A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4421. A. C. 990. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. burned with great quantities of perfumes and spices, I died and was succeeded by his son Elah, a vicious and and his bones and ashes to be collected, and buried in a debauched prince, that, in the second year of his reign, sepulchre which he had provided for himself in the city as he was carousing in his steward's house, was assassiof David, nated by Zimri, a considerable officer of horse, who, to secure the kingdom to himself, & cut off all Baasha's friends and relations: but he had not taken care, as Baasha did, to gain the army which was then besieging Gibbethon, over to his interest, so that when they heard of the news of the king's death, they declared for Omri their general. He immediately raised the siege, and marching to Tirzah, the then royal city, soon made himself master of it; so that Zimri seeing all lost, and despairing of any quarter from the enemy, retired to the palace, which he set on fire, and, after a reign of seven days only, was consumed in it. During the long continuance of Asa's reign, sundry successions and revolutions happened in the kingdom of Israel, whereof the sacred history has given us but a short account. In the first or second year of Asa, died Jeroboam, of some acute disease, which the Scripture does not specify. His reign was famous, or infamous rather, for the revolt of the ten tribes, the public institution, of idolatry, and the terrible defeat which Abijah gave him, and which he himself seems not long to have survived. He was succeeded by his son Nadab, a person who took care to imitate his father in all his wickedness; but his reign was not long. In less than two years he was treacherously killed by Baasha, his captain general, who usurped his crown, and to maintain himself in that usurpation, put every one that was related to his predecessor to death; which was certainly a very wicked and barbarous act, though it proved the accomplishment of the prophecy which Ahijah had denounced against Jeroboam's house. In the six and twentieth year of king Asa, Baasha a There is however no evidence from the text that Asa's body was burned. The aromatics and duly prepared ointments with which it was surrounded were most probably placed along with it in the sepulchre. The burning then must have been of other aromatic woods, most likely at the mouth of the sepulchre, or some little distance from it. This was evidently a ceremony of respect, and designed to do honour to the dead.-Boothroyd on 2 Chron. xvi. 14.-ED. b 61 Kings xiv. 10, 11. The prophecy runs thus:-Therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city, shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord hath spoken it.' The only difficulty here is, how Baasha's exaltation to the kingdom of Israel can be ascribed to God, (as it is 1 Kings xvi. 2.) Forasmuch as I have exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel,' when it is manifest that he got it by his own treachery and cruelty.' But to this it may be replied, that though the manner of invading the kingdom was from himself, and his own wicked heart; yet the translation of the kingdom from Nadab to Baasha, simply considered, was from God, who by his decree and providence, ordered it, and disposed of all occasions, and of the hearts of all the soldiers and the people so, that Baasha should have opportunity of executing his judgments upon Nadab, and such success thereupon as should procure him a present and quiet possession of the kingdom. So that his accession to the kingdom was from the divine decree, but the form and manner of his accession was from himself, from his own ambition and covetousness; and as it was wicked and cruel, is therefore charged upon him as a wilful murder, ver. 7.-Poole's Annotations. e And yet Baasha's expedition against Asa, in order to build Rama, is said to be in the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, (2 Chron. xvi. 1.) Now to reconcile this, some would have that six and thirtieth year to relate, not to Asa's reign, but to the date of the kingdom of Judah, from the division of the kingdom of Israel, at Rehoboam coming to the crown, and to be in fact no more than the fourteenth year of the reign of Asa. But that cannot be, since this expedition of Baasha was some time after Asa had defeated the king of Ethiopia, or Arabia, and yet this defeat happened in the fifteenth year of king Asa's reign: so that that six and thirtieth year of Baasha's going up to build Ramah, can, by no good computation, be the fourteenth year of king Asa's reign. And therefore, without any more to do, we may, with Josephus, and others, adventure to say, that the oc 1 Omri, however, found it not so easy a matter to get the throne, as he expected. Half the Israelites declared for Tibni, the son of Ginah, which occasioned a civil war for four years, till having vanquished and slain his rival Tibni, he came to reign without a competitor. But his reign must be acknowledged to have been very wicked, when we find it recorded of him, that he not only walked in the way of Jeroboam, but did worse than all before him.' He very probably began to introduce other and more abominable idolatries than were then in use, which are therefore called the works of the house of Ahab,' He compelled the people to worship the golden calves; and by severe laws, which are called 3 'the statutes of Omri,' restrained them from going up to Jerusalem: and because the royal palace at Tirzah was destroyed, he bought of one Shemer a piece of rising ground, whereon he built a palace for his own habitation, which, in a short time increasing to a city, was, from its first owner, called in Hebrew Shomerom, but, according to the Greek and our translation, & Samaria, and was ever after made a place of the king's residence, and the metropolis of the Israelitish kingdom. 