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1
Chronicles Chapter Eleven
1 Chronicles 11
Chapter Contents
David raised to the throne. (1-9) A list of David's
mighty men. (10-47)
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11:1-9
(Read 1 Chronicles 11:1-9)
David was brought to possess the throne of Israel after
he had reigned seven years in Hebron, over Judah only. God's counsels will be
fulfilled at last, whatever difficulties lie in the way. The way to be truly
great, is to be really useful, to devote all our talents to the Lord.
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11:10-47
(Read 1 Chronicles 11:10-47)
An account is given of David's worthies, the great men
who served him. Yet David reckoned his success, not as from the mighty men that
were with him, but from the mighty God, whose presence is all in all. In
strengthening him, they strengthened themselves and their own interest, for his
advancement was theirs. We shall gain by what we do in our places for the
support of the kingdom of the Son of David; and those that are faithful to Him,
shall find their names registered much more to their honour, than these are in
the records of fame.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Chronicles》
1 Chronicles 11
Verse 6
[6] And
David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain.
So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.
Chief —
Before this he was one of David's chief captains: but now he is made
captain-general of all the forces of Israel and Judah.
Verse 10
[10] These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who
strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make
him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.
Mighty men —
Yet David ascribed his success, not to the hosts he had, but to the Lord of
hosts: not to the mighty men that were with him, but to the mighty God, whole
presence with us is all in all.
Verse 11
[11] And
this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite,
the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain
by him at one time.
Slain — By
his own hand, five hundred more being slain by others then joining with him,
who pursued the victory, both which sums make up the eight hundred, numbered 2 Samuel 23:8. The slaughter of all is justly
ascribed to him, because it was the effect of his valour.
Verse 18
[18] And
the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the
well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David:
but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
Would not drink of it — That water which he thought too precious for his own drinking, he poured
out to the Lord for a drink-offering. If we have any thing better than other,
let God be honoured with it, who is the best and should have the best.
Verse 19
[19] And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink
the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the
jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These
things did these three mightiest.
Shall I drink the blood, … — It put him into the utmost confusion, to think three brave men should
hazard their lives, to fetch water for him. In his account, it turns the water
into blood. It is to the honour of great men, not to be prodigal of the blood
of those they employ.
Verse 21
[21] Of
the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain:
howbeit he attained not to the first three.
Attained not — He
did not equal them.
Verse 41
[41]
Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,
Uriah —
The last of that catalogue in 2 Samuel 23:39. But here some others are added
to the number, because though they were not of the thirty, yet they were men of
great valour and renown amongst David's commanders.
Verse 42
[42]
Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and thirty
with him,
Thirty —
Thirty captains who were under him as their colonel.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Chronicles》
11 Chapter 11
Verses 1-47
Verse 9
So David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord of hosts was with
him
David’s prosperity
I.
God
is the true source of prosperity.
II. God determines
the real nature of prosperity.
III. God fixes the
exact time of prosperity. (J. Wolfendale.)
God’s favour helpful to prosperity
When I resided in a wooded part of Scotland, I used to notice that
the trees nearest the light at the edge of a dense forest had larger branches
than those in the interior, and
that the same tree would throw out a long branch towards the
light and a short one towards the dark recess of the forest. (J. Thain
Davidson, D. D.)
God’s blessing is necessary to prosperity
If we turn to Him, and become recipients of His grace, then
will our talents and faculties develop, and be used in the right direction.
Verses 15-19
Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David.
The water of the well of Bethlehem
This incident, although it rests upon a basis of conspicuous
bravery, evidently owes its cardinal importance to far deeper considerations.
Some might be tempted to think that David’s conduct in pouring out the water
was fantastic and wasteful--an ill-timed intrusion of a poetic sentiment on the
stern realities of life. On the contrary his conduct is penetrated with the
sense of the value of life, with deep appreciation of heroism and with a
high-minded shrinking from any mean appropriation of the unselfish devotion of
his fellow-men. Some lives there are that whatever is done for them are never
thrilled by any self-abasing surprise; no sacrifice is above their merit--their
bottomless egotism could swallow worlds.
