Ps. JEROME

HEBREW QUESTIONS ON 2 SAMUEL

CHAPTER 1

(1:2). The third day appeared a man from Saul's camp, and the rest. The Hebrew interpreters say that this man was an Amalekite, son of Doeg. Amalekites and Edomites are all one, since the son of Esau was Eliphaz, father of Amalec. The crown and bracelets which this man brought to David had been confided to him, according to the Hebrews, by his father Doeg.

(1:12). They moaned, they wept, they hunted till evening on Saul, on Jonathan his son, on the people of the Lord, and on the house of Israel. The people of the Lord are the priests, and the house of Israel is all the people of Israel in general.

(1:18). And he says, in order to teach the bow to Judah: This is written in the book of judgments. "And he says," implied "David," in order to teach, that is, that God teaches the bow to the sons of Judah, that is, the strength to the kings of Judah, to know that they were strong, attentive in the fear of the Lord and his precepts, lest the kings of Judah, out of disobedience, depart from the strength and fear of the Lord, like Saul, and perish from the same way as him. When it is said, "This is written in the book of the righteous," this book is that of Samuel, where are contained the words of the righteous, that is, Samuel, Gad, and Mathan; in this book it is written how Saul departs from the fear of the Lord, perishes because of his disobedience.

Your glorious men, o Israel, were killed on the mountains Hebrew carries; "on higher ground." The meaning is: o Saul, the glorified ones of Israel were killed on your heights, because they died with you in the sin of disobedience. Your disobedience has been regarded as worship done to idols, that is to say, on the heights, as this passage from Samuel testifies: "Obedience is better than the victims. It is better to listen than to offer fat of rams, just as the sin of using divination is an opposition, and the crime of idolatry a defect of consent. " (1 Sam. 15: 22-23)

(1:24). Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who was scaring you, who provided you with ornaments of gold. He supplied them with scarlet clothes and gold ornaments by means of the spoils made on the enemies.

(1:25). How did the strong fall into the fight? We imply "in your sin. Jonathan was killed on your heights.” The Hebrew does not read: "was." The meaning is: O Saul, Jonathan (was, implied) killed on your heights, that is, in the sin of your disobedience.

CHAPTER 2

(2:6). And now the Lord will give you mercy and truth. Mercy in this world, truth in the other; because the mercy granted in this world is a lie in comparison to eternal mercy.

(2:8). Now Abner, son of Ner, general of Saul's army, brought up Isboseth, son of Saul, and brought him round about the camp. The Hebrew says, "Let him cross to Mamaim" which means "camp." He crossed it, is understood: Beyond the Jordan, and proclaimed him king in Manaim.

Above Galaad and Jessuri. The Hebrew text: "Assuri," that is, above the tribe of Asser.

(2:28). Abner shouted to Joab, "Shall your spear rage to the point of extermination? The Hebrew does not read "ta." "Do you know that despair is dangerous?" The Hebrew text reads, "Do you not know that the end will be bitter?" The meaning is: Do you not know that it will come to you from the bitterness of what you will strive to destroy this people.

CHAPTER 3

(3:5). The sixth Jethraam of Egla, wife of David. One wonders why the other women, whose names are given, are not designated as David's wives, while Egla is designated as such. This Egla is the same as Michol, and here alone she is called David's wife, because it was the first that David in his youth got married. She died as a child. Egla is translated as heifer.

(3:8). Am I a dog's head against Judah? As if he were saying: Because of you and my father's house I am accused of being a dog's head against Judah, in that I do not bring back the house of Israel to David, whom I know to have been crowned king, to whom belongs the scepter over all Israel. Dog's head, that is to say, vile, in that the house of Judah regarded him as a barking dog, and as the chief of dogs, that is to say, men full of foolishness.

(3:13). I only ask you one thing: he will not see my face until you have brought Michol, daughter of Saul; you will come thus and you will see me. There is a space, so-called necessary, Abner's answer to David that he absolutely could not bring back Michol, who was in the power of his brother's king; this excuse having been rightly accepted by David, he sent deputies to Isboseth on the same subject, as is shown later.

(3:14). And David sent messengers to Isboseth the son of Saul, saying: Restore my wife Michol, which I betrothed to me for an hundred prepuces of the Philistines.

(3:16). Her husband followed her crying to Bahurim. It is said that he wept, but it was joy, because the Lord had had him in his care, lest he touch her.

(3:33). The crying king Abner said: "You are not dead, O Abner, as the cowards usually die; that is to say, you have succumbed by treason, but you have not died in your stupidity as the cowards are used to dying.

(3:34). Your hands are not tied, and your feet are not shackled. You have not been caught by the law of war, and your hands are not bound, nor are your feet full of shackles, like the feet and hands of those caught in the fight. So you have been a victim of cunning, not of force.