11 Kings xvi. 25. 2 Micah vi. 16. 3 Micah vi. 16. casion of this difference proceeds from the mistake of some transcriber.-Howell's History in the notes. d One part of the threat which the prophet Jehu denounces against Baasha is, as we see, that God would, make his house like the house of Jeroboam,' (1 Kings xvi. 3.) and that exactly came to pass. For as Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned but two years, so Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned no more: and as Nadab was killed by the sword, so was Elah: so wonderful a similitude was there between Jeroboam and Baasha, in their lives and in their deaths, and in their sons and in their families. -Patrick's Commentary. e This was a city in the tribe of Dan, and given to the Levites for their habitation, (Josh, xix. 44, and xxi. 23.) but they seem to have quitted it, as they did the rest of the cities, when Jeroboam would not suffer them to exercise their office, and the Philistines, it is likely, then seized upon it, as being adjoining to their country. It seems, however, to have been a place of no inconsiderable strength, since we find, that it maintained a siege for three kings' reigns successively, though with some interruption, 1 Kings xvi. 15, 16. f Some interpreters would rather have it, that Omri set the royal palace on fire, in order to burn Zimri in it, who had retired thither. The Hebrew words indeed will bear that construction; but the other sense seems more likely. Nor has profane history forgot to preserve the memory of some princes, who have chosen to die in this manner, rather than fall by the sword, whereof Sardanapalus is one of the most ancient and most notorious examples.—Calmet's Commentary. g It is somewhat wonderful, that when Omri bought this place of Shemer, whereon he intended to build a city, he did not call it by his own name, unless we may suppose, that, when Shemer A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4421. A. C. 990. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. In the eight and thirtieth year of king Asa, Ahab succeeded his father Omri, and in wickedness excelled all his predecessors. But of him we shall treat at large in our next chapter, and choose to conclude here with this observation,-That though, while Asa reigned in Judah, Israel was in the hands of seven or eight several princes, namely, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, Omri, and Ahab; yet such was their hardness in sin and idolatry, that in all these changes, they never once thought of returning to the house of David, or the worship of the true God at Jerusalem. CHAP. II.-Difficulties Obviated, and Objections Answered. THE Jewish doctors have a tradition, that after Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had left Shechem in haste, and made the best of his way to Jerusalem, Jeroboam called a council, consisting partly of pious, and partly of wicked men; that, in this council, he proposed whether they would agree and subscribe to all that he should appoint; that to this they declared their assent, and he thereupon constituted himself king; that when he proposed farther, whether, if he should establish idolatry, they would agree and consent to it, the pious party were shocked, and began to express their indignation; but that their wicked neighbours in the council, pacified them by whispering in their ears, "that Jeroboam had no intention to set up idolatry, but only mentioned it in a comparative sense, and with a design to try the extent of their obedience." So that by this fraud, the pious people in the council were drawn in, and even Ahijah himself prevailed on to subscribe implicitly, to whatever Jeroboam should think fit to enact; by which means he took an occasion, as the iniquity of the times favoured him not a little, to establish idolatry by a law. Solomon, we all agree, was a man of great fame for his knowledge, and yet in the very maturity of his age, he discovered a strong inclination to idolatry, which could not but make a bad impression upon the minds of his subjects, when they saw the preference that was given to it by so wise a prince. His son Rehoboam was the issue of a woman that sprung from an infamous nation, an Ammonitess by birth, who, as far as it appears, was never a proselyte; and, having a great hand in her son's education, might give him a deep tincture of her own sold it, he let him have the greater bargain of it, upon condition that it