Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

After the death of Saul, David returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

“David had abode two days in Ziklag--Though greatly reduced by the Amalekite incendiaries, that town was not so completely sacked and destroyed, but David and his six hundred followers, with their families, could still find some accommodation.”

And David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner,” he answered. “I am an Amalekite.”

“In present circumstances it was especially important that his principle should be publicly known; and to free himself from the imputation of being in any way accessory to the execrable crime of regicide was the part of a righteous judge, no less than of a…”

“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

“The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places--literally, "the gazelle" or "antelope of Israel." In Eastern countries, that animal is the chosen type of beauty and symmetrical elegance of form. how are the mighty fallen!--This forms the chorus.”

O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain.

“The curse seems still to lie upon them; for the mountains of Gilboa are naked and sterile. the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away--To cast away the shield was counted a national disgrace.”

So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.

“David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead--There can be no doubt that this message of thanks for their bold and dangerous enterprise in rescuing the bodies of Saul and his sons was an expression of David's personal and genuine feeling of satisfaction.”

One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

“Abner . . . and the servants of Ish-bosheth . . . went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon--This town was near the confines of Judah, and as the force with which Abner encamped there seemed to have some aggressive design, David sent an army of…”

Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.

“Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us--Some think that the proposal was only for an exhibition of a little tilting match for diversion.”

and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit. And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” Asahel replied.

“Asahel pursued after Abner--To gain the general's armor was deemed the grandest trophy. Asahel, ambitious of securing Abner's, had outstripped all other pursuers, and was fast gaining on the retreating commander.”

his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

“This marriage seems to have been a political match, made by David, with a view to strengthen himself against Ish-bosheth's party, by the aid of a powerful friend and ally in the north.”

and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.

“Eglah David's wife--This addition has led many to think that Eglah was another name for Michal, the first and proper wife, who, though she had no family after her insolent ridicule of David (2Sa 6:23), might have had a child before.”

Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong?

“Abner sent messengers to David--Though his language implied a secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of the measure he was now…”

Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king.

“Abner had communication with the elders of Israel--He spoke the truth in impressing their minds with the well-known fact of David's divine designation to the kingdom.”

So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away!

“To these considerations was added the remembrance of the blood feud that existed between them since the death of his brother Asahel (2Sa 2:23).”

And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.

“Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet--This is mentioned as a reason why, according to Oriental notions, he was considered unfit for exercising the duties of sovereignty.”

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life.

“They brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David . . . and said, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth--Such bloody trophies of rebels and conspirators have always been acceptable to princes in the East, and the carriers have been liberally rewarded.”

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.

“King David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord--(see on 1Sa 10:17). This formal declaration of the constitution was chiefly made at the commencement of a new dynasty, or at the restoration of the royal family after a usurpation (2Ki 11:17), though…”

So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

“David built round about from Millo and inward--probably a row of stone bastions placed on the northern side of Mount Zion, and built by David to secure himself on that side from the Jebusites, who still lived in the lower part of the city.”

David again assembled the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all.

“Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel--(See 2Sa 5:1). The object of this second assembly was to commence a national movement for establishing the ark in Jerusalem, after it had continued nearly fifty years in the house of Abinadab (see on 1Ch…”

Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”

“It was transported now on the shoulders of the priests, who had been carefully prepared for the work, and the procession was distinguished by extraordinary solemnities and demonstrations of joy.”

And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,

“But it was unquestionably done as an act of religious homage, his attitudes and dress being symbolic, as they have always been in Oriental countries, of penitence, joy, thankfulness, and devotion. [See on 1Ch 15:27.]”

And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will…

“But by a special ordinance and promise of God, his successor was to be a son born after this time; and the departure from the established usage of the East in fixing the succession, can be accounted for on no other known ground, except the…”

He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

“He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever--This declaration referred, in its primary application, to Solomon, and to the temporal kingdom of David's family.”

Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

“David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines--that is, Gath and her suburban towns (1Ch 18:1). That town had been "a bridle" by which the Philistines kept the people of Judah in check.”

David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord.

“The Septuagint and Vulgate make one-half. This war usage was not, perhaps, usually practised by the people of God; but Jewish writers assert that the cause of this particular severity against this people was their having massacred David's parents and family, whom he had, during…”

and King David dedicated these to the LORD, along with the silver and gold he had dedicated from all the nations he had subdued—

“This is the first instance of a practice uniformly followed by David of reserving, after defraying expenses and bestowing suitable rewards upon his soldiers, the remainder of the spoil taken in war, to accumulate for the grand project of his life--the erection of a national…”