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their profanation of the temple; to the judgments of God upon them for their crimes; especially to the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans; and to the rebuilding of it by Zerubbabel. These things so run through all the subsequent history and prophecies, that if Solomon did not build the temple by the express command of God, it must follow, that God punished the nation with tremendous judgments for violating merely human appointments. When the Samaritans preferred Mount Gerizim, our Lord told the woman of Samaria, that they "knew not what they worshipped, for salvation was of the Jews:" and this declaration, with his own constant attendance at the ordinances there administered, sufficiently attest the divine inspiration of those records, in which alone it is expressly declared that Solomon built the temple by the direction and appointment of God.

The temple was a type of Christ,-of his church,—and of heaven. The tabernacle seemed rather to represent the church in its moveable, changeable state, in this world but the temple, fixed to one place, appears to have been intended to represent the church in heaven.This was the house in which Christ dwelt, till he assumed human nature. Here was the place that God chose, where his people offered up their sacrifices, till he came, who by the sacrifice of himself finished transgression, made an end of sin offering, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Here the messenger of the covenant often delivered his heavenly doctrine; and here his church was gathered by the pouring out of his Spirit after his ascension: the sound of the gospel went forth from hence over the world.

It may also be observed, that the Jewish church was, in the reign of Solomon, in a state of great external prosperity. Israel was exceedingly multiplied, so that they seemed to have become like the sand on the sea shore. They were now in the peaceful possession of the promised land, and of all the abundance, which, through the divine blessing, it yielded to them. Their king was a typical representation of Christ, glorious in his apparel, exalted, triumphing, and reigning, in his kingdom of peace. The happy state of the Jewish church at that time, shadowed forth the condition of the church in the latter day, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor learn war any more ;-at that blissful period, when they shall not hurt nor destroy in all God's holy mountain, because the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, There were considerable additions made to the canon of Scripture by Solomon, who wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, probably near the close of his reign. The Song of Songs, which was also written by him, has always been considered as representing the high and glorious relation which subsists between Christ and his redeemed church.

The reader should remark the care which God exercised in the course of this period, in upholding the true religion. When the ten tribes had generally forsaken the worship of God, he preserved the true religion in the kingdom of Judah; and when that people corrupted themselves, as they often did, God still kept the lamp of heavenly truth burning, and was often pleased, when things seemed to come to an extremity, to grant blessed

revivals of religion, by remarkable outpourings of his Holy Spirit, particularly in Hezekiah and Josiah's time. The preservation of the book of law in the time of the great apostasy, during a considerable part of the long reign of Manasseh, which lasted fifty-five yerrs, and also in the reign of Amon his son, is a remarkable instance of the care which God exercised over the interests of true religion.

16

The intelligent reader will also observe, that amid the apostasies and calamities by which this period was characterized, the tribe of Judah, from which the Redeemer was to come, was preserved from ruin by the special interposition of God. As instances of deliverance by the arm of God, we need only mention their preservation when Shishak king of Egypt came against Judah with a great force; when Jeroboam brought an army of eight hundred thousand men against the members of this tribe; and when, again, in Asa's time, Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a yet larger army of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power.' His prayer was heard; and God himself gave him the victory over this mighty host. When the children of Moab, and the children of Amon, and the inhabitants of mount Seir, combined together against Judah with a mighty army, a force greatly superior to any that Jehoshaphat could raise, God assured Jehoshaphat and his people by one of the prophets, that they need not be afraid, for that he himself, without their instrumentality, would destroy their armies. But it is unnecessary to allude to more examples of this kind. It was the purpose of God, a purpose often referred to by the prophets, that the Messiah should spring from the tribe of Judah, and the family of David, and that therefore this tribe and family should be preserved till that illustrious descendant appeared, to whom should be given the throne of his father David, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end.

Nor should we fail to notice the goodness of God to his church and people, in raising up eminent prophets, who committed their prophecies to writing, for the instruction and edification of the church in all ages. From the time of Samuel there had been a constant succession of prophets in Israel, who had added to the canon of Scripture by their historical writings. But now in the days of Uzziah, God raised up great prophets, who added to the canon not only by their historical compositions, but by books of their prophecies. Of these, we need only mention Isaiah, Amos, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum, They were divinely qualified to exercise the prophetical office for the purpose of bearing testimony to the great Redeemer for the testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy are the same. Accordingly, we find, that the main things insisted on by the prophets are Christ, his redemption, the establishment of his kingdom among men, and the glories of the latter day. In what exalted strains do they allude to these heavenly themes. How plainly and fully does Isaiah, the evangelical prophet, describe the manner and circumstances, the nature and end, of the sufferings and sacrifice of Christ! In what chapter of the New Testament are these more fully set forth

12 Chron. xiv. 9-11.

* Rev. xix. 10.

