David in His Old Age
1 Kings 1:1, 21Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. (1 Kings 1:1‑2).—Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.—This is by no means so uncommon a thing as people in England suppose. Men of seventy years of age and upwards often take a young virgin for the same purpose as did David, and for no other. It is believed to be exceedingly healthful for an aged person thus to sleep.— Oriental Illustrations, p. 188
The Altar a Refuge
Kings i: Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
ÆSCHYLUS.—
When Mars to slaughter gives the reins,
And rages o'er the ensanguined plains,
To each that flies, the Altar gives
A refuge, and the suppliant lives.
—Suppl., v. 82.
PLUTARCH.—There is the Altar to which the slave may flee for refuge; there are many sacred and inviolable places also for thieves; those even who are routed and pursued by their enemies, if they can take hold of some image or gain some sacred temple, are safe.—De Superst., c. 4.
LUCIAN.—The people ran together, and were going to cover Peregrinus with a volley of stones, had he not, to save his life, taken refuge with Jupiter.—De Mort. Peregy., c. 19.
1 Kings 2:2929And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. (1 Kings 2:29).—And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
THUCYDIDES.—The altars are a refuge to involuntary offenses; and transgression is only imputed to those who are bad without compulsion, and not to such as urgent necessity may render daring. —Thucyd., 1. iv., c. 98.
EURIPIDES.—If an unrighteous man, availing himself of the law, should claim the protection of the Altar, I would drag him to justice, nor fear the wrath of the gods; for it is necessary that every wicked man should suffer for his crimes.—Eurip.., Frag. 42.
Solomon's Request
Kings 3:7.—And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS,—Such was the humble confession of Solomon when he came to the kingdom of his father: and such frequently is the form of speech used by men here, though they be advanced in years, when they wish to speak of their incapacity for any performance. “What can I do in this affair? I am but a boy of yesterday's birth." When a man pleads for forgiveness, he says, “I am but a child; it was my ignorance." “Forgive him, Sir; he is but an infant of yesterday."—Orient. Iliust., p. 190.
SENECA.—Cease not to pray to the gods; and ask particularly for wisdom, a sound mind, and health of body.—Epist., 10
JUVENAL—We ought to pray that we may have a sound mind in a sound body.—Sal. 10., v. 356.
MENANDER.—Nothing is more excellent in man than sense and reason. He who possesses this has all things.
Solomon's Judgment
DIODORUS SICULUS.—Ariophames, king of Thrace, being appointed to decide between three young men, who each professed to be the son of the deceased king of the Cimmerians, and claimed the crown in consequence, found out the real son by commanding each to shoot an arrow into the body of the dead king: two of them did this without hesitation; the third refused, and was therefore judged by Ariophames to be the real son of the deceased.—As quoted by Grotius, In loco.
SUETONIUS.—A woman refusing to acknowledge her own son, and there being no clear proof on either side, Claudius obliged her to confess the truth by ordering her to marry the young man, the horror of such a connection constraining her to acknowledge that he was her child.—Claud., c. 15.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.—A woman who was going to bathe left her child to play on the banks of the tank, when a female demon who was passing that way carried it off. They both appeared before the deity, and each declared the child was her own. The command was therefore given, that each claimant was to seize the infant by a leg and an arm, and pull with all their might in opposite directions. No sooner had they commenced than the child began to scream, when the real mother, from pity, left off pulling, and resigned her claim to the other. The judge therefore decided, that as she only had shown true affection, the child must be hers.—From Panseya-panas-jatike.
Solomon's Provisions
1 Kings iv: 22, 23.—And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and three-score measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl.
POLYÆNUS.—The daily consumption of provisions in the royal establishment of Cyrus was great, and consisted of one thousand bushels of wheat, one thousand bushels of barley-meal, two hundred and twenty bushels of oat-meal, eleven bushels of paste mixed for pastry; four hundred sheep, three hundred lambs, one hundred oxen, thirty horses, thirty deer, four hundred fat geese, one hundred goslings, three hundred doves, six hundred small birds, eleven bushels of salt, three thousand seven hundred and fifty gallons of wine, seventy-five gallons of milk, etc.—Stratagematum, iii., 3.
TAVERNIER.—There enters no beef into the kitchens of the Grand Seignior's seraglio; but the ordinary consumption of every day, including all, as well those who eat within as without, may amount to five hundred sheep, in which number must be comprehended lambs and kids. According to the proportion of mutton maybe computed the quantity of pullets, chickens, and young pigeons, the number of which is limited according to the season; as also what may be consumed in rice and butter for the pillau.—In Pict. Bib., Vol. II., p. 262.
Shade of the Vine and Fig-Tree
DR. WILLIAM JENKS.—The land was in such profound peace, that the people disregarded the protection of walled cities.—Comp. Com., Note, In loco.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—There is no protection against the rays of an eastern sun more complete than the dense foliage of the fig-tree. The cottages of Cyprus, where law and security reign to a degree unknown in Syria, have still their clump of Fig-trees round each door; and we have enjoyed both rest and food beneath the shade of the Cyprian Fig-tree, cool even in the hottest autumnal weather.—Nat. Hist. of Bib., p. 351.
Wisdom of Solomon
DR. JOHN KITTO.—Egypt was deemed by the Gentiles the fountain of the arts and sciences, and their philosophers were wont to go thither to fructify their minds by the outpourings of Egyptian wisdom.—Pict. Bib., Vol. II., p. 263.
HERODOTUS.—The king Rhampsinitus considered the Egyptians superior in subtlety to all the world.—Herodt., 1. ii., c. 122.
PLATO.—Solon said that on his arrival at Sais, in Egypt, he was very honorably received; and especially on his inquiry about ancient affairs of those priests who possessed superior knowledge in such matters, he perceived that neither himself nor any of the Greeks, as compared with them, had any antiquarian knowledge at all.—Timœus, c. 3.
Building of the Temple
1 Kings 5:1-51And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. 2And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. 5And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. (1 Kings 5:1‑5).—And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying... Behold I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father. etc.
JOSEPHUS.—I will now pass from these records, and come to those that belong to the Phenicians, and concern our nation, and shall produce attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public writings, and are kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the facts done among them, and such as concern their transactions with other nations also, those I mean which are worth remembering. Therein it was recorded, that the Temple was built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hundred and forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built Carthage; and in their annals the building of our Temple is related; for Hirom the king of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted down to him from his forefathers. He thereupon was ambitious to contribute to the splendor of this edifice of Solomon's, and made him a present of one hundred and twenty talents of gold. He also cut down the most excellent timber out of that mountain which is called Libanus, and sent it to him for adorning its roof. Solomon also not only made him many other presents, by way of requital, but gave him a country in Galilee also that was called Chabulon. But there was another passion, a philosophic inclination of theirs, which cemented the friendship that was betwixt them; for they sent mutual problems to one another, with a desire to have them un-riddled by each other; wherein Solomon was superior to Hirom, as he was wiser than he in other respects; and many of the epistles that passed between them are still preserved among the Tyrians.—Contra Alien., Book I., § 17.
