arrival of these envoys to enter into an agreement on the construction of the palace. He made a condition with Hiram that the latter would help in this matter and release cedar wood from the Lebanese mountains, floating it to the shores of Palestine, and at the same time send skilled masons and carpenters to build the building itself. Everything really worked out according to David’s wishes, materials and workers were delivered, and the palace was completed in a short time, serving as new proof that David’s kingdom was finally established by God. Following his policy, which he followed even during his election to the kingdom in Hebron, David then tried to strengthen his position by new marriages with members of the main families of Jerusalem. But although by this he elevated, in accordance with the Eastern concept, his royal dignity, however, he did not consciously prepare for himself an evil in the future, which turned out to be very disastrous for his house and the whole people. Among other motives that forced Hiram to seek friendship and alliance with David was probably his desire to secure the help of the strong king of Israel against the Philistines, who had once previously conquered Phenicia and were, in any case, dangerous neighbors. At least that is how they soon showed themselves to Israel. Alarmed by the capture of the new capital and fearing all sorts of accidents on the part of such a warlike king of Israel, they decided to once again attack the Israelis with all their forces in order to, if possible, break and undermine the growing power of Israel. But now it was too late. David, having at his disposal such a strong fortress as Jerusalem, could easily withstand any siege and could gather an army around himself to repel the enemy. The Philistines penetrated into the “valley of giants,” which lay south of the valley of Ginnom under the very walls of Jerusalem, and, thinking that David would fearfully hide behind the walls of the fortress, they moved further to Bethlehem. But David, taking advantage of this circumstance, quickly and with usual courage struck them in the rear and inflicted such a defeat on them that the Philistines, with great damage, had to retreat, leaving in his hands even their idols, which David ordered to be burned. Having recovered a little, the Philistines made a second invasion, but this time they were courageously repelled and pursued to the very limits of the coastal valley. The memory of these victories was still fresh after entire centuries, and subsequently the prophets more than once pointed to them as a special mercy of God to the king of Israel. David himself, acting as a theocratic king, did not at all assign the honor of these victories to his own strength. Before entering battle, each time he asked for the will of God through the Urim and Thummim and was generally guided by the advice of such pious and highly respected advisers around him, such as the high priest and the prophets. The defeats inflicted on the Philistines weakened them so much that they were even forced to recognize tributary status to the people of Israel and pay them the same tribute that they had previously taken themselves. Gath, the old capital of Achish and the southernmost of the Philistine cities, with its district and settlements, passed into the hands of David. With such a victory, David, in the words of the biblical narrator, “humbled the Philistines and took leadership from the hands of the Philistines” 63 . “And the Lord kept David wherever he went.” Chapter 11. Internal structure of the kingdom The development of the new monarchy, which so triumphantly repelled (perhaps not without the help of Tyre) its once terrible enemies, the Philistines, found special assistance in the favorable circumstances of that time. Egypt, once so powerful, by this time, under the last kings of the 20th dynasty, the successors of the great Ramses, had weakened extremely, and Assyria, which under Tiglath-Pilezer I had extended its conquests to Lebanon and brought fear to all of Western Asia, after his death suffered such a strong decline, perhaps a natural exhaustion due to immoderate conquest, that the inscriptions on the monuments almost completely cease in relation to her. All that is known about it is limited to the fact that Assyria was defeated by the king of Babylon, as well as by the Hittite king of Syria, and lost most of its possessions. Therefore, in Western Asia there was no such powerful power that could prevent David both in his aggressive activities and in organizing the internal affairs of the state, with the aim of elevating it to the level of a powerful monarchy. Under him and Solomon, Israel was destined to take the place previously occupied by the kings of Assyria. David's loyalty and sincere devotion to theocratic government was meanwhile revealed in the excitement he gave to the national religion. From the very founding of his capital at Jerusalem, he apparently resolved to make it the great religious center of his state, and began to establish more majestic rites in public worship than had been hitherto known. It was from his reign that the development of the Old Testament economy, or at least its complete establishment, which was supported until the destruction of Jerusalem, began. Not only religious, but also political considerations made it desirable for the people to look at this capital not only as the residence of their king, but also as the center of their faith. David did not forget that the main purpose of the chosen people was to be a light for the pagans in religious and moral terms, and therefore he turned his main attention to the elevation of the religious spirit of the people. For this purpose, he decided to move the main shrine of the people, the Ark of the Covenant, to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant, from the time of its return from the Philistines, was in Kirjath-jearim. David went there at the head of thirty thousand chosen men. A new chariot was prepared for the ark, on which it was solemnly set on its journey. The two sons of Abinadab, in whose house the ark had previously been located, carried it in a solemn procession, expressing their enthusiasm with music and sacred songs. But the death of Uzzah, one of the sons of Abinadab, however, showed that the shrine required a different method of transportation, namely on the shoulders of the Levites and priests. After a three-month stay in Gath, the ark was again set on its journey and carried in triumph by the high priests from both lines of the Aaronic priesthood. Every six steps the king made sacrifices; The procession itself was accompanied by enthusiastic singing, music and rejoicing. David himself, dressed in a simple priestly linen ephod, carried away by a feeling of religious delight, “galloped with all his might before the Lord,” pouring out his enthusiasm in wondrous psalms, mingled with the songs of the Levites, the joyful cries of the people and the solemn sounds of trumpets, cymbals and harps. In Zion, a new tabernacle was prepared for the ark (the old one was left in Gibeon, since it probably had become significantly dilapidated and damaged from time to time): there David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and, “having blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts, he distributed to all the people - both men and women - one piece of bread, and a piece of roasted meat, and one cake and a mug of wine to everyone” in memory of this great events. But the eternal memory of this event remained those psalms that were composed by David on the occasion of the great celebration. During the very raising of the ark to transfer it to Jerusalem, Psalm 67 was composed and sung, beginning with the words: “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee from His presence.” When the ark entered the fortress of Zion, Psalm 23 was sung, in which, at the very moment of entry, an enthusiastic address to the gates of the fortress is indicated: “Lift up, O gates, your heights, and lift up the eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter!” In this psalm Jehovah is glorified as the king of glory who has finally completed his victory over the pagan enemies of his people and is installed in Zion, from where he will conquer the whole world. “Who is this king of glory?” asks one choir in this psalm, and the other solemnly answers: “The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle.” “Who is this king of glory? “The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory!” Having dismissed the people, the jubilant king returned to his home to share his religious enthusiasm with all his household. But there he was met with an offensive reproach from his arrogant wife Michal, who was extremely displeased with the king’s behavior before the ark: “how the king of Israel has distinguished himself today,” she told David with poisonous irony, “by exposing himself today before the eyes of his servants, as some empty man is exposed!” Such arrogance of Saul's daughter should have been duly punished. Expressing a fair reproach to her, David answered her that for the sake of the Lord he was ready to humble himself even more and preferred the religious enthusiasm of the last maids to the proud arrogance of the queen. “And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children until the day of her death.” Those. she was deprived of the highest honor that only an Old Testament woman was awarded, namely, the marriage bed of her royal husband, and as a result had to bear the heaviest burden and the greatest shame at that time - childlessness. The transfer of the ark to its new home in Zion can be called a turning point in the history of Israel, as well as the greatest era in the work of David. Hence the presence of the theocratic monarch and the presence of Jehovah were united in one center; in any case, this was the first and most important step towards such a unification. While the tabernacle, venerable in its antiquity, and the great altar were in another place, the union of government and worship could not be considered complete, and a separate religious service was a necessity of the time; David had in his heart the desire to build a temple for the Lord, which would contain all the accessories of worship from ancient or later times and would become a place of prayer and worship for the whole people. But to achieve this goal, much preliminary work still needed to be done. One of the most important matters in this regard was the transformation of the tribe of priests and Levites, which was made necessary due to the general decline of religion and the disorder into which the affairs of the Levites had fallen since the reign of the judges. And so David began a series of measures which, carried out over several years, resulted in a salutary transformation, which, with some modifications, continued to remain in force during the rest of the national period of Israel. The massacre of the priests at Nob plunged the priestly tribe into an extremely depressed and disordered state, and although worship was still performed at Gibeon, it was performed under poor and irregular rites, which had no proper support or support from the royal authority. The orders originally established by Moses were partly abandoned and partly no longer corresponded to the circumstances of the present time; the details required modification, and at the same time new regulations were needed. At this time there was a dual priesthood and its separate duties had to be clearly defined. Zadok, the head of the house of Eleazar, with his brethren were established in their offices in Gibeon, in the tribe of Benjamin, where the tabernacle and the great altar were still located, the removal of which there was no divine command, while Abiathar and his son, Abimelech, from another line of the Aaronic high priesthood, namely, Ithamar, officiated at the tabernacle in Jerusalem, although we have no information, so that sacrifices would also be made there, and in any case it is known that the first and only altar in this city was erected by David on the threshing floor of Orna several years later. Samuel already had in mind, or even began to make some changes in the Levitical ministry, and David continued his work, guided undoubtedly by the instructions that he had received from the great prophet. At Ramah sacred music and chant were carefully studied, and David was always close to some of the Levitical families, some of whom, as we saw above, even shared with him a wandering lot during his exile and persecution by Saul. Therefore, David, in order to enhance the worship in Jerusalem, decided to invite the most famous singers, who were to form regular choirs and compose religious hymns for use during worship. Such famous singers were Heman, Asaph and Ethan, whom David appointed as leaders of the musical side of the worship service, and of them Asaph and his brothers were assigned to serve before the ark of the Lord, so that they would glorify, thank and exalt the Lord, the God of Israel, and Heman and the singers subordinate to him were appointed to serve in Gibeon, so that they would serve at the old tabernacle and “glorify God by playing the trumpets, cymbals and various musical instruments" (1 Chron. 16:39–42). The same period dates back to the introduction of that system of orders, developed in more detail later, according to which the entire class of priests was divided into 24 classes, 16 of which belonged to the family of Eleazar and 8 to the family of Ithamar, and each class was headed by a special high priest: at the head of the first was Zadok and at the head of the second was Abiathar. These classes or orders were called by the name of their elders (as for example in Luke 1:5, we read about the order of Abia), who in the time of the Savior were called chief priests and formed part of the great Sanhedrin. These orders performed their duties on a weekly basis, and their members distributed among themselves individual positions by lot, and the entire order of service was distributed in such a way that the family of Eleazar performed twice as many circles of service as the family of Ithamar. The remaining Levites, of whom there were 38,000 from 20 years of age and above, were distributed as follows: 24,000 of them were appointed to assist the 24 priestly orders in serving in the sanctuary; 4,000 were set apart as musicians and singers, divided into 24 orders under the leadership of as many chiefs or regents; 4,000 were appointed as guards and gatekeepers of the sanctuary, and the remaining 6,000, called "principal fathers", were engaged in matters pertaining to God and the king, away from the capital, performing the duties of officials and judges, and probably also teachers and chroniclers. In order to support the art of singing and music, David did not need to create a special music school in Jerusalem; he had only to move here the prophetic school of Samuel with all its accessories: musical, liturgical and educational. As one can judge from some expressions of the biblical narrative, the heads of the Levitical families were not just artists or simple musical performers. These were the people whom God honored with those supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we saw in the person of the seventy elders raised by Moses to be his assistants in the wilderness, and which found such famous manifestation in the prophetic schools of Samuel in Rama. It is most improbable that David should have missed the opportunity of availing himself of an institution which had done so much to promote the liveliness of true religion in the time of Samuel. From this it becomes clear that the chief director of the musical choirs was Heman, the grandson of Samuel, who could well embody the high spiritual gifts of his divinely inspired grandfather, and the writers of psalms contemporary with his own were also Levites, who belonged to families brought up on religious music and devoted themselves to performing it during worship. The influence of these persons was such that their names remained in the people's memory until later times, and the psalms attributed to Asaph and the sons of Cor were sung for centuries after the sweet voices of their compilers had ceased forever. David himself, as a most divinely inspired singer, also composed many hymns for worship, instructing Asaph and his singers to set them to appropriate music. An example of these hymns is the famous song in 1 Chronicles. 16:8–36, parts of which are included in Psalms 95, 104 and 105, where the Israelites and the pagan world, and in general all of creation, are called to praise the one true God. Other psalms, composed on various occasions in earlier times, were also assigned for liturgical worship, so that over time, each day of the week and each holiday had its own special psalm. The melodies in which these psalms were sung are sometimes indicated in their very names, and although, of course, it is now impossible to reproduce the sounds themselves, since they have not been preserved in any records known to us, however, there is some reason to believe that the ancient, so-called Gregorian chant, or at least some of its tones, originate from the music and chants of the Jewish church and embody precisely those sounds that almost 3,000 years ago they delighted the pious Israelites, carrying their thoughts to the throne of God. The Spanish Jews, being the most conservative people in the world, still sing psalms in unique simple tunes, surprisingly similar, if not identical, to primitive church chants. To support the voices of the singers and to add even greater solemnity to the worship service, David found it possible to resort to the use of various musical instruments, such as cymbals, harps of various tones and trumpets (1 Chron. 15:19–24, 16:5, 6). We do not have sufficient materials to enable us to state with certainty the method and order of the divine service thus established, but we can assume that the service began with a concert of harps, their sounds were picked up by vocal and instrumental music, stopping at certain pauses that constituted the “sela”; The pause was followed by an interlude, performed on only one instrument. The entire assembly of worshipers responded from time to time to the chorus of the Levites, and their usual singing was accompanied by exclamations of “Amen” and “Hallelujah.” Having arranged religious affairs, David with the same zeal turned to the organization of the military forces of the state, and the military organization he introduced is known to us with considerable accuracy. The knot of the army was composed of a detachment of 600 people, which was formed around David during his exile and which, due to its courage and military experience, became an exemplary detachment and bore the honorary title of Gibborim, that is, strong men or heroes. These were for the most part true Israelis, but among them there were a few foreigners, such as, for example. Uriah the Hittite, who later gained fame, and Zelek the Ammonite (2 Sam. 23:37, 39). These heroes were divided into three squads of two hundred men each, and then into smaller units or platoons of twenty men each. Of the smaller units, each had its own special commander, of whom there were thirty in all, and promotion to the position of these commanders was usually a reward for special courage. Over every two hundred men, with their ten officers, a special commander or colonel was placed, and at the head of all was a general, who later, if not from the very beginning, appears to have been Abishai, the king's nephew. Thus, this detachment consisted of only six hundred and thirty-four people, who undoubtedly had many servants and squires. They had free premises in Jerusalem and received a salary from the king, since they were exclusively in his service and had no other duties other than those associated with military affairs. The exploits of some of these warriors, according to legend, were preserved in posterity and were recorded in national chronicles. Of the three colonels, the main one, Isbosef, became famous for the fact that he alone withstood the attack of eight hundred enemies with his spear and defeated them; the second, Eleazar, withstood the attack of a significant detachment of Philistines in Ephesus-Dammim, and defeated them until his hand became tired and stuck to the sword; the third, Shammah, accomplished a similar feat, repelling a Philistine raid on a lentil field, and thus saving it from destruction. Such marvelous feats of strength and courage were the fruit of national desires for freedom and ardent rivalries, animated and supported by the inner consciousness that all these deeds were performed for the glory and honor of Jehovah, the constant protector and patron of Israel. The main body of the army, generally called the “army,” consisted of all men capable of bearing arms; when they were subsequently numbered, there were eight hundred thousand among the tribes of Israel, and five hundred thousand among the tribes of Judah, and Joab was the commander-in-chief of all this army. This entire army was assembled only when necessary and did not have any special military training. But one could not really rely much on this militia, because, despite its large numbers, in the absence of significant military training, it could deceive the expectations of its leader; Therefore, in order to form an active army, always ready to move at any urgent need, a militia was composed of 12 regiments, each of 24,000 people, and each of these regiments served for one month in the year, under the command of its own commander, undergoing special training or performing garrison duties in subordinate cities and settlements. Since the main detachment of 600 people was often on duty at a distance from the palace, and in his absence the king did not have special troops to protect his own person and carry out his commands, in addition to these soldiers, the king also brought in a special detachment of bodyguards, that is, apparently, the remnant of a similar detachment at the court of Saul, when, perhaps, David himself was his commander. This detachment was finally formed during his stay in Hebron. He was completely attached to his personality, carried out his orders and was never sent to serve in distant countries. Initially, it was composed of foreigners, the so-called Cheletheites and Felethites, who entered his service during his stay in Gath and Ziklag, and from that time on were generally recruited from various foreign cities. They were under the command of Benaiah, the son of the chief priest Jehoiada, and the most distinguished man among the Gibborim, and this company was probably something like the Swiss or Scots guards in the service of the French monarchs, and the Varangian bodyguard at the Greek court at Constantinople. Over such a detachment it was necessary to place not only a man of undoubted courage and valor, but also one who would be a devoted friend of the king, free from all ambition and self-seeking. Such was precisely Benaiah, who turned out to be a truly faithful assistant to both David and his son, and was Joab’s successor as commander-in-chief over the military forces of Israel. The Chelethites were first mentioned in connection with the invasion of the Amalekites, during David's stay in Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:14). These were, in all likelihood, warriors recruited from the Philistines in the south, and some researchers associate their name with Crete, with the island from where, according to some, the Philistines moved to the shores of Canaan 64 . According to another interpretation, this word is equivalent to the word “executor of execution,” which position was indeed partly the responsibility of the Chelethei. The name of the Pheletheans seems to have been only another form of the name "Philistine," although here too some have compared the name with a word which signifies a runner or courier, which was a common title for the king's servants in the east. The Israeli king, recruiting his bodyguards from foreign mercenaries, followed in this regard the custom of other eastern monarchs, who usually entrusted the protection of their personalities to hired foreigners, connected with them by personal interests and generally incapable of breaking allegiance due to any dynastic or state considerations. As for the actual personality of David himself, he tied these mercenary troops to himself by the charm of his personal manner, so that this charm alone was enough to maintain their constant loyalty to him in this detachment of bodyguards. The Israeli army differed from the army of the surrounding nations especially in that it did not have cavalry. The biblical narrative speaks of a few chariots that were retained on one occasion from the spoils of one defeated people, and of several mules used by princes and military leaders; but, with the exception of them, the rest of the Israeli army consisted exclusively of infantry. The Mosaic legislation frowned upon artificial aid in war; personal courage and trust in the Lord should have given the Israelite army the confidence and superiority that other nations found in horses and chariots (Ps. 19:7). The main weapons of the army were spears and swords, and in using the first of these weapons, some achieved amazing dexterity. Bows and arrows and slings were used less frequently, and later were mainly used by the Benjamites, whose skill in this regard was famous throughout the country. They were probably more in use during the external yoke, when the Israelites were deprived of other weapons by their Philistine conquerors, but fell out of use when it became possible to resort to more effective weapons. For defensive action, a large mass of infantry had nothing but shields, which were round or oval in shape and were usually made of wood, covered with leather and sometimes fastened with metal. A large oblong shield that covered the entire body was a special accessory of kings and chief military leaders, and such a shield was usually carried by a squire. The helmet and chain mail were worn only by the most noble persons. These differences between the army of Israel and the armies of the surrounding nations further separated them from the rest of the world and forced them to rely on the leadership and help of God. The military campaigns of the Israelis were distinguished by another feature. The Israelites often took the sacred Ark of the Covenant with them on military campaigns, thus giving the war a religious character and thereby showing that the enemies of Israel were at the same time the enemies of God, and therefore must be subjected to the most severe punishment.” Having improved the military structure of the kingdom, David, however, did not think that he would thereby fulfill his entire royal purpose; it was still necessary to bring into proper order the social and civil aspects of the life of the people. During the last years of Saul's reign, that part of civil life that concerned the establishment of justice and external order especially fell into disarray, and therefore David paid special attention to the restoration of the just court. He was no longer the king of one tribe, but the king of a strong and united people, which had a correct structure within itself, entered into relations with other nations and itself had extensive possessions. In order to put this entire vast state in proper order, David introduced some new institutions that continued to exist until the final overthrow of the monarchy 65. Himself the head of all civil and military administration, he did not at the same time abolish the time-honored self-government of the individual tribes through the elders. To these latter he gave the management of his local affairs, and on major national occasions they all gathered together to discuss exactly how to act in this case, and such a system of local self-government had a very beneficial effect on the general state of public life, since at the same time it served as an obstacle to the development of despotism common in the east. At the same time, the king was under the control of a special council, consisting of the most important and experienced men of the state, and among them especially the prophets, who, as the religious leaders of the people, could best direct the activities of the king in accordance with the religious purpose of the entire state. This state council consisted of advisers or friends of the king, and at their head was a writer, whose duties were not only to record the main events of the reign to preserve the memory of them in the national chronicles, but also to report to the king about the affairs of current life and all important issues raised by the internal or external life of the state. Jehoshaphat was such a writer. Then, the second position was that of a scribe, a secretary of state, who prepared all the formal documents containing royal orders related to public affairs. Perhaps, separate from the position of the scribe was the position of the tribute collector, through whose hands all the accounts of the state, financial affairs and calculation of the people passed. The royal income consisted of various sources; this included voluntary offerings, as happened especially when the king ascended the throne, and then on any occasion of approaching the king, when, according to Eastern custom, a gift was required; then the source of income was tribute from subordinate peoples, and the king himself had special estates consisting of land and livestock. From these and similar sources, without any extortion or injustice, the king's property gradually increased, so that it became necessary to appoint special officials to collect, preserve and make the best use of it. “And David reigned over all Israel, and administered justice and righteousness to all his people.” In improving his state, David strove for only one goal - to please God and his subjects in this regard. This was an eastern king whose ideal was to “walk with God with a pure heart,” to surround himself with the best people of the land and to make Jerusalem so that it would, for generations, be precisely a model of just government, or, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “a faithful capital, full of justice” (Is. 1:21). He was by no means a despot, like the surrounding kings of the east. All his behavior bore the imprint of the consciousness of his responsibility before God, whose representative he was. The purpose of his whole great life was only to fulfill the great principles of the sacred law, both in public and private affairs, and to make them in all respects the fundamental law of the people. To this end, he himself showed his people an example of magnanimity even towards his enemies, and from this time, by the way, one extremely noble incident dates back, showing how much magnanimity David had in himself to treat with love and respect even the memory of his worst enemies, which was Saul. Completely alien to any dynastic bitterness towards the previous house, David treated with love the remaining members of the family of Saul and especially the family of his friend, Jonathan. When a period of repose from absorbing public duties gave him time to reflect on the past, he had a sincere desire to show his kindness to any of the descendants of the house of Saul, if any were left alive. Upon investigation, it turned out that the person most familiar with the fate of the family of the late king was a certain Ziba, the old steward of Saul, who, however, had long ago violated his loyalty to this house and, taking advantage of its fall, tried to enrich himself at its expense. This man informed the king that in the house of a certain Machir, a rich resident of Lodebar, a Trans-Jordanian city near Mahanaim, the son of Jonathan, named Mephibosheth, lived in solitude and alienation. The life of this prince passed in complete aloofness and even secrecy, and Siwa reported his actual whereabouts only when he was sure that the investigations regarding the house of Saul by the new king were carried out without any hostile purposes. This descendant of the royal house led an extremely sad life. After the death of his father at Gilboa, he was still a child, and then, as stated above, by accident, due to the fright and carelessness of his nanny, he received a bruise, which made him crippled for the rest of his life, namely lame. As a result of such a sad accident, he was forever deprived of the opportunity to dream of any higher claims to the throne, or in general to participation in state affairs, and therefore took refuge in the area where his uncle, Ishbosheth, temporarily stood at the head of the kingdom of Israel, and was then left in complete neglect and obscurity to the present time. Now David, having learned of his stay there, sent for him, received him with fatherly courtesy, restored to him the possession of all the lands that had once belonged to Saul, and even made him an intimate member of his own house, giving him a permanent place at the king's table, as if he were one of his sons. In order to help him manage his estates, David appointed Ziba as manager of these estates, entrusting the latter with full responsibility for maintaining his master’s estates in complete order and profitability. The first twenty years of David's reign passed in comparative peace, and during all this time David was engaged in the improvement of internal affairs. At the same time, to secure his borders from external attack, he stationed security troops everywhere. But, after this improvement was completed, he, having a strong army, could enter the field of aggressive politics. Around the promised land there lived many hostile nations, who not only often attacked the people of Israel, but also owned lands that, according to God’s promise, should have belonged to the possessions of the chosen people. And so begins a whole series of victorious campaigns. David, full of living trust in God, decided to fulfill the will of God stated in the promise and conquer all those lands that, illegally and only due to the weakness and unbelief of the Israeli people, were still in the possession of their enemies, the pagans. Here a completely new side opens up in David’s activity and character. He who, in the peaceful years of his reign, so sweetly played the harp and sang inspired hymns, now took the sword into the field of conquest, in order to raise his kingdom to the level of a powerful monarchy, as God intended it to be. In the narration of the subsequent wars, the biblical historian limits himself to only a few random indications, since his goal was by no means to enter into the presentation of all these events, which have a more civil than religious significance, and he presents them only from the side from which they relate to the development of the religious life of the people and the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, he reports enough to form a general idea of ​​​​all these exploits, as well as their results. David first of all directed his victorious weapon against the Philistines, who now had to finally pay for the numerous troubles caused by their frequent raids to the people of Israel. This campaign against the Philistines was remarkable in two respects: firstly, due to the danger to which David was exposed during one of the battles, and secondly, due to the important results that were acquired during it. In one of the battles, in which David himself personally took part, he became extremely weak from extraordinary efforts, and one gigantic Philistine, Iesvi, attacked him with his huge sword and wanted to kill him; but his courageous commander and nephew Abishai hastened to his aid and killed the enemy. This incident greatly struck the Israelites, and they vowed that in the future they would not allow him to personally go to war, “lest, as they added, the lamp of Israel should go out” (2 Sam. 21:15 et seq.). Thanks to the courage of David's army, the Philistines were defeated, the Israelites invaded their territory, and garrisons were stationed in many of their main cities. Gath itself, which once served as a place of refuge for David, with the cities belonging to it, fell into the hands of the victors and became a tributary to David. With the conquest and subjugation of these important places, the western part of the Philistine land found itself in an extremely straitened position and, so to speak, had to depend entirely on the mercy of the Israelites. And indeed, the spirit of this restless people was now completely crushed, and they ceased to be disturbers of the peace of the Israeli state, although David, for his part, took advantage of this victory very moderately and gave the conquered people the opportunity to continue their industrial and commercial life unhindered in the coastal cities. This victory provided the chosen people with a legal border in the southwest and extended their possessions to the “River of Egypt,” separating Palestine from the possessions of Egypt. Then, turning to the eastern border, David decided to also defeat the long-time enemy of the people, namely the Moabites. During his wandering life, when his own country did not offer him adequate refuge, David once sought refuge among the Moabites, and even entrusted his parents to the care of the king of Moab, with whom he was at that time on friendly terms. If he now directed his weapons against the Moabites, there must have been special reasons for this. An ancient Jewish tradition states that the king of Moab treacherously killed Jesse and his wife, and thus David had the duty of bloody vengeance for such a crime. But besides this, it is quite possible that with their constant raids and predation these restless neighbors seriously harmed the welfare of Israel, made life and property insecure and threatened even the very existence of the inhabitants of the regions closest to them. Moreover, it is very possible that the Moabites, like their related tribe of the Ammonites, committed various cruelties during their raids, such as. they gouged out the right eyes of captives and treated women in the most barbaric manner 66 . It is also possible that they united with the Edomites when they were at war with the Israelites, and thus caused considerable harm to the latter. In any case, David energetically directed his weapons against them, and it was accompanied by complete success; two sons of the Moabite king were killed by Benaiah, and the enemy army, surrounded by the Israelites and deprived of its commanders, almost all fell into the hands of the winner. Most eastern monarchs in such cases usually subjected prisoners to beatings indiscriminately. David did not do this, but nevertheless he subjected them to severe punishment. He forced the prisoners to lie down on the ground, and then, by means of a special measure, divided them into three sections, beat two thirds of them, and left one third alive. Thus, the prophecy once uttered by Balaam was fulfilled: “he who is descended from Jacob will take possession and destroy what is left of the city (the capital of Moab)” (Num. 24:17). From this time the Moabites were reduced to the position of a subject people, and paid tribute for a century and a half, until they recovered sufficiently to overthrow the yoke of Israel, which they did under Ahab's successor, Ahaziah. During the punishment of the captives, David resorted to some special measures, which are unknown what they consisted of, but in any case resonate with some cruelty, as a result of which some researchers accuse him of extreme heartlessness and bloodthirstiness. But in order to judge this, one must look at the matter not from the newest Christian point of view, which has behind it centuries of humanizing influence, but from the point of view of David’s contemporary. David was a man of his time, it is true, standing much higher than his contemporaries, due to his very position as the enlightened king of the chosen people, but in any case his policy should have been on a par with the spirit of his age. In this case, it will become clear to us that David could not have acted differently in this case, especially since in the Mosaic legislation itself there were such decrees regarding the conquered pagan cities that reflect precisely the spirit of that time. According to these regulations, if a foreign city refused to surrender to the proposal and was then taken by siege or attack, then all the male inhabitants should be subject to death, the women and children should be taken captive and the place itself destroyed; but if the city belonged to any of the seven Canaanite nations, then the entire population, both male and female, was to be slain with the sword. Considered, therefore, as the executor of divine vengeance and the Mosaic Law, David, one might even say, sinned with his condescension and his mercy. He did not punish all inhabitants with death, but only those who were captured with weapons in their hands, and even of these latter, a significant part was also spared. In any case, the ancient customs of war, public spirit and popular feeling required such an attitude towards the enemies, and David, of course, had no desire, and probably no opportunity, to counteract this. Hence, one cannot at all blame the king for cruelty, who only carried out, and moreover very gently, the law and customs that were considered mandatory in all military actions at that time. The war