should be continued in its first owner's name. However this be, it is certain, that as Samaria was situated in the midst of the tribe of Ephraim on a fruitful and pleasant hill, it soon became the regal and capital city of the kingdom of Israel; nor did its king omit any thing to make it as strong, as fine, and as rich as possible. What fate it underwent by Benhadad king of Syria; by Salmanassar king of Assyria; and by one of the Maccabean family; by Herod the Great, who rebuilt and beautified it; by Augustus Cæsar, and by the Emperor Adrian, under whom it finally fell; we shall see, in a great measure, in the course of this history. It is conjectured by Bochart, who traced the ruins of it, to have been once larger than Jerusalem; but now it consists of nothing but a few cottages and convents, inhabited by some Greek monks.- Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 3. sentiments: for, in his reign, we read, that ''the people built them high places, on every green hill, and under every green tree, and did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel;' which they durst not have done, had the king discountenanced them by his own example. 4 6 After a succession of such idolatrous princes, in the reign of king Josiah, the book of the law was found in the house of the Lord,' at which Hilkiah, the high priest, seemed to express an uncommon joy and wonder : and though this might possibly be the authentic copy, 3 which, by God's command, was laid up in the sanctuary, yet how much the reading of it in any copy was at any time disused, we may gather, from what the historian tells us of the king, namely, that *' when he had read the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes;" and by a parity of reason we may infer, that what through the bad example of their kings, who gave life and encouragement to idolatrous practices, and what through the negligence of the people, in not perusing the books wherein the transactions of former times were recorded, the generation we are now speaking of might have forgot the history of Aaron's molten calf, and the punishment pursuant thereupon, and might therefore be induced to worship another without any dread or apprehension of danger. 5 How the figure of a calf, or any other animal, can be a symbol of a deity, it is difficult to conceive. But a certain learned author, who seems a little singular in his opinion, will needs have it that the golden calves which Jeroboam made, were an imitation of the cherubim, in his account these were winged oxen, Moses had placed upon the ark of the covenant, whereon the glory of the Lord sat enthroned. These cherubim in the tabernacle of Moses, and afterwards in Solomon's temple, were placed in the sanctuary, and secreted from vulgar sight: but Jeroboam, to make his religion more condescensive, placed his calves in open view, so that every one who looked on them might, through them, worship the God of Israel, without repairing to the temple of Jerusalem. was, This notion, if it were true, would make the transition easy from the worship at Jerusalem to the worship at Dan or Bethel; but we can hardly imagine, that Jeroboam had either so harmless or so conformable a design in setting up these golden images. Whatever his design it is certain that the Scripture, all along, represents him as of all others, the principal person that made Israel to sin; that drew Israel from serving the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.' And therefore we may observe, that whenever it describes a bad prince, one part of his character is, that he imitated the son of 8Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who,' as the prophet upbraids his wife, went and made him other gods, and molten images to provoke me to anger, and to cast me behind his back,' saith the Lord. The truth is, Jeroboam had lived a considerable time in the land of Egypt, had contracted an acquaintance with the king thereof, and formed an interest among the people; and therefore finding himself under a necessity A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4421. A. C. 990. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. b of making an alteration in the established religion of There were these farther reasons likewise that might determine him in the choice of these two places. Dan was a town famous for the Teraphim of Micah, unto which there had been a great resort for many ages; and Bethel was, in every one's opinion, a holy place, that which Jacob had consecrated after he had been vouchsafed the vision of the ladder, and where God had so frequently appeared to him, that he thought he had reason to call it the gate of heaven.' Jeroboam, no question, was not insensible of the advantage his rival enjoyed, in having the temple in his possession; and might many times wish that he had been able to have built one that might have stood in competition with it; but this was impossible. Seven years and a half had Solomon been in completing the temple at Jerusalem, notwithstanding the multitude of hands that he employed, and the vast preparations of money and materials that his father had left him. To build one less magnificent, had been inglorious