5
Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, “What ails the people that they weep?” They told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
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ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. Field. So David fed sheep, even after he was anointed king. The ancients had very different sentiments of royalty from what we have. Their kings and great men did not esteem it beneath them to cultivate the earth. Several of them wrote on the subject.
Jura dabat populis, posito modo prætor aratro,
Pascebatque suas ipse Senator oves. Ovid, Fast. i.
Many of the most eminent Roman generals were taken from the plough. Calmet.—Xenophon introduces the younger Cyrus, saying, “Many of these trees were planted with my own hands.” Cicero. Senect. 17.
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