Gen 41:39-43, Num 22:16-17, 24:11, 1Sa 17:25, 25:2, 2Sa 19:32, Dan 2:6, 5:16 | TSK

curse me.An erroneous opinion prevailed, both in those days and in after ages, that some men had the power, by the help of their gods, to devote, not only particular persons, but cities and whole armies, to destruction. This they are said to have done sometimes by words of imprecation; of which there was a set form among some people, which Æschines calls [diorizomenen aran ,] "the determinate curse." Macrobius has a whole chapter on this subject. He gives us two of the ancient forms used in reference to the destruction of Carthage; the first, which was only pronounced by the dictator, or general, was to call over the protecting deities to their side, and the other to devote the city to destruction, which they were supposed to have abandoned. The Romans held, that no city would be taken till its tutelary god had forsaken it; or if it could be taken, it would be unlawful, as it would be sacrilege to lead the gods into captivity. Virgil intimates, that Troy was destroyed because {Excessere omnes adytis, arisque relictis dii, quibus imperium hoc steterat,} "All the gods, by whose assistance the empire had hitherto been preserved, forsook their altars and temples." See more on this subject in Dr. A. Clarke, Bp. Patrick, and Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 734.

Numbers 24:11

I thought.

22:17,37

the Lord.

Mt 19:28-30; Ac 8:20; Php 3:8; Heb 11:24-26; 1Pe 5:2,3; 2Jo 1:8

1 Samuel 17:25

the king.

18:17-27; Jos 15:16; Re 2:7,17; 3:5,12,21

free in Israel.

Ezr 7:24; Mt 17:26

1 Samuel 25:2

Maon.

23:24

possessions were. or, business was. Carmel.Not the famous mount Carmel, in the north of Canaan, and in the tribe of Asher; but a city, on a mountain of the same name, in the south of Judah, which seems to have given name to the surrounding territory. Eusebius and Jerome inform us, that there was in their time a town called Carmelia, ten miles east from Hebron, where the Romans kept a garrison, whose position well agrees with this Carmel.

man.

Ge 26:13; 2Sa 19:32; Ps 17:14; 73:3-7; Lu 16:19-25

three thousand.

Ge 13:2; Job 1:3; 42:12

shearing.This was a very ancient custom, and appears to have been always attended with festivity. The ancient Romans, however, used to pluck off the wool from the sheep's backs; and hence a fleece was called {vellus,} a {vellendo,} from plucking it off. Pliny says, that in his time sheep were not shorn every where, but in some places the wool was still plucked off.

Ge 38:13; 2Sa 13:23,24

Carmel.

30:5; Jos 15:55