Sacrifice (Zebach,Minchah).|+----------------+----------------+-------------+| | | |Burnt offering. Peace offering. Expiatory Offering of| offering. Purification.| | || | +-----+--+----------+| | | | || | Child Leprosy. Issue.| | birth.| +----+----------+------------+| | | || Sin offering Trespass Offering| (Chattath). offering Jealousy.| (Ashâm).|+--------+---------+-+--------+--------------+| | | | |Thank Praise. Paschal Firstborn Firstfruits.offerings. Lamb. of animals.[335]LXX., πλημμελεία.[336]LXX., θυσία σωτηρίον.[337]The phrase "wave offering" indicates the ceremony used by the priests in presenting peace offerings to God.[338]For the full development of these views, see Wellhausen'sProlegomena.[339]See Bishop Barry's article on Sacrifice in Smith'sDictionary of the Bible, to which, in this paragraph, I am much indebted.[340]Lev. v. 11-13.[341]See Kuenen,Rel. of Israel, ii. pp. 259-76.[342]Speaker's Commentary, Leviticus, p. 508. In Lev. xvii. 11—"For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, andI have ordained it for you upon the altarto make atonement for your souls; for the blood it is which makes atonement by means of the soul"—Kurtz points out that the blood is simplychosen as a symbol, and the superstition that there is any atoning virtue in the blood itself is excluded.[343]Pæd., ii. 2, § 19.[344]The Priestly Code is that part of the Pentateuch which is occupied with public worship and the function of priests—viz., most of Leviticus; Exod. xxv.-xl.; Numb. i.-x., xv.-xx., xxv.-xxxvi. (with inconsiderable exceptions)[345]In Psalm xl. 6, "Sin offering hast Thou not required." The Psalm is perhaps of the age of Jeremiah.[346]He argues that even in Chronicles it is not mentioned; and that there was no curtain (Parocheth) before the Holiest in Solomon's Temple (1 Kings vi. 31, 32. Comp. Ezek. xli. 23, 24; 1 Kings viii. 8). He considers that 2 Chron. iii. 14 (the only place in the Old Testament whereParochethoccurs except in the P.C.) cannot overthrow 1 Kings vi. 21, which speaks only of chains of gold between the Holy and the Holiest. (There was a curtain in Herod's Temple, Matt. xxvii. 51; Heb. ix. 3). But if there was noParochethin Solomon's Temple, the rule of Lev. xvi. 2, 12, 15 could not have been observed.[347]This caused immense perplexity to the Rabbis.Shabbath, xiii. 2;Chagigah, xiii. 1;Menachoth, xlv. 1.[348]1 Sam. xv. 22.[349]Amos v. 21-23.[350]Micah vi. 6-8. Some suppose that the words are attributed to Balaam (see verse 5).[351]Hosea vi. 6.[352]Isa. i. 11-16.[353]Jer. vii. 22, xi. 15.[354]Jer. xxxiii. 14-26 seems to speak in a different tone, but is probably an interpolation. It is not found in the LXX.[355]Psalm l. 8-14.[356]Psalm li. 16, 17. It is difficult to believe that the two last verses of the Psalm are not a later addition.[357]Psalm xl. 6.[358]Prov. xxi. 3.[359]Psalm lxix. 30, 31.[360]Mark xii. 32, 33. So in the Talmud: "Acts of justice are more meritorious than all sacrifices" (Succoth., lxix. 2).[361]Matt. ix. 13.[362]Matt. xii. 7.[363]Rom. xii. 1; 1 Peter ii. 5.[364]Heb. x. 4, 11.[365]Heb. xiii. 16.[366]Ecclus. xxxv. 1-15.[367]Comp. Ov.,Trist., ii. 1, 75; Ep. xx. 81; Persius, ii. 45; Varro,ap.Arnob.,c. Natt., vii. 1. "Dii veri neque desiderant ea, neque deposcunt."[368]Philo,De Victimis, 5.[369]A. Geiger,Judenthum und seine Geschichte, Sect. 5.[370]Vajikra R., 22 and 34b. They got over Jer. xxxiii. 18 (in Yalkuth, on the passage) by saying, "He that doeth repentance it is counted to him as if he offered all the sacrifices of the land." They held that the place of sacrifices was taken by prayer, penitence, and good works. See Edersheim,Jesus the Messiah, i. 275.[371]See Spencer,De Legg. Ritual., iii.;Dissert., ii., chap. 1.[372]Evang. Ebion,ap.Epiph.,Hær., xxx. 16.[373]Mark vii. 19.[374]It was twice repaired—aboutb.c.856 in the reign of Joash, and about two centuries later under Josiah.[375]See Isa. xxix. 13, 14; Ezek. xxxiii. 31; Matt. xv. 7-9; Col. i. 20-22, etc. Comp. Wellhausen, pp. 77-79.[376]Rev. xxi. 22.[377]1 Kings ix. 6-9. The phrase "at this house which is high" is uncertain. The Vulgate has "domus hæc erit in exemplum"; the Peshito and Arabic have "and this house shall be destroyed."[378]To form some notion of these buildings, see the excellent illustrations in Stade, i. 318-25.[379]The hill of Zion, the city of David, had become overcrowded, and the hill which lay to the north, which was called Millo, or "the border," had to be included in it. A narrow valley lay between them. "Mount Moriah, and its offshoot Ophel, remained outside the city, and the latter was inhabited by the remnant of the Jebusites" (Grätz,Hist. of the Jews, E. T., i. 121); Millo, LXX., ἡ ἄκρα. See 1 Macc. iv. 41, xiii. 49-52; Josephus,Antt., XIII. vi. 7.[380]1 Kings ix. 19.[381]The "linen yarn" of 1 Kings x. 28 seems to be an error. The Hebrew is מִקְוֵה; LXX., ἐκ Θεκουέ; Vulg.,de Coâ; R.V., "in droves."[382]2 Chron. ix. 21.[383]See Max Müller,Lectures on Language, i. 191. The namesShen Habbim, "ivory" (Sanskr.ibhas, "elephant"),Kophim, "apes" (Sanskr.kapi),Tukkyim, "peacocks" (Tamil,togei), "algum trees" (Sanskr.Valgaka, LXX. πελεκητά, Alex. ἀπελέκητα, Vulg.thyina), all point to India. Aloes (ahalim, Psalm xlv. 8) are a fragrant tree of Malacca; cassia (Ind.koost), cinnamon (cacyn-nama) come from Ceylon. See Stanley, ii. 185. European history here first comes into contact with Sanskrit.[384]See Eccles. ii. 4-6. See on the extensive water-works, Ewald, iii. 252-57.[385]2 Chron. ix. 21.[386]נֶשֶׁק; LXX., στακτή, "oil of myrrh."[387]1 Kings x. 25.[388]See Cant. i. 9, iii. 6-11, iv. 8; 2 Chron. xi. 6; Josephus,Antt., VIII. vii. 3; Psalm xlv.[389]The great statue of Athene by Phidias was of this "Chryselephantine" work. Comp. "ivory palaces" (Psalm xlv. 8; 1 Kings xxii. 39; Amos iii. 15) and "ivory couches" (Amos vi. 4).[390]Josephus,Antt., VIII. v. 2; Hosea iv. 16; Jer. xxxi. 18, etc.[391]Ezek. xxvii., xxviii.; Zech. ix. 3.[392]The Abyssinian, confusing Sheba (Arabia Felix) with Seba (as do Origen and Augustine), call her Makeda, Queen of Abyssinia, and say that she had a son by Solomon named Melinek (Ludolphus,Æthiop., ii. 3), from whom all their emperors down to Theodore were descended. The legend of the Queen of Sheba is related in the Qur'an,Suraxxvii. 20-40 (chapter of the Ant). The Arabs call her Balkis, whose legends are narrated by D'Herbelot (Bibl. Or., s.v. Balki). Josephus identifies her with Nicaule (the Nitocris of Herod., ii. 100), Josephus,Antt., VIII. vi. 2. In the New Testament she is called "the Queen of the South" (Matt. xii. 42).