CHAPTER 4

(4:2). The son of Saul had two leaders of his irregular troops; one was called Baana, the other Rechab; they were sons of Remmon de Berothita, of the tribe of Benjamin. These two men were at the head of the expeditions of lsboseth. After the death of Abner, say the Hebrews, they plotted with Mifiboseth to put to death Isboseth and to establish king this same Mifiboseth. But it was Mifiboseth himself who unveiled the conspiracy. So it is soon question of him in these terms:

(4:4). Jonathan, son of Saul, had an unwell limb of the legs; he was five years old, when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezerael, and the rest. When Baana and Rechab learned that their plan had been unveiled by Mifiboseth, terrified, they fled to Gethaim, where they remained strangers until that time, that is to say, until the time was over. When they returned to the house of Ishbosheth, they entered in the light of day, and taking ears of wheat, struck him on the thigh. These ears of wheat were like first fruits which they brought to appear to do honor to the king, so that their conspiracy was not taken seriously.

CHAPTER 5

(5:4). David, on his accession to the throne, had a son of thirty, and he reigned forty years. He reigned in Hebron seven years and six months on Judah; in Jerusalem, thirty-three years especially Israel and Judah. One wonders why the total given is not forty and a half years. The Hebrews solve the problem in two ways. David, they say, fled for six months before his son Absalom; it is with reason that these six months are cut off from the total of his reign. Otherwise: David was sick in Hebron for six months, which should not be understood in his reign. It is said that he reigned in Hebron from the time when, after defeating the Amalekites, he gave these presents with their spoils to the elders of Judah who lived in Hebron and Bethel, and to those who were in the places where David had stayed with his companions.

(5:6-8). David said, "You shall not come in here until you have taken away the blind and the lame, saying, David will not come in here. As if they said: David will not enter here until we have driven him out, we believe that he is weak and unarmed as the blind and lame, and that he thinks, in attacking us, to triumph as one triumphs over the blind and lame. Likewise in the Proverbs: "The blind and the lame shall not enter the temple." The Hebrew says, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house," that is to say, the blind and lame, indirectly saying: No man shall enter the house of the blind and the lame, until the blind and the lame are there.

In fact, at that time David offered a reward to him who would smite the Jebusites, touch the gutters of the housetops, and remove the lame and the blind who hated the life of David. The Hebrew reads, "And David said at that time, He that smites the Jebusite, shall touch the gutter, and the lame and the blind that hate the life of David," or belittle, shall be prince and ruler, as the report the Chronicles: "Whosoever shall be the first to strike a Jebusite, shall be prince and ruler: and Joabidas of Survia, was the first to go up, and was made prince." (1 Chron. 11:6) As for these words: "He who touches the gutter," they must be understood as follows: He who has enough boldness and strength to climb the wall of the city and touch first, his spear, the gutter that is above, that one will be made prince.

(5:21). And they gave up their statues that David and his men took away. David carried them away and had them burned according to the testimony of the Chronicles: "They forsook their gods, which David destroyed by fire." (1 Chron.15:12)

(5:23). David consulted the Lord who answered, "Do not go up, but turn to take them back, and you will come to them from behind the pear trees." The Hebrew text, instead of pear trees, says: those who cry. He therefore orders him to come from behind those who weep, that is to say, from behind their temples, where were the idols in which they confide. They say, "the idols of those who cry," because they are worthy of tears, and lead to the tears of miseries those who adore them. The holy word, therefore, adds here a word idols, "of those who cry," because of the blasphemies they cause, just as elsewhere it calls the idol Moab, the defilement of Moab.

(5:24). When you hear the noise of one who walks on the heads of those who cry; that is to say, when you hear the angelic powers breaking and trampling on their idols, in whom they put all their strength, then you will start the fight, because then the Lord will go out to meet you, to strike the camp of the Philistines. For the Lord has borne his sentence against their idols, as on another occasion against the gods of the Egyptians.

CHAPTER 6

(6:8,10). David was grieved that the Lord had struck Ozam. The Hebrew text: "From what he had divided." He said that the Lord divided Ozam, because the place where he was remained empty. And David would not direct the ark to him in the city of David, but he directed it to the house of Obed Edom the Getlieen, so nicknamed because his father lived in Geth.

(6:11). And the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his house. The Hebrews say that the Lord blessed his house, in that all his wives and concubines, his daughters and maids produced children, besides the females of his animals gave him double goods. On this subject, the Chronicles writes: "The ark of God remained three months in the house of Obed Edom, and the Lord blessed his house and all that he possessed." (1 Chron. 13:14) And elsewhere, in the same book of the Chronicles: "The eight sons of Obed Edom are, Seema the firstborn, Jozabat, Johah, Sachar, Nathanael, Aniel, Issachar, and Pallathi; was blessed of God. " (1 Chron. 26:4)

(6:23). No son was born to Michol, daughter of Saul, until the day of his death. Michol is the same as Egla; she had from David Jethraam, and died putting him into the world.

CHAPTER 7

(7:3). Nathan said to the king, All that is in your heart, go and do it, for the Lord is with you. Nathan spoke thus to David of himself, and not in the name of the Lord. What follows, he says in the name of God: "This is what the Lord says: How would you raise me a house to dwell there?" As if he said: You could not give me a place to live because you are a man of blood, who has shed a lot.