1 Kings v: 6.—Now therefore, command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants.
AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—The ceiling, roof and beams of the Temple were of cedar wood. The discoveries in the ruins at Nimroud show that the same precious wood was used in the Assyrian edifices; and the King of Nineveh, as we learn from the inscriptions, employed men, precisely as Solomon had done, to cut it in Mount Lebanon.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 550.
MENANDER.—Upon the death of Abibolas, his son Hirom took the kingdom; he lived fifty-three years, and reigned thirty-four. He raised a bank on that called the Broad Place, and dedicated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's temple. He also went and cut down timber from the mountain called Libanus, and got timber of cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also pulled down the old temples and built new ones.—In Josph. Contr. Apn., B. I., § 18.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—Phenician civilization is represented as consisting especially in the possession of nautical skill, of extensive commerce, and of excellence in the mechanical and ornamental arts and employments.
Their skill to hew timber, even at this remote period, was attested by their own historians.—Hist. Illust. of the Old Test., p. 114.
QUINTUS CURTIUS.—Material for building towers and rafts was brought down from Mount Lebanon.—Q. Curt., 1. iv., c. 2.
DR. HENRY J. VAN-LENNEP.—In Solomon's day the servants of King Hiram cut the cedars of Lebanon, and, making them into rafts, floated them to Joppa, the port appointed by the Jewish King. In the same manner, the timber, which grows abundantly on the Northern coast of Asia Minor, is cut down by the Sultan's servants, made into rafts at Sinope and other ports on the Black Sea, and conveyed to the capital for the supply of the imperial navy yard, and for house-building.—Bible Lands, p. 64.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.-Exactly in this way is timber conveyed in all parts of the East.—Oriental Illust., p. 192.
1 Kings 5:17, 1817And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. 18And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house. (1 Kings 5:17‑18).—And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stone-squarers.
DR. JOHN KITTO.-AS to the largeness of the stones for the temple, we may remark that stones of astonishingly large size were certainly employed in the ancient structures of Syria. Thus in the sub-basement of the great temple of Baalbek Irby and Mangles measured a stone sixty-six feet in length, by twelve in breadth and thickness. And Wood, in his account of the same ruins, confirms this observation; and takes notice of stones which he found cut and shaped for use in a neighboring quarry, one of which measured seventy feet in length, by fourteen in breadth, and fourteen feet five inches in depth, containing 14,128 cubic feet; and which would, if of Portland stone, weigh 1,135 tons. We might also refer to the frequently enormous size of the stones employed in the erection of the ecclesiastical and sepulchral structures of Egypt.—Pitt. Bible, In loco.
PROF. H. B. HACKETT, D. D., LL. D.—A striking confirmation of the amity between Hiram and the Hebrew kings has lately been brought to light. Certain writings or marks have been found on the bottom rows of the wall at the southeast angle of the Haram area, near where the ancient temple must have stood, at the depth of about ninety feet, where the foundations lie on the lime-rock itself. Mr. E. Deutsch, of the British Museum, who has examined these stones on the ground, decides that these signs were cut or painted on the stones when they were laid in their present places, and that they are Phenician marks; this is beyond question, because they agree with those found on primitive substructions in the harbor of Sidon. It is certainly remarkable that Phenician letters or etchings should be found on these stones at Jerusalem, thus suddenly brought to light; and the best explanation of the fact is that they were placed there by the Tyrian architects; whom Hiram sent to Jerusalem, to assist in the erection of the Temple. The precise value of the characters is not yet determined, but no doubt they were designed to guide the workmen in placing the stones in their proper positions.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, P. 3340
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—The Tyrian histories witnessed to the construction of the temple by Solomon, an event which they placed in the 144th year before the foundation of Carthage, or B. C. 1007 (a date that almost exactly agrees with the Bible Chronology, which puts it at B.C. 1012).— Hist. Illust., p. 110
1 Kings 6:14-2214So Solomon built the house, and finished it. 15And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 16And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. 17And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. 18And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 20And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. 21So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. 22And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold. (1 Kings 6:14‑22).—So Solomon built the house, and finished it. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir, etc.
To see that, this whole description of Solomon's temple is both natural and credible—that it is in perfect accord with the architectural taste and mechanical skill and royal munificence of those early days-one need but read the following record of the Temple of Merodach erected at Babylon at a somewhat later date:
INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.—The fanes of Babylon I built, I adorned. Of the house, the foundation of the heaven and earth, I reared the summit with blocks of noble lapis lazuli: to the construction of Bit-Saggatu my heart lifted me up; in abundance I wrought the best of my pine trees, which from Lebanon, together with tall Babil-wood, I brought for the portico of the Temple of Merodach: the shrine of his Lordship I made good, and interior walls with pine and tall cedar woods: the portico of the Temple of Merodach, with brilliant gold I caused to cover, the lower thresholds, the cedar awnings, with gold and precious stones I embellished: in the erection of Bit-Saggatu I proceeded: I supplicated the King of gods, the Lord of lords: in Borsippa, the city of his loftiness, I raised Bit-Zida: a durable house in the midst thereof I caused to be made. With silver, gold, precious stones, bronze, unmakana and pine woods, those thresholds I completed: the pine wood portico of the shrine of Nebo with gold I caused to cover, the pine wood portico of the gate of the Temple of Merodach I caused to overlay with bright silver, etc.—See Records of the Past, Vol. V., p. 119.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS. —The people of the East are exceedingly profuse in their carved work. Look at a temple; it is, almost from its foundation to its summit, a complete mass of sculpture and carved work. Look at the sacred car in which their gods are drawn out in procession, and you are astonished at the labor, taste and execution displayed by the workmen in carved work. Nay, the roof and doors of private dwellings are all indebted to the chisel of the “cunning workman." The pillars that support the verandahs, their chests, their couches (as were those of Solomon), the handles of different instruments, their plows, their vessels, however rude in other respects, must be adorned by the skill of the carver. —Oriental Illustrations, p. 193.