2 Is. biii.

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brought the ark of the covenant, together with the tabernacle of the congregation, into its new habitation with great solemnity; the king and elders of the people walking before, while others of the priests offered an e infinite number of sacrifices, in all the places through which the ark passed.

This, then, forms an important era in the history of | the discovery of human redemption. The way of salvation for fallen man was more clear than at any former period by the great increase of gospel light communicated by inspired prophets: Of which salvation the prophets inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ c The sacred history tells us, that in this ark there was nowhich was in them did signify, when it testified before-thing save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb,' (1 Kings viii. 9.) and yet the author to the Hebrews hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should affirms, that in this ark was the golden pot that had manna, and follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto Aaron's rod that budded, as well as the tables of the covenant,' themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which (Heb. ix. 4.) Now, to reconcile this, some imagine, that before are now reported unto you by them that have preached apostle refers to, all these things were included in it, though it the ark had any fixed and settled place, which is the time the the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down was chiefly intended for nothing but the tables of the covenant; from heaven.'' but that, when it was placed in the temple, nothing was left in it but these two tables; all the other things were deposited in the treasury of the temple, where the book of the law (as we read in 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14.) was found in the days of king Josias. Others however pretend, that in the time of the apostle, that is, towards the end of the Jewish commonwealth, Aaron's rod, and the pot of manna were really kept in the ark, though, in the days

SECT. I.

CHAP. I.-From the finishing of the temple, to the of Solomon, they were not. But this answer would be more

reign of Jehoshaphat.

THE HISTORY.

WHEN Solomon had finished the temple, which was in the eleventh year of his reign, and in the eighth month of that year," even when all the solemn feasts were over, he thought it advisable to defer the dedication of it until the next year, which was a year of jubilee, and determined to have it done some days before the feast of tabernacles. To this purpose, he sent all the elders of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, notice to repair to Jerusalem at the time appointed; when accordingly, all being met together, the priests and Levites carried into the temple, first, all the presents that David had made to it: then set up, in their several places, the vessels and ornaments appointed for the service of the altar, and the sanctuary; and lastly,

11 Peter i. 10-13.

a Solomon deferred the dedication of the temple to the following year after it was finished, because that year, according to Archbishop Usher, was a jubilee. "This," he observes, "was the ninth jubilee, opening the fourth millenary of the world, or A. M. 3001, wherein Solomon, with great magnificence, celebrated the dedication of the temple seven days, and the feast of tabernacles other seven days; the celebration of the eighth day of tabernacles being finished, upon the twenty-third day of the seventh month, the people were dismissed, every man to his home. The eighth day of the seventh month, namely, the thirtieth of our October, being Friday, was the first of the seven days of dedication; on the tenth day, Saturday November 1, was the feast of expiation or atonement held; whereon, according to the Levitical laws, the jubilee was proclaimed by sound of trumpet. The fifteenth day, Friday November 6, was the commencement of the feast of tabernacles; the twenty-second, November 13, being also Friday, was the termination of the feast of tabernacles, which was always very solemnly kept, (2 Chron. vii. 9; Lev. xxiii. 36; John vii. 37;) and the day following, November 14, being our Saturday, when the Sabbath was ended, the people returned home.-Usher's Annals.-ED.