[393]He had made two hundred large shields (tzinnîm, θυρεοί,scuta) and three hundred targets (maginnîm, ἀσπίδες,clypei) of gold at fabulous cost (1 Kings x. 16). They were all plundered by Shishak.[394]1 Kings x. 5, but "ascent" should perhaps be "burnt offering," as in margin of R.V. and in all the versions. Comp. 2 Chron. ix. 4 (LXX.). A special seat or platform of brass seems to have been assigned to Solomon in the Temple court (2 Kings xi. 14, xvi. 18, xxiii. 3; 2 Chron. vi. 13).[395]Josephus says that she introduced the balsam plant into Palestine, which, in later years at Jericho, became a great source of revenue. Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11; Ezek. xxvii. 17; Josephus,Antt.; VIII. vi. 6, XIV. iv. 1, XV. iv. 2; Pliny,H. N., xii. 54, xiii. 9 (but see Gen. xliii. 11).[396]Psalm lxxii. 15. Spices, Herod., iii. 107-113. For one hundred and twenty talents we should probably read twenty (comp. Josephus,Antt., VIII. vi. 6),i.e., twelve thousand pounds. Into the riddles of Balkis (1 Kings x. 1, "hard questions"; LXX., αἰνίγματα), and all the strange Talmudic and Arabian legends which have gathered round her visit, we need not enter. I may perhaps refer to my little monograph on Solomon (pp. 134-37), in the Men of the Bible series.[397]The 666 gold talents of his revenue are estimated at £3,613,500, and this is described ashis ownrevenue, exclusive of tolls, tributes, etc. (1 Kings x. 15). Presents reached him from "kings of the mingled people" (Jer. xxv. 24), Pachas of the country (פֶחָה Ezra v. 6; Neh. v. 14).[398]See Weil,Biblische Legenden; D'Herbelot,Bibl. Oriental, s.v. Soliman ben-Daoud; Qur'an,Surasxxii., xxvii., xxviii., xxxiv. "Suleyman" means "Little Solomon," a term of affection.[399]Stanley,Lectures, ii. 166, 167.[400]See Euseb.,Præp. Evang., x. 11.[401]Lev. xxv. 23, 24. See Judg. i. 31, 32.[402]Hence, perhaps, the name "Galilee of the nations" (Isa. ix. 1). Comp. "Harosheth of the nations" (Judg. iv. 2, 13). Hazor was in this district.[403]Milman,Hist. of the Jews, i. 321.[404]1 Kings ix. 10-13. There was a place called Cabul in Asher (Josh. xix. 27). Ewald thinks that Cabul was a sort of witticism meaning "as nothing." Josephus (Antt., VIII. v. 3) says that in Phœnician χαβαλὼν means "not pleasing," and that Hiram would not take the cities. Nothing can be made of the allusion to this transaction in 2 Chron. viii. 1, 2. Why did Solomon re-occupy these cities? and why did Hiram give him one hundred and twenty talents of gold? The gloss put on the matter by late tradition cannot conceal the fact that Solomon tried to diminish his embarrassments by alienating some of the sacred territory.[405]The later Jews chose the name "Alexander" as the Western equivalent for Solomon: hence the names "AlexanderJannæus," etc.[406]1 Kings iii. 15. See Ecclus. xlvii. 12-21.[407]"L'amour du luxe et de la nouveauté le conduira peu à peu à défaire l'œuvre de son père, à ruiner le peuple dont il pouvait faire le bonheur, à detruire les institutions, et à dédaigner le culte national, auquel il avait d'abord cherché à donner le plus grand éclat."—Munk,Palestine, p. 285.[408]1 Kings ix. 25.[409]Modern criticism generally regards the Book of Deuteronomy, or some elements of it, as "the Book of the Law" which was found in the Temple by the high priest Hilkiah in the reign of Josiah. We shall speak of this in the following volume (in 2 Kings). See Deut. xvii. 18.[410]LXX., ἦν φιλογύνγς. Vulg.,adamavit mulieres alienigenus.[411]Some suppose that this clause about Milcom is an interpolation from 2 Kings xxiii. 13.[412]See Exod. xxxiv. 11-17; Deut. vii. 1-4. The Talmud makes one of its dishonest attempts to get rid of the fact; Shabbath, p. 56,b. Sanhedrin,ff.55, 56. Justin Martyr preserves a tradition (Dial. c. Tryph., 34) that Solomon in taking a Sidonian wife worshipped idols at Sidon. Muslim tradition attributes Solomon's idolatry to the tricks of demons who assumed his form (Qur'an,Suraii. 99; but seeSuraxxxviii. 30).[413]Prov. xxxi. 3.[414]The Song of Solomon (vi. 8) gives him, besides the'alamoth("damsels") "without number," the sixty wives (saroth), and the eighty concubines, who were partly perhaps their slaves.[415]Parmen.ap.Athen.,Deipnos., iii. 3. Comp. Quint. Curt.,Vit. Alex., iii. 3. Amehhate of Egypt had more than three hundred and seventeen wives (Brugsch,Egypt, iii. 607, E.T.). Rehoboam, who had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, left twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Solomon, so far as we know, had only one son and two daughters.[416]Cant. vi. 8.[417]The Vatican MS. of the LXX. adds Syrian and Amorite princesses to the number. Marriages with Sidonians and Hittites are expressly forbidden in Exod. xxxiv. 12-16, and with Canaanites in Deut. vii. 3 (comp. Ezra ix. 2 and Neh. xiii. 23).[418]Numb. xxv. 3.[419]See Prov. ii. 10-22, v. 1-14, vi. 24-35, etc. (contrast Psalm cxliv. 12-15).[420]In 1 Kings xi. 9-25 the mischief inflicted by Rezon and Hadad is represented as a punishment for Solomon's apostasy. It has been said that here "the pragmatism belongs to the redactor," because these enemies sprang into existence when he came to the throne. But, as I have here represented it, nothing seems more probable than that Rezon and Hadad were practically impotent to inflict much damage before the period of Solomon's decline. (Verse 23 is omitted in some MSS. of the LXX.)[421]An isolated anecdote of the exterminating war is preserved in 1 Chron. xi. 22, 23, from which it would seem that Egypt had interfered in favour of Edom.[422]Renan conjectures that the real Egyptian name is Ahotepnes. The LXX. wrongly calls this Pharaoh Sheshonk (Σουσακείμ), who came later, and whose queen's name was Karaäma (not Thekemina, as the LXX. says).[423]Canon Rawlinson (Speaker's Commentary,ad loc.) points out that fugitives once received at Eastern courts found it very difficult to get away,e.g., Democedes, Herod., iii. 132-37. Histiæus, in leaving the court of Persia, has expressly to say that he had lacked nothing—τεῦ δὲ ἐνδεὴς ὤν; Herod., v. 106; comp. 1 Kings xi. 22.[424]1 Kings xi. 14: "The Lord stirred up an adversary" (שָׂטָן).[425]Stade, i. 302. In 1 Kings xi. 22, 25 the text is corrupt. Verse 25 should partly be transferred to the end of verse 22, and should run, "And Hadad returned to his own land,"i.e., toEdom. (Edom has been confused with "Aram.")[426]The additions to the LXX. call her Sarira. But the names "Sarira," "Enlamite," "Ano" are all suspicious; and possibly the LXX. additions may be only part of some Alexandrian Haggadah.