t the Philistines at bay till
their discomfited Israelite comrades had had time to rally.****

* 1 Sam. xvi. 14-23. This narrative is directly connected
with 1 Sam. xiv. 52, where we are told that when "Saul saw
any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him."

** 1 Sam. xvii., xviii. 1-5. According to some writers, this
second version, the best known of the two, is a development
at a later period of the tradition preserved in 2 Sam. xxi.
19, where the victory of Elhanan over Goliath is recorded.

*** 2 Sam. xxi. 19, where the duel of Goliath and Elhanan is
placed in the reign of David, during the combat at Gob. Some
critics think that the writer of Chronicles, recognising the
difficulty presented by this passage, changed the epithet
Bethlehemite, which qualified the name of Elhanan, into
Lahmi, the name of Goliath's brother (1 Citron, xx. 5). Say
ce thought to get over the difficulty by supposing that
Elhanan was David's first name; but Elhanan is the son of
Jair, and not the son of Jesse.

**** The combat of Paz-Dammim or Ephes-Dammim is mentioned
in 1 Sam. xvii. 1; the exploit of David and his two
comrades, 2 Sam: xxiii. 9-12 (cf. 1 Chron. xi, 12-14, which
slightly varies from 2 Sam. xxiii. 9-12).

Saul entrusted him with several difficult undertakings, in all of which
he acquitted himself with honour. On his return from one of them, the
women of the villages came out to meet him, singing and dancing to the
sound of timbrels, the refrain of their song being: "Saul hath slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands." The king concealed the jealousy
which this simple expression of joy excited within him, but it found
vent at the next outbreak of his illness, and he attempted to kill David
with a spear, though soon after he endeavoured to make amends for his
action by giving him his second daughter Michal in marriage.* This did
not prevent the king from again attempting David's life, either in
a real or simulated fit of madness; but not being successful, he
despatched a body of men to waylay him. According to one account it was
Michal who helped her husband to escape,** while another attributes the
saving of his life to Jonathan. This prince had already brought about
one reconciliation between his father and David, and had spared no pains
to reinstall him in the royal favour, but his efforts merely arous