3897 — Cruelty of David
By M. H. W.
See 2 Sam. 12:29-31. Explain why David was so cruel. Has not the Roman Church a right to do likewise? M. H. W. The American Revised Version, on verse 31, reads as follows: "And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon." Some commentators believe that while this was, in our Common Version and in 1 Chronicles 20, very cruel, yet it was almost justified by the cruelty and wickedness of the Ammonites. But we can not justify ourselves by any mistakes of cruelty that any one did contrary to God's plan and ordinances in the past. David did wrong when he caused the death of Uriah the Hittite, but that does not excuse us; and he did a very wrong thing when he committed adultery with Bath-sheba, but that is no excuse for us. And yet there are others who contend that the translation is not a right translation, that instead of putting them under saws, it should be translated "to the saw." So Young translates, "And the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron," etc. That is, he set them to laboring at that kind of work — made them servants, so to speak. Spurrell renders, "And he brought forth the people who were therein, and set them to serve with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes of iron, and caused them to pass under service in the brick-kiln." Boothroyd renders, "And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them to saws, and to harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, etc.," and then defends at some length this rendering, and utterly repudiates the idea of representing David as sawing and harrowing and chopping and burning the Ammonites. He contends that here, as in 1 Chron. 20:3, the words imply that he put them to the saw, and sentenced them to other hard works of slavery, and refers also to the Latin translation as a justification of this. The "Companion Bible," in a note on verse 31, tells us that "under," is "equivalent to 'with,' especially to 'work with.' The Hebrew letter 'beth,' prefixed as a preposition, is equivalent to 'in,' 'within,' 'with.' When the preposition 'under' is equivalent to 'beneath,' then it is either a part of a verb, or one of four distinct words. . . . 'Beth,' when translated 'under,' is only in the sense of 'within,' as 'under (or within the shelter of) the wing;' or 'under (or within) the earth.' Otherwise, used with a tool, or weapon, or instrument, it always means 'with.' See 'with an ax' (Deut. 19:5; Jer. 10:3); 'with axes' (Jer. 46:22; Eze. 26:9; Ps. 74:6); 'with nails and with hammers' (Jer. 10:4); etc. On "pass through the brick-kiln" he says: "'Pass through,' equivalent to 'pass by,' or 'before,' the Hebrew 'abar,' as in Eze. 37:2; 46:21; Deut. 2:30; Ex. 33:19; 1 Sam. 16:8, 9, 10, etc. 'Brick-kiln,' equivalent to brick work; hence, brick pavement or paved area (Revised Version, margin). Not brick-kiln; no brick-kilns in Palestine. All bricks there are sun-dried. Only once spoken of as burnt—as being a strange thing (Gen. 11:3 and margin). Hebrew 'malben' occurs only here, Jer. 43:9, and Nahum 3:14, the former at 'entry' of royal palace, the latter said to be 'fortified.' Both out of the question, and quite incongruous for a brick-kiln. The very paved area of Jer. 43:9 was discovered at Tahpanhes by Flinders Petrie in 1886, where Nebuchadnezzar did exactly what David did here and in chapter 8:2 and in 1 Chron. 20:3. Thus did he, that is, as in 2 Sam. 8:2, with Moab, so here; he caused the captives to pass by before him, he seated on a pavement of brick work, or paved area, where he appointed them to the various departments of labor for which they were suited. Compare Jer. 43:9-11. These were the 'strangers' (that is, foreigners) and the 'abundance of workmen' referred to in 1 Chron. 22:2, 15." This will certainly show that David himself was not cruel, but rather kind, to a nation that had been so wicked as had Ammon. But even tho David had been so, that certainly is no excuse to the Roman Church, or to any church, to do likewise. David was engaged in regular civil warfare with a cruel nation, but all the religious persecutions have almost invariably been for conscience' sake, against an utterly inoffending class, who were simply doing what they believed God wanted them to do in the way of teaching and believing. And God has not committed that judgment to man in any way, but has reserved it to Himself. See John 12:47, 48.