[427]In 2 Chron. ix. 29 the LXX. reads "Joel." He wrote "visions" against Jeroboam, a life of Ahijah, and a book "on (or after the manner of) genealogies" (2 Chron. ix. 29, xii. 15, xiii. 22). Jerome (on 2 Chron. xv. 1) identifies him with Oded.[428]2 Chron. ix. 29. Perhaps 1 Kings xi. may be borrowed from the historic records of Ahijah.[429]For in the LXX. 1 Kings xi. 29-39 is absent in some MSS., as well as 1 Kings xiv. (Ahijah and Abijah), which has been added from the Greek version of Aquila. In verse 29, for "Ahijah the Shilonite" we have in some MSS. of the LXX. "Shemaiah the Elamite" or "Eulamite."[430]1 Kings xi. 29, addition of LXX.[431]The square cloth worn over the other dress, and now calledabba, seems to represent thesalemâh(שַׂלְמָה) here mentioned.[432]The story is usually made to apply toJeroboam'snew robe; but in the addition to the LXX., where the action is ascribed to Shemaiah, the word of the Lord says to him, λάβε σεαυτῷ ἱμάτιον καινὸν τὸ οὐκ εἰσεληλυθὸς εἰς ὕδωρ κ. τ. λ. The method of "acted parables" was common among the Hebrew prophets (See Jer. xiii., xix., xxvii.; Ezek. iii., iv., v., etc.); but this is the earliest recorded instance of the kind.[433]Not "two tribes," as the LXX. says. But neither the number 1 nor the number 2 are literally exact, for certainly Jeroboam did not command the territory of Simeon, south of Judah. The adherence of Benjamin, or part of Benjamin, to Judah was mainly a geographical accident, due to the fact that Jerusalem lay in both tribes (Josh. xv. 8, xviii. 16; Jer. xx. 2). Late in David's reign a Benjamite (Sheba, son of Bichri) had headed a revolt against David (2 Sam. xx. 1).[434]1 Kings xi. 34-39.[435]The story occurs in the additions to the LXX., and is highly improbable. Shishak came to the throne, according to R. S. Poole, aboutb.c.972; others date his accession in 975 or 988. No such name as Tahpanes or Thekemina is found in the Egyptian records, and the wife of Shishak was Karaämat.[436]Compare the names Eshbaal, Meribaal, Jerubbaal, Baaljada, with Ishjo (LXX. 1 Sam. xiv. 49, Heb.), Mephibosheth Eliada. In later days Baal was changed into the nicknameBosheth, "shame": hence Ishbosheth, Jerubesheth, Mephibosheth. See Kittel, ii. 87.[437]See Kittel,Gesch. der Hebr., ii. 169-76.[438]See Buddæus,Hist. Eccl., ii. 237.[439]"The fifth light shining with a beauty pureBreathes from such love that all the world belowCraves to have tidings of him true and sure.Within it is the lofty mind, where soDeep knowledge dwelt, that, if the truth be true,Such insight ne'er a second rose to know."Parad., x. 109-114, and Dean Plumtre's notes.[440]Qur'an, xxxiv. 10; Chapter of Sebâ (Palmer's translation, p. 151).[441]Sale's Koran, ii. 287; Palmer's Qur'an, ii. 152.[442]The Earl of Lytton.[443]"Rehoboam" means "enlarger of the people" (comp. Eurudemos); Jeroboam, "whose people is many" (Poludemos; comp. Thiodric, Thierry). But Cheyne makes it mean "the kingdom contendeth" (Kleinert,Volkstreiter).[444]So we read in the LXX. Cod. Vat., and (partly) in the Vulgate (see Robertson Smith,The Old Testament, p. 117). Unless Jeroboam had spontaneously returned from Egypt on hearing of the death of Solomon, there would hardly have been time to summon him thence. 2 Chron. x. 2 represents the matter thus. Possibly his name has crept by error into 1 Kings xii. 3. See Wellhausen-Bleek'sEinleitung, p. 243.[445]In the LXX. the Ephraimites complain of the expensive provision for Solomon's table. "Thy father made his yoke grievous upon us, and made grievous to us the meats of his table." LXX. (Cod. Vat.), καὶ ἐβάρυνε τὰ βρώματα τῆς τραπέζης αὐτοῦ.[446]Dante,Inferno, Cant. xxvii.[447]They are calledyeladim, which surely cannot apply to men of forty, so that Rehoboam was probably little more than a youth,na'ar(2 Chron. xiii. 7; comp. Gen. xxxiii. 13).[448]Herod., ii. 124-28.[449]"My little finger." Heb., "my littleness"; LXX., ἡ μικρότης μου. But the paraphrase is perfectly correct (Vulg., Pesh., Josephus, and the Rabbis).[450]"Virga si est nodosa et aculeata scorpios vocatur, quia arcuato vulnere in corpus infigitur" (Isodore.,Orig., i. 175).[451]2 Sam. xx. 1.[452]Or, "Now feed thine own house" (LXX., βόσκε, reading רעה for ראה); and the LXX. adds, "For this man is not (fit) to be a ruler, nor to be a prince." Evidently the revolt was the culmination of those jealousies which the haughty tribe of Ephraim had already manifested in the lives of Gideon, Abimelech, and David.[453]Heb., "strengthened himself."[454]In fact, the δωδεκάφυλον became more of a reminiscence than anything else. Simeon, for instance, practically disappeared (1 Chron. iv. 24-43).[455]1 Kings xii. 17.[456]In 1 Kings xix. 3 it is reckoned as belonging to Judah (comp. Josh. xv. 28), being really a town of Simeon (Josh. xix. 2); but from Amos v. 5, viii. 14, we should infer that it was at any rate largely frequented by Israelites.[457]1 Kings xvi. 34; 2 Kings ii. 4.[458]See Stanley,Lectures on the Jewish Church, ii. 269-71.[459]Amos v. 11, vi. 4-6.[460]2 Kings iv. 18, 22, viii. 1-6; Stanley, ii. 271.[461]See Ewald, iv. 9 (E. T.).[462]2 Chron. xx. 37.[463]Zech. xi. 4-17, xiii. 7-9.[464]If we may regard Kobolam as a real person (2 Kings xv. 10, LXX.). Thus, in the Northern Kingdom twenty kings belong toninedifferent dynasties in two hundred and forty-five years; and in the Southern only nineteen kings ofonedynasty rule for three hundred and forty-five years.[465]Jeroboam lived for a time at Penuel, on the east of the Jordan, perhaps to escape all danger from Shishak's invasion. For Penuel, on the eastern side of the Jabbok, see Gen. xxxii. 22, 30; Judg. viii. 8, 17. It was important as commanding the caravan route from Damascus to Shechem.[466]Zech. x. 4 (R.V., "exactors").[467]Hist. of Isr., iv. 12.[468]It recurs twenty-three times: 1 Kings xiv. 16, xv. 26, 30, 34, xvi. 2, 19, 26, 31, xxi. 22, xxii. 52; 2 Kings iii. 3, x. 29, 31, xiii. 2, 6, xiv. 24, xv. 9, 18, 24, 28, xvii. 21, 22, xxiii, 15.[469]Literally, "he filled the hand," because the priests were consecrated by putting into their hands the parts of the sacrifice which were to be presented to God on the altar (Exod. xxviii. 41, xxix. 9-35; Lev. viii. 27).[470]Such is the true reading. The "Manasseh" of our existing text is a Jewish falsification of the text timidly and tentatively introduced to protect the memory of Moses (see Judg. xviii. 26 ff.).[471]For the sanctity of Bethel, "House of God," where God had twice appeared to Jacob, see Gen. xxviii. 11-19, xxxv. 9-15. The Ark had once rested there under Phinehas (Judg. xx. 26-28), and it had been the home of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 16). Dan, too, was "a holy city" (Judg. xviii. 