PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings
Joseph Hammond [1839-1912] · 502,085 words · 545 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 181
Vers. 41---43.- The Stranger's Interest in the Temple. Kindly human sympathy is one of the most marked characteristics of this prayer of Solomon. This is seen in the way in which he enters into various supposed conditions of need and suffering among his people ; t11kes the burden and the "plague " upon himself as i…
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were 0, representative people aleo in the eenee that in their history God illustrated the genern,l method 0,nd the uniform laws of His moral government. The " strong hand 0,nd the stretched out arm'' here suggests the me.rvellous manifeste.tion of Divine power that mn,rked the career of the people from the beginning, t…
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weakened regiments are strengthened, new alliances are formed, &o. The mischief may lie deeper. Sometimes God is calling the people not to redeem national honour, but to seek national righteousness. The teaching of the verse may be applied :figuratively to defeats suffered by Christian controversialists or by philan…
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benediction. "He stood and blessed all the congregation," &c. (vers. M, 65). :But though he assumed for the time the priestly function, his utterance was not cast into the usual form of priestly benediction. It we.s rather an ascription of praise to the God who had fulfilled His promises and given rest to His people, a…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER IX. 1-9. Lord and in his own house." Ilut it is by no means certain that our author intended THE ANSWEB TO SOLOMON'S PRAYED.- the word to be thus restricted ; it is quite This chapter opens with an acconnt of possible, e.g., that some of the buildings men- God's second appearance to Solomon. It…
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possibly have been delayed for so long a word) "by my glory." In 2 Chron. we read, period, especie.Ily after the strenuous efforts "I have chosen this place to myself for a which had been made to hurry on the under- house of sacrifice," where, however, it is taking, Nor does the text, when carefully worth considering w…
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statutes which I [LXX. MwMij!; ; Qui Jacit Micah iii. 12; Jer. xxvi. 18; Pea. h:xix. 1; per alimn, &c.] have set before you, but but it is hardly right to resort to conjectures, go and serve other gods and worship unsupported by a single version or MS., so them [Exo,;I.. xx. 5 ; Deut. v. 9 ; xiii. 2]: long as e.ny s…
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are such third-rate blessings that God bestows them indiscriminately on the evil and the good. But noble resolves and high purposes-" courtliness and the desire of (true) fame, and love of truth, and all that makes a man ''-these He reserves for His children. Solomon's riches and glory proved his ruin; the revelations …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1-9.-The Renewed Covenant. This Divine manifestation was probably similar in form to that with which Solomon was favoured at the beginning of his reign, of which it is said, "In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night "(eh. iii. 50). We have no means of judging as …
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EXPOSITION. of the de.rk contrast which his own time CHAPTER IX. 10-28. supplied-and this lee.de him to speak of the SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS AND UNDERTAKINGS. meo.ns by which all these enterprises were -So fo.r the historio.n ho.s spoken exclu- e.ccomplished. The pe.rticulo.rs here given aively of the two greatest work…
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(Robinson, iii. 87, 88; Diet. Bib. i. 237 ; invariable designation of that pa.rt of tha Thomson, "Land and Book," i. 281, 611). ci:y in the Maccabees. But see Jos., B. J. v. It is possible, indeed, that it may have been 4. 1; Ant. xv. 11. 5; o.nd Porter, i. pp. 96, one of the II twenty cities" (ver. 11) given 109. Lewi…
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S,ri&. As it is not mentioned in eh. xv. 2 Sam. iii. 14, &c.) ; but in royal me.rrie.gea 20, it would appear to hn,e escaped in the a dowry was often given. "Sargon gave in-rnsion of Bcnhadnd. Possibly it was too Cilicia as e. dowry with his daughter. . . , strong for him] and Megiddo [Josh. xii. 21; Antioohus Soter…
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mentioned Ezek, xlvii.19 a.nd xlviii. 28 Bpla.ce only have built as a. means of gammg or whioh ma.y well be identica.l with "Ho.za.zon retaining control over the care.van trade TBmBr, which is Engedi" (2 Chron. xx. 2; between the East and the Mediterranean. of. Gen. xiv. 7. In favour of (1) a.re the Cf. 2 Chron. xvii. …
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ora.ole, the place of the Divine presence. is 130 miles, the latter 90 milee long) , 1n the Bee on oh. vi. 22] . So he flnJehed the land of Edom. [The subjugation of Edom house. [;Same word, but in the Ka.I form ie mentioned 2 Sam. viii. 14.] in eh. VIi. 61. The Piel form, used here, Ver. 27.-And B1ra.m senttn the n…
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 25.-The Two Alta,i•s of Juii,aism. This text is somewhat remarkable as bringing before us at the se.me moment the two altars of the Jewish Church-the great brazen altar of sacriftce and the golden altar of incense. The present is there- fore, perhaps, a fitting place to study their use and signific…