6 This feast was appointed in commemoration of the children of Israel's dwelling in booths, whilst they were in the wilderness, and of the tabernacle, which at that time was built, where God promised to meet them, to dwell among them, and to sanctify the place with his glory; and might therefore be well reckoned a very proper season for the dedication of the temple, which was to succeed in the tabernacle's place.-Bedford's Scripture Chrouology, b. 6. c. 2.

solid and satisfactory, if he knew for certain, that, in the time of the apostle, the ark of the covenant was really in the sanctuary of the temple which Herod built; whereas Josephus (On the Jewish War, b. 6. c. 6.) tells us expressly, that, when the Romans destroyed the temple, there was nothing found in the holy of holies.-Calmet's Commentary.

d But the question is, what tabernacle, whether that which Moses made, and was then at Gibeon, (2 Chron. i. 3.) or that which was made by David, and was then at Jerusalem? To end this dispute, some have imagined, that both these tabernacles were at this time carried into the temple, and laid up there, that all danger of superstition and idolatry might thereby he avoided, and that no worship might be performed anywhere, but only at the house which was dedicated to God's service. But it is observed by others, that the convenience which David made for the reception of the ark, was never called the tabernacle of the covenant;' it was no more than a plain tent, set up in some large room of the royal palace, until a more proper receptacle could be provided for it; but the tabernacle that was at Gibeon was the same that sojourned so long in the wilderness. The tent was the same, the curtains the same, and the altar the same that was made by Moses; or, at least, if there was any alteration in it, as things of this nature could hardly subsist so very long without some repair, the reparation was always made according to the original model, and with as little deviation as possible. It is not to be doubted, then, but that the Mosaic tabernacle is the tabernacle here intended, which for the prevention of schism, and to make the temple the centre of devotion, was now taken down, and reposited in the treasury, or storehouse, where it continued until the time that Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans, when Jeremiah, as Josephus informs us, (Jewish Antiq. b. 8. c. 2.) was admonished by God, to take it and the ark, and the altar of incense, and hide them in some secret place, from whence it is doubted, whether they have ever yet been removed, for fear of profanation.-Patrick's and Calmet's Commentaries.

e The number of sacrifices which, upon this occasion, are said to be offered, was two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep,' (1 Kings viii. 63.) But we must not suppose, that these were offered all on one day, much less on one altar. The continuance of this meeting was for fourteen days, seven in the feast of tabernacles, and seven in that of the dedication; and because the brazen altar, before the door of the temple, was not sufficient to receive all these sacrifices, Solomon, by a special license from God, ordered other altars to be erected in the court of the priests, and perhaps in other places, which were to serve only during this present solemnity, when such a vast number of sacrifices were to be offered: for at other times no other altar was allowed but this brazen one, which Moses had made. It is no bad observation, however, of Josephus, (b. 8. c. 2.) that, during the oblation of so many sacrifices, the Levites took care to 'perfume the air with the fragrancy of incense, and sweet odours, to such a degree, that the people were sensible of it at a distance; otherwise the burning of so many beasts at one time,

must have occasioned an offensive smell.-Patrick's Comment.

b

A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4391. A. C. 1020. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. When the ark was placed in the sanctuary, and the fulfil the promise which he had been pleased to make to priests and Levites, in their turns, were celebrating the his father David, in favour of his family, and the kings praises of God, the temple was filled with a a miraculous his successors; and having thus finished his prayer, he cloud, insomuch that the priests could not continue to turned to the people, and after he had blessed them, gave officiate. This Solomon observing, took occasion from them a strict charge to be sincere in their duty towards thence to infer, that the Lord had taken possession of God, to walk in his statutes, and observe his laws. the place; and having for some time fallen prostrate with his face to the ground, he raised himself up, and turning towards the sanctuary, addressed his prayer to God, and 'beseeched him graciously to accept of the house which he had built for his sake, to bless and sanctify it; and to hear the prayers of all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who, upon any occasion, either of public or private calamity, might direct their supplications to him d from that holy place. He beseeched him likewise to

C

a When Moses had finished the tabernacle according to the pattern which God had showed him, and set it all up, it is said, that a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, so that Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle,' (Exod. xl. 34, 35.) And therefore, when the temple was finished, and the ark brought into the sanctuary, God gave the like indication of his presence, and residence there. Hereby he testified his acceptance of the building, and furnishing the temple, as a service done to his name; and hereby he declared, that as the glory of the ark, that sacred symbol of his presence, had been long eclipsed by its frequent removes, and mean habitations; so now his pleasure was, that it should be looked upon with the same esteem and veneration as when Moses conducted it into the tabernacle. For this cloud, we must know, was not a heavy, thick, opaque body, such as is engendered in the air, and arises from vapours and exhalations, but a cloud that was dark and luminous at the same time, whose darkness was awful and majestic, and whose internal part was bright and refulgent, darting its rays upon occasion, and exhibiting its light through its obscurity; so that, according to its different phasis, or position, it became to the Israelites a pillar of a cloud by day, to screen them from the heat, and at night a pillar of fire to give them light, (Exod. xiii. 21.) Whatever it was that constituted this strange appearance, it is certain this mixture of light and darkness was looked upon as a symbol of the divine presence; for so the Scripture has informed us, that he who dwelleth in light that is inaccessible, made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him, with dark water, and thick clouds to cover him, (Ps. xviii. 11.) Calmet's Commentary.