with the Moabites was followed by another war, which had very serious consequences and led to various campaigns, ending with the expansion of David's possessions over that vast area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe land, which was predicted as the inheritance of Israel, even in the time of the patriarchs. It was not the thirst for conquest that prompted David to these conquests. Just as the Israelites showed little missionary or proselytizing spirit in religious affairs, so they were little ambitious and aggressive in their wars. Their wars were either caused by external attacks, or were undertaken to secure their independence, and the conquered countries were held only for safety and to secure the fruits of victory. Their friendly relations with the Philistines, whom they left in the quiet use of their coastal cities and their coastal strip of land, sufficiently proved that the nature of David’s policy was by no means offensive and aggressive. A whole series of foreign wars that followed the conquest of the Moabites arose from one insane insult inflicted on David by one insignificant king. Soon after the conquest of the Moabites, while the defeat inflicted on them and the punishment to which they were subjected were still fresh in everyone's memory, Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died and was succeeded by his son Hanun. This Nahash was probably the son of the king who was defeated by Saul at the beginning of his reign. He was on friendly terms with David during his exile and, like the kings of Moab and Gath, he friendly received him as an enemy of Saul. Hearing of his death, David sent a friendly embassy to the new king to express condolences on the death of his father and congratulate him on his accession to the throne. Such embassies to express sympathy or congratulations, quite common nowadays, were always the custom in ancient times. So, Hiram sent an embassy to Solomon to congratulate him on his accession to the throne, and Mirodach Balaban sent ambassadors to congratulate Hezekiah on the occasion of his recovery from illness (1 Kings 5:1; 2 Kings 20:12). But in the present case, this embassy was interpreted for the worse by those close to the young king, the ambassadors were mistaken for spies, and the unreasonable Annon inflicted a terrible insult on them, ordering “each of them to shave half of their beard, and cut off their clothes in half to the loins,” and in such an ugly form he sent them back to David. David could not bear such dishonor, and he immediately sent an army to punish the daring Annon. Seeing his mistake and the danger threatening him, Annon turned to the Syrians for help, and obtained their help by paying a thousand talents of silver. The Syrians actually fielded a significant force, amounting to 32,000 people, whose strength consisted of numerous chariots and cavalry, against which the Israelites could not field anything adequate except ordinary infantry; some Syrian tribes had already felt the hand of David on themselves, and now took advantage of the opportunity to free themselves from him and get rid of the common enemy. The main leader of the Syrian army was Adraazar, the king of Suva, who possessed significant power and military strength. The city of Suva itself was of little importance and lay in the area between Damascus and the Euphrates. There Adraazar founded a kingdom for himself, stretching from Imath on the Orontes to the “great river,” that is, the Euphrates, and even had some areas in Mesopotamia under his leadership. Together with him, other kings united against David, and by the way the king of Damascus, whose possessions extended to Lake Merom and in the southeast to Lake Gennesaret. This coalition felt so strong that it began to besiege the fortified city of Medeva in the Reuben tribe, located 18 miles east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and lying on the high road through the land of Moab. Hearing that the Syrians had undertaken such an offensive movement, and knowing that Medeva could withstand a fairly long siege, David, in turn, decided to move deep into the enemy’s country and, thus, divert his forces from the borders of the land of Israel. Consequently, he sent Joab with his most loyal troops against Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonite people. It was a well-fortified place, occupying a very strong position, about 30 miles east of the Jordan, on the banks of the southern of the two streams, which, at their junction, make up the Jabbok River. “In terms of the picturesque location,” says one traveler to these countries, “I cannot yet compare any ruins with Ammon. The most striking among these ruins is the citadel, which at first embraced not only the garrison, but also the upper city, and covered a considerable area. The elevated platform on which the citadel lay is triangular in shape; its two sides are formed by valleys, which radiate from the summit, where they are separated by a low ridge, and then descend separately to the valley of Jabbok, which forms the low part of the triangle on which the lower city is located. Rising to the citadel, we can still notice the remains of the fortification, and, passing through them, we find a mass of ruins. Massive walls, the lower part of which is still preserved, rising on the steep sides of the rock, made it impossible to approach the city” 67. In order to counteract the attack of the Israelites, the Ammonites concentrated their forces under the walls of their city and, considering themselves safe, were fully convinced that they had lured the enemy into a trap from which there was no escape. The Syrians, in turn, hearing of the movement of the Israelites against the capital of their allies, raised the siege of Medeba and marched after them, so that when Joab arrived at Rabbah, he found in front of him not only the Ammonite army, but also a large Syrian army, threatening to strike him in the rear. The situation was very dangerous, but Joab’s unshakable courage and military skill rescued him from this difficulty. He divided his army into two detachments, and he sent the strongest detachment of the most experienced warriors, under his own command, against the Syrians, and entrusted the rest of the army to his brother, Abishai, instructing him to restrain the Ammonites and thus prevent them from giving aid to their allies. At the same time, an agreement was made that if any of these detachments was in danger of defeat, then the other should immediately come to its aid. Having made all these orders, Joab then, in order to animate his army, turned to the faith and patriotism of Abishai and the other commanders: “Be courageous, he said, and we will stand firm for our people and for the cities of our God, and the Lord will do what pleases Him” (2 Samuel 10:12). Inflamed by this appeal and trusting in God's help, the Israelis courageously moved against the Syrians; their cavalry and chariots did not provide sufficient resistance to the irresistible pressure of the Israelites; the enemy trembled and fled, and before the eyes of the Ammonites, who were unable to help them, suffered a terrible defeat. Lost in spirit and overcome with fear, the Ammonites retreated beyond the walls of their city and prepared for a siege. Joab besieged their capital and wanted to take it by storm, but finding it too strong and not possessing military engines, especially since the time of year itself was not particularly favorable for military operations, he considered it best to withdraw his army for now, and returned to Jerusalem with large booty captured during the last victory. Whether Adraazar himself took part in this first battle with the Israelites is unknown. But the next year he again set out on a campaign together with an Aramean king. To ensure greater success for this expedition, he won over Damascus, which until then had usually stood on the sidelines, to his side, and received significant reinforcements from Mesopotamia and the banks of the Euphrates, where his conquests also extended. Following the tactics of an energetic and active commander, David decided to forestall the attack of this strong enemy and move with all his forces to meet him before he could enter the land of Israel. As a result of this, he himself became the head of the army, since this enterprise was too important to entrust it to any commander, and, crossing the Jordan to the northeast, he met the combined forces of the enemy in the town of Elam, it is not known where exactly it was located, but in all likelihood north of Imath 68. Here the Syrians suffered a terrible defeat, their commander Sovak was killed, 700 chariots were captured, and about 7,000 horsemen and up to 20,000 infantry fell on the battlefield or became prisoners. But this victory had to be completed by the conquest of the very kingdoms that participated in this hostile alliance. The famous Damascus was the first to feel the hand of the heroic king of Israel. With all his power and wealth, he could not withstand the irresistible onslaught of David; 22,000 of its defenders died in the battle, and this great city had to submit to David, opened its gates to the Israelite garrison, and paid tribute to the victors. Continuing his victorious march, David quickly went to other Aramaic districts that had helped Adraazar, and also subjugated them to his power. The Canaanite king of the city of Imath, Thoi, whose possessions lay between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon and who especially felt oppression at the hands of the Aramaic tyrant, sent hearty congratulations to David, accompanying him with rich gifts of copper, silver and gold. Any resistance to David was no longer possible, and the entire country up to the banks of the Orontes submitted to the Israelis and began to pay tribute to David. During these campaigns, a huge amount of booty was captured, especially since some Syrian troops were even armed with gold shields. A significant part of this loot was concentrated in Jerusalem and was subsequently used to build and decorate the church. But there was also some prey that could not be used. Many chariots and horses were captured, regarding which there were special regulations in the Old Testament. The king of Israel was forbidden to multiply horses, so that he would not be tempted to rely too much on material strength, to the detriment of his trust in the Lord 69 . In accordance with this decree, David destroyed all the chariots captured from the enemy, with the exception of one hundred, which were preserved for state purposes and as monuments of victory, and in general only as many horses were retained as were sufficient to carry these chariots to Jerusalem, and all the rest were destroyed or made useless through the operation of trimming the sinews often used in ancient times. When David was thus occupied with military operations in the north, the restless and ever-hostile Edomites, seeing the south completely devoid of troops, and aroused to action by the vengeful Ammonites, made an invasion of Judah with a strong army. They caused a lot of anxiety and concern to Saul already in the first years of his reign, but until now they had not shown any particular hostility towards his successor. The danger in this regard could not be ignored. By uniting with the Amalekites and other warlike tribes of the desert, the Edomites could cause serious harm and victories over the Syrians would be purchased by the destruction and devastation of Israel. Joab and Abishai were immediately sent south with part of the army and were ordered to treat the enemy with the greatest severity possible. They found that the Edomites had already caused many disasters, and now, with the approach of the Israelites, they retreated into their own possession. Having sent Abishai with the main body of the army, Joab himself began for some time to perform a decent burial of those whom these barbarians killed and left unburied (1 Kings 11:15). Meanwhile, his courageous brother set about the work of revenge. Moving along the western shore of the Dead Sea, he met the enemy in the Salt Valley, at the southern tip of the sea, and inflicted a severe defeat on them, during which they lost 18,000 people. This was followed by a highly destructive war. But Idumea, by its very geographical position, was a country that was difficult to subjugate. Its mountains, gorges and caves provided shelters that were not easy to penetrate or take by storm; and therefore, it took six whole months to conquer this people and to establish guard troops in the conquered areas. All who were taken with weapons in their hands were put to death; but quite a few fled and waited for a favorable opportunity for an uprising. The royal family mostly perished; one of their princes, named Adat, fled to Egypt and found a favorable reception from the pharaoh, who even gave his sister-in-law for him and helped him subsequently harass Solomon. The dangerous position in which David was placed by this disturbance in his own country, especially at a time when he himself was forced to strain all his strength to fight his Syrian enemies, is described in the fifty-ninth psalm, the inscription of which refers to its composition at this particular time: "God! You have rejected us, You have crushed us, You are angry: turn to us. You shook the earth, broke it: Heal her injuries, for she is wavering. You have given your people cruel experiences, He gave us the wine of amazement. Grant a banner to those who fear You, So that they raise it for the sake of truth, That Thy beloved may be delivered; Save with Your right hand and hear me. Moab, my laver; I will stretch my boot on Edom. Shout to me, land of the Philistines! Who will lead me into the fortified city? Who will bring me to Edom? Is it not You, O God, who rejected us, And you don’t go out, O God, with our troops? Give us help in our time of need; For human defense is vain. He will overthrow our enemies." 70. But if the struggle was difficult on two fronts, then the more joyful was the victory in both of these directions, and the delight of the victorious king was expressed in the hundred and ninth psalm, where the divinely inspired thought of the psalmist clearly saw the great Conqueror of the future, taking on a clearly messianic hue: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, How long will I make Your enemies Your footstool. The Lord will send the rod of Your strength from Zion: Rule among Your enemies. He will smite kings on the day of His wrath: He will bring judgment on the nations, He will crush his head in the vast land. He will drink from the stream along the way, And therefore he will lift up his head." 71. This same great event could also serve as the reason for the origin of the second psalm, since at this very time “the nations were in turmoil and the nations were plotting in vain, the kings of the earth were rebelling and the princes were taking counsel together against the Lord and His anointed,” and David’s hope for God’s help against the troubled nations was expressed in enthusiastic words on behalf of the Lord: “He who lives in heaven will laugh, Then He will tell them in His anger, And with His wrath he will throw them into confusion: I have anointed My King over Zion, Ask of Me and I will give the nations as Your inheritance, You will strike them with a rod of iron; You will crush them like a potter's vessel. Learn, O judges of the earth." 72 Upon his return from Syria, David joined his victorious commanders and with them solemnly entered Jerusalem, and the enormous booty captured during these campaigns, golden shields, rich weapons, precious vessels and hundreds of chariots and horses increased the splendor of the entry, testifying to the completeness and decisiveness of the victory. Never in his entire life had the son of Jesse triumphed to such an extent as now; Never before had such a happy sun risen above him. This was the zenith of his military glory. We must not diminish the significance of these victories in view of the brevity of the reports given by the sacred historian. The Bible by no means intends to satisfy curiosity regarding the details of the great battles and amazing events with which modern histories are usually filled, and they are generally reported only in order to indicate the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham a thousand years before, repeated in the time of Moses, and to show how the dominion of the chosen people extended from the borders of Egypt to the Euphrates, from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, from the desert to south to the Lebanese Mountains in the north. In other words, Israelite dominion at this time extended to the Elanite Gulf of the Red Sea and to Thapsak on the Euphrates River, having as its western border the Mediterranean Sea, and its southern border the Arabian desert of Sur and Paran, and in the north embracing Syria, up to the Orontes River (Gen. 15:18; Deut. 11:24; Exod. 23:31). It was the miraculous result of centuries of struggle. The once oppressed and insignificant people of Israel now occupied an honorable place among the great nations; without the slightest idea of ​​universal conquest, forced by circumstances to extend his dominion far and wide, he reached a position of supreme power and influence, which could only be achieved by the aid of a higher hand and in obedience to the guiding council of Jehovah. The kingdom of the Israelite people was no longer an insignificant, poorly organized state, the prey of neighboring predatory peoples, who continually attacked it, plundering cities and inhabitants. It was now a powerful monarchy, which for a time ruled over all of Western Asia and in whose hands lay the fate of numerous peoples who reverently brought their tribute to the formidable king. David himself was most clearly aware of this wonderful change, and his feelings on this matter were expressed in that sublime psalm of thanksgiving, which the biblical historian introduced into the pages of his narrative and which not only bears the imprint of all the trials he endured, but also opens up a distant, brilliant view of the time of the coming of the Messiah. The dangers that threatened him, the repeated cases of his miraculous salvation, the establishment of his throne, the vastness of his possessions - if all these objects are closely related to the circumstances of David’s earthly life, then at the same time, in their depths, indications of the exploits of the “son of David” and the results of His spiritual struggle clearly shine through. So, on the day of his triumph, the sweet singer of Israel sang the following song: “With You I defeat the armies, With my God I climb the wall, God! - His way is blameless, He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God but the Lord, And who is our defense but our God? God girds me with strength, And arranges for me the right path, Makes my legs like a deer's And he places me on my heights, And my muscles crush the copper bow. Your works are the shield of my salvation, And Your right hand upholds me. You widen my step under me, And my feet do not falter. And I pursue my enemies and overtake them, I will not return until I destroy them. I hit them and they cannot get up; For You have girded me with strength for war, And he put under my feet those who rebelled against me. You delivered me from the rebellion of the people, She made me the head of the foreigners. People I didn't know serve me According to one rumor about me, they obey me, Foreigners caress me. And they tremble in their fortifications. You have raised me above those who rebel against me, And he delivered me from a cruel man. For this reason I will praise You, O Lord, among the foreigners, And I will sing to Your name, Majestically saving the king, And He who shows kindness to Your anointed, David, And to his descendants forever." 73 Filled with gratitude to God, who was now pleased to fulfill his promises regarding the possession of the land of Canaan, David decided to prove his gratitude by building a magnificent church that would be worthy of the Lord of hosts and the King of glory. David had a lot of wealth accumulated from booty and tribute, and he built a magnificent cedar palace in which he lived, enjoying his victorious laurels. The Ark of the Covenant, meanwhile, was still in the tabernacle. This discrepancy in the premises of the king of earth and the King of heaven amazed David. Calling his close prophet Nathan, the king said to him: “Behold, I live in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is under the tent.” The Prophet at first approved of the idea of giving and was pleased to hear that David had already communicated his intention to his friend Hiram of Tire, who provided him with considerable assistance in building the royal palace. But God's thoughts are not human thoughts. That same night the prophet had a vision that completely changed his view of this subject, and he was ordered to prohibit this construction for that time. David, busy with the improvement of the earthly kingdom, could not begin this great undertaking and had to leave the glory of completing it to his son, the successor to the throne. The church of the Most High must be a church of peace, and therefore can only be built by a person who has not shed human blood. David, during his many wars, shed a lot of blood, and therefore is not worthy to be the builder of a church to the God of love and peace 74 . But the very thought of building a church flowed from good intentions in David, and therefore the Lord showed him his mercy in a great promise. Through the prophet Nathan, He revealed to him a great future and predicted that Israel would be firmly established in its land, would be completely freed from the yoke of its enemies and would constantly increase in prosperity and peace. Then the prophet added a prediction about the strengthening of the kingdom in the line of David. Even if he is not allowed to erect a material church to the Lord, then God will make him himself a “house” and will erect a seed for him. He will build a house for the name of God, and his throne (in the spiritual sense) will be established forever. “I took you,” the Lord reminded David, from the flock of sheep, so that you could be the leader of My people Israel, and be with you wherever you went, and destroy all your enemies before you, and make your name great, like the name of the great ones on earth. When your days are fulfilled, I will restore your seed after you, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My Son, and if he sins, I will punish him with the rod of men and the blows of the sons of men; but I will not take My mercy from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I rejected before you. And your house and your kingdom will be established forever before Me, and your throne will stand forever” (2 Samuel 7:8–16). This was a glorious promise, a rich reward for refusing permission to fulfill his desire for the building of the church. This promise contains three parts, one of which is more sublime than the other. The house of David will reign forever; the seed of David will build a church for the Lord, which He will make His holy habitation, and this seed will be raised to the degree of sonship with God, and punishment and fatherly love are combined with eternal mercy, which will never depart from the chosen people. Is it possible not to see that this sublime prediction extends much further than the great son of David, Solomon, and in general the line of any earthly dynasty? Monarchs of this kind were the heralds of its fulfillment, but it could be finally fulfilled only in the person of the Messiah, who bore punishment for us, exalted human nature to the highest abode in heaven, and established His eternal throne there. And we know from Revelation that the time will come when Christ will subdue all enemies under His feet, and the struggling Church will become triumphant, and, according to the saying of the holy mystic, “the church of God in heaven will be opened, and the ark of His covenant will appear in His church” (Rev. 11:19). How far David understood this promise in its deepest meaning is impossible to determine exactly. But that he saw in him something much more than assurance of the royal dignity of his son and his successors is certain. According to the testimony of Ap. Peter, David, being a prophet, knew “that God promised him with an oath from the fruit of his loins to raise up Christ in the flesh and place him on his throne” 75 . He clearly recognized that the former promises all culminated in one great thing, namely, that the scepter of Jacob would be in the hands of his own house, and the great hope of Israel would be fulfilled in his generation. The promise conveyed by Nathan filled the king's heart with joy and thanksgiving. He no longer thought about the fact that he had failed to fulfill his cherished thought of building a church; his regret was swallowed up by delight at the magnificent future that now opened before him; his heart was so filled with feelings of gratitude and satisfaction that he could not remain quietly in his palace, but went to the sanctuary where the ark of the covenant was, there to pour out his soul before the Lord, who had treated him so kindly. And there he poured out his feelings in a prayer preserved by the biblical narrative and consisting of two parts, one of gratitude for the promise and one of petition for its fulfillment. The predominant feeling in him was solemn surprise; he marveled that God should choose so insignificant and little known a man as he was for the eternal kingdom, and for the fulfillment thereof of His great promises, and in consequence he prayed that all these things might be fulfilled in due time. “What am I, Lord, my Lord,” David prayed, Why have You exalted me so much! And this has not yet appeared in Thy sight, O Lord, my Lord; But You also proclaimed the house of Your servant into afar. You are great in everything, Lord, my Lord! For there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, According to everything we heard with our own ears. And You strengthened Your people Israel behind You, As our own people, forever, And you, Lord, became his God. And now, Lord God, establish the word forever, And fulfill what You have spoken. And now begin and bless the house of Your servant, So that he will be forever before Your face, For You, my Lord, have declared this, And by Your blessing the house of Your servant will be made blessed, That he may be before You forever." 76 Years later, already on the slope of his life towards the grave, David was deeply aware of all these hopes, and they served as the subject for his last speech, for the last swan song of the divinely inspired psalmist king 77 . Chapter 13. Sin and its consequences A series of victories won by David raised him to the pinnacle of power and glory. His palace shone with luxury and wealth and was similar to the palaces of other great kings of the ancient east. Enemies around him humbly submitted to him, paid tribute and enriched his treasury. Internally, the people prospered and fully enjoyed the benefits of wise and fair government. The king and the people, who saw how all this greatness and prosperity was created by the almighty help of Jehovah, who before their eyes accomplished so many extraordinary deeds in favor of his chosen seed, could only humbly thank God and prove by good deeds that they are worthy of such unparalleled favor of God. But human nature is corrupt and sinful, and therefore such a happy situation is most likely capable of weakening humble trust in God and awakening feelings of arrogance and autocracy, with the inseparable decline in moral life that is so natural especially with the relaxing luxury of eastern court life. David did not escape such a temptation, and from that time on a new period of his life began, which represented the story of his moral fall with inseparable disasters. The first reason for David's moral fall was one evil, which always corroded the moral life of the kings of the east. According to the generally accepted opinion in the ancient East, many wives were considered one of the accessories of court greatness. Each wife had her own special palace, and the number of these palaces, with their inhabitants, in popular opinion was considered a sign of the power and wealth of the sovereign. The Mosaic legislation, having in mind this common evil, clearly spoke out against polygamy in relation to the king of Israel, not only prohibiting relations with women from foreign nations, lest they seduce their husbands into idolatry, but extending the same disapproval to marriages with persons of Israelite origin, in case of excessive multiplication. But this rule was not carried out with due strictness, and public opinion allowed a certain relaxation, which was met with a condescending look even from the religious authorities. David fully shared this weakness of his time and had several wives even during his exile, and when he founded his capital in Jerusalem, he increased their number even more, “taking for himself more concubines and wives.” The consequences of this carnal weakness were very serious. Although David, by multiplying his wives, at first had in mind only his own pleasure or the political interests of the state, nevertheless, by this he was preparing for himself endless sorrows and disasters. The harem in the east always serves as a place of constant rivalry, strife and evil hardness of heart; a happy family life does not exist there, and constant hatred and irreconcilable envy reign between the various branches of the royal family. Of David’s legitimate wives, we know the names of only six, namely the two he took during his exile (Achinoam and Abigail), and four in Hebron. The first of the Hebronites was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, that is, a wild and rocky region lying in the north-eastern corner of Bashan, bordering on the possessions of Damascus and maintaining independence from the half-tribe of Manasseh, within whose borders it lay. It was from this wife of his that his son Absalom was born, who, as one might think, inherited from his mother the wild nature characteristic of the inhabitants of this wild country. About the second, Aggith, whose name means “dancer,” nothing definite is known, except that she was the mother of Adonijah, who, like Absalom, was famous for his beauty. Avital's next wife, the "child of the dew", is known only as the mother of the little-known prince Safatiya. Finally, Egla, the “heifer,” David’s fourth wife, according to one Jewish tradition, died when her son Jepheraam was born (2 Sam. 3:2–5). The wives he took in Jerusalem are no longer mentioned by name. Besides them, sixteen more concubines are mentioned, whose children are not named. Of the children from legitimate wives, up to twenty people are named by name in the biblical narrative (2 Samuel 2:2–5, 5:14–16), and several more were subsequently added to them. All these wives and their families, adding, of course, more splendor and grandeur to the king’s house, inevitably introduced luxury and splendor, which influenced the lifestyle of David himself and the courtiers in general. The tsar himself, now at the height of his glory, had less and less strength every year to resist the temptation to use his unconditional power. What could a man who possessed such great power and such great wealth deny himself? Was there anything left that would be inadmissible for the king so beloved by God and the people? David, by his very nature, was prone to sensuality, but hitherto this inclination in him was limited by the laws that he strictly observed and therefore he was alien to any violation of private rights. Now David no longer considered these laws, in all their severity, to be binding on himself, and the consequence of this was one serious crime, which entailed fatal consequences that darkened the rest of his life. The first instance of David's fall from grace in this regard occurred during the Ammonite War. The Ammonites, despite the defeat they suffered, maintained their independence for some time, especially thanks to the impregnable fortress of their capital. In order to finally humble the rebellious mountaineers, David sent his commander Joab with orders to take the main city of the Ammonites, Rabbah, at all costs, and Joab actually besieged it again. Fully relying on his military leader, David himself remained in Jerusalem, and at that time he committed that grave sin, which laid a terrible burden on his conscience for the rest of his life and darkened his entire reign. When the midday heat subsided, David used to climb onto the roof of his palace and, taking advantage of the coolness, admired the beautiful view of his capital, which was expanding and becoming richer every year. One day, looking around the surrounding houses with his royal gaze, he, in the open courtyard of one of them, noticed a woman bathing. She was an extremely beautiful woman, and her charms instantly aroused a fiery passion in him. The king was in an inactive and complacent mood, when it is a person who most easily succumbs to temptation, and instead of turning his gaze away from the forbidden sight, he began to gaze at the woman until a passionate desire filled his chest, and he, as a person already unaccustomed to denying himself the fulfillment of his desires, decided to satisfy this passion of his. He, perhaps, at first thought that this woman was unmarried; but, upon making inquiries about her, it turned out that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Elgam, the son of his adviser Ahithophel, and the wife of one of his bravest warriors, Uriah the Hittite, who was now in the army of Joab, under the walls of Rabbah. This alone would be enough to suppress the passions of even a pagan despot. In the ancient East, the marriage vow was generally treated with extreme respect, and none of the elders of the people, as far as is known, ever tried to break it. The head of the people was obliged to set an example of obedience to the law and respect for the rights of his people, and most of all, of course, it was his duty to inviolably protect the honor of the families of those valiant warriors who sacrificed their lives to serve him. But all these considerations were only weak barriers to the satisfaction of an overwhelming passion. Once inflamed, lust, finding no resistance, inevitably and fatally led to sin. David made no effort to avoid this strong temptation; he sent for the woman, suppressed any feeling of embarrassment, took advantage of his omnipotent and influential position to induce her to yield to his desires, and since, perhaps, he found her too ready for his proposal, he took her into his house. This was the first step in a terrible tragedy. To justify the king in this base matter, many attempts were made to attribute a significant part of the blame for this sin to Bathsheba herself. She was accused of the shamelessness with which she revealed her charms before the eyes of the king, bathing in an open place where she could easily be seen, and also of the amazing readiness with which she agreed to fulfill the king's wishes in such a matter, where it was very possible for her to point out the strict regulations of the law. In some of these assumptions, one cannot deny some truth, although, since the royal palace was built recently, she still could not fully know that from its roof there was a clear view of the courtyard of her house, and at the same time, she, perhaps, considered herself not to have the right to resist the wishes of such a powerful sovereign; but, be that as it may, David's sin is obvious and does not admit of any possibility of mitigation. At the end of this ill-fated day, observing the ritual law (Lev. 15:18), although not embarrassed to break the moral law, the disgraced woman returned to her home. Several weeks passed, and when it appeared that the consequences of this mutual sin could no longer be concealed, she sent to inform David of her pregnant condition. The matter was becoming extremely complicated. Adultery, according to the Mosaic Law, was punishable by death for both offenders (Lev. 20:10). Something had to be done to avoid this law, to hide the sin at all costs and turn public attention away from it. Rich in life experience, David saw that the best way to hide the crime was to call Uriah home for a while, force him to spend the night in his own house, so that, in this way, he could be considered the father of a child about to be born. As a result, he immediately sent Joab an order to send Uriah to Jerusalem on some errand. Upon the arrival of this brave warrior in Jerusalem, the king, having made several inquiries regarding the progress of the siege of Rabbah and the general state of the army, mercifully released Uriah, allowing him to go home and rest after a long journey, and even, as a sign of special mercy, sent him some of the food from his own table, which was considered a special honor in the east. Whether Uriah had any suspicion about his wife’s relationship with the king is unknown; but in any case, he did not do what the king intended. Instead of going to his house, as would have been quite natural for him, he spent the night in the palace with the rest of the royal servants, ate part of the royal food provided to him in the common room, and spent the night where the court servants slept. When asked why he did this, Uriah replied that he considered it indecent for himself to enjoy all the comforts of home life and the company of his wife, when the ark of the Lord was in the field and his companions were busy with the hard work of performing royal service. In this he revealed the high consciousness of his duty, which distinguished the Gibborim detachment in general, and thereby presented a striking contrast to the sensuality and self-indulgence of the king of Israel. David, having learned about all this, kept Uriah for one more day, in the hope that he would finally decide to spend the night in his house. He entertained the warrior at his own table and gave him wine to drink; but even after such a treat, Uriah did not allow himself to admit any weakness and do what the king wanted, and again spent the next night in the king’s house along with the court servants. Thus, if the question subsequently arose about the origin of Bathsheba’s child, then her husband could well have referred to the court servants as proof of his wife’s adultery. David saw all this, and then, unable to in any way hide the sin he had committed, he decided to commit a further, even more terrible crime. It now became clear that nothing could be done otherwise. Now, at any cost, it was necessary to eliminate Uriah himself, and this goal had to be achieved in some way that would not arouse suspicion in anyone and would be considered a simple accident of war. But in order to achieve this, it was necessary to at least partially involve Joab in this matter and use the authority of the commander-in-chief to carry out his plans. For this purpose, he wrote a letter to the camp and sent it with Uriah himself, who had no idea that this letter contained his death sentence. In the letter, the king wrote the following: “Place Uriah where the strongest battle will be, and retreat from him so that he will be defeated and die.” No reasons were given to explain such an order. Josephus, however, assures 78 that the king allegedly added that this man committed a crime worthy of death; but the biblical narrator does not make the slightest hint of such a charge, and Joab himself hardly had any reason to demand an explanation for such a fatal order. Moreover, if Uriah had been accused according to the law, there would have been no need to seek his death in such an insidious manner. Joab saw that there was some secret motive behind this command, and although he may not have known the full essence of the matter, nevertheless he was always ready to fulfill the royal command. Moreover, in this case he even had special reasons for being willing to carry out such an order. The king, thus, partly surrendered himself into his hands; after this, he could no longer reproach his nephew for the treacherous killing of Abner, since he himself had brought upon himself a similar guilt. By making Joab his accomplice in the crime, he deprived himself of the right to reproach the latter for any of his violent actions and gave grounds for strong doubts regarding the sincerity of his religiosity and for the suspicion that in reality the king was as lawless and shameless as Joab himself. In carrying out such an insidious plan against the life of one of his faithful soldiers, did David remember the similar insidious plans that Saul had once drawn up against him, and about Providence, which then destroyed these plans? Did he clearly imagine the abyss of sinfulness into which he, God’s anointed, was now plunging? Truly, David took upon himself the cruelest yoke of sinfulness and prepared terrible sorrows and torments for his tender and sensitive heart! Joab fulfilled the king's desire exactly; the brave Uriah was placed at the head of the attacking detachment and, together with others, fell a victim of his own valor, since he probably came too close to the enemy’s fortifications. “When I bent over the steep rock of the ruins of the city of Rabbah,” says Oliphant, “and looked down 300 feet in one wadi and 400 