1 Chronicles 18:14

1Ch_18:14

So David reigned over all Israel, and executed Judgment and Justice.

I. The victories of peace are nobler and more enduring than those of war. We are very familiar with David the warrior. His early triumph over Goliath put his name into the mouth and songs of Israel. It had been a little thing if he had only vanquished the enemies of Israel. When this was done his truest, noblest works began. He encouraged the people to careful cultivation of their fields by carefully cultivating his own. He would have nothing lost. The waste land must be reclaimed. His stewards must give exact account of their stewardship. Commerce, with its increase of comforts, is quickened. Architecture is improved; huts give way to houses. Arrangements are made for due and prompt administration of justice in all parts of the country. The health and education of the people the king remembers and provides for. These were right royal undertakings, and became David better than his crown. Wars fill a large and loud place in history. The works of peace are silent, unobtrusive. Picturesque pens may describe a battle in which thousands perish, but how little can they describe the battle waged by sanitary officers and medical men against disease and its causes by which thousands, ten thousands, are saved!

II. The blessing of a wise administrator to a nation. David was a true ruler of men. Not only by possession of a personal charm which attached trusty friends to him, but also by devising those measures which were for the wider well-being of the people. He had eminently the faculty of government like many other great men of his nation--Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Hezekiah, Daniel. When rulers are wise, and, like David, know what they ought to do, this, too, is one of Gods gifts to men.

III. The importance of psalmody in Divine worship. Psalmody, as an institution, owes its origin to David. In chap. 25. we can see with what care it was instituted.

IV. The beauty of friendship is seen in davids treatment of mephibosheth.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ch 18:14. So David reigned, and executed judgment and justice among the people — And therefore answered the end of his elevation; and served the purposes of the kingdom of providence, and of that God who sits in the throne judging right. Thus also he became an eminent type of the Messiah, the sceptre of whose kingdom is a right sceptre.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:14-17 The listing of David’s officials demonstrates the greatness of his rule over all of Israel.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(14) Executed.—Was doing; a permanent state of things.

Judgment and justice.—Right and justice. The former is the quality, the latter the conduct which embodies it.

Among.—For, or unto.

(14-17) David’s internal administration and high officers of state.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14–17 (= 2Sa_8:15-18; cp. ib. 2Sa_20:23-26). David’s Officials

14. among all his people] R.V. unto all his people. David was his own chief justice, but probably the work was too much for one man; cp. 2Sa_15:2-4 with Kirkpatrick’s note.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A righteous ruler.

David"s work as a warrior was preparatory to his as a king. He defeated enemies and vanquished conspirators, in order that there might be peace and tranquillity in the land, in order that the pursuits and arts of peace might take the place of violence, disorder, and turbulence. It is still sometimes necessary that the sword should be drawn for the protection of liberty and for the preservation of order. There could not be a worthier, a nobler outcome of David"s campaigns and victories than that recorded in the text: "So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

I CIVIL SOCIETY INVOLVES THE EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY. This need not reside in a king; it may be a president, or other chief magistrate. But in some person or persons must be deposited the right and power to rule. Unless men are to live in the condition of savages or brutes, civil authority must be constituted, recognized, and supported. Checks to arbitrary power, limitations to all personal action, there must be; but not to the destruction of a right to reign and to require obedience.

II CIVIL SOCIETY INVOLVES THE MAINTENANCE OF JUSTICE BETWEEN MAN AND MALE. Power is good when rightly used. Right and might should go together. Rulers are not entrusted with authority for the indulgence of their own caprice, or the enhancement of their own glory. They are bound to act, "not for their own, but for their people"s good." In Oriental countries it was and is the custom for princes themselves to sit in the gate and to administer justice. It was so with David and Solomon, and with other kings of Israel. In modern society, where law is more complex, the administration of justice is confided to a profession to judges and magistrates. In any case, well-ordered society requires both judicial and legislative functions, in whomsoever centred. "The powers that be are ordained of God.

III CIVIL SOCIETY IS CONSOLIDATED AND PERFECTED BY JUSTICE, "David reigned over all Israel." This was undoubtedly the consequence of the impartial administration of justice among all classes. Civil rulers have often been slow to learn the lesson, that there is no foundation for general content like unswerving justice. Just rulers make contented and united peoples.

