Kings I 21:2

2 And David said to the priest, The king gave me a command to-day, and said to me, Let no one know the matter on which I send thee, an concerning which I have charged thee: and I have charged my servants in the place that is called, The faithfulness of God, phellani maemoni.

Kings I 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 21:2

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, give me thy vineyard,
that I may have it for a garden of herbs
For a kitchen garden to produce eatables of the vegetable kind for his household, or for a flower garden; and perhaps for both, as Kimchi observes, it being customary to have such in court yards, or behind the house; perhaps he might take his notion of an herb garden from his neighbours the Syrians, who were very diligent and laborious in cultivating their gardens, as Pliny ^F26; hence

``multa Syrorum olera'',

the many herbs of the Syrians, became a proverb with the Greeks:

because it is near unto mine house;
lay very convenient for him:

and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it
seemeth good unto thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money;
which seems very well spoken, that he would either give him a better in exchange, or purchase it at its full value; he did not pretend to take it by usurpation, by force, against his will, as it was represented by Samuel kings would do, ( 1 Samuel 8:14 ) as yet such oppression and tyranny was not exercised.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Nat Hist. l. 20. c. 5.

Kings I 21:2 In-Context

1 And David comes to Nomba to Abimelech the priest: and Abimelech was amazed at meeting him, and said to him, Why thou alone, and nobody with thee?

2 And David said to the priest, The king gave me a command to-day, and said to me, Let no one know the matter on which I send thee, an concerning which I have charged thee: and I have charged my servants in the place that is called, The faithfulness of God, phellani maemoni.

3 And now if there are under thy hand five loaves, give into my hand what is ready.

4 And the priest answered David, and said, There are no common loaves under my hand, for I have none but holy loaves: if the young men have been kept at least from women, then they shall eat .

5 And David answered the priest, and said to him, Yea, we have been kept from women for three days: when I came forth for the journey all the young men were purified; but this expedition is unclean, wherefore it shall be sanctified this day because of my weapons.

Footnotes

• [a] This is another instance of double translation, ???? suggesting probably both the idea of place and faithfulness.