2 Samuele 23:20 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 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel,.... A city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:21; the father of this man was a man of great vivacity, valour, and strength, so that it was like father like son. Procopius Gazaeus says Benaiah was David's brother's son, and a grandson of Jesse: who had done many acts; which may refer either to the father of Benaiah or to Benaiah himself; and indeed the Syriac and Arabic versions refer the preceding character, "a valiant man", not to the father, but the son: he slew two lionlike men of Moab; two princes of Moab, as the Targum, or two giants of Moab, as the Syriac and Arabic versions; men who were comparable to lions for their strength and courage; for this is not to be understood of two strong towers of Moab, as Ben Gersom, which were defended by valiant men like lions, or which had the form of lions engraved on them: nor of Moabitish altars, as Gussetius (f), the altar of the Lord, being called by this name of Ariel, the word used; but of men of uncommon valour and fortitude: he went down also, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow; not Joab, Kg1 2:34, as is the tradition (g), but a real lion, the strongest among the beasts; and that in a pit where he could not keep his distance, and turn himself, and take all advantage, and from whence he could not make his escape; and which indeed might quicken his resolution, when he must fight or die; and on a snowy day, when lions are said to have the greatest strength, as in cold weather, or however are fiercer for want of food; and when Benaiah might be benumbed in his hands and feet with cold. Josephus (h) represents the case thus, that the lion fell into a pit, where was much snow, and was covered with it, and making a hideous roaring, Benaiah went down and slew him; but rather it was what others say, that this lion very much infested the places adjacent, and did much harm; and therefore, for the good of the country, and to rid them of it, took this opportunity, and slew it; which one would think was not one of the best reasons that might offer; it seems best therefore what Bochart (i) conjectures, that Benaiah went into a cave, for so the word used may signify, to shelter himself a while from the cold, when a lion, being in it for the same reason, attacked him, and he fought with it and slew it; or rather it may be an hollow place, a valley that lay between Acra and Zion, where Benaiah, hearing a lion roar, went down and slew it (k). (f) Ebr. Comment p. 95. (g) Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 80. C. (h) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 4.) (i) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 4. col. 758. (k) See the Universal History, vol. 4. p. 227.

"He went down and struck the lion in the middle of the cistern." [2 Samuel 23:20] As it is said of Benaiah: And he went down and struck the lion in the middle of the cistern on a snowy day (Book VII, Antiquities, ch. 12), how this was done, Josephus recounts more clearly, because the cistern was indeed very deep, which in the wintertime, when everything was filled with snow, it too was leveled with an excessive heap of snow. When the lion, unbeknownst to danger, happened upon it and fell in, and being trapped there roared greatly, people ran to see what it was. And when Benaiah came with others to such a spectacle, he immediately jumped into the cistern, and attacked and killed the lion in the midst of the snow.

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

Two lion-like men of Moab - Some think that two real lions are meant; some that they were two savage gigantic men; others, that two fortresses are meant. The words שני אראל מואב sheney ariel Moab may signify, as the Targum has rendered it, ית תרין רברבי מואב yath terein rabrebey Moab, "The two princes of Moab."

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.