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The pestilence destroys

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A. M. 2996. thee; or else three days the sword of || on thy people, that they should be A. M. 2986. the LORD, even the pestilence, in the plagued. land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

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15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thy hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the thrashing-floor of 5Ornan the Jebusite.

16¶ And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their

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the Lord-The pestilence is more properly called
the hand, or sword of the Lord, than other common
calamities. For they have visible causes, but none
know whence this sudden destruction comes, unless
immediately from the hand or stroke of God.
Verse 14. There fell of Israel-He was proud of
the number of his people, but God took a course to
make them fewer. Justly is that which we are proud
of taken from us, or imbittered to us.

Verses 15, 16. God sent an angel unto Jerusalem
to destroy it, &c.—This seems to import that there
were more angels than one employed to effect this
destruction in different parts of the country: and
that the angels, sent to Jerusalem, had begun to slay
some of its inhabitants. The Lord beheld, and re-
pented him of the evil-Probably because he beheld
their serious repentance. David and the elders
clothed in sackcloth―That is, in mourning garments;||

18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the thrashing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.

206 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was thrashing wheat.

21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked, and saw David, and went out of the thrashing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

22 Then David said to Ornan, "Grant me the place of this thrashing-floor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price that the plague may be stayed from the people.

23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt-offerings, and the thrashing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat-offering; I give it all.

24 And King David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt-offerings without cost. 25 Som David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

6 Or, When Ornan turned back and saw the angel, then he and his four sons with him hid themselves.-7 Hebrew, Give. m 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.

fell on their faces-Humbling themselves before God for their sins, and deprecating his wrath against the people.

Verse 18. The angel commanded that David should go and set up an altar--This command was a blessed token of reconciliation. For if God had been pleased to kill him, he would not have commanded, because he would not have accepted, a sacrifice at his hands.

Verse 20. His four sons with him hid themselves -Because of the glory and majesty in which the angel appeared, which men's weak natures are not able to bear; and from the fear of God's vengeance, which now seemed to be coming to their family.

Verse 25. David gave six hundred shekels of gold, &c.-How this is reconciled with 2 Sam. xxiv. 24, where it is said, David bought the thrashingfloor, &c., for fifty shekels of silver, see note there.

David prepares for

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building the temple. A. M. 2986. 26 And David built there an altar | LORD had answered him in the A. M. 2986, unto the LORD, and offered burnt- thrashing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon then he sacrificed there. the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burntoffering.

27 And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

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29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt-offering, were at that season in the high place at P Gibeon.

30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword

28 At that time when David saw that the of the angel of the LORD.

"Lev. 1x. 24; 2 Chron. iii. 1; vii. 1.- Chap. xvi. 39.

Verse 26. He answered him from heaven by fire -Hebrew, by fire from heaven; which was a sign of God's acceptance. The fire that might justly have fastened on the sinner, fastened upon the sacrifice and consumed it. Thus Christ was made sin and a curse for us, and it pleased the Lord to bruise him, that through him God might be to us, not a consuming fire, but a reconciled Father.

P1 Kings iii. 4; Chap. xvi. 39; 2 Chron. i. 3.

Verse 30. David could not go before it-Did not dare to go before the tabernacle, where the altar stood. To inquire of God-Hebrew, w, lidrosh, to seek God, or humbly to entreat his favour by prayer and sacrifice. For he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord-That is, when he saw the angel stand with his drawn sword over Jerusalem, he durst not go away to Gibeon, Verse 28. Then he sacrificed there-When he lest the angel in the mean time should destroy perceived that his sacrifice offered there was ac- Jerusalem: for the prevention whereof he thought ceptable to God, he proceeded to offer more sacri- it proper to worship God in that place, which he fices in that place, and did not go to Gibeon, as oth-had consecrated by his special presence and acerwise he should have done.

ceptance.

CHAPTER XXII.

David prepares for building the temple, 1-5. Instructs Solomon concerning the work, 6–16. Commands the princes to

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assist him therein, 17-19.

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This is the || joinings; and brass in abundance A. M. 2986. house of the LORD God, and this without weight; is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel. 2 And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the

4 Also cedar-trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedarwood to David.

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5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I

a Deut. xii. 5; 2 Samuel xxiv. 18; Chapter xxi. 18, 19, 26, 28, b1 Kings ix. 21.- Verse 14; 1 Kings vii. 47.-d 1 Kings

2 Chron. iii. 1.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXII.

Verse 1. Then David said-Through the instinct and direction of God's Spirit, by which as he is said to have had the pattern of the house, porch, altar, &c., (1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12–19,) so doubtless he was instructed as to the place where the house should be built. This is the house, &c.—This is the place appointed by God for the building of his temple and altar.