1 Kings 5:38.—So was he seven years in building it.
JOSEPHUS. —Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, undertook a very great work, that is, to build of himself the temple of God, and to make it larger of compass, and to raise it to a most magnificent altitude, as esteeming it to be the most glorious of all his actions. The cloisters and outer enclosures he built in eight years. But the temple itself was built by the priests in a year and six months, upon which the people were full of joy.—Antiquities, B. XV., C. II.
House of Lebanon
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—As a builder of great works Esar-haddon is particularly distinguished. Besides his palace at Babylon, he built at least three others in different parts of his dominions, either for himself or for his son. The southwest palace at Nimroud is the best preserved of his constructions.
This building, which was excavated by Mr. Layard, is remarkable from the peculiarity of its plan as well as from the scale upon which it is constructed. It corresponds in its general design almost exactly with the palace of Solomon (1 Kings 7:1-21But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. (1 Kings 7:1‑2)), but is of larger dimensions, the great hall being 220 feet long, by 100 broad, and the porch or ante-chamber 160 feet by 60 feet.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 761.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—Many of the stones in the existing walls of. Jerusalem are fifteen or sixteen feet long, by four high and four deep; and it is remarkable that these dimensions, as to length, correspond to those given in the Scripture. —Pict. Bible In loco.
PROF. J. L. PORTER, A. M. —Some forty feet from the angle, on the western side, are three courses of colossal masonry projecting from the wall, and forming the springing stones of a large arch. These stones have within the last few years attracted no little attention. And this is not strange, for they are unquestionably a remnant of the bridge that once connected Moriah and Zion. Calculating by the curve of the part which remains, we find that the span of the arch must have been about forty feet, and five such arches would be required to cross the Tyropean. That the bridge existed in our Lord's time we learn from Josephus. It is also mentioned during the siege by Pompey twenty years before Herod was made king. The exact date of the fragment still remaining cannot, of course, be precisely fixed. One thing, however, is certain, that it is coeval with the massive foundations of the southern angles of the Haram. One of the three courses is five feet four inches high, the others are a little less. One of the stones is twenty-four feet long, another twenty, and the rest in proportion.
The Cyclopean dimensions, and peculiar character of the masonry, indicate a far higher antiquity than Herod the Great, and would seem to point back to the earliest age of the Jewish monarchy. We read that the foundations of Solomon's temple were formed of “costly stones, even great stones; stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And the great court round about was of three rows of hewed stones."—Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 126.
The Two Pillars
AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—The embossed and engraved vessels from Nimroud afford many interesting illustrations of the progress made by the ancients in metallurgy. The Sidonians, and other inhabitants of the Phenician coast, were the most renowned workers in metal of the ancient world. In the Homeric poems they are frequently mentioned as the artificers who fashioned and embossed metal cups and bowls. It will be remembered that Phenician characters occur on one of the plates (discovered at Nimroud). The discovery in Cyprus of twelve silver bowls very closely resembling those found at Nimroud, tend further to confirm the idea that many of these relics were the works of Phenician artists. -Nineveh and Babylon, p. 162, 163.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—In several of the Egyptian temple's, obelisks are placed immediately in front of them, at each side of, and at equal distances from the door of entrance.—Pict. Bib. In loco.
HERODOTUS.—Among the various offerings which adorned and enriched the temple of Hercules, I saw two pillars; the one was of purest gold, the other of emerald, which in the night diffused an extraordinary splendor.—Herod., 1. ii., c. 44.
MENANDER.—Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom. He raised a bank on that called the “Broad Place," and dedicated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's temple.—In Josephus Contr. Ap., B. I., § 18.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The pomegranate was adopted as one of the favorite devices in the decoration of Solomon's temple, being carved on the capitals of the pillars. Whether the design was taken from the fruit or the flower, it would form a graceful ornament. We have frequently noticed the Pomegranate sculptured on fragments of columns among the ruins of Oriental temples.—Nat. Hid. of the Bible, p. 389.
Attitude in Prayer
DR. ADAM CLARKE.—This was a usual custom in all nations: in prayer the hands were stretched out to heaven as if to invite and receive assistance from thence.—Note In loco.
VIRGIL.—
Ye lamps of heaven, he said, and lifted high
His hands, now free; thou venerable sky,
Inviolable powers!
Æn., lib. ii., v. 153.
DR. WILLIAM JENKS.—The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic for prayer was the figure of two uplifted hands.—Note In loco.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—This refers to a very ancient custom, for the worshippers, under different systems of religion, to direct their faces, when at prayer, towards some particular point where the presence of their deity was supposed to be more particularly manifested, or which was, otherwise, the holiest place which the religion recognized. This point is called the kebla among the eastern nations. Jerusalem and its temple was the kebla of the Jews—the point to which they directed their prayers wherever they might be.... We discover the continuance of the custom of worshipping toward Jerusalem and its temple in the order issued by Adrian, by which the Jews were forbidden not only to enter Jerusalem, but to look towards it. The custom is not yet relinquished. The Jews still, in all their wide dispersions, turn their faces in prayer towards their lost Canaan, and for this reason it is that, in all Hebrew Synagogues, we observe the door (or the principal door, if there be more than one) is placed at or near the opposite of the compass. The kebla of the Mohammedans is at Mecca.—Pict. Bib. In loco.
Queen of Sheba
Dius.—They say further, that Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to be solved, and desired that he would send others back for him to solve; and that he who could not solve the problems proposed to him should pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the proposals, but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal of money, as a penalty for the same. As also they relate that one Abdemon, a man of Tyre, did solve the problems, and propose others which Solomon could not solve, upon which he was obliged to repay a great deal of money to Hirom.—In Josephus Contr. Ap., B. I., § 17.
PLUTARCH.—Aristippus, having heard from Ischomachus of the wisdom of Socrates, could have no rest till, having sailed to Athens, with wonderful thirst and ardor he had drunk from the fountain, and had heard the man himself, and his language and philosophy.—De Curiosit., C. 2.
IDEM.—In the course of his expedition into India, Alexander took ten of the Gymnosophists. As these ten were reckoned the most acute and concise in their answers, he put the most difficult questions to them that could be thought of, and at the same time declared that he would put the first person that answered wrong to death, and after him all the rest. The oldest man among 'hem was to be judge.
He demanded of the first, "Which were the most numerous, the living or the dead?" He answered, “The living, for the dead no longer exist."
The second was asked, "Whether the earth or the sea produce the largest animals?" He answered, "The earth, for the sea is part of it."
The third, "Which was the craftiest of all animals?” “That," said he,, " with which man is not yet acquainted "—meaning himself.
The fourth, “What was his reason for persuading Sabbas to revolt? " “Because," said he, " I wished him either to live with honor, or to die as a coward deserves."