30, 31; Tobit i. 5, 6). In 1 Kings xii. 30 ("the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan") some words may have dropped out. Klostermann adds, "and neglected Bethel"; but is that the fact? The LXX. adds, καὶ εἲασαν τὸν ἇκον Κυρίου. On the other hand, the clause has been taken to imply the opposite—i.e., that even as far as Dan some were found who went in preference to Bethel, "the king's chapel" (Amos vii. 13). In 1 Kings xii. 28 the fairer rendering would be, "These are thyGod," not "gods."[472]Lev. xxiii. 39. There is no hint about the other two annual feasts of Passover and Pentecost. Josephus implies that Jeroboam's feast was in theseventhmonth, as in Judah (Antt., VIII. viii. 5).[473]2 Sam. iv. 7.[474]Conceivably there may have been a reference to the heraldic sign of Ephraim (Deut. xxxiii. 17), as Klostermann supposes.[475]Exod. xx. 23, xxxii. 4, 8. See Professor Paul Cassel,König Jeroboam, p. 6. The identity of Jeroboam's words with Exod. xxxii. 4 may be due to the narrator.[476]It has been considered probable that he found an additional sanction for these material symbols in an ancient existing image at Gilgal, to which there may be obscure allusion in the Prophet Hosea (iv. 15, ix. 15).[477]See 2 Chron. xi. 15, where the chronicler in his flaming hatred calls them devils (i.e., "satyrs,"Feldtäufel, Isa. xiii. 21; comp. Hosea viii. 5, xiii. 2). They were probably two young bulls of brass overlaid with gold (see Psalm cvi. 19; Isa. xl. 19).[478]Tobit i. 5.[479]Ἡ δάμαλις Βάαλ. If this be the right reading, not δύναμις, the feminine implies special scorn, either implying ἡ αἰσχύνη (Bosheth), or pointing, as Baudissin thinks, to an androgynous deity. Grätz thinks that "Bethel" may be the true reading.[480]Josh. xxiv. 1; 1 Sam. x. 19; 2 Sam. v. 1-3; 1 Kings viii. 1-5, 62.[481]Vilmar.[482]Now Talura, six miles north of Nablus.[483]So, too, Jarchi. No doubt they were guided by the remark in 2 Chron. ix. 29, "the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam." But it is not possible, for Iddo lived to a later date (2 Chron. xiii. 22). Ephrem Syrus and Tertullian suppose him to have been Shemaiah (comp. 2 Chron. xii. 5). These are untenable guesses. Epiphanius calls him Joas; Clement, Abd-adonai; Tertullian, Sameas.[484]Not "bythe altar," as in A.V. LXX., ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον; Vulg.,super altare.[485]The ashes of the animal offerings (דֶּשֶׁן) used to be carried away to a clean place (Lev. vi. 11).[486]Amos ix. 1. The Vatican LXX. distinctly makes the sign afutureone (1 Kings xiii. 3), καὶ δώσει ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τέρας. The narrative seems tosuppose, but it does not assert that the altar was rentthen and there. Had these miracles immediately followed, it is difficult to imagine that no deeper impression should have been made. As it was the new cult does not seem to have been interrupted for a single day.[487]The mention by name of a king three centuries before he was even born is wholly alien from every characteristic of Jewish prophecy, and, as in the case of Cyrus (Isa. xliv. 28), it would be false to say that we have even a particle of evidence to show that the name was not added from a marginal gloss or by the latest redactor. He also makes the mistake of putting into the old prophet's mouth the phrase "all the cities of Samaria" at least fifty years before Samaria existed (1 Kings xvi. 24). Keil's remark that "Josiah" is only used appellatively for one whom Jehovah will support (!) is one of the miserable expedients of reckless harmonists. Even Bähr,ad loc., admits that the narrative is of later date, and has received a traditional colouring. In 2 Kings xxiii. 15-18 there is no hint that Josiah had been prophesied of by name.[488]1 Kings xiii. 6, "Intreat now" (lit., "make soft") "the face of the Lord." Klostermann, "Besänftige noch das Angesicht Jahve's."[489]Gal. i. 8.[490]Klostermann, in hisKurzgefasster Kommentar, gets rid of the lion altogether by one of his sweeping emendations of the text, p. 352. He considers that the whole story comes from a book of edifying anecdotes for the use of young prophets in the schools; and that it may have some connexion with the threat of another Jewish prophet against the altar at Bethel in the days of another Jeroboam (Amos iii. 14, vii. 9).[491]Comp. Jer. xxii. 18.[492]The older expositors at any rate see in the prophet's rest under the terebinth, so near Bethel, "peccati initium; moras utique nectere non debuit." It was like Eve's lingering near the place where temptation lay.[493]"'Whom the gods love die young' was said of yore" (Byron). It was said by Menander: "Ὃν γὰρ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνήσκει νεὸς"; and by Plautus: "Quem dii diligunt, adolescens moritur" (Bacch., iv. 7, 18). A similar thought is found in Plutarch, in St. Chrysostom, and many others.[494]Ahijah had not followed the example of the Levites and pious persons who, the chronicler says, went in numbers to the Southern Kingdom.[495]Nikuddim (only elsewhere in Josh. ix. 5-12); LXX., κολλυρίδες; Vulg.,crustula; A.V., "cracknels." They were some sort of cakes. Presents to prophets were customary (see 1 Sam. ix. 7, 8; 1 Kings xiii. 7; 2 Kings v. 5, viii. 8, 9).[496]Heb., "His eyes stood" (comp. 1 Sam. iv. 15). It seems to implyamaurosis.[497]This tremendous expression only occurs elsewhere in Ezek. xxiii. 35; but comp. Psalm l. 17; Neh. ix. 26.[498]The coarse expression of 1 Kings xiv. 10 (1 Sam. xxv. 22; 2 Kings ix. 8) means "every male." The phrase "him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel" (Deut. xxxii. 36) is obscure and alliterative. It has been variously explained to mean, (1) "bond and free," (2) "imprisoned or released," (3) "kept in by legal impurity or at large" (Jer. xxxvi. 5), (4) "under or over age," (5) "married or unmarried." (Reuss renders the paronomasia, "qu'il soit caché ou lâché en Israel.") LXX. ἐχόμενον καὶ ἐγκαταλελειμμένον; Vulg.clausum et novissimum.[499]In ancient days this was regarded as the most terrible of calamities.
Sacrifice (Zebach,Minchah).|+----------------+----------------+-------------+| | | |Burnt offering. Peace offering. Expiatory Offering of| offering. Purification.| | || | +-----+--+----------+| | | | || | Child Leprosy. Issue.| | birth.| +----+----------+------------+| | | || Sin offering Trespass Offering| (Chattath). offering Jealousy.| (Ashâm).|+--------+---------+-+--------+--------------+| | | | |Thank Praise. Paschal Firstborn Firstfruits.offerings. Lamb. of animals.
