10. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. Ovid speaks of "The thunder's voice, which wretched mortals fear." Ov. Metam. l. I. v. 55. 12. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Alexander, after his victory over Porus, commanded twelve altars to be built, equal in height to so many fortified towers, and exceeding them in bulk these he consecrated as thank-offerings to the gods who had brought him so far victorious, and as memorials of his own labours."-ARR. Exped. Alex. 1. v. c. 29. 1 SAMUEL VIII. 3. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. "Rough are the ways of justice as the sea, Dragg'd to and fro by men's corrupt decree : HES. Oper. et dies, v. 218. 7. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. So Mentor tells the men of Ithaca, that they would never have another king so just, gentle, kind, and fatherly as that Ulysses whom they had so soon forgotten. "O never, never more let king be just, Be mild in power or faithful to his trust! HOм. Odyss. 1. II. v. 230. 1 SAMUEL IX. 3. And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. In Homer we have the "god-like Iphitus," the friend and associate of Ulysses, his mares and mules; for the sake of which he was slain by Hercules. n s hitus had hither come, to seek welve mares and twelve mule-colts, which he had lost." Odyss. 1. XXI. v. 22. N 7. Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? It was customary to offer gifts to those in authority as a kind of tribute due to their character and position. Hence the presentation of only a piece of bread would be acceptable on account of the respect and homage implied by the offering. Plutarch relates of Artaxerxes : "There was not anything, however trifling, brought him by way of present, which he did not receive kindly. Even when one Omisus brought him a pomegranate of uncommon size, he said, "By the light of Mittora, this man if he were made governor of a small city, would soon make it a great one. When he was once upon a journey, and people presented him with a variety of things by the way, a labouring man having nothing else to give him, ran to the river and brought him some water in his hands. Artaxerxes was so much pleased that he sent him a gold cup and a thousand darics.”—PLUT. Artax. c. 4. 1 SAMUEL X. 3. Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. The number three appears to have had some mystic signification among all people. See notes on the Holy Trinity, Matt. III. 16. The Parcæ were three in number: The sceptre of Neptune was a trident, the dog Cerberus three headed, of Jove triplex. See Is. XXXVIII. 12. and the thunder-bolt "Around his waxen image first I wind Three woollen fillets of three colours join'd, VIRG. Ecl. VIII. v. 73. 23. And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? "In early times, when the welfare of a people depended much upon the military prowess of their king, and when physical strength and courage were more prized than other accomplishments, it was an essential qualification of a king that he should be of handsome and commanding appearance; possessing as Euripides says, "a beauty worthy of his royal state." In Homer, the aged king Priam, viewing from the walls of Troy the army of the Greeks, enquires of Helen the names of several warriors by whose fine appearance and lofty stature his attention is attracted. These in each instance are either the kings or lea 'ers of the hosts. Again "What chief is that, with giant strength endued, Ajax the great, (the beauteous queen replied,) HOм. I. 1. III. v. 166-226. "Among the Ethiopians the supreme authority is given to him who excels all his fellow-citizens in size and proportionate strength."-ÍÐт. Ï. III. c. 20. "Among all the myriads of men who composed the army of Xerxes, with respect to grace and dignity of person, no one better deserved the supreme command than Xerxes himself."-IBID. 1. VII. c. 187. "When Abradates, king of the Susians, who was before a man of fine appearance, was set out in his royal arms, he appeared the most beautiful and noble of all, being likewise so by nature.' -XEN. Cyrop. 1. vi. c. 4. "All the people thought that Cyrus appeared exceedingly tall and beautiful.” IBID. 1. VIII. c. 3. "The Ethiopians choose the most beautiful among them to be their king, judging that regal power and beauty are always the gifts of fortune."-DIOD. SIC. 1. III. c. 1. 'Theophrastus tells us the Ephori fined Archidamus for marrying a little woman, 'She will bring us,' said they, a race of kinglings instead of kings."-PLUT. Agesil. c. 2. "Surena was no ordinary person, but in fortune, family, and honour, the first after the king; and in point of courage and capacity, as well as in size and beauty, superior to the Parthians of his time."-IBID. Crass. c. 21. "Alexander going to meet Porus, was struck with admiration at his tallness, (for he was above five cubits and an inch high) as well as at his beauty, and the just proportions of his body."—ARR. Exped. Alex. l. v. c. 19. 24. And all the people shouted, and said, God save the King. It has been an ancient opinion that kings had their right to their crowns by a special appointment from heaven. In Homer the sceptres of kings are usually given either to them or some of their ancestors by Jupiter. Among the Romans the king was supposed to be consecrated after due ceremonies by an auspicious thunder. "The king of kings his awful figure raised; By Vulcan form'd, from Jove to Hermes came : To Pelops he the immortal gift resign'd; The immortal gift great Pelops left behind, In Atreus' hand, which not with Atreus ends, To rich Thyestes next the prize descends; And now, the mark of Agamemnon's reign, Subjects all Argos, and controls the main."