ing strength every day, while the house of Saul daily became weaker and weaker. Indeed, it seems to have required all the great talents of Abner to keep the kingdom of Ishbosheth together.

Meanwhile David reigned prosperously in Hebron.* He increased the number of his wives to six, by all of whom sons were born to him in that place. In this small kingdom his good and prosperous government, together with the knowledge that he had been divinely appointed to reign over all Israel, appears insensibly to have inclined the other tribes toward him, by which, more even than by war, his cause gathered that strength which that of Ishbosheth lost. Abner was fully sensible that without himself the kingdom of his nephew would fall to pieces, or rather pass quietly into the hands of David. He rated his services at their full value; and although we do not ourselves see cause to suspect, as some have done, that he contemplated taking the crown to himself, it is certain that he was not disposed to consider himself responsible to the king for his con

* HEBRON is an ancient city of Palestine, situated in the heart of the hill-country of Judæa, about twenty-seven miles south-west from Jerusalem. Originally it was called Kirjath-Arba, or the city of Arba, "which Arba was a great man among the Anakims." (Josh. xiv. 15.) In the vicinity of this place, Abraham abode after he parted with Lot (Gen. xiii. 18), and bought a field with a cave in which to bury his dead. (Gen. xxiii. 3-20.) Besides Abraham and Sarah, his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, with their wives Rebekah and Leah, and his great grandson Joseph, were severally interred here. (Gen. xxiii. 19, xxv. 10, xlix. 29-33, l. 12, 13.) When the Hebrews invaded Palestine, Hebron was the residence of a king (Josh. xii. 10) named Hoham, who confederated with four other Canaanitish kings against Israel; but they were all discomfited and destroyed by Joshua. (Josh. x. 3, 4, 22-27.) After which the city, being taken, was assigned to Caleb (Josh. xix. 6-11) agreeably to a promise given him by Moses. (Num. xiii. 30-33, xix. 5, 24.) Subsequently it was made a city of refuge, and given to the priests. (Josh. xxi. 11, xx. 7.) Afterward, when David succeeded Saul on the throne of Israel, he selected Hebron for his royal residence, and continued there until Jerusalem was captured from the Jebusites. (2 Sam. ii. 1, v. 4-9.; 1 Chron. xii., xiii.) On the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam, Hebron fell to the share of the king of Judah. (2. Chron. xi. 10.)

Hebrew, Habroun, or, according to the Arabic orthography followed by the moderns, El Hhalil, is a flourishing town, the flat-roofed houses of which are closely jammed together. It contains about four hundred families of Arabs. A splendid church was erected over the graves of the patriarchs by the empress Helena: it has long

duct, or to allow any of his proceedings to
be questioned by him. Now Ishbosheth had
heard that Abner carried on a criminal inter-
course with one of Saul's concubines, named
Rizpah: and as, according to the usages of
the East, the concubines of a deceased sove-
reign became the property of the successor in
so strong and peculiar a sense, that such an
act as that imputed to Abner might be inter-
preted into a design upon the crown, † or at
least was an insulting encroachment upon
the peculiar rights of royalty, even the timid
Ishbosheth was roused to question Abner on
the subject. It is not very clear whether the
charge was true or false; but it is clear that
this overbearing personage was astonished
and disgusted that the king should dare to
He rose
question any part of his conduct.
"Am I, who,
into a towering passion:
against Judah, have to this day shown kind-
ness to the house of Saul, thy father, and to
his brethren and to his friends, and have not
delivered thee into the hands of David, such
a dog's head that thou chargest me to-day
God
with a fault concerning this woman?

