Jon of
Geba.

highly provoked by their ungrateful demand. He did fo accordingly; and the people were frighted into a confeffion of their wickedness, and of this particular aggravation of it, their asking him for a king. They defired him, that he would ufe his prayers to avert the impending form and danger; which he readily complied with, and then affured them, that he would continue his good offices to them as long as he lived; and that, if they and their king did but continue ftedfaft in their obedience to GOD, inftead of confiding in their vain and deceitful idols, every thing would go well with them; but that, if they relapfed, both he and they muft expect to feel the effects of the divine difpleasure b.

ALL these things were tranfacted in the firft year of Saul's reign; in the next he difmiffed his numerous army, and reserved to himself only three thoufand men, two thoufand of whom he put into the garifons of Michmash and Beth-el, and the other thoufand he left at Gibeah of BenJonathan jamin, under his fon Jonathan. But this young prince, Jurprises willing perhaps to atchieve fomething worthy the fon and the gari fucceffor of Saul, went and fmote a Philistine garifon at Geba; the news of which, having alarmed that nation, obliged his father to blow the trumpet, and to let Ifrael know, that the Philistines were coming against them with a numerous hoft. They had indeed 30,000 chariots, and 6000 horfemen, befides an innumerable multitude of foot, with which they came and encamped againft Michmash, eaftward of Beth-aven. The fight of fo vaft an army ftruck an univerfal terror through all Ifrael, infomuch that, forgetting their late victory, and the valour which their new king had fhewn upon that occafion, a great part of that daftardly people hid themselves in caves, dens, faw-pits, or any lurking-holes; whilft another part fled to the other fide of Jordan for fafety, leaving their country open to their enemies frequent and deftructive incurfions, and their king to make the beft of the pufillanimous remains of the people that stuck close to him. One misfortune, howYear of ever, attended them, which may, in fome measure, exthe flood cufe their defection; which was, that the Philistines had taken care to ftrip them of all kinds of weapons, and even 1255. Bef. Chr, of the inftruments with which they ufed to sharpen their rural tools, left they fhould use them inftead of arms. They had neither fmith nor forge, and fo naked were they at this time, that there was neither fword nor fpear,

(

1093.

but those which Saul and his Son had c, when he came to mufter his little army (Z). Saul, however, continued with them at Gilgal, expecting Samuel's coming according to his appointment; but, after he had waited feven whole days, and found that Samuel neither came nor fent, and that his little army was almoft dwindled away to a small handful, fearing left he should be furprifed by the enemy, before he had implored the protection of GoD in the ufual way of facrifices, he ventured, on the feventh day, to offer up fome peace-offerings, and a burnt-offering. He had scarce made an end of facrificing, when Samuel came, and blamed him highly for what he had done (A). Saul excufed himfelf upon the preffing neceffity he was

(Z) The reft of this fmall body were armed, as one may reasonably fuppofe, with fuch weapons as they could make without the fmith's help, fuch as flings, flails, clubs, ftaves, wooden prongs, ftaves hardened in the fire, and other rural tools: the first of these, the flings, in which they were very expert, they might all ufe at the first onfet, and the others, when they came to clofer engagement.

in ;

waiting the whole time, it appears of too fmall a nature, confidering the ftreight he was in through the conftant defertion of his army, to have deferved a total rejection; and, as to the laft, it is scarcely probable, because he had the high-prieft Abiah with him to perform that office for him, or to have hindered him from doing it, if he had gone about it. Some authors think (73), therefore, that there is a tranfpofition of chapters, and that the crime, for which he was rejected, was his not destroying the king of Amalek, and all his plunder, according to GoD's command, the story of which we have in the next chapter, wherein Samuel reproves him in the most severe terms for his difobedience, and tells him plainly, that the LORD had rejected him from being king 74): but it is more likely, that, in the former of these places, the pro(72) Ant. l. vi. c. 7. (73) Pide (74) I Sam. xv. 16, & feq. ·D 4

(A) It is not eafy to divine what Saul's crime was, which drew upon him fuch a fevere fentence from the prophet. The Jews, indeed, accufe him, 1. Of not having waited the full time for him; and, 2. Of having prefumed to infringe upon the priestly office, by offering up facrifices to GoD with his unhallowed hands (7). Jofephus feems to fay much the fame thing, though not in plain terms (72). As for the first of thefe, his not

(71) Vid. Munft, in loc. Tremel, in loc.

phet

Saul rein; but, whether the prophet took it as a prefage of his proved by future rafhnefs, and want of faith, or whether his reSamuel. jection had been already revealed to him, he told him,

Jonathan's

that he had done a very foolish action; and that his dif-
obedience to GOD's command would cause the kingdom
to be transferred from him to a more worthy perfon. As
foon as Samuel was departed from him, to go to Gibeon,
Saul and his fon followed, him thither, with his little army,
confifting only of fix hundred unarmed men.
There they
beheld, with forrow, the Philistines, who were ftill en-
camped in Michmafh, making a threefold incurfion in
Ifrael, and committing great depredations; one detach-
ment towards Ophrah, another towards Beth-horon, and
the third towards the valley of Zeboim d.