I. The base
acceptance of the incalculable risks and toils and sorrows of other men is to
be noted in--
1. Those in whom is developed the undue love of command and the
imperious appetite for personal distinction. The monarchs of the older world
who remorselessly sacrificed blood and treasure to build themselves impregnable
cities, or to erect stately sepulchres. The Eastern chieftain who bade his
warrior take the needless death-leap. Napoleon Bonaparte.
2. In those simply selfish ones who have not yet risen high enough to
afford themselves the luxury of tyranny. Their maxim is “Everybody for
himself.” I have heard of a farmer, whose parcel of ground one might ride round
in a couple of hours, express an eager desire for a war between two great
powers, since it would probably enrich him. Merchants and millowners have not
been free from such wishes. All this is to batten on flesh and blood.
3. In the indifferent many of us are like the receivers of stolen property, only
too satisfied to receive and to ask no questions. We expect all the machinery
of our life to work with regularity, but are coldly indifferent to the means.
Let us learn from David a view of life diviner and therefore more humane.
II. Think of the
heroic water-fetching that lies behind our own life.
1. Historically. Whole civilisations lie behind us; the Egyptian,
Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman--each has contributed its quota and we
inherit the best of each. Do we reflect, with sufficient gratitude to God and
man, on that costly part of which we are--the result?
2. The present day. Our life is enriched by the multitudinous toil of
those who remain unknown, and often scantily rewarded. David’s words are not
without meaning to us under existing social conditions.
3. Let us step on to more personal ground.
III. What does
David’s view lead us to?
1. Solemn thoughtfulness. What are we that all this should have been
done for us? We ought to learn reverence for that majesty of history which the
children of the market-place deride. We ought to view our privileges with a
more anxious sense of responsibility.
2. The acceptance of such services as have been referred to is
inevitable, for we cannot unmake history or sever ourselves from the complex influences of
the present order of society. But what does rest in every man’s power is to
form his own estimate of the value of such services and to decide what use
their sacred splendour or gentle unselfishness urge him to put them to.
3. The impulse to self-abnegation which we see in David. This is the
practical tendency of all such lives and deeds. The legend of Curtius,
self-devoted that he might save the State, may have been simply a concrete
personification of the general patriotism of early Rome; but it gave memorable
impulses to later generations. It was not absent from the mind of Regulus; it
helped to cheer the Roman legions in Parthia and Persia and amid the German
swamps and forests. God has set our lives in a framework of noble and unceasing
sacrifice. In this old Jewish story we have a significant though undesigned
illustration of the transcendent sacrifice of Christ. He has brought us the
true “living water.” (T. Rhys Evans.)
Jashobeam, and courageous companions
It was just like David with his intense nature to speak and act in
the way recorded in these verses. Just as an Italian in a northern region longs
for the fruits and blue skies of his own land, so David longed for the water.
We have here--
I. A manifestation
of devoted loyalty. What ought we to venture for our King Jesus?
II. High
appreciation of service. David pours it out before the Lord as the only One who
is worthy to receive so great a sacrifice. Some might blame him for appearing
to throw a slight on the act of the brave men--judicious waste. Some had
indignation when the woman broke the alabaster box of ointment over Christ’s
feet; but He looked at it in another light--He approved that loving, loyal,
lavish “waste.” Only selfish souls could be indifferent to the lives of others.
His act was not like that of the Pasha in the Russo-Turkish war who, when
English doctors went to him at a great cost, eager to help the wounded Turkish
soldiers, repulsed them and firmly declined to receive their services. What
ought to be our feeling towards our King who has broken through the ranks of
evil, to gain for us the water of Life? (J. Hastings.)