feet in another, I was not surprised that King David had the idea that here, under these strongholds, every brave warrior would surely die, as a result of which Joab appointed this place for Uriah. The only possible point from which it was possible to approach the walls of the city was on the top where a low ridge connects the citadel with the high platform behind it; but even here we had to climb an almost inaccessible slope. Part of the colossal gate and the massive wall covering it, at the point where the low ridge connects with the apex of the triangle, still remains today as proof of the truth of this story, and makes it possible to accurately determine the place where the ill-fated Uriah found his fate" 79 . The news of this event was immediately sent to David, who received it with great composure, and even expressed to the messenger his indignation that the soldiers had come too close to the walls of the city to fight. The messenger fully explained how it happened. “Those people overpowered us,” he said, and came out to us in the field, and we pursued them to the entrance to the gate. Then the arrows shot from the wall at your servants, and some of the king’s servants died; Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” As if regretting the ill-fated Uriah, David instructed the messenger to tell Joab that this whole matter would not bother him, “for the sword sometimes devours this one, sometimes that one.” To reward himself for this damage, the king ordered only the commander-in-chief to intensify actions against the city and, at any cost, take and destroy it. In this way, the king tried to cast a shadow of accident on his sinful actions. Bathsheba, perhaps knowing nothing about the deceit of which her husband had become a victim, spent the usual seven days mourning her husband, and then was taken to David’s house and became his wife, and the king was in a hurry with this marriage, in order, if possible, to hide his shame. But of course the truth revealed itself; The king's position was such that his actions were the subject of general observation, and the light of publicity brightly illuminated his entire private life. It is not difficult, therefore, to imagine what a grave impression this whole event made everywhere; Such crimes shocked the moral feelings of the people and made them fear that the king, whom the people had hitherto treated with such enthusiasm, was embarking on a path that did not promise anything good. But even more important than public opinion was that this terrible crime did not escape the justice of God, “and this deed that David did was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Meanwhile, soon after this ill-fated marriage, Joab began to ask David to personally take part in the siege of Rabbah in order to inspire the troops and speed up its capture. This request completely coincided with David’s own mood, who undoubtedly had already begun to suffer from remorse and was now looking for an opportunity, through some external activities, to somehow divert his attention and even move away from the place of the sin committed. As a result, David actually went on a campaign, and with his arrival on the scene, a more intense and persistent siege of the city began. The spoils of the last wars had placed better weapons in the hands of the Israelites, and the experience they had acquired enabled them to carry on the attack with greater hope of success than before. Ravva, as we have seen, was divided into an upper and lower city, of which the first was the Kremlin, and the latter the “city of waters,” since it lay on a stream, which here, probably, by means of a dam, was turned into a pond or lake. Encouraged by the presence of the king, the Israelites made a strong attack on the city and took possession of its lower part. But, having achieved this, they could already fully count on the imminent fall of the Kremlin itself, since now the source of supplying the Kremlin with water was in their hands, and they could completely deprive the besieged of water. But, without even waiting for this, David made a new attack on the capital, and its defenders, having lost all hope of the possibility of further struggle, gave up, and Rabbah surrendered, so that the victors took advantage of a large supply of booty, captured the national idol of the Ammonites and a lot of jewelry, valued at a talent of gold. Among the jewels was the royal crown, which was presented to the king as part of the booty that belonged to him, and hence this crown became one of the accessories of his royal attire, worn by him in solemn processions. Some of the captive inhabitants of both the lower and upper cities were subjected to cruel punishment, similar to what the Moabites had previously been subjected to. They were cut or sawn into pieces, placed under the sharp teeth of the threshing shafts, and, just as these idolaters forced their children to pass through the fire of Molech, so they themselves were now burned in brick forges. It was a barbaric age. Even the Mosaic legislation required retribution: “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”; and, since the Ammonites were always famous for their inhuman cruelty and merciless hostility, they now had to suffer similar retribution. Such severe punishment showed them and neighboring nations that the Israelites could not be fought with impunity, and that the dream they cherished regarding the destruction of the chosen people was not destined to come true. This cruelty extended only to the military people and, perhaps, to those of the inhabitants who were captured with weapons in their hands, while all other inhabitants were left in the peaceful possession of their homes. The king's brother Annon was even left with his high position, and subsequently, during Absalom's indignation, he even assisted David, delivering provisions and other necessities for the royal fugitive. And so, at the head of a victorious army, praised to the skies by soldiers devoted to him and accompanied by huge and precious booty, David returned to Jerusalem again. At the same time, the thought involuntarily occurred to him that the sin he had committed had now been forgotten by everyone, the embarrassment he had caused had been erased, and he could again lead a calm and pleasant life. But he was soon to learn that sin entails fatal consequences, and that one cannot commit a crime without preparing oneself for disasters in the future. And in general, one can ask whether David was happy and calm even in the present state of triumph and general delight of his army and people on the occasion of a new victory? Did he even manage to suppress and calm the anxiety of his conscience? Could a person so pious and kind by nature achieve cold indifference without strong internal struggle? Had his soul become so coarse from sinful passion that the best feelings no longer stirred in him, forcing him to repent of the crime he had committed and strive for some kind of satisfaction? You can be sure that even during this celebration the king did not feel happy, but on the contrary, he felt terrible anxiety and restlessness in his heart. The feelings that worried him at this time found vivid expression in the following verses of the psalm: “Blessed is he to whom iniquity is forgiven, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin, And in whose spirit there is no guile! My bones are worn out from my daily groaning, For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My freshness has disappeared, as in a summer drought.” 80. In such a state, David obviously only needed some external reason for a stream of repentance to flow within him and open the way for a heartfelt confession of deepest contrition, and this external impulse, but the mercy of God, was given to David. The sinful year of David’s life was approaching its end, and the adulterous Bathsheba, covered with a wedding crown, was resolved into a son in the royal palace. When the king suppressed all the spiritual doubts aggravating him at the sight of the joy on the occasion of the birth of his son, at that time the formidable verdict of the ever-watchful justice of God in the person of the prophet Nathan broke out over him. This constant adviser to the pious king, having received the highest revelation about the crime committed by David, appeared to him, as if as an intercessor for the offense inflicted on one defenseless person. He told him about a case of one blatant injustice, which could not but arouse indignation in the heart of David, sensitive to justice. In one city, Nathan reported to David, there were two men: one was rich and the other was poor. The rich man had a lot of small and large livestock; and the poor woman had nothing but one lamb, which he bought as a small one and fed, so that she grew up with him along with his children, was the general favorite of the house, ate from his bread and drank from his cup, and in general was like his daughter. One day a stranger came to a rich man, and he regretted taking one of his sheep or oxen to prepare a meal for the stranger, and with cruel callousness he took the sheep from the poor man and prepared a meal from it for his guest. Hearing about such warring injustice, David became very angry and, burning with indignation that such injustices were possible in his state, loudly said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives!” The person who did this deserves death.” And when he began to list in more detail how this heartless rich man should reward the poor man not only for the loss inflicted on him, but also for the fact that he did not have the slightest compassion, words that were terrible for him thundered from the prophet’s lips: “You are the man who did this! You are the predator who committed this gross injustice, and you, in your own words, deserve this punishment.” The terrible abyss of the crime he had committed was immediately revealed to the astonished and frightened king, and he stood before the prophet in silent awe. And the prophet, continuing his menacing speech, began to denounce him for everything that he had done contrary to the law, justice and his own destiny. “Thus says the Lord God of Israel,” continued the prophet: “I have anointed you king over Israel, and I have delivered you from the hand of Saul, and I have given you the house of your master and the wives of your master for your bosom, and I have given you the house of Israel and Judah, and if this is not enough for you, I would add even more to you. Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in His sight? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; You took his wife for yourself, and you killed him with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Samuel 12:7-9). Each of these words of the prophet was like a terrible clap of thunder for David’s soul and a lightning arrow that stung his heart. Here, in all its horror, his crime, cruelty and the baseness he had committed were revealed to him. Depressed by all this, the king remained silent, and the prophet ended his denunciation by announcing the punishment that awaited him in the future. For his destruction of Uriah’s happy family home with sword and shame, sword and shame will henceforth destroy his own life, and to an even worse degree. “Behold, I will bring evil upon you from your house, and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will sleep with your wives before this sun. You did it secretly; but I will do this before all Israel and before the sun.” Struck by such an unexpected exposure of a terrible crime, the king trembled in his criminal conscience and resigned himself. In complete contrition of heart, he exclaimed: “I have sinned before the Lord.” The Prophet immediately pronounced punishment on him, that although he himself had been forgiven by God and would not die, he must suffer for his crime in the person of his newborn son, who, as the fruit of the crime, should not live. This depressed David’s soul even more, and he, in terrible sorrow, awaited the execution of the sentence, which was immediately carried out. The newborn was exposed to a fatal disease. The crimes of David became increasingly known, and unbelievers, both among the pagans and among the Israelites, began to boldly mock the religion, whose confessors had so violated its rules and whose God allegedly condoned the adulterer and murderer. Worried by feelings of shame and bitterness, David did not know what to do, and in despair he turned to God with a prayer of repentance, thinking that, at least as a consolation, the sentence of the child’s death would be canceled. He went to his room, poured out his soul in sincere prayer, did not take food and lay on the ground all night. His associates served him with amazement and fear, urging him to get up and eat bread, but he remained deaf to these requests and concentrated his thoughts entirely on one subject, so that God would preserve the life of the child and thereby give him a sign of his pardon. But his sin was too great for the sentence given from above to be reversed. After a week of suffering, the child died, and those close to him were afraid to tell David about this, thinking that this news would further intensify his already terrible suffering. But their glances and whispered negotiations themselves showed David what the matter was, and, in answer to his question, he received the message that his prayer was fruitless. Hearing this, instead of giving himself up to boundless sorrow and despair, as his friends thought, David rose from the ground, washed and anointed himself; Having changed his clothes and humbly submitting to the will of God, he went to the tabernacle for prayer, and only after returning from it, he took bread and strengthened himself. All this seemed extremely strange to those close to him, but he himself explained it to them. While the child was still alive, he still had hope; when this life extinguished, there was nothing left for David except to submit to the will of God and wait for God’s mercy. “Can I return it? David said. I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” His submission to the will of God was perfect, just as his repentance was sincere and deep. This whole event sank deeply into David’s soul, and the contrition of his heart was expressed in a fiery repentant psalm, which forever became the repentant prayer of every repentant sinner. Expressing his contrition for his sins and asking for God’s mercy, David enthusiastically prayed: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, And according to the multitude of Your mercies, blot out my iniquities. Wash me from my iniquity many times, And cleanse me from my sin. Turn my face away from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. God create in me a clean heart, And renew the right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And strengthen me with a sovereign spirit. Lord, open my mouth, And my mouth will declare Your praise, For You do not desire sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor a burnt offering; Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a contrite and humble heart, O God.” 81 After days of mourning and grief, David returned to his everyday life and comforted his beloved Bathsheba. Over time, she gave birth to another son, whom the king, seeing in this proof of the acceptance of his repentance and the restoration of peace with God, named Solomon, that is, “peaceful.” Confidence in this reconciliation was then received from the prophet Nathan, who was entrusted with giving the child another name, Jedidiah, “beloved of the Lord,” from which the father received confidence that his son would not die prematurely and that he would be gifted with extraordinary qualities. Bathsheba became the mother of other sons: Shima, Shovav and Nathan (whose name appears in the Savior’s genealogy), but Solomon was the most dear of them, since he was destined for the greatest glory in the future. Soon after the birth of Solomon, as if in order to prevent David from forgetting his fall and incurring punishment in retribution for it, his eldest son committed a terrible crime. This crime was also the result of that corrupting custom of polygamy, which was the cause of so many strife and crimes. The luxurious life in the harem, the usual sensuality in it, themselves contributed to the introduction of licentious morals among the younger members of the royal family. This licentiousness found some encouragement in David's own example, and he was now to see his own sin reflected in the crime of another. The son of his first wife, Ahinoam, Amnon, developed a criminal passion for his beautiful half-sister Tamar, half-sister of Absalom and daughter of David's third wife Maacah. Amnon was a man of a violent and persistent character, a dreamy libertine, not accustomed to restraining his desires and not embarrassed by any means in achieving their satisfaction. Surrendering to his criminal passion, he burned with impatience and wasted away due to the fact that he could not immediately satisfy his carnal desire. The strict regulations of the Mosaic Law (Lev. 18:9, 11), which prohibited all these criminal connections, had no instructive meaning for him, and the alienation of the royal families, who lived in different houses under the supervision of their special mothers, contributed to the weakening of the ties of consanguinity; but the path to these connections was also blocked by other circumstances. In eastern houses there was always a strict confinement that made any rapprochement with the girl difficult; an obstacle to this could also be the girl’s own modesty, who was afraid of the very thought of dishonor; in addition, judging by the expression of the biblical narrator 82, one can think that, either at her own request or at the request of her parent, she took a vow of chastity. In view of such obstacles, Amnon despaired of success, and this failure constantly tormented him to the point that it had a destructive effect on his very health, and he fell ill. But he had a friend named Jonadab, the son of his uncle Samai, a cunning, heartless, shameless parasite, who, noticing the change in his face and learning from him the reason, proposed a plan by which he could achieve the goal of his desire. He advised him to pretend to be seriously ill and lie down on the bed, and when, as he was sure, his father would come to inquire about his illness, he should take advantage of the sick man and declare that he wanted to refresh himself with food prepared before his eyes by his sister Tamar. Amnon immediately agreed to this criminal plan, and everything happened exactly as this worthless adviser predicted. Tamar, who was famous for her skill in preparing food, was ordered by her father to go to Amnon’s house and prepare before his eyes the “cake” that he desired, and give it to the servants to offer to the sick man. Tamar did everything as she was told, kneaded the flour, baked the cake and ordered the servant to give it to her sick brother. Amnon, however, refused to eat or accept the food from his hands, and as if unable to bear the presence of his servants and in need of complete peace, he ordered everyone except Tamar to leave the room, and asked her to serve him the food herself. The noble maiden, not suspecting anything wrong, brought the cake to his very bed, and then the imaginary patient, grabbing her hand, made her a criminal proposal. Frightened by this, she rushed away from him, begging him to leave his vile thought and seriously telling him: “No, my brother, do not dishonor me; for this is not done in Israel; do not do this foolish thing” (2 Sam. 13:10; Gen. 34:7). In terrible embarrassment, wanting to somehow gain time, or even thinking that the king had the opportunity to cancel the existing law, she shouted to him: “And I, where will I go with my dishonor? And you, you will be one of the madmen in Israel. You talk to the king; he will not refuse to give me to you.” But it was all in vain. Despite her resistance, Amnon achieved his goal, and then, when the vile deed had already been committed, a sharp revolution of feelings suddenly took place in him; love, as far as it was his, suddenly changed into terrible hatred, and he rudely drove her away from him. In vain she begged that such treatment would be worse for her than the first crime, since it would make her shame known everywhere and brand her with the name of a shameless woman who herself was supposed to be a seductress. And this is exactly what the depraved scoundrel wanted; he called one servant and ordered him to roughly remove the girl from the room, as if her very presence was a desecration to him, and the unfortunate victim was thrown out without any embarrassment, to be exposed to grief and shame for life. The dishonored princess could not hide Amnon’s criminal act; Having torn her multi-colored clothes, which the king’s daughters wore when young, sprinkled herself with ashes and put her hand on her head, as a sign of inexpressible grief, she went weeping to the house of her brother Absalom. When Absalom heard from her about all the details of the matter, he flared with indomitable anger, but suppressed this rage for a while in order to wait for a favorable opportunity to avenge his sister’s shame. He asked her to remain silent for the time being and not to take this whole matter to heart, although this was advice that was easy to give, but not easy to implement, and the unfortunate girl, whose life was forever overshadowed by the dishonor and crime committed against her, remained in prison. And what happened to Amnon, the culprit of the crime itself? Was he really not held accountable for his dishonorable act? No; Absalom did not say a single word to him, either good or bad, leaving the matter to be decided by time. The father himself, although he was very angry, did not punish the villain, as he should have done. His own hands were not clean, and so he naturally felt inclined to treat the matter more leniently than he should have. True, the sacred law established the punishment of death for such a crime (Lev. 18:9, 29); but since David himself had once committed a similar crime, he could not condemn another for what he was lenient about in his own person. The Greek translators, followed by the Latin Vulgate, give another reason for his inactivity: “he did not grieve the spirit of Amnon his son, for he loved him, because he was his firstborn” (2 Sam. 13:21). This weakness had fatal consequences. She deeply offended Absalom and gave a new reason for carrying out his planned revenge. This arrogant young man could not bear that his sister, descended from the royal family on both sides, should be treated like an ordinary harlot by a man whose mother was of low birth, and that the daring offender should remain unpunished, without being punished either personally, or in his position, or in his honor. Amnon deserved to die, and so he must die. The thirst for revenge here coincided with ambition. In the event of the removal of the firstborn son, Absalom himself might have a hope of achieving the throne, because his second son, Hileab, was probably not alive, or he was a completely quiet man who took no part in public affairs, and therefore could not stand in the way of his brother's ambitious pursuit. Neither David nor Absalom ever thought that the crime committed would somehow be atoned for by marriage; Obviously, the idea of ​​such a marriage was considered illegal and unthinkable in St. earth. The brother felt that, given the inaction of his father, he had the duty to avenge the honor of his sister, and that the dishonor could be washed away only by the blood of the criminal, just as Simeon and Levi once avenged the dishonor of their sister Dinah by beating the Shechemites, and as at the present time, if some Arab insults a maiden, her brothers consider it their duty to pursue the seducer until death (Gen. 34:25 etc.). For two whole years Absalom harbored a feeling of vengeance, and no time was able to weaken his intentions, although it lulled any suspicion that Amnon might at first have had regarding bloody vengeance on him for the deed he had committed. He was steadily looking for an opportunity to somehow remove Amnon from the royal palace and place him at his disposal, and the opportunity now finally presented itself. He had considerable estates at Baal-Hazorah, once a center of idolatry, and always distinguished from its surroundings, for the region rose with its gray peak more than 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. Now this place is known as Tell Azur, and lies several miles north of Bethel, eighteen miles from Jerusalem. Here he was supposed to have sheep shearing, which, as was the case in Nabal’s case, always served as an occasion for a cheerful feast; To give his feast more splendor, Absalom invited his father and the main courtiers to it. David himself refused to attend the holiday, excusing himself by the fact that he did not want to burden his son with the costs of treating such a large retinue; but since Absalom insisted on his desire to have at his table, if not a king, then at least his firstborn son and his brothers, David, completely unsuspecting and pleased that there seemed to be no hostility between these closest relatives and brothers, gave his consent to his acceptance of the invitation. And this was all Absalom wanted, and he made all preparations to fulfill his long-cherished desire. He gave orders to his servants that, in the midst of the feast, when Amnon had abandoned all precautions and his heart was intoxicated with wine, they should suddenly attack him and kill him. His order was carried out exactly. The seducer, due to his frivolity, had long forgotten about his crime, cheerfully indulged in the feast, and when he was drunk with wine, he was attacked and mercilessly killed at the table itself. The other princes, fearing a similar fate, jumped up from the table in terrible confusion and, saddling their mules, rushed hastily towards Jerusalem. No matter how fast they rode, however, rumor got ahead of them, and an exaggerated story reached David that Absalom had beaten all his brothers. This story was believed for a while, and the father, struck by horror, tore his clothes and threw himself to the ground in desperate grief and horror. But Jonadab, who guessed or was privy to Absalom's secret intentions, consoled the king with the assurance that only Amnon was killed, and this assurance was soon confirmed by the appearance of the remaining princes, who, with ardent haste, galloped towards the city. With their arrival it became known exactly what had happened, and David could only mourn the loss of his eldest son; but it was a very cruel and heavy blow, a blow for which he considered himself partly to blame. This last feeling also prevented him from pursuing the murderer with determination. Absalom, however, fearing his father’s wrath, fled abroad, seeking refuge with his mother’s father Talmai, king of Geshur; but this little king could not have kept Absalom if he had been formally demanded to hand him over. Such a demand, however, was not made of him. The criminal culprit in the death of Uriah could not persistently pursue the avenger of his sister's honor, and David limited himself to pronouncing the sentence of expulsion of the fratricide, for whom, despite his cold-blooded cruelty, wickedness and disobedience, he still had an unreasonable attachment. This state of affairs continued for three years, during which time David managed to recover from the shock of the death of Amnon and began to feel more strongly the emptiness caused by the absence of his favorite Absalom. The weakness of parental love in him struggled with the harsh severity of the judge; for all the reasons of politics and justice, it was best to keep this intelligent, shameless fratricide, who in his business could not be the heir to the theocratic throne, away from the palace and the eyes of the people; The king's passion for him, however, prompted him to think about the return of the exile and how to persuade him to repent and then forgive him. The exile's secret friend, Joab, noticing this struggle in the king's soul, decided to take advantage of this state in order to achieve reconciliation. The welfare of the state was taken into little account by him in this decision; he wished to induce his sovereign to do what he knew was his secret desire, and hoped thereby to secure for himself the favor of the probable heir to the throne, whose ambitious, bold character corresponded to his own mood. But he was not entirely sure of his own position in the eyes of the king, who, since the death of Abner, had kept him at some distance from himself, and therefore considered it best to resort to cunning. Like Nathan, he wanted to indirectly persuade David to some kind of general decision, which could immediately be applied to the case of Absalom. Such tricks were quite common in ancient times. The case is presented for decision not in itself, but in the form of an example from which the judge’s opinion is obtained, and the sentence thus given is then directly attached to the required case, and the judge is always made unable to reverse the decision he has already given. Joab took advantage of the services of an intelligent woman from Tekoa, a village located several miles south of Bethlehem and which later became famous as the birthplace of the prophet Amos. Trained by a cunning commander, she dressed in mournful clothes and went to the king, who, as a judge, was available to all his subjects. Falling on her face before him with a cry for help, she explained to him that she was left a widow with two sons, but these sons quarreled among themselves in the field, and one of them killed the other. Now the whole family demanded the death of the culprit, according to the laws of bloody vengeance, and if she gave up her remaining son, then she would have no heir left to continue the name of her husband, and the rest of the spark of her family would go out. The king listened carefully to the request and, excited by this touching matter, promised to make an order regarding the protection of her son. Then the woman, with feigned embarrassment, stepping back and pointing out that, as she knew, the proposed impunity of her son was contrary to the law, asked that if this indulgence was illegal, the blame would fall on her and not on the king. In a further conversation, she obtained an oath from the king that everything would be done to her as she wished. Having thus, in the most expressive manner, obtained the king's consent to an exception to the general rule and recognition of the great truth that there is something higher and more pleasing to God than bloody vengeance, she boldly, although respectfully, began to fulfill the most important and most difficult part of her commission. She could not openly reproach the king, as the prophet Nathan did; she could only, as if by a random hint and without mentioning the name, apply the whole matter to Absalom and declare that the position he now occupies is in no way compatible with the leniency shown by the king to her son. In somewhat ambiguous words, she stated that just as her relatives wanted to deprive her house of the only heir, so he deprived the people of its direct heir, which was contrary to the interests of the people. Life is short and revenge cannot satisfy anyone. “We will die,” she said, and we will be like water poured on the ground, which cannot be collected; but God does not want to destroy the soul and is thinking about how not to reject the rejected one from Himself.” In conclusion, as if to show that her reference to the king’s case was only an accidental digression, she again deftly returns to her own case and says that she can now go home calmly and happily, because the king, having listened to her just complaint and provided help to the offended woman, turned out to be an angel of God to her. “For,” she said, “my lord the king is like an angel of God, and can listen to both good and bad. And the Lord your God will be with you.” David could not help but notice the main purpose of her request and realized that this was precisely the essence of it. Knowing Joab's predilection for Absalom, he immediately guessed that the whole affair had been arranged by him. Having learned from the woman's questioning that this was exactly what happened, he sent for Joab and gave him permission to go to Gessur and bring home the exiled prince. Joab fulfilled this order with great pleasure, and Absalom again appeared in Jerusalem. But, although he showed leniency towards the criminal, David, however, did not immediately return all his favors to him; his sense of justice did not allow him to treat Absalom as a person who would not have committed any serious crime. The young man was allowed to live in his own house, but was strictly forbidden to appear in the palace; his father absolutely could not see him or allow him to enjoy any of the advantages of the king's son and heir. This relationship continued for two years. In vain did Absalom complain about these restrictions and ask Joab to intercede on his behalf. The latter saw the danger of completely restoring royal privileges to this ambitious, shameless young man, and resolutely refused even to answer the request to see Absalom. Then, having decided to achieve his goal at all costs, Absalom ordered his servants to set fire to Joab’s barley field, hoping that the owner of the field would be forced to complain to him about this act. When this actually happened, he took advantage of this opportunity with such success that he convinced Joab to go to the king and ask him for his complete forgiveness. The astute commander saw that half measures here would be a mistake. The culprit must either be completely forgiven or be subject to criminal punishment; This half-exile, not completely satisfying the offended justice, only irritated the culprit himself. He went to the king and, presenting these and similar considerations to him, finally persuaded David to finally have mercy on the disgraced prince and give him the kiss of peace. Thus, by obeying his feeble affection for his son, and agreeing to the requests of Joab, David thereby prepared himself for the greatest disaster of his life, and gave this malicious youth the favorable opportunity which he was waiting for in order to take advantage of it for his own purposes. Meanwhile, the terrible sin that darkened the bright life of David continued to affect itself in various disastrous consequences. The country suffered a severe famine that lasted for three years 83 . It is not known what the secondary reasons were that gave rise to this visit - whether it was drought, some kind of accident, or generally unfavorable weather - but David, in any case, attributed it to special reasons; he knew that peoples were subjected to earthly disasters as punishment for some crime, and so he decided to discover the crime that was the cause of the present disaster. As a result, when no relief came from year to year, he asked the Lord in the established way whether the cause of the disaster lay in some immediate sin and whether it had been handed down, so to speak, by inheritance from the former king. In response to his question, he received a message that this punishment was sent “for the sake of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites” (2 Sam. 21:1). The Gibeonites were the people who cunningly obtained mercy from Joshua during the conquest (Joshua 9:3 et seq.) and from that time constantly lived peacefully, in a subordinate position, among the Israelites; but Saul, in a fit of jealousy, found himself guilty of breaking his promise of mercy. He apparently tried to exterminate this remnant of the original inhabitants, or treated them with such cruelty that it forever left in their hearts a smoldering feeling of thirst for revenge. The indignation aroused by this barbarous violation of the solemn treaty was universal, and the Gibeonites found sympathy even among the Israelites themselves. About the event itself, which is referred to here, in St. There is no information in Scripture, and we can only guess about it. It is possible that many of the Gibeonites who served at the tabernacle as woodcutters and water-carriers were beaten during the massacre at Nob, or Saul may have made an attack on the four Canaanite cities of Gibeon, Kafirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim, while he was exterminating witches and spellcasters. Ewald expresses the opinion that when the tabernacle was temporarily erected in Gibeon, after the massacre carried out in Nob, a dispute arose over this matter between Saul and the citizens who opposed the transfer of the sanctuary of Israeli worship to them, as against a violation of the religious freedom granted to them by Joshua, and the king, with his characteristic irrationality, was guided by his concept, clouded by various lawless actions, and thinking of making amends for his bloodthirsty deed in Nob, jealousy against the enemies of the God of Israel, carried out a massacre among the Gibeonites. There is an indication (2 Kings 4:3) that the inhabitants of Beeroth (a suburb of Gibeon) were expelled into exile in Giffaim, from where the two persons who killed Ishbosheth came out. The reason for this relocation was undoubtedly the violence to which they were subjected. But if we consider the event under consideration to thus have its own specific causes, however, there are still other difficulties that require resolution. One cannot help but wonder why, if it was Saul's sin, the punishment should fall on David and his people, who took no part in the crime. The answer to this may be that the unity of the sovereign and his subjects makes them both responsible for the action of one. Saul committed the crime not as a private individual, but as the king and representative of Israel, who remained calm in his illegal deed. Violation of the treaty was a national matter, and therefore the entire people had to participate in the punishment for it. It is very possible that the lands and property of the dispossessed or slain Gibeonites were distributed to the courtiers, so that in this respect the people were also involved in the crime, and turned a blind eye to the violation of the ancient treaty. David also turned a blind eye to this matter; he was powerful enough to, seeing injustice here, reward the offended; but, occupied with other matters, he did not pay any attention to the requests made to him on this occasion, and now had to learn a lesson regarding the constant responsibility of a people, whose guilt time cannot erase. National sin must be atoned for by national repentance, to which the people could only be prompted by some common disaster. But in this case, why was the punishment delayed for so long? Many years have passed since the beating, and why didn’t revenge affect the perpetrators of the crime and their accomplices in its commission long before? To this we can say that Saul already had to pay for many sins; Moreover, during his life special attention could hardly have been paid to this crime, especially since the wrath of God did not manifest itself in a noticeable way, and somewhat later, when Israel fought against powerful enemies for its existence, the very lesson taught by the famine could not be realized in all its force. This visitation in all its strength could be felt precisely during a period of peace and comparative prosperity, when the people's thought, not occupied with anything extraneous, could delve deeper into the very meaning of the disaster. Perhaps this lesson was also necessary now to prevent similar cases of retaliation, or violation of national treaties in some other respect. But if the final cause of the disaster was thus determined from above, how could this guilt now be made right? In the ancient view of the moral government of the world the idea of ​​equal retribution was always inseparable, and this general consciousness was confirmed in the Mosaic legislation. Blood could be avenged only with blood, the guilt of the people could be washed away only with the blood of the perpetrator or his representatives, although in some cases an equal payment of money was allowed. As to the exact measure of justice required, it depended on the next of kin; Only that which satisfied them was considered sufficient retribution. In the present case, David asked the Gibeonites what kind of satisfaction they would like, and received the answer that they did not want to take money for the blood shed or the return of the possessions that had been taken from them, and that nothing could repay them for the injustice done to them, except the punishment of death of seven of the sons of their oppressor. Therefore, they asked David to give them these descendants of Saul so that they could crucify or impale them in the very place of the murderer, namely in Gibeah of Saul, in front of the high place there. The execution scene itself was supposed to show that the execution was taking place precisely for his crime, and the number seven indicated that the retribution was complete. The requirement of death for the murderer's relatives was not justified by the Mosaic Law, but Eastern custom sanctified such punishment, and the closest family ties made it natural that the sins of the fathers should be visited by punishment in the person of their children. In