-Il. 1. I. v. 101. Homer introduces Antinous acknowledging the hereditary right of Telemachus to succeed to the throne of Ithaca; to which the latter replies that he should willingly accept the crown if Jove should give it him; Eurymachus confirms what Telemachus had said, and remarks that, it must be left to the gods who should reign over Ithaca. "ANTINOUS: May Jove delay thy reign, and cumber late EURYMACHUS : Refer the choice to fill the vacant throne."-Odyss. 1. 1. v. 388. "Kings are from Jove."-HES. Theog. v. 96. "Romulus being accepted by the deity by unequivocal signs, an assembly being called and the auspices declared, was proclaimed king by the unanimous voice of the people; and it was decreed that thenceforth none should at any time assume the regal dignity, except with the sanction of the god."-DION. HALIC. Antiq. 1. 11. c. 5. 1 SAMUEL XIII. 5. And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. The number of chariots here mentioned seems excessive, and it is supposed there must be some error in the text; but in 1 Chron. XIX. 7, a larger number, viz: thirty-two thousand, is said to have been brought into the field. Perhaps the number of the men who fought from the chariots is given, chariots being put for charioteers. The Persians, besides chariots containing two persons, used a kind of cart drawn by a single mule or more, consisting of a stage on high wheels, capable of holding five or six warriors. They also carried with them to the war their women, and all that they valued most, under the belief that they should fight the more resolutely in their defence. This would add considerably to the number of chariots in use. "Some of the Medes brought chariots that they had taken; many of them full of the most considerable women, some of whom were of the legitimate sort, while others were courtesans, who were conveyed up and down on account of their beauty; for to this day all the inhabitants of Asia, in time of war, attend the service accompanied with what they value most."-XEN. Cyrop. 1. iv. c. 3. "The ambassadors of the Indians brought to the camp of Alexander, among other gifts, one thousand and thirty chariots, each drawn by four horses.”—Q. CURT. 1. IX. c. 8. 11. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash: 12. Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. Sacrifices in the prospect of a battle were common among all nations. The Athenians being about to sail with an expedition against Syracuse— "When the whole force was got on board the fleet, and the stowage of all necessary stores and all baggage whatever was completely adjusted, silence was proclaimed by sound of trumpet; but the solemn prayers for a successful expedition were not offered from every vessel apart, but in behalf of all united, by the voice of a herald."-THUCYD. 1. vi. c. 32. "Cyrus being about to carry war into the territory of the Armenians, presently made a sacrifice for his intended march. It happened that the sacrifice for his design against the Armenians turned out happily, so he immediately set forward as if for a hunt."-XEN. Cyrop. 1. 11. c. 4. "Xenophon, being in danger from the governor of Byzantium, sacrificed, in order to know whether the gods would allow him to carry the army over to Seuthes." IBID. Anab. 1. vII. c. 2. 1 SAMUEL XIV. 15. And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked; so it was a very great trembling. 16. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another. There are numerous instances in the ancient historians and poets of armies seized with sudden terror, without any assignable cause. These panic fears were attributed to the influence of an unfriendly deity. Homer makes Phoebus the cause of such perturbations. See further notes on this subject 2 Kings vII. 6. Jove is represented by Homer striking terror into the Grecian hosts by thunderings and prodigies. "Then Jove from Ida's top his horrors spreads, The clouds burst dreadful o'er the Grecian heads; The gods in terror, and the skies on fire."-Hoм. Il. 1. VIII. v. 75. On the evening of the same day "Thus joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night, Sat on each face, and sadden'd every heart."—IBID. 1. Ix. v.1. "By heaven-sent terrors, even the sons of the gods are put to flight." PIND. Nem. IX. v. 64. "The most conspicuous things are those which are singled out as objects of Divine displeasure. From the same principle it is that a mighty army is sometimes overthrown by one that is contemptible, for the Deity in his anger sends his terrors among them, and makes them perish in a manner unworthy of their former glory."-HDT. 1. vII. c. 10. 43. Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die. 44. And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. Several instances of this stern justice are to be found in ancient history. When the sons of Brutus were found guilty of conspiracy, "Brutus suffered not pity in the least to smooth his stern and angry countenance, regarding his sons as they suffered with a threatening aspect, till they were extended on the ground and their heads cut off with the axe.”—PLUT. Public. c. 6. Titus Manlius having accepted the challenge of Geminius, in disobedience to the commands of his father, who had ordered that no person should fight with any of the enemy, except at his post, slew his antagonist, and brought the spoils, and laid them at his father's feet. The consul turning from him, ordered an assembly to be called, and, having reproved him for his insubordination, passed sentence of death upon him. "Go, Lictor: bind him to the stake. Shocked to the last degree at such a cruel order, each looking on the axe as if drawn against himself, all were quiet, through fear rather than discipline. They stood, therefore, for some time motionless and silent, but when the blood spouted from his severed neck, they all at once united their voices in free expressions of compassion, and refrained not from lamentations and execrations. From hence "Manlian orders" were not only then regarded with horror, but have been transmitted as a model of austerity to future times."--Liv. 1. viii. c. 7. |