[335]LXX., πλημμελεία.
[336]LXX., θυσία σωτηρίον.
[337]The phrase "wave offering" indicates the ceremony used by the priests in presenting peace offerings to God.
[338]For the full development of these views, see Wellhausen'sProlegomena.
[339]See Bishop Barry's article on Sacrifice in Smith'sDictionary of the Bible, to which, in this paragraph, I am much indebted.
[340]Lev. v. 11-13.
[341]See Kuenen,Rel. of Israel, ii. pp. 259-76.
[342]Speaker's Commentary, Leviticus, p. 508. In Lev. xvii. 11—"For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, andI have ordained it for you upon the altarto make atonement for your souls; for the blood it is which makes atonement by means of the soul"—Kurtz points out that the blood is simplychosen as a symbol, and the superstition that there is any atoning virtue in the blood itself is excluded.
[343]Pæd., ii. 2, § 19.
[344]The Priestly Code is that part of the Pentateuch which is occupied with public worship and the function of priests—viz., most of Leviticus; Exod. xxv.-xl.; Numb. i.-x., xv.-xx., xxv.-xxxvi. (with inconsiderable exceptions)
[345]In Psalm xl. 6, "Sin offering hast Thou not required." The Psalm is perhaps of the age of Jeremiah.
[346]He argues that even in Chronicles it is not mentioned; and that there was no curtain (Parocheth) before the Holiest in Solomon's Temple (1 Kings vi. 31, 32. Comp. Ezek. xli. 23, 24; 1 Kings viii. 8). He considers that 2 Chron. iii. 14 (the only place in the Old Testament whereParochethoccurs except in the P.C.) cannot overthrow 1 Kings vi. 21, which speaks only of chains of gold between the Holy and the Holiest. (There was a curtain in Herod's Temple, Matt. xxvii. 51; Heb. ix. 3). But if there was noParochethin Solomon's Temple, the rule of Lev. xvi. 2, 12, 15 could not have been observed.
[347]This caused immense perplexity to the Rabbis.Shabbath, xiii. 2;Chagigah, xiii. 1;Menachoth, xlv. 1.
[348]1 Sam. xv. 22.
[349]Amos v. 21-23.
[350]Micah vi. 6-8. Some suppose that the words are attributed to Balaam (see verse 5).
[351]Hosea vi. 6.
[352]Isa. i. 11-16.
[353]Jer. vii. 22, xi. 15.
[354]Jer. xxxiii. 14-26 seems to speak in a different tone, but is probably an interpolation. It is not found in the LXX.
[355]Psalm l. 8-14.
[356]Psalm li. 16, 17. It is difficult to believe that the two last verses of the Psalm are not a later addition.
[357]Psalm xl. 6.
[358]Prov. xxi. 3.
[359]Psalm lxix. 30, 31.
[360]Mark xii. 32, 33. So in the Talmud: "Acts of justice are more meritorious than all sacrifices" (Succoth., lxix. 2).
[361]Matt. ix. 13.
[362]Matt. xii. 7.
[363]Rom. xii. 1; 1 Peter ii. 5.
[364]Heb. x. 4, 11.
[365]Heb. xiii. 16.
[366]Ecclus. xxxv. 1-15.
[367]Comp. Ov.,Trist., ii. 1, 75; Ep. xx. 81; Persius, ii. 45; Varro,ap.Arnob.,c. Natt., vii. 1. "Dii veri neque desiderant ea, neque deposcunt."
[368]Philo,De Victimis, 5.
[369]A. Geiger,Judenthum und seine Geschichte, Sect. 5.
[370]Vajikra R., 22 and 34b. They got over Jer. xxxiii. 18 (in Yalkuth, on the passage) by saying, "He that doeth repentance it is counted to him as if he offered all the sacrifices of the land." They held that the place of sacrifices was taken by prayer, penitence, and good works. See Edersheim,Jesus the Messiah, i. 275.
[371]See Spencer,De Legg. Ritual., iii.;Dissert., ii., chap. 1.
[372]Evang. Ebion,ap.Epiph.,Hær., xxx. 16.
[373]Mark vii. 19.
[374]It was twice repaired—aboutb.c.856 in the reign of Joash, and about two centuries later under Josiah.
[375]See Isa. xxix. 13, 14; Ezek. xxxiii. 31; Matt. xv. 7-9; Col. i. 20-22, etc. Comp. Wellhausen, pp. 77-79.
[376]Rev. xxi. 22.
[377]1 Kings ix. 6-9. The phrase "at this house which is high" is uncertain. The Vulgate has "domus hæc erit in exemplum"; the Peshito and Arabic have "and this house shall be destroyed."
[378]To form some notion of these buildings, see the excellent illustrations in Stade, i. 318-25.
[379]The hill of Zion, the city of David, had become overcrowded, and the hill which lay to the north, which was called Millo, or "the border," had to be included in it. A narrow valley lay between them. "Mount Moriah, and its offshoot Ophel, remained outside the city, and the latter was inhabited by the remnant of the Jebusites" (Grätz,Hist. of the Jews, E. T., i. 121); Millo, LXX., ἡ ἄκρα. See 1 Macc. iv. 41, xiii. 49-52; Josephus,Antt., XIII. vi. 7.
[380]1 Kings ix. 19.
[381]The "linen yarn" of 1 Kings x. 28 seems to be an error. The Hebrew is מִקְוֵה; LXX., ἐκ Θεκουέ; Vulg.,de Coâ; R.V., "in droves."
[382]2 Chron. ix. 21.
[383]See Max Müller,Lectures on Language, i. 191. The namesShen Habbim, "ivory" (Sanskr.ibhas, "elephant"),Kophim, "apes" (Sanskr.kapi),Tukkyim, "peacocks" (Tamil,togei), "algum trees" (Sanskr.Valgaka, LXX. πελεκητά, Alex. ἀπελέκητα, Vulg.thyina), all point to India. Aloes (ahalim, Psalm xlv. 8) are a fragrant tree of Malacca; cassia (Ind.koost), cinnamon (cacyn-nama) come from Ceylon. See Stanley, ii. 185. European history here first comes into contact with Sanskrit.
[384]See Eccles. ii. 4-6. See on the extensive water-works, Ewald, iii. 252-57.
[385]2 Chron. ix. 21.
[386]נֶשֶׁק; LXX., στακτή, "oil of myrrh."
[387]1 Kings x. 25.
[388]See Cant. i. 9, iii. 6-11, iv. 8; 2 Chron. xi. 6; Josephus,Antt., VIII. vii. 3; Psalm xlv.
[389]The great statue of Athene by Phidias was of this "Chryselephantine" work. Comp. "ivory palaces" (Psalm xlv. 8; 1 Kings xxii. 39; Amos iii. 15) and "ivory couches" (Amos vi. 4).
[390]Josephus,Antt., VIII. v. 2; Hosea iv. 16; Jer. xxxi. 18, etc.
[391]Ezek. xxvii., xxviii.; Zech. ix. 3.
