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1. A Little afterward David also fell into a distemper, by reason
of his age; and perceiving that he was near to death, he called
his son Solomon, and discoursed to him thus: "I am now, O my son,
going to my grave, and to my fathers, which is the common way
which all men that now are, or shall be hereafter, must go; from
which way it is no longer possible to return, and to know any
thing that is done in this world. On which account I exhort thee,
while I am still alive, though already very near to death, in the
same manner as I have formerly said in my advice to thee, to be
righteous towards thy subjects, and religious towards God, that
hath given thee thy kingdom; to observe his commands and his
laws, which he hath sent us by Moses; and neither do thou out of
favor nor flattery allow any lust or other passion to weigh with
thee to disregard them; for if thou transgressest his laws, thou
wilt lose the favor of God, and thou wilt turn away his
providence from thee in all things; but if thou behave thyself so
as it behooves thee, and as I exhort thee, thou wilt preserve our
kingdom to our family, and no other house will bear rule over the
Hebrews but we ourselves for all ages. Be thou also mindful of
the transgressions of Joab, the captain of the host, who
hath slain two generals out of envy, and those righteous and good
men, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether; whose
death do thou avenge as shall seem good to thee, since Joab hath
been too hard for me, and more potent than myself, and so hath
escaped punishment hitherto. I also commit to thee the son of
Barzillai the Gileadite, whom, in order to gratify me, thou shalt
have in great honor, and take great care of; for we have not done
good to him first, but we only repay that debt which we owe to
his father for what he did to me in my flight. There is also
Shimei the son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, who, after he
had cast many reproaches upon me, when, in my flight, I was going
to Mahanaim, met me at Jordan, and received assurances that he
should then suffer nothing. Do thou now seek out for some just
occasion, and punish him."
2. When David had given these admonitions to his son about public
affairs, and about his friends, and about those whom he knew to
deserve punishment, he died, having lived seventy years, and
reigned seven years and six months in Hebron over the tribe of
Judah, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem over all the country.
This man was of an excellent character, and was endowed with all
virtues that were desirable in a king, and in one that had the
preservation of so many tribes committed to him; for he was a man
of valor in a very extraordinary degree, and went readily and
first of all into dangers, when he was to fight for his subjects,
as exciting the soldiers to action by his own labors, and
fighting for them, and not by commanding them in a despotic way.
He was also of very great abilities in understanding, and
apprehension of present and future circumstances, when he was to
manage any affairs. He was prudent and moderate, and kind to such
as were under any calamities; he was righteous and humane, which
are good qualities, peculiarly fit for kings; nor was he guilty
of any offense in the exercise of so great an authority, but in
the business of the wife of Uriah. He also left behind him
greater wealth than any other king, either of the Hebrews or, of
other nations, ever did.
3. He was buried by his son Solomon, in Jerusalem, with great
magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomp which kings
used to be buried with; moreover, he had great and immense wealth
buried with him, the vastness of which may be easily conjectured
at by what I shall now say; for a thousand and three hundred
years afterward Hyrcanus the high priest, when he was besieged by
Antiochus, that was called the Pious, the son of Demetrius, and
was desirous of giving him money to get him to raise the siege
and draw off his army, and having no other method of compassing
the money, opened one room of David's sepulcher, and took out
three thousand talents, and gave part of that sum to Antiochus;
and by this means caused the siege to be raised, as we have
informed the reader elsewhere. Nay, after him, and that many
years, Herod the king opened another room, and took away a great
deal of money, and yet neither of them came at the coffins of the
kings themselves, for their bodies were buried under the earth so
artfully, that they did not appear to even those that entered
into their monuments. But so much shall suffice us to have said
concerning these matters.
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