[430]. Saul showed himself in other cases such a scrupulous observer of the Law that we can well understand his obeying the precept of Deuteronomy that the king should not ‘multiply’ horses or wives (Deut. xviii. 16, 17).
[431]. 1 Sam. xxii. 6.
[432]. It is clear, however, from 1 Sam. xxi. 9, that there must be some mistake here, since the sword of Goliath was laid up at Nob while Saul was king.
[433]. This must be an exaggeration, since David, who was not above the ordinary size, afterwards used his sword (1 Sam. xxi. 9).
[434]. The narrative goes on to say that ‘David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.’ This verse is given in the Septuagint, though the next nine verses are omitted. But the statement cannot be right. Jerusalem was not captured by David until many years after the battle in the valley of Elah, and the shepherd lad had no tent of his own at the time.
[435]. 1 Chron. xx. 5. ‘Beth-lehemite’ is turned into ‘Lahmi,’ the name of the ‘brother’ of Goliath, and the unintelligible Yaare-oregim becomes Yair. Oregim, ‘weavers,’ however, has crept in from the end of the verse, and the original reading of 1 Sam. xxi. 19 must have been, ‘El-hanan, the son of Yaari (the forester) the Beth-lehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.’
[436]. 1 Kings xix. 15, 16; 2 Kings ix. 2, 3. Ahijah, however, did not anoint Jeroboam when he suggested to him that he should head a revolt of the ten tribes against the house of David. When David was made king at Hebron he was anointed by ‘the men of Judah,’ not by a prophet (2 Sam. ii. 4), and no mention is made of a prophet or priest when he was anointed ‘king over Israel’ (2 Sam. v. 3).
[437]. We must remember that in any case the act of anointing would have been a secret, and that consequently an erroneous account of it might easily have been set on foot.
[438]. 1 Sam. xviii. 6. The singular ‘Philistine’ has to be noted, as if there was a reference in it to the overthrow of Goliath. Cf. xix. 5.