[392]The Abyssinian, confusing Sheba (Arabia Felix) with Seba (as do Origen and Augustine), call her Makeda, Queen of Abyssinia, and say that she had a son by Solomon named Melinek (Ludolphus,Æthiop., ii. 3), from whom all their emperors down to Theodore were descended. The legend of the Queen of Sheba is related in the Qur'an,Suraxxvii. 20-40 (chapter of the Ant). The Arabs call her Balkis, whose legends are narrated by D'Herbelot (Bibl. Or., s.v. Balki). Josephus identifies her with Nicaule (the Nitocris of Herod., ii. 100), Josephus,Antt., VIII. vi. 2. In the New Testament she is called "the Queen of the South" (Matt. xii. 42).
[393]He had made two hundred large shields (tzinnîm, θυρεοί,scuta) and three hundred targets (maginnîm, ἀσπίδες,clypei) of gold at fabulous cost (1 Kings x. 16). They were all plundered by Shishak.
[394]1 Kings x. 5, but "ascent" should perhaps be "burnt offering," as in margin of R.V. and in all the versions. Comp. 2 Chron. ix. 4 (LXX.). A special seat or platform of brass seems to have been assigned to Solomon in the Temple court (2 Kings xi. 14, xvi. 18, xxiii. 3; 2 Chron. vi. 13).
[395]Josephus says that she introduced the balsam plant into Palestine, which, in later years at Jericho, became a great source of revenue. Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11; Ezek. xxvii. 17; Josephus,Antt.; VIII. vi. 6, XIV. iv. 1, XV. iv. 2; Pliny,H. N., xii. 54, xiii. 9 (but see Gen. xliii. 11).
[396]Psalm lxxii. 15. Spices, Herod., iii. 107-113. For one hundred and twenty talents we should probably read twenty (comp. Josephus,Antt., VIII. vi. 6),i.e., twelve thousand pounds. Into the riddles of Balkis (1 Kings x. 1, "hard questions"; LXX., αἰνίγματα), and all the strange Talmudic and Arabian legends which have gathered round her visit, we need not enter. I may perhaps refer to my little monograph on Solomon (pp. 134-37), in the Men of the Bible series.
[397]The 666 gold talents of his revenue are estimated at £3,613,500, and this is described ashis ownrevenue, exclusive of tolls, tributes, etc. (1 Kings x. 15). Presents reached him from "kings of the mingled people" (Jer. xxv. 24), Pachas of the country (פֶחָה Ezra v. 6; Neh. v. 14).
[398]See Weil,Biblische Legenden; D'Herbelot,Bibl. Oriental, s.v. Soliman ben-Daoud; Qur'an,Surasxxii., xxvii., xxviii., xxxiv. "Suleyman" means "Little Solomon," a term of affection.
[399]Stanley,Lectures, ii. 166, 167.
[400]See Euseb.,Præp. Evang., x. 11.
[401]Lev. xxv. 23, 24. See Judg. i. 31, 32.
[402]Hence, perhaps, the name "Galilee of the nations" (Isa. ix. 1). Comp. "Harosheth of the nations" (Judg. iv. 2, 13). Hazor was in this district.
[403]Milman,Hist. of the Jews, i. 321.
[404]1 Kings ix. 10-13. There was a place called Cabul in Asher (Josh. xix. 27). Ewald thinks that Cabul was a sort of witticism meaning "as nothing." Josephus (Antt., VIII. v. 3) says that in Phœnician χαβαλὼν means "not pleasing," and that Hiram would not take the cities. Nothing can be made of the allusion to this transaction in 2 Chron. viii. 1, 2. Why did Solomon re-occupy these cities? and why did Hiram give him one hundred and twenty talents of gold? The gloss put on the matter by late tradition cannot conceal the fact that Solomon tried to diminish his embarrassments by alienating some of the sacred territory.
[405]The later Jews chose the name "Alexander" as the Western equivalent for Solomon: hence the names "AlexanderJannæus," etc.
[406]1 Kings iii. 15. See Ecclus. xlvii. 12-21.
[407]"L'amour du luxe et de la nouveauté le conduira peu à peu à défaire l'œuvre de son père, à ruiner le peuple dont il pouvait faire le bonheur, à detruire les institutions, et à dédaigner le culte national, auquel il avait d'abord cherché à donner le plus grand éclat."—Munk,Palestine, p. 285.
[408]1 Kings ix. 25.
[409]Modern criticism generally regards the Book of Deuteronomy, or some elements of it, as "the Book of the Law" which was found in the Temple by the high priest Hilkiah in the reign of Josiah. We shall speak of this in the following volume (in 2 Kings). See Deut. xvii. 18.
[410]LXX., ἦν φιλογύνγς. Vulg.,adamavit mulieres alienigenus.
[411]Some suppose that this clause about Milcom is an interpolation from 2 Kings xxiii. 13.
[412]See Exod. xxxiv. 11-17; Deut. vii. 1-4. The Talmud makes one of its dishonest attempts to get rid of the fact; Shabbath, p. 56,b. Sanhedrin,ff.55, 56. Justin Martyr preserves a tradition (Dial. c. Tryph., 34) that Solomon in taking a Sidonian wife worshipped idols at Sidon. Muslim tradition attributes Solomon's idolatry to the tricks of demons who assumed his form (Qur'an,Suraii. 99; but seeSuraxxxviii. 30).
[413]Prov. xxxi. 3.
[414]The Song of Solomon (vi. 8) gives him, besides the'alamoth("damsels") "without number," the sixty wives (saroth), and the eighty concubines, who were partly perhaps their slaves.
[415]Parmen.ap.Athen.,Deipnos., iii. 3. Comp. Quint. Curt.,Vit. Alex., iii. 3. Amehhate of Egypt had more than three hundred and seventeen wives (Brugsch,Egypt, iii. 607, E.T.). Rehoboam, who had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, left twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Solomon, so far as we know, had only one son and two daughters.
[416]Cant. vi. 8.
[417]The Vatican MS. of the LXX. adds Syrian and Amorite princesses to the number. Marriages with Sidonians and Hittites are expressly forbidden in Exod. xxxiv. 12-16, and with Canaanites in Deut. vii. 3 (comp. Ezra ix. 2 and Neh. xiii. 23).
[418]Numb. xxv. 3.
[419]See Prov. ii. 10-22, v. 1-14, vi. 24-35, etc. (contrast Psalm cxliv. 12-15).
[420]In 1 Kings xi. 9-25 the mischief inflicted by Rezon and Hadad is represented as a punishment for Solomon's apostasy. It has been said that here "the pragmatism belongs to the redactor," because these enemies sprang into existence when he came to the throne. But, as I have here represented it, nothing seems more probable than that Rezon and Hadad were practically impotent to inflict much damage before the period of Solomon's decline. (Verse 23 is omitted in some MSS. of the LXX.)
[421]An isolated anecdote of the exterminating war is preserved in 1 Chron. xi. 22, 23, from which it would seem that Egypt had interfered in favour of Edom.
[422]Renan conjectures that the real Egyptian name is Ahotepnes. The LXX. wrongly calls this Pharaoh Sheshonk (Σουσακείμ), who came later, and whose queen's name was Karaäma (not Thekemina, as the LXX. says).
[423]Canon Rawlinson (Speaker's Commentary,ad loc.) points out that fugitives once received at Eastern courts found it very difficult to get away,e.g., Democedes, Herod., iii. 132-37. Histiæus, in leaving the court of Persia, has expressly to say that he had lacked nothing—τεῦ δὲ ἐνδεὴς ὤν; Herod., v. 106; comp. 1 Kings xi. 22.
[424]1 Kings xi. 14: "The Lord stirred up an adversary" (שָׂטָן).
[425]Stade, i. 302. In 1 Kings xi. 22, 25 the text is corrupt. Verse 25 should partly be transferred to the end of verse 22, and should run, "And Hadad returned to his own land,"i.e., toEdom. (Edom has been confused with "Aram.")