the eyes of David, this demand did not represent anything unusual, and although he personally treated the house of his predecessor with condescension, which was completely unusual among eastern monarchs, he, however, could not in this case resist the claim of the Gibeonites and agreed to hand over the required victims to them. He left behind him only the very choice of victims; and consequently, having spared Mephibosheth, the son of his lamented friend Jonathan, he took the two sons of Rizpah, Saul's concubine, a woman of foreign origin, and the five sons of Mer 84, the eldest daughter of Saul, born of Hadriel, the son of Barzillai of Meholah, and gave them to the vengeful Gibeonites, who, putting them to death, probably by strangulation 85, They hung their bodies in front of the sanctuary at Gibeah. This cruel execution at the hands of the semi-pagan Gibeonites gave rise to a most touching scene. Riptsa, the mother of two of the ill-fated victims, could not bear the execution of her sons, and not being able to take the corpses of her beloved children for a decent burial, she persistently stayed near the crosses in order to protect the bodies dear to her from being plundered by birds and animals. It was barley harvest time, around April, and the country was still suffering from a continuing drought. The devoted mother took the sackcloth, spread it as a bed or tent for herself on the exposed rock where the bodies of her sons hung, and remained there, driving away the birds of prey and beasts until the wrath of the sky was satisfied and the rain fell. The Law of Moses commanded (Deut. 21:22, 23) that the bodies of criminals should be buried in the ground on the very day of execution, but the Gibeonites adhered to the custom of their heathen countrymen, who had no such regulations, and insisted that the bodies of those who had been beaten should be displayed in public view until there was a sign that it had been graciously accepted. In due course, the beneficial showers actually arrived, and David, deeply impressed by the courage and love of Rizpah, hastened to rid her of this soul-wrenching vigilance. He took advantage of this opportunity to order the taking of the bones of Saul and Jonathan from their temporary tomb in Jabez-gilead, and, having removed the bodies of the crucified, buried them all in the family tomb of Kish in Zel, in the city of the tribe of Benjamin, located several miles south of Bethel. “And God had mercy on the country after that,” the drought stopped and the painful famine was eliminated (2 Samuel 21:1–14). Chapter 14. Absalom's Outrage The condescension with which David treated his son Absalom soon began to bear its sad fruits. Absalom was now in the position of eldest son and heir apparent to his father's throne. The punishment he had experienced and his father's mercy now returned to him did not produce any favorable change in his restless, ungrateful character, and he began to harbor intentions as bold as they were lawless and base. Already earlier, during those years when he was far from the royal palace and was forced to live in exile and obscurity, daring plans swarmed in him. Now that all this had changed, he began to see that a direct path was opening before him to the realization of his ambitious plans. Perhaps he first hoped that his father would accept him as a colleague in governing the state; but he soon saw that the king had no such intention at all, and therefore he began to strive in every possible way to attract general attention to himself and become the most popular person in Jerusalem. His very appearance was wonderfully favorable to this intention. The metropolitan mob is always inclined to be carried away by appearance, and Absalom was a man of extraordinary beauty. “In all Israel there was no man so handsome as Absalom, nor so praised as he; from the soles of his feet to the top of his head he had no shortage.” He had such luxurious hair on his head that every year he took off as it were a whole fleece, weighing 200 shekels, the weight of a king. With his charming manner, he at the same time involuntarily endeared himself to everyone, so that everyone praised him and admired him. But his outer beauty was not matched by his inner kindness, and beneath his magnificent appearance beat an evil and treacherous heart. Noticing the people's disposition towards him, he decided to use it to satisfy his unbridled lust for power and decided to seize the throne by force even during his father's lifetime. Taking advantage of the generosity of his father, who was not sufficiently judicious in this regard, he began to discover in the city a brilliance that had never been seen before. Imitating the pagan kings in the splendor of his retinue, he got himself chariots and horses for daily use, and, leaving the palace, always had 50 walkers with him. David's unpretentious lifestyle was completely overshadowed by the splendor and splendor of his handsome son's appearances; court flatterers and various parasites were not slow to rally around the rising luminary and supported the most extraordinary desires in it. Relying on his popularity, Absalom then clearly began to seek to undermine his father's influence in the eyes of his people. The king's duties were very complex and required constant personal attention and work from him. He was the supreme judge of his subjects, had to sit at the gate and consider all cases that came before him; but since the kingdom now had very extensive dimensions, and as a result, the cases requiring decision became more numerous and important from year to year, it often happened that the plaintiffs were not able to get their case heard and had to endure a long delay, or even leave dissatisfied with the royal verdict. Absalom took advantage of this state of affairs to spread everywhere a feeling of discontent and a vague desire for some change. He stopped at the gates of the palace and, meeting the plaintiffs in the most friendly manner, did not even allow them to make their usual bow to the ground, but took them by the hand and kissed them. At the same time, he tried to show that he felt the most ardent participation in everyone who passed this way, asked everyone about their position, place of residence, occupation, listened to their complaints, assuring that their cases were completely right, and at the same time hinting that it was difficult for them to achieve justice, since the king himself could not consider all such cases, and at the same time did not assign anyone to act in his place, and, as if in passing, made a remark that if the authorities, so neglected by his father was handed over to him, then everything would have been completely different. In such aspirations for popularity, he spared no effort, appeared at the gate from the very early morning and always seemed to treat those passing by with an open heart and hitherto unheard of courtesy. It is not surprising that “the heart of the Israelites turned toward Absalom” (2 Sam. 15:3); It is not surprising that a significant party was formed among the people, ready to support Absalom in his harassment, although, as we will see, in addition to popularity and criminal treason, there were other reasons that favored his goals. After several years 86 Absalom finally thought the time had come for action. One can also point out some of the reasons that prompted him to think that it was now possible to successfully carry out a coup. He, of course, counted on the support of the young and restless members of the people who grew up with him, were carried away by his external splendor, took advantage of his dissolute lifestyle and hoped to take even greater advantage of the political movement that was about to come. But at the same time, deeper and stronger reasons were at work here; In the kingdom of Israel, enough materials had already accumulated for a great fire, to ignite which only one spark thrown by a skillful hand was enough. David had reigned for a long time and was sixty years old. He, apparently, at that time was suffering from some serious illness 87; in any case, his strength weakened greatly, so that he was an oppressed and sorrowfully depressed man. All his former cheerfulness, lively enterprise and enthusiasm disappeared. He no longer captivated the people with such an irresistible force as it had been before, and was no longer able to maintain his glory by courageous courage and self-denial: although no impartial observer, familiar with the difficulties he endured and with the honest desire to sincerely perform his duty, could really blame him for lawless government, however, there were shortcomings in the internal affairs of the state that the young people seemed possible to correct through a revolution in board. Taxes, which were necessary due to the expenses of wars with external enemies and to maintain the authority of the king in numerous remote areas, became especially sensitive for the people, who still remembered their former freedom and had no particular disposition to sacrifice their property for the benefit of the common good. Moreover, a new generation had already grown up, for whom David’s previous exploits and successes were known only by hearsay, who looked at his administration as old-fashioned, and, thirsting for a more energetic and ostentatious administration, were embarrassed by the restrictions imposed on them by the severity of the theocratic monarch. Many honest people were then extremely upset and embarrassed by David's action in the case of Uriah and Bathsheba, his weakness with which they left the killing of Amnon unpunished, and his partiality for his criminal son; they involuntarily compared the brilliant glory of his former years with the dark deeds of recent times, and were not averse to transferring their devotion from a person who had already lost their love and respect to someone else. As for the tribe of Judah, in which discontent manifested itself most strongly, there were also special reasons at work. This tribe was unhappy that the election of Jerusalem as the capital of the state led to a decrease in the importance of ancient Hebron. David's energetic attempt to unite the tribes found only a reluctant and dissatisfied echo from the tribe of Judah, which could not forget the advantages promised to it and its claims to hegemony in the country (Gen. 49:8 et seq., Deut. 33:7). Moreover, a hereditary rivalry continued to exist between him and other members of the people, which, ceasing only for a while, was always ready to manifest itself with new force. The northern tribes also had reasons to be dissatisfied with the discipline introduced by David and the sluggish administration of justice by him and were not averse to joining any movement that promised them some significant benefits. Absalom did not fail to take advantage of all these various reasons that aroused minor changes among the people. He decided that it would be most convenient to start the business in Hebron, in that highly revered capital of Judah, where it would be easiest to gather the dissatisfied, since it was not too far from Jerusalem so as to have no connection with it, and not too close to it as to be subject to untimely observation. Taking advantage of the well-known piety of his father, and knowing with what joy he welcomed every sign of religion in the hearts of his son, Absalom made a statement to David that while he was in exile in Geshur, he had vowed to sacrifice at Hebron as soon as he was forced to return home. The time for the fulfillment of his vow had now come, and he asked his royal father to allow him to go to Hebron and perform the promised sacrifice in the very place of his birth. David was completely unaware of this request, since he had complete confidence in his son’s devotion. The plans of the ambitious prince were kept in deep secrecy, and even Joab, a man extremely sensitive to his own interests, knew nothing about the conspiracy that was taking place. Consequently, the king gladly gave his consent, and Absalom went to Hebron, taking with him two hundred of his friends, whom he invited to be present at the sacrificial festival and who could serve him as hostages in case of serious resistance to his plans in Jerusalem. He had not yet communicated anything to these friends about his intention, but he knew that they were completely devoted to his interests and would be ready to follow him wherever he led them. At the same time, he sent trusted ambassadors to all tribes to ascertain the mood of the people. Wherever the mood was favorable, they were to inform the people that as soon as the sound of the trumpet sounded through the cities, it would be a sign that Absalom was acting as the anointed king in Hebron. For the success of the business, it was then important to have an influential person around, whose recognition would not only be useful in itself, but would also contribute to his acceptance by others. Such a follower was found in the person of Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba, whose son Eliam was the friend and companion of the ill-fated Uriah. This man was David's most trusted advisor; His advice was valued so highly that his words were looked upon as the broadcasts of God, and the king used his wisdom and experience for a long time. But Ahithophel now stopped visiting the court a long time ago, although he did not openly break with it. He, obviously, was extremely upset by the dishonor that was inflicted on his family by the case of Bathsheba and the treacherous death of Uriah, and therefore, in extreme dissatisfaction, he retired to his hometown of Gilo, located about ten miles north of Hebron. From here he was called by Absalom. Fully sympathizing with the conspiracy, he became the main driver of the entire enterprise and even drew up a plan for its execution. Such an intelligent, sensible person could not be guided only by personal feelings; By taking the side of such a dubious matter, he obviously thought that the usurper would succeed in his business, and since this matter coincided with his own personal mood, he, satisfying his personal dissatisfaction with the king, wanted, by taking the side of Absalom, to give him even more chances of triumph over the elderly king. Several days passed in the performance of the sacrifice and in the accompanying festivities, and thus sufficient time was gained for the expansion of the movement and the gathering of the necessary forces; The conspirators undoubtedly took advantage of the very solemnity of this occasion to persuade those present in favor of their enterprise. The excitement quickly spread everywhere; everything seemed to favor the enterprise; the people, who, in a calmer state, had every reason to remain loyal to the old king, now succumbed to excitement and flocked to the banner of the pretender, so that a whole army formed around him, strong, however, not so much in military experience as in numbers. Meanwhile, David remained completely unaware of everything that was happening in Hebron. With noble trust in his son, giving him, as the heir to the throne, complete freedom of action, he did not see anything that was happening that could arouse in him suspicion of an uprising, and meanwhile he did not have the police at his disposal to find out political secrets, or to inform him of information about the dangers threatening him. But then suddenly extremely alarming news about the uprising came to Jerusalem, and this information was as unexpected as it was overwhelming for the elderly king. Popular rumor undoubtedly exaggerated the size of the revolutionary movement, but in any case the matter seemed so serious that it was immediately necessary to take some measures. David, without any hesitation, immediately decided to leave Jerusalem. Many reasons prompted him to make this decision. The capital was not prepared to withstand a siege, and besides, the king did not want to become the cause of bloodshed in the streets if the capital was taken after resistance. Moreover, he himself could be captured and become a victim of the angry mob. Therefore, it was necessary to use the time in the hope of calming the excitement and in order to more accurately verify the strength of both sides. He could not know how widely treason had taken root in Jerusalem itself, and he feared treason within its very walls. These and similar reasons prompted him to consider removal from Jerusalem as the best measure under the circumstances; but more than all this, he was also burdened by the consciousness of his guilt - the feeling that the retribution proclaimed by the prophet Nathan, precisely the evil coming out of his own home, had now begun to fall upon him, and that he now had to humbly accept the blow he deserved. That is why he did not make any attempts to resist, since he considered this disaster a well-deserved punishment for himself, and decided to endure it, waiting for a more favorable time, when this disaster, by the grace of God, would pass by itself. Having recovered from the first shock, David immediately ordered a retreat beyond the Jordan, into the region of the eastern tribes, for the safety of which he had once fought bravely and successfully, and whose gratitude, it could be believed, would withstand the temptations of the young pretender. The removal was completed in perfect order. None of the king's associates, or state dignitaries, refused to follow their sovereign. He took his wives and children with him, leaving only ten concubines as guardians of the palace in his absence. The bodyguard and his brave veterans, the glorious 600 Gibborim, with the valiant Ephtheus, a Gittite, and his companions, willingly shared his fate and were able to give a strong rebuff to any persecution. But since the presence of women and children made defense difficult, it was best to secure oneself as quickly as possible by moving beyond the deep Jordan Valley. To Ephtheus, however, as a stranger and a man who had only recently entered the service of David, the king sincerely advised either to return to his own compatriots, or to enter the service of Absalom; but the noble Philistine rejected both, giving the king the answer famous for his sincerity and unwavering loyalty: “As the Lord lives, let my lord the king live,” he said: “Wherever my lord the king is, whether in life or in death, there will your servant also be” (2 Samuel 15:21). Such devotion from a stranger was, of course, comforting, but it presented a sad contrast with the behavior of the son, who, having been beloved, cherished, forgiven, now became an ungrateful traitor and parricide at heart. The fugitives set off, but at the last house, on the eastern outskirts of the city, before crossing the Kidron, a stop was made and a hasty inspection was carried out. The order of further movement was established there. The bodyguard was to go forward, followed by the Gibborim, while David and his whole household formed the rear guard. In this order, they crossed the stream and once again stopped at the first olive tree, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, in the place where the Garden of Gethsemane was later located, the place of the spiritual torment of the son of David during an even more significant event. The people, weeping and screaming, saw off their beloved monarch, who, with bare feet and a covered head, poured out his grief as a sign of deepest sorrow. In his distress and ill-fated situation it was some consolation to him to see these signs of sympathy and love from subjects of a higher class than those who had madly sided with the usurper. But he humbly rejected another great and important support that was offered to him by the ministers of religion. The two chief priests, Zadok and Abiathar, brought the ark from the city and, with many Levites, stood next to David as his followers passed in front of him. The presence of this shrine would give the cause of the people a sacred character in the eyes of all pious people; everyone would see that he had placed himself under the protection of Jehovah, and the absence of this shrine in the enemy camp would itself indicate that Absalom’s party does not enjoy the mercy of heaven and does not seek it. But the pious king did not want to take advantage of such important help. Perhaps he was reminded of the terrible result of such use of the ark of the covenant during the time of the high priest Eli, and he trembled at the mere thought of being subjected to such a disaster. His soul gradually calmed down from the grief that initially depressed him; he began to take a less gloomy view of the state of affairs. The Holy Ark was placed by him in Zion; with great care he prepared a place for its dwelling, and Jehovah declared by signs that His residence was there and that it was pleasing to Him, therefore David considered it indecent to now remove the ark from there. If the Lord is still merciful to David, then he will again be freed from all his troubles and will return safely to Jerusalem without the help of the ark; if he is to be rejected, then even the shrine will not save him, and he will bow with complete humility before the punishing hand and say: “Here I am: let him do with me what is pleasing to Him.” Consequently, he expressed a desire that Zadok would carry the ark of the covenant back to its sacred place, declaring that he would be glad to use his services in receiving messages about the plans of the usurper. As a minister of the tabernacle, he, of course, will be free from any attack on his person, and Absalom himself may even turn to him for advice. In any case, he will have the opportunity to know everything that is happening and can communicate with David through his son Ahimaas, or his nephew Jonathan. Having made these orders, David and his followers moved on to the Mount of Olives. It was an extremely sad procession: “David went to the Mount of Olives, walked and wept; his head was covered; he walked barefoot, and all the people who were with him covered their heads, walked and wept.” The people sympathized extremely with their distressed ruler, who was thus, in his advanced years, deprived of the throne by a malicious son and a crowd of immoral conspirators who had forgotten the innumerable benefits that the overthrown monarch had done for the country. Indeed, both he and his people could lament the blindness and ingratitude that had caused such a senseless rebellion. At the same time, another great event is involuntarily remembered when, a thousand years later, the divine son of David, from the very place from which the most majestic view of Jerusalem first opens, looked at this city and mourned it, because he did not know the time of his visit. Just as the heart of Christ was darkened by the knowledge that among the chosen twelve closest followers there was one traitor, so it was hard and sad for David to hear that his trusted adviser Ahithophel had joined the enemy, and in his unspeakable grief David involuntarily prayed: “Lord my God, destroy the advice of Ahithophel!” The feelings that excited him in relation to this Old Testament Judas are deeply touchingly expressed in the fifty-fourth psalm: “Hear, O God, my prayer, And do not hide from my prayer. Listen to me and hear me; I groan in my grief and am embarrassed. My heart is trembling within me, And mortal horrors attacked me For it is not the enemy who reviles me, It is not my hater who glories over me, - But the one who was for me the same as me, With whom we shared sincere conversations, and went together to the house of God." 88 When David arrived at the top of the mountain, where there was a bema or high place and from where the city could be seen for the last time before descending into the Jordan Valley, his last prayer for the destruction of the council of Ahithophel was, as it were, given to him. When he offered his prayers at this sacred place, he was joined by his old and trusted friend Hushai, from the city of Archi, located on the border of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, about ten miles west of Bethel. This good man met him with his clothes torn and ashes on his head, as a sign of grief on the occasion of a public calamity, and expressed his firm determination to share the fate of the exiled monarch. But David did not allow him to do this. Having calmed down from his anxiety and being able to treat all the circumstances of the matter with greater calm, the king saw that his friend could provide him with more services in Jerusalem than by accompanying him in flight. Therefore, he asked him to return to the city and, pretending to be inclined to side with Absalom, make all possible efforts to destroy the insidious advice of Ahithophel, and he could send his messages to David through the mediation of two young men, the sons of Zadok and Abiathar. Hushai willingly accepted this dangerous assignment, and, as we will see, this plan was crowned with complete success. When David finally decisively moved further towards the desert that lay before him, a certain Ziba, a cunning steward who was entrusted with the management of the estate of Mephibosheth, joined him with his detachment. This man brought two donkeys for the king's household and a significant amount of bread, wine and dried fruits to strengthen the fugitives; and when the king asked him regarding Mephibosheth, why he did not come along with his servant, Ziba falsely claimed that his young master remained in Jerusalem, in the hope that with the current turmoil, royal power could easily pass again into the hands of the house of Saul. Saddened by such ingratitude of this prince, who had been so favored by him, and without making any further investigation, the king, with some haste, transferred to Ziba all the property that belonged to Mephibosheth. When David and his followers moved on, he received a grave insult, which served partly as confirmation of Ziba's report regarding the mood of the relatives of the late king. Near the small city of Bahurim, where David proposed to stop for a while, they were met by one of the inhabitants of the city, Shimei, the son of Gera, from the family of the house of Saul. Going ahead of the entire detachment, he began to slander David, throwing stones and dust at him and his followers, saying: “Go away, go away, murderer and lawless one! The Lord turned upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you reigned, and the Lord delivered the kingdom into the hands of Absalom your son; and now you are in trouble, for you are a bloodsucker” (2 Samuel 16:7, 18). Shimei, obviously, took revenge for the cruelty with which the Gibeonites, at the instigation, as it seemed to him, of David, treated the sons of Saul. At the sight of such a reproach to the already upset king, one of his companions, Abishai, with his usual vehemence, asked the king to allow him to remove the head from this insulter. But David did not agree to this; he learned to humbly endure all kinds of insults; he who needs mercy must be merciful himself; he who bears suffering according to the sentence of God can patiently endure insults from this insignificant person. “What are the sons of Saruina to me and you? said the distressed David. Leave him, let him speak evil; for the Lord commanded him to curse David. Behold, if my son, who came out of my loins, seeks my life; the more the son of a Benjamite; leave him, let him speak evil. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my humiliation, and the Lord will reward me with goodness for his current slander.” Taking advantage of David’s noble condescension, the impudent Shimei continued his curses for a long time and thereby significantly delayed the movement. After a tiring march of 25 or 30 miles, the fugitives camped on the Jordanian plains, being temporarily safe from unexpected attack. Here they decided to wait for information from the city before continuing their flight. While the weary followers were still sleeping around, David, rising early in the morning, poured out his soul in a psalm full of hope and hope: “Lord, how my enemies have multiplied! Many say to my soul: But You, Lord, are a shield before me, Glory is mine, and You lift up my head. With my voice I cry to the Lord, And He hears me from His holy mountain. For the Lord protects me. Who took up arms against me from all sides. Arise, Lord, save me, my God! For You strike all my enemies on the cheek; You crush the teeth of the wicked. Thy blessing is upon Thy people." 89 Absalom, meanwhile, with his followers entered Jerusalem only a few hours after the departure of David, and was received by the unfaithful people with all expressions of joy and delight. This entry took place without any opposition, and Absalom immediately went to the royal palace to receive honors and congratulations from his followers. Among those who came to congratulate the usurper, the wise Hushai appeared, playing the role assigned to him, and in response to Absalom’s natural question why he left his father, he answered that he considered it his duty to obey the reigning, and not the overthrown sovereign, and that he wanted to be a faithful servant of the newly reigned sovereign, and as he served his father, so now he will serve his son. Absalom, who at first felt somewhat conflicted in the presence of this good man among his dissolute followers, easily believed these statements, which greatly flattered his ambition, and treated Hushai's cry of “Long live the king!” as a heartfelt expression of real devotion to him. Such a trick, which Hushai resorted to, was completely in the spirit of that time; it was suggested to him by David himself, and was even practiced more than once in Christian states; and although we cannot consider it particularly commendable from a moral point of view, since from a Christian point of view the cause of God can never be served through lies, nevertheless, we must judge the actions of historical figures in the light that was at their own disposal, and not measure them from the point of view of morality, which was still unknown to them. - Now the question naturally arose: what are the best measures to take in order to take advantage of the current situation as best as possible and ensure the fruits of a bloodlessly achieved victory? It is remarkable that among the rebels there was not the slightest thought of turning to God for advice: the followers of Absalom, obviously, were not at all distinguished by any religious zeal. The usurper himself wanted to be completely guided by the wisdom of this world, and as a result, first of all, he turned to the cunning Ahithophel with a question about this. This insidious adviser, fully knowing that it was necessary to use the time and put the matter in an irrevocable position as quickly as possible, advised the young sovereign to immediately and publicly take possession of his father’s harem and take advantage of the concubines remaining in the palace. This advice, no matter how outrageous for our concepts, was in complete agreement with Eastern customs. The harem of the predecessor passed to the successor, and the women did not have the slightest right to vote in this matter, and they were treated as simple things; and at the same time there was a general belief that such a thing served as confirmation of the transfer of the throne from the old ruler to the new. In the present case, this act was especially vile and made the gap between father and son irreconcilable. David, out of weakness or love, could still treat the rebellion leniently, but he could never forget this vile insult to himself as a king and father, and those who supported Absalom must have seen that after this there was no longer any means of reconciliation, and that the struggle between the old and new governments had to lead to some decisive end. The young, inexperienced sovereign immediately followed the advice of the treacherous old man Ahithophel. A tent was pitched on the roof of the palace, on the very spot where David had allowed his heart to be carried away by that fatal temptation which entailed such terrible consequences, and there, before the eyes of all Israel and, as the prophet Nathan declared, “before the sun,” he came into possession of the court concubines, and thus completed the final rupture between himself and his father. But Ahithophel was too shrewd not to see that other measures were necessary to ensure the success of the conspiracy, and accordingly he advised Absalom to march that same evening in pursuit of David with a picked force of 12,000 men and attack him when he was tired and in despondency, so that there was every possibility of an easy and bloodless victory. David's followers will not be able to withstand the unexpected onslaught of superior forces, they will flee without any resistance, and it will not be difficult for him to capture the elderly king himself and, thus, be freed from him forever. With his death, all opposition will be destroyed, and the entire people will submit to the new monarch. This advice was very cunning and immediately pleased the heartless usurper and the leaders of the uprising gathered around him. With its acceptance, useless bloodshed would have been eliminated, the success of the entire undertaking would have been ensured, and the transfer of royal power to him would have taken place quickly and without much effort or expense. This proposal seemed so prudent and plausible that, apparently, it was impossible to oppose it with any other plan. Hushai feared that, if this plan were carried out, it could prove disastrous for his friend, and he used all his efforts to prevent the adoption of this plan. When Absalom invited him to express his opinion on this matter, he insistently advised him to delay. His secret thought was not only to give David time to recover from fatigue and despondency and to make the necessary preparations for self-defense, but at the same time to provide the people in general with enough time to calmly discuss their situation, and thus to give the opportunity to somewhat subside the storm of revolution, which the Israelis were blindly carried away by. His speech was skillfully adapted to the character of the vain young man to whom he was addressing. In it he expanded on the courage and cunning of David and his followers; in his opinion, they are now extremely fierce, like a mother bear deprived of her cubs, and will naturally fight with desperate courage. Moreover, the king will not be with his army, but will hide in some cave or other secret refuge. If the enemy were to have even some success at the outset (as might easily happen, thanks to such tried warriors), then rumor would immediately exaggerate this success to the point of great defeat, panic would spread everywhere, and Absalom's cause would be in sad danger, if not completely lost. Therefore, it is best to adopt a different plan. It is necessary to wait until all the Israelis gather under the banner of Absalom, from Dan to Beersheba, and when Absalom himself, as befits him, becomes the head of a large army, then victory will be absolutely certain, he will be able to attack the fugitives like dew falls on the ground, and completely defeat them. If the fugitives even find refuge in some city, then Absalom’s army can take ropes with them and pull them into the river, and in that city there will not be left one stone upon another. This advice of Husiah greatly pleased the usurper, bewildered by his first success. Whether he was somewhat jealous of the enormous influence of Ahithophel and wished to show his own independence, or whether, being this time satisfied with the capture of Jerusalem, he wished to enjoy for a time the fruits of the peace and pleasure of his high position, - but, for whatever reason, he preferred the advice of Hushai to the advice of Ahithophel. His followers were inclined to the same view. The sacred historian sees this as the work of the all-governing Providence in response to David’s prayer. “So the Lord destined to destroy the best advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster upon Absalom” (2 Sam. 17:14). The decision that had taken place among the rebels and the plan that was proposed at first had to be immediately reported to David. Absalom could understand the unreasonableness of this present decision and act on the more reasonable advice of Ahithophel, and therefore, in any case, it was necessary to warn David's party so that it crossed the Jordan and thus, with all possible speed, secured itself from the attack of the rebels. Consequently, Hushai sent word to the chief priests, who, despite the strict supervision of all their movements, found an opportunity to convey the message to their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, with instructions to immediately deliver it to David. The young people were already standing ready at the source of Rogel, the source that later became known as the “spring of the Ever-Virgin” and is located at the foot of the Ophel hill, southeast of the city. Having received the order, they immediately set off, but a spy followed them and reported them to Absalom, who immediately sent horsemen to capture them. Meanwhile, the young people arrived in Bahurim, and before their pursuers arrived, they managed to hide in a dry well in the courtyard of the house of one of their acquaintances. The maid of the house covered the well with a lid, on which, in order to eliminate any suspicion, she laid a linen and scattered grain of grain on it to dry, and when the pursuers began to ask about the fugitives, she directed them in the opposite direction, so that they returned to Jerusalem without any success. The young people safely delivered the information entrusted to them to the king, who immediately carried out the advice given to him. He led his followers across the Jordan and went to Mahanaim, that strong city in which Ish-bosheth had once reigned, and which could withstand a siege without fear of the result promised by Hushai to the vain usurper. Moreover, David could expect to find support for himself in the eastern tribes that had once benefited him, and this expectation turned out to be quite reasonable. Three noble Gileadites with large means immediately took his side, and they provided him with financial assistance. These were: Sobi, brother of the Ammonite king Hanun, to whom David transferred the property, although not the throne, of his brother; Machir, who raised Mephibosheth in his home at Lodabar, and Barzillai of Roglim, a highly respected Golaadite, for whom David had the most sincere affection. They supplied David and his army with all the items he needed - beds, household metal and clay vessels, wheat, barley, flour, millet, beans, lentils, roasted grains, honey, butter, sheep and cheese, since they saw that the people were hungry and tired and suffered great need in the desert. Such signs of devotion in times of distress awakened new hope in the heart of the royal poet, and this hope was expressed in the enthusiastic words of the psalm: “When I cry, hear me, O God of my righteousness!” In tight spaces You gave me space. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. Know that the Lord has set apart His saint for Himself; The Lord hears when I call on Him. You filled my heart with joy, From that time on their bread and wine and oil increased. I lie down calmly and sleep: For You, Lord, are the only one who allows me to live in safety.” 