- while he yet:
- etc. Heb. being yet shut up, Sometimes, in the East, when a successful prince endeavoured to extirpate the preceding royal family, some of them escaped the slaughter, and secured themselves in an impregnable fortress, or in a place of great secrecy; while others have been known to seek an asylum in a foreign county, from when they have occasioned, from time to time, great anxiety and great difficulties to the usurper of the crown. The expression shut up, so often applied to the extermination of eastern royal families ("For¹ their vineª [is] of the vineª¹ of Sodom,ª and of the fieldsª¹ of Gomorrah:ª their grapesª [are] grapesª of gall,ª their clustersª [are] bitter:ª" {Deu 32:32} + "Therefore,¹ behold,¹ I will bringª° evilª upon¹ the houseª of Jeroboam,ª and will cut offª° from Jeroboamª him that pissethª° against the wall,ª [and] him that is shut upª° and leftª° in Israel,ª and will take awayª° the remnantª of the houseª of Jeroboam,ª as¹ a man taketh awayª° dung,ª till¹ it be all gone.ª°" {1Kg 14:10} + "Behold,¹ I will bringª° evilª upon¹ thee, and will take awayª° thy posterity,ª and will cut offª° from Ahabª him that pissethª° against the wall,ª and him that is shut upª° and leftª° in Israel,ª" {1Kg 21:21} + "For the whole¹ houseª of Ahabª shall perish:ª° and I will cut offª° from Ahabª him that pissethª° against the wall,ª and him that is shut upª° and leftª° in Israel:ª" {2Kg 9:8} + "For¹ the LORDª sawª°¹ the afflictionª of Israel,ª [that it was] veryª bitter:ª° for [there was] not² any¹ shut up,ª° nor any¹ left,ª° nor¹ any helperª° for Israel.ª" {2Kg 14:26}), strictly speaking, refers to the two first of these cases; but the term may be used in a more extensive sense, for those who, by retiring into deserts, or foreign countries, preserve themselves from being slain by the men who usurp the dominions of their ancestors. Thus the term is here applied to David, though he did not shut himself up, strictly speaking, in Ziklag. It is described as a town in the country, and was probably an unwalled town; and it is certain that he did not confine himself to it, but, on the contrary, was continually making excursions from thence.
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