(7:6). I have not lived in a house since the day I took the children of Israel out of Egypt this day; but I traveled in the tabernacle and under the tent. The Lord says that he wandered in the tabernacle and under the tent, because neither Moses nor Joshua could build him a dwelling, as they were men of blood, like David.

(7:7). Through all the places through which I passed with all the children of Israel, did I tell one of the tribes, commanding him to feed my people: Why did not you raise me a cedar house?  In these places, where the Lord says to have passed, we must see Silo, Galgala Nobe, and the other places where the tabernacle and the ark of the Lord were placed. Have I told any of the judges of the tribes of Israel, commanding him to feed my people, Why have you not raised me a cedar house? If he did not order any of the judges to raise him this cedar house, it was because they all fought against the enemies, and all spread the blood. But your son, who will have no war to support and will not be a man of blood, will erase this house.

(7:8, 9). Now, this is what you will say to my servant David: This is what the God of hosts says: I took you out of the pasture where you followed the flocks. And a little further down: And I have made you a great name by the name of those who are great on the earth. I have made you, says the Lord, a great name, as Abraham, and Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, whose names are most illustrious on earth.

(7:10). And I will choose a place for my people Israel, and I will make it perfect, and they shall dwell under this shadow. The divine word here describes the time of Solomon, where the sons of Israel were to be at peace with all their neighbors, without affliction and oppression, while in the time of the Judges they were oppressed and afflicted.

(7:14). If he commits injustice, I will reprimand him with the rod of men and with the wounds of the sons of men. The rod of men is the sword of enemies. The wounds of the sons of men are the inconveniences of the body, by means of which the Lord punish the men of their sins.

(7:16). Such is the law of Adam, O God my Lord. That is to say, the law of man is, O Lord my God, that he serve you in simplicity and purity of heart.

(7:21). And you will do it according to your mercy, as you have deigned, according to your word, to do to yourself, your servant; it is according to your heart that you have done these great things. According to your promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you have done all these things for me your servant. "According to your heart," must be understood, "according to your mercy."

(7:22). Because no one is like you. Indeed, out of you, there is no God capable of all that our ears have heard. There is none, he says, like you God, who have done all the great things we have heard about.

(7:23). In the face of your people, nation with their God, which you have delivered from Egypt. Hebrew bears: "Egypt, its peoples and their gods." Here is the meaning: In the presence of your people, delivered by you from Egypt, that is to say from the hand of the Egyptians, whom you have swallowed up in the Red Sea, and from their gods, against whom you have pronounced your sentence.

(7:27). Because you, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have discovered the ear of your servant, saying, I will bring you up a house; that is why your servant has found his heart, in order to address you this prayer. The Lord opened his ear by telling him through the prophet that he would raise him a house. So David says that he found his heart, that is to say, that he found in his heart the boldness to address this prayer to him.

CHAPTER 8

(8:1). It happened next that David smote the Philistines, humiliated them, and made them tributary; and David took the bit of the tribute of the hand of the Philistines. This bit of the tribute was five cities of the Philistines, which often made Israel their tributary. David took them from them, humiliated them, and made them tributary in their turn. From the time when one reads in the Chronicles: "David smote the Philistines, and humbled them, and took off their hands Geth and his daughters (1 Chronicles 10:1)."

(8:19). David took a name when he returned after taking Syria. He is said to have given himself a name, because in the Valley of the Saltworks, having cut into pieces eighteen thousand enemies, he found himself raising a triumphal arch. He still has a name for himself, because after having conquered the Syrians of Damascus and Syria of Soba, he has taken up, as it says here, another triumphal arch. If anyone is astonished to find, in most of the Latin codices, that David cut into pieces, not eighteen, but twelve thousand enemies in the valley of the salt pans, then he knows that it was an error of copyist. The truth, let us repeat, is that David in this valley routed eighteen thousand men. It is Joab who describes twelve thousand, as it is written at the head of the fifty-eighth Psalm.

CHAPTER 9

(9:2). And Siba said to the king, As you have commanded your servant, O my lord king, so shall your servant do, and Miphiboseth shall eat at your table. It should be noted that the Hebrew says: "On my table;" because there is a gap, a necessary implication. When Siba said, "As you have ordained, my Lord and king, so will your servant," we must hear these words of David: "And Miphiboseth shall eat at my table," as a son of the king.

CHAPTER 10

(10:2). David said, I will act with mercy with Anon, son of Naas, as his father did with me. When David fled from Achish king of Gath, he came to Naas king of Ammon, who dealt with him with mercy, giving him many goods. From Naas he came to the cave of Odolla, where his father and mother came, and all his house. From there he went to Moab, where he left his father and his mother, and all his house. In these words of Achish king of Geth, "Will this man come into my house?" David departed from there and fled to the cave of Odoila. "He started from there," it must be understood, "from the house of Naas," from which he fled into the cave of Odoila. But how is it that David came back to him, that is, to Achish, whose presence he was? It must be understood that the latter Achis was the son of the man whose presence David had fled. From the fact that, below, we read that the Achish, who was walking with David in the fight against Saul, was the son of Maoch. It was not from his father, it was from his mother, called Maacha, that he took the patronymic name. He did not take his father's name because David had moved away from it.