been converted into a Turkish mosque. Accord-
|ing to Ali Bey, who visited it in 1807, the ascent
to it is by a large and fine staircase leading to a
long gallery, the entrance to which is by a small
court. Toward the left is a portico, resting upon
square pillars. The vestibule of the temple con-
tains two rooms, one of which is called the tomb
of Abraham, the other that of Sarah. In the body
of the church, between two large pillars on the
right, is seen a small recess, in which is the sepul-
chre of Isaac, and in a similar one upon the left
is that of his wife. On the opposite side of the
court is another vestibule, which has also two
rooms, respectively called the tombs of Jacob and
his wife. At the extremity of the portico, on the
right hand, is a door leading to a sort of long gal-
lery, which still serves for a mosque; and passing
thence, is observed another room, said to contain
the ashes of Joseph. All the sepulchres of the
patriarchs are covered with rich carpets of green
silk, magnificently embroidered with gold; those
of their wives are red, embroidered in like man-
ner. The sultans of Constantinople furnish these
carpets, which are renewed from time to time.
Ali Bey counted nine, one over the other, upon
The rooms also
the sepulchre of Abraham.
which contain the tombs are covered with rich
carpets: the entrance to them is guarded by iron
gates, and wooden doors plated with silver, hav-
ing bolts and padlocks of the same metal. More
than a hundred persons are employed in the ser-
vice of this Mohammedan temple. The popula-
tion of Hebron is considerable: the inhabitants
manufacture glass lamps, which are exported to
Egypt. Provisions are abundant, and there is a
considerable number of shops.

† See instances of this in the case of Absalom (2 Sam. xx. 23) and Adonijah, 1 Kings, ii. 13-25.

Abner was received with great distinction and royally feasted by David; and after the business on which he really came had been settled to his satisfaction, he departed with the intention of inducing the tribes to concur in giving David a public invitation to take the crown of Israel.

do so to Abner, and more also, if, as Jehovah | to make overtures to him in behalf of the hath sworn to David, I do not so to him, by tribes which had hitherto adhered to the transferring the dominion of the house of house of Saul. Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." From this it seems that even Abner knew that he had acted against a higher duty, in setting up Ishbosheth in opposition to David; but this cannot justify the grounds on which he now declared his intention to act against him. What he had said Joab had been absent from Hebron during was no vain threat, although he was probably this visit of Ahner; but he returned immewilling afterward that the son of Saul should diately after Abner had departed, and was take it for an unmeaning outbreak of passion. deeply displeased when he learned what had He sent messengers to David to enter into a occurred. Through the energy of his chartreaty with him, under which he would en-acter, his abilities and experience in the gage to use his great influence in bringing affairs of peace and war, his influence and all Israel to acknowledge him as king; and popularity with the army which was under after this he found a pretence for going himself unsuspectedly to Hebron to complete the agreement and arrange the steps to be taken. David had sent to Ishbosheth to desire him to restore to him his wife Michal, whom Saul had given to another. He had a perfect right to make this demand, if so inclined, the rather as she had thus been disposed of against her own wish; but we may suppose that he was particularly induced to reclaim her at this juncture, in consideration of the satisfaction the measure was likely to give to those attached to the family of Saul. As this claim was doubtless supported by Abner, it was granted; and having obtained an order to demand her from her present husband, that personage himself undertook to escort her to David. From this transaction it would seem that the war had latterly been allowed to die away, although without any concession or treaty having been made on either side. That he was escorting the daughter of Saul to David proved to Abner a favorable opportunity, on his way, of explaining his present sentiments to the elders of the tribes through which he passed; especially to those of Benjamin, which was naturally the most attached to the house of Saul, while his own influence in it was the greatest. He dwelt strongly on the public benefits which might be expected from the government of one who had been expressly nominated by Jehovah to the kingdom; and such a presentation, coming from such a quarter, coupled with the favorable dispositions toward David which had grown up during his reign in Hebron, was attended with such effect, that Abner was authorized

his command, and his unquestioned devotion to the interests of David, this man had great authority with the king. His standing, indeed, in the kingdom of Judah, had much resemblance to that of Abner in the other kingdom; nor were their characters altogether unlike. In the points of difference, the advantage was on the side of Abner; for his experience in military and public affairs was larger, from which, together with his near relationship to Saul and his son, and the high stations he had occupied under them, his influence with the people was far greater than that which Joab or any other man in Israel could pretend to; and hence his greater power at this time of rendering essential services to the king of Judah. Abner and Joab also served very different masters; and thus it happened that while Abner was, in the public eye, the greatest man in the kingdom of Israel, Joab was in that of Judah only the greatest man next to David. Upon the whole, Abner was the only man in the country of whom Joab had cause to be afraid, and by whom it was likely that his own influence would be superseded in case the two kingdoms were united through his instrumentality. It was probably more from such considerations than any other that his displeasure at the intercourse between David and Abner arose. He went instantly to the king, and reproached him for allowing himself to be imposed upon by the able uncle of Ishbosheth, declaring his belief that the true object of his visit was to obtain such information concerning his state and resources as he might afterward employ against him. He then went out and sent a messenger after Abner to call