The fifth had this question put to him, " Which do you think oldest, the day or the night?" He answered, “The day, by one day." As the king appeared surprised at this solution, the philosopher told him, "Abstruse questions must have abstruse answers."
Then addressing himself to the sixth, he demanded, “What are the best means for a man to make himself loved?” He answered, “If possessed of great power, do not make yourself feared."
The seventh was asked, “How a man might become a god?” He answered, “By doing what is impossible for man to do."
The eighth, “Which is the strongest, life or death?" “Life," said he, " because it bears so many evils."
The last question he put was, “How long is it good for a man to live?” "As long," said the philosopher, “as he does not prefer death to life."
Then turning to the judge, he ordered him to give sentence. The old man said, “In my opinion, they have all answered one worse than the other." "If this is thy judgment," said Alexander, "thou shalt die first." “No," replied the philosopher, “unless you choose to break your word; for you declared that the man who answered worst should first suffer."—The king loaded them with presents, and dismissed them.—Alexand., c. 64.
DIODORUS SICULUS.—The Sabæans not only excel all the neighboring barbarians in wealth, but all other people whatsoever, for plenty of everything which is counted precious. They swim, as it were, in streams of gold and silver, especially at Sabas, the seat of their, kings. The doors and roofs of their apartments are adorned with numberless golden bowls, set with precious stones. —Diod. Sic., 1. iii., c. 3.
PLINY.—The Sabæi are the richest of all in the great abundance of their spice-bearing groves, their mines of gold, etc.—Hist.' Nat., 1. vi., c. 32.
VIRGIL.—The Sabæans alone possess the tree which produces frankincense.—Georg., 1. ii., v. 117.
Solomon's Throne
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—Among the Greeks ivory was in use at a very early period, as it is repeatedly mentioned by Homer and Hesiod.
In after times the use of ivory became more general among the luxurious. The galleys of the Phœnicians had their benches or hatches ornamented with ivory inlaid work. Many specimens of ivory ornaments have been found both in Nineveh, especially a scepter and inlaid tablets, and also in the earliest monuments of Egypt. The art of inlaying ivory is still practiced by the inhabitants of Sidon.—Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 82.
AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—Gilding appears to have been extensively used among the Assyrians in decoration; and some of the great sphinxes may have been overlaid with gold, like the cherubim in Solomon's temple.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 555.
IDEM.—In one of the tombs at Kouyunjik was a thin golden mask, still preserved, which perfectly retained the figure of the corpse. A similar mask of thin gold was discovered in a tomb opened by the officers of the Euphrates expedition on the banks of that river.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 503.
AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P.—In the further corner of the chamber (at Nimroud), to the left hand, stood the royal throne. Although it was utterly impossible, from the complete state of decay of the materials, to preserve any part of it entire, I was able, by carefully removing the earth, to ascertain that it resembled in shape the chair of state of the king, as seen in the sculptures of Konyunjik and Khorsabad, and particularly that represented in the bas-reliefs already described, of Sennacherib receiving the captives and spoil, after the conquest of the city of Lachish. With the exception of the legs, which appear to have been partly of ivory, it was of wood, cased or overlaid with bronze, as the throne of Solomon was of ivory, overlaid with gold. The metal was most elaborately engraved and embossed with symbolical figures and ornaments, like those embroidered on the robes of the early Nimroud king, such as winged deities struggling with griffins, mythic animals, men before the sacred tree, and the winged lion and the bull. As the wood-work, over which the bronze was fastened by means of small nails of the same material, had rotted away, the throne fell to pieces, but the metal casing was partly preserved. Numerous fragments of it are now in the British Museum, including the joints of the arms and legs; the rams' or bulls' heads, which adorned the ends of the arms (some still retaining the clay and bitumen with the impression of the carving, showing the substance upon which the embossing had been hammered out), and the ornamental scroll-work of the cross bars, in the form of the Ionic volute. The legs were adorned with lions' paws resting on a pine-shaped ornament, like the thrones of the later Assyrian sculptures, and stood on a bronze base. A rod with loose rings, to which was hung embroidered drapery, or some rich stuff, appears to have belonged to the back of the chair, or to a frame-work raised above or behind it. In front of the throne was the footstool, also of wood overlaid with embossed metal, and adorned with the heads of rams or bulls. The feet ended in lions' paws and pine cones, like those of the throne.—Nineveh and Babylon, p. 167-169.
Imports of Solomon
1 Kings 10:2222For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. (1 Kings 10:22).—The king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
SIR J. G. WILKINSON.—In a tomb at Thebes, Blacks and people of red color bring to the king of Egypt, from the country of Pount, ivory, apes, leopards, skins, and dried fruits. Ethiopians bring gold rings, and bags of precious stones, hides, apes, leopards, ebony, ivory, ostrich eggs and plumes, a camelopard, hounds with handsome collars, and a drove of long-horned oxen. Another group of light red race, the Gentiles of Kufa, bring vases of elegant forms ornamented with flowers, necklaces, and other costly gifts. Still another group of white men, wearing close sleeves, bring long gloves, vases, a chariot and horses, a bear, elephant, and ivory.—In Comp. Comment., In loco.
Solomon's Wives and Concubines
1 Kings 11:33And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:3).—And he had seven hundred wives, princesses; and three hundred concubines. DR. JOHN KITTO.—Among Oriental monarchs an extensive female establishment is regarded as a piece of royal state, which sometimes gives occasion to one as large or larger than that of Solomon. And this is often the case when the prince himself, as frequently happens, distinguishes only three or four of the number, and sometimes only one, with his personal attention and favor. China, India, Persia and Turkey afford, or have afforded, instances similar to that of the king of Israel. The Chinese emperor has a vast number of females in his establishment, many of whom he never saw in his life. Magalhaeus computes their number at three thousand. Those of the great Mogul were stated at one thousand by the travelers of the seventeenth century—exactly Solomon's number.—Pict. Bib., note In loco.
SIR JOHN MALCOLM.—While his generals were subduing the Roman Empire, Khoosroo was wholly devoted to the enjoyment of unheard-of luxury and magnificence. His noble palaces, of which he built one for every season-his thrones, which were invaluable, particularly that called Takh-dis, which was formed to represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the hours of the day—his treasures—his LADIES, of whom there were twelve thousand, each, if we believe the gravest of Persian writers, equal to the moon in splendor and beauty—his horses, etc.—History of Persia, in Pict. Bib.
CHAMPOLLION. —The name of this king, Shishak or Shishork, is graven on one of the columns in the palace of Karnak, and is represented as dragging to the feet of his gods the chiefs of thirty conquered nations, among whom has been found a representative of the Jews, under the name of fouda-hamelek, or the kingdom of Judah, which offers a striking corroboration of what is narrated in 1 Kings 14:25-2825And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: 26And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 27And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house. 28And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber. (1 Kings 14:25‑28). —Precis., p. 205; and Letters, p. 99.