(10:10). He delivered the rest of the people to his brother Abisai. It is to be noted that in this one passage the Hebrew text reads Abisa when everywhere else it is Abisai. Abisa means "father of the sacrifice," Abisah, "my father sacrifice." The Hebrews say that a letter was cut off from his name because he was an accomplice in the murder of Abner.

CHAPTER 11

(11:2). It happened at the return of the year, at the time when kings wont to go to war, that David sent Joab and with him his servants etc. The Hebrew text reads, "At the time when kings went to war, David sent Joab, etc." These are the kings who advanced against David to fight him, that is to say, Roob, Istob, Soba, and Maadia, all the countries of Syria; they were on the payroll of the king of Moab against David, who was victorious.

David said, Is not this Bathsheba, daughter of Elijah, wife of Uri the Ethenian? Elijah was the son of Achitophel.

(11:13). David called Uri, to make him eat and drink in his presence, and he intoxicated him. He probably intoxicated to send him home in this state.

CHAPTER 12

(12:14). Because you have blasphemed the enemies of the Lord, because of the words spoken, the son who was born to you will be struck with death. We read in Hebrew: "Since by blaspheming you have blasphemed for the enemies of the Lord, because of this word, even the son who was born to you will be struck with death." There is a phrase of irony, and here is the sense: You have assured the salvation of the enemies of the Lord, and if they rise against the people of God, your crime will prevent that people can resist them. In addition, the same enemies, because of your fault, established themselves as conquerors over the people of God.

(12:25). And he gave him the acceptable name for the Lord, because the Lord cherished him. Here is the Hebrew text: "And he called him IDIDIDAH," that is, "Darling of the Lord," no doubt because of the free mercy with which he deigned to love him, so assuredly he was unworthy of his affection and his mercy, since it was evidently the fruit of adultery.

(12:27). I fought against Rabba, and the city of waters must be taken. It is to be noted that in Hebrew Rabbath is written when other names are followed, such as Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, while Rabba and Rabbath are put when written alone.

(12:30). After fighting, he seized it, and took the diadem of Melchom's head. Melchom means "their king," who is set for "their idol." David took the gold and precious stones of their idol Melchom's diadem, purified them according to the law, and made a diadem, which he then wore on his forehead.

(12:31). Bringing the who he brought out, he saws them in pieces, divides them with the edge of the knife, and presses them like bricks. He divided their bodies by the iron carts, and chopped the shreds to the edge of the sword, as the bricks are divided and pressed, when they are made of straw and mud.

CHAPTER 13

(13:37). And Absalom escaped to Tholomai, son of Amibur king of Geshur. Tholmai was the father of Maacha, mother of Absalom. The Hebrews, like David, having made him captive to war, (Deut.21) and having cut off his hair and nails, and his wife by law, gave him Thamar and Absalom.

(13:39). So King David stopped pursuing Absalom. Hebrew: "Then king David ceased to go after Absalom." It is reported that David had wanted to go out to bring back Absalom. But remembering that whenever he saw him, the pain of Amnon's death came back to him, he stopped going after him; or implies: In order to call him home. As for the passage: "Because he was consoled for the loss of Amnon," it must be understood that, after he did not want to continue Absalom, to bring him back and see him, he began to be comforted by the death of Amnon. Finally, as long as he thought that Absalom would be brought back and seeing him, the image of the death of his son Amnon was still in his mind. Otherwise, it is said that he was consoled by the loss of Amnon, because he had recognized him as vicious and worthy of the fate which had just struck him.

CHAPTER 14

(14:1). Joab, the son of Sarvia, realizing that the king's heart was turned towards Absalom. Joab recognized that the king's heart was turned to Absalom with the sighs he heard. It was a sign, to which he could not be mistaken, of the state of David's heart.

(14:2). He sent to Thecua, from where he took a woman full of wisdom. Thecua is a city that was the homeland of the prophet Amos. It is thought that the woman spoken of here was none other than the elder of Amos.

(14:5-6). She answered him: I am not, alas! as a widow. My husband is dead; and your servant had two sons, who quarreled in the paternal field, and there was no one to prevent them. One hit the other and killed him. And all the kinsmen rising up against your handmaid, saith unto him, Whosoever smiteth his brother. According to the Hebraic tradition, this widow actually had two sons, who quarreled in their field for the sharing of the paternal inheritance, and one of them was put to death by the other. However, the same widow put herself in David's place, and his two sons are the figure of Amnon and Absalom; as to the relative, who rose against her son, she represents the other sons of David.

