CHRIST CHAP. VIII. Solomon's prayer. 1004. 39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men ;) 40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; 42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have buildcalled upon ed, is called by thy name. + Heb. thy name is this house. + Heb. the way of the city. 1 Or, right. k 2 Chron. 6. 36. Eccles. 7. 22. 44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD + toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their || cause. 46 If they sin against thee, (* for there is no man that sinneth not,) and 1 John 1. 8, thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they 10. increased the publick guilt, before God will hear the prayers and forgive the sins of the nation. There cannot be a general reformation without the reformation of particular persons, which constitute and make up the generality. Abp. Tillotson. 41.-concerning a stranger, &c.] Concerning "a stranger" that "cometh out of a far country" to be a proselyte to the true religion, and worship God alone, though he be not circumcised, and thereby bound to keep the whole law. Such strangers came to pray at the temple, though they might not offer any sacrifice except only a burnt offering; there was a court in the temple, called the court of the Gentiles, beyond that of the Israelites, which was designed entirely for the Gentile proselytes. Bp. Patrick. 43. - that this house,—is called by thy name.] That is, "that it is thy house." Locke. 44. — whithersoever thou shalt send them,] It is here VOL. I. Solomon's prayer. carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; Before CHRIST 1004. + Heb. bring their heart. 47 Yet if they shall +bethink themselves in the land whither they were back to carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name : 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their || cause, 50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: 51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. Or, right, 53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou 1 Exod. 19. 6. spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD. to be observed, that the Israelites were not to make war, without a warrant and commission from God, upon the neighbouring nations; not for the satisfying of their ambition and vain-glory, but by his command, and for just and necessary reasons, which would warrant them to implore and expect God's blessings on their arms. Bp. Patrick. 48. and pray unto thee toward their land, &c.] The very looking towards this place, with earnest imploring of the mercy of God, and desire of his help, was to own Him that dwelt here, and to acknowledge Him alone for their God, which was a means of preserving them from idolatry. All other nations of the world turned their faces towards the east when they worshipped; but the Jews (when they were in captivity) to the west, where the holy temple was. And for this cause, when the temple and the holy city were destroyed, and the ark of the testimony gone, yet good men looked and prayed ЗА Solomon's prayer, and Before CHRIST 1004. + Heb. fallen. I. KINGS. 54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, sacrifice of peace offerings. 62 ¶ And m the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. Before CHRIST 1004. m 2 Chron. 63 And Solomon offered a sacri- 7.4. n 7.7. 56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath 64 The same day did the king n 2 Chron. given rest unto his people Israel, ac-hallow the middle of the court that cording to all that he promised: there was before the house of the LORD: hath not failed one word of all his for there he offered burnt offerings, good promise, which he promised by and meat offerings, and the fat of the the hand of Moses his servant. peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. 57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel + at all times, as thing of a day the matter shall require : + Heb. the in his day. 60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. towards the place where it used to be, as appears by the Prophet Daniel. Dean Allix. 65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. thanked. 66 On the eighth day he sent the 1 CHAP. IX. God's covenant in a vision with Solomon. too little to receive the burnt offerings, &c." ver. 64, 54. when Solomon had made an end of praying] From this prayer of Solomon we learn, that all events proceed from God; that war, pestilence, famine, and other judgments, are inflicted by his hand, when men provoke Him by their sins; that to have recourse to God by prayer, confession of sins, and true repentance, is the way to remedy these evils; and that He is always ready to hear and to deliver those who call upon Him in their necessities, and with all their hearts turn unto Him. We here see, lastly, with what fervency and joy Solomon gave thanks to God, and implored his blessing in behalf of all the people. Let us join with him in both these duties; praising God for all his blessings, 65.-from the entering in of Hamath &c.] From the and especially for spiritual mercies; above all with fer- northern to the southern extremity of the land of Israel. vent devotion, beseeching Him to turn our hearts to- For Hamath see note on 2 Sam. viii. 9; and for the wards Him, that we may keep his commandments faith-river of Egypt, see the note on Gen. xv. 18. fully and with perseverance. Ostervald. 63.