to Jeroboam; and to build one any ways adequate, was more than he could hope to see finished in his days. The people were grown weary of such public expensive works. The tax had been heavy and burdensome to them. " Thy father made our yoke grievous,' was the complaint they brought against Rehoboam. Upon this the whole revoit was founded. And therefore, in the present state of Jeroboam's affairs, a new temple was, of all projects, the most unpopular, and the likeliest to create a total defection; since it was running directly into his rival's error, and, in effect, declaring, that his little finger should be found heavier than Solomon's loins had ever been. a 7 6 the days of old, and whose reputed sacredness, as well as proximity, might commute for the want of a temple. Gezer, we own, lay at a considerable distance from Egypt, which, since the time of Sesostris, had seldom extended its conquests into foreign lands; and therefore, to account for its conduct here, we must observe, that Gezer was so ancient a town in Canaan, that when Joshua' conquered it, it had a king of no small note; that in the division of the land, it fell to the tribe of Ephraim, was bordering upon the northern part of the country of the Philistines, and not far from the Mediterranean sea; that it was one of the eight and forty cities which, together with their suburbs, were given to the Levites; an inland town, but at no great distance from the sea-port of Joppa; that when the Ephraimites took possession of it, they suffered the Canaanites to cohabit with them, who gave them no small disturbance, and towards the latter end of David's reign, expelled them thence; that when Solomon came to the throne, he applied himself chiefly to the building of the temple, nor thought it worth while to disturb the peace of his reign for the recovery of a few revolted cities; that when a match was proposed between Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter, Pharaoh thought he could not do a more acceptable service, or show the benefit of his alliance better, than in taking Gezer, and some adjacent places ; that, for this purpose, he set out with a large fleet of ships, landed at Joppa, besieged Gezer, and because it made an obstinate defence, 8 burned it to the ground, and slew all the Canaanites that were in it, but that not long after he began to rebuild it; and when his daughter was espoused to Solomon, gave him this, and some other places he had taken along with it, as part of her portion; for it is a mistaken notion, that princes' daughters had no portion in those days. Among the Jews, indeed, the custom was for the men to give the dower, or to make some present to the parents, for the favour of having their daughter in marriage. But this custom prevailed only among the inferior sort: ladies of the first distinction were, in all nations, wont to bring their husbands fortunes proportionate to their quality: for Saul, we read, declared that the man who should slay Goliah, should not only have his daughter in marriage, but together with her, plenty of riches and other valuable emoluments. Antiochus the great promised to settle upon his, the kingdoms of Judea and Samaria, as a dower to Ptolemy king of Egypt; and to name no more, Agamemnon, in times of an elder date, though not so great affluence, offered no less than' seven good towns with his, without any reserved rent, 5 Josh. x. 33. Ibid. xvi. 5. Ibid. xxi. 20, 21. 1 Kings ix. 16. 9 Iliad 9. line 141. The speech which Josephus makes for Jeroboam, upon this In the mean time his subjects deserted apace; and, for want of a place of religious worship to resort to, were returning to Jerusalem, and to their allegiance to the house of David at once. Something therefore was necessary to be done, in order to remedy this growing evil; and, because Jeroboam readily foresaw, that, to support himself in his usurpation, he might possibly want the assistance of the Egyptians, the best policy that at present occurred to his thoughts, was, to do a courtesy to them, in setting up a form of worship much like theirs, and, at the same time, to gratify his own subjects in the occasion, is to this purpose:-"I need not tell you, my countrymen, that God is everywhere, and not confined to any certain choice of such places of worship as had been famous in place, but wherever we are, he hears our prayers and accepts our worship, in one place as well as another; and therefore I am 'Judg. xvii. Gen. xxviii. 17. 1 Kings xii. 4. Ibid. ver. 10. not at all for your going up to Jerusalem at this time, to a peoa In 1 Kings xii. 11, Rehoboam tells the people that his father ple that hate you. It is a long tedious journey, and all this had chastised them with whips, but he would chastise them with only for the sake of religion. He who built that temple was but scorpions. In order to understand what is meant by scorpions a man, as every one here is, and the golden calves that I have here, we must observe that the Jews sometimes, in inflicting the provided for you, the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan, are punishment of whipping for notorious offences, tied sharp bones, consecrated, as well as the temple, and brought so much nearer pieces of lead, or thorns to the end of the thongs, which from the to you, on purpose for the convenience of your worship, where pain and torture they occasioned were termed scorpions.