(14:6). Iniquity in me, and in my father's house, O my Lord and King; but let the king and his throne be innocent. As if she were saying: Because one of my sons has risen against the other, let them accuse me of iniquity, if, however, there must be accusation. But let there be no iniquity on you, O king David; you are free from fault in that Absalom killed Amnon, who deserved death. And as I am blameless in that my two sons have risen against each other, and that one has killed the other, so you are free from fault, in that Absalom killed Amnon who deserved death.

(14:11). She says: May the kings remember the Lord his God, so that blood relatives will not multiply for vengeance, and they will not put my son to death. The memory is put here instead of the oath. As if she said: May the king remember his promise or rather his oath, by which he promised me in the name of the Lord his God that blood relatives would not multiply for vengeance.

(14:13). The woman said: Why did you have this thought against the people of God? Has the king been able to say this word which is a sin for him by preventing him from bringing back his exile? This passage is the confirmation of what has been said above: "King David ceased to follow in the footsteps of Absalom," that is, ceased so that Absalom would not be taken out of exile. and brought back in person. From there these words of the woman: "Did the king utter that guilty word which prevents the return of his exile?" when she says, "Why did you have such a thought against the people of God?" it means "the people of God," the same Absalom and those who accompanied him, who were captives and banished, in that they were not brought back to the inheritance of God; she fears that necessity drives them, on foreign soil, to serve foreign gods.

(14:14). God does not want the loss of the soul, but he takes in himself the means so that he who is rejected does not perish entirely. As if she were saying: God calls for them to turn to him, the sinners whom the devil holds captive; you who must imitate it, why do not you do the same?

(14:26). And when his hair was cut, and it was once a year. Hebrew reads "And when his head was shorn," he was at the appointed time, because his hair was bothering him, and the hair of his head weighed two hundred shekels of the public weight. His head was therefore not shorn "once a year," as the Latin collections say; but at the appointed time, that is to say, every thirty days.

CHAPTER 15

(15:7). After forty years Absalom said to the king, "I will go and give back to God the vows I have made for him in Hebron. It was the fortieth year since the time Saul died because of David the city of Nobe with eighty-five priests. That is why this same 40th year is brought here, to show the divine vindication rising on David, because he had deceived the priest Ahimelech, which led to the murder of so many priests. Keep in mind, readers, against a lot of misleading editions where we find "after four years," at the connection of "after forty." In the correct editions, and in the true Hebrew reading, it is not "four," but, "forty years", one reads. If some rough spirit wanted to count the same four years from the time when Absalom killed his brother Amnon to the one he said to his father: "I will go, and I will fulfill the vows I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron;" he will discover that he has fallen into a manifest error, provided he thoroughly delves into it: it is certain that Absalom, after the murder of Amnon, spent three years in Gessur at the home of King Tholmai, and from there recalled in Jerusalem, remained two years without seeing his father, that he only saw the sixth year, when he prepared his revolt against him. For he lied saying that he had made a vow, that is, promised to pray at the place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob rest.

(15:24). They laid down the ark. And Abiathar went up, until all the people that were gone out of the city had been made complete. They laid down the ark of God, so that the priest Abiathar might consult the Lord to know which way David should go. It is said that Abiathar went up, that is to say, prayed. And because the divine oracle did not answer him, David, a little further, gave the order to bring the ark back into the city.

CHAPTER 16

(16:10). What is between you and me, son of Sarvia? Leave him to curse me. The Hebrew does not read "for him to curse," but only "that he curses." Abisai alone had said, "I am going, and I will cut off his head." David answers to Abisai and Joab: "What is between you and me, son of Sarvia?" As if he said: Why do you want to kill this one as you killed Abner? "Indeed, the Lord has commanded David to curse, and who can ask why he did so?" it is implied, why it is not the Lord, but Simei who did so. Simei who cursed David is the same as Nabal, father of Jeroboam, who is said to be the son of Gemini. In his zeal for the house of Saul, he curses David. But the name of his grandfather was Gemini, and Simei was the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. From the coming that Semei said to David: "Therefore I came first today from all the tribe of Joseph."

(16:17). And Absalom: Is it, said he, your affection for a friend? "The Hebrew reads: “It is here,” he said, “your mercy for your friend?” This is the meaning: Is it mercy, or should we call it, the fact of having abandoned your friend David and not having gone with him?

CHAPTER 17

(17:2). When all the people that are with him have fled, I will smite the abandoned king, and bring back all the people, as is customary in such a case. That is to say, as are customary to return those who return after losing their king in battle, so all the people of Israel will come back to you.

(17:19). When any soldier has fallen at the beginning, hearing all these things, he will say: A wound was made in the people who followed Absalom; and the strongest of all, whose heart is like that of a lion, will be terrified. The Hebrew text: "And the strongest himself, whose heart is like that of a lion, will he be terrified?" Which must be marked by denying, and not with affirmation. It is to be understood that David is stronger; this is apparent from the following passages.

(17:20). All Israel knows indeed that your father is strong and robust, all who are with him. The servant went away and brought them the news. And they left. This servant had gone to the fountain of Rogel, under the pretext of washing linen, so that nothing could be suspected of her step. It is said that the child who discovered the thing to Absalom was the servant's young son.

