333. Aliyah Stool

From: Manners and Customs of the Bible By: James M. Freeman

• 3 min. read • grade level: 10

2 Kings 4:10¹⁰Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. (2 Kings 4:10). Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick.

1. The aliyah. “chamber,” is an upper room of an Eastern house, being sometimes built on the roof, and sometimes making a second story to the porch, to which it has access by stairs. It is hence called in 2 Samuel 18:33³³And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! (2 Samuel 18:33), “the chamber over the gate.” See note on that text (#284). In the text it is called a chamber “in the wall,” probably because its window, opening to the street, made a break in the dead wall, and was thus about the only evidence to an outside spectator of the existence of rooms in the house. It is usually well furnished, and kept as a room for the entertainment of honored guests. Thus the Shunammite entertained Elisha, as related in the text. It was in such a room that Elijah dwelt in Zarephath at the house of the widow (1 Kings 17:19,23¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. (1 Kings 17:19)
²³And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. (1 Kings 17:23)). In the first of these two verses we have the word “loft” as a translation of the word aliyah, thus conveying to many minds the idea of a bare desolate garret, which is very far from the fact. Further than this. Dr. Thomson states that the poorer kind of houses have no aliyah, which leads him to the conclusion “that this widow woman was not originally among the very poorest classes, but that her extreme destitution was owing to the dreadful famine which then prevailed” (The Land and the Book, vol.1, p. 285).

Such a room makes a desirable place of retirement for the master of the house. Ahaziah was in an aliyah, in his palace of Samaria, when he fell through the lattice-work of the window and injured himself (2 Kings 1:2²And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. (2 Kings 1:2)). Eglon, King of Moab, was in a room of this description when he was assassinated by Ehud (Judg. 3:20²⁰And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. (Judges 3:20)). Aliyah is in this text rendered “summer parlor”; the marginal reading is “a parlor of cooling.” Doubtless the latticed windows were so arranged as to keep the room as cool and comfortable as possible.

It was on the roof of an aliyah in the palace of Ahaz that the kings of Judah had erected altars for idolatrous worship (2 Kings 23:12¹²And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. (2 Kings 23:12)). It was in an aliyah where, in the midst of idolaters, Daniel prayed three times daily to the one true God (Dan. 6:10¹⁰Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10)). Aliyoth are also referred to in Jeremiah 22:13-14¹³Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; ¹⁴That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. (Jeremiah 22:13‑14) and in Psalm 104:3,13³Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: (Psalm 104:3)
¹³He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. (Psalm 104:13) where the word is most beautifully used in a figurative sense.

In the New Testament the aliyah is referred to under the name of “upper room,” (ύπερῷον, which is the Septuagint rendering of aliyah.) It was in such a place that the disciples gathered immediately after the ascension of the Saviour (Acts 1:13¹³And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. (Acts 1:13)). In a room of this kind the corpse of Tabitha or Dorcas was placed Here the widows whom she had helped wept over her, and here Peter restored her to life (Acts 9:37,39³⁷And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. (Acts 9:37)
³⁹Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. (Acts 9:39)). In a similar place, in the city of Troas, Paul once preached until midnight (Acts 20:7-8⁷And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. ⁸And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. (Acts 20:7‑8)).

It is also supposed by some commentators that the “upper room” where Jesus ate the passover with his disciples was a room of this description (Mark 14:15¹⁵And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. (Mark 14:15); Luke 22:12¹²And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. (Luke 22:12)). Others, however, deny this, since ύπερῷον is not the word used to denote the room. See note on Mark 14:15¹⁵And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. (Mark 14:15) (#745).

2. “Stool,” here, like “loft” in 1 Kings 17:19¹⁹And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. (1 Kings 17:19), seems to indicate something very rude; but in reality the original word (kisse) is the very word that is used in some other passages to designate a throne. The seat for the prophet was probably the very best that could be procured.

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