30<\/strong>. set it on fire<\/em> ] Partly in revenge for Absalom’s refusal (cp. Jdg 15:3-5<\/span>), partly in the hope of bringing Joab to make a complaint in person.<\/p>\n The Sept. and some MSS. of the Vulg. add at the end of the verse: “And Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes rent, and said, Absalom’s servants have set thy field on fire.” The words are not absolutely necessary to the sense, but they may have been accidentally omitted from the Heb. text.<\/p>\n Verse 30<\/span>. Go and set it on fire<\/B><\/I>] This was strange conduct, but it had the desired effect. He had not used his influence to get Absalom to court; now he uses it, and succeeds.<\/P> <\/P> ADDITIONAL observations on ver. 26<\/span>: –<\/P> <\/P> “And at every year’s end, he (Absalom) polled his head; and he weighed the hair at two hundred<\/I> shekels.”<\/P> <\/P> The very learned Bochart<\/I> has written a dissertation on this subject (vide Bocharti Opera<\/I>, vol. iii., col. 883, edit. Lugd. 1692) in a letter to his friend M. Faukell<\/I>. I shall give the substance in what follows.<\/P> <\/P> There is nothing more likely than that corruptions in the Scripture numerals have taken place. Budaeus de Asse<\/I> (lib. ii., p. 49 and 51, also lib. iii., p. 67 c.) complains loudly of this.<\/P> <\/P> This might easily have happened, as in former times the numbers in the sacred writings appear to have been expressed by single letters. The letter resh<\/I> stands for two hundred<\/I>, and might in this place be easily mistaken for daleth<\/I> which signifies four<\/I> but this may be thought to be too little, as it would not amount to more than a quarter of a pound; yet, if the two hundred<\/I> shekels be taken in the amount will be utterly incredible; for Josephus<\/I> says, (Antiq. lib. vii., cap. 8), , , i.e., “Two hundred shekels make five minae,” and in lib. xiv., cap. 12. he says, ‘ ‘ ; “And a mina with us (i.e., the Jews) weighs two pounds and a half.” This calculation makes Absalom’s hair weigh twelve pounds and a half! Credat Judaeus Apella<\/I>!<\/P> <\/P> Indeed, the same person tells us that the hair of Absalom<\/I> was so thick, c., , “that eight days were scarcely sufficient to cut it off in! “This is rabbinism, with a witness.<\/P> <\/P> Epiphanius<\/I>, in his treatise De Ponderibus et Mensuris<\/I>, casts much more light on this place, where he says, , , ; “A shekel, (i.e., a common<\/I> or king’s<\/I> shekel, equal to half a shekel of the sanctuary<\/I>), which is called also a quarter<\/I>, is the fourth part of an ounce, or half a stater; which is about two drachms.” This computation seems very just, as the half-shekel, (i.e., of the sanctuary,) Ex 30:13<\/span>, which the Lord commanded the children of Israel to give as an offering for their souls, is expressly called in Mt 17:24<\/span>, , “two drachms:” and our Lord wrought a miracle to pay this, which the Romans then exacted by way of tribute: and Peter took out of the fish’s mouth a stater<\/I>, which contained exactly four drachms or one shekel, (of the sanctuary), the tribute money for our Lord and himself.<\/P> <\/P> The king’s shekel was about the fourth part of an ounce, according to what Epiphanius<\/I> says above; and Hesychius<\/I> says the same: ; “A shekel is equal to, or worth, two Attic drachms.” The whole amount, therefore, of the two hundred<\/I> shekels is about fifty ounces<\/I>, which make four<\/I> pounds two ounces<\/I>, Troy weight, or three pounds two ounces<\/I>, Avoirdupois. This need not, says my learned author, be accounted incredible, especially as abundance of oil<\/I> and ointments<\/I> were used by the ancients in dressing their heads; as is evident, not only from many places in the Greek and Roman writers, but also from several places in the sacred writings. See Ps 23:5<\/span>; Ec 9:8<\/span>; Mt 6:17<\/span>.<\/P> <\/P> Josephus<\/I> also informs us that the Jews not only used ointments<\/I>, but that they put gold dust<\/I> in their hair, that it might flame in the sun; and this they might do in considerable quantities, as gold was so plentiful among them. I must own I have known an instance that makes much for Bochart’s argument: an officer<\/I>, who had upwards of two pounds<\/I> of powder and ointments put on his head daily, whose hair did not weigh a fourth part of that weight. And Absalom<\/I>, being exceedingly vain, might be supposed to make a very extensive use of these things. There are some, however, who endeavour to solve the difficulty by understanding shakal<\/I> to mean rather the value<\/I> than the weight<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> Bochart<\/I> concludes this elaborate dissertation, in which he appears to have ransacked all the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman authors for proofs of his opinion, by exhorting his friend in these words of Horace<\/I>: – <\/P> _____ Si quid novisti rectius istis,<\/I><\/P> Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum.<\/I><\/P> To me the above is quite unsatisfactory; and, with due deference to so great a character, I think I have found out something<\/I> better<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> I believe the text is not here in its original form; and that a mistake has crept into the numeral letters. I imagine that lamed<\/I>, THIRTY, was first written; which, in process of time, became changed for resh<\/I>, TWO HUNDRED, which might easily have happened from the similarity of the letters. But if this be supposed to be too little<\/I>, (which I think it is not), being only seven ounces and a half<\/I> in the course of a year; let it be observed that the sacred text does not limit it to that quantity of time, for mikkets yamim laiyamim<\/I> signifies literally, “From the end of days to days;” which Jonathan<\/I> properly renders, mizzeman iddan leiddan<\/I>, “at proper or convenient times,” viz., when it grew too long or weighty, which it might be several times in the year. Besides, this was not all his hair; for his head was not shaved<\/I> but polled<\/I>, i.e., the redundancy cut off.<\/P> <\/P> But how was it probable that these two numerals should be interchanged? Thus; if the upper stroke of the lamed<\/I> were but a little impaired, as it frequently is both in MSS. and printed books, it might be very easily taken for resh<\/I>, and the remains of the upper part of the lamed<\/I> might be mistaken for the stroke over the , which makes it the character of two hundred<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> But how could mathayim, two hundred<\/I>, in the text, be put in the place of sheloshim, thirty<\/I>? Very easily, when the numbers became expressed by words at length<\/I> instead of numeral<\/I> letters<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> The common reading of the text appears to me irreconcilable with truth; and I humbly hope that what I have offered above solves every difficulty, and fully accounts for all that the sacred historian speaks of this vain-comely lad.<\/P> <\/P> Ver. 27<\/span>. “Absalom had a daughter, whose name was Tamar<\/I>.”<\/P> <\/p>\n Go and set it on fire, <\/B>that Joab may be forced to come to me to complain of and demand reparations for, this injury. <\/P> <\/p>\n Therefore he said unto his servants<\/strong>,…. That did his business for him in the field, in keeping his flocks, and tilling his ground:<\/p>\n see Joab’s field is near mine<\/strong>: for great personages in those days attended to husbandry:<\/p>\n and he hath barley there, go and set it on fire<\/strong>; it being ripe, and so capable of being fired, and therefore must be some time in March or April, when barley harvest began; he served Joab as Samson did the Philistines, Jud 15:4<\/span>; which shows him to be a bold, and revengeful, and ungrateful man, to use his friend, and the general of the king’s army, after this manner:<\/p>\n and Absalom’s servants set the field on fire<\/strong>; as their master had bid them, and which is no wonder; for as they murdered Ammon at his command, they would not stop at burning Joab’s field, when he bid them do it; see 2Sa 13:28<\/span>.<\/p>\n (30) Set it on fire.<\/strong>Absaloms stratagem for obtaining an interview with Joab was perfectly successful, but would only have been resorted to by a lawless and unscrupulous character.<\/p>\n 30<\/strong>. <\/strong> Set it on fire <\/strong> This act shows up the bold and daring spirit of this prince. Only one of such spirit could plan and carry out the bold scheme of usurping a father’s throne.<\/p>\n 2Sa 14:30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.<\/p>\n Ver. 30. Go and set it on fire,<\/strong> ] viz., That he may have cause to come and speak with me. So – but in a mere just way – God fetcheth his home to himself by afflictions, he fireth them out of their false refuges.<\/p>\n near mine: Heb. near my place <\/p>\n go and set: 2Sa 13:28, 2Sa 13:29, Jdg 15:4, Jdg 15:5 <\/p>\n And Absalom’s: 1Ki 21:9-14, 2Ki 9:33, 2Ki 10:6, 2Ki 10:7 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 22:6 – so that the stacks of corn 2Sa 14:29 – but he would 2Sa 15:10 – spies<\/p>\n 2Sa 14:30. Go and set it on fire Absaloms ambition could but ill endure Joabs coldness and delay, and therefore he ordered this extraordinary step to be taken that he might be set right with his father, a step which showed him determined to go any lengths, rather than fall short of his ambitious aims. For he that could order his friends field, and that friend so great a man as Joab, and his near kinsman, to be set on fire, barely that he might be admitted to court, would little scruple to set his country in a flame (if the expression may be allowed) to be raised to a crown. See Delaney. Absaloms servants set the field on fire For he had still those about him who were ready to execute any command, though ever so unjust, as his servants did when he bade them kill Amnon.<\/p>\n 14:30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it {q} on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.<\/p>\n (q) The wicked are impatient in their affections, and spare no unlawful means to accomplish them.<\/p>\n Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. 30. set it on fire ] Partly in revenge for Absalom’s refusal (cp. Jdg 15:3-5), partly in the hope of bringing Joab to make … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 14:30”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P> Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"