[426]The additions to the LXX. call her Sarira. But the names "Sarira," "Enlamite," "Ano" are all suspicious; and possibly the LXX. additions may be only part of some Alexandrian Haggadah.
[427]In 2 Chron. ix. 29 the LXX. reads "Joel." He wrote "visions" against Jeroboam, a life of Ahijah, and a book "on (or after the manner of) genealogies" (2 Chron. ix. 29, xii. 15, xiii. 22). Jerome (on 2 Chron. xv. 1) identifies him with Oded.
[428]2 Chron. ix. 29. Perhaps 1 Kings xi. may be borrowed from the historic records of Ahijah.
[429]For in the LXX. 1 Kings xi. 29-39 is absent in some MSS., as well as 1 Kings xiv. (Ahijah and Abijah), which has been added from the Greek version of Aquila. In verse 29, for "Ahijah the Shilonite" we have in some MSS. of the LXX. "Shemaiah the Elamite" or "Eulamite."
[430]1 Kings xi. 29, addition of LXX.
[431]The square cloth worn over the other dress, and now calledabba, seems to represent thesalemâh(שַׂלְמָה) here mentioned.
[432]The story is usually made to apply toJeroboam'snew robe; but in the addition to the LXX., where the action is ascribed to Shemaiah, the word of the Lord says to him, λάβε σεαυτῷ ἱμάτιον καινὸν τὸ οὐκ εἰσεληλυθὸς εἰς ὕδωρ κ. τ. λ. The method of "acted parables" was common among the Hebrew prophets (See Jer. xiii., xix., xxvii.; Ezek. iii., iv., v., etc.); but this is the earliest recorded instance of the kind.
[433]Not "two tribes," as the LXX. says. But neither the number 1 nor the number 2 are literally exact, for certainly Jeroboam did not command the territory of Simeon, south of Judah. The adherence of Benjamin, or part of Benjamin, to Judah was mainly a geographical accident, due to the fact that Jerusalem lay in both tribes (Josh. xv. 8, xviii. 16; Jer. xx. 2). Late in David's reign a Benjamite (Sheba, son of Bichri) had headed a revolt against David (2 Sam. xx. 1).
[434]1 Kings xi. 34-39.
[435]The story occurs in the additions to the LXX., and is highly improbable. Shishak came to the throne, according to R. S. Poole, aboutb.c.972; others date his accession in 975 or 988. No such name as Tahpanes or Thekemina is found in the Egyptian records, and the wife of Shishak was Karaämat.
[436]Compare the names Eshbaal, Meribaal, Jerubbaal, Baaljada, with Ishjo (LXX. 1 Sam. xiv. 49, Heb.), Mephibosheth Eliada. In later days Baal was changed into the nicknameBosheth, "shame": hence Ishbosheth, Jerubesheth, Mephibosheth. See Kittel, ii. 87.
[437]See Kittel,Gesch. der Hebr., ii. 169-76.
[438]See Buddæus,Hist. Eccl., ii. 237.
[439]
"The fifth light shining with a beauty pureBreathes from such love that all the world belowCraves to have tidings of him true and sure.Within it is the lofty mind, where soDeep knowledge dwelt, that, if the truth be true,Such insight ne'er a second rose to know."Parad., x. 109-114, and Dean Plumtre's notes.
"The fifth light shining with a beauty pureBreathes from such love that all the world belowCraves to have tidings of him true and sure.Within it is the lofty mind, where soDeep knowledge dwelt, that, if the truth be true,Such insight ne'er a second rose to know."Parad., x. 109-114, and Dean Plumtre's notes.
[440]Qur'an, xxxiv. 10; Chapter of Sebâ (Palmer's translation, p. 151).
[441]Sale's Koran, ii. 287; Palmer's Qur'an, ii. 152.
[442]The Earl of Lytton.
[443]"Rehoboam" means "enlarger of the people" (comp. Eurudemos); Jeroboam, "whose people is many" (Poludemos; comp. Thiodric, Thierry). But Cheyne makes it mean "the kingdom contendeth" (Kleinert,Volkstreiter).
[444]So we read in the LXX. Cod. Vat., and (partly) in the Vulgate (see Robertson Smith,The Old Testament, p. 117). Unless Jeroboam had spontaneously returned from Egypt on hearing of the death of Solomon, there would hardly have been time to summon him thence. 2 Chron. x. 2 represents the matter thus. Possibly his name has crept by error into 1 Kings xii. 3. See Wellhausen-Bleek'sEinleitung, p. 243.
[445]In the LXX. the Ephraimites complain of the expensive provision for Solomon's table. "Thy father made his yoke grievous upon us, and made grievous to us the meats of his table." LXX. (Cod. Vat.), καὶ ἐβάρυνε τὰ βρώματα τῆς τραπέζης αὐτοῦ.
[446]Dante,Inferno, Cant. xxvii.
[447]They are calledyeladim, which surely cannot apply to men of forty, so that Rehoboam was probably little more than a youth,na'ar(2 Chron. xiii. 7; comp. Gen. xxxiii. 13).
[448]Herod., ii. 124-28.
[449]"My little finger." Heb., "my littleness"; LXX., ἡ μικρότης μου. But the paraphrase is perfectly correct (Vulg., Pesh., Josephus, and the Rabbis).
[450]"Virga si est nodosa et aculeata scorpios vocatur, quia arcuato vulnere in corpus infigitur" (Isodore.,Orig., i. 175).
[451]2 Sam. xx. 1.
[452]Or, "Now feed thine own house" (LXX., βόσκε, reading רעה for ראה); and the LXX. adds, "For this man is not (fit) to be a ruler, nor to be a prince." Evidently the revolt was the culmination of those jealousies which the haughty tribe of Ephraim had already manifested in the lives of Gideon, Abimelech, and David.
[453]Heb., "strengthened himself."
[454]In fact, the δωδεκάφυλον became more of a reminiscence than anything else. Simeon, for instance, practically disappeared (1 Chron. iv. 24-43).
[455]1 Kings xii. 17.
[456]In 1 Kings xix. 3 it is reckoned as belonging to Judah (comp. Josh. xv. 28), being really a town of Simeon (Josh. xix. 2); but from Amos v. 5, viii. 14, we should infer that it was at any rate largely frequented by Israelites.
[457]1 Kings xvi. 34; 2 Kings ii. 4.
[458]See Stanley,Lectures on the Jewish Church, ii. 269-71.
[459]Amos v. 11, vi. 4-6.
[460]2 Kings iv. 18, 22, viii. 1-6; Stanley, ii. 271.
[461]See Ewald, iv. 9 (E. T.).
[462]2 Chron. xx. 37.
[463]Zech. xi. 4-17, xiii. 7-9.
[464]If we may regard Kobolam as a real person (2 Kings xv. 10, LXX.). Thus, in the Northern Kingdom twenty kings belong toninedifferent dynasties in two hundred and forty-five years; and in the Southern only nineteen kings ofonedynasty rule for three hundred and forty-five years.
[465]Jeroboam lived for a time at Penuel, on the east of the Jordan, perhaps to escape all danger from Shishak's invasion. For Penuel, on the eastern side of the Jabbok, see Gen. xxxii. 22, 30; Judg. viii. 8, 17. It was important as commanding the caravan route from Damascus to Shechem.
[466]Zech. x. 4 (R.V., "exactors").
[467]Hist. of Isr., iv. 12.