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. 2. It was ordinMily an ojferimg made by fire (1 8am. ii. 28). The holy fire kindled by God (Levit. ix. 24), and which for long centuries was never suffered to go out (Levit. vi. 18), the elemen( which at that time, and ever since, has been re- garded in the East as an image of the Godhead, if not a sign of His presen…
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for " Immanuel's land " was a sort of preoinct or forecow·t of the eternal sanotuo.ry, and it was the home of &nation of priests (Exod. xix. 6). Hence we may learn (1) that sacrifice is only offered where there is sin, and (2) tho.t the oross goes together with the kingdom (Rev. i 5, 6); it is the altar of the Holy …
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probability that the story of thirteen ingredients (Jos., B. J. v. 5. o) of the addition of cassia., cinnamon, &c., to the elements mentioned in the Law, is a Rabbinical fable. Such a confection would have been "strange incense." (8) It was a per- fwme reserved for God (Exod. xxx. 37, 88). None might be me.de for pr…
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fashioned after the mode of the heavenly, and that the tabernaole and its furniture were made according to the pattern showed in the Mount. What, then, did incense symbolize l' Was it prayer l' It has been very generally supposed (after Psa. cxli 2) to be an emblem of prayer. But this is a view which reflection har…
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No allusion is made here to expiatory sacrifices (the sin offering and the trespass offering) but these, of necessity, preceded those mentioned here. All the more fitly does the text represent what we should offer when we draw near to God, through the merits of the expiation e.lree.dy me.de for 1lB by Him who became, o…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER X. 1-18. following immediately upon the mention of the voyages (eh. ix. 26), is a grain of evidence Tim VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SBEBA.-The in favour ol locating Ophir in Arabia] of last words of the preceding chapter spoke of the fame (Heb. hearing; cl. a1<oq, whioh also Solomon's fleet, of its v…
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procession o.s this would creato greo.t o.s- view] of his ministers [i.e., those who tonishment in Jerueo.lem, and we mo.y ministered to him. The word " servants" imo.gine how the people would line tho is, pcrhn.ps, to be understood of state bazaars as she passed, and the acclama- officers; the word "ministers" of pers…
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cording to the hand, of king Solomon. The &c. Again: " The visit of the queen of chronicler has, "beside that which she hnd Sheba seem to have been without e.ny spi- brought unto the king." That is to say, in addition to the fitting presents which he ritual result." "In like manner," he adds, made in return for her gif…
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were not nnacqnainted with luxmy (note on ver. 2), and. the journey through the " great and terrible wilderness " would subject this lady to many discomforts. Camel-riding is very tiring ; desert-travel profolmdly wearisome. Whatever comforts her " very great train " might be able to procure her, nothing could alter th…
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And yet men will not listen to Him, will not learn of Him. It is said that ninety-five per cent. of our labouring classes do not statcdly e.ttenrl any place of Christian worship. And of those who do, how many do His bidding? In the great 11ssize all these will meet the Queen of the South. She will witness of the journe…
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HO:tiITLIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-3.-The Queen of the South. This incident is remarkable as the only one in the reign of Solomon to which reference is made in the New Testament. Solomon is t"ice spoken of by our Lord in His recorded discourses. In one case his royal magnificence is declared inferior to the be…
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in the " Book of Proverbs ; " the Poetic form, as in his " Songs" and " Psalms• " the Socratic form, by question and answer, riddles-" dark sayings ''-and the in- terpretation thereof. It is in this latter form that his wisdom here appears. Tradition says that Hiram engaged with him in this " cross questioning," and…
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<lemanded of men in our days who inYestigate natural phenomena. Insto.nces abound of travellers who have lnid down life, ns did Franklin and Livingstone, in jom·neys of discovery; of sm·geons and physicians who have run person1tl risk to learn Ly cruci1tl experiment a means of cure; of scientific discoverers who have s…
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came to Solomon 1n one yea.r [probably one of traders. For the construction, see Ewald partioulo.r and exceptional year, probably 287e], and o! the traffick [it is note- also the yeo.r of the queen's visit, not year worthy that no such word is used before by year (Wordsworth, al.), as the Vulgate tl 171;l:J above] of t…
