JERUSALEM. 413 
the king, tliey present to him the surprising chap. 
testimony of their valour and affection. David ' 
receives from their hands a pledge they had so 
dearly earned, but refuses to drink of water 
every drop of which had been purchased by 
their blood \ He returns thanks to the Almighty, 
who had vouchsafed the deliverance of his 
warriors from the jeopardy they had encoun- 
tered ; and making libation with the precious 
gift, pours it upon the ground, an offering to 
the Lord\ The antient character and history 
of the early inhabitants of Judiea are beautifully 
illustrated by this brief record ; but it presents 
a picture of manners which has not lost its 
prototype among the Arabs of the same country 
at this day. The luell, too, still retains its 
pristine renown ; and many an expatriated Betit- 
lehemite has made it the theme of his longing 
and regret. As there is no other well cor- 
responding in its situation with the description 
(6) That is to say, which was the price of blood. — " Is not this the 
blood of the men that went in, jeopardy of their lives?" (2 Sam. xxiii. 17-) 
It was contrary to the Jewish law to use any thin^ which might be 
considered as the price of blood. Thus it is recorded by St. Alattheu', 
(xxvii. 6 ) " And the chief-priests took the silver pieces, and said, It 
is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the jirice 
of blood." 
(7) "Effjruft Ss afr' cci/tou tui Qim, xa.) vifi rn; ffoiTrioIct; ruv utifo.-^ 
ivx'^f"''''^'''''' '^"'^V- " -Oeo aulem inde lihavit, eigne pm firorum incohtmi- 
tate g-ralias egil," Joseph. Antiq. lib. vii. c. 12. torn. I. p. 402. 17'-^. 
