It has been seen that, on one occasion (2 Sam. viii. 3), David fought against Hadadezer about a district on the river Euphrates. Yet it is not to be imagined that he had any fixed possession of terri tory so distant, which indeed could have had no value to him. A warrior from his youth, he seems to have had little perception of the advantages of commerce, and although the land of Edom was long under his power, he made no effort to use its ports of Eziongeber and Elath for maritime traffic. Much less was he likely to value the trade of the Euphrates, from which river he was separated by a tedious distance of desert land, over which, with out the possession of superior cavalry, he could not maintain a permanent sovereignty. No at tempt seems to have been made in David's reign to maintain horses or chariots for military purposes. Even chieftains in battle, as Absalom on his fatal day, appear mounted only on mules. Yet horses were already used in state equipages, apparently as a symbol of royalty (2 Sam. xv.
That in the opening of Saul's reign the Philis tines had deprived the Israelites of all the most formidable arms, is well known. It is probable that this may have led to a more careful practice cf the sling and of the bow, especially among the southern tribes, who were more immediately pressed by the power of the Philistines. Such weapons cannot be kept out of the hands of rustics, and must have been essential against wild beasts. But from causes unknown, the Benjamites were peculiarly celebrated as archers and slingers (Judg. xx. 16 ; t Chron. viii. 40 ; xii. 2 ; 2 Chron. xiv. 8 ; xvii. 17) ; while the pastoral tribes beyond the Jor dan were naturally able to escape all attempts of the Philistines to deprive them of shield, spear, and sword. Hence the Gadites, who came to David at Ziklag, are described as formidable and full armed warriors, with faces like lions, and swift as mountain roes' (i Chron. xii. 8).
The standing army which Saul had begun to maintain was greatly enlarged by David. An ac count of this is given in i Chron. xxvii. ; from which it would seem that 24,000 men were con stantly maintained on service, though there was a re lieving of guard every month. Hence twelve times this number, or 288,000, were under a permanent military organization, with a general for each division in his month. Besides this host, the register proceeds to recount twelve princes over the tribes of Israel, who may perhaps be compared to the lord-lieutenants of English counties. The enumeration of these great officers is remarkable, being as follows :—s. of the Reubenites ; 2. of the Simeonites ; 3. of the Levites ; 4. of the Aaron
ites ; 5. of Judah ; 6. of Issachar ; 7. of Zebulon ; 8. of Naphthali ; 9. of Ephraim ; IO. of Manasseh ; is. of Manasseh beyond the Jordan ; 12. of Benja min ; 13. of Dan. Here the names of Gad and Asher are omitted without explanation. On the other hand, the Levites and Aaronites are recounted, as though they were tribes co-ordinate with the rest, and Zadok is named as prince of the Aaron ites. It is not to be supposed that the Levites or Aaronites were wholly forbidden from civil and military duties. It has been already remarked that Zadok (here chief of the Aaronites) was described.
in the beginning of David's reign as 'a mighty man of valour' (1 Chron. xii. 28), and the same appel lation is given to the sons of Shemaiah, a Levite (xxvi. 6). Benaiah, also, now captain of David's body-guard, was 'son of the late high-priest Je hoiada (xxvii. 5, and xii. 27).
The body-guard of David, to which allusion has just been made, was an important appendage to his state, and a formidable exhibition of the actual despotism under which, in fulfilment of the warn ing of Samuel, Israel had now fallen. [CHERETII ITES and PELETHITES.] The cabinet of David (if we may use a modern name) is thus given (r Chron. xxvii. 32-34), with reference to a time which preceded Absalom's re volt :-1. Jonathan, David's uncle, a counsellor, wise man, and scribe ; 2. Jehiel, son of Hachmoni, tutor (?) to the king's sons ; 3. Ahithophel, the king's counsellor ; 4. IIushai, the king's com panion ; 5. after Ahithophel, 7ehoiada, the son of Benaiah ; 6. Abiathar the priest. It is added, and the general of the king's army was Joab.' At this period Benaiah was in the early prime of his military prowess, and it is incredible that he can have had a son, Jehoiada, old enough to be the second counsellor of the king, next to the celebrated Ahithophel. If the text is here corrupt, the cor ruption is older than the time of the LXX. How ever, De Wette has introduced Benaiah, the son of yehoiada. We cannot look on this as certain, for Benaiah may have been the name of the father as well as of the son of Jehoiada the high-priest. Yet as it was very rare with the Hebrews for names to recur in alternate generations, De Wette's reading is at least highly probable. If so, it is striking to observe that Benaiah, as captain of the life guards, is reckoned next to Ahithophcl in rank as a coun sellor, while Joab, general of the army, scarcely seems to have been a member of the cabinet. Zadok was above named as prince of the Aaronites, hut was not yet so closely connected with the ad ministration as Abiathar.