-Bur-you may pay your duty to God, in such a manner as best pleases der's Oriental Literature.-ED. you," &c.-Jewish Antiquities, b. 8. c. 3 A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4421. A. C. 990. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. or other deduction from her husband. So that Pharaoh did no more than conform to the practice of other great princes, in endowing his daughter with the places he had taken from the Philistines, in all probability, for that very purpose." How he came to swerve so soon from this alliance, as to give protection and countenance to his son-in-law's avowed enemies, need be no wonder at all to him who considers by what various springs kingdoms are governed; how the interest of nations shifts about, according to the different situation of their affairs, and of how little weight and validity all leagues and treaties are, when once national interest comes to be thrown into the counterbalance. But this is not all. The Pharaoh who received Jeroboam in his exile, in all probability, was not the king whose daughter Solomon had married, but a prince of another line, and of different views. The woman whom Solomon married, was one of the dynasty of the Diospolites, whose ancestors had lived at Thebes; but in the year that Solomon finished the temple, 'there happened a revolution in Egypt, wherein this dynasty, or race of kings, lost the throne, and was succeeded by that of the Bedford's Scripture Chronology, b. 6. c. 2. a a It does not, from all this, follow, that ladies of the first distinction were, in that age and in all nations, wont to bring their husbands fortunes in proportion to their quality, or that such was the general practice even of great princes. Saul's declaration shows that he meant to give his daughter, in reward for the most important service, which could be rendered to the state; but he kept not his promise. Afterwards he gave a younger daughter to David, but it was for a price, even for the slaughter of 200 of his enemies. It was of the utmost importance to Antiochus and Agamemnon to conciliate, at any price, Ptolemy and Achilles; and therefore they offered great dowers with their daughters to purchase the friendship of these formidable enemies; but this was not the case with respect to Pharaoh and Solomon. Pharaoh's giving up Gezer, therefore, to Solomon, as a dower with his daughter, is a proof that David and Solomon were two of the greatest monarchs of their age; that he thought himself honoured by the alliance; and that the sacred historical account of Solomon's glory is not exaggerated. Among the Jews, and generally throughout the east, marriage was considered as sort of purchase, which the man made of the woman he desired to marry; and therefore in contracting marriages, as the wife brought a portion to the husband, so the husband was obliged to give her or her parents money or presents in lieu of this portion. This was the case between Hamor, the father of Shechem and the sons of Jacob, with relation to Dinah, (Gen. xxxiv. 12.) and Jacob having no money offered his uncle Laban seven years' service, which must have been equivalent to a large sum, (Gen. xxix. 18,) Saul did not give his daughter Michal to David, till after he had received an hundred foreskins of the Philistines (1 Sam. xviii. 25.) Hosea bought his wife at the price of fifteen pieces of silver, and a measure and a half of barley, (Hos. iii. 2.) The same custom also obtained among the Greeks and other ancient nations, (Potter's Antiq. vol. 2. p. 279.) and it is to this day the practice in several eastern countries, particularly among the Druses, Turks, and Christians, who inhabit the country of Hauran, and also among the modern Scenite Arabs, or those who dwell in tents. (See Burkhardt's Travels in Syria, De La Roque Vogage dans la Palestine, and Burder's Oriental Customs.) Young girls, Mr Buckingham informs us, are given in marriage for certain sums of money, varying from 500 to a 1000 piastres, among the better order of inhabitants, according to their connexions or beauty; though among the labouring classes it descends as low as 100 or even 50. This sum being paid by the bridegroom to the bride's father adds to his wealth, and makes girls, particularly when handsome as profitable to their parents, as boys are by the wages they earn by their labour.-Buckingham's Travels among the Arab Tribes.-Bp. Gleig, Horne's Introduction.