The solid substances here enumerated were for food, the single bottle of yayin for any who might faint. The wine might or might not be alcoholic. Were intoxicating liquors now restricted to contingencies like the one described in this passage, their use, whether necessary or not, would be strictly medicinal, and society would be saved from the ravages of an endemic and ceaseless pest.

CHAPTER XXIII. VERSES 15-17.

15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. 17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

It was natural that David should long for a draught of water from the well of Bethlehem a well dear to him, no doubt, from many early associations. Often when a shepherd youth had it slaked his thirst and that of the flock he tended, and now he sighs for a beaker of the cool clear beverage. Three of his noblest captains watch the woods, and hasten to realize their monarch's wish. They pierce through the Philistian lines, draw the water, and return. David's eye bespeaks his pleasure and his gratitude, but before the liquid treasure is at his lips he pours it out as a libation to the Lord, with words of dedication that must have solemnly impressed all who stood around him. The bright water, as he looked upon it, seemed to take a scarlet tinge when he thought of the lives that had been risked to fetch it, therefore he would not drink it.' It had been obtained by courage and affection inspired of God, and to Him it should be offered.

David never was more magnanimous than at this moment. Truly was he now the 'man after God's own heart,' and never dearer than at that time to his mighty men and faithful soldiers. This deed was a psalm, sublime in its significance, and for ever sweet to all loving hearts in its pure simplicity. Is the Christian world prepared to imitate as well as to admire this act of David? He had before him that which was endeared to him by memory, useful in itself, and very desirable to him under the circumstances; but he would not drink of it,' because life had been risked, not lost, in its procurement. Christians have before them drinks which can boast no such innocent reminiscences-which are not necessary-of little or no use-nay, certainly of some injury habitually consumed-which are not procurable without an enormous waste of food and much needless labour on the Lord's day-drinks, the common sale and use of which floods the kingdom with every species of vice, misery, want, sickness, sin, and shame, slaying hecatombs year by year, till the number of victims baffles computation. Shall Christians drink such liquors? If they will, can they claim moral equality with the king of Israel? and how do they vindicate their spiritual relationship with David's Son and Lord, who poured out His own blood for the ungodly? To say the least, how must inferiority and inconsistency be confessed when, in spite of reiterated teaching and appeal, intoxicating beverages are persistently used by those who glory that they live under a dispensation greater, because more spiritual, than that which branched forth in the laws of Moses and blossomed in the lyrics of the son of Jesse!

THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 20.

Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

EATING AND DRINKING, AND MAKING MERRY] Hebrew, oklim, vě-shothim, usmākhim, 'eating, and drinking, and rejoicing.' The confidence and peace inspired by Solomon's government allowed the agricultural wealth of the people to multiply, and with it their means of legitimate enjoyment.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 25.

And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

EVERY MAN UNDER HIS OWN VINE] Hebrew, ish takhath gaphno, a man under his vine.' This proverbial phrase, 'under his vine and fig tree,' though it cannot be understood to imply that every man, or even every head of a family, had a vine or fig tree as his own, is indicative of the extent to which both the vine and fig tree were cultivated in the Holy Land for purposes of food. These were to the Jewish peasant what his kitchen-garden or 'allotment' is to the English labourer.

CHAPTER XIII. VERSES 7, 8.

7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.

"TO EAT BREAD AND DRINK WATER appears to have been a colloquial phrase, doubtless originating in the universal conviction of their value as the prime necessaries of life. The worth of water is best known, because truly felt, in sultry climes.

"Till taught by pain,

Men know not what good water's worth."

CHAPTER XVI. VERSES 8, 9.

8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. 9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.

V. 9. DRINKING HIMSELF DRUNK] Hebrew, shotheh shikhor, 'drinking (and) being surcharged,' or shakarized. The LXX. reads, peinōn methuōn, 'drinking, being drunk'; the V., bibens et temulentus, drinking and drunk.'

CHAPTER XVII. VERSE 6.