Longing for the associations of child-hood
There are times in life when our childhood comes up with
new meaning and with new appeal. We long for the old homestead, for the
mountains which girdled us round in early life, for the friends who heard our
first speech and answered our first desires; we want to leave the far country
and go home again, and, forgetting all the burden of the past, start life with
all that is richest in experience. Any water would have quenched David’s
thirst, but there are times when mere necessaries are not enough; we must have
the subtle touch, the mysterious association, the romantic impulse, all the
poetry of life. In our spiritual life we cannot be satisfied with great
conceptions, brilliant thoughts, miracles of genius, words employed by the
tongue of the master; we need a tone, a look, a touch, a peculiar and
distinctive something which belongs to the very root and core of life, being
charged with a poetry and a force all its own. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Water poured out as a libation
Some years ago in the State House of Georgia, at Atlanta, this
scene occurred: A coloured minister, standing in the State House, said he was
thirsty, and he was looking for something to drink. A white gentleman standing
by, said, “I’ll get you a drink,” and departed from the room. As the white
gentleman was coming back with a glass of water for this black clergyman some
one said to the clergyman, “Do you know who that is who is bringing you a glass
of water?” “No I who is it?” “That is Governor Colquitt.” Then the black man
took the glass of water and said, “Thank you, Governor, but I cannot drink this
under such circumstances,” and he poured it on the floor, saying: “I pour this
out as a libation on the altar of Christian feeling between the two races.”
Dramatic? Yes, but Christian. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
A modern hero
A window in the chapel of the Lichfield Cathedral has a
special meaning. It is one of several windows presented by the officers and men
who had served in New Zealand during the Maori War, in token of their gratitude
for Bishop Selwyn’s attention to their welfare in that campaign. It is a
medallion depicting David in the act of pouring out the longed-for “water of
the well of Bethlehem,” procured for him by “the three mighty men” at the risk
of their lives. This medallion commemorates the similar heroic action of a
Christian Maori who had been a pupil of Dr. Selwyn’s when he was Bishop of New
Zealand. This Maori, Henere Taratoa, when the war broke out, felt hound to join
his tribe. He was placed in charge of a fortified village known as the
formidable “Gate Psalm” The British troops stormed the pa, and were
repulsed with great slaughter. Several wounded officers were left inside the
village, mad one of them feebly moaned for water. There was no water to be had,
the nearest being within the British lines. At night this young Christian Maori
crept down, at the risk of his life, within the line of English sentries,
filled a vessel with water, and carried it back to the pa to refresh his
dying enemy’s lips. The next day the British again stormed the place, and
Henere was killed. On his person was found the text of Holy Scripture which had
suggested the deed: “If thine enemy thirst, give him drink!” (Sunday
Companion.)
Self-forgetfulness
That which especially distinguishes a high order of man from a low
order of man--that which constitutes human goodness, human nobleness--is surely
not the degree of enlightenment with which men pursue their own advantage; but
it is self-forgetfulness, it is self-sacrifice, it is the disregard of personal
pleasure and personal indulgence, personal advantages remote or present. (A.
Froude.)
Verse 22
The son of a valiant man of Kabzeel.
Valiant men
If we are to expect the virtues of the fathers repeated in
the sons, what wonderful progress the ages ought to have seen? It is a
marvellous fact that whatever a father may be able to bequeath to his children
he is unable to give them the information which he himself has acquired. Every
man must learn the alphabet for himself. Some degree of mental force maybe
traceable to heredity, and unquestionably it is so; at the same time that
mental force is to be exercised by its owner on quite independent grounds. We
cannot live long on the reputation of our fathers. A curious law of recession
seems to operate on the progress of mankind. The son of Aristotle is not Aristotle plus; he may
indeed be Aristotle minus in an alarming degree, quite an
indifferent figure, an incapable person, a living irony upon the greatness of
the father to whom he belongs; yet in the next generation there may be a
distinct advance, and even the original greatness may be transcended. We must
never forget the responsibility of having a great father. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 28
And he slew an Egyptian.
The spiritual slaughter
We too are called upon to slay, to destroy and to overthrow. Are
we anxious to slay a lion?
1. There is a lion to be fought by every man--Satan (1 Peter 5:8). We are called upon to
fight against--
2. Self-indulgence.
3. Worldly fashion.
4. Worldly ambition.
Truly there is battle enough now to be done. Whosoever will set
himself against the customs of his time, the popular policies of the circle in
which he moves, the prejudices of the persons whose friendship he values, will
find that he must have a sword in his right hand, and that even whilst he
sleeps he must have his armour so near that at a moment’s notice he can be once
more in the fray. (J. Parker, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》