him back in the name of the king. As he | ernment; nor was he insensible to the insult returned, Joab took care to meet him near offered to himself, in the present and other the gate, and drew him aside as if to speak instances, by "the sons of Zeruiah," Joab to him privately, and while he was entirely and Abishai, and the high hand with which unguarded and unsuspicious, gave him a they wrought their own will. "I a "I am this treacherous stab, of which he instantly day weak," he said, "though an anointed died. The history describes this as an king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, act of blood-revenge for the death of his are too stubborn for me. Jehovah will brother Asahel by the hand of Abner; and reward the evil-doer according to his evil while allowing him the full benefit of this deeds.' As it was of the highest impormotive, it is hard to believe that envy and tance to him that he should be clear of any jealousy sharpened not the dagger of the suspicion of having had any part in the death avenger. It must be conceded, neverthe- of Abner, he publicly, "before Jehovah,' less, that the existence of a blood-feud be- declared himself guiltless of the blood which tween them extenuated if it did not justify had been shed, and invoked the full burden the act of Joab in the eyes of all Israel. It of that blood on Joab and on his house. was, in fact, according to the strict ideas of He ordered a public act of solemn mourning, that barbarous institution, the imperative in which he himself took a prominent part; duty of Joab to shed the blood of Abner, and at the funeral he followed the body, as who had slain his brother; and that Abner chief mourner, to the grave, where he stood himself knew that the death of Asahel would weeping, and where he lamented, in elegiac be attended with this result, is evinced by his verse, over the prince and the great man who anxiety to avoid the fatal necessity of slaying had that day fallen in Israel. his pursuer; for if the man-slayer is known, the avenger is not bound to make any distinction as to the circumstances under which his relative is slain; and at the present day, the one who slays another in battle is pursued by the avenger equally with the murderer. The extent to which the law of Moses had interfered with this custom only provided for the safety of the man-slayer while in a city of refuge. Hebron was a city of refuge; and if Joab had slain Abner within that city, the law would have allowed David to treat him as a murderer. This Joab knew; and hence his meeting Abner at the gate, and drawing him aside before he entered the city. These details we judge necessary, to show that those who most suffered from the death of Abner, and abhorred the manner in which it was inflicted, knew that his offence was not punishable by the king or by the law; and hence that it was not merely the rank and influence of Joab which prevented David from calling him to account for this barbarous deed. Perhaps he could not have punished Joab in any case; but it is important to know, that in the present case the law, custom, and public opinion, did not require or permit him to do so.

The resentment of David was nevertheless very great. Like other Eastern sovereigns, he must have been impressed with the evils of this custom of blood-revenge, and the extent to which it interfered with good gov

This conduct of David tended still further to satisfy and conciliate the tribes attached to the house of Saul; and by them the murder of Abner was never imputed to him. Indeed, the event must, at the time, have seemed to himself and others any thing but advantageous for his cause. But we, who have his whole history before us, can see that the manner in which he ultimately became king over all Israel, by the free and unsolicited choice of the tribes, was more honorable and safe to him, and more becoming his divine appointment, than the same result brought about through the exertions of Abner, whose conduct, as between David and Ishbosheth, must have seemed very equivocal, and could, at the best, have been but "" traitorously honest." *

When Ishbosheth heard of Abner's death (without being aware of the plot in which he was engaged), he felt that the right arm of his kingdom's strength was broken. Others felt this also: and the conviction that the son of Saul could not govern the troubled king dom without Abner, grew stronger every day among the tribes, and directed their eyes to David as the only person under whom they could expect to realize the benefits the nation had expected to enjoy under a regal government. This feeling, this tendency of the nation toward David, was perceived, even in

* Bishop Hall.