(17:21). Get up and pass the river quickly. The Hebrews, in this place, do not say the river, but the water, by which must be understood as the Jordan.

(17:24). And David came to the camp. The Hebrew text has “in Manaim.” In this place came the angels of God to Jacob, as Genesis testifies: "Jacob gave to this place the name of Manaim, that is to say, camp." (Gen. 32:2)

(17:25). Amasa was the son of a man from Jezrael, called Jethra. The Hebrew text: "Jethra the Ishmaelite." From the next we read in the Chronicles: "Abigail begot Amasa, whose father was Ishmaelite Jether (1 Chron. 2:17)." This Jether is termed "the Ishmaelite," because his son Amasa, imitating Ishmael's conduct, did not accompany David, to whom he had said, however, "We are here, O David, and with you are the sons of Isai. " But in the book of Samuel, Jethra is called Jezraelite, because whoever struck Amasa his son destroyed his sin, which Joab had perpetrated against David.

He introduced himself to Abigail, daughter of Naas and sister of Sarvia. Naas means snake, this name came to him because, according to tradition, he does not contract any mortal sin other than that which originally came from the ancient serpent. Naas is also the name of Isai, father of David, as the Chronicles demonstrate, where, in the enumeration of the children of Isai, one reads: "Of which were sisters Sarvia and Abigail." (1 Chron. 2:16)

(17:27). When David arrived at the camp, that is, at Manaim, he came to Sobi, the son of Naas of Rabbath from the sons of Ammon. This Sobi was the son of King Naas against whom Saul fought. The same Naas used mercy to David when he fled Saul's presence; When David heard of his death, he said, "I will make a covenant with Anon, as his father Naas did with me." David, having killed Anon, who had insulted him through his servants, he himself replaced him by Sobi, who is shown to us here coming to David and offering him rugs, vases and other gifts.

CHAPTER 18

(18:8). There was one fight in all parts of the country, and there was a much greater number of them annihilated by the forests than there were devoured by the sword in the fight. These forests, which annihilated them more than the sword and devoured them, signify, according to the Hebrews, the ferocious animals which they contained, and which destroyed a greater number than the sword.

(18:18,14,17). But Absalom, when he was still alive, had erected a monument, which is in the valley of the king. He said, I have no sons, and this will perpetuate the memory of my name; and he called the monument of his name, which it still reads in our day, where he is called the hand of Absalom. "Joab took three javelins and planted them in Absalom’s heart hanging on the oak tree and still panting (verse 14)." Hebrew: "While he was still living, hanging on the oak." It is there that must be added: "Now Absalom erected, when he was still alive, the monument which is in the valley of the king," and what follows. The Hebrew tradition says that, having been detached from the oak, he asked for a delay before being put to death, in order to erect a tomb in his memory, because he had no son worthy of the throne. He believed that not only were his sons unworthy of the crown, but still to live because of his own sin against his father. On this monument, he applies, it is said, the hand, of which he engraved the imprint, and beyond these words: He gave his name to the monument which is still called today the hand of Absalom. (verse 17) As for these words: They threw him in the midst of the forest into a great pit, and they gathered upon him a heap of very considerable stones,”  The Hebrews say that he was thrown into the pit because, after having been put to death by the sword, he must still have been stoned; his villainy deserved both kinds of death, since, contrary to the precept of the law, he had dishonored his father and revealed his shame.

(18:20). To Joab, that is to say Achimaas, he says: You will not be messenger on this day, but will be in another. Today, I do not want you to publicize; for the son of the king is dead. As if he said: I do not want a man like you to bring to the king the news that his son is dead. It is not appropriate for you to be the messenger of this kind of news. Also he said to. Chusi: "Go, and tell the king what you saw." It should be noted that in this place Chusi is not a proper name, but a formula for calling. As if he said: It is not Achimaas, it is you who can carry this lamentable news.

CHAPTER 19

(19:8). All the people came before the king; Israel, on the contrary, fled to their tents. All the people that are said to have come before the king are those who remained faithful to David. By "Israel fled to their tents," we must hear the rebels who followed Absalom.

(19:24). Miphiboseth also, son of Jonathan, went down to meet the king despite the unwashed of his feet. Note that Hebrew, instead of "unwashed feet," says "manufactured feet." In fact, Miphiboseth had made wooden feet which he used as ordinary feet; he acted in this way in the manner of the lame.

(19:29). Why would you talk more? What I said is irrevocable. Siba and you, share what I own: The Hebrew reads: "I said: Siba and you, share my field." On this occasion David did not remember the friendship and covenant, or rather the oath that bound him to Jonathan, and he pronounced this sentence so severe: "Siba and you, share my field;" wherefore Rehoboam and Jeroboam divided his kingdom. Miphiboseth is mentioned in Samuel's book, and that name means "mouth of modesty (elsewhere, modest)." In the Chronicles, the same Miphiboseth is called "Meribal," which means "pleading with the Most High." It is said that he pleaded with the Most High, that is to say with God, because David had returned with peace; and when Miphiboseth said to the king, "Let him receive all things, after the king my lord is returned to peace in his (elsewhere, my) abode," he does not congratulate, but there is an intention of irony, a wind of murmur against God, because David his lord returned in peace.