[468]It recurs twenty-three times: 1 Kings xiv. 16, xv. 26, 30, 34, xvi. 2, 19, 26, 31, xxi. 22, xxii. 52; 2 Kings iii. 3, x. 29, 31, xiii. 2, 6, xiv. 24, xv. 9, 18, 24, 28, xvii. 21, 22, xxiii, 15.
[469]Literally, "he filled the hand," because the priests were consecrated by putting into their hands the parts of the sacrifice which were to be presented to God on the altar (Exod. xxviii. 41, xxix. 9-35; Lev. viii. 27).
[470]Such is the true reading. The "Manasseh" of our existing text is a Jewish falsification of the text timidly and tentatively introduced to protect the memory of Moses (see Judg. xviii. 26 ff.).
[471]For the sanctity of Bethel, "House of God," where God had twice appeared to Jacob, see Gen. xxviii. 11-19, xxxv. 9-15. The Ark had once rested there under Phinehas (Judg. xx. 26-28), and it had been the home of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 16). Dan, too, was "a holy city" (Judg. xviii. 30, 31; Tobit i. 5, 6). In 1 Kings xii. 30 ("the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan") some words may have dropped out. Klostermann adds, "and neglected Bethel"; but is that the fact? The LXX. adds, καὶ εἲασαν τὸν ἇκον Κυρίου. On the other hand, the clause has been taken to imply the opposite—i.e., that even as far as Dan some were found who went in preference to Bethel, "the king's chapel" (Amos vii. 13). In 1 Kings xii. 28 the fairer rendering would be, "These are thyGod," not "gods."
[472]Lev. xxiii. 39. There is no hint about the other two annual feasts of Passover and Pentecost. Josephus implies that Jeroboam's feast was in theseventhmonth, as in Judah (Antt., VIII. viii. 5).
[473]2 Sam. iv. 7.
[474]Conceivably there may have been a reference to the heraldic sign of Ephraim (Deut. xxxiii. 17), as Klostermann supposes.
[475]Exod. xx. 23, xxxii. 4, 8. See Professor Paul Cassel,König Jeroboam, p. 6. The identity of Jeroboam's words with Exod. xxxii. 4 may be due to the narrator.
[476]It has been considered probable that he found an additional sanction for these material symbols in an ancient existing image at Gilgal, to which there may be obscure allusion in the Prophet Hosea (iv. 15, ix. 15).
[477]See 2 Chron. xi. 15, where the chronicler in his flaming hatred calls them devils (i.e., "satyrs,"Feldtäufel, Isa. xiii. 21; comp. Hosea viii. 5, xiii. 2). They were probably two young bulls of brass overlaid with gold (see Psalm cvi. 19; Isa. xl. 19).
[478]Tobit i. 5.
[479]Ἡ δάμαλις Βάαλ. If this be the right reading, not δύναμις, the feminine implies special scorn, either implying ἡ αἰσχύνη (Bosheth), or pointing, as Baudissin thinks, to an androgynous deity. Grätz thinks that "Bethel" may be the true reading.
[480]Josh. xxiv. 1; 1 Sam. x. 19; 2 Sam. v. 1-3; 1 Kings viii. 1-5, 62.
[481]Vilmar.
[482]Now Talura, six miles north of Nablus.
[483]So, too, Jarchi. No doubt they were guided by the remark in 2 Chron. ix. 29, "the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam." But it is not possible, for Iddo lived to a later date (2 Chron. xiii. 22). Ephrem Syrus and Tertullian suppose him to have been Shemaiah (comp. 2 Chron. xii. 5). These are untenable guesses. Epiphanius calls him Joas; Clement, Abd-adonai; Tertullian, Sameas.
[484]Not "bythe altar," as in A.V. LXX., ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον; Vulg.,super altare.
[485]The ashes of the animal offerings (דֶּשֶׁן) used to be carried away to a clean place (Lev. vi. 11).
[486]Amos ix. 1. The Vatican LXX. distinctly makes the sign afutureone (1 Kings xiii. 3), καὶ δώσει ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τέρας. The narrative seems tosuppose, but it does not assert that the altar was rentthen and there. Had these miracles immediately followed, it is difficult to imagine that no deeper impression should have been made. As it was the new cult does not seem to have been interrupted for a single day.
[487]The mention by name of a king three centuries before he was even born is wholly alien from every characteristic of Jewish prophecy, and, as in the case of Cyrus (Isa. xliv. 28), it would be false to say that we have even a particle of evidence to show that the name was not added from a marginal gloss or by the latest redactor. He also makes the mistake of putting into the old prophet's mouth the phrase "all the cities of Samaria" at least fifty years before Samaria existed (1 Kings xvi. 24). Keil's remark that "Josiah" is only used appellatively for one whom Jehovah will support (!) is one of the miserable expedients of reckless harmonists. Even Bähr,ad loc., admits that the narrative is of later date, and has received a traditional colouring. In 2 Kings xxiii. 15-18 there is no hint that Josiah had been prophesied of by name.
[488]1 Kings xiii. 6, "Intreat now" (lit., "make soft") "the face of the Lord." Klostermann, "Besänftige noch das Angesicht Jahve's."
[489]Gal. i. 8.
[490]Klostermann, in hisKurzgefasster Kommentar, gets rid of the lion altogether by one of his sweeping emendations of the text, p. 352. He considers that the whole story comes from a book of edifying anecdotes for the use of young prophets in the schools; and that it may have some connexion with the threat of another Jewish prophet against the altar at Bethel in the days of another Jeroboam (Amos iii. 14, vii. 9).
[491]Comp. Jer. xxii. 18.
[492]The older expositors at any rate see in the prophet's rest under the terebinth, so near Bethel, "peccati initium; moras utique nectere non debuit." It was like Eve's lingering near the place where temptation lay.
[493]"'Whom the gods love die young' was said of yore" (Byron). It was said by Menander: "Ὃν γὰρ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνήσκει νεὸς"; and by Plautus: "Quem dii diligunt, adolescens moritur" (Bacch., iv. 7, 18). A similar thought is found in Plutarch, in St. Chrysostom, and many others.
[494]Ahijah had not followed the example of the Levites and pious persons who, the chronicler says, went in numbers to the Southern Kingdom.
[495]Nikuddim (only elsewhere in Josh. ix. 5-12); LXX., κολλυρίδες; Vulg.,crustula; A.V., "cracknels." They were some sort of cakes. Presents to prophets were customary (see 1 Sam. ix. 7, 8; 1 Kings xiii. 7; 2 Kings v. 5, viii. 8, 9).
[496]Heb., "His eyes stood" (comp. 1 Sam. iv. 15). It seems to implyamaurosis.
[497]This tremendous expression only occurs elsewhere in Ezek. xxiii. 35; but comp. Psalm l. 17; Neh. ix. 26.
[498]The coarse expression of 1 Kings xiv. 10 (1 Sam. xxv. 22; 2 Kings ix. 8) means "every male." The phrase "him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel" (Deut. xxxii. 36) is obscure and alliterative. It has been variously explained to mean, (1) "bond and free," (2) "imprisoned or released," (3) "kept in by legal impurity or at large" (Jer. xxxvi. 5), (4) "under or over age," (5) "married or unmarried." (Reuss renders the paronomasia, "qu'il soit caché ou lâché en Israel.") LXX. ἐχόμενον καὶ ἐγκαταλελειμμένον; Vulg.clausum et novissimum.
[499]In ancient days this was regarded as the most terrible of calamities.