And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

The great prophet of Israel was supplied with food in his seclusion by the special providence of Israel's God, but for his daily drink he was indebted to the running stream, of which he partook gratefully, without envying 'the drunkards of Ephraim.' Bread and flesh were more than hermit's fare; u-min han-nahkal yishteh, 'and from the brook he drank,' that which truly was to him what brandy has been falsely designated, the water of life.' Some eminent commentators believe that Elijah was a Nazarite, and it is exceedingly probable that this point of resemblance between him and the forerunner of Christ was not absent.

CHAPTER XIX. VERSE 6.

And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

The prophet's 'bread and water' were insured. Twice was the cake and the cruse ready to his hand when needed, and in the strength of what he had eaten and drunk (ver. 8) 'he went forty days unto Horeb the mount of God.'

CHAPTER XX. VERSE 16.

And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

DRINKING HIMSELF DRUNK] Hebrew, shotheh shikkor. The Lxx. has peinō methuōn; the V., bibebat temulentus. [See Note on xvi. 8, 9.] The Syriac has 'he drank old wine.'

It is said (ver. 12) that Benhadad was 'drinking' with his thirty-two confederate petty kings or chiefs, and the drinking bout continued till the whole of them were filled to the full. The liquor probably being in some degree intoxicating, he not only neglects the duties of a general, but gives a boastful and ridiculous command to take all the Israelites alive, whether they had sallied out for peace or war; and hence the besieged and lately despairing soldiers of Ahab obtained an easy victory.

A

CHAPTER XXI. VERSE I.

And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

A VINEYARD] Hebrew, kerem, an enclosure of land cultivated and set with vines and other plants. Roberts says, "People in England will scarcely be able to appreciate the value which the Orientals place on a garden. The food of most of them consists of vegetables, roots, and fruits; their medicines, also, being indigenous, are mostly produced in their gardens. Here they have their fine fruittrees, and their constant shade; and here they have their wells and places for bathing." Kerem also occurs, and is translated 'vineyard,' in verses 2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 16, 18.

THE SECOND
SECOND BOOK OF KINGS.

CHAPTER IV. VERSE 39.

And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

A WILD VINE] Hebrew, gephen sahdeh, 'a vine of the field.' The Lxx. has ampelon en tō agrō, 'a vine in the field.' The V. reads, vitem sylvestrem, 'a vine growing-in-the-woods.' Probably this was a plant resembling a vine, but entirely different in nature.

WILD GOURDS] Hebrew, paqquoth sahdeh, 'wild cucumbers, cucumeres asinini,' says Gesenius. The LXX. has tolupeen agrian, wild gourds'; the V., colocynthides.

The fruit of the colocynth is of an attractive appearance, but the taste is nauseous, and the effect very hurtful. Others suggest 'fox-grapes.'

1. The paqquoth, plucked from the 'wild vine,' were put into the pot in ignorance of their nature. Many foolish things are done through ignorance, but as believing ignorance does not alter the quality, neither will it avert the physical consequences, of noxious things.

2. The bitter taste of this pottage excited suspicion, and induced those who had tasted to cry, 'Death is in the pot.' The taste of many poisons, but not of all, is unpleasant. Anhydrous alcohol (alcohol so highly rectified as to be almost free from water) is so acrid and pungent as not to be drinkable; and articles of any perceptible alcoholic strength are disagreeable to the unvitiated palate. Intoxicating liquors, however, are often so elaborated as to be suggestive of no danger even while exceedingly injurious. An eminent writer says of some highly prized French wines, "They fall like snow on the palate, but burn like fire in the veins.' When the sentinels of nature are deceived the danger is all the greater. Happy would it be if, warned by the voice of science and the facts of every-day life, our countrymen would exclaim, There is death in the pot of strong drink'; and happier still will be the day when it can be added, 'And they would not drink thereof.'

CHAPTER V. VERSE 26.

And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vine yards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

AND VINEYARDS] Hebrew, uk'rahmim, 'vineyards.'