IV CIVIL SOCIETY IS DESTINED TO EXTEND ITS ADVANTAGES TO ALL MANKIND. Every community where kings and rulers reign with justice, every nation which is exalted by righteousness, is a beacon to the world. Peoples so favoured have a sacred mission to fulfil, and upon them is laid a responsibility from which there is no escape. T.

King"s justice.

Of all the features of royalty the chronicler selects one, or apparently two, as special characteristics of David"s reign. "He executed judgment and justice among all his people." Magistracy, the deciding of disputes, and the punishment of criminals, are always prominent parts of kingly duty. They are less, apparently, in our times, because our sovereign does not preside in person in our law-courts, but delegates her duty to her judges. They were more, apparently, kingly work in ancient times, and under Eastern conceptions of royalty. When Solomon entered on the responsibilities of kingship, the thing that seemed most serious to him was his duty as a judge. He felt the need of judicial insight, seeing that, as a young man, he had no treasured stores of experience. His request of wisdom chiefly referred to this necessary gift of Eastern kingship. Kitto says, "The wisdom which he craved was that of which he had already enough to be able to appreciate the value of its increase practical wisdom, sagacity, clearness of judgment and intellect in the administration of justice and in the conduct of public affairs." The administration of justice may well be set thus prominently forward, for probably nothing bears so directly upon the wellbeing of a nation as the wisdom and the purity of its judges. The terms used in this verse are, however, intended to include more than court-justice, and we may see that

I KINGLY JUSTICE IS THE EXPRESSION IN THE NATION OF THE PATERNAL RULE. The family is the first aggregation of human individuals, and its head and ruler is the father. The next aggregation of men is that of the tribe; a number of families uniting their interests, and dwelling together, and at the head of the tribe, as ruler and judge, is the patriarch, or tribal father. The larger aggregation of men is the union of tribes in the nation, but the same idea is preserved, and the recognized head and ruler is the king-father, or the fatherly king. The associations of these two terms need to be carefully given; and it should be shown how the one tones the other. This distinction being set prominently forward, The king seeks to do the absolutely right without any more than a general knowledge of and interest in his people; a king cannot be expected to know individuals. But exactly this is of the very essence of fatherhood. The father is as loyal to the right as the king, but he seeks to apply the claims of right to the actual condition of individuals, whom he knows with precision, and in whom he feels a direct and personal interest. And so it may be said that the perfect idea of a king is expressed in the term father, and that a true father must have all that is essential to a king. It is always said of the good king, "He is the father of his people.

II KINGLY JUSTICE IS THE REVELATION TO MEN OF THE DIVINE JUSTICE. No one word can suffice to present the relations of God with men. And that because no words contain an absolute and necessary meaning. Their connotation differs for different individuals. Show that neither king nor father are sufficient alone. We want for God a word which shall bring home to our hearts the conviction that he is dominated by the sense of right; but we as certainly want a word which shall assure us that all his ways with us are toned with personal interest in us, perfect knowledge of us, and the gentlest consideration for our weaknesses and wants. So the justice of God must be to us both kingly and fatherly.

This subject opens up the discussion of the true basis of the "atonement." Only by fully estimating Divine justice as both kingly and fatherly can we discern the "needs be" for a satisfaction of eternal law, and a persuasive manifestation of eternal love. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

over all Israel

"over all the Israelites"

he administered justice and righteousness to all his people

The abstract nouns "justice" and "righteousness" can be translated as adjectives. AT: "he did what was just and right for all his people" (See: Abstract Nouns)

Zeruiah ... Ahilud ... Ahitub ... Abiathar ... Shavsha ... Benaiah ... Jehoiada

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

recorder

the person who writes down details of special events

Ahimelech

This spelling represents a correction of the spelling "Abimelech," which some versions follow. The corrected spelling makes this verse agree with 2 Samuel 8:17.

Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests

Some versions correct this to say that Ahitub and Ahimelech were high priests.

Kerethites ... Pelethites

These are the names of foreign people groups who became David's bodyguards.

translationWords

reign

Israel

administration

just

righteous

people group

Joab

son

commander

Jehoshaphat

Zadok

priest

scribe

king

advice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

justice and charity He retired from waging any more wars and from going forth and coming in battle, and he sat constantly and judged Israel fairly.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.