preparing to betray and crucify Him! The elegy itself reads as follows:

"The adornment of Israel on thy heights thrust through! A las,241 the heroes have fallen!

Announce it not in Gath, publish it not as glad tidings in the streets of Askelon, Lest the daughters of the

Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised jubilee! O mountains in Gilboa - no dew, nor rain

upon you, nor fields of first-fruit offerings - For there defiled is the shield of the heroes, The shield of Saul,

no more anointed with oil! From blood of slain, from fat of heroes The bow of Jonathan turned not

backward, And the sword of Saul returned not void (lacking)! Saul and Jonathan, the loved and the

pleasant, In their life and in their death were not parted - Than eagles were they lighter, than lions stronger!

Daughters of Israel, over Saul weep ye, Who clad you in purple with loveliness, Who put jewels of gold

upon your clothing! Alas, the heroes have fallen in the midst of the contest - Jonathan, on thy heights

thrust through! Woe is me for thee, my brother Jonathan, - Pleasant wast thou to me exceedingly, More

marvelous thy love to me than the love of women! Alas, the heroes have fallen - And perished are the

weapons of war!"  242 (2 Samuel 1:19-27.)

But the present was not a time for mourning only. So far as men could judge, there was no further necessity

for David's exile. But even so he would not act without express Divine guidance. In answer to his inquiry by

the Urim and Thummim he was directed to take up his residence in Hebron, where he was soon anointed

king by his own tribe of Judah. As yet, however, and for the next seven and a half years, his rule only

extended over that tribe. It is further evidence of the entire submission of David to the leading of Jehovah,

and of his having fully learned the lesson of not seeking to compass his own "deliverance," that he took no

steps to oppose the enthronement of Saul's son, however contrary this was to the Divine appointment; and

that the contest which ultimately ensued originated not with David, but with his rival. On the contrary,

David's first act as king of Judah was to send an embassy to Jabesh-gilead to express his admiration of their

noble loyalty to Saul.243

Nor does it detract from this mark of his generosity that, now their master was dead, he intimated his own

elevation, to bespeak, if possible, their allegiance. The support of such men was well worth seeking.

Besides, Jabesh-gilead was the capital of the whole of that district; and already the standard had there been

set up of a rival, whose claims were neither founded on the appointment of God, nor on the choice of the

As we infer from the sacred narrative, there had been among the fugitives from the battle of Gilboa a son of

Saul - whether the youngest or not must remain undetermined.244

From the language of the text (2 Samuel 2:8), as well as from his subsequent history, he seems to have been

a weak character -a puppet in the hands of Abner, Saul's uncle, whom that ambitious and unscrupulous

soldier used for his own purposes. His original name, Esh-Baal, "fire of Baal" (l Chronicles 8:33; 9:39),

became in popular designation Ish-Bosheth, "man of shame," - Baal and Bosheth being frequently

interchanged according to the state of popular religion (Judges 6:32; Jeremiah 11:13; Hosea 9:10). Even this

may be regarded as indicating the popular estimate of the man. Immediately after the battle of Gilboa, Abner

had taken him across the Jordan to Mahanaim, "the twain camp," where probably the broken remnants of

Saul's army also gathered. The place was well chosen, not only from the historical remembrances attaching

to the spot where angels' h osts had met Jacob on his return to the land of promise (Genesis 32:2), but also as

sufficiently far from the scene of the recent war to afford safe shelter. Here Abner raised the standard of the

Pretender to the throne of Israel; and, probably in the course of five and a half years,245 succeeded in

gradually clearing the country from the Philistines, and subjecting it, with the exception of the territory of

Judah, to the nominal rule of the "man of shame."

The first conflict between the armies of the rival kings was undoubtedly provoked by Abner. With all the

forces at his disposal he marched upon Gibeon, primarily with the view of again establishing the royal

residence at "Gibeah of Saul," but with the ulterior object of placing Ish-bosheth in the room of his father,