2 Samuel 21:15-17
Verse 15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war - There is no mention of this war in the parallel place, 1Chr 20:4, etc. David waxed faint - This circumstance is nowhere else mentioned. Verse 16 Being girded with a new sword - As the word sword is not in the original, we may apply the term new to his armor in general; he had got new arms, a new coat of mail, or something that defended him well, and rendered him very formidable: or it may mean a strong or sharp sword. Verse 17 That thou quench not the light of Israel - David is here considered as the lamp by which all Israel was guided, and without whom all the nation must be involved in darkness. The lamp is the emblem of direction and support. Light is used in this sense by Homer: - Ουδε τι Πατροκλῳ γενομην φαος, αυδ' ἑταροισι Τοις αλλοις, οἱ δη πολεες δαμεν Ἑκτορι διῳ. Iliad, lib. xviii. ver. 102. "I have neither been a Light to Patroclus nor to his companions, who have been slain by the noble Hector."
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