| Clarke's Commentary on the Bible The Beerothites fled to Gittaim - Probably the same as Gath; as Ramathaim is the same as Ramah. Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until that day. At the death of Saul, when many of the Israelites deserted their cities, and left them to the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31:7; and so the inhabitants of Beeroth forsook their city, which was near the Philistines, and went to Gittaim, a city in the same tribe, though a little further off, see Nehemiah 11:33. Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament"The Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were strangers there unto this day." Gittaim is mentioned again in Nehemiah 11:33, among the places in which Benjaminites were dwelling after the captivity, though it by no means follows from this that the place belonged to the tribe of Benjamin before the captivity. It may have been situated outside the territory of that tribe. It is never mentioned again, and has not yet been discovered. The reason why the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and remained there as strangers until the time when this history was written, is also unknown; it may perhaps have been that the Philistines had conquered Gittaim. Geneva Study BibleAnd the Beerothites fled to {d} Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.) (d) After the death of Saul, for fear of the Philistines. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary4:1-7 See how Ishbosheth was murdered! When those difficulties dispirit us, which should sharpen our endeavours, we betray both our heavenly crowns and our earthly lives. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty and ruin. The idle soul is an easy prey to the destroyer. We know not when and where death will meet us. When we lie down to sleep, we are not sure that we may not sleep the sleep of death before we awake; nor do we know from what hand the death-blow may come. |