90 In addition to these rich citizens of Gilead, many other residents who were not carried away by the rebellion joined the king in Mahanaim. And from other tribes, many, after a sound discussion of the matter, saw reason to doubt the benefit and success of Absalom's uprising and, repenting of their temporary apostasy, returned to David and increased the ranks of his army, which by this time had already grown to several thousand people. Meanwhile, Absalom was solemnly anointed king in Jerusalem and, using his power, he hurried to gather all the Israelis around him and gather a huge, albeit undisciplined army, sufficient, as it seemed to him, to crush any opposition with its simple numbers. Soon an event occurred that cast the first dark shadow over the entire cause of the uprising. Absalom lost his chief advisor, Ahithophel. This cunning and ambitious man, who, while supporting the cause of the usurper, strove for his own personal goals, seeing his advice rejected and his influence shaken, immediately realized that the whole cause was ruined. In extreme grief, he hastily left the court, returned to his city, put his household affairs in order, and, like his image, the New Testament Judas, voluntarily hanged himself. But because of this it was impossible to give up. It was necessary to appoint a commander over the entire assembled army. Joab and Abishai were with David; As a result, Absalom chose a certain Amasa, who was in the same relationship with David as they were, being the son of Abigail, the sister of Zerui. His father was an Ishmaelite, named Hepher, from Jezreel. As a well-known and experienced warrior, Amasa, by his very kinship with the royal house, strengthened the confidence with which he was generally treated, and it was impossible to choose a better commander-in-chief than he was. Having found himself a commander-in-chief, Absalom began to prepare for offensive action. But at least two or three months passed in these preparations, and only then did Absalom actually move from Jerusalem at the head of a very impressive force. As his army marched out of the city in columns on foot, he himself rode proudly on a magnificent mule, prancing with his luxurious hair flying in the wind, which he had like a Nazarite, although he was far from imitating the pure ascetic life of the Nazarite. A huge, poorly disciplined army crossed the Jordan and moved towards Mahanaim. Several miles south of this city, Absalom’s army had to stop, since it was unsafe to go further; it was near the area called “the forest of Ephraim,” which name probably referred to that event in the time of the judges, when the Ephraimites, having invaded Gilead, suffered a severe defeat at the hands of Jephthah (See Judges 12:1ff.). Meanwhile, David's army, which included up to 20,000 people, was divided into three equal detachments, under the command of Joab, Abishai and Ephthah. The king himself wanted to personally lead the army, but his commanders did not advise him to violate the rule established several years before, so that the monarch would not expose his life to the dangers of battle; It was best for him to remain with the reserve in the city and provide them with assistance in case they were driven back to the city. In view of such statements, he was obliged to yield, and, taking a position at the city gates, surveyed his military forces as they moved in due order, divided into hundreds and thousands, towards the scene of battle. He gave the same order to all columns and their leaders, showing that he was not at all afraid of the outcome of the upcoming battle. “Save,” he said, “for me the youth Absalom.” Being quite confident in the rightness of his cause, knowing that the God of Israel would never give complete, final success to the wicked rebels who were trying to deprive God’s anointed of the throne entrusted to him, he confidently expected an undoubted victory and asked only the military leaders that in the hour of their triumph they would spare the ill-fated young man, who, despite everything that had happened, still remained dear to his heart. The place where the hostile troops met was a wooded area in which trees growing in separate thickets made it difficult for the continuous movements of a large army, but greatly helped the brave attacks of small detachments, which, knowing the country, could choose a time to attack the enemy when it could be hampered by the very features of the terrain. The undisciplined bunch that Absalom led onto the battlefield were far from equal to the soldiers of David's army, who were not only experienced in military affairs, but also fought alongside the invincible Gibborim, encouraged by their approval. The outcome of the battle was obvious. The rebels immediately wavered under the courageous pressure of David’s army and fled; A terrible massacre followed, and many of them died in the neighboring swamps, so that in total up to 20,000 people died. Absalom, seeing the defeat inflicted on him, immediately lost heart and did not have the strength to put his panic-stricken army back in order. Seeing his cause lost, he himself gave in to flight. Being abandoned in this hour of disaster by everyone who had so recently flattered him with their devotion, he galloped in despair into the forest, trying only to somehow escape, and paying little attention to where the mule was carrying him, as long as he was away from the battlefield that was unfortunate for him. But then his well-deserved fate soon befell him. Madly galloping forward and trying to avoid a detachment of enemies who were nearby, he rushed into the very thicket of the forest, and there his luxurious hair, flying from the mad gallop, with its entire mass caught on the thick branch of a huge terebinth, so that the mule broke free from under him, and the unfortunate usurper hung on a tree between heaven and earth. In this position, he was soon seen by one of David’s soldiers, who, remembering David’s order, did not dare to kill him, but hastened to convey this news to Joab. This old warrior, enraged by the heat of battle, considered himself free from all orders of the king. In the death of Absalom, he saw the surest end to the present troubles and provision for the future world. If the usurper were saved, he thought, he would in time take the throne, and the commander who opposed his cause and inflicted such a strong defeat on him could certainly never count on his favors, or occupy any prominent position. In view of such personal interests, the king's order had very little meaning for him; therefore, expressing indignation at the warrior who brought him this news for his unreasonable caution, he himself went to the indicated place and either with his own hand, or through the mediation of the soldiers accompanying him, he killed the ill-fated prince. His mutilated body was thrown into a hole dug in the middle of the forest, and a huge heap of stones was thrown over it, as a sign of hatred and contempt for the great criminal, whose burial was such as was only fitting for a rebellious son captured and stoned outside the walls of his city 91 . Such was the end of the life of this dissolute youth, who abused the high talents given to him by nature and turned them to his own destruction. His ill-fated fate represented the same great contrast to the inclinations of his early years that were revealed by him, as this terrible hole in the sad depths of the dark forest represented to that excellent marble monument (pillar), with a magnificent inscription on it, which he erected for himself in the royal valley near the walls of Jerusalem. Having dealt with Absalom, Joab gave orders to suspend the pursuit and allowed the defeated rebels to scatter in all directions, giving them the opportunity to repent of their foolish deed. The news of the victory now had to be communicated to the king, who was anxiously awaiting news at the gates of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, famous as a walker, volunteered to convey this happy news, the same one who had already conveyed the news to David about the movements of the rebels. But Joab did not want to entrust the king’s personal friend with the news, which also contained the sad message about the death of Absalom. The sad news that the messenger would have to tell the king, as he knew, could too cruelly strike the loving heart of his father and expose the messenger himself to some disfavor. In addition, he himself was not entirely calm due to his participation in the death of Absalom, and feared that Ahimaas might make some revelations unfavorable to him. Due to these and other reasons, he considered it best for the information to be conveyed by a simple servant who had no personal connections with the royal family, and, moreover, a person who would not arouse special regret if he were subject to disfavor, which was generally the case for people who brought bad news. As a result of this, Joab called his own slave, an Ethiopian, 92 and ordered him to go to Mahanaim as quickly as possible and tell the king about everything that had happened. The servant obediently bowed to his master and set off along the shortest route, heading towards the city. But Ahimaas did not abandon his intention. When the Ethiopian had already set off on his journey, he again renewed his request, and although Joab warned him that he was undertaking something unprofitable for himself, he finally achieved consent to his desire and also went to the king with the news. While the Ethiopian took the shortest but most difficult road, Ahimaas turned away from the straight road and, making his way along the flat surface of the Jordan Valley, walked with such speed that he arrived at Mahanaim much earlier than the sent servant. Meanwhile, the aged king sat between the outer and inner gates of the city wall, anxiously awaiting news. Suddenly the sentry on the roof of the gatehouse announced that he saw a man running in the distance, and David immediately concluded that this was a messenger from the battlefield. A few minutes later a second walker appeared, and since there were no signs of others appearing in flight or confusion, it became clear that this too was a messenger from the battlefield. Meanwhile, the guard had already recognized Ahimaas as the leading one of the two walkers, and conveyed this to the king, who accepted this instruction as a happy omen. “This is a good man,” said David, and he comes with good news.” Running to the gate, the walker loudly shouted: “peace!” and then, bowing to the king to the ground, he said to him: “Blessed is the Lord your God, who betrayed the people who raised their hands against my lord the king,” and said that David’s army won a complete victory over the enemy, and the rebels, completely defeated, scattered. But David’s heart was most occupied with the fate of his ill-fated son, and his first question was: “Is the boy Absalom well?” Ahimaas's answer was ambiguous, but one that did not bode well. “I saw,” he said, “great excitement when the king’s servant Joab sent your servant; but I don’t know what was there.” The king, having heard his report, ordered him to stand aside and awaited the arrival of another messenger. Having proposed the same question to this messenger, he received an answer that could only be interpreted in a sad sense, although he did not know what grief he would cause to the king with his message. “Good news to my lord the king,” the Ethiopian exclaimed joyfully. The Lord has now shown you the truth to deliver you from the hand of all those who rebelled against you.” And then, to a direct question about Absalom, he continued: “Let the same thing befall the enemies of my lord the king and all who plot against you as befell the lad!” The Ethiopian tried to soften his message with the statement that Absalom deserved his fate and that his death freed the state from a terrible danger; but such considerations at this time were in vain and could not alleviate the sorrows of the parent’s heart. David realized that his beloved son had been killed, and when he actually learned about the fate that had befallen Absalom, the feeling of fatherly love and grief overcame in him any joy of victory. “And the king was troubled, and went into the upper room above the gate, and wept, and as he went, he said thus: My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Oh, who would let me die in your place, Absalom, my son, my son... The king’s grief spread to the entire people, “and the victory of that day turned into mourning for the whole people.” But at the same time, among his followers there were many colder individuals who were dissatisfied with such an untimely interruption of general joy. They could not enter into David’s feelings, did not imagine the full depth of the grief that depressed him, did not sympathize with the condescension of their father, whose love outweighed all considerations of patriotism and politics. Not understanding the grief of the father, who mourned his son, who died in the prime of life, without having received the opportunity to repent of his unreasonable act, they began to openly murmur against David and reproached him for this inappropriate, although natural, crying. Soon Joab found out about all this, and noticing how the dissatisfied people began to timidly make their way into the city, more likely representing a defeated crowd than a victorious army, he, with his usual severity, decided to force the king to stop this sorrow and take heart. Appearing to the king, he told him that with his despondency and crying he was endangering the hope of his restoration and losing the trust of his subjects; in order to improve matters, he must immediately appear to the troops and thank them for their valiant deeds; he must not give them reason to assume that the life of the rebellious Absalom in the eyes of the king is more valuable than the safety of the people loyal to him; otherwise, if he does not do this and does not thank the army, they will leave him, and the cause of his restoration may be in danger. In view of such admonitions, the king was finally encouraged in spirit to take proper advantage of the fruits of victory and return to Jerusalem. Having recovered from his despondency, David, with renewed energy, took measures to restore his power. Things were now such that there was no particular need to rush. True, it was necessary to humble or bring into loyalty the western tribes that took part in the rebellion and anointed Absalom as king; but David saw that now he would no longer have to take any coercive measures. Public opinion was quickly taking a sharp turn; David had only to take advantage of this movement and wait for a favorable circumstance, and then he could return in peace. Now that the ill-fated youth, whose criminal deed the Western tribes had so blindly followed, was no longer alive and his cause had lost all ground, the Israelites again remembered the merits of the king whom they had deposed, took into account the services he had rendered to the people, his victorious wars, his wise government and friendly character, and therefore began to recognize the injustice, ingratitude and foolishness of their own action, and the desire for the restoration of David became universal. The only tribe that continued to stay away from David was the tribe of Judah. Others had already sent embassies to Mahanaim offering their submission; but David's own tribe did not take any part in this matter. This was a source of great sorrow for the king, who most of all feared disunity between his compatriots, and first of all decided to overcome the dislike shown towards him and incline the knee of Judas to take part in the general movement. The last uprising did not upset the tribal organization, and the king immediately entered into relations with the elders, in whose hands the power lay, as in more peaceful times. Consequently, he sent both chief priests, Zadok and Abgathar, to admonish them of the folly of such a cold attitude towards the king, who was of their flesh and bone. In order to win over this knee, he sent a special message to Amasa, who now stood at his head, and promised him not only to forgive his part in the rebellion, but also to appoint him commander in the place of Joab. The latter again incurred the strong indignation of the sovereign with his unauthorized act in the matter of killing Absalom and every day he revealed more and more disobedience and willfulness. David had long desired to free himself from the constraining influence of this shameless man, and now, when a favorable opportunity for this presented itself, he willingly took advantage of it. It is not known what the result of this step was in relation to Joab himself, who was by no means an insignificant enemy, but in any case this course of action had a favorable effect on the mood of the Jews. They saw that the king forgave them for their participation in the rebellion, understood the extraordinary nobility of their monarch, who had been so insulted by them, and, repenting of their infidelity, unanimously invited him to return. They passed from cold hostility to impatient jealousy; A solemn deputation was sent to meet the king at the crossing of the Jordan, and David, leaving Mahanaim, solemnly moved with his followers towards Jerusalem. Arriving on the opposite bank from Gilgal, he found that the tribe of Judah had already taken care of the means of crossing and had taken all measures for the honorable meeting of the king, without consulting with the other tribes or even inviting them to participate in this matter. This was not an entirely favorable measure, but since it was now too late to correct it, David was forced to accept a solemn meeting from one tribe of Judah, although this did not at all correspond to his thought about the joint action of the entire people. Among those who now went forward to meet David were Shimei and Ziba. The former, who naturally feared that he would now suffer an exemplary punishment for his violent and insulting behavior to David, grovelled humbly before David, begging his forgiveness, and brought with him a thousand of his countrymen the Benjamites, declaring that he grieved for his former behavior and was ready, before all others, to show honor and submission to David. Abishai, with his brutal sense of justice, wanted to put an end to him at once, but David, at this great and solemn moment of his life, did not want to change his usual royal mercy and granted life to this miserable offender. The severity of his nephews was especially unsympathetic to the merciful spirit of the son of Jesse, whose generosity and sublime character never appeared with such amazingness as in his attitude towards the vanquished. “Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? asked David. Do I not see that now I am king over Israel? As for Ziba, he, by declaring his sympathy for the royal cause, wanted to achieve confirmation of himself in the possession of the name, which he used as a result of the slander against Mephibosheth; but now he was afraid of losing everything. The lame prince now himself appeared on the banks of the Jordan and explained how treacherously Ziba had treated him, taking from him the donkey on which he intended to ride and without which he could not, due to his lameness, accompany the king, and assuring the king that he remained in Jerusalem, supposedly in the hope of inheriting the throne, while he had a sincere desire to share the fate of David; as a sign of grief over recent events, he did not even cut his nails, did not scratch his beard, did not wash his clothes since that very sad day when the king left Jerusalem. Mephibosheth’s apology seemed plausible, but David, apparently, was not above suspecting him of at least silent complicity in the rebellion, which is why he did not restore his possessions to him in their entirety, but divided them into two equal parts, one of which remained with him, and the other went to Ziba. In this decision the king was guided by a policy that prohibited him from making an enemy in the person of Ziba, a very influential man among the Benjamites, who, as we will see, were very unreliable supporters of the reigning dynasty. Mephibosheth, who was not skilled in managing estates and was not averse to getting rid of the hassle associated with large property, replied that Ziba could even take everything, since now, they say, he does not need anything and is pleased that he lived to see the happy restoration of the king to the throne. Even more pleasant for the returning king was the meeting from the good Barzillai, who had once supplied the royal army with all the necessary provisions in Mahanaim. He and his family also went out to meet the king as he crossed the Jordan. David expressed a desire to have such a devoted friend with him constantly and tried to persuade Barzillai to settle at court; but Barzillai respectfully declined this invitation, since he was already too old for the pleasures provided by the royal palace to have any charm for him, and therefore decided to die in his own city and be buried among his compatriots. He joyfully accepted the offer made to him in favor of his son Kimham, whom David took with him to Jerusalem and treated him with the greatest attention. After a long and strong embrace, David and Barzillai were separated from each other and never met again in this world. Chapter 15. Further troubles of the reign of David From the time the strongest tribe in the people of Israel, Judah, returned to allegiance to David, he could consider his throne secure, and therefore, with firm confidence and joy, he crossed the Jordan and stopped at the famous Gilgal, which was located not far from the crossing. Everything, apparently, foreshadowed a peaceful return to Jerusalem, but since the sin committed, which had already led to such a terrible event as the rebellion of a son against his father, infected with its corrupting influence the moral and political life of the people in general, so that David had to experience its consequences on more than one occasion. So here, along the way, one event happened that darkened the joy of the celebration and threatened with sad consequences. The tribe of Judah, having declared its allegiance to David and feeling its influence, certainly did not miss the opportunity to occupy the most prominent position under David, and, perhaps, was not averse to even showing that it ascribes to itself the main honor of restoring David to the throne. Besides this own arrogance and its humiliation for David, this position of the tribe of Judah could easily cause discontent and a sense of rivalry in the other tribes. That's exactly what happened. When representatives from the other ten tribes arrived to meet David, they were extremely upset and irritated to see that, despite the fact that they were the first to recognize the gift, they did not have to take part in its restoration, while the tribe of Judah, which had long stood aside, was at the head of the whole movement and expected to reap a rich reward for its proud zeal in the king's cause. The long-hidden spark of rivalry between the two halves of the people, as a result, flared up into a whole flame. The representatives of Israel complained that the tribe of Judah had, so to speak, captured the king for selfish reasons; the latter replied that the king came from their family, and that this was precisely the reason for their energetic activity, and not the expectation of any special honor and advantages. But the Israelites objected that they constituted ten parts in the kingdom against the two that made up the tribe of Judah; therefore, they should actually have primacy. “We are ten parts of the king,” the Israelis said passionately; “Likewise with David we are more than you; we are the firstborn, not you; why did you humiliate us? Didn’t we have the first word about bringing back our king?” Despite such objections, the tribe of Judah was not inclined to make concessions, and responded to these objections with hot-tempered and furious words. The discord that began grew into a serious rift. One worthless person took advantage of this dispute, apparently having long been waiting for a favorable opportunity to appear on the stage of political unrest. During heated negotiations, suddenly an alarming sound of a trumpet was heard in the camp. This trumpet sound was made by a certain Sheba, an ambitious and treacherous Benjamite. He is called “the son of Whiri,” which means that he came from the family of Whiri, the son of Benjamin, therefore from the same family from which Saul also came. Vexation at the transfer of royal power from the house of Saul to the house of David was still smoldering in the souls of the Benjamites, and when Sheba blew the trumpet, treacherously proclaiming: “We have no part in David, and we have no share in the son of Jesse,” then behind him a treasonous cry was heard throughout the camp: “All in their tents, O Israelites!” and then followed the general separation of the northern tribes, who, leaving only the tribe of Judah to accompany the king to Jerusalem, themselves retired, some in gloomy discontent to their homes, and others following this new pretender. Politically, the horizon darkened again and in order to restore his authority, David needed to return to his capital as quickly as possible and take a more or less strong position in it. Arriving in Jerusalem and again settling in his palace, David first arranged his household affairs and took care of the future life of those ten concubines who were so shamefully dishonored by his unworthy son. They were placed in a special dwelling, since they no longer had the right to marry and were condemned to joyless widowhood. Then the king turned his attention to more important state affairs. The treasonous movement of Sheba was intensifying, and it had to be stopped immediately so that it would not produce more sad consequences than the indignation of Absalom. Therefore, Amasa, who had now taken the place of Joab as commander-in-chief, was instructed to gather the army of Judah within three days, and at the end of this period to appear himself to receive final orders. The deadline passed, and yet he did not appear: either he slowed down in his movements, or the people were not in the mood for a new military enterprise, or did not even want to recognize Amasa as a leader, and David, fearing that the uprising would not take on dangerous proportions, as a precaution and without any thought of displacing Amasa, ordered Abishai to take with him a detachment of bodyguards and gibborim, as well as all the other troops that were present in Jerusalem, and immediately move against Savea, so that he does not take possession of some strong fortress and does not find himself in a position that would give him the opportunity to hold out against the force moved against him. The king entrusted the leadership of this military enterprise to Abishai, since he by no means returned his favor to Joab and avoided having anything to do with him. But these two brothers understood each other. Joab, with a select body of his own troops, accompanied this force nominally as a volunteer, but in reality with the intention of seizing the office of commander-in-chief as soon as the opportunity presented itself. As soon as this small detachment reached Gibeon, which lies several miles north of Jerusalem, it was met by Amasa at the head of the army he had just assembled. This meeting took place at one large stone, which, as a result of the bloody event that took place there, became forever memorable. Joab, dressed in all his military armor and cinched with a belt, behind which he always wore a short sword, went to meet his cousin in the most friendly manner. During his hasty movement, his sword, apparently by accident, fell out of his belt. Raising it with his left hand, he continued to walk forward and, approaching Amasa, with his right hand he took him by the beard, as was the custom at that time among friends, in order to kiss him on the cheek. Amasa, not suspecting anything bad and abandoning all precautions, responded kindly to greetings, and at that very time received a mortal blow from his shameless relative, who stopped at nothing in eliminating his dangerous rival, as had happened before, when he similarly eliminated Abner from his road. The ill-fated Amasai was left on the road floating in his blood; but when it turned out that his army was extremely embarrassed by the murder of their leader, and hesitated what to do, one of Joab’s commanders removed the corpse from sight and, calling on all who wanted to serve with Joab on the side of David to immediately follow Joab, persuaded the army to recognize the authority of their old commander over themselves. As if to make amends for the sad event, Joab began a serious persecution of the rebels. Sheba, who had only a small army and who did not possess any military talents that could compensate for the lack of strength for him, was knocked out of one position after another, so that he was not able to offer resistance anywhere and increasingly retreated to the north, until finally he found refuge in Abel-Beth-Maah, a strong city that lay several miles north of Lake Merom, where some of the inhabitants of the city of Benjamin Beerof founded the Berim colonies. The inhabitants of this region, who knew little of the latest events in the distant south, compassionately received the fugitive, although they were by no means sympathetic to his cause, unless they had some real reason to be hostile to David. Joab soon approached this city and began military operations with the construction of an earthen rampart from which it would be possible to storm the walls and defeat the defenders. The city would soon have been forced to surrender and would have suffered that cruel fate which was common under the law of war in ancient times, if a clever woman had not intervened in the matter, who volunteered to enter into negotiations with Joab and ardently rebelled against Joab's threatened destruction of that city, which, in her words, “was the mother of cities in Israel,” that is, the main city in the whole district and an important part in the inheritance of the Lord. Joab answered that he had no desire to destroy this old and faithful city; he is pursuing only the rebellious Savea, and if the citizens handed him over, he would immediately lift the siege. The woman promised that all this would be done, and really convinced the citizens to correct their mistake and save themselves at the expense of the rebellious Savea. The citizens fully agreed with the woman's arguments, and the pathetic traitor was captured and beheaded, and his head was thrown over the wall to the besiegers. In response to this, Joab immediately withdrew his troops, and, since the rebellion was completely over, he solemnly returned to Jerusalem. With this campaign he once again proved his military prowess, and, despite his disobedience and his terrible crimes, David felt forced to confirm him again in the supreme rank of commander-in-chief. It was extremely humiliating for the king to again grant this high position to his so unfit servant; but he must have considered this also one of the manifestations of the punishment for his fatal sin, and kept Joab close to him as a constant reminder to himself of the darkest hour of his life. It should be noted, however, that Joab was not only the most influential subject in the entire state, but, with all his self-will and savagery, he always took the interests of his master to heart and turned out to be the most active executor of the king’s commands. The interests of discipline and the throne undoubtedly required David to endure the presence of the heavy and willful Joab around him, but in any case he was a heavy burden for him and darkened his entire spiritual mood. After the suppression of two uprisings, peace finally returned to the country, and David had the opportunity to once again take charge of government. The past unrest showed that state affairs required significant transformation in many respects, and in particular it was necessary to undergo a more complete restructuring of the executive power, which turned out to be least satisfactory during the period of unrest. The time now seemed most favorable for this reorganization, since the surrounding nations, being weakened by the earlier defeats inflicted on them by David, did not have the strength to interfere in the internal turmoil of Israel and did not make any invasions of its possessions. The uprisings themselves lasted only a very short time, so that external enemies hardly even had sufficient information about these unrest. No matter how grave the consequences that these rebellions left on the glory and position of the king, they in any case contributed to the strengthening of his government and encouraged the people to rely on him as a ruler, although the people undoubtedly partly lost their respect for him as a person. As a result, the remaining years of David's life were promised to be spent in peace and prosperity. The biblical narrator presents a list of the main military leaders of this time, which, in comparison with the previous list, shows that at this time significant changes were made both in persons and in positions (2 Kings 20: cf. 13). But we do not need to dwell on this, and it is enough to note that this list does not mention at all that the king would now make his sons the main managers of individual regions, since recent experience has proven the danger of entrusting significant power to them. The subjugation of many foreign states made necessary, among other things, the special position of tribute collector, to whom Adoniram was appointed. Thanks to the established peace and the energetic activity of the king, the kingdom of Israel again achieved a high degree of improvement; the government everywhere became fair and strict, the army was numerous, under good command and stood completely on the same level with the troops of the great monarchies on the banks of the Nile and Euphrates; foreign nations treated the State of Israel with respect and sought an alliance with it, and David, if only he had been a simple Eastern monarch, might well have been excused for some feeling of pride at the sight of the happy successes of his people and their entry into the midst of the great monarchies of the then civilized world. He was the autocratic king of a great state that stretched from the Lebanese mountains to the Egyptian border and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River. In such a state, David could only humbly thank God for the benefits shown to him and his people, since he himself realized that he owed all this greatness solely to the help of God. But a feeling of arrogant pride stirred in him, and he committed another sin, which darkened the rest of his life and brought grave disaster to his country. This sin consisted in numbering the people. That this was a grave sin is clear from the very words with which the biblical narrator begins his story about it. “The wrath of the Lord was kindled again,” he says, “against the Israelites, and he aroused David in them to say: Go, number Israel and Judah” (2 Sam. 24:1). The expression of another biblical narrator expresses even more strongly the sinfulness of this circumstance, since, according to his testimony, David in this matter was directly guided by the temptation of Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1). The sinfulness of this enterprise is also evident from Joab’s reluctance to undertake this matter, from the repentance of David himself and from the punishment he brought upon himself. But the fact itself is so unclear that it has been subject to various interpretations. To better understand this whole story, it is necessary to look at it from a religious point of view, and we, putting ourselves in the position of David, will consider what the actual guilt of this act could have been. The numbering of the people in itself was not a sinful act. Moses himself carried out such a calculation twice, and although it was established that a certain ransom in money would be taken for everyone subject to the calculation, this establishment, however, was only temporary, and its omission in this case can hardly be considered a serious crime 93 . Some researchers, exonerating David from the charge of simple frivolous curiosity to know the number of his subjects, think that he took this measure in order to make sure how many taxes, additional or of some other kind, the people could bear, and thus how much they could increase their own treasures - and such an action would go precisely against the decree forbidding the king to multiply gold and silver for himself (Deut. 17:17). But there is certainly no basis for such an assumption, and from what follows we can rather conclude that an exclusively military purpose was meant here. At the same time, it cannot be said that David carried out this number of his people solely for the purpose of arrogant self-glorification, so that, relying on his military strength, he valued his power no longer according to the measure of divine mercy, but according to the material resources of his state. Such a view of national prosperity would be in sharp contradiction with the whole tone and direction of his life, which was especially remarkable for its complete hope in God’s help and faith in His leadership. Then, if the guilt in this matter were solely his own, it would be difficult to understand the justice of the fact that the punishment fell heavily on his subjects. The matter seems simpler. David, taking advantage of the peace and prosperity and looking around him, saw how other monarchs, possessing natural resources no greater than his own, became powerful and famous through foreign conquests, why shouldn’t Israel really become one of these world powers? Why shouldn’t he also play a more important role on earth and take a position among the leading peoples? A plan of conquest was drawn before his imagination, a plan that could make the name of David formidable in the most distant countries, so that with his victories the king would be able to pass on his glory to the most distant generations. It was a majestic dream, but how it does not agree with the very purpose of the chosen people! This people were settled in Canaan so that they could live there in isolation from contact with other nations; he was forbidden to use chariots and horses, so as not to be tempted to undertake long campaigns; he was constantly taught not to rely on a large army, on weapons or art, but only on the God of the armies of Israel, who could save both with the help of a large army and with the help of a few. They, of course, had to go to war, but at the same time they had to be guided not by the impulse of ambition or lust for power, but by the voice of the prophet, divine instructions. And the sons of Israel could multiply like the stars of heaven only on the condition that they serve the Lord and do His will; otherwise they will be reduced in number and scattered. The mistake David made was completely similar to the mistake of his compatriots in later times, when they stubbornly expected in the person of the Messiah a great earthly sovereign, a victorious earthly conqueror, and refused to recognize Him when He came in the humble person of Jesus of Nazareth. That is why a severe punishment befell Israel, in order to bring him to the consciousness of his duty, and in the most decisive way to suppress in him that worldly and vain spirit that corroded the true life of the theocratic people. God allowed the king to be carried away by the temptation of this ambition, in order to teach him a saving lesson all the more powerfully and to teach his governor through cruel punishment that he should live only for God, and not for himself. Having decided to carry out the calculation, David entrusted its execution to Joab and other leaders, and ordered them to go through all the tribes from Dan to Beersheba and carry out an accurate census of the people. This order did not please his state advisers, and Joab, as their spokesman, objected to David against this event. They adhered to the generally widespread opinion among the people that an accurate calculation of the number of possessions always generally entails losses and disasters. No matter how self-willed and changeable Joab was in his principles and no matter how devoted he was to his own interests, nevertheless, he was a true patriot at heart and cared for the good of his country. With his prudence and insight, he rarely made mistakes in his activities, and, trying to dissuade David from the enterprise he had planned, he was guided by the interests of the public good. This calculation was by no means necessary and did not correspond to any good purpose, but on the contrary could even lead to new grumbling and discontent; Moreover, the king’s intention did not stem from religious motives, but was prompted by ambition, which is completely contrary to the will of God; the whole people are his subjects, and the Lord multiplies them according to His good pleasure, so that there is absolutely no benefit in accurately counting them. In Joab's opinion, nothing good could come from this whole enterprise; Along with him, David’s other most devoted friends were against this plan. “The Lord your God,” Joab said on their behalf to David, “let him multiply as many people as there are, and a hundred times more, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord, the king, want this thing? But it was all in vain; David remained adamant, and the dignitaries appointed for the enumeration went to carry out their assignment, which they carried out with care, adding to the list all the men subject to military service by age. They began this work on the eastern side of the Jordan, in the tribe of Gad, in Aroer, a place now called Aire, lying on the right bank of Wadi Shaim, between Beth-Nimra and Ramoth-gilead. From there they moved north to Gilead, and to the base of Mount Hermon, to Dan, the northernmost city of the State of Israel. Turning from there, they then headed west to Sidon and the seashore to Tire, since these cities were in a military alliance with the Israelites, visited the cities in the tribes of Naphtali, Zebulun and Issachar - that district which in later times was called Galilee, and finally, having counted both the central tribes and the southern ones as far as Beersheba, there they completed their labors. It took almost ten months to complete this count, and even now it was not completely finished, since the tribe of Levi and the tribe of Benjamin were not yet included in the count, unless the latter was counted together with the population of Jerusalem. Apparently, a plague suddenly appeared, which forced the end of this work, just as it also prevented the accurate summary of the collected numbers and their entry into the royal archives (1 Chron. 