-two and twenty thousand oxen, &c.] We must not suppose that all these were offered in one day, much less on one altar. The continuance of this solemn meeting was for fourteen days; seven in the feast of tabernacles, and seven in the feast of dedication, ver. 65: and "because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was 64.-did the king hallow the middle of the court] It does not mean that he consecrated it, for this had been done before; but he treated it as a sacred place, and shewed his reverence for it by religious acts there performed. Jos. Mede. 66. On the eighth day he sent the people away:] It is added at 2 Chron. vii. 10, that this was the 23rd day of the seventh month. It would thus appear, that the fourteen days of the feast were not all kept together; for the great day of expiation was on the tenth of this month. It is probable, therefore, that before this day the seven days of the dedication were kept; and that God's covenant in a Before CHRIST about 992. a 2 Chron. 7.11. Hiram. 15 In Solomon's works the Gen- 7 Then will I cut off Israel out of tiles were his bondmen, the Israelites ho- the land which I have given them; nourable servants. 24 Pharaoh's daughter and this house, which I have hallowed removeth to her house. 25 Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices. 26 His navy fetcheth gold from Ophir. AND it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, 2 That the LORD appeared to Sob Chap. 3. 5. lomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which e Chap. 8. 29. thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, das I promised to David thy father, 1 Chron. 22. saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. d 2 Sam. 7. 12. 10. 6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: afterwards they rested till the 15th, when the feast of tabernacles began; so that the whole feast ended on the 23rd day of the month. Bp. Patrick. Chap. IX. This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. vii. 12, to the end, and chap. viii. Ver. 1.—when Solomon had finished the building] It is meant, after he had not only finished the building, but completed also the festival of the dedication, and the prayer, which has been detailed in the last chapter: this appears from ver. 3. Bp. Patrick. 4.-if thou wilt walk before me, &c.] In this passage it is strikingly expressed how much the safety, welfare, and happiness of kings and people depend entirely on their obedience to the laws of God. Bp. Vilson. 11.-twenty cities] These were not cities in the land of promise, which, as being God's gift to his people, could not be alienated; but were cities conquered by David, and not yet inhabited by Israel. Bp. Wilson. 13.- he called them the land of Cabul] It is commonly thought that Hiram called them by way of derision Cabul, which signifies "a dirty country," or Before CHRIST about 992. e for my name, will I cast out of my e Jer. 7. 14. sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people; 8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done f Deut. 29.24 thus unto this land, and to this house? f 9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil. Jer. 22. 8. 992. g 2 Chron. 8. 10 ¶ And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon . had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house, 11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they † pleased him + Heb. were not. not right in his eyes. displeasing," as our margin translates; but others understand the word to signify "a boundary," as this was the tract of land which bounded the lower Galilee. Bp. Patrick. The reason of Hiram's refusing these lands probably was, that the Tyrians, being very commodiously situated for navigation, were in a manner wholly addicted to it, and were therefore unwilling to remove from the sea-coast, and settle in a country where they could only live by the hard labours of agriculture, to which they were little accustomed. Bedford. The Greek translators render Cabul by a word which signifies "a bound or coast," but Hebrew writers by no means give that sense to the word. Josephus says, Cabul signifies, in the Phenician tongue, “that which does not please." Dr. Lightfoot. According to another conjecture, Cabul signifies "bond land,” land granted in discharge of a debt; and the name was sarcastically imposed by Hiram, to express how ill Solomon had discharged his obligation to him. Michaelis. Respecting the situation of this "land of Cabul," opinions have differed; but the prevailing one has been, that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of Tyre. Calmet. Solomon buildeth divers cities. Before CHRIST 992. I. KINGS. 14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. 15 ¶ And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the about 992. wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and about 1014. given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife. + Heb. the desire of Solomon which he desired. 17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, 18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and + that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 15. and the wall of Jerusalem,] There are said to have been three walls, one within another; the inner wall compassing the house of God, and the house of the king; the middle wall compassing the houses of the Prophets and great persons; and the third compassing the houses of all the people. Bp. Patrick. 16.