While Solomon was thus addressing his prayers to God, and his exhortations to the people, a victim was laid upon the altar, and God, to testify his acceptance of what was doing, sent immediately a fire from heaven, which consumed it, and all the other sacrifices that were about it; which, when the people, who were witnesses of the miracle, perceived, they fell upon their faces, and worshipped the God of Israel: and it was, very probably, on the night following, that he appeared to Solomon again in a dream, and signified to him, 'that he had

e

make the subject of our prayers such good things as he has permitted us to ask; but it was not consistent with the preservation of the Jewish state and religion that he should be publicly worshipped in every place. For since the Jews were on every side surrounded with idolaters, led away with divers superstitions, but ignorant all of the true God, it was highly necessary, that in all divine matters, there should be a strict union between them all both in heart and voice, and consequently, that they should all meet together in one place to worship God, lest they should ren into parties, and fall into idolatry, as it happened when the king dom became divided into two. And therefore, though Solomon, knew very well that in every place, God was ready to hear the prayers of every devout supplicant, yet, for the preservation of peace and unity, he was minded to give the people a notion, that God would be found more exorable to the prayers which were of fered in the temple of Jerusalem, and thereby excite them to a frequentation of that, rather than any other place.—Le Clerc's Commentary in locum.

e It is thus that we have placed the time of God's second appearance to Solomon; but some are of opinion, that it did not happen till two and twenty years after God's first appearance, and after that Solomon had accomplished all his buildings; to which the connexion of the discourse seems to give some count enance; and it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and ad that he was pleased to do, that the Lord appeared to him s second time,' (1 Kings ix. 1, 2.) It seems a little strange, however, that God should delay answering this prince's prayer for thirteen years together, and then, when he appeared to him, tell him, I have heard thy prayer, and the supplication that thou hast made before me, and I have hallowed this house which thou hast built.' Ver. 3. And therefore to solve this difficulty, it is reasonable to think, that the division of this 9th chapter is wrong; that the first verse of it should be annexed to the conclusion of the preceding chapter, and so terminate the account of what Solomon had done; and that the next chapter should begin with the second verse, where the historian enters up a fresh subject, namely, the answer that God returned to Sele mon's prayer, which he continues to the tenth verse, and pr sents us with it all at once, that he might not break the thread of his narration.-Calmet's Commentary on 1 Kings ix. 2.

f Josephus has made a very handsome comment upon the answer which God made Solomon in his dream. The voice to him farther, says he, that in case of such an apostasy, as he had before mentioned, his new-erected fabric should, by divine per

c The prayer which Josephus puts into Solomon's mouth upon this occasion, is to this effect:-" O Lord, thou that inhabitest eternity, and hast raised out of nothing the mighty fabric of this universe, the heavens, the air, the earth, and the sea; thou that fillest the whole, and every thing that is in it, and art thyself unbounded, and incomprehensible; look down graciously upon thy servants, that have presumed to erect a temple here to the honour of thy great name. Lord, hear our prayers, and re-mission, come to be sacked, and burned by the hands of barbarians, ceive our sacrifices. Thou art everywhere, vouchsafe also to be with us. Thou that seest and hearest all things, look down from thy throne in heaven, and give ear to our supplications in this place. Thou that never failest to assist those that call upon thee day and night, and love and serve thee as they ought to do, have mercy upon us." There is another prayer, in the same historian, addressed to God on the same occasion, wherein Solomon blesses' him for the exaltation of his family, and implores the continuance of his goodness and peculiar presence in the temple, well worth the reader's perusal, though too long to be inserted here.

d It is the same thing, no doubt, to God, wherever we pray, so long as we pray with a pious mind and a devout heart, and

and Jerusalem itself laid in rubbish and ashes by a merciless enemy; insomuch that people should stand amazed at the very report of so incredible a misery and distress, and be wonderin one to another, how it could come to pass, that a nation which was but yesterday the envy of mankind for riches, external glory, and renown, should now, all on a sudden, be sunk and lost the last degree of wretchedness and contempt, and reduced to this despicable state too by the same hand that raised them. T which questions their own guilty consciences shall make this answer: "We have forsaken our God; we have abandoned the religion of our forefathers, and of our country, and all this is justly befallen us for our sins."-Jewish Antiq, b. 8. c. 2.