27:23). Hence, a disagreement arose in the figures regarding the calculation made, as they appear in the 2nd book of Kings and in the 2nd book of Chronicles, and, but the testimony of the first, there were 800,000 people capable of battle in the Israeli tribes, and 500,000 in the tribe of Judah, while in the latter (2 Chronicles 21:5) Israel is attributed 1,100,000 and to the tribe of Judah only 470,000. If we see in these figures a more or less complete calculation, then the entire population of the country must therefore be considered to have risen at that time to six or seven million; and David really had reason to be proud of the numerical strength of his people and troops, to appreciate the military resources at his disposal, since it is known that the strongest monarchy of the ancient world, Egypt, in the most flourishing period of its existence and power, had a population of no more than this number. Since the basis of this whole matter was sinful ambition, David himself, apparently, already before the end of the reckoning, began to deeply recognize the mistake he had made. We do not know how exactly God awakened his dormant conscience. In any case, he seemed to recognize the folly and wickedness of his enterprise, apart from any reproach from any of his court prophets. When the results of the calculus, so far as they had been achieved, were presented to him, he involuntarily reflected on the motives that led him to this enterprise, and on the use that he wanted to make of it all; he compared his worldly ambition with the theocratic idea, which had hitherto guided his entire conduct of activity, weighed his cause on the scales of religion, and his heart trembled from the sin he had committed. In the deepest humility, he confessed his sin: “I have sinned gravely,” he said, “by doing this; and now I pray Thee, O Lord, forgive the sin of thy servant; for I acted extremely unwisely.” The merciful God, of course, could forgive his crime, but the king nevertheless had to first be punished for it. As a shadow follows an object, so punishment follows a sin; the guilt may be absolved, but the punishment must be transferred. After a painful night, his old friend, the prophet Gad, came to the king and conveyed to him the harsh news of his impending punishment. He offered him a choice of three punishments, namely, a three-year famine 94, a three-month persecution from enemies, or a three-day pestilence. Two of these disasters had already been experienced by the king: for three or more months he was in persecution from the enemy, namely, during the uprising of Absalom; he had already experienced a three-year famine in retribution for the massacre of the Gibeonites; What should he choose now? “It’s very hard for me,” said David, thinking; and then, with the awakening in him of faith in the mercy and help of God, he exclaimed: “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is great, if only I would not fall into the hands of men.” He did not choose war because he was familiar with the cruelties inflicted by people on each other during it, and now he shuddered, with the awakening of his best feelings, at the mere thought of what his unbridled ambition could lead to. He did not choose famine, because this disaster would have fallen exclusively on his people, since he himself in any case could have escaped its severity, and therefore he either chose the plague as a punishment, in which the danger for him was as great as for the least of his subjects, or he left the choice between famine and plague to the Lord himself. And the Lord sent a plague. With unprecedented force, clearly revealing its supernatural visitation, it fell upon the country, and although it lasted only three days, yet in this short time 70,000 people died from it. So the arrogance that flowed from the consciousness of his strength was humbled in the king, so his confidence in carnal weapons, his ambitious dream was undermined. He who could make Israel as numerous as the sand on the seashore could at the same time reduce its numbers with one blow, could change the voice of arrogant jubilation into a cry of despair, could crush the strength of the most powerful people in a few days and turn its power into weakness. The pestilence, which raged throughout the country, far and wide, had not yet touched Jerusalem; but now she was approaching the capital, and a terrible sight met David’s eyes. When, in terrible confusion and horror, he expected the inevitable blow, in the sky he saw a terrible angel who, sweeping over the city, spread out a sword in his hand, as if to deliver a mortal blow. At the sight of this extraordinary sight, David involuntarily raised his voice and shouted: “Behold, I have sinned, I, a shepherd, have acted lawlessly; and these sheep, what have they done! Let Thy hand turn against me and against my father’s house.” Thus, in his humility, the king accepted all the blame on his own shoulders. But in reality, the people, for their part, were guilty of his crime. His last rebellion was an extremely criminal affair; the Israelis have already shown too much readiness to deviate from the path of duty; in their prosperity they forgot God and undoubtedly took part in the ambitious designs and vain arrogance of their monarch. Thus, they fully deserved reproach and punishment. But even in his righteous anger, God did not forget mercy; He stopped the angel's destroying hand and prevented him from hitting the holy city. Just as a thousand years before, the angel on Mount Moriah held Abraham’s hand when he raised the knife to slaughter his son, so in this very place David saw how, through his prayer, the destroying angel was disarmed and how the people, already doomed to slaughter, were saved. David saw the punishing angel at the threshing floor of Orna, on Mount Moriah. The place was outside the city on an eminence rising from the east, separated from Zion and the city of David by the Tyropian valley, at that time several hundred feet deep, although now scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding country. The owner of the Orna threshing floor was a Jebusite elder who was allowed to stay here after the capture of the city. Some even think that he was the king of the Jebusites; in any case, he was a man of considerable means, and if not a proselyte, then at least well acquainted with the Israeli religion and was a personal friend of David. And now the prophet Gad was sent to David with another message. He was commanded to inform David that he should build an altar in the place where the angel was seen and offer sacrifices there. David and his entourage immediately began to fulfill the divine command. It was the time of the wheat harvest, when the summer heat especially intensified the effect of the pestilence, and when the king approached this place, Orna was busy threshing bread. When the Jebusite asked the reason for this unexpected royal visit, David told him that he had come to him to buy this threshing floor from him in order to erect an altar of atonement on it. Orna immediately, with the generosity of a noble heart, offered to give him not only the threshing floor, but also the oxen with which he threshed bread, and even tools, so as not to waste time on obtaining victims and the fuel necessary for the proposed sacrifice. But David, proclaiming the sublime rule that God should not be served without incurring any costs for this, did not want to accept a generous offering, but bought land, animals and tools at a good price. An altar was quickly erected from the ground, the appointed sacrifices were brought, but they were destroyed by fire miraculously descending from heaven. The king and everyone around him prayed to the Lord to deliver the people from the disaster, and the pestilence stopped its devastating work as suddenly and mysteriously as it had appeared, thus revealing its supernatural character and forcing people to look beyond secondary causes and see the moral meaning in such visits. As a result of everything that happened, this area acquired a sacred character, and since the ancient memory of the great Patriarch Abraham, who was here in the difficult hour of his greatest trial and at the same time in the happiest hour of his greatest triumph in faith, was associated with it, it was chosen as the most suitable place for the worship of the entire people and was appointed as a place for the construction of a church in the future. Chapter 16. The last years of the reign of David The terrible test that befell David on the occasion of his rash step towards numbering the people was the last test of his life, after which came the years of peaceful reign, which ended the adventurous life of the great king. The evening of his days passed in peace. External and internal storms, all kinds of turmoil, fiery passions - all this calmed down, and the king approached his end with calm steps, which are only befitting of respectable old age. We have only very scanty information about the activities of these recent years. During them there were almost no outstanding events that would require recording them in the chronicle. The people learned to rely on their ruler in everything. He saw that deviation from the legal path always entailed significant punishment, that his safety and prosperity depended on strict devotion to theocratic principles, and the Israelites limited themselves to patiently waiting for that flowering or development that was supposed to come naturally in due time, and no longer prevented events, or introduced such improvements for which the time was not yet ripe. No external wars disturbed the peace of this period, and David could turn all his attention to internal affairs, improve the structure of his government and correct the evils that had time to grow, without encountering opposition amid the turmoil and unrest of the great accidents of the past. One of the chief subjects to which he turned his attention during the last ten years of his life was the gathering and preparation of materials for the construction of the church which his son was destined to build. In this he found very great assistance in the good will of his subjects, whose religious spirit was strengthened by recent events and who learned to understand the deep significance of the centralization of worship in Jerusalem established by David, for the splendor of which the king himself did so much, not only improving it in ritual and musical terms, but also assigning to him a well-ordered ranks of clergy, who, when they were not busy with the special duties of their ministry, spread the knowledge of the law of God to remotest districts of the country. The biblical chronicler (1 Chronicles 28, 29) gives a full account of the preparations made for the construction of the house of God, which were so extensive and complete that the successors had the opportunity to begin the execution of this great enterprise already in the first years of their reign. The modern chronicles contained in the books of Kings, it is true, say nothing regarding this extensive collection of materials, but in any case they provide much evidence for the existence of such treasures and confirm the likelihood of details conveyed elsewhere. The king's own resources were very extensive, since he owned large agricultural estates, vineyards, olive and fig tree orchards, herds of large and small livestock; then, huge tributes from conquered peoples, as well as taxes from their own citizens, served as a large source of income; Likewise, the source of wealth was the abundance of booty that was captured during external wars. With the enthusiasm with which the people treated David in recent years, there were also many voluntary offerings, generously made by the richer members of the people, who had every reason to be grateful to their king, since, thanks to his wise rule, the well-being of the people had increased enormously. From these and similar sources David was able to collect the enormous sum of 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver. Besides this enormous mass of precious metals, he collected vast stores of copper, iron, cedar and other wood, marble and precious stones, and employed stonemasons and artists of every kind, both native and foreign, for the purpose of preparing these materials for their future purpose. Then, from the savings of his own wealth, he assigned 3,000 talents of gold and 7,000 silver for the same purpose. If we consider a talent of gold to be 125,000 rubles and a talent of silver to be 2,400 rubles (1889), then the entire amount of this treasure will be amazing even for our newest concepts, although other examples of similar accumulation of jewelry are not unknown in ancient times. Thus, Pliny says that during his Asian wars he accumulated 34,000 pounds of gold and 500,000 talents of silver. Along with preparing materials for the future church, David early began to worry about the successor who would be the most worthy executor of his plans. The question of the heir to the throne was not easy to resolve given the complexity of family relationships, which was the natural cause of David’s marital excesses. He had many wives, many sons, and as a result, many contenders for the throne, and David had to experience the bitterness of such a state more than once from the claims and rivalry of his sons. This question could only be resolved by which wife had more influence on David and which of her sons, in the king’s opinion, had more ability to fulfill the duties of a king, and as a result, Bathsheba’s son Solomon was chosen as heir. The very circumstances of his birth made him especially dear to the rapidly aging king. He was the son of a mother who was passionately, if criminally, loved, and his birth was the filling of the void created by the death of the first child. David could naturally consider his birth and his life as proof that God had graciously accepted his prayers and condescended to his tears of repentance. When Solomon was born, the kingdom enjoyed peace. David has already seen enough and more than enough wars. The thought of all the blood he had shed weighed heavily on his conscience, and his enemies called him "the man of blood." His thirst for peace manifested itself in his name “Absalom”, i.e. “father of the world,” which he had previously given to his son, who was born to him in Hebron from Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. At this time she was probably even stronger, and he gave his son from Bathsheba the glorious name Solomon (Shelomo), i.e. “peaceful” is a name that is still so common in the east in the form of “Suleiman”. The Prophet Nathan, who had such a great part in correcting the religious and moral state of David, was the person who was the natural and most reliable educator of the royal children, and the child was placed under his care. He also welcomed the birth of the child as a sign that God had returned to David his favor, which was promised to him for his repentance. Therefore, he gave Solomon, “according to the word of the Lord,” the more sacred name of Jedidiah - “beloved of God.” David himself was called by a name that meant “beloved,” “favorite,” but the prophet wanted to give Solomon a name that expressed something deeper than family love. However, he is never again called by this name in history, because it was not intended for use in everyday life. The name "Solomon" was like a prophetic suggestion of an ideal and prefigured the history of a great non-warlike king. It is natural to expect that in the prophet Nathan the royal child could receive a pious, wise and devoted teacher, and such, as one might think, he was to some extent. He is known to have lived until Solomon's accession to the throne and perhaps even for some time during his reign, about which he wrote early chronicles (1 Chronicles 9:29). If the Jewish tradition mentioned by Bl. is true. Jerome, then Nathan was the eighth, perhaps adopted, son of Jesse. He could also be the same Nathan whose sons occupied high places in the court of Solomon, and one of them, Zebud, was even a friend of the king, as well as a priest. However, the father of these dignitaries, in all likelihood, was the younger brother of Solomon. Prophet Nathan did not cease to take a noticeable part in the religious life of the people. David consulted with him regarding the construction of the church and the organization of public worship, although over time the infirmities of the elders apparently weakened his influence at court. In any case, his voice did not rise during any of those crimes and turmoil that darkened the final years of the great king. It was already the seer Gad, and not Nathan the prophet, who warned, for example, David about the punishment that should have followed the criminal pride that prompted him to number the people, contrary to the wishes of his wisest advisers. If, however, any meaning can be attached to an obscure passage from the Greek historian Eupolemus, then Nathan may have made a prophetic revelation to David during the three-day plague, although Eupolemus seems to be confusing various events. And if this calculation had anything to do with the system of collecting sums for the future church, then Nathan could rather think that this measure was fair. It is possible that the burden of old age undermined his energy, but we still must attribute to him the best of the influences that surrounded the life of the young heir. Himself brought up in the schools of the prophets, he could teach Solomon poetry, the “wisdom of the east,” and the historical literature of his people, and especially those parts of the Mosaic Law that were committed to writing. The literary talents that Solomon inherited from his father were probably given a thorough education, although they received a completely different direction compared to that which immortalized the name of David as “the sweet psalmist of Israel.” Although Solomon was the first king of Israel “born in purple,” it is by no means certain that from the very beginning he was intended to be David’s successor. The elderly king, apparently, felt the same reluctance to appoint a successor for himself as was felt by other great sovereigns; and appointing a baby or a young boy would be dangerous. Only by the time of the uprising of Adonijah do we hear about the oath given to Bathsheba that her son would inherit the throne (1 Kings 1:13, 17), and since there is no special mention of this oath, we do not know in what period it was given. Everyone, of course, felt that an appointment by the tsar would be one of the strongest and surest rights to the throne, but this appointment could hardly be arbitrary. The murder of Amnon, David's eldest son, occurred while Solomon was a child. We know absolutely nothing about his second son, Hileav or Daniel, and it is very likely that he died early. Of the remaining sons, the eldest was Absalom, who, of course, considered himself the presumptive heir. Not only was David already a king when Absalom was born to him in Hebron, but this young man was of royal origin on both sides, since his mother Maachah was the daughter of the king of Geshur. He was strong by the love of the people for him, as well as by the passionate affection that his father especially showed for him when Absalom died in battle against him. Adonijah, the eldest of the surviving sons, considered his rights to the throne equally secure. Following Adonijah there were at least twelve sons, about whom we know nothing and who could not count on the throne either due to the lack of any outstanding qualities, or because their mothers came from private and humble families. The promise given to Bathsheba could remain one of the timidly conveyed secrets of the palace and in general, apparently, was not generally known. It would be unfounded to attribute it entirely to the influence that Bathsheba acquired over the soul of the woman-loving king. Solomon early began to discover abilities that set him above all his brothers. It was clear to everyone that “the Lord loved him” (2 Samuel 12:24). David's foresight in choosing him as his successor received the prophetic approval of Nathan. But however early this intention was formed, it was obviously a matter of wisdom to limit the knowledge of this secret to only a few. To make it known to all while Solomon was yet a child would only have aroused the rebellious envy of his powerful and shameless rivals and exposed him to almost certain destruction. Apparently it became clear early on that people like Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah, men of fiery passions and arrogant temperament, would be extremely unsuitable for the implementation of those peaceful religious goals that David wanted to entrust to his successor. The inclinations of calm wisdom and good behavior that marked Solomon's childhood, together with David's passionate devotion to Bathsheba, caused Solomon to triumph over the pretensions of his elder brothers and, with the approval of his truly religious adviser, David swore in the name of Jehovah: “Solomon my son will be king after me.” The infirmities of old age quickly approached the king, whose days from his youth were spent in harsh labors, battles and worries. At the age of thirty, David was elected king in Hebron and reigned there for seven and a half years. He reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-three years. Therefore, he was no more than seventy years old, and even in modern times people of this age are often full of strength. But the Jews of that time rarely survived seventy years, as the limit assigned for human life; Solomon and Manasseh were the only kings of Judah who lived more than sixty years. Yes, in relation to Solomon, it is also not known with certainty whether he has reached such an age. In any case, David was completely decrepit, and the vitality in him was depleted to the point that he could not warm himself with any external clothing. His entourage did not know how best to help their ruler, and only advised him to take a beautiful and young maiden who could warm him with her body 95. The choice fell on the beautiful Abishaga from Shunem, a small town of the Issachar tribe, on the southern slopes of Little Hermon, six miles from Jezreel. It is remarkable that even for such a purpose the courtiers considered it necessary to look for the prettiest maiden that could be found in the whole country. Meanwhile, David's growing weakness gave rise to another of his ambitious and rebellious sons to take advantage of circumstances to seize the throne. Now that Amnon and Absalom were no longer alive, Adonijah remained the eldest of the princes, and it was he who hatched a conspiracy to hasten the death of his father and seize the kingdom. In his personal gifts, as well as his carefree character, he resembled his two older brothers, and did not at all regard the warning that could be deduced from the fate that befell them. Like Absalom, handsome and spoiled, he was born at a time when David was already king in Hebron; but since the name of his mother Haggith means “dancer,” we can conclude from this that she was lower in rank than Maacah of Geshur and Ahinoam of Jezreel. But Adonijah, like his older brothers, was spoiled by the excessive indulgence of his father, who even avoided the opportunity to cause trouble for him with a simple question: “Why did you do that?” His first step was, in imitation of Absalom, to stock up on chariots, horsemen and 50 walkers. He then needed to acquire two adherents who occupied high positions in church and state, namely Joab, the commander-in-chief of the army, and Abiathar, the high priest. It is strange to say that he managed to win both of these high dignitaries to his side. Either they did not know about the appointment of Solomon as David's successor, or they preferred the beauty and strength of the young thirty-five-year-old prince (who had some rights to the birthright) to the one who had barely emerged from the solitude of the nursery and was still a boy. They could also think that their participation in this conspiracy would ensure its success, especially in view of the senile infirmity into which David was increasingly falling. Ambitious envy could also play a role in these motives. Joab almost did not notice that Benaiah was already pushing him out of the king’s trust, and Abiathar, the only one from the high priestly family beaten for David’s sake, David’s faithful companion during his wandering life and reign in Hebron, could hardly calmly look at the growing influence of Zadok. Perhaps Adonijah also promised them both forgiveness of all previous crimes as a reward for this devotion. It must be borne in mind that both of them, and especially Joab, had many reasons to fear the beginning of a new reign and therefore tried to bind the new king with the closest obligations. Strengthened by the assistance of two such followers, Adonijah threw off his mask and, again imitating Absalom, invited all the princes, except Solomon, and all the king's servants to a great feast. He apparently counted on the same tribal rivalry that forced Absalom to choose Hebron as the main point of his conspiracy. Indeed, the place that Adonijah chose for his coronation sacrifice was “the stone of Zohelet, which is near Rogel.” Nothing more is known about this “Snake Stone,” but probably some kind of sacred representation was associated with it. This celebration required a source of water, but we only know that Rogel, “the fuller’s spring,” lay in the northeast, on the border between the cleavers of Judah and Benjamin, and therefore not far from Jerusalem. This is probably the now famous source of the Ever-Virgin, located opposite the village of Siloam. But Adonijah, with his contempt for his father's weakness, did not pay sufficient attention to the strength of influence contrary to his claims. Zadok, a younger and more popular priest and a descendant of the older line of Aaron's family, was on the side of Solomon, and he was assisted by Nathan, a highly revered prophet. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, a man of great personal valor and nobility, could command the devotion of the Gibborim, and this disciplined bodyguard of 600 men was always ready for action. And if Adonijah managed to win over the younger princes of the Davidic family to his side, then the two eldest and most influential princes, Shimei and Risi, perhaps the only surviving brothers of David, remained faithful to Solomon. The Prophet Nathan, shaking off the weakness of old age, saw that not a single minute could be lost. Solomon, from his very birth, was entrusted to his special care, and the prophet always singled him out as the destined heir to the throne of David and the executor of intentions for which David had proven unworthy in his former life. But it is difficult to gain access to the Eastern king at any time and especially when he is sick. Nathan could not find another way to report to David about the threatening danger other than through a meeting with Bathsheba, who, as he knew, had great influence on the king. He told her that at that very time the son of Haggith was proclaiming himself king, and meanwhile David still knew nothing about this, and that the success of Adonijah clearly threatened the death of both her and Solomon. He asked her to go immediately to the king and remind him of his oath to her that Solomon would be king. He himself promised to be right there on hand and confirm the news that Adonijah was proclaimed king contrary to the wishes of David. Perhaps he was afraid that, due to the weakness of his years, David would not immediately take action, and therefore, before it was too late, he hurried Bathsheba to encourage him to action. Bathsheba went to the aged king, who was alone with Abishaga 96 . She entered with a deep bow to the ground, which showed David that she had something very important to convey to him. The obvious excitement and solemnity with which Bathsheba (as later Nathan) approached the aged and decrepit king are in sharp contrast to the free and bold treatment that they had with him in the past. This shows that David, as he approached old age, became more and more inaccessible to the eastern ruler. In answer to the king's brief question, Bathsheba reminded him of his oath that Solomon should sit on his throne, gave him details of Adonijah's plans, and told him that the eyes of the people were fixed on him and expected him to exercise his recognized right of appointing a successor for himself. If we allow the throne to become the subject of seizure, then she indicated the danger that threatens her life and the life of Solomon, who alone among the princes was not invited to the feast of Adonijah 97 . While she was still speaking, a report was made about the prophet, as was agreed between them. He also bowed to the ground and, as if feeling some fear in conveying his message, began to present the matter before the king and said: “My lord the king! have you said, Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne? Now Adonijah is having a feast, and everyone eats and drinks at his place, and they say: Long live King Adonijah! But you did not invite me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, and Solomon, your servant. Did this not happen according to the will of my lord the king, and why did you not reveal to your servant who would sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? The king was extremely alarmed and, to resolve the matter, he ordered Bathsheba to be called again, who, in accordance with Eastern custom, left the chamber when Nathan spoke. The king, swearing in the most solemn manner, namely, saying: “As the Lord lives, who delivers my soul from all trouble,” renewed the oath that he had sworn before, and, with a glimpse of his former energy, took decisive measures to anoint and enthron Solomon even during his own lifetime. Having made a new solemn bow, Bathsheba left, and Zadok, Nathan and Benaiah were called into the king’s chamber. He ordered them to place his young son on the royal mule and solemnly take him to the Gion stream, which, like the Rogel spring, had enough water required for the coronation and was not far from the city. There Zadok was to anoint him with blessed oil taken from the tabernacle of David on Mount Zion. This measure was very important. This was not done in relation to Adonijah, perhaps because the sacred oil was in the control of Zadok, or perhaps again because Adonijah was considered the legitimate successor. Then they were to blow the trumpets and shout, “Long live King Solomon.” Levite Benaiah - half priest, half warrior - responded to the king's order with an enthusiastic "Amen" and a prayer that God would approve this choice and make the throne of Solomon even more powerful than the throne of his father. Then everything was prepared for the great work, a solemn procession was arranged, which set off, accompanied by a detachment of guards, and it was immediately possible to see that only an internecine war could shake the crown of the youth, who had on his side a prophet, a high priest from the house of Eleazar and the commander of the guard, and who was thus anointed and proclaimed heir by direct command of the king. The people were also on his side. Adonijah's noisy feast did not arouse any delight among the people; but delight manifested itself with such force in favor of Solomon that the earth thundered with the music of trumpets and the noise of dancing. The business undertaken by Bathsheba and Nathan was carried out from beginning to end with amazing skill, and it was crowned with complete success. Meanwhile, Adonijah's feast ended and it was necessary to start an uprising; but Joab’s experienced ear suddenly heard the sound of trumpets from the direction of Gion and the echoes of enthusiastic rejoicing in the city. His heart trembled with a bad premonition, and while he was still speaking, those with him saw their accomplice Jonathan, son of Abiathar, who hastily ran towards them. Adonijah pretended to consider his approach a good omen. But Jonathan brought the fatal news that while they were feasting, Solomon's friends were acting, that the latter had been solemnly anointed at Gione, and that at that moment he was already seated on the throne of the kingdom, receiving the enthusiastic congratulations of the entire court. Then he added the most puzzling proof of the failure of Adonijah’s enterprise, namely, that the aged king himself gave his solemn consent to Solomon’s coronation. The king, apparently, was raised from the bed of his illness and, as a sign of prayerful approval of what had happened, bowed on his bed and blessed the God of Israel, who vouchsafed him before his death to see one of his sons sitting on his throne. At this news, the inflated bubble of Adonijah’s inept conspiracy immediately burst. The guests jumped up in fear and scattered in different directions. Adonijah himself, abandoned by his followers, fled in horror to the altar, perhaps the same one that David had erected on the threshing floor of Orna, and in despair grabbed the horns of the altar. His cry for mercy was reported to the young king. “Behold,” those close to him said, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and now he holds on to the horns of the altar, saying: Let King Solomon now swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.” Solomon treated him with calm generosity. The devotion of the people showed that they had nothing to fear from the rivalry of Adonijah. If Adonijah had succeeded in his plot, he would undoubtedly have put Solomon to death, and with him, perhaps, Bathsheba. So, at least, one can judge by the character of this person. But Solomon did not want to add new torment and suffering to those that were already tormenting the heart of his elderly father. He gave his royal word, which he considered sufficient without adding an oath, that as long as Adonijah remained honest and faithful, not a single hair would fall from his head. Adonijah was taken from the steps of the altar and brought in person to Solomon. He bowed before his younger brother, who, without the slightest reproach to him, addressed him only with a brief order: “go to your house.” He was not even imprisoned or defrocked, but at the same time he was directly told that another similar case would not be left unpunished. This time the other conspirators were also forgiven. The indignation in which they participated was considered only a fit of madness, for which one could contemptuously forgive in view of the present joy on the occasion of the king’s accession, until, of course, those involved in this conspiracy subsequently revealed their criminality. After establishing the throne for the rightful heir, David had one more message to make before he left his earthly career. He wanted to inform his son of what was the greatest goal of his desires, the goal for the fulfillment of which he had made such extensive preparations. David introduced Solomon to all the details of the church that was to be erected for him. However, nothing was forgotten. He laid out in detail before his son the plan of the church with all its buildings, rooms, courtyards, furnishings, vessels and utensils, everything as indicated in the law when the tabernacle of Moses was built. He had prepared all these instructions even earlier, when the hand of the Lord was on him, and now, at the final moment of his life, he conveyed all this to his successor with a few solemn words: “Here I am setting out on a journey in this land, but you be strong and be courageous. And thou shalt keep the covenant of the Lord thy God, walking in His ways, and keeping His statutes, and His commandments, and His statutes, and His statutes, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest be wise in all that thou shalt do, and wherever thou shalt turn; that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons watch over thy ways, to walk before Me in truth with all their hearts and with all their souls, then thee shall not fail to rule upon the throne of Israel” (1 Kings 2:2, 4). “Be strong and courageous, and when you get down to business, do not be afraid or dismayed. For the Lord God your God is with you. He will not depart from you, nor forsake you, until you have completed all the work required for the work of the Lord” (1 Chronicles 28:20). And then, from his deep everyday experience, he drew a picture of a truly blessed person, whose happiness is stronger than the foundations of the world, setting out the ideal of this bliss in the famous psalm: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, And does not stand in the way of sinners, And does not sit in the assembly of the wicked: But his will is in the law of the Lord, And he meditates on His law day and night! And he will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit in its season, And in everything he does, he will succeed. Not so wicked, not so: But they are like dust swept away by the wind from the face of the earth. Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, And sinners in the assembly of the righteous, For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." 