2 Samuele 23:15 Commento

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 23 In this chapter are recorded the last words of David under a divine inspiration, Sa2 23:1; and an account is given of his great men, famous for warlike exploits, particularly of three mighty men who did very marvellous things, Sa2 23:8; and of two others next unto them, which belonged to another class of three, Sa2 23:18; and then of thirty one more, Sa2 23:24; who are all mentioned by name.

And David longed, and said,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty: oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say (y). It is said to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the road (z); and that there is now near Rachel's grave a good rich cistern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets, and a line, as usual in those countries (a); but Mr. Maundrell (b) says it is a well, or rather a cistern, supplied only with rain, without any excellency in its waters to make them desirable; but it seems, he adds, David's spirit had a further aim. Some think he meant by this to get Bethlehem out of the hands of the Philistines, and obtain the possession of it; others, as Jarchi, that he intended to ask some question of the sanhedrim that sat there; and others, that his desire was after the law of God, called waters, as in Isa 55:1; and some Christian writers, both ancient and modern (c), are of opinion, that not literal but spiritual water was desired by him, and that he thirsted after the coming of the Messiah, to be born at Bethlehem, and the living water which he only can give, Joh 4:10. (y) Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 363. (z) Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 52. p. 204. (a) Rauwolff's Travels, part 3. p. 317, 318. (b) Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 90. (c) Ambros. Apolog. David l. 1. c. 7. gloss. ordinar. & Schmidt in loc. Pfeiffer. Difficil. Loc. Script. cent. 2. loc. 91. Horn. Dissert. de desiderio David. sect. 10.

Finally, whom among men shall we consider better and stronger than the holy David, who could not take for himself the water he desired from the Bethlehem lake, which was cut off by the enemy army, but could he mitigate it? For we cannot find that it was lacking for others. That is, with so great a number of soldiers, when he certainly could have had much less water shortage than the king from other sources; having endured a certain irrational desire, he desired that water which was surrounded by the enemy's fortification, from which it could not easily be brought without great danger. Therefore he said, 'Who will give me a drink from the well that is in Bethlehem at the gate?' And when the three men were found who had cut through the enemy's camp and brought the water that he had desired so eagerly, knowing that the same water had been obtained at the risk of others' lives, he poured it out to the Lord, so that it would not seem that he was drinking the blood of those who had brought it. This incident shows that desire indeed comes before reason, but reason resists desire. Therefore, David underwent suffering so that he might desire irrationally. But that is praiseworthy, which he wisely thwarted with a rational remedy. While I praise men who blushed at the desire for their king and preferred to bring an end to their own modesty or the danger to their own safety, I praise him even more who blushed at his own desire and purchased the blood of a dubious fate with a worthy price, as if he poured out water to the Lord with his victorious desire restrained, so as to show that he could restrain his desire with the comforting word.

And certainly when we are disturbed at this very anger because it has stolen upon us against our brother, and we angrily cast out its deadly suggestions and do not permit it to maintain its noxious lair in the recesses of our heart. To be angry in this latter way is also taught us by that prophet who so eradicated this from his mind that he did not even want to take revenge on his own enemies, who had in fact been handed over to him by God, when he said, “Be angry and do not sin.” For when he wanted water from a well in Bethlehem and had been brought it by strong men from the midst of enemy troops, he at once poured it out on the ground and, angrily extinguishing his wanton and passionate desire in this way, he offered it as a libation to the Lord, rejecting his yearning and desire with the words “May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I do this. Shall I drink the blood of those men who went out and the danger of their souls?”

