The Story of the Bible

And David wrote a song over the death of Saul and Jonathan. He taught it to the people of Judah, and called it

THE SONG OF THE BOW

Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places!

How are the mighty fallen!

Tell it not in Gath.

Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon;

Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,

Lest the daughters of the heathen triumph.

Ye mountains of Gilboa.

Let there be now dew nor rain upon you neither fields of offerings:

For there the shield of the mighty was cast away as a vile thing.

The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,

The bow of Jonathan turned not back,

And the sword of Saul returned not empty.

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,

And in their death they were not divided:

They were swifter than eagles,

They were stronger than lions.

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you in scarlet delicately,

Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

On Jonathan, slain upon thy high places!

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan,

Very pleasant has thou been unto me;

Thy love to me was wonderful,

Passing the love of women.

How are the mighty fallen,

And the weapons of war perished!"

After this, at the command of the Lord, David and his men went up from Ziglag to Hebron, in the middle of the tribe-land of Judah. And the men of Judah met together at Hebron, and they made David king over their tribe. And David reigned in Hebron, over the tribe of Judah, for seven years.

HEBRON, WHERE DAVID WENT

But Saul's uncle, Abner, who had been the chief over his house and over his army, was not willing to have the kingdom go out of the family of Saul. He made a son of Saul king over all the tribes in the north of the land. This king was called Ish-bosheth, a name which means "a worthless man." He was weak and helpless, except for the strong will and power of Abner, who had made him king. For six years seemingly under Ish-bosheth, but really under Abner, the form of a kingdom was kept up, while Ish-bosheth was living at Mahanaim, on the east of Jordan.

Thus for a time there were two kingdoms in Israel, that of the north under Ish-bosheth, and that of the south under David. But all the time David's kingdom was growing stronger, and Ish-bosheth's kingdom was growing weaker.

After a time Abner was slain by one of David's men, and at once Ish-bosheth's power dropped away. Then two men of his army killed him, and cut off his head, and brought it to David. They looked for a reward, since Ish-bosheth had been king against David. But David said, "As the Lord lives, who has brought me out of trouble, I will give no reward to wicked men, who have slain a good man in his own house, and upon his own head. Take these two murderers away, and kill them!"

So the two slayers of the weak king, Ish-bosheth, were punished with death, and the head of the slain man was buried with honor. David had not forgotten his promise to Saul to deal kindly with his children.

The Sound in the Tree-Tops

II Samuel v: 1, to vii: 29.

After David had reigned as king over the tribe of Judah for seven years, and when Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, was dead, all the men in Israel saw that David was the one man who was fit to be king over the land. So the rulers and elders of all the twelve tribes came to David in Hebron, and said to him, "We are all your brothers; and in time past, when Saul was king, it was you who led the people; and the Lord said, 'David shall be the shepherd of my people, and shall be prince over Israel.' Now we are ready to make you king over all the land."

Then David and the elders of Israel made an agreement together before the Lord in Hebron; and they anointed David as king over all the twelve tribes of Israel, from Dan in the far north to Beersheba in the south. David was now thirty-seven years old, and he reigned over all Israel thirty-three years.

He found the land in a helpless state, everywhere under the power of the Philistines, and with many of its cities still held by the Canaanite people. The city of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, had been kept as a stronghold by a Canaanite tribe called the Jebusites, ever since the days of Joshua. David led his men of war against it, but the Jebusites, from their high walls and steep rocks, laughed at him.

To mock King David, they placed on the top of the wall the blind and lame people, and they called aloud to David, "Even blind men and lame men can keep you out of our city."

THE WALL OF JERUSALEM AS IT NOW IS

This made David very angry, and he said to his men, "Whoever first climbs up the wall, and strikes down the blind and the lame upon it, he shall be the chief captain and general of the whole army."