Verses 2, 3. To gather the strangers that were in the land of Israel-The same persons whom Solomon afterward employed in the same work; of

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Chap. xxix. 1. which see 1 Kings v. 15, and ix. 20, 21. He set masons to hew wrought stones-Wherein he could not do much, being prevented by death; but Solomon carried on and perfected what David had begun. For the joinings-To be used, together with melted lead, for the joining of those great and square stones together.

Verse 5. So David prepared abundantly—And with good reason, because it was intended for the honour of the great God, and was to be a type of Christ, in whom all fulness dwells, and in whom are hid all treasures.

He instructs Solomon

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A. M. 2986 will therefore now make preparation || Israel, that thou mayest keep the law A. M. 2986. for it. So David prepared abundantly of the LORD thy God. before his death.

6¶ Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel.

7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God.

8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be 1Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

10 'He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

11 Now, my son," the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.

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12 Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning

12 Samuel vii. 2; 1 Kings viii. 17; Chap. xvii. 1; xxviii. 2. Deut. xii. 5,11.1 Kings v. 3; Chap. xxviii. 3. Chap. Arvili. 51 Kings iv. 25; v. 4.- That is, peaceable. 12 Samuel vii. 13; 1 Kings v. 5; Chapter xvii. 12; xxviii. 6. Heb. i. 5.- Verse 16.

Verse 8. Thou hast shed blood, &c.; thou shalt not build a house unto my name-Not that wars are simply unlawful, but to teach us that the church (whereof the temple was an illustrious type) should be built by Christ, the Prince of peace, Isa. ix. 6, and that it should be gathered and built up, not by might or power, but by God's Spirit, Zech. iv. 6, and by the preaching the gospel of peace. David therefore was less fit for that service, than one who had not been called to such bloody work. Likewise, by setting him aside for this reason, God showed how precious human life is to him.

Verse 14. Behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord-This he alleges as a reason why he could do no more, because of the many troubles and wars in which he had been engaged, both foreign and domestic, whereby much of his treasure had been exhausted. A hundred thousand talents of gold, &c.-The sum here mentioned is so great, according to the usually computed value of a talent, being not less than three hundred and sixty millions sterling, that most interpreters

13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

14 Now behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

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15 Moreover, there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and 3 workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

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16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise, therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee. 17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

18 Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.

19 Now "set your heart and your soul to seek

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conclude, either that some error has crept into the text through the inaccuracy of transcribers, or else that the word, chicharim, should not be translated talents, in this place, but only masses, plates, or pieces, such as we call ingots, of gold and silver. And thus Budæus observes in his book De Asse, that in Homer's time there was a talent of lesser value; for he speaks of two talents which were given with other things as a reward of a victory obtained in some exercises. Such talents he thinks we are to understand in this place; for David reigned about the time of the rise of the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was not very far from the time of Homer. Houbigant translates the former part of this verse, But I, according to my poor ability, have prepared a hundred talents of gold, and a thousand talents of silver. See Joseph. Antiq., 1. 7, c. 14, sect. 2.

Verse 16. Of the brass and the iron there is no number-The meaning is, the quantity of brass and iron was not numbered, as that of the gold and silver was. Arise, therefore, and be doing-When

David declares Solomon

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A. M. 2986. the LORD your God; arise, therefore, || of the LORD, and the holy vessels of A. M. 2996. and build ye the sanctuary of the God, into the house that is to be built LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant to the name of the LORD.

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* 1 Kings viii. 6, 21; 2 Chron. v. 7; vi. 11.

y Verse 7; 1 Kings v. 3.

thou shalt come to the throne. The sense of God's Verse 18. The land is subdued before the Lord, presence must not slacken our endeavours; be- || and before his people—It is brought under the comcause he is with us, we must rise and be doing. || mand of God, and of you his people, all the eneThen he will be with us even to the end. Work mies of God and of Israel, in it or near it, being out your salvation, and God will work in you. now perfectly subdued.

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4 Of which twenty and four thousand were hath, and Merari.

a 1 Kings i. 33-39; Chap. xxviii. 5.— b Numbers iv. 3, 47. 1 Or, to oversee. Deuteronomy xvi. 18; Chapter xxvi. 29; 2 Chronicles xix. 8.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXIII.

Verse 1. He made Solomon king over IsraelNot that he resigned the kingdom to him, but only declared his mind concerning Solomon's succeeding him in the throne after his death. Thus David himself is called king, 1 Sam. xvi. 1, because he was appointed and anointed to be king after Saul's death, though till then he was only a subject.

Verse 2. He gathered together all the princes, &c.-Partly to declare God's will, and his own de sire, that Solomon should be his successor; and so to cut off the claims and pretences which others of his sons might have made to the crown; and partly to acquaint them with those directions which he had received from God, by the Spirit, as appears from chap. xxviii. 11, &c., concerning the establishment of a new order and method in the ministration of the priests and Levites in the temple.