-ED. Taanites, of whom Semendis, the father of Shishak, was the first king. These kept their court at Zoan, an ancient town not far from the borders of Canaan, aud therefore very convenient for the reception of any refugees that should come from thence. For as it was the interest of the former kings of Egypt to keep up a good understanding with the house of David; so now it became equally the interest of the present race to make use of all instruments to embarrass them, lest, by joining with the deposed family, that might, at any time, occasion another revolution in Egypt. And this, by the by, suggests the reason whereof the Scripture is silent, why Shishak invaded the kingdom of Judah with a vast army, but never pretended to annoy Israel; namely, because he thought it advisable to disable Rehoboam from assisting the deposed family in Egypt, but to encourage Jeroboam, who being an usurper himself, was questionless a friend and ally to those princes that were in the like circumstances. Who the queen of Sheba was, and in what climate the country from whence she came to visit Solomon lay, are points wherein the learned are not so well agreed: but whether her name was Nicaule, Candace, Marqueda, or Balkis, for different authors give her these several nanies, it matters not much, if we can but find out what this Sheba was, whereof she is said to have been queen. Josephus, and, from his authority, many more are of opinion, that Sheba was the ancient name of Meroe, an island, or rather peninsula in Egypt, before Cambyses, in compliment to his sister, (other historians call her his mother,) gave it her name. He tells us likewise, that she was queen both of Egypt and Ethiopia; and the Ethio I know not on what authority this is said, but it seems to be a mistake. There can be no doubt but that it was Shishak, who afterwards invaded Judah, that gave shelter to Jeroboam when obliged to flee from the vengeance of Solomon; but if Shishak was the Chephrenes of Herodotus, which is by much the most probable opinion, neither he nor his immediate predecessor was either the first or the last of any dynasty of Egyptian kings. Solomon had indeed married either his sister, or, which is more probable, his aunt; but, as Bishop Patrick judiciously observes, "kingdoms never marry;" and therefore there was nothing unnatural or uncommon in his conduct on this occasion.—Bp. Gleig. See also Hales' Analysis v. 4. p. 446, second edition.—ED. c The Ethiopians, who held that this queen of Sheba was of their country, tell us, that she returned big with child of a boy which she had by Solomon; that when this child was of age to learn, she sent him to Solomon, who brought him up as his own son; that in his education, he took care to provide the ablest masters for him, and then sent him back to his mother, whom he succeeded in the kingdom; that the kings of Ethiopia were descended from Solomon by this young prince, whom they call Meilic, or Menilehec; and that of his family there were four and twenty emperors, down to Basilides, who reigned about the middle of the seventeenth age. (See Ludolph's History of Ethiopia.) [Mr Bruce confirms this report of Ludolph's, bringing sufficient proofs that the Abyssinians believe their present royal family to be lineal descendants of Solomon and the queen of Sheba. The tradition of the country certainly accounts better than any other hypothesis that could be easily framed, tor that mixture of Judaism with Christianity which characterizes the religion of Abyssinia; and our author justly observes, that the trade carried on by the Israelites with the Cushites and shepherds on the coast of Africa, would naturally "create a desire in the queen of Azab, the sovereign of that country, to go herself, and see the application of the immense treasures that had been exported from her country for a series of years, and the prince who so magnificently employed them." The Abyssinians, he says, "call this queen Maqueda;" but the Arabians, who contest with them the honour of having had this woman for A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4421. A. C. 990. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. | pians indeed have a tradition, that upon her return, she had a son by Solomon, whose posterity reigned there many years, and, to this very day, they have preserved a continual list of their names and successors. There are these exceptions however to be made to the opinion of the Jewish historian, namely, that whereas he cites Herodotus, as speaking of his queen Nicaule, Herodotus makes mention of none but only Niconis, queen of Egypt; nor does he say one syllable of her pretended journey to Jerusalem. Whereas he says of this Nicaule, that she was queen of Egypt and Ethiopia both; the sacred history is plain, that in the time of Solomon there reigned in Egypt that Pharaoh, whose daughter he married, and in his son Rehoboam's time, Shishak. Whereas he tells us, that the ancient name of Meroe, before the time of Cambyses, was Sheba; for this he seems to want authority, since 1 Diodorus, and other historians, represent this city as built new from the ground, and not repaired by Cambyses. The more probable opinion therefore is, that this queen of Sheba came from a country so named, which lay not in Ethiopia nor Africa, but in the southern part of Arabia Felix; because it is generally allowed, that the Sabæans lived in Arabia, and that their country was usually called by the Orientalists the kingdom of the south, in allusion to which, our Saviour styles this princess 2 the queen of the south;' because their country borders upon the southern ocean, beyond which the ancients knew no farther land; and therefore our Saviour, according to the common mode of speaking, says