(19:37). Chamaan is your servant. The Hebrew: "Behold your servant Chamaam, let him go with you, O king my lord." Chamaam means “who sighs.” As long as he stayed with his father, he was called "who sighs." But when he became David's disciple, it was not "Chamaam," but Chamaan, that is, "faithful" that he called himself.

(19:41). And all the men of Israel ran to the king, and said to him, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen from you, and why have they led the king and his house beyond the Jordan, and all the companions of David with them? And every man of Judah answered to those of Israel, Because the king is nearer to me. There is a gap, an irony: “And I love the king more than you.” Then a little further:

(19:43). And the man of Israel answered to them of Judah, I am of ten parts greater with the king, and David belongs to me more than he belongs to you. We read in the Hebrew, "I have ten parts with the king, and I am more than you in David." Israel had ten parts, that is to say, ten tribes, and that is why they claim that they are more in David than the men of Judah. ​​Why have you done me wrong? The men of Israel complain that they have been wronged by them, because the tribe of Judah did not wait for them to bring them back the king. Was not my word the first to bring back my king? His word was the first to bring back the king, as is evident from the preceding passage where it is said: "The word of all Israel came to the king in his the elders of Judah sent their desire to David by the priests Sadoc and Abiathar,” as the Scripture relates: "We spoke to the elders of Judah, saying, Why do you come to them last?”  Hebrew: “Why are you last to bring the king back to his house? " And it must be added: "You my brothers, you my mouth and my flesh, why do you bring back the king last?" By this we understand that he was telling them that the word of all Israel had already reached him: "The word of all Israel came to the king in his house."

The men of Judah responded very harshly to those of Israel. There is one gap. The men of Judah responded harshly to those of Israel, accusing them of lies, and that the love of the king was not the motive for their conduct, as they claimed.

CHAPTER 20

(20:8). Because of these words, Siba, son of Bocri, a man of Jemini, sounded the trumpet and said, "We have no part in David, nor heredity in the land of Isai." He sounded the trumpet, to silence them by this sudden sound, and it was then that he said: "We have no part in David, nor heredity in the son of Isai.”

(20:18). It is said in the old proverb: Let those who want to question, question in Abelah, and they will do so wisely. The Hebrew text does not read "proverb." This is the word of the law, where God commanded by Moses (Deut. 20), that when they are about to enter the land of Canaan and destroy their people, they first offer peace: peace was accepted, by the same the Cananeans would become their tributaries; if peace were not accepted then the Israelites would destroy them. Hence the quoted exclamation of a wise woman from the city:

(20:19). Am I not the one who spreads the truth in Israel, and do not you seek to overthrow the city? Why do you push the Lord's inheritance to ruin? As if she said: Why do you want to destroy this city, before offering it peace, as the law prescribes? Why are you not observing to us Israelites, the same law that was once observed with regard to foreigners? The Jews say that this woman was Zara descendant of Asher, son of Jacob; and if she qualifies as a mother in these terms: "You seek to overthrow a mother of Israel," it is that she was advanced in age.

(20:26). And Ira the Iaitite was a priest of David, that is to say, a teacher, as it is written elsewhere: "The sons of David were priests,” that is, teachers of their brethren.

CHAPTER 21

(21:1). And our Lord said: For Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gabaonites. These men of blood are the sons of Saul, who, with Doeg the Edomite, when they were still children, massacred the Gabonites and priests in Nobe.

(21:2). The sons of Israel had sworn them. And Saul wanted to strike with zeal. By a false zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah, saying that Joshua gave free life to the Gibeonites, (Josh. 9-10), and that he had thus removed from the sons of Israel the spoil they would have done on them; This is why Saul orders to put them to death by a false zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah. It was the priest Ahimeleeh who was the cause of this vengeance against the Gabonites.

(21:8). They are Armon and Miphiboseth, whom Respha, daughter of Aia, gave him, and the five sons whom Michol, son of Saul, had fathered to Adriel, daughter of Berzellai, who was from Molathi. One wonders why Scripture says, "the sons of Michol," when it is his sister Merab who was the wife of Adriel, son of Berzellai. Here is the solution: Merab was their mother according to nature: Michol, David's wife, who also called himself Egla, raised them as his children and adopted them, which is why they are called his sons.

(21:19). There was also a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in the which Adeodatus the son of the Forest, an embroiderer from Bethlehem struck Goliath the Getheite. Gob means lake. There is talk of a lake, because, just as one would throw a man to the lions' den, David throws himself against Goliath. Adeodatus is none other than David, David, and he is so called, because God chose him for the throne. Son of the forest, because he was drawn from the groves where he grazed the sheep. An embroiderer, because his mother was of the breed of Beseleel. From Bethlehem, because Noemi and Ruth at the time of abundance returned to Bethlehem. And because Ruth seeking her bread was met by Booz, this same place was called the house of bread. Moreover. Adeodatus is the same as David, the rest of it shows: "These four were born of Arespha in Geth and fell into the hands of David and his servants."

