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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

David, that great and good man, is here a dying man (1 Kgs. 2:1), and a dead man, 1 Kgs. 2:10. It is well there is another life after this, for death stains all the glory of this, and lays it in the dust. We have here, I. The charge and instructions which David, when he was dying, gave to Solomon, his son and declared successor. He feels himself declining, and is not backward to own it, nor afraid to hear or speak of dying: I go the way of all the earth, 1 Kgs. 2:2. Heb. I am walking in it.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 2:3

And keep the charge of the Lord thy God ,.... Which may in general respect his whole walk and conversation, and his obedience to the law and will of God; and in particular his just government of Israel committed to his charge: to walk in his ways ; directed to in his word: to keep his statutes and his judgments ; his laws, ceremonial, moral, and judicial: and his testimonies ; as the above laws, which testify of his mind, and declare what he would have done and observed: as it... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 2:3

Keep the charge of the Lord - Keep what God has given thee to keep. Walk in his ways. Not in thine own, nor in the ways of a wicked, perishing world. Keep his statutes. Consider all his appointments to be holy, just, and good; receive them as such, and conscientiously observe them. Keep his commandments. Whatever he has bidden thee to do, perform; what he has forbidden thee to do, omit. Keep his judgments. What he has determined to be right, is essentially and inherently... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-4

A royal father's last words. David's eventful life is drawing to a close. He has proved himself to be "a man after God's own heart." Not perfect man, for he had grievous defects. But, in the main, he recognized the grandeur of his position as "the Lord's anointed." He lived by the inspiration of a Divine purpose. He "served his own generation by the will of God" ( Acts 13:36 ). His very faults bore witness to the native force of his character. The height of the precipice measures the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

A Jewish deathbed. A brilliant poet and essayist once summoned his stepson, the young Earl of Warwick, to his bedside, and with perfect dignity and composure bade him mark "how a Christian man can die." In this section, one far greater, and yet in one sense far less, than Addison,—greater as a poet, as a statesman, as a patriot; less, inasmuch as "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,"—beckons us to the chamber of death, and bids us witness the departure of a pious... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

Eikon Basilike. The king, the close of whose chequered and romantic career is narrated in this section, was the pattern king of the Hebrew people, and is in many respects a model for all kings. The portrait drawn here and in the Psalms is a veritable Eikon Basilike, both truer and worthier of regard than that "Portraiture of his sacred Majesty," so famous and so influential in the history of our own country. We see him gathered to his fathers. Let us honestly frame his eulogium. I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

Holy Scripture gives us many a touching and pathetic description of the death of the father of a family, showing how it at once sanctions and sanctifies natural affection. The farewells of David remind us of those of Jacob. Death sometimes seems to fill the men of God of the old covenant with the spirit of prophecy, as if the summit of the earthly life was illuminated with a purer radiance falling upon it from a higher sphere. Death is indeed to all the messenger of God to reveal to us great... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:2-3

A charge from a dying king. The utterances of dying men naturally have weight. Those who stand on the border line between time and eternity have less temptation to disguise the truth, and are more likely than others to see things in their true relations. When those who speak to us thence are men who have long loved us, and who have ever proved worthy of our love, we must be callous indeed if their words are powerless. Exemplify by the mention of any whose whole future destiny turned upon... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:3

And keep the charge [lit; "watch the watch" ( custodies custodiam Jehovae ) , or, "serve the service." Bähr paraphrases, "be a true watcher in the service of Jehovah." The words are constantly employed to denote a strict performance of the service of the tabernacle or of the duties of the priests and Levites (Le 1 Kings 8:35 ; 1 Kings 18:30 ; Numbers 1:53 ; Numbers 3:7 , Numbers 3:8 , Numbers 3:25 , Numbers 3:28 , Numbers 3:32 , Numbers 3:38 ; Numbers 31:30 ; 1... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 2:3

The “statutes” have been explained to be the positive ordinances of the Law; the “commandments” the moral precepts, not to steal, etc.; the “judgments” the laws belonging to civil government; and the “testimonies” the laws directing the commemoration of certain events. Compare Psalms 19:7-8. read more

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