Chapter II: The Reigns of David and of Solomon

=1. Upon the death of Saul= and Jonathan the kingdom of Israel was ruled by =two kings=, David and the son of Saul, Ish-bosheth, whom Abner, the captain-general of Saul’s host, had made king over all Israel excepting Judah, which was loyal to David, 2 Sam. 2:4. Saul’s son reigned only two years, when he was assassinated by two of his “captains of bands.” After this event the chief men of Israel came to David, who was at Hebron, and entered into a league with him, by which he became king over all Israel at the age of forty years.

After seven years of reign at Hebron he attacked the city of the Jebusites, 18 miles north of Hebron. This place was known as JERUSALEM in after ages, although at that time called Jebus, 1 Chron. 11:4. The position of Jebus was an exceedingly strong one.

=2. From recent examinations=, by shafts and excavations, the site of the Jebus of David’s time was a rocky eminence, precipitous towards the east, south, and southwest, with access on other sides except for a short space on the north. The top was unevenly level, but only a part of this top seems to have been occupied by the city of Jebus, the southern part having a fortification distinct from the walled-up portion on the north and northeast. This part was taken by David on his arrival, and the remaining part, after some delay, was captured in a very courageous attack by an officer whose name was Joab.

=3. The present circumference= of the walls of Jerusalem is 2¾ miles very nearly; but although these walls include the larger part of the hill, there still remains a portion, called Mt. Zion, on the southwest, which is not included, and it is this part that was captured by David and was called the city of David or Zion.

Due west from the city the Mediterranean is 36 miles distant and the Jordan is 18 miles due east. On the east side, in the time of David, a part of the city wall rose nearly 100 feet above the channel of the Kidron, and from the representations of fortified cities of these times, as they are met with upon the tablets both of Egypt and of Assyria, the stones of the walls were placed with great skill. Some of the ancient stones of the city are even now laid upon solid rock eighty feet below the soil at the base of the present wall on the east side and the southeast corner.

=4. The reign of David= was noted for successful wars with the Philistines on the southwest, the Amalekites on the south, the Moabites and Ammonites on the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, the Syrians in the region of Damascus, together with a king on the north. From the circumstances narrated, this king must have been one of great wealth and power and was probably a king of the Hittites, as that nation had at this period grown in extent and in military strength and held large landed property near the Euphrates. He is recorded as king of Zobah, a region not exactly identified, but very probably a district north of Damascus, between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, but lying east of Hamath (the modern Hama) which is 110 miles north of Damascus. In one of the Assyrian inscriptions Zobah is spoken of as between the Euphrates and Hamath, which latter place belonged to another king (2 Sam. 8:9). Beside these lands, he conquered Edom and placed garrisons there.

=5. David reigned= from B. C. 1056 to B. C. 1015, or about forty years according to the commonly received chronology, and was over 70 years of age at his death, just before which he appointed Solomon, his son, at about the age of 20, to succeed him.

The reign of Solomon was unlike the two previous in that it was one of entire rest from war until at the extreme close. A large part of Solomon’s reign was devoted to building the Temple and several palaces and cities, beside the construction of a navy upon the Red Sea and the erection of various treasure cities for his chariots and for his horsemen.

=6. This age= in Israel was characterized as one of great wealth and splendor, such as had not been known before. It was also distinguished for the wisdom of Solomon.

His policy of peace was greatly strengthened by leagues and alliances with the kings about him, chiefly through marriages, after the custom of Oriental kings at that day.

The Pharaoh whose daughter he married, and for whom he built a palace in Jerusalem, came up and burned a city called Gezer and slew the Canaanites who dwelt there, giving the city to his daughter, 1 Kings 9:16.

GEZER.

=7. Gezer= has recently been discovered, with a Hebrew and Greek inscription on the surface of a large rock which identifies the town by name. The location of the place is not quite 20 miles west by north of Jerusalem, and its position upon a high ridge, which is nearly a mile long, makes it probable that it was a formidable town. It was, before its capture by Pharaoh, a standing menace to the authority of Solomon, as it seems at that time to have been independent. It is probable that its destruction was instigated by Solomon, who thereby exhibited the interest Pharaoh had in him and, at the same time, avoided the unwelcome task of exposing his own people to the casualties of warfare.

=8. The prayer of Solomon= at the beginning of his reign was for wisdom and judgment in the execution of his kingly authority and in his government of the people. Of this wisdom he possessed an unparalleled share. But, while wise in the control of others, he lost power over himself and was led into grievous idolatry through his associations. This open worship of the deities of the nations with whom he had entered into league through his marriages will always remain as a warning against the insidious power of evil associations, even in the case of the wisest.