98 In addition to private instructions to his son about his duties and responsibilities as a theocratic king, David also wanted to see the solemn recognition of Solomon as his successor. The people in Jerusalem and its environs, it is true, accepted the new sovereign with all signs of joy and contentment, but, in view of the recent opposition and the obviously existing rivalry between the tribes, the dying king decided on a measure that should have served as complete confirmation for him of the achieved goal. Around his bed he convened a meeting of the most important representatives of the country, the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the army, the heads of the various departments of the state, the veterans who had served him so valiantly in all his trials, together with their children and ministers, in order to communicate to them his last will. Rising with painful effort from his sickbed, he addressed the congregation, calling them his brothers and his people. He had two things to tell him. First of all, he reminded the congregation that Jehovah chose the tribe of Judah to rule the country, and from this tribe chose him to occupy the throne of the king, and now, when he had to leave his earthly career, it was by God’s choice that Solomon was given the opportunity to occupy this royal throne after him. Secondly, he laid before the assembly the plan for the building of the church, and solemnly exhorted the assembled leaders to assist his son in the accomplishment of so great and desirable an undertaking, which was especially sanctified by the Lord. The will of the dying king was sacred. Representatives of the people willingly and happily paid tribute to honor and respect to the new monarch and expressed their readiness to help him in the creation of the church until their last opportunity. With an ecstatic heart, David then uttered his last song of thanksgiving, and thanked the Lord before the whole congregation, acknowledging that all he had was the gift of God, and praying to Him that He would keep his son and people in the right path. After this a magnificent feast was given, and amidst a mass of sacrifices and solemn ceremonies, Solomon was anointed king for the second time, and was recognized with honor and congratulations on the part of all the people. But then the end approached, when the “lamp of Israel” was about to go out. Feeling the approach of death, David once again called his successor and from his deathbed once again exhorted him to fulfill the commandments of God and the laws of Moses, giving him at the same time some wise advice regarding those close to him, from which Solomon had to remove some (and between them the restless Joab), and bring others closer and reward 99 . And then, offering the last fiery prayer for the well-being of his son-successor, he sang the last divinely inspired song. In it, he calls himself “a man set on high, the anointed one of the God of Jacob and the sweet singer of Israel,” and speaks of his prophetic gift as coming from the Spirit of God. God, as the rock of Israel, taught him the lesson that “he who rules over men will be righteous, ruling in the fear of God.” Such a just ruler is the cloudless light of the morning sun and the necessary grass that grows and shines under the sunshine after the rain. He expresses the conviction that God has made an everlasting, firm and immutable covenant with him, so that all his desires will be fulfilled. It is true that there will be wicked people in his generation, but they will be like discarded thorns that are not taken by hand; “But whoever touches it, arms himself with iron or wood of a spear, and burns him on the spot with fire” (2 Samuel 23:1–7). “And David died in a good old age, full of life, wealth and glory.” He peacefully passed away to eternal rest in the 71st year of his life, in 1018 BC, having reigned for forty years, seven of them over the tribe of Judah in Hebron and thirty-three over all twelve tribes in the new capital, Jerusalem. The end of his earthly life befell him already when the whole work of his life was happily completed, the past was forgotten and erased, the future was wisely provided for, and the very character, which had been subjected to so many tests from external circumstances, was purified by suffering. The testimony of this event is moving in its very simplicity. “And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David” (1 Kings 2:10). The word “rested” used here prefigures for us Christians the future resurrection, and undoubtedly it aroused a similar thought in the minds of the most spiritually enlightened among the Israelis. As a king who enjoyed universal respect, personal devotion and love of the majority of his people, David was buried with extraordinary solemnity in a magnificent tomb, which he himself prepared for himself on Mount Zion, and his weapons were preserved as a national monument and subsequently, as a sacred remnant, were deposited in the church (2 Kings 11:10). The exact location of this tomb has not yet been verified. It was well known before the destruction of Jerusalem. “His grave,” said the apostle. Peter in his speech on the great day of Pentecost, “with us to this day” (Acts 2:29); but from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, its location became the subject of only speculation, determined by the meaning given to the very term “city of David.” Those who consider this name to apply to the church mount refer to Nehemiah in support of this. 3:16 and Ezek. 43:7–9, which seems to indicate that the tombs of the kings lay on the west side of the tomb of Moriah. It is very possible that this was exactly what happened, and, however, it is also possible that David’s own tomb was located somewhere else. It, of course, could not have been removed when the other tombs were disturbed by Herod during his expansion of the church courtyard; therefore, she could not have been there. There is enough reason to think that Zion, Acre, the city of David and the lower city - all these names at various periods were attached to that hill lying northwest of Moriah, on which even now they show a place called “David’s tomb.” This monument stands directly outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even now there are signs that this tomb contained nine bodies, lying in coffins under the surface of the floor. It was here that Kings David, Solomon, Robaam, Ahijah, Jehoshaphat, Amaziah, Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah were buried. In this tomb, wherever it was located, a huge mass of treasures was buried along with the king, the fate of which is described in detail by Josephus 100. When the high priest Hyrcanus was besieged in Jerusalem by Antiochus Sidetes, 133 BC, he obtained favorable conditions from the enemy by promising him a large sum of money, and since there were no sums in his treasury, he opened one of the rooms of the tomb of David and took from there 3,000 talents of silver, of which he offered one tenth to Antiochus, thereby securing his retreat. Many years later, Herod the Great, in need of money and learning of what Hyrcanus had done, decided to replenish his resources in a similar manner. Accordingly, having appointed a special night for his sacrilegious undertaking, and taking with him only a few of his most trusted friends, he entered the tomb. His search was crowned with success, and he found not money, however, but a huge supply of gold and precious treasures, of which he took possession of them all. When he tried to penetrate further, even to the very room where the ashes of David and Solomon rested, he was suddenly stopped by divine power, as a flame instantly burst out from there and burned the front of his companions. To propitiate his intrusion into the sanctuary of this tomb, Herod erected a magnificent monument of white marble at the entrance to it. Chapter 17. Character of David The life of David, this greatest king of Israel, was so varied and comprehensive that it is by no means easy to bring into one picture the various features as they appear in the history of his life. Everyone involuntarily feels his insignificance in the face of such a great man: he was an extremely versatile personality, and David appeared before us as a shepherd, a courtier, a warrior, a military leader, a poet, a statesman, a prophet and a king; at the same time, he represents a highly characteristic figure of a friend, husband and father. In all these respects, his life truly represents a picture of extraordinary greatness, although not flawless at times, but in any case worthy of study and of deep interest for research. In assessing the character of David, one must keep in mind all his different sides and look at him without prejudice, which is easily suggested by the newer, more enlightened principles of life. He must be looked at as he was in himself and as he was in his relations with others, what was the form into which he was formed under the influence of the events of his life and the circumstances of his position, and what was the result of his public activity and government. In his face we see both the great merits and virtues, and at the same time all the shortcomings of his century and country, and if in many respects he rose above these shortcomings, then he owed this to his innate strength of spirit and the grace of God, to which he submitted with complete sincerity and willingness. In him, like in all people, there were some weaknesses, imperfections, unbridled desires; but all this was counterbalanced in him by unusual virtues, and among his very shortcomings his best qualities stand out even more clearly and more strikingly. Like any person, he often fell from the heights of his religious and moral ideal, and fell deeply; but even in this fall, he taught us the greatest example of repentant contrition, which gave him the opportunity and strength to again throw off the burden of sinfulness and rise for a new spiritual life. It is hardly possible to imagine a greater fall than what we see in his face, but on the other hand, there has never been a deeper repentance. Truly wonderful was the faith that, from the abyss of sinfulness, could turn to God with unshakable hope for forgiveness. Praiseworthy is the faith that he showed in that circumstance when, trusting in the God of the armies of Israel, he, with his simple shepherd’s staff, went out into single combat with a terrible giant, against whom the bravest of the army did not dare to oppose. Praiseworthy is the faith that he showed in the cave of Adullam, in the strongholds of Engedi, during the persecution of Saul and the turmoil of his reign, when, besieged by enemies from all sides, he defeated them all by the power of his moral superiority and higher reason; but even higher, even more wonderful and more praiseworthy than all this was the faith that forced him to fervently turn to God in his gravest fall and did not weaken his love for God. And this is precisely what gives us the opportunity to fully see what kind of person he was. His most outstanding feature was precisely his faith in God, a deep and constant sense of the co-presence of the invisible Lord and complete dependence on His leadership. This faith clearly runs throughout his much-tested life, manifesting itself in the sincere outpourings of his heart, which, with all their diversity, constitute the true expression of his spirit. History tells us about an external event, and his own words reveal to us secret thoughts that would otherwise be known only to God. It was this faith that led him to an unequal struggle against Saul’s evil intentions, gave him the opportunity to patiently await the course of events, supported him in all wars with enemies; but it manifested itself most vitally and most clearly precisely in his great repentance. It was also manifested in his self-devotion to the punishing hand of God, in his humbly enduring punishment for his sin - in that humility that forced him to endure every reproach and every punishment as a righteous reward. He had true love for God and deep devotion to His service. With what thirst he strove to build a church to the Most High, and when he was refused this great honor, with what zeal he began the task of preparing funds for his successor, who was destined to fulfill this desire so cherished by him! For him, religion was not a simple inactive feeling, it was not a simple political weapon to satisfy his ambition and control a superstitious people. She was for him life itself and the life of the entire people. If we ask how such a truly pious religious person could commit serious crimes, will not our own consciousness answer us that our religion does not restrain us from committing sin, that some passion, some worldly, vain attachment is now darkening our faith and hiding God from us? The possibility of crimes as heinous as David's crime is inherent in human nature itself. We are protected from great crimes not only by the grace of God, but also by early education, the threats of the law, the institutions of society, and public opinion. For David, many of these barriers did not exist. In reality, he was a man who stood beyond all responsibility. Misdeeds such as those committed by him were, in fact, the most common among the ancient eastern monarchs. At the same time, there were many mitigating, or at least explanatory, circumstances. Prosperity made him selfish and despotic for a time; the flatterers told him that he could not sin in anything, no matter what he did; after a life of tireless activity and care, he suddenly passed into a life of contentment and relaxing inactivity; when at the same time he weakened in prayer and ceased to feel his dependence on God with the same clarity as before, it was then that a sudden and strong temptation befell him, before which he could not resist, and committed a sin that entailed subsequent sins. But this crime was the fruit of a passing passion, and when this dangerous enemy was suppressed and the voice of conscience was heard again, David again looked at himself with his former eyes, the inner divine life awakened in him again, and his repentance was as deep as his fall, and left its stamp on his entire future life. The newly awakened religious life in him was too strong to be satisfied with private contrition, it made him feel the weight of his sin during all the remaining days of his life. In the past he was a cheerful, cheerful and cheerful person; but under the heavy oppression of the consciousness of sinfulness, this cheerfulness extinguished in him forever; his high spirit, his cheerful, lively character underwent a significant change. Now realizing the sinfulness of his heart, he felt that he fully deserved the wrath of God brought on by his crimes, and he endured all the disasters that befell him as righteous retribution for his crimes. In the greatness of his all-depressing grief, he forgot about all his lesser sorrows; the only thing he began to worry about, what he began to fear, was not to be rejected by the Lord. In the depths of his heart a repentant cry was constantly heard, which, having found its expression in the famous penitential psalm, became the repentant cry of all sinful humanity. Such faith, undoubtedly, is true faith, and it shows that, despite his great fall, King David was truly a religious, pious and righteous man. Another characteristic of David was the tenderness of his heart. He was filled with the most tender feelings and affections. Is it possible to find a more touching episode in all history than the story of his friendship with the noble Jonathan? He was a devoted son, a loving husband, a generous enemy. He treated everything that was beautiful and noble with the liveliest sympathy, always took the side of justice and piety, although at the same time he was harsh towards villains. Being an extremely loving and tender father, he even erred in his parental responsibilities towards his sons. Love, which should have taught him deeper lessons, led him to excessive leniency, so that, even with the most serious crimes of his sons, David was not so strict as to upset any of them with the innocent question: “Why did you do this?” Polygamous life, however, with its separate families and petty rivalries, naturally contributed to the weakening of parental supervision over children and made their true and correct education an extremely difficult task, although with a certain firmness and self-restraint this difficulty could be overcome. But David completely surrendered to his all-encompassing affection, and the serious mistakes and vicious inclinations of his sons remained either without any notice on his part, or without restrictions, the consequences of which fell upon him with all their misery. There was nothing petty in David's character. He was great in both good and evil. It was truly good for him that the circumstances of his life were such that they restrained and modified his natural inclinations. His innate courage and arrogance, together with the dexterity and mobility of an experienced athlete, could lead him to arrogance and cruelty, if these qualities were not limited in him under the influence of the piety developed from childhood and the restrictions imposed on him by the external events of his life. Being the favorite of the army, gaining affection and sympathy for himself wherever he appeared, he could easily play the role of a demagogue, usurper, tyrant; but his religion was his salvation. The voice of the prophet controlled the course of his activities, and patience gave him the strength to constantly control himself. With strong human feelings of affection, not without an admixture of sensual inclinations, he possessed an ambitious and forward-seeking nature, which placed him above the temptations of passions and did not allow him to become simply a selfish sensualist. And if the love from those around him turned out to be too flattering and corrupting, then at the same time he always had a special thorn in the flesh, which limited his self-praise and punished his pride. The presence of such a person as Joab was, initiated into all the sinful secrets of his sovereign, sometimes made him feel bitterly his insignificance in front of his subordinate, whom, however, he was not able to eliminate, since this person was for him the embodiment of conscience, a memory of the past and a warning for the future. No matter how hard it was for David to endure insults from this accomplice in many of his crimes, however, he could not rid himself of this heavy yoke, and learned humility, patience and self-abasement. He could never forget himself and indulge in self-praise when he constantly had to bear the heavy burden of the presence of such a person. He constantly felt the weight of this chain that fettered him, the consciousness of which was so often repeated in his impatient exclamation: “What should I do with you, sons of Saruina?” This constant presence of a monument of weakness and guilt was necessary for the perfection of the saint, and David humbly accepted the hardest lessons of his life. Accustomed to overcoming opposition, striving for freedom of action, forcing society to bow to his desires, he could naturally turn into a cruel despot, if in this respect he was not again limited by respect for law and religion. Aware of his great abilities, knowing that in his talents, views, and aspirations he stood above his contemporaries, he, however, thanks to his humility, the deep consciousness of his insignificance in the eyes of the Almighty, was protected from arrogance, and in humility sang a song of humility: “Lord, my heart was not lifted up, And my eyes were not lifted up, And I did not enter into the great and unattainable for me. Have I not humbled and calmed my soul, Like a child weaned from its mother's breast? Like a weaned child" 101. How generous he was in his treatment of those who deeply offended him! How willingly he sacrificed himself for the good of others and how he did not like to take advantage of their dangers, in which he himself did not take part! His passions were strong; he was prone to anger, hasty in his decision to take revenge, and, however, was always ready to listen to reasonable arguments, and a strong sense of justice always prevailed over temporary passions. In many respects he stood remarkably above the prejudices of his time and his country; he looked much beyond the narrow limits of his fatherland and would like to see the pagans also become participants in its advantages. His soul was extremely receptive and his gifts were extremely varied. He was a contemplative man, a man of prayer and meditation; his love for nature was ardent: he was a passionate observer of the varied scenes of sky, earth and water. He burned with ardent love for his native country. Sitting alone with his harp on a cool hill, he sang the beauties of life and nature around him and inspiredly expressed the hopes that warmed his own breast: his soul turned with ardent supplications to Jehovah, whose presence he felt everywhere and whose inspiration he constantly recognized in himself. But at the same time, he was no less a man of activity. Whether in his youth, when he defended his herd from lions and bears, took part in repelling the attacks of desert predators, or later, when he, having joined the army, took part in military enterprises, led troops to victory, or in more mature years, when he, standing at the head of the state, gave him new institutions, military, civil and religious amenities - he was always an energetic, hard-working man, who spared no effort, who knew how to use favorable circumstances, courageous in danger, self-motivated, fit for purpose, and competent in all respects. He loved freedom; the harsh life of the desert was more pleasant for him than the court life of a despot with its shy etiquette. He reluctantly abandoned his own plans, and those who opposed them were no longer his friends; Freedom of activity was his passion, and he always and persistently defended it for himself. True, he was ambitious, but his ambition was noble and pure. There was nothing low and narrowly selfish about him. He always wanted to be worthy of his high calling, to be a true theocratic king. He taught his subjects to strive to truly be the people of God, not only in name, but in the heart and in life, and in his own personality he gave an example of obedience and piety, when in all his actions he was guided by the highest Divine instructions. The weakness of human nature, of course, darkened and undermined this high ideal, but this ideal always remained the banner of his life and work. And with such aspirations, he could not help but love everything that was good and beautiful, both morally and physically; his sympathy was always awakened by everything that was noble and virtuous; he showered his favors on those who deserved it, and he himself was ready to provide them with all kinds of services. The great goal to which he strove awakened and encouraged in him the best qualities of his soul; strengthened his hand, restrained his passions, guided his politics, returned him to the path of righteousness during deviations from it, and gave him the opportunity to patiently endure grief and all kinds of disappointments and leave the course of his entire life to the guidance of God. But in order to correctly assess the greatness of David’s character as a king, one must keep in mind the results of his forty-year reign. What Moses and Joshua began and partially completed, what Samuel strove for, but achieved only half, all this was first put on solid ground only by David. He gave his people that unity which made possible joint action for the national good. Under his administration this united people enjoyed a security which enabled them to grow and spread without hindrance; true religion was supported and recognized as the basis of this prosperity; the country's sources expanded enormously and were used profitably; arts that were capable of elevating the comforts and blessings of life, as well as those that contributed to the beauty and luxury of a well-ordered life, were developed and assiduously maintained, so that the people of Israel confidently occupied an influential position among the most powerful nations of the earth. This was all the more remarkable because the Jews did not have any mission to conquer and annex distant lands. They, according to their purpose, had to be content with their own beautiful and fertile country and protect its borders without any desire to seize the possessions of others. Their efforts were crowned with unexpected and extremely great success. Circumstances forced them to expand their limits; defending their own possessions, they could not help but invade the land of their enemies with weapons in their hands, and, in order to ensure their future peace of mind, they turned external enemies into tributaries. As a result of this, the possessions of the Israelites, by the end of David's reign, extended north to Syria, south to Edom and the desert tribes, and east to the banks of the Euphrates itself. Thanks to his amazing military talent, David was able to create a military force that became the powerful decider of the destinies of the historical life of that time. This force reached 300,000 warriors. But no matter how strong the Israeli army apparently was in its numbers, its true strength, however, lay in the spirit with which it was animated and which was infused into it by the king himself. David understood all the inspiring power of religion and knew how to use it; he was fully aware that devotion to Jehovah was precisely the source of national well-being, that the Lord fought for Israel every time the people remained faithful to Him. He acted not just as a warlike commander or a powerful despot, but as a theocratic king, that is, a ruler who ruled the people according to the highest Divine instructions, following not his own plans and destinies, but the divinely inspired voice of the prophets. The consciousness of this supernatural guidance caused the people to look upon the anointed one of God with high reverence and to obey him with readiness and devotion, and the same feeling reflected back upon the people themselves, making them sharers in the glory of their monarch and enabling them to rise to the high conviction that as their king is the vicegerent of Jehovah, so the people themselves are the people of God. The Israelites, under the influence of David, recognized themselves as the army of the Lord; their wars were holy wars, waged against the enemies of God; in this conviction, they became a people of heroes and felt confident in their triumph, despite their imperfection in weapons and experience, they often entered into battle with enemies who were superior to them in all respects, with such confidence that nothing could withstand. And Israel became so great and powerful precisely during the reign of David. In its place it was said what David did for public worship and for religious institutions. His piety was completely practical, and he strove to awaken and strengthen the same feelings in this great cause among all the people. He recognized that religion requires an external side, that without the external form of rites and ceremonies, the very essence may perish; therefore, he developed a majestic system of worship, established all the details and prepared materials that were used until the later centuries of the kingdom of Judah. The basis for him in this regard was the Mosaic system; his idea of ​​serving Jehovah was only a development of what was prescribed in the Pentateuch. Many of the institutions attributed to him by the biblical chroniclers were introduced gradually, but he was the author of the centralization of religious worship in Jerusalem, and to him must be credited the reformation of the Levitical ministry, which not only ensured the correct and decent performance of divine worship, but also gave to the ministers of religion a generally accepted position and content, which had been much shaken during the troubles of the former period. The inevitable and natural result of such a religious order was the rise of piety and morality among the people. Some of David's institutions were expressly designed to maintain a high level of religious piety and knowledge of God. The priests were not constantly in Jerusalem. As soon as their period of service ended, they returned to their homes, thus spreading the sanctity of religion to the most remote districts and representing examples of pious households. The Levites also, in their various positions, lived throughout the country. Although a significant part of them were used at the sanctuary as porters, singers, and watchmen, however, very many of them occupied the positions of commanders, judges and teachers in other parts of the country. Up to 3,000 of these officials lived among the eastern tribes, which, due to their distance from the center, were most in need of care. The Levites were entrusted with the management of public chronicles; they were lawyers and overseers of society, and among them one could find what little acquaintance with medicine and other sciences existed at that time. In their labors in the matter of religion, they found very significant support in the schools of the prophets, in which David took the most ardent part, prompted first by his friend and teacher Samuel, and then by his court prophets, Gad and Nathan. If, in spite of such an institution, and in spite of many other means which existed for the maintenance of true religion, the people were easily carried away by the temptation to rebel against the anointed of the Lord and take the side of the wicked usurper, then we must remember that even the best institutions of government can never absolutely achieve the intended result while people remain such as they are. The Mosaic decrees, sanctified and confirmed in the most miraculous way, were never completely fulfilled. Common human weakness and imperfection limit the influence of the most perfect and best institutions; The fickleness and fickleness of the crowd can upset the wisest assumptions. David’s very piety could sometimes be the cause of displeasure for many people devoted to the vanity of the world, and arouse enmity against him. The silent reproach of life, animated by love for God and guided by His commandments, was the cause of displeasure and even hostility, which at times led to open indignation. But these unfavorable circumstances do not diminish the glory of the king, who was the first to give life and strength to the great religious system, who showed such a remarkable ability in arranging religious affairs and in ordering and uniting the scattered forces of the spiritual army. And however temporary errors may have marred legality and loyalty, true religion, during the whole of this reign, was so powerful and enjoyed such universal recognition, that idolatry became completely unknown, and in the most remote villages no other God was worshiped than Jehovah. This was truly the great and noble result of David's valiant efforts. But subsequent centuries owe David another great treasure, which forever became a source of moral revival and innumerable benefits. He was the founder of psalmody. His religious and moral songs or psalms, in which he, depending on the circumstances of his life, rich in adventures and all kinds of trials, inspiredly expressed his feelings of faith and hope in God, gratitude and praise, joy and sorrow, rejoicing and repentant contrition, in the strength and tenderness of expressions, as well as in the sublimity and ardor of religious feeling, have nothing similar not only in the sacred poetry of other peoples, but also in the books of the Old Testament. The truths contained in them come closest to the truths of the New Testament, and therefore Psalm 102 is also the most beloved book among Christian peoples, in which millions seek and find consolation and peace for their souls struggling with temptations and adversities. But David was not just a psalmist, but at the same time a divinely inspired prophet. This name is clearly attached to it. Peter in his speech on the day of Pentecost. “Being a prophet,” the apostle says about David, “and knowing that God promised him with an oath that from the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ in the flesh and seat him on his throne, he first spoke about the resurrection of Christ” (Acts 2:30, 31). Here the apostle expresses a divinely inspired view of the psalmist, and the circumstances of his life and the works of his pen fully confirm this verdict. The Divine Savior Himself also testified that David spoke by inspiration, that is, inspired by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 22:43). The Spirit of the Lord, which came upon him when he was anointed in his father's house at Bethlehem, not only kindled in his breast a desire for higher purposes and prepared him for the government of the people, but also inspired him to praise God and put into his mouth words the full meaning of which could only be revealed in subsequent centuries. In the schools of the prophets he witnessed religious rapture and indulged himself in similar rapture, and as he grew, and especially in the later years of his life, the Holy Spirit made him the instrument of his expression, and the hopes of the pious Israelite for a great future were expressed in words that can have no other interpretation than the messianic one. At the same time, David never formally assumed the office or character of prophet; he spoke as soon as inspiration struck him. It is impossible to say how much he even understood the essence of the event that was about to take place, about which he sang; but his penetrating gaze went much further than earthly thrones and earthly victories and stopped at that Divine face, which was supposed to realize the majestic ideal of the king. Some of his songs may well be applied only to Christ, the Savior of the World. Others, however, have their original meaning, determined by the circumstances of his own life or the life of the people; but those which cannot be interpreted in relation to these circumstances have a strictly prophetic meaning. We know of one significant occasion when the Messianic idea was clearly revealed to him, and he realized that this great promise would be fulfilled in his generation and that his kingdom was a foreshadowing and type of the kingdom of the Messiah. It was precisely after he had expressed his desire to build a church to Jehovah in Jerusalem that Nathan rejoiced him with this magnificent promise 103 . The prophet informed him that the leader of the house of Judah would reign forever and would be installed in an everlasting kingdom, that his seed would build an eternal church to the Lord, and that God would treat them as his sons, punishing and merciful. Taking this promise to heart, and reflecting on it with reverence and hope, David, in his last solemn song, turning his eyes to the great future King, as to his greatest delight, foresaw the dawn of the kingdom of the righteous King, and expressed his confidence in the immutability of the covenant and his faith that salvation would spread everywhere, the promise of kingship would not be limited to the earthly conqueror, but would belong to the royal race until such time as until it all culminates in the triumph of Christ. Nathan's prediction is then further revealed in Psalm 109, to which reference is made more than once in the New Testament, both by Christ and the apostles; it predicts such a King and Lord who will sit at the right hand of God and make his enemies his footstool, about a King who will be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, in which royalty and priesthood are combined with each other to such an extent as has never happened in the history of the Israeli people, as David could not imagine apart from supernatural revelation; because such a prediction implies a belief in the superiority of the Messiah and the abolition of the Mosaic system, which no inspired Jew could have imagined. If the second psalm initially speaks of complete victory over the enemies who acted together against the earthly king, however, the psalmist turns his gaze from these earthly affairs and from these insignificant earthly enemies to the highest hope of Israel - sitting at the right hand of God as His Son and enjoying all the advantages of this glorious position. Here also we encounter the names by which Christ is usually known, namely the names of “God’s Anointed,” “Christ of the Lord,” and “Son of God.” Here the psalmist undoubtedly appears in the position of a prophet, clearly predicting the future. In Psalm 17 David speaks of his many dangers and his deliverance from them, the final establishment of his throne and the expansion of his power; but these indications do not exhaust the entire subject. Although they are fully applicable to himself, they are even more applicable to Christ, and could be fully realized only in Him, and the psalmist, in his inspiration, gave such a form to his sayings that his words could have a further, higher application, and the apostle, without the slightest stretch, could find in them an indication of the work of Christ among the pagans (Rom. 15:9). When David composed Psalm 23 to commemorate the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem, did not the royal poet also have a vision of the Messiah ascending triumphantly into heaven after his glorious resurrection? When he composed Psalm 8, in which he recalled his shepherd life and the pastures of Bethlehem, did he not have in mind that ideal man who, from his humiliation, was exalted to sit at the right hand of God? When in Psalm 15 he looks to God as his inheritance and his refuge in this and the next world, his sayings are explained by the apostles (Acts 2:27; 13:35), as applied to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in which man first attained the blessed hope of eternal life. Being a prophet, David was also a prototype of Christ. This side of his character is most familiar to us, since it has been recognized in the Christian church from the earliest times. It is confirmed by the sayings of Christ himself and His apostles, and it precisely explains many of his actions and sayings, representing the best and surest key to their inner meaning. If Psalm 21 was written by David to express the deep sorrow of his soul, as a result of some severe suffering, and to express his gratitude for deliverance, then in their full sense all these feelings could find fulfillment only in the suffering and death of Christ and in the assurance of the joy that was to follow the world as a result of this suffering. The very details of the psalm were fully reproduced in the sufferings of the Messiah, who Himself applied these words to Himself and saw His own prototype in the sufferer depicted there. In all the circumstances of his life, David clearly acted as a type of his Divine son. His birth in Bethlehem, his secret anointing there, his victory over the gigantic enemy who reviled the army of the living God, his sweet music that drove away the power of the evil spirit from the unfortunate king, the persecution to which he was subjected, the suffering and forgiveness he expressed, his zeal for the house of God, his wars and victories over pagan nations, his rejection by his own people, the betrayal of his tested companions, his final victory over all opposition - all these and similar details are of a prophetic and educational nature and testify to the love, suffering and triumph of the Savior of the world. The reverence with which the Jews treated David, both in his time and in subsequent times, can be judged from the fact that he was given the most prominent place among the most glorious men of the people. “Like the fat separated from the peace offering,” says e.g. son of Sirach, “so is David from the children of Israel. He played with lions as with kids, and with bears as with lambs. In his youth, didn’t he kill a giant, didn’t he remove the reproach from the people when he raised his hand with a sling stone and overthrew the pride of Goliath? For he called upon the Lord Most High, and He gave strength to his right hand to smite the man mighty in war, and to exalt the horn of his people. Thus the people glorified him with darkness and praised him in blessing from the Lord, as worthy of the crown of glory. For he destroyed the surrounding enemies and humbled the hostile Philistines - even to this day he has crushed their horn. After each of his deeds, he brought thanks to the Holy Most High with a word of praise; with all his heart he sang and loved his Creator and placed singers of hymns before the altar to delight the hymns with their voices. He gave splendor to the holidays and precisely determined the times so that they would praise His holy name and announce the sanctuary from early morning. And the Lord forgave him his sins, and lifted up his horn forever, and gave him a royal covenant, and a throne of glory in Israel” (Sir. 47:2-13). David was the ideal king of Israel, the model by which all subsequent kings were judged. The very name of David became a historical name and was immortalized in such names as “city of David”, “throne of David”, “seed of David”; it was considered so high that no one dared to wear it later, as a result of which we no longer meet it in the biblical history of subsequent times. The highest praise for David is that in him God Himself “found Himself a man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), and that the height of his religious and moral life was measured by the life of the best of his successors, the praise for whom was the expression: “he walked in the first ways of David his father.” Despite all the weaknesses inseparable from human nature, David forever remained the greatest example of a morally good person, inspired by sublime feelings, who strives for good with all his might and courageously fights the temptations that overcome him. In this struggle he may fall, and fall deeply, but he will never leave this struggle, and after every fall, with tears and contrition, he again begins this endless, fierce struggle, and in the end he will triumph in it over all the dark forces of evil. That is why the Psalter, as a divinely inspired poetic chronicle of the trials of the spiritual life of the great psalmist, amazes with its amazing life truth, and in it everyone finds a divinely inspired expression of the very feelings that every person can experience under various circumstances and vicissitudes of life. The memory of his great qualities was never erased subsequently. Time, which casts a veil of oblivion over everything, even the great and glorious, only increasingly elevated his glory and strengthened the love with which subsequent generations looked at him. In all subsequent centuries, in the writings of historians and prophets, in canonical and non-canonical books, his figure constantly appears in all its greatness and splendor, until He appeared in the flesh, for whom he was the prototype and forerunner, whose character and life he so wonderfully foreshadowed, namely Christ, the great son of David, who appeared to finish the work of his great ancestor and redeem humanity. It was then that the whole mystery and the whole meaning of his life was completely revealed, then the promise of the past was fulfilled, when the One about whom David was foretold came: “And the Lord God will give him the throne of His servant David, and he will reign over the house of Judah forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” No matter how great David was in his deeds, the significance of which was felt throughout the subsequent centuries of the historical life of the chosen people, his greatness was even more manifested in his spiritual power, the influence of which irresistibly affected not only the chosen people, but also all of humanity. He was not only the founder of the monarchy, but also the founder of the Psalter. David was Israel's first great poet. Although there had been occasional outbursts of Hebrew poetry before him, David was the first to give it a definite place in Israeli worship. There was no place for it in the Mosaic ritual worship, and its very absence can serve as one of the strongest proofs of the antiquity of this ritual in all its essential features. For such a great innovation, an innovator no less brilliant than David was was required. The whole fullness of that amazingly diverse ancient Eastern World, with its cymbals, trumpets and harps, with its enthusiastic dances and body movements, with its songs in questions and answers, in stanzas and antistrophes, which have the ability to arouse the spirit out of despondency, or pacify it during storms, to an extent that is not understandable for our more indifferent and calm North and West - this whole world of sounds was native to the royal shepherd when he ascended the royal throne, and was introduced into the system of church worship as a special, great asset. Next to the precious animal sacrifices, praise to God took place through the singing of sweet-sounding verses and music, which became, as it were, a “sacrifice of the mouth” (Hos. 14:3). His harp, or, as the Greek translators call it, his Psalm 104, was to him what the miraculous rod was to Moses, the victorious spear to Joshua, or the sword to Gideon. He became close to her from his very youth. She was his inseparable companion during that adventure-filled wandering when he had to escape the persecution of Saul 105. Singers and singers were permanent and recognized inhabitants of his palace (2 Sam. 19:35). He himself was the inventor of musical instruments, and with all his heart he sang and loved his Creator (Sir. 47:10). Along with these poetic gifts, he possessed, as stated above, such a prophetic gift, which rightly places him in the category of prophets, although he was not formally called to prophetic service. Although, in case of need for prophetic instructions, he turned to others, however, his own sayings are clearly prophetic in nature 106. The prophets themselves recognize his amazing spiritual insight. Even among the most gifted persons of his people, he was considered, as it were, an angel of God, precisely by his ability to patiently listen to the claims of both