(21:21). He was struck by Jonathan, the son of Semmaa, brother of David. This Jonathan is the same as the prophet Nathan.

CHAPTER 23

(23:1). The man for whom was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, said. The Hebrew: "To whom, anointed of the God of Jacob, was given the ladder." For this anointed of the God of Jacob, i.e. David, established the ladder by which he ascended to God, in that he confessed his sin against God with regard to Uri the Ethene, and that by doing penance, he rose to God by this ladder.

These are the last words of David. These are the last, because it is after the psalms and his other poems, that he composed this song: "David son of lsai said, He said, the man for whom was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob."

(23:13). Moreover also before there went down three which were princes among thirty, and came to David in the harvest time into the cave of Odollam. These three were Abisai, son of Sarvia, and Sibbachai of Usath, and Jonathan, son of Semonaa, brother of David. These three burst into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the Bethlehem cistern. Abisai was the first of the three, as we read in what follows.

(23:18-19). Abisai, brother of Joab, son of Sarvia, was the chief of these three who were appointed; and among these he was foremost, leading the others, but he could not rival the first three, implying: the virtues of David, wisdom, humility, and strength, as it was said above (v.8): Sitting on his seat and the wisest; here is wisdom. He is like the smallest worm of wood; this is humility. which killed eight hundred at one brunt; here is the strength. To these three virtues did not reach any of David's forts. Hence Eleazar was, it is said, between the three strong men who accompanied David, because in this fight, where David killed fourteen of one brunt, Jonathan, the son of Semonaa, on his side, killed a man who had twenty-four fingers, and the same Eleazar struck the Philistines until his hand fainted and stiffened with the sword.

(23:20). And Banaias the son of Joiada the most valiant man of great works, of Cabseel. It should be noted that Hebrew does not read "great works" but "master of works." Cabseel indeed means "congregation of God." He was the master of the congregation of God, that is, "Cerethi and Phetti," which translate to "Who kill and who liveth." He struck the two lions of Moab, that is to say, the two strongest men of Moab. Indeed, when David began the war against these same Moabites, and had three cords, two to mortify, and the other to vivify, these powerful ones protected the Moabites. He struck the two lions of Moab, and he went down, and struck the lion in the midst of the cistern in the days of snow. This lion was Joab. In the middle of the cistern, that is, in the house of the Lord, where he held the horn of the altar. This house is called a cistern, because, like the water of the cistern, purifies, so the mystical cistern, that is to say, the sanctuary of the Lord removes sins. In the days of the snow, because he expiated his sin by death, according to the words of the Psalmist: "You shall wash me," (Ps. 1) what was done in the middle of the cistern, "and I shall be whiter than snow,” which is fulfilled in these words: “in the days of the snow. "

(23:21). He also struck an Egyptian, a man worthy. This Egyptian was the son of Jera, Semei, who cursed David. We must know that this Semei was "Bahurim," that is to say "among the chosen ones." He is described as an Egyptian, because he imitated the conduct of that Egyptian who blasphemed God, and Moses, at the Lord's command, put to death in the desert. (Lev 24) One blasphemed God; the other curses the royal prophet. Worthy of being a spectacle, that is, "who deserved death." It was expected, in fact, that he went out of Jerusalem to put him to death. Having in hand a spear, that is, "the law of the Lord;" if he had meditated on it, while dwelling at Jerusalem, he was not dead.  Because he made vain the order of the king, going out of Jerusalem, Banaiah came down against him with the rod, that is to say, in good justice; and the rod he did not hold upright was taken away by force. And he slew with his spear, because by violating the law, he deserved to be put to death by law, in which it is written, "You shall not curse gods, and you shall not curse. the prince of your people. " (Ex. 22:28)

(23:31). That's what Banaia, son of Joiada, said. And he is ranked among the three strong, who were the thirty most noble. The meaning is that he deserved to be ranked among the three strong, that is, Abisai, Sibbacha, and Jonathan, to whom he could be equaled for strength. "These were three out of thirty." It is not surprising, however, whether the names given make a total of thirty-seven, not thirty. Here is how it is done. The seven strongest are: David, called Adeodatus, Abisai, Sibbachai, Jonathan, Eleazar, Semmaa sons of Haggai of Arari, and Banaias. These are the seven. These are the thirty: Asalel, Eleanan, Semma of Aradi, Elicha, Elez, Hira, Habierzer, Mobunai, Selmon, Maharai, Eleph, Banaias, Phratonite, Eldar, Hidah, Albialbon, Azmavet, Eliaba, Semma Arari, Haam, Elipheleth, Eliam, Ezrai, Phrar, Jigaal, Boni, Selech, Naarai, Hira, Gareb, Uri the Ethean. And here's why Uriah the Hittite is placed last.