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9vp,of:, scutum. See 1 Sam. xvii. 7, 41. they lmng cttn still be traced on the walls of The LXX. here reads c,opara, i.e., spearsl of the Parthenon. There were e.lso arms hung beaten gold [The aut.horities are divided as round the walls of the second temple to the meaning of tim~. here translated (Jos., Ant. xv. 11.…
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wa.s its elevation " (Diet. Bib. iii. p. 1493) ;LXX. XP•t1•'1' t1vyrr.E1iXut1µwa. This immense cf. Isa.. vi. 1], and the top [Heh. head] of quantity of gold is quite paralleled in the the throne was round behind [ea.me word accounts of profane writers, " Sardana- oh. vii. 23, 24. Thenius a.nd Bahr under- palus, when Ni…
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ii. 16; Pse.. xlviii. 7; oompe.re our " Ee.st manner identified by Gesenius, al., with the Ind.in.man," " Greenlander "). But the Sanskrit koJ~i. Sir J. Emerson Tennant • words " in the sea," Cl!~. e.re most natara.l.ly (" Ceylon," ti. p. 102) so.ye "the terms by which these articles (ivory, apes, nnd pea- understo…
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Ver. 26.-And Solomon gathered together scribes H as '' consisting of low hills, about Ills cha.riots and horsemen, and he had a five hundred feet above the sea, of whit~ thousand and Your hundred chariots [these soft limestone," and adds that II the broad words have an important bee.ring on cb. valleys among these hill…
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perhaps the two or three horses (see note scriptions (Diet. Bib. i. 819), with whom on eh. v. 6) nsnelly attached to a chariot Solomon had a sort of allie.nce. It is 11, and the harness. :l~l is used (2 Sam. viii, 4; curious coincidence that we find horses x. 18 ; E11:ek. xxxix. 20) for chariot and and chariots asso…
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But it is much more pertinent to ask what brought that proud fortress to the ground. It would have sustained unshaken the blows of engines of war ; it would have defied the hurtling storm and tempest, but it could not resist the gradual subsidence of its foundations, and so, while preserving a fair appearance almost to…
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and it was no preparation for the Incro:nation that it should become the home of "gripple merchants." Contact and copartnership with idolaters could hardly be for the advantage of the faith. Nor is it difficult to see that Solomon's commerce grew at lhe expense of his religion. Riches, proverbially a dangerous posse…
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ground that they wore required for purposes of defence. The hilly country of Palestine does not admit of their being deployed therein. It was partly because they could only be employed in aggressive warfare that they were forbidden. Whatever unction, therefore, he might lay to his soul as to his accumulation of gol…
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CHAPTER XI. 1-18. little personal ooneideration In the one oase as in the other" (Kitto)] many [He is blamed SoLOHON's DEFECTION. -The observant fo~_their number. This was against Deut. reader will have already remarked in this xvu. 17] strange [not merely foreign, though that is the primary meaning of history som…
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turn o.wo.y thy son from following me," &o. Ver. 4.-For it came to pass, when Solo- (Deut. vii. 4). The spirit of the lo.w, conse- mon was old [Ae he was but sixty a.t the quently, was as much violated byan Edomite time of his death, " old" is here a. relative or A.mmonite as by a Hittite alliance], term, and mast mean…
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"e,en the building of altars for idols was that we have no 1·ecord of Jewish children a participation in idolatry, which was irre- passing through the fire to Moleoh before ooncilable with true fidelity to the Lord" the time of Ahaz (Biihr, Keil).] (Keil). Biihr contends that the words" went Ver. 6.-Alld Solomon did …
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should not go after other gods : but he 20), and (2) the disruption should be but kept not that which the Lord commanded. partial. There should be a "remnant" Ver. 11.-Wherefore the Lord said unto Rom.ix. 27; xi. 5,&c.] for David thy father's Solomon [probably by a prophet, Ahijah or sake (i.e., because both of David'…
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2. He encouraged immorality and cruelty. For it must never be forgotten what the "abominations'' of these Semitic divinities were like. The idolatry of the East alwiiys involved impw·ity; hence its powerful hold on a nation like the Jews, for whom the worship of" silver and gold, the works of men's hands," could ha…
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what period of his reign, and under what oircumetanoes, did he sink to such depths of degradation ? Observe- 1. It was not after sudden or special temptation (see Homiletics, p. 216). We may truly say of him," There bath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." No Delilah, no Bathsheba wrought his ruin. …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-8.-The Fall of a King. Solomon was a king of men. Not only wu.s he supreme civil ruler of his nation, he was also chief in wisdom and know- ledge, and distinguished in the favour of God (Neh. xiii. 26). This moral royalty is open to all. The prize is nobler than that of the most…