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heard his prayer; did accept of the temple which he had | chiefly chose to reside. These were the works of thirteen built for him; and would not fail to listen to the petitions years: and as Hiram, king of Tyre, was very kind in that proceeded from thence; that if he persevered in supplying him with men, money, and materials, to carry his obedience to him, as his father David had done, he on these, and many more stately structures, Solomon, would establish his throne, and perpetuate a race of to express his gratitude, or to clear off the debt which successors in his family; but that, if either he, or bis he had contracted with him, d offered him twenty cities children prevaricated in this matter, he would cut them in the land of Galilee, adjoining to his own country. off, overturn his kingdom, and destroy the temple.' But as these places e did not suit his convenience, he refused to accept of them; and therefore Solomon, having made him, no doubt, some other recompense more to

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his satisfaction, took and repaired these cities; and having built store cities likewise in the country, he sent colonies of his own subjects to inhabit them, that they might be a curb and restraint on the Syrians of Zobah, who had formerly been conquered by David, and, upon their revolt, but lately reduced by Solomon.

To conclude the account of Solomon's public buildings. He built the walls of Jerusalem, and a senatehouse in the same city, called Millo. He repaired and fortified Hazor, Megiddo, the two Beth-Horons, Baalah, "Tadmor in the wilderness of Syria, and Gezer, which

the king of Egypt took from the Canaanites, and gave it in dower with his daughter. He fortified all the cities which he made his magazines for corn, wine, and oil, and those where his chariots and horses were kept. He subdued all the Hittites, and Hivites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, that anywhere remained in the land of Israel, and laid on them all the drudgery, and servile labour. But as for his own subjects, he appointed them either to be surveyors of his works, or guards to his person, or commanders in the army, or traders and merchants, that so he might make his nation as famous, and as rich and flourishing, as it was possible to be effected by human policy.

But it was not only a multitude of hands, but a large

a Tadmor, which, by the Greeks, is called Palmyra, is situated in the wilderness of Syria, upon the borders of Arabia Deserta, inclining towards the Euphrates. Josephus places it two days' journey from the Upper Syria, one day's journey from the Euph-supply of wealth likewise, that was necessary to carry rates, and six days' journey from Babylon. And the reason he on so many expensive buildings; and therefore Solomon gives why Solomon was inclined to build a city in this place, took care to cultivate the trade to Ophir, which his fawas, because in all the country round about, there was no such thing as a well or fountain, but in this spot only, to be found. If ther had begun from Elam and Ezion-Geber, two ports we may guess by the ruins, which later travellers give us the in the Red sea, whether himself went in person to indescription of, this city was certainly one of the finest and most spect the building of the ships, and to provide them with magnificent in the east, and it is somewhat surprising, that his-able and experienced seamen, which his good friend and tory should give us no account, either when or by whom it was reduced to the sad condition in which it lies at this day. But the true reason for his building this town in so desolate a place, was the commodiousness of its situation, to cut off all commerce