What I say is excessive, unless I confirm these things from testimonies of sacred Scripture. The Law of the Old Testament certainly forbids coveting another's wife, but it does not punish a king for commanding brave deeds of soldiers, or for desiring water. And we all know that David, pierced by the sword of concupiscence, both coveted and took away another man's wife. Fitting scourges followed his fault, and he corrected the evil he had perpetrated through the lamentations of penance. When long afterward he sat against the battle lines of enemies, he wished from desire to drink water from the cistern of Bethlehem. His chosen soldiers, breaking through the midst of the opposing forces, brought back unharmed the water the king had desired. But the man instructed by scourges immediately reproached himself for having desired water at the peril of his soldiers, and pouring it out, he offered it to the Lord, as it is written there: He poured it out to the Lord. For the water poured out was turned into a sacrifice to the Lord, because he slew the fault of concupiscence through the penance of his self-reproach. He therefore who once did not at all fear to covet another's wife, afterward was even afraid because he had coveted water. For since he remembered having perpetrated unlawful things, now stern against himself, he abstained even from lawful things. Thus, thus do we do penance, if we perfectly bewail what we have committed.

A fish is caught by being enticed with a hook. A bird falls into a net while trying to get food. Animals that are tough by nature’s endowment fall into a pit from desire to eat, and what nature does not soften, food deceives. Therefore, learn temperance and parsimony from the prayer and the examples of ancients: from prayer, because the Lord says, “Lest your hearts be overburdened with self-indulgence and drunkenness”; from examples, because David was unwilling to drink the water he wanted, since he recognized the danger of being responsible for another’s blood; and because Daniel scorned the feasts of kings and lived on vegetables. What you possess in common with your companions should be acceptable to you and you should not cause others to be intemperate; also, do not become a cause for scandal to those to whom you wish to set an example by encouragement and by proof of a good life.

The last words of David, Sa2 23:1-7. The names and exploits of has thirty-seven worthies, vv. 8-39.

The water of the well of Bethlehem - This was David's city, and he knew the excellence of the water which was there; and being near the place, and parched with thirst, it was natural for him to wish for a draught of water out of that well. These three heroes having heard it, though they received no command from David, broke through a company of the Philistines, and brought away some of the water. When brought to David he refused to drink it: for as the men got it at the hazard of their lives, he considered it as their blood, and gave thereby a noble instance of self-denial. There is no evidence that David had requested them to bring it; they had gone for it of their own accord, and without the knowledge of David.

DAVID NUMBERS THE PEOPLE. (Sa2 24:1-9) again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah--"Again" carries us back to the former tokens of His wrath in the three years' famine [Sa2 21:1]. God, though He cannot tempt any man (Jam 1:13), is frequently described in Scripture as doing what He merely permits to be done; and so, in this case, He permitted Satan to tempt David. Satan was the active mover, while God only withdrew His supporting grace, and the great tempter prevailed against the king. (See Exo 7:13; Sa1 26:19; Sa2 16:10; Psa 105:25; Isa 7:17, &c.). The order was given to Joab, who, though not generally restrained by religious scruples, did not fail to present, in strong terms (see on Ch1 21:3), the sin and danger of this measure. He used every argument to dissuade the king from his purpose. The sacred history has not mentioned the objections which he and other distinguished officers urged against it in the council of David. But it expressly states that they were all overruled by the inflexible resolution of the king.

the well of Beth-lehem--An ancient cistern, with four or five holes in the solid rock, at about ten minutes distance to the north of the eastern corner of the hill of Beth-lehem, is pointed out by the natives as Bir-Daoud; that is, David's well. Dr. ROBINSON doubts the identity of the well; but others think that there are no good grounds for doing so. Certainly, considering this to be the ancient well, Beth-lehem must have once extended ten minutes further to the north, and must have lain in times of old, not as now, on the summit, but on the northern rise of the hill; for the well is by or (Ch1 11:7) at the gate. I find in the description of travellers, that the common opinion is, that David's captains had come from the southeast, in order to obtain, at the risk of their lives, the so-much-longed-for water; while it is supposed that David himself was then in the great cave that is not far to the southeast of Beth-lehem; which cave is generally held to have been that of Adullam. But (Jos 15:35) Adullam lay "in the valley"; that is, in the undulating plain at the western base of the mountains of Judea and consequently to the southwest of Beth-lehem. Be this as it may, David's men had in any case to break through the host of the Philistines, in order to reach the well; and the position of Bir-Daoud agrees well with this [VAN DE VELDE].