Royal Associates
DR. JOHN KITTO.—It was an ancient custom, particularly in the East, for young princes to UP trained up with young men, who, from the rank or influence of their families, might be expected to become the leading men of the nation. Sesostris in Egypt, Cyrus in Persia, and Alexander in Macedon, were brought up in this manner: and we find that the companions and fellow-pupils of their early days were their devoted friends and military commanders in more advanced life.—Pict. Bib., Vol. II., 293.
The Altar at Bethel
1 Kings 13:1-41And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. (1 Kings 13:1‑4).—And behold there came a man of God Out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
DR. JOHN KITTO. —This clear, distinct, and remarkable prophecy, concerning what should be done by a man who was not born till 360 years later, and whose very name is mentioned, may be advantageously contrasted with the obscure, indeterminate, guarded, and equivocal predictions of the idle oracles of ancient paganism. —Pict. Bib., In loco.
DR. ADAM CLARKE.—This man of God, as it were, gave this warning to idolatry, that it might be on its guard, and defend itself against this Josiah, whenever a person of that name should be found sitting on the throne of David: and, no doubt, it was on the alert, and took all prudent measures for its own defense; but all in vain; for Josiah, in the eighteenth year of his reign, literally accomplished this prophecy, as we may read in 2 Kings 23:15-2015Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. 16And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. 18And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. 19And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. 20And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:15‑20).—Note In loco.
Shishak
1 Kings 14:2525And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: (1 Kings 14:25).—And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the treasures of the house, etc.
REGINALD STUART POOLE, Brit. Mus.—Shishak has left a record of this expedition, sculptured on the wall of the great temple of El Karnak.—Smith's Bib. Dict. p. 3013.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—Doubts were thrown a few years since, by an able writer, on the expeditions of Shishak against Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and of Zerah, the Ethiopian, against Asa, Rehoboam's grandson; which, it was suggested, might be mere embellishments of history, otherwise tame and uninteresting. The careful analysis which the inscription of Shishak, at Karnak, has undergone at the hands of Mr. Stuart Poole, and Dr. Brugsch, not to mention other scholars, and the evidence thus furnished of the reality and the importance of his expedition into Palestine, render the continuance of incredulity, as to the former of these attacks, impossible. The analysis has thrown a flood of light on what was previously obscure in the scriptural narrative.—Modern Skepticism, p. 284.
Omri
1 Kings 16:23, 2423In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. (1 Kings 16:23‑24).—In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill Samaria.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—At length a certain Omri attained to power, and succeeded in introducing greater stability into the Israelite state. Removing the capital to a new site, Samaria, and establishing a new system of laws, which were thenceforth observed, he so firmly fixed his dynasty upon the throne, that it continued during three generations and four reigns before it was succeeded by another. A monarch of this capacity might be expected to get himself a name among his neighbors; and accordingly we find in the Assyrian inscriptions of the time that his name is the Israelite name with which they are most familiar. Samaria is known to the Assyrians for some centuries merely as Beth-Omri, “the house " or " city of Omri; " and even when they come into contact with Israelite monarch of the house which succeeded Omri's upon the throne, they still regarded them as descendants of the great chief whom they viewed perhaps as the founder of the kingdom. Thus the Assyrian records agree generally with the Hebrew in the importance which they assign to this monarch; and specially confirm the fact that he was the founder of the later Israelite metropolis, Samaria.—Historical Illustrations of the O. T., p. 121.
PROF. H. B. HACKETT, D. D., LL.D.—The most skeptical writers recognize the significance of this agreement of Assyrian and Jewish history.—Hist. Iliust. of O. T., p. 121, note.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.-Omri's name appears also on another very recently discovered monument. The stele of Mesha, king of Moab, erected at Dibon in the Moabite country about B. C. 900, twenty or thirty years after Omri's death, records that he reduced the Moabites to subjection, and began an oppression under which they groaned, till Mesha re-established their independence. This notice agrees well with the Hebrew date for Omri, and with the mention that is made of his might in 1 Kings 16:2727Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kings 16:27).—Hist. Illust. of O. T., p. 122.
THE MOABITE STONE. —I Mesha am son of Chemoshgad King of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I reigned after my father. And I erected this stone to Chemosh at Karcha, a stone of salvation, for he saved me from all despoilers, and let me see my desire upon all mine enemies. And Omri, king of Israel, who oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire on him and his house; and Israel said, I shall destroy it forever. Now Omri took the land Medeba, and occupied it, he and his son, and his son's son, forty years. And Chemosh had mercy on it in my days.—Dr. Ginsburg's Translation, lines 1 to 9.
Ahab
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—Omri's son and successor, Ahab, is mentioned by name in an Assyrian contemporary inscription, which, agreeably to the account given in the First Book of Kings with respect to the place of his ordinary residence, calls him, "Ahab of Jezreel." The inscription tells us that Ahab on a certain occasion joined in a league of kings against the Assyrians, and furnished to the confederate army, that was brought into the field, a force of 10,000 footmen and 2,000 chariots. The allies suffered defeat, and Ahab appears thenceforth to have abstained from offering any opposition to Assyria. Among the confederate monarchs with whom he leagued himself was the Damascene king, Benhadad, whom Scripture also makes Ahab's contemporary. —Hist. Illust., p. 122.
THE BLACK OBELISK. —This Assyrian monument contains a notice of the next Israelite monarch, Ahab, and another of the Syrian king who succeeded Benhadad, Hazael. Hazael appears the chief antagonist of the Assyrian invaders of Syria, in immediate succession to Benhadad. And Ahab, the son of Omri, is declared to have sent ambassadors to the Assyrian capital with presents or tribute. The facts here recorded are not mentioned in Scripture; and the “testimony " consists simply in the mention at an appropriate time, under appropriate circumstances, and in proper sequence, of persons who play an important part in the sacred history.—Hist. Illust. of O. T., p. 127.; see also Ancient Monarchies, Vol. IV., p. 576.
PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.—This “Ethbaal " appeared as Eithobalus in Dius and Menander, who made him the sixth king of Tyre after Hiram, reckoning the interval between the two at fifty years, and giving Eithobalus a reign of thirty-two years, whereby he would be exactly contemporary with Ahab. Moreover, the Tyrian histories related that Eithobalus was high-priest of Astarte (or Ashtoreth), which accounts in a measure for the religious fanaticism of his daughter.—Hist. Illust., is.p. 125.