-Pharaoh-had-taken Gezer,] It appeared from Josh. xvi. 10, that when the Ephraimites took possession of Gezer, they suffered the Canaanites to dwell in it, who afterwards gave them no small disturbance; when therefore Pharaoh contracted an alliance with Solomon, he thought that he could not do him a more acceptable service, than by expelling the Canaanites from Gezer, and giving the city as a present with his daughter. Stackhouse. The Gentiles were his bondmen. Before CHRIST 20 And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, about 992. Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, 21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day. 22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: h Lev. 25. 39. but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work. 24 ¶ But Pharaoh's daughter i 2 Chron. 8. came up out of the city of David 11. unto her house which Solomon had and capable of cultivation. As the intercourse increased, the possession of this station became an object of so much importance, that Solomon, when he turned his attention towards the extension of commerce amongst his subjects, built a fenced city there. Its Syrian name of "Tadmor in the wilderness," and its Greek name of Palmyra, are both descriptive of its situation, in a spot adorned with palm trees. This is not only plentifully supplied with water, but surrounded by a portion of fertile land, which, though of no great extent, renders it a delightful habitation in the midst of barren sands, and an inhospitable desert. Its happy position, at the distance, according to M. D'Anville, of sixty miles from the Euphrates, and 203 from the Mediterranean, or, according to Major Rennell, of eighty-five miles from the Euphrates, and about 117 from the nearest coast of the Mediterranean, induced its inhabitants to enter with ardour into the trade of conveying commodities from one of these to the other. Its opulence and power increased rapidly; and, from the peculiar advantages of its situation, as well as the spirit of its inhabitants, it long maintained its independence, though surrounded by powerful and ambitious neighbours. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, some gentlemen of the English factory at Aleppo, incited by what they heard in the East concerning the wonderful ruins of Palmyra, ventured, notwithstanding the danger and fatigue of a journey through the desert to visit them. To their astonishment they beheld a fertile spot of some miles in extent, arising like an island out of a vast plain of sand, covered with the remains of temples, porticoes, aqueducts, and other publick works, which in magnificence and splendour, and some of them in elegance, were not From the earliest times there seems to have been unworthy of Athens or of Rome, in their most prospersome cominunication between Mesopotamia and other ous state. Palmyra owed its aggrandizement to the provinces on the banks of the Euphrates, and those opulence acquired by extensive commerce. After its parts of Syria and Palestine which lay near the Medi- conquest by Aurelian, trade never revived there. At terranean. The migration of Abram from Ur of the present a few miserable huts of beggarly Arabs are scatChaldees to Sichem in the land of Canaan, is an in-tered in the courts of its stately temples, or deform its stance of this, Gen. xi, xii. The journey through the elegant porticoes; and exhibit an humiliating contrast desert, which separated these countries, was much faci- to its ancient magnificence. Dr. Robertson. litated by its affording one station abounding with water, 18.- Tadmor in the wilderness,] Tadmor was a very famous city, known among the Greeks by the name of Palmyra, situated in the wilderness of Syria, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, inclining towards the Euphrates. Josephus places it two days' journey from Upper Syria, one day's journey from the Euphrates, and six days' journey from Babylon. If we may guess by the ruins which later travellers describe of this city, it was one of the finest and most magnificent in the East; and it is somewhat surprising, that history should give us so little account when or by whom it was reduced to the sad condition in which it now appears. The reason of Solomon's building this city in so desolate a place, was probably the commodiousness of its situation, to cut off all commerce between the Syrians and Mesopotamians, and to prevent their caballing and conspiring against him, as they had done against his father David. Stackhouse, Dr. Wells. 23.-five hundred and fifty,] At 2 Chron. viii. 10, His yearly sacrifices. Before CHRIST CHAP. IX, X. His navy fetcheth gold from Ophir. Before CHRIST built for her: then did he build | his servants, shipmen that had knowabout 992. Millo. + Heb. upon it. ↑ Heb. lip. 25 ¶ And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house. 26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which 1 is beside Eloth, on the + shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent in the navy the number is stated at 250. The most probable solution is, that there were 250 set over those who wrought in the temple; and the rest had the superintendence of publick works in other places. Bp. Patrick. 26.- Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth,] We read at Numb. xxxiii. 