Verse 3. From the age of thirty years and upward-Not only till fifty, as it was appointed Num. iv. 2, 3, but even till their death: for that was but a temporary law grounded upon a special reason, because the Levites were employed in carrying the tabernacle and sacred vessels from place to place; and therefore God would have them freed from those burdens when they came to feel the infirmities of age: which reason wholly ceasing upon

d 2 Chronicles xxix. 25; Amos vi. 5.- Exodus vi. 16; Num. xxvi. 57; Chap. vi. 1, &c.; 2 Chron. viii. 14; xxix. 25. 2 Heb. divisions.

the building of the temple, their work being far easier than it had been, and their service being more a privilege than a burden, their time of service is justly prolonged.

Verse 4. To set forward the work of the house of the Lord-To take care that all the work of the temple, about sacrifices, should be punctually performed, either by themselves or others; which they were not to do all at once, but by courses, a thousand at a time. Six thousand were officers and judges-Not in the affairs of the temple, there the priests presided, but in several parts of the kingdom, where they assisted the princes and elders of every tribe, in the administration of justice.

Verse 5. Four thousand were porters-Whose office it was to take the charge of all the gates of the temple, and its courts, that no forbidden or unclean person might enter there, and of the courts themselves, and of the several chambers and buildings belonging to the temple and the service thereof. These also were to do their work by turns. Praised the Lord with instruments-Whereof two hundred and eighty-eight persons were of greater skill than their brethren, and instructed them, and had some authority over them.

Verse 6. David divided them into coursesWhich he did not by his own invention, but, as a

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David takes an account of

CHAPTER XXIII.

the families of the Levites.

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A. M. 2989. 7 Of the Gershonites were 3 Laa-17the chief. And Eliezer had none A. M. 2989. B. C. 1015. dan and Shimei. other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah 8 The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, were very many. and Zetham, and Joel, three.

9 The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.

10 And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

11 And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah 5 had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.

12The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

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18 Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief. 19 Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

20 Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first, and Jesiah the second.

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16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of

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Chap. xxvi. 21. Or, Libni, Chap. vi. 17.- + Or, Zizah, Ferse 11. Heb, did not multiply sons. Exodus vi. 18. Erod. vi. 20. Exod. xxviii. 1; Heb. v. 4.- Exod. xxx. 7; Num. xvi. 40; 1 Sam. ii. 28. Deut. xxi. 5. Num. 23 Chapter xxvi. 23, 25.0 Exodus ii. 22; xviii. 3. Chap, xxvi. 24 Shubael, Chap. xxiv. 20.9 Chap. xxvi. 25-Or, the first.

man of God, by his command, and with the advice and concurrence of Gad and Nathan the prophets, as is manifest from 2 Chron. viii. 14, and xxix. 25. Verse 13. That he should sanctify the most holy things-That he might keep them from pollution: for these most holy things were polluted when they Were touched by any other person. He and his O for ever-Not only his eldest sons the highpriests successively, but all his posterity, or all the priests: for the works here following were not peculiar to the high-priest, but common to all the priests. Verse 14. His sons were named of the tribe of Leri-They were accounted only as common Lerites, and were not priests: which is mentioned for the honour of Moses, and the demonstration of his eminent piety and self-denial, who willingly left the government to Joshua, and the priesthood to Aaron, and was content to have his posterity reduced to a

private and mean condition.

Verse 24. From the age of twenty years and upward-As the Levites were anciently numbered

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Heb. were highly multiplied. -9 Shelomoth, Chapter xxiv. Chapter xxiv. 23.- Chapter xxiv. 26. Chapter xxiv. 29. Chapter xxiv. 28.-10 Or, kinsmen.- Num. xxxvi. 6, 8. Chapter xxiv. 30.- Numbers x. 17, 21. a Verse 27; Num. i. 3; iv. 3; viii. 24; Ezra iii. 8. xxii. 18.11 Or, and he dwelleth in Jerusalem, &c. iv. 5, &c.

Chap. Num.

from two several times, from the twenty-fifth year of their age, and from the thirtieth, (Num. iv. 3; viii. 24,) in like manner they are here numbered, both from their twentieth year, when they were solemnly prepared for, and instructed, and by degrees exercised, in some parts of their work; and from their thirtieth year, when they were admitted to the full exercise of their office. And the reason why they were now sooner admitted to service than they had been formerly, is given in the next verses, because now their work was more easy, being wholly discharged from that burdensome work of carrying the tabernacle. Besides, the people of Israel were multiplied, therefore more hands were necessary; that every Israelite who brought an offering, might find a Levite ready to assist him.

Verse 27. By the last words of David-By his last order and constitution, made by God's direction, and by the Holy Spirit. This is here added to signify, that this great affair was thus settled by David, not in his younger years, when it might have been

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