JOHN KITTO, D. D., F. S. A.—The Phenician Baal was Melkart, who from the earliest foundation of Tyre was the tutelar god of that city, and whose worship extended with tire extension of her state. Many representations of the Phenician Baal or Melkart are extant on coins. Annexed is one.—Pict. Bible, In loco.
Elijah
1 Kings 17:2, 32And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. (1 Kings 17:2‑3).—And the word of the Lord came unto Elijah, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
PROF. H. B. HACKETT.—Dr. Robinson, in his Physical Geography, and Wilson, in his Lands of the Bible, hold “Cherith" to be the Wady Kelt. And it must be owned that a brook or ravine better suited to have been the asylum of the prophet could hardly be found anywhere.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 419.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—And now (in going down from Jerusalem to Jericho) the scenery changed rapidly to the grand and savage. Instead of limping among the gravels and boulders of winter torrents, with an occasional zizyphus-bush overhanging them, we skirted the tremendous gorge of the Wady Kelt, which we could occasionally see by peering down the giddy height, with its banks fringed by strips of cane and oleander, the “willows by the water-courses." Here Robinson is inclined to place “the brook Cherith."... The gorge opens suddenly at a turn of the path about two miles before reaching the plain, where the traveler finds himself in front of a precipice perhaps 500 feet 'high, pierced by many inaccessible anchorite caverns, and with a steep, rugged hill above. We gaze down into the steep ravine, and see the ravens, eagles, and griffon-vultures sailing beneath us. These are now the sole inhabitants of these caves, the monarchs of the waste.—Land of Israel, p. 202.
JOSEPHUS. —Now Menander mentions this drought in his account of the acts of Ethbaal, king of the Tyrians, where he says thus: "Under him there was a want of rain from the month of Hyperberetæus till the month of Hyperberetæus in the year following; but when he made supplications, there came great thunders." By these words he designed this want of rain that was in the days of Ahab, for at that time it was that Ethbaal also reigned over the Tyrians, as Menander informs us.—Antiquities, B. VIII., c. 73, § 2.
ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D. D.—Like all limestone formations, the hills of Palestine abound in caves.... In these innumerable rents and cavities and holes, we see the origin of the sepulchers, which still perforate the rocky walls of the Judæan valleys; the hiding-places of robbers, and insurgents; and the refuge of those “of whom the world was not worthy."—Sinai and Pal., p. 749.
Kings 18:5.—And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks; peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.—In droughts in the East, which have lasted from six to ten months, how often have we seen men, like Obadiah, going along in marshy places, or by the sides of tanks, in search of grass for their cattle. See the poor fellow with a basket on his back, and a little instrument in his hand.
He strolls from fountain to brook; and no Sooner does he see a green patch of verdure, than he runs with eagerness to the spot. Perhaps he meets another in search of the same thing, when each declares he had the first view. They set to work snarling at each other, and dealing out all kinds of abuses, till they have completely cleared the place of every green blade.—Oriental Illust., p. 202.
1 Kings 18:79.—Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
TACITUS. —Between Judaea and Syria stands Mount Carmel, the place, and the deity of the place, bearing the same name. Nor is the god distinguished by any statue or any temple, but only by an altar reared, and worship offered. Hist., 1. ii., c. 78.
MR. GEORGE GROVE, Cryst. Pal.—Mount Carmel forms one of the most striking and characteristic features of the country of Palestine. It stands as a wall between the maritime plain of Sharon on the south, and the more inland expanse of Esdraelon on the north. In form it is a tolerably continuous ridge, at the west end about 600 feet, and at the east end about 1,600 feet above the level of the sea. Of the identity of Carmel there never has been a doubt.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 388.
1 Kings 18:2727And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. (1 Kings 18:27).—And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
HOMER.—Jove went yesterday across the ocean to banquet with the Ethiopians.—Iliad, 1. i., v. 409.
IDEM.—Jove on his couch reclined his awful head, And Juno slumbered on the golden bed.—Iliad, 1. i., v. 423.
PLUTARCH.—It is no wonder said Hegesias that the temple of Diana was burned; since she was absent at the time, employed in bringing Alexander into the world.—Alexander, c. iii.
LUCIAN.—'Tis plain that the gods are not at home, and probably have taken a voyage to attend " the feasts of Ethiopia's blameless race; " for they are in the habit of inviting themselves as guests to those honest folks.-De Jov. Trag., c. 37.
HERODOTUS.—The Carians of Egypt treat themselves at this solemnity (the rites of Isis) with unparalleled severity: they cut themselves in the face with swords, and by this distinguish themselves from the Egyptian natives.—Herodt., 1. ii., c. 61.
LUCIAN.—It is the universal custom with the worshippers of Hierapolis to make punctures in honor of the gods, some in their hands, others in their necks; and hence it is that all the Assyrians are marked in that manner.—De dea Syr., c. 59.
IDEM.—The worshippers of the Syrian goddess spun round and round, dashed themselves in the arm with their swords, lolled out their tongues, and pierced them through in such a manner that frequently they were all over blood. —Asin., c. 37.
LUCAN.—
Belona's priests, a barb'rous frantic train,
Whose mangled arms a thousand wounds disdain,
Toss their wild locks, and with a dismal yell,
The wrathful gods and coming woes foretell.
—Phars., 1. i., v. 565.
PROF. J. LESLIE PORTER, A. M.—Carmel is chiefly celebrated as the scene of Elijah's sacrifice. The exact spot is marked by local tradition, by the agreement of its physical features with the Scripture narrative, and by its name, el Muhrakah, "The Sacrifice." It is about six hours' ride from the convent, over the crest of the ridge. I visited it from the Plain of Esdraelon, on the opposite or eastern side. It is on the brow of the mountain, and commands the whole plain of Jezreel and Tabor. Close to the base of the range, below the spot, flows the river Kishon, where the prophets of Baal were slain; and just above the spot is a projecting peak, from which Elijah's servant saw the “little cloud, like a man's hand, rising out of the sea." Sitting on that commanding height, on a bright spring evening, I felt persuaded I was upon the scene of Elijah's great sacrifice. Beside and under me were probably the very stones of which God's altar was built, and over which played the heavenly flame. A few paces beneath me was the well from which the water was drawn, that the prophet's servants poured upon the altar. Around me were the thickets from which the wood was cut. Away at the foot of the mountain flowed the Kishon in its deep bed, which on that day ran red with the blood of Jehovah's enemies. There, stretching out before me, was the plain across which Ahab dashed in his chariot; and yonder, on its eastern border, I saw the little villages which mark the sites and still bear the names of Jezreel and Shunem. —Giant Cities of Bashan, 241, 242.
ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D. D.—Carmel is not so much a mountain as a ridge, an upland park, extending for many miles into the interior of the country. At the eastern extremity, which is also the highest point of the whole ridge, is a spot marked out alike by tradition and by natural features as one of the most authentic localities of the Old Testament history. The tradition is unusually trustworthy. It is one of the very few, perhaps the only case in which the recollection of an alleged event has been actually retained in the native Arabic nomenclature. Many names of towns have been so preserved, but here is no town, only a shapeless ruin, yet the spot has a name, El-Maharakah, or "The Sacrifice." But, be the tradition good or bad, the localities adapt themselves to the event in almost every particular. The summit thus marked out is the extreme eastern point of the range, commanding the last view of the sea behind, and the first view of the great plain in front; just where the glades of forest, " the excellency of Carmel," sink into the usual barrenness of the hills and vales of Palestine. There, on the highest point of the mountain, may well have stood, on its sacred “high place," the altar of the Lord which Jezebel had cast down. Close beneath, on a wide upland sweep, under the shade of ancient olives, and round a well of water, said to be perennial, and which may therefore have escaped the general drought, and have been able to furnish water for the trenches round the altar—must have been ranged, on one side, the king and people, with the eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and Astarte, and on the other the solitary and commanding figure of the Prophet of the Lord. Full before them opened the whole plain of Esdraelon, with Tabor and its kindred ranges in the distance; on the rising ground, at the opening of its valley, the city of Jezreel, with Ahab's palace and Jezebel's temple distinctly visible; in the nearer foreground, immediately under the base of the mountain, was clearly seen the winding stream of the Kishon, working its way through the narrow pass of the hills into the Bay of Acre. Such a scene, with such recollections of the past, with such sights of the present, was indeed a fitting theater for a conflict more momentous than any which their ancestors had fought in the plain below.—Sinai and Palestine, p. 345-347.
Kings 18:33-35.—And Elijah said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar. And he filled the trench also with water.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—No place could be conceived more adapted by nature to be that wondrous battle-field of Truth. In front of the principal actors in the scene, with the king and his courtiers by their side, the thousands of Israel might have been gathered on the lower slopes, witnesses of the whole struggle to its stupendous result. In the upper part of the amphitheater, to the left, is an ancient fountain, overhung by a few magnificent trees, among them a noble specimen of Turkey oak. The reservoir of the spring is stone-built and square, about eight feet deep, and the old steps which once descended to it may yet be traced. The roof partially remains. The water is of some depth, and is perennial. This was corroborated by the existence of mollusks (Neritina michonii) attached to the stones within the cistern. In that three years' drought, when all the wells were dry, and the Kishon had first sunk to a string of pools, and then finally was lost altogether, this deep and shaded spring, fed from the roots of Carmel, remained. After we had drunk of this fountain, whence Elijah drew for the trench round his altar, while Ahab sat under the rock, probably just where the oak tree now grows, we toiled up again to our horses, alarming the jays, and many a flight of wood-pigeons rarely here disturbed.—Land of Israel, p. 119.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—Immediately below, on the banks of the Kishon, was a small flat-topped green knoll, Tell Cassis," the mound of the priests," marking in its name the very spot where Elijah slew the prophets of Baal, when he had brought them down to the brook Kishon.—Land of Israel, p. 118.
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.—Who in the East has not seen the natives thus ?sitting on the earth, with their faces between their knees? Those who are engaged in deep meditation, in a long train of reasoning, who are revolving the past or anticipating the future, or who are in great sorrow or fatigue, may be seen seated on the ground with the face between the knees. “This morning as I passed the garden of Chinnan, I saw him on the ground with his face between his knees. I wonder what plans he was forming." "Kandan is sick or in trouble; for he has got his face between his knees."—Oriental Illust., p. 205.
1 Kings 18:4343And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. (1 Kings 18:43).—And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
DEAN STANLEY, D. D.—From the place where Elijah must have worshipped, the view of the sea is just intercepted by an adjacent height. That height, however, may be ascended in a few minutes, and a full view of the sea obtained from the top.—Sinai and Palestine, p. 348, note.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—We were standing on the edge of a cliff, and looked down on a map of central Palestine. The hewn stones among which we stood mark the site of the altar of the Lord which Jezebel overthrew and Elijah repaired. To this spot came Elijah's servant to look for the little cloud, which at length rose to the prophet's prayer, and portended the coming rain, exactly as it does now. No site in Palestine is more indisputable than that of the little hollow in the knoll 300 feet below us, where the Lord God of Elijah manifested his Divinity before Ahab and assembled Israel. —The Land of Israel, p. 117.
1 Kings 18:4444And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. (1 Kings 18:44).—And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
PLINY.—An isolated cloud, however small, though seen in a clear sky, announces wind and storm.—Nat. Hist., 1. xviii., c. 82.
SOPHOCLES.—Forth from a little cloud, Soon as the storm shall burst, it will o'erwhelm thee, And stop thy clamors.—Ajax, v. 1148.
ARATUS.—
If before him mount a little cloud,
Veiling his rising beams in murky shroud,
By this forewarned, within the house remain,
Charged is the air with stores of pelting rain.
—Diosem., v. 845.
EMERSON.—The following morning rose fine and beautiful; again all sail was set, and we hoped ere noon to reach the open sea to the south of Syra, where Stephanopoulo expected to encounter -the squadron of the commodore. As we were seated at breakfast, a sailor put his head within the door, and saying briefly, “that it looked squally to windward," hurried again upon deck. We all followed, and on coming up, saw a little black cloud on the verge of the horizon towards the south, which was every instant spreading over the sky and drawing nearer to us. The captain altered his course instantly, preparing to scud before it; and in the meantime ordered all hands aloft to take in sail. But scarcely an instant had elapsed ere the squall was upon us, and all grew black around: the wind came rushing and crisping over the water, and in a moment the ship was running almost gunwale down, whilst the rain was dashing in torrents on the decks.-This instance, and others I have witnessed, are thoroughly explanatory of the passage in Kings, where the servant of Elijah descries from the top of Carmel the little cloud ascending from the sea. In the Mediterranean such scenes are frequent.—Letters from the Ægean, ii., 149.
SIR J. G. WILKINSON.—The Egyptian monuments show this custom, and their nobles had even sometimes six or seven servants to run before them; and when going to an entertainment these carried the stool to assist them in alighting from their chariot, an inkstand, or whatever they might want, on the road, or at their friend's house.—Ancient Egypt.