of this princess, that she came from the utmost parts of the earth;' because, in this country, a women were known to govern as well as men; because the common produce of it was gold, silver, spices, and precious stones, the very presents which this princess made Solomon; and, if any popular traditions may be credited, 3 because the Arabians talk of their queen Balkis, who went to visit Solomon, and show travellers the place of her nativity to this very day. 4 Lord,' that is, concerning his knowledge of the Supreme Being, and the proper manner of worshipping him, that excited her to take so long a journey; and therefore, our Saviour says, that as she came so far to hear his wisdom (his wisdom concerning what? Concerning the nature and worship of Almighty God,) she would, at the day of judgment, 'rise up against that generation' which refused to listen to him. 7 Now, if this was the end of this queen's visit to Solomon, who can say, but that she left her country to good purpose, since it was to find wisdom, and to get understanding, the merchandise of which is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gains thereof than fine gold; the price which is above rubies, and all that can be desired is not to be compared to it?' But even upon the supposition, that her errand was to acquire knowledge of an inferior kind, or even to make trial of Solomon's sagacity, by proposing some enigmatical questions to him; yet, who knows not, that it was the practice in those days for persons of the first rank and figure in life to exercise their wits in this manner? 9 Josephus, from some writers of the Phoenician history tells us, that Solomon used frequently to send to his friend Hiram problems and riddles, upon the forfeiture of a great sum of money, if he could not expound them; and that one Abdemonus, a Tyrian, not only unriddled Solomon's difficulties but sent back some new propositions of his own, which, if Solomon could not resolve, he was to incur the like forfeiture. Now the Scripture remarks of Solomon, that 10 his wisdom excelled the wisdom of the east country,' and by the east country some do understand the seat of the ancient Arabians, who in the days of Pythagoras, were so renowned for their wisdom, that "that philosopher thought it worth his while to go and reside among them for some time. They were great masters of wit and ingenuity; and valued themselves upon their sagaciousness and dexterity, both in propounding and solving problems; and therefore no wonder that this queen of Sheba, who, as Josephus informs us, was a woman of exquisite understanding herself, should fall in with the humour of the times, and carry with her some problems of her Arabian sages, on purpose to make a trial of Solomon's parts: nor can we imagine, but that, in complaisance to so royal a visiter, as well as regard to his own reputation, Solomon would take care to answer her questions, and, as the Scripture expresses it, satisfy Now if this princess came from Arabia, there is reason to believe, that she was originally descended from Abraham, by his wife Keturah, one of whose sons begat Sheba, who was the first planter of this country; and consequently that she might have some knowledge of revealed religion, by tradition at least, from her pious ancestors. To this purpose the Scripture seems to intimate, that the design of her visit to Solomon was, not so much to gratify her curiosity, as to inform her under-12 all her desire whatsoever she asked.' standing in matters relating to piety, and divine worship. It was Solomon's fame, › ‹ concerning the name of the Mat. xii. 42. B. i. et Luc. Ampel. de Cambyse. Calmet's Commentary on 1 Kings x. 1. and his Dictionary, under the word Sheba. 4 Gen. xxv. 1, 3. * 1 Kings x. 1. their sovereign, tell us, that her name was Balkis, the daughter of Hadhad, son of Scharhabil, the twentieth king of Jemen, or Arabia Felix, and that she reigned in the city of Mareb, the capital of the province of Sheba. Their histories are full of fabulous stories concerning her journey to Solomon's court, and her marriage with him, but more particularly concerning the bird hudhud, in English a lupwing, which Solomon made use of to send into Arabia upon occasion, and to bring him despatches from thence.-Calmet's Dictionary, under the word Nicaule. a It is generally supposed, that these words of Claudian relate to these people: this sex rules over the Medes and the effeminate Sabeans, and a great part of Barbary is subject to the arms of queens." Without knowing the custom of the princes of the east, their pomp, and sumptuousness of living, one might be tempted to wonder, what possible use Solomon might make of this milliad of wives and concubines that he had: but as he was between forty and fifty years old before he ran into this excess, we cannot but think, that he kept this multitude of women more for state than any other service. 13 Darius Codomannus was wont to carry along with him in his camp, no less than three hundred and fifty concubines in time of war; nor was his queen at all offended at it, because these women used to reverence Porphyr, apud Cyril. b 10. contra Julian, 12 1 Kings x. 13. 13 Athen, b. 13. c. 1. |