good and evil, by his extensive knowledge of the world and people, by the directness of his judgments, which, once expressed, could no longer be diverted either to the right or to the left 107 . As a result of such talents, he became already in his life, and even more so in his writings, a prophet, a herald of a new world of religious truth, which represents a new stage in the development of the religious World Outlook, in comparison with Moses himself. Thus introduced into use, the Psalter opened a new door for the development of sacred literature. Hymns were composed after hymns, which, depending on the demands of the time, were changed and remade. Next to the hymns, and as if under the cover of this inspired productivity, other books appeared that cannot be strictly attributed either to the law or to the prophets, and which most likely fit the general name of psalms, although they are books so different from each other and from the Psalter, such as the books of Ruth and Ecclesiastes, Chronicles and some parts of the prophet Daniel. But even apart from these additional works, the book of Psalms is, as it were, a small Bible in itself 108. The Psalter is the Bible in the Bible itself, since it contains most of those features, both internal and external, that distinguish the Holy Book in general. It, like the Pentateuch, also contains five separate books, and its different parts belong to different periods and belong to different authors. Here, as in other cases, the popular belief that the Psalter of David was entirely composed by David himself had to give way to more careful research, which had long since revealed considerable diversity in the psalms, both in time of origin and in authorship itself. While willingly recognizing, on the one hand, the unity of the source and inspiration that served as the motive for the work of the book itself, we nevertheless recognize, on the other hand, that under the general name of the Psalter, which bears the name of the one God-inspired poet and sweet singer of Israel, the inspired works of other glorious singers have reached us, whose names, so to speak, faded before the blinding brilliance of the great king. The obvious adaptation of many psalms to various events experienced by the people, revealing the freedom with which subsequent publishers treated these sacred poems, further elevates their interest, due to this very close connection with the history of the people. The poetry they contain is not epic, but sacredly lyrical. Epic poetry was alien to the Semites and is a feature of the Indo-Germanic race. But this deficiency is largely compensated by the amazing flexibility with which the growth and development of Jewish lyricism is connected and intertwined with the main current of Israeli history even more and more closely than epic poetry would be capable of. Having thus been composed of a free combination of individual songs, the Psalter became the most precious of the sacred books of the world. Not only does it occupy a place in the liturgical worship of the Jewish church, not only is it used more than any other book of the Old Testament by the New Testament writers, but in a special sense it constitutes the best heritage of the Christian church in all its various branches. “No matter from whatever point of view a certain church looks at the essence of Christian teaching, by whatever name it calls itself, and no matter how sharply it contrasts itself with others in church government or observance of rituals, always and everywhere, as if by unanimous and universal consent, every church accepts the Psalter as that external form through which it expresses the inner feelings of Christian life” 109. The same thing happened in the earliest times. The Easter psalms were precisely the “song” that was sung by the divine Savior of the World with His disciples at the most critical moment of their lives, after the Last Supper 110. In the first centuries of Christianity, psalms at love suppers constituted the usual morning and evening hymns of the leading Christians (Ps. 112 and 140). “About other books of St. Scriptures,” says Bl. Theodoret in the 5th century, “most people know almost nothing. But every now and then you will find psalms repeated and sung in private houses, in markets, on the streets, by those who have memorized them and who delight themselves with their divine melody.” “When other parts of St. Scriptures," says St. Ambrose, “in the church there is such noise from conversations that you can’t even hear what is being read. But when the Psalter is read, everyone falls silent.” The psalms were sung by the plowmen of Palestine during the time of the bl. Jerome, the boatmen of Gaul in the time of Sidonius Apollinaris. In most of the barbarian churches, such as in Abyssinia, the Psalter is treated almost like the Divine itself: it is the only book that the children of the laity are allowed to read, and the whole thing is sung, from beginning to end, at every burial. In most Protestant churches, psalmody has almost merged with the ordinary character of family life. In the Roman and Anglican churches the psalms are read daily, and in such significant parts that they immediately show how much the love for this book far exceeds the love for other books of St. Scriptures. Finally, in the Russian Orthodox Church the Psalter is not only the most used book during worship, in which all the most important parts consist precisely of the reading of psalms, such as for example. during the liturgy there are hours and six psalms during the all-night vigil, but she is more than any other of the saints. books are the reference book of every simple Christian, and entire generations acquire the first art of reading precisely from the Psalms of David. If we move from churches to individuals, then there will not be another book that would play a large role in the personal history of so many famous figures of mankind. In the Psalms of David Bl. Augustine found consolation at his conversion and on his deathbed. From the psalms such great religious figures as St. John Chrysostom, St. Afanasy, Savanarolla. With the words of the psalm, the saints breathed their last. Polycarp, Columba, Bernard, Huss, Jerome of Prague, Columbus, Melanchthon and many others. For Welles in his wanderings, the Psalter was such a dear book that during his execution he ordered it to be raised in front of him and, fixing his eyes on it, found consolation in this in the last hour of his life. With the 67th psalm, Cromwell aroused the spirit of his soldiers, and thereby contributed to the victory of Dunbar. Locke in the last days of his life asked his friends to read psalms aloud to him, and the last blow of death fell on him precisely during his enthusiastic attention to the sweet words of the psalmist of Israel. Lord Burleigh found his greatest consolation in the psalms. They were the battle password for Luther, and they were the last words that fell on the ears of his royal enemy, Charles V. What explains such universal love for the psalms and their amazing influence on the human heart? First of all, in this regard, a lot depends on their very external poetic form. Some people always have some kind of dislike for poetry, as if incompatible with the importance and seriousness of religious feeling. Some even think that to speak of a biblical book as poetic is to subject it to some kind of humiliation. In many communities and churches there was and partly still is the belief that the more scholastic, dry and prosaic the forms in which religious teaching is expressed, the more accurately its essence is depicted. Of all human definitions, the furthest from poetry are the definitions and creeds in which the faith of the Christian world lies, as in the Ark of the Covenant. For such views, the fiery greatness of David, the generally recognized superiority of the Psalter, serves as a constant reproach. David was not only a king, a warrior and a prophet, but at the same time he was also the sweet singer of Israel. If Raphael had painted a picture from Jewish poetry, as he painted it from European poetry, then he would have depicted David sitting somewhere on top of the Israeli Parnassus as the Homer of Jewish poetry. His passionate, impetuous, impetuous character was precisely the character that at all times accompanied the greatest talents of musical or poetic genius. “A quick blow, as if from the successive beating of wings:”, “the rise and fall of a seemingly agitated heart” - such beautiful images generally characterize the essence of that parallel construction of Hebrew verses, which exactly correspond to the endless play of human feeling and are accessible to the understanding of all ages and peoples. The Psalms are undoubtedly poetic from first to last, and it would be an extremely brave person who would say that a well-known book is less inspired, or less true, or less Orthodox, or less divine precisely because it is similar to the Psalms. A prophet, in order to find access to the sanctuary of the everyday life of the people, must certainly become a singer. The Psalter owes its meaning and influence, secondly, to the extraordinary variety of thoughts and feelings contained in it. In the psalms we see a complete reflection of the extraordinary diversity and amazing complexity of character and history that was noticed in the life of David himself. “His harp, as one researcher beautifully put it, had many strings, and each angel of joy and sorrow poured his own feelings into its strings. The hearts of hundreds of people strived and struggled within the narrow confines of his single heart, and would there be such coldly contemptuous people who would not feel sympathy for a person in such a position, but would treat him with contempt because he did not control with constant calm the uncontrollable multitude of varied natures that lived in his single soul? We do not undertake to defend the shortcomings and offenses which David himself condemned more sharply, saw more clearly, and lamented more bitterly than any of his detractors, because they were in some way even necessary for him to be a truly comprehensive man who needed to express every possible form of spiritual feeling. The Lord did not want His church to be left without guidance for the expression of its joy and its glory, its mourning and its grief, and in order to give such guidance, He raised up His servant David, as He had previously raised up Moses in order to give the church the institutions of the law, and for this purpose He led him through all the conditions of human life, so that he would know the spirit in its most varied personal manifestations and could express it in accordance with the truth of life. He did not allow him to limit his existence to the direct and dry fulfillment of his duties, but, through all kinds of trials, transformed his entire being and filled his soul with wisdom and all kinds of feelings. He made him the subject of all kinds of affections, so that the love in him would not sleep or die. He brought him up in the pastures with a flock of sheep, so that the main development of his character would be based on the simplest and most common forms of feeling. He took him to the battlefield and made him a winner in order to fill him with nobility of spirit and consciousness of glory. He brought him into the palace to fill him with a sense of greatness and royal dignity. He led him into the desert and forced him to dwell in solitary caves, so that his soul could comprehend the sublime concepts of God and His omnipotent works, and then for many years He kept him, so to speak, only one step from death, in order to accustom him to place all his trust in the Providence of God. David, striking with his experienced fingers on the strings dear to his heart, extracted from them thousands of varied tones, and they more and more found echoes in the hearts of hundreds of other authors, whose voices were excited under his inspiring influence. Solomon, Hezekiah, Asaph, Heman and Ethan with all their followers, the sad singers on the rivers of Babylon, the later of the prophets, the unknown singers who encouraged the spirit of the army of the Maccabees - all of them and each of them, led by King David, in various tones and forms expressed feelings of gratitude, sorrow, despair, hope, anger, love, mercy, vengeance, doubt and faith - each of them, expressing in their songs their various trials - wandering, flight, captivity, exile, deprivation, persecution, the feeling experienced sometimes in the calm contemplation of nature, sometimes in the terrible excitement on the battlefield, in the splendor of majestic coronations, in the solemnity of glorious funerals - in all these events and circumstances they found inexhaustible material for that wealth of amazingly sweet poetry that the Psalter represents for humanity. When the ancient Christian martyrs and all who in subsequent times suffered disasters, persecutions and all kinds of injustices found special consolation in the psalms, it was because they literally found themselves in the same situation with the psalmist of Israel when he was hiding in the cave of Adollam, or was in the gorges of Engedi, or beyond the Jordan, fleeing from Saul or from Absalom, from the Philistines or Syrians. When Burley or Locke found a sympathetic echo of their own calm philosophy in the psalms of David, it was because they listened to those sweet tones that issued from the mouth or enchanted the ear of the wise king and the thoughtful statesman of Israel. More than once attention has been drawn to the fact that the older people get, the more interest the psalms become for them, and according to this, it can almost certainly be said that the older the human race becomes, the more interest the psalms of David will have for all mankind. The greatest critics, those most capable of understanding the depth of the human heart and its many-sided needs, understand most clearly the meaning of the Psalter for individuals and for the whole of humanity. “Is there anything that a man needs to know that he cannot learn from the Psalms?” asks for example Hooker. “For beginners they provide an easy and understandable introduction, for mature ones they serve as a great source of all virtue and knowledge; for the most perfect - strong reinforcement. Heroic magnanimity, strict justice, earnest moderation, accurate wisdom, unfeigned repentance, steadfast patience, the mysteries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, the consolation of grace, the works of Providence in the present world, and the promised joys in the world to come, are all good to know, to do, or to have, and all are contained in this one heavenly source. There is no such accidental sorrow or illness, there is no such wound or blow that befalls the soul of a person, for which in this inexhaustible treasury there would not be proper healing, which can constantly be found in it at all times” 112. Another writer speaks no less eloquently. “Only he who knows the number of waves of the ocean and the abundance of tears of the human eye, only he who sees the sighs of the human heart before they are expressed outwardly, and who hears them when they are still suppressed by silence - only he can say how many sacred feelings, how many blessed emotions have been and always will be produced in the souls of people by the vibration of these wonderful strings, these divinely inspired hymns, read, discussed and sung at every hour of the day and night, at every the twisting of the earth's vale of tears. The Psalter of David is like a mysterious harp hanging on the walls of true Zion. Under the breath of the Spirit of God, it produces an infinite variety of pious feelings, which, echoing echo after echo, from one soul to another, awaken in each of them a special note, and all merge into one endlessly long voice of gratitude and repentance, doxology and prayer. If this is the general impression made by the Psalter on the human soul, then individual psalms have an even deeper meaning for the human heart, making David truly like a second Moses. The feelings they contain are extremely varied. Some psalms, of course, are not alien to the reflection on them of the general level of religious, moral and human development that distinguished the age of David, and therefore they sometimes clearly reflect the darker feelings of that age, for example. vindictiveness towards enemies and despair. But these feelings are only, as it were, a fleeting cloud on the clear horizon of basic views, and in this last respect the psalms represent something that has no equal in all of St. Scripture. The first thing to point out in this regard is the depth of personal expression and experience. There are undoubtedly cases where the psalmist speaks as a spokesman for the people. But for the most part he stands alone in his personal relationship with God. Every word of his is imbued with the extraordinary power of some grief or some joy, known from history or not. If the teaching of the ap. Paul receives half of his expressiveness and strength as a result of his connection with his personal trials and worries in life, then David’s sayings are striking with their extraordinary vitality and ardor, because they constitute, as it were, sparks from the glow of human life experience, characteristic of every person. Patriarchs usually speak as fathers of a chosen family, prophets speak as its representatives and leaders. But the psalmist speaks as an exponent of the personal soul, the free, independent, lonely conscience of a person, wherever he is and in whatever position he is. The second outstanding feature of the psalms is what can be called in one word - their complete naturalness. Perhaps most strongly it manifests itself in their enthusiastic freedom and joy of heart. It is true, as Bacon says, “when you listen to the harp of David, you will hear as many pleasant arias as you hear songs; and yet there are many more songs in the Psalter than anywhere else.” “Rejoice in the Lord,” “sing to Him joyfully,” “you righteous ones rejoice in the Lord, it is fitting for the upright to praise,” “sing to Him harmoniously, with an exclamation,” “glorify the Lord on the harp, sing to Him on the ten-stringed psalter,” the entire Psalter is filled with these and similar calls to the joyful praise of God. This is, in fact, the very meaning of the word “psalm.” One of the most significant and expressive Hebrew words that constantly appears in the psalms is the word “hallelujah.” They express, so to speak, the sacred duty to be happy. Bliss, joy and thanksgiving find their highest expression in the psalms. The psalmist rejoices, shouts, laughs, calls out and rejoices with joy. Sometimes one can hear in them a kind of completely frenzied joy. The psalms rejoice both in the captivating triumph of battle and in the calm contemplation of nature. Everywhere they contemplate the goodness of God and are not embarrassed to confess it. The bright side of God's creation comes to the fore everywhere; the dark sensual sides, at least of the external world, can hardly be noticed anywhere in them. For the psalmist, the fury of a thunderstorm and the roar of the sea are filled with majesty and joy. Love for birds, animals, plants, the sun, moon and stars runs like a fiery line through all the psalms, and the psalmist looks at all animate and inanimate nature as if it were his own. There were also people for whom, due to this very reason, in moments of weakness and oppression, the psalms turned out to be too inappropriate in their enthusiasm; nevertheless, this tone of sacred joy was most significant in the universal mission of the chosen people. And this is all the more so since it arose from another feeling in the psalms, which also strangely struck the minds of pious, but narrow schools, precisely that free and giftedly innocent heart, which for the newest dry religiosity often echoed with self-righteousness and lack of proper humility. The captivating radiant hope of the psalmist, his bold claim to the reward that belongs to him for his righteous deeds, his confidence in his own innocence, no less than the mental agony due to his own crimes, his ardent delight in the law, not as a cruel enemy, but as the best of leaders, sweetest of honey and honeycomb - all these feelings turned out to be too natural and direct for some stern Calvin, or even Pascal. Nevertheless, they contain their own truth - the truth in relation to nature, the truth in relation to God, which every unprejudiced human heart will always recognize. The boundless blessing to every righteous and honest man - this noblest creation of God - with which the Psalter opens, in the psalm: “Blessed is the man” is only an excellent prelude to that boundless nobility and to that abundance of joy to which it calls every breath without limitation or exception - to praise the Lord. Such enthusiastic speeches, perhaps, owe their greatest impetus partly to the new era of national prosperity and personal energy, which manifested themselves with particular force during the reign of David; but they carried the soul of the Israeli people forward, directing them to the great destiny that awaited them, and from that time, although perhaps not with such speed, they continued to carry the spirit of all mankind in its forward movement. The fiery river of sacred poetry has not stopped flowing since that time, despite the fact that the crucible itself had already cooled. Just as it has been well noted of the classical writers of Greece that they have a charm completely independent of their genius, which lies in the radiance of their brilliant and eternally youthful beauty, so it can be said of the psalms that they have a similar charm, regardless of even the depth of their religious feeling or the sublimity of their theology. In their free and noble beauty, eternally youthful and eternally glorious, David seems to rise again to life with renewed strength. “Both those who sing and those who play, all my sources are in you,” that is, in David and in his Psalter. All these different features of the psalms lead us, partly by contrast, partly by close, although hidden connection, to their main feature, which nowhere else in the Bible appears with the same force, except perhaps in the book of the life and words of Christ himself. “The reason why the psalms meet with such universal love in all classes and communities of the Christian church, although the form of doctrine and creed has undergone so many different changes to represent the ever-changing spirit of the age, is that they touch the simplest natural feeling of the regenerated soul.” They represent “the freshness of the soul of childhood, the love of the soul of adolescence, and therefore for a Christian they are the same as the love of parents, the sweet feelings of affection of a native home and the indelible memory of scenes of childhood for people in general” 114. “O God, You are my God, early I long for You,” “My soul longed for You until the morning watch,” these and similar sayings, expressing the deepest devotion to the love of God, permeate the most inspired of the psalms. In the depth and freshness of this spiritual life we ​​find the first clear traces of a higher and more universal law than the law of Moses, a better and deeper life than that which the Mosaic system revealed to man. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” this deepest truth, although presupposed in the Pentateuch, needed, in order to give it a tangible meaning for ordinary consciousness, such a divinely inspired harp as David’s harp. Defining the comprehensive nature of the psalms of David, one deep expert on spiritual life says the following in this regard: “he who begins to clearly understand the majestic beauty and eternity of God and feels how small and insignificant man himself is in comparison with it, how dependent and weak he is, begins to seek support for himself in God. And where should the weak look for help, if not in the Almighty, a temporary creation, if not in the Eternal, imperfect, if not in the center of perfection? And where else should God dwell if not in the human heart? - because if God dwells in the universe, among inanimate and unconscious objects, then how much more must He dwell in our souls, and our souls have an endless longing that only He can satisfy. Some restless instinct eternally agitates the soul, making it vaguely feel that it was created for some vague but unknown relationship with God. The feeling of emptiness grows to positive anxiety until an inner longing sets in, if not expressed in words, then in essence not alien in tone to the famous ancient psalm: “Like a deer desires streams of water, This is how my soul longs for You, O God! My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God: When I come and appear before the face of God! My tears were bread for me day and night, When they said to me every day, “Where is your God?” 115 The soul then understands and knows that God is its God, who dwelt with it in closer proximity than any creature can; and yet neither the stars, nor the sea, nor the smiling nature contain such a close co-presence of God as the depths of the soul. He becomes the soul of the soul. All nature is disassembled by the psalmist into metaphors for this single thought: “God is for my soul, and my soul is for God.” Father, brother, friend, king, ruler, shepherd, leader - all these are the most common names. God is their stronghold, their glory, their rock, their shield, their sun, their stars, their joy, their inheritance, their hope, their life. The psalmist describes his soul as the only and beloved child of God, as His favorite. And that is why his joy constantly turns into praise, everything seems so bright and brilliant, every difficulty seems easy, duty becomes pleasant, contempt becomes powerless, and every piece of bread becomes sweet. The whole world acquires for him, as it were, an extraordinary sweetness, before he touches it. Is this all a dream and a dream, O philosopher? Can you explain all this? Can you despise all this? Be that as it may, all this constitutes an undoubted fact of human nature and a certain age also, because David thirsted for God and rejoiced exceedingly in Him. Ap. did the same. Paul, and hundreds and thousands of people after them did and experienced the same thing. Blessed and happy is that Christian who, reading the divinely inspired psalms, finds and feels in them exactly what the greatest and most divinely inspired of people found and felt in them. Blessed is the person who finds in them an inexhaustible source of faith and trust in God, who understands that these sacred words are intended to excite the heart to fight the insidiousness of sin, with ambition and partiality, with a lack of faith in the truth, with despondency during sorrow, illness and death. Anyone who understands all the inner dignity of the Psalter can rightfully exclaim: With You, I don’t want anything on earth. My flesh and my heart faint; God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who remove themselves from You perish; You destroy everyone who departs from You. And it is good for me to draw closer to God! In my Lord I have placed my trust, To proclaim all Your works in the gates of the daughter Zion" 116. Every believer will find in the psalms an inexhaustible source of hope and consolation, and in all the disasters of life will find peace in these words: “Trust in the Lord and do good; Live on earth and keep the truth. And He will fulfill the desires of your heart. Commit your path to the Lord, And trust in Him, and He will do it. And he will bring out your truth like light, And your justice is like noon, For those blessed by Him will inherit the earth, And those cursed by Him will be destroyed. The righteous will inherit the earth And they will live on it forever. Salvation is from the Lord for the righteous, He is their protection in times of trouble. And the Lord will help them and deliver them; Deliver them from the wicked, and save them; For they trust in Him." 117 In addition to the indicated reasons for the special sacredness of the Psalter, reasons equally recognized by both Christians and Jews, and even, one might say, pagans, there are also reasons that are exclusively Christian in nature. When we consider David in himself and as the herald of a new revelation to man, another question involuntarily arises. The glory of David served as a guarantee of the continuous existence of his dynasty until the most distant centuries that the Jewish imagination could dream of. This established belief in the eternity of the house of David, of which the psalms serve as the earliest and most constant expression, finds its reflection in those dreams which in other countries have served as the source of the origin of tales of the return of the most beloved monarchs, as for example. Arthur of Britain, Sebastian of Portugal, Frederick Barbarossa of Germany. But the Jewish belief had a much deeper basis. When the decline in the line of David began to be noticed and threatened the hopes associated with it, then these hopes, instead of disappearing, as was the case with the just mentioned national dreams regarding beloved sovereigns, took on a new form in the Jewish church and manifested themselves with increased vitality. These hopes, over time, began to be based not on the dynasty destroyed and interrupted by the greatest national disaster and not on the actual personality of David himself, but on the coming of the One who was to be the son of David and restore the shaken throne, to erect again the original tabernacle erected by David at his first entry into Jerusalem. This expectation of the son of David, who was supposed to renew the faded splendor of his father’s house, merged with the general hope for the restoration of the power of the Jewish people, reached its highest degree of tension a thousand years after the death of David. And it was then that He came, to whom, although not at His own request, this name was given by others. He was constantly called the son of David (Matthew 9:27; Mark 10:47; Luke 18:38, etc.). True, He was completely different from that intemperate, passionate king, that carried away, enthusiastic and fiery psalmist, extremely unlike the one who uttered such ecstatic prayers in the psalms themselves - nevertheless, in the peculiar features of the psalmist that we talked about, there are so many similarities that when we read about his feelings, we apparently read (and the Christian Church from the earliest times read them precisely in this sense) feelings, sensations and trials of the life of Christ himself. This natural, unconstrained, at times jubilant and solemn spirit, with which the Psalter is permeated, has never been reproduced with such completeness by any other religious teacher, inside or outside the circle of sacred history, as by the One who came in the most ordinary conditions of life, ate and drank, was in the highest sense of the word the groom and friend of the groom, the friend of children, simple and loving to infinity. Compassion for the suffering people, noble sympathy for the toiling and burdened, generous sincerity - nowhere else in Jewish history are combined in such a remarkable way as in the person of the hero of Adullam and Engedi, and then in the One who loved publicans and sinners, mourned Jerusalem and forgave his enemies on the cross itself. That wide variety of thought and position with which the life of David was distinguished, in its sudden revolutions from obscurity to glory, and from glory to dark sinfulness - this rapid transition in all the feelings of humanity, which we can trace in the varied play of tones and sayings of the Psalter, forms in no less a degree the wonderfully varied background of the great drama of Gospel history. Along with this variety of external position was combined an internal feeling of the unconditional unity of the soul with God, which, as we have seen, constitutes the most outstanding feature of the religious view of the Psalter, but the most perfect expression of which we find only in the soul of Christ. And that is why, when in the psalms of David we are carried away by their fiery words, either into the deepest abyss of sorrow, or to the highest peak of glory, we constantly feel that in all these words we are one with Christ and He is one with us: not by artificial interpretation of words, or the dubious application of subtle predictions, but by the real similarity of spirit with spirit, we are allowed, so to speak, into the very depths of that communion in which Christ is one with your Father. The majestic language of the Psalter sometimes rises to meanings that can only be fully understood in its highest and most universal application. Perhaps it is also possible for those who wish to do so to fully immerse the historical circumstances of the book in its moral and religious instructions. But nevertheless, the fact remains that thanks to precisely the similarity in position and feeling, the connection of the words of the original author with Christ and with the Christian Church has always been maintained and forever perpetuated. The Psalter is especially a prophetic book about Christ, because more than any other book in the Old Testament, it penetrates into those truths of spiritual life of which He was the great herald. David and his psalmists were prototypes, that is, likenesses of Christ, because they, more than any other persons in sacred history, take part in the ordinary feelings and worries of life and death, in failures and success, through which He, they and we (though He in the highest and greatest of all senses) acquire the hope first revealed to humanity in these very psalms 118. The large tank is 130 feet square and up to 50 feet deep, and is solidly built of cut stones. Mephiboshei became lame due to an accident. He was five years old when news came of the death of Saul and Jonathan in Israel, and the nurse took him and ran with him, fleeing from the Philistines. During her hasty escape, he fell and injured his legs so much that he became lame for life. 2 Sam. 4:4. 2 Sam. 8:1. The Russian text reads: “David took Mepheg-Haamma from the hands of the Philistines.” Mefeg-Gaamma means “bridle of the hand,” that is, supremacy. However, other researchers prove that the name of the Helethians has nothing to do with Crete, but comes from Keragia, a place located 20 versts north-northeast of Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis), where some Philistines from Egypt settled in ancient times, an indication of which is in Gen. 10:13, 14 . See Memoires of the British Palestine Society, III, 260. See 2 Sam. 8:16ff; 20:23 et seq.; 1 Par. 18:15 et seq.; 27:32 et seq. See 1 Chron. 11:2: Am. 1:13. Oliphant, Land of Gilead, p. 259, f 2 Par. 10:16, 17: Par. 18:3. Deut. 17:16; Nav. 11:6, 9. Ps. 17:30–40, 44–46; 49–51 It is remarkable that a similar incompatibility of bloodshed with serving God was recognized by other ancient peoples in classical times. Thus, it was a crime for Diomedes and Ulysses that they touched the sacred palladium with bloody hands, and Aeneas forced his father, Anchises, to carry sacred things during the flight from Troy, because he himself, having just returned from battle, considered it impious for himself to touch them (Virg. Aen. 167, 717, etc.). Acts 2:30 ; Wed 2 Sam. 7:12 ; Ps. 131 Oliphant, Land of Gilead, p. 260. Ps. 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 14, 17–19. 2 Sam. 13:2; "for she was a maiden." It is impossible to determine with certainty exactly what time the famine that befell the country dates back to. Of this event we know only the following: it took place after the rise of Mephibosheth and while the crime of Saul was still fresh in the people's memory; the persons doomed to death in retribution for this crime were all unmarried, and at least without families; Shimei later also made an indication of this destruction of Saul’s descendants (2 Sam. 16:7, 8). From these circumstances we can conclude that this event happened before Absalom’s indignation and in the first half of David’s reign in Jerusalem. The story about him is placed in 2 Samuel. 21 not in its chronological order, but as an addition to the story of the final destruction of the house of Saul. See Josephus, Antiq. VII, 12.1. In 2 Samuel 21:8, instead of Michal you need to read “Merov”. See 1 Sam. 18:19 and 2 Sam. 6:23. It was the custom of the Jews to crucify or impale criminals not alive, but first subjecting them to death, after which a public exhibition of their bodies was made on a cross or stake (Num. 25:4). The methods of death were stoning, strangulation, beheading and burning. To say (as, for example, Renan does) that David was condescending to the demands of the Gibeonites in order to get rid of the descendants of Saul means to attribute to him a baseness of which not a trace was ever found in him. Such an assumption can only be expressed by that malicious criticism that cannot sympathize with anything high and noble and is ready with malicious joy to denigrate the character of God’s heroes and attribute to them the basest motives. In 2 Samuel 15:7 says: “After forty years.” But this is a visible typo, since this number does not fit either the age of Absalom or the reign of David. In the Syriac and Arabic translations it is four, which number is confirmed by the translation of Italus and Josephus (Antiq. VII, 9, 1). The Russian text retains the form of the Hebrew text (“after forty years”, with the addition: “the reign of David”). See some expressions in Ps. 37, 38, 40. See Deut. 21:21 ; Nav. 7:26; 8 Reading in 2 Samuel 18:21 and other verses are understood differently. Some understand the word Kushi in the sense of the proper name Husi (as in the Russian translation), but it is more likely to be translated in the sense of Kushite or Ethiopian, since this word almost always appears with a member. Ref. 30:12ff; see Number 1:24; Josephus, Antiq. VII, 13, 1. In the Hebrew text 2 Sam. 24:13 is "seven years old," but in 1 Chron. I. Flavius ​​says that this was the advice of the doctors surrounding David. This method of communicating heat was recommended by the famous Greek physician Galen, and it was used for a long time until the end of the Middle Ages. Reinhardt mentions that a similar remedy was recommended to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. This fact shows that Abishag, by her appointment, was nothing more than a nurse for the elderly king; otherwise, the strictest laws of Eastern etiquette would have made a visit to Bathsheba impossible. This fear was not exaggerated. Antiquity is well acquainted with such examples. Cleopatra and her son Karan were put to death by Alexander, Roxana and her son Alexander by Cassander. The killing of all the “seed of the king” was common in eastern despotic countries (2 Kings 11:1). According to our modern concepts, it would seem much better if the dying king limited his instructions to subjects of moral duty and public service; but, studying the life of David, we are constantly forced to recognize a different standard of morality for different centuries and countries, and also to bear in mind the imperfection of views in this regard that prevailed in those times of comparative behavior. David suffered so terribly at the hands of Joab and Shimei in the terrible days that followed the rebellion of Absalom that it seemed to him a complete violation of justice to allow them to live. Brought up in concepts that considered vengeance for blood a sacred duty, David was troubled in his conscience at the thought that he himself would not be able to fulfill this duty. He recalled the two murders committed by Joab over Abner and Amasa, when it was he who “shed the blood of war during the peace, staining the belt on his waist and the sandals on his feet with the blood of war.” And the elderly David inspired Solomon “not to let his gray hair go peacefully to the underworld.” He made the same suggestion regarding Shimei, the only dangerous representative and supporter of the house of Saul. On the other hand, he insisted on showing special attention and kindness to Kimham and the other sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, who had proven their loyalty to him at the most dangerous moment of his life. Antiq. VII, 15, 3; XIII, 8, 4; XVI, 7, 1; Rel. Jud. I, 2, 5. It will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. The word “Psalter”, as the name of the book, comes from the Alexandrian Manuscript, translation 70, ψαλτηριον μετ φδαις, - that is, “harp with songs.” 2 Sam. 23:2. There is a legend that says that the harp always hung over his bed and made sounds at midnight when the north wind swept over it. Acts 2:30. Muslim traditions especially make him a “prophet of God,” just as Abraham was a “friend” and Mohammed “a messenger of God.” See the wonderful description of David's wisdom in 2 Sam. 14:17, 19 and 20; Wed also 2 Sam. 19:27. Psalms in the Koran; are recognized as the fourth holy book, the first three being the Pentateuch, the Gospel and the Koran. Irving, Introd., to the Psalms, pp. 5, 6. Matt. 26:30. These psalms (112–117) were called the “great alleluia.” Hooker. Eccles. Polity, V, XXXVII. 2. Dogme de la penitence, 243, Gerbet, late Archbishop of Perpignan. Ps. 36:3–6, 22, 23, 29, 39, 40. Stanley, Lectures, lect. xxv ​​(in volume 2, pp. 120 et seq., new edition 1887). 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