35, that one of the encampments of the Israelites was at Ezion-gaber; and both Eloth and Ezion-gaber are mentioned at Deut. ii. 8. It is clear from Scripture that Ezion-geber was on the Red sea, but its exact situation is matter of dispute. Dr. Wells. The chief foundation of riches to the Jews was the trade which they carried on by the Red sea, to the coasts of Africa on the west, and also to those of Arabia, Persia, and India, on the east. King David was the first who began it; for, having conquered the kingdom of Edom, and reduced it to be a province of the empire, 2 Sam. viii. 14, he thereby became master of these seaports, Eloth and Ezion-geber, and seeing the advantage which might be made of these two places, he wisely took advantage of it, and there began the traffick. Solomon, not being perplexed with wars as his father David was, had greater leisure for commercial pursuits, and he much improved this trade, as well by his greater application to it, as by his superiour wisdom. For the better settling of it, he went to Eloth and Ezion-geber in person, 2 Chron. viii. 17, and planted in these towns such inhabitants as might best be able to further his designs, bringing many from the sea-coasts of Palestine, and being furnished with Tyrians by Hiram his friend and ally, 1 Kings ix. 27; 2 Chron. viii. 18. As the use of the compass was then unknown, navigation was carried on entirely by coasting, which made that to be a voyage of three years, which would now be completed in three months. However, under the wise management of Solomon, this trade grew to such a pitch, that he drew to these ports, and thence to Jerusalem, all the trade of Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India, which was the chief source of the immense wealth he acquired, and in which he surpassed all the kings of his time as much as he did by his wisdom; so that he made silver to be at Jerusalem as the stones of the street, chap. x. 27, by reason of its great abundance there during his reign. Dean Prideaux. 28. And they came to Ophir,] It is agreed by all writers, that the trade carried on under Solomon was the same as that which is now in the hands of our East India merchants; yet there are great disputes among learned men, in what parts of the Eastern world Ophir and Tarshish, the two places of resort mentioned in Scripture, lay. Some suppose Ophir to have been the island of Socotra, which lies on the eastern coast of Africa, a little without the straits of Babel-mandel. Others contend for the island of Ceylon, which supposition is thus far confirmed, that an ancient author, Eu ledge of the sea, with the servants of about 992. Solomon. 28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. СНАР. Х. The queen of Sheba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. 14 Solomon's gold. 16 His targets. 18 The throne of ivory. 21 His vessels. 24 His presents. 26 His chariots and horse. 28 His tribute. polemus, states Ophir to have been an island. But we have no certain means of information; we have no account in Scripture of the situation of Ophir, or of the length of the voyage to it, only we are told that there were brought from it "gold, almug trees, and precious stones," chap. x. 11; therefore any place in the Southern or Indian oceans which could furnish these may be supposed to be the Ophir of Scripture. This, however, should be remarked, that if the southern part of Arabia furnished the world in those times with the best gold, and in the greatest quantity, as many authors affirm, those who assert Ophir to have been there situated seem to have the best reason for their conjecture. Dean Prideaux. On the other hand, the authors of the Universal History deem it the most probable conjecture, that Ophir was in some of those remote rich countries of India beyond Ganges, and perhaps as far as China or Japan; which last still abounds with the finest gold, and with several other commodities in which Solomon's fleet dealt, as silver, precious stones, ebony, &c. In what region of the earth we should search for the famous ports of Tarshish and Ophir, is an enquiry which has long exercised the industry of learned men. They were early supposed to be situated in some part of India, and the Jews were held to be one of the nations which traded with that country. But the opinion more generally adopted is, that Solomon's fleets, after passing the straits of Babel-mandel, held their course along the south-east coast of Africa, as far as the kingdom of Sofala, a country celebrated for its rich mines of gold and silver, (from which it has been denominated the Golden Sofala by Oriental writers,) and abounding in all the other articles which composed the cargoes of the Jewish ships. This opinion, which the accurate researches of M. D'Anville rendered highly probable, seems now to be established with the utmost certainty by a late learned traveller, Mr. Bruce; who, by his knowledge of the monsoons in the Arabian gulf, and his attention to the ancient mode of navigation, both in that sea, and along the African coast, has not only accounted for the extraordinary length of time which the fleets of Solomon took in going and returning, but has shewn, from circumstances mentioned concerning the voyage, that it was not made to any place in India. This commercial effort, which the Jews made in the reign of Solomon, was merely a transient one; and they quickly returned to their former state of unsocial seclusion from the rest of mankind. Dr. Robertson. gold, four hundred and twenty talents,] It is said at 2 Chron. viii. 18, that they brought 450 talents: a difference which is of little importance, whether we attribute it to a variation in the value of the talent, or in the quantity of the metal, the one referring to the quantity of pure gold, the other of gold with alloy; |