That is the work of the first two
kings, who saved Israel from his spoilers, and gave him power
and rest. No difference is made between them in this respect:
the one commenced the work which the other completed (1Samuel
ix. 16, xiv. 48; 2Samuel iii. 18, xix. 9). Before them there was
no breathing space left in the hard work of fighting, but now
there is time to think of other things. Even Deuteronomy,
which was written not long before the exile, regards the period
before the monarchy as a time of preparation and transition,
not to be counted complete in itself: Israel must first acquire
fixed seats and a settled way of living, and then Jehovah also
will choose a seat for Himself and make known His desires with
regard to the cultus. David brought things so far that the
people had room and struck firm roots into the ground, and
ceased to tremble before their enemies, who had kept them on the
strain from the beginning, and all the days of the judges; and
under his successor the time came when the temple could be built
and higher interests receive attention. That Hebrew antiquity
knew nothing of any hostility or incompatibility between the
heavenly and the earthly ruler is plain from the title Anointed
of Jehovah, and from the hope of the prophets, whose ideal future
would be incomplete without a human king.
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