"As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of every distress! if, when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking that he brought good tidings, I took hold of him and slew him at Ziklag, when he expected that I should have given him a reward for his tidings how much more when wicked men have slain a just person in his own house, upon his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" And with these words he commanded his attendants to remove them 1, 2, 3. Olive, Oak, and Laurel Crowns. 4, 5, 6. Mural,

The tribes

tion, repaired to Hebron to make David | them thirty-seven thousand men, armed with Dan supplied twentyking. The number amounted to not less shield and spear. than three hundred and forty thousand, and eight thousand six hundred able warriors, the enumeration in the book of Chronicles and Asher forty thousand. (1 Chron. xii. 23, ad fin.) is accompanied beyond Jordan, Reuben, Gad, and the halfwith several remarks, which the scantiness tribe of Manasseh, sent, collectively, one of our information concerning the distinctive hundred and twenty thousand warlike men. character of the tribes makes interesting. It One obvious remark, arising from the survey appears that many members of the tribe of of these numbers, is the comparative largeJudah had adhered to the house of Saul, ness of the proportions furnished by the and abode within its dominions; for, on the remoter tribes, to the north and beyond Jorpresent occasion, six thousand eight hundred dan. This is, perhaps, explained by the men of that tribe, armed with shield and absence in those tribes of any pretensions spear, came with the others to submit to for themselves, and of any strong attachDavid. There were seven thousand one ment for the house of Saul, which could hundred Simeonites of valor. The Levites interfere with the heartiness of their recognition of the claims of David; together with the operation of the principles which gives to a prophet and a great man the least degree of honor in and near his own home.

66

sent four thousand six hundred; and there
were three thousand seven hundred priests,
headed by Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah;
besides whom came Zadok at the head of
This
twenty-two chiefs of his father's house.
Zadok, of the old pontificial line of Eleazar,
is the same who was long after made sole
high-priest by Solomon, to the final exclu-
sion of the house of Eli; but, on the present
occasion, he is particularly noticed as a
young man, mighty in valor," which shows
as indeed appears in the history that
the pursuits of the Levites, and even of the
Aaronites, were not exclusively of an
ecclesiastical and civil nature. From Ben-
jamin came three thousand men; but the
greater part of this tribe held back, still
cherishing a lingering and futile attachment
to the house of Saul, the rule of which had
given to the tribe a flattering pre-eminence,
which it was unwilling to relinquish. The
half-tribe of Manasseh on this side the Jor-
dan sent eighteen thousand men; and the
proud tribe of Ephraim testified its concur-
rence by sending twenty-eight thousand.
From Issachar came only two hundred men ;
but these were the chief persons in the tribe,
the whole of which was at their beck, and
would have been in attendance if required.
To them is given the marked character of
being men of political prudence and sagacity,
who knew better than most men how Israel
ought to act under the present and other
circumstances, and whose support was there-
fore of great value to David. From Zebu-
lun came not fewer than fifty thousand men,
skilled in the use of all warlike weapons,
and "not

not double-hearted," with respect to the object for which they came. Naphtali furnished one thousand captains, and with

66

With this vast body, the flower of the Hebrew nation, and representing the whole David made a league before the of it, Lord," which can be construed to have no other meaning than that which has already been indicated in the case of Saul, that he bound himself by oath to observe the conditions on which he received the sceptre, He was then which are now unknown. anointed king, and received the homage of his new subjects; and the whole was terminated by a feast to all the multitude assembled at Hebron, supplies for which were liberally sent in by all the neighboring tribes, on asses, on camels, on mules, and on oxen," and consisted of meat, meal, figs, raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep, in great abundance. For there was great joy in Israel."

The first act of David's reign was to undertake the reduction of the fortress of Jebus, on Mount Zion, which had remained in the hands of the natives ever since the days of Joshua, and which, as Josephus reports,* had been, from its situation and its fortifications, hitherto deemed impregnable. The Jebusites, therefore, ridiculed the attempt, and appear to have placed the lame and the blind on the walls, in derision, as But from fully sufficient to keep him out. the lower city, which was already in the possession of the Israelites, there was gutter," or subterraneous communication, with the fortress, by which David introduced a party of men and took "the stronghold of

* Antiq. v. 2. Josh. xv. 63.

a