CHAPTER I

VERSE 1

YEARS;SIXTY-NINE, AS HE DIED when he was seventy years old. (Calmet) (2 Kings v. 4.) –Warm. Though David was of a strong constitution, he had been so much exposed to fatigue, and so harassed with domestic broils, that his vigor was nearly decayed. (Calmet) – The Rabbins say, that the sight of the angel had greatly contributed to weaken him. Lyranus, and others, suppose that he was affected with the palsy. (Abulensis; Salien, the year of the world 3019.)

VERSE 2

Servants. Physicians. (Josephus, [Antiquities] vii. 14.) – People of the faculty still adopt the same sentiments; and when fire and clothes will not procure heat, they advise the application of living creatures. (Bartholin ix; Galen vii; Vales. Philos. c. 19.)

VERSE 3

Sunamitess. Sunam was not far from Thabor, in the tribe of Issachar. (Calmet) – This history leads us to explain