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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 294. Decline and Fall
Subjects in this Topic:
Decline and Fall
Literature
Banks, L. A., David and His Friends (1900), 328.
Black, H., Christ's Service of Love (1907), 147.
Bosanquet, C., “The Man after God's own Heart” (1875), 284.
Campbell, R. J., Sermons addressed to Individuals (1904), 227.
Chandler, S., A Critical History of the Life of David (1853), 406.
Clifford, J., Daily Strength for Daily Living (1887), 202.
Davidson, A. B., Waiting upon God (1904), 53.
Dieulafoy, M., David the King (1902), 211.
Edersheim, A., Israel under Samuel, Saul, and David, 190.
Fleming, J. D., Israel's Golden Age (1907), 101.
Foakes-Jackson, F. J., The Biblical History of the Hebrews (1903), 176.
Geikie, C., Hours with the Bible: Samson to Solomon (1882), 268.
Kent, C. F., The Founders and Rulers of United Israel (1909), 150.
Kittel, R., A History of the Hebrews, ii. (1896) 168.
Krummacher, F. W., David, the King of Israel, 356.
Lightfoot, J. B., Sermons Preached in St. Paul's Cathedral (1891), 16, 31.
Little, W. J. K., David, the Hero-King of Israel (1903), 78.
Macgregor, G. H. C., Messages of the Old Testament (1901), 129.
Maclaren, A., Expositions: 2 Samuel, etc. (1906), 55.
Meyer, F. B., David (1910), 171.
Moule, H. C. G., Temptation and Escape (1903), 34.
Ottley, R. L., A Short History of the Hebrews (1901), 142.
Stanley, A. P., Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, ii. (1889) 89.
Taylor, W. M., David, King of Israel (1894), 207.
Thomson, P., The Life of David (1881), 55.
Tuckwell, W., Nuggets from the Bible Mine (1913), 81.
Whitham, A. R., Old Testament History (1912), 241.
Christian World Pulpit, ix. (1876) 155 (W. T. Bull).
Churchman's Pulpit: Sixth Sunday after Trinity, x. 353 (H. Jones), 354 (A. R. Symonds), 356 (L. Sterne), 358 (R. C. Trench).
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.- 2Sa_12:13.
The remaining history of David is one long tissue of faults and their consequences, illustrating that part of the dynastic promise, as conveyed by Nathan, which said: “If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men.” A mere historian would have dismissed David's domestic experiences with a sentence or two. The author of the parallel history of Chronicles entirely ignores this side of David's character and reign. It was only the prophetic historian who had the courage and desire to present in their hideous realism David's odious crimes and their consequences. These stories constitute the major part of the book of 2 Samuel (chaps. 9-20). In a vivid, detailed narrative they present the pathetic tragedy of David's closing years. The problems there treated are of universal and vital significance. Their importance amply justifies the frankness with which they are presented. The dark background of these stories is an Oriental court, with its degrading institution of polygamy. Before he became king of united Israel, David had married seven wives. Later, still others were added to his harem. The subsequent history shows that his household was by no means free from the usual vices which flourish in an eastern harem: luxury, the pursuit of pleasure, petty jealousies, and intrigues. The king, therefore, lived in an atmosphere in which it was almost impossible to develop strong moral fibre.