THEY were in this difmal fituation, when Jonathan, moved by fome divine impulfe, ventured, unknown to fratagem his father, or to any one but his armour-bearer, who acto furprife companied him, to climb up on his hands and feet through the enemy. a couple of cragged rocks, and to fall upon one of the

enemy's out-guards, where he killed twenty of their men,
and put the reft to flight, who ran into the camp, and
fpread fuch a panic through the hoft, that it was easily
perceived by Saul and his men ; who, finding that Jona-
than was miffing, eafily gueffed him to be the author of
it. Saul had with him the ark of GOD, and Ahiah the
high-prieft, the great-grandfon of Eli; and was going to
defire him to inquire of the LORD, whether he should
fall on the enemy, when the noife and confufion increased
fo far, as to affure him, that they were put to the rout.
He then bid Abiah hold his hand, and with his few
men fell on the flying Philistines, his army ftill increafing,
as well from a number of Hebrew captives, who took that
opportunity to make their efcape, as from a greater num-
ber of those, who, obferving from their lurking-holes
the fuccefs of their brethren, came and joined their king.
d I Sam. xiii. per tot.

phet only threatens him with what he muft expect, unless he took more heed of what GOD commanded him. For it is plain, that Saul was fo far from being abfolutely rejected, that he not only was bleffed with a great and almoft miraculous victory, immediate

ly after Samuel had left him, but that he was likewise very fuccefsful against several other nations, and above all, received that fresh command from the fame prophet, to fight and destroy the Amalekites, with a promise of victory.

THE

THE reader, however, may fee, by what we have faid Defeats of this action in a former volume e, that this victory, great the Phias it was, might have been more complete, had not Saul liftines, unadvifedly adjured his army not to flop their purfuit to take fome convenient refreshment (B). But what was like to have proved worse than all the reft, was, that Jonathan, knowing nothing of his father's imprecation, and being quite fpent with that day's toil, had refreshed himfelf with a little honey, which he met in his way; fo that, when his tranfgreffion came to be found out by urim, Saul would infallibly have condemned him to die, had not the whole army oppofed it with one confent, and fworn, that not an hair of his head fhould be hurt, in confideration of the fignal deliverance, which he had been the chief cause of. Saul, however, returned home victorious, and put himself in a condition of purfuing his conqueft, not only against the Philistines, but alfo against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and the kings of Zobah and Amalek. AmmonHis head general was Abner, the fon of his uncle Ner. He ites, &c. had alfo two fons befides the brave Jonathan ; and, next to that of his army, his care was to have a guard about him, made up of the valiantest and stouteft men he could find in his dominions f.

THE facred hiftory gives us no particular account of any of these wars, that against Amalek excepted, of which we have spoken in its proper places; neither is it easy to guefs at what periods of Saul's reign any of them happened. All that we can know is, that he reigned forty years; that he was a valiant and fuccessful prince, continually at war with fome neighbouring ftate or other; and that he very much curbed the ftrength of all his enemies round about: fo that, had he not been unmindful of God's command with respect to the king of Amalek, and the plunder of his fubjects, he might, in all likelihood,

e See before, vol. ii. p. 241, & feq. f 1 Sam, xiv. paff. * See before, vol. ii. p. 185, & feq.

(B) This rafh curfe was like to have had feveral fatal confequences; for, befides that it hindered his weary foldiers from making fo great a flaughter of the enemy as they might have done, and put too speedy an end to their purfuit,

▸ Acts xiii. 21.

by that time it came to be
evening, they were fo famish-
ed, that they fell greedily up-
on the fpoil, and would have
eaten fome of the cattle with
the blood, had not the king
timely prevented it.

have

David anointed

king. Year of

the flood

1285

Bef.Chrift

1063.

have reigned all his life without a rival (C), and have avoided the dreadful fentence of rejection, which the prophet pronounced against him, and which made fo deep an impreffion upon Saul, that he owned his fault, and only beggd of him, for decency-fake, that he would ftill fhew fome regard to him, and accompany him, whilft he went and paid his adorat on to GOD. Samuel complied, and foon after caufed the proud Amalekitifh king to be put to death, whofe deftroying fword had bereaved fo many mothers of their children, and returned to Ramah, the place of his abode; and, from that time, never came more to Saul, but continued mourning for him ", till he was reproved for it by GoD, and commanded to go to Bethlehem, and anoint one of the fons of Jeffe in his room.

SAMUEL was forced to colour his journey with the pretence of offering up a facrifice there; and he accordingly took a young heifer with him, both to avoid giving any fufpicion to the jealous king, and to difperfe the fears of the elders of Bethlehem at his unexpected arrival. As foon as he came to Fee's houfe, he caufed all his fons to pafs before him in order; and, when he beheld the eldest of them, whom the hiftory fhews to have been a man of valour, he prefently fuppofed him to be the perfon chofen to be Saul's fucceffor: however, GOD rejected him, as he did alfo the other fix in their turns. Samuel,

n 1 Sam. xx. paff.

(C) But here he acted very
unlike himself, not only in dif-
regarding the divine anathema
which had been pronounced
against that nation ever fince
their coming out of Egypt (5),
and the prophet's charge in
purfuance of it (6), but like-
wife in that poor pretence he
made to Samuel, that he had
fulfilled his command, when
every thing about him fhewed
him, that he had acted quite
contrary to it (7); and, next
to this, in meanly excufing
his fault, by throwing one part

(5) Exod. xvii. 14.
14. 20. (8) Ver. 15.

• Ibid. xv. 34, 35.

of it
upon the people's zeal to
facrifice the best of the cattle
to the LORD (8), and part.
upon his own fear of restrain-
ing them from it (9). No won-
der then, that Samuel could
not, without fome indignation,
hear a king of Ifrael betray
fo much meannefs of foul, as
to palliate an unjustifiable ac-
tion; nor that he reproved
him for it with fo much feve-
rity, when he was authorized
by GOD to denounce unto him
the lofs of his kingdom.

(6) 1 Sam. xv. 1, & feq.
(9) Ver. 24. 30, ad fin.

(7) Ibid. ver. 13,

furprised