SUETONIUS.—Sergius Sulpicius Galba (afterward emperor) distinguished himself by leading an escort, with a shield in his hand, and running by the side of the emperor Caligula's chariot twenty miles together.—Galba, c. 6.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—The rothem or retem, here translated “juniper tree," is a species of Broom, very common in the ravines of the desert, and often on the open ground. It is especially frequent near Sinai and Petra, occasional in the wilderness of Judæa, and abundant round the Dead Sea, and in the ravines leading down the Jordan Valley. Thus it is strictly a 'desert shrub, never occurring in the richer or higher ground. In February, when it puts forth its sheet of delicate white and purplish-pink blossom, which precedes its tiny foliage, few shrubs can surpass it in grace and beauty. It grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, and affords a thick and grateful shade. It was under a Rothem bush that Elijah lay down when he fled into the wilderness. Dean Stanley incidentally mentions that in the only storm of rain he ever encountered in his travels in the desert, he took shelter under a Rothem bush.—Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 359.
Kings 19:6.—And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head.
DR. HENRY J. VAN-LENNEP.—AS most Orientals like an occasional draft of water during the night, a cruse is usually placed so near the bed spread upon the floor that the sleeper can reach it by merely raising his head from the pillow and stretching out his hand. This habit evidently prevailed among the Hebrews, for we find distinct references to it in the Scriptures.—Bible Lands, p. 44
CICERO. —The mouth was often applied to the images of Hercules in worship. 1, —Verr., iv., 43
ROBERTS.—Things which have been sent to the temples to be presented to idols, are, when returned, kissed by the people. When a devotee has touched the feet of a priest, he kisses his hands.—Oriental Illustrations, p. 206.
DR. WILLIAM JENKS. —The text probably alludes to the little images of Baal handed round at their religious assemblies to be kissed, or to the ancient superstition of kissing sometimes the obscene image of this god, afterward practiced in heathen Italy, and handed down to us in the venerable custom of kissing the Pope's toe.—Comp. Comm., note In loco.
Benhadad
REV. JOSEPH ROBERTS.—" The gods do so unto me, and more also."—This form of imprecation or prayer is very common in the East: "If I do not ruin that fellow, then the gods do so to me: " “If I kill not that wretch, then may the gods kill me." And it is an interesting fact, that this other figure of speech, in reference to the dust not being sufficient to fill the hands of the numerous hosts of Benhadad, is in common use at this day.—" We had better at once give up our possessions: why attempt to resist such hosts? The dust of the country will not be sufficient to furnish a handful for each of the soldiers."—" Why do the inhabitants of Batticotta hate and despise us? If we all go against them, will their country afford a handful of earth for each of us?"—Oriental Illustrations, p. 207.
Kings 20:23.—And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
VIRGIL. —Gods of every kind.—.Æneid, 1. viii., v. 698.
CICERO. —What a multitude of gods there is.—De Nat. Deor., III., 16.
ROBERTS.—The Hindus have their gods of the hills, and also those of the lower places. Thus Siva, Vishnoo, and Murraga-Murte are those of the high places; but Vyravar, Urruttera, and many demons, are the deities of the lower regions.— Oriental Illustrations, p. 207.
DR. W M. THOMSON. —East of us about two miles is Fîk, a considerable village on the top of the mountain, occupying the site of ancient Aphek, the city to which Benhadad fled after one hundred thousand of his soldiers had been slain in battle by Ahab. The city however proved almost as destructive as the army of Israel, for a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. This tremendous destruction was caused, as I suppose, by an earthquake; and after having seen the effects of the earthquake in Safed and Tiberias, I can easily understand and readily credit this narrative.... Those ramparts were very lofty and massive. An open space was always left along their base, and this would be packed full, from end to end, by the remnants of Benhadad's mighty host, and escape from the falling towers would be impossible. The peculiar character of the site would render the destruction only the more extensive and inevitable.—The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 53.
1 Kings 20:3131And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. (1 Kings 20:31).—And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us, I pray thee, put sack-cloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life.
DR. WILLIAM JENKS. —Figures of captives with ropes about their necks are common on Egyptian monuments (and also on those of Assyria). They are sometimes seen thus tied together in rows, and led captive by one who holds the end of the string in his hand. In some instances they appear thus tied together on their knees, while the executioner cuts off their heads. Thevenot states, that at the taking of Bagdad by the Turks, in 1638, when the besieged entreated quarter, the principal officer went to the Grand Vizier with a scarf about his neck, and his sword wreathed in it, and begged mercy.—Comp. Comm., note In loco.
Ahab and Naboth
ROBERTS.—How often (in the East) do we see full-grown men acting in a similar way, when disappointed in their wishes. Approach them and they avert their faces; offer them food, and they will not eat, and generally speaking, their friends are so weak as to gratify their wishes at any expense.—Orient. Illust., p. 209.
1 Kings 21:1010And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. (1 Kings 21:10).—And set two men, sons of Bella], before him, to bear witness against him, saying; Thou didst blaspheme God and the king.
ROBERTS.—Ask any judge, any gentleman in the civil service of India, whether men may not be had, in any village, to swear anything for the fraction of a shilling; and he will soon adduce sad proofs of the widespread subornation of evidence among the natives.—Orient. Illust., 210.
1 Kings 21:1919And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. (1 Kings 21:19).—Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM, LL. D., F. R. S.—Every oriental city and village abounds with troops of hungry and half-savage dogs, which own allegiance rather to the place than to persons, and which wander about the streets and fields, howling dismally at night, and devouring even the dead bodies of men when they can reach them.—Natural History of the Bible, p. 79.
Ahab and the False Prophets
SOPHOCLES.—None ever loved the messenger of ill. —Antig., v. 277.
HERODOTUS.—The Oracle consulted by Crœsus assured him that if he prosecuted a war against the Persians he should overthrow a mighty empire. Depending upon this answer he commenced the war and was overthrown by Cyrus. In answer to the complaints of Crœsus, the Oracle declared that he ought to have inquired whether his own empire were intended, or that of the Persians. Herodt., 1. i., C. 53, 91.
Ivory Palace
HOMER.—
Above, beneath, around the palace, shines
The sunless treasure of exhausted mines:
The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And studded amber darts a golden ray.
—Odys., IV., 73.
EURIPIDES.—The ivory-decked palaces.—Iphig. in Aul., v. 582.
PROF. H. B. TRISTRAM.—Chests inlaid with ivory are still used in Damascus, and I have seen a chamber in the house of a wealthy Damascene paneled with alternate veneers of ivory and ebony to the height of three or four feet from the floor, thus illustrating the ivory houses of Ahab, and of the prophecy of Amos. —Nat. Hist. of Bible, 82.