between the Syrians and Mesopotamians, and to prevent their caballing and conspiring together against him, as they had done against his father David.-Le Clerc's Commentary. [It is probable that Tadmor was originally a watering station between Syria and Mesopotamia, with perhaps some indifferent accommodation suited to the mode of travelling in those times. The mere circumstance of wholesome water being found on any spot in such a country, was sufficient to give it importance. It lay in the direct line of communication for the Indian trade, by way of the Euphrates and Persian Gulf, and must have been an important station, not only for rest and refreshment, but as a point of exchange with the Armenian merchants, who would meet the Indian convoy here with their own merchandise, as the nearest point to them, as they thus carry on a direct traffic, independent of the great merchants of Tyre and Sidon. It is no wonder there fore, that the efforts of Solomon should be directed to obtain possession of a place from whence so great a profit might be drawn, either by a tax on the articles of trade, or by turning a portion of it, which would otherwise have gone to the ports of Phoenicia, into those of his own dominions. To strengthen this design he built Tadmor; that is, he converted it from a mere caravansera to a proud city; furnished it with every necessary and convenience as a place of trade; and made it one of the greatest of the many emporia of eastern commerce: advantages which it enjoyed, and under which it continued to flourish, for more than a thousand years, as may be gathered from the mention made of its strength and prosperity at the time of the Parthian wars.]—Mansford's Scripture Gazetteer.-ED. The original name was preserved till the time of Alexander, who extended his conquests to this city, which then exchanged Tadmor for the title of Palmyra. It submitted to the Romans about the year 130, and continued in alliance with them during a period of 150 years. When the Saracens triumphed in the east, they acquired possession of this city, and restored its ancient name of Tadmor. Of the time of its ruin there is no authentic record; but it is thought, with some probability, that its destruction occurred during the period in which it was occupied by the Saracens. Of its present appearance Messrs Wood and Dawkins, who visited it in 1751, thus speak:-"It is scarcely possible to imagine any thing more striking than this view. So great a number of Corinthian pillars, mixed with so little wall or solid building, afforded a most romantic variety of prospect." Captain Mangles, who travelled more recently, observes, "On opening upon the ruins of Palmyra, as seen from the valley of the tombs, we were much struck with the picturesque effect of the whole, presenting the most imposing sight of the kind we had ever seen." But on a minuter inspection, the ruins of this once mighty city do not appear so interesting as at a distance. Volney observes, "In the space covered by these ruins, we sometimes find a palace of which nothing remains but the court and walls; sometimes a temple, whose

ally Hiram was never backward to furnish him with. So that by this means his subjects, who soon attained to the art of navigation, were enabled to make several advantageous voyages; and particularly in one fleet,

peristile is half thrown down; and now a portico, a gallery, a triumphal arch. If from this striking scene we cast our eyes upon the ground, another almost as varied presents itself. On which side soever we look, the earth is strewed with vast stones half buried, with broken entablatures, mutilated friezes, disfigured reliefs, effaced sculptures, violated tombs, and altars defiled by the dust. It is situated under a ridge of barren hills to the west, and its other sides are open to the desert. The city was ori ginally about ten miles in circumference; but such have been the destructions effected by time, that the boundaries are with difficulty traced and determined. In the Modern Traveller, there is a very excellent description of the present aspect of this ruined city, by Mr Josiah Conder.-Calmet's Dictionary in locum,

History indeed takes notice of the same temper in Sesostris, king of Egypt, who, upon his return home from his several expeditions, took it into his head to build temples in all the cities of Egypt, but would suffer no Egyptian to do any servile work therein. All the work of this nature was performed by the cap tives that he brought with him from the wars; and therefore, to perpetuate the remembrance of his kindness to his subjects, as well as remove some possible odium from himself, upon every temple he ordered this inscription to be set up, "No native was ever a labourer here."-Diodorus Bibliot. b. 1.

c Josephus will needs have it, that Ezion-Geber is the same with Berenice, which lies indeed upon the Red sea, but then it is upon the western or African shore thereof; whereas the Scripture is positive, that it was a port of Idumæa, or Arabia Deserta, situate upon the gulf of Elam, which is on the opposite shore. Elam, or Eloth, or Elath, for it was called by all these names, was situate upon the same, and might possibly have its name from thence. When David conquered Edom, or Idumæa, be made himself master of this port, (2 Sam. viii. 14.) His son, we see, built ships here, and sent them from hence to Ophir for gold, (2 Chron. viii. 17, 18.) It continued in the possession of the Israelites about an hundred and fifty years, till, in the time of Joram, the Edomites recovered it, (2 Kings viii. 20.) but it was again taken from them by Azariah, and by him left to his son, (2 Kings xiv. 22.) His grandson Ahaz however lost it again to the king of Syria, (2 Kings xvi. 6.) and the Syrians had it in their hands a long while, till, after many changes under the Ptolemies, and the Seleucidæ, it came at length into the posses sion of the Romans. It was formerly a small town, with fruitial fields about it, but now there is nothing left but a tower, which serves as an habitation for the governor, who is subject to the governor of Grand Cairo, and no signs of fruitfulness to be seen in any parts adjoining to it.-Patrick's Commentary, and Cal met's Dictionary, under the word Elam.