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2. Then the heatrt rules the head. (1) This is the next stage and inevitable. This may be disputed long, but will assert itself in time. Observe well that when Solomon was " old " he so far yielded to the influence of his wives as to encolll'age and join in their idolatry. (2) Probably his vices made him prematurely ol…
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when God. loved. Solomon (see 2 Sam. xii. 24; 1 Kings x. 9; Neh. xiii. 26). Severe is the fall from the height of a throne. From a vastly greater elevation is the fell of one cast from the bosom of God. (4) Behold how sin works ruin I It ruins individuals, families, nations. The anger of God is expressed-2. With the…
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(Eccles. xii. 13•. Compare him with Samson; show how the indulgence of passion destroys kingliness. Even such sin wa.s not beyond pardon. It would have been wel for Solomon had he returned to God, as his father bad done (see Psa. li.) II. Evn. COMPANIONSHIP (ver. 2). The Israelites were often warned against marriag…
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Solomon's second vision (eh. ix. 6) bas come to be fnl:6.lled. He was forewarned of danger and yet has fallen into it. The splendour of royal circumstance remained the same, but how completely bas his true glory departed I " How is the gold become dim and the fine gold changed I " The smile of God that rested as glad s…
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use a.nd. enjoy freely the good. of every kind that falls to their lot. But let them beware lest the spirit of evil, in some form of outward oharm, through some secret avenue of soul or sense, should gain an entrance to the citadel of their heart, and "turn it away" from Him. III. THE CERTAINTY OF DIVINE RETRIBUTIO…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XI. 14---43. was in Edom. According to 1 Chron. xviii. 12, Abishai slew 18,000 Edomites while SOLOMON'S ADVEBSARIES.- As the his- Pea. Ix. (title) represents Joab as 'having torian he.a collected together in ohs. vi., slain 12,000 at the same time and place. vii., viii. e.ll the in.formation he …
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but it he.s been connected with the beautiful Let me depart [Heb. send me away], that TT'iid11 Feira11, near Monnt Serbo.l, in the I may go to mine own country, [Hawlin- Sinai tic range, wruch would agree fairly well son cites Herod. iii. 132-137; v. 25, 35, with ournan·ative]: a.nd they took men with 106, 107, to s…
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of Rezon, either in the confusion of the de- zenith] , an Ephrathite [i.e., Epbraimite ; feo.t, or in some subsequent time of o.narchy, of. Judg. xii. 5; 1 Sam. i. 1. Ephraim took possession of Do.mo.scus, o.nd he, it was the ancient rival of Judah, o.nd by would seem, usurped the crown. The word reaaon of its numbers,…
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of a portion unbuilt. We have elsewhere of."] the new garment that was on him, suggested that this was the breach in the line and rent [same word as in vers. 11, 12, 13) of circumvallation, caused by the Tyroproon it in twelve pieces. [The first instance of valley, and that the Milla was the bank, or an "acted parab…
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thoughts to the actual idole.ters-his wives 26; 1 Sam. ii. 16; 2 Sam. iii. 21). Bahr -whose guilt he she.red. The singnle.r paraphrases " thou aha.It have the dominion looks as if an altere.tion he.d been made to thou now strivest for," but we have abso- bring the words into harmony with the lutely no proof that Jerobo…
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Ahijah had expressly stated the.t Solomon Ver. 42.-And the time [Heb. days] that was to retain the kingdom during his life- Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all time. However, "he lifted up his hand;" Israel was forty years. [Josephus, here &s there was Eome overt act of rebellion, and el~ewhere, doubles the figure…
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For this retribution was of two kinds. There was-I. THAT WHICH SoLOllON BUFFERED IN HIB OWN PERSON; and, II. THAT WHICH HE SUFFERED IN HIS FAMILY AND KINGDOM, Under the first of these categories the following penalties are to be ranked: 1. His life W<U shortened. Probably by the operation of natural laws. It is not su…
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1. In the infatitation of his son. Was there ever a political crisis so wofully mismanaged as that which marked Rehoboam's accession'/ A few pacific words, a graceful concession, and all would have gone well. But his brutal non possumus precipitated his downfall. It was enough to make Solomon turn in his grnve. But …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera.14-25.-Premonitiona of Wrath. Though the full weight of the judgment of God upon the sin of Solomon was not to come upon him in his lifetime, yet did he not, in this world, go altogether without punishment. The foreknowledge of the evils to come upon hie family and people was in itsel…
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Vers. 26-28.-Jeroboam. The words before us are interesting as the ee.rliest notice of a character who made a considerable figure in Hebrew history. They bring before us- I. THE OBSCURITY OF HIS ORIGIN. 1. He was an Ephrathite of Zereda. (1) The tribti of Ephrnim was not obscure; on the contrary, it was next in impo…
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The obscurity of our origin is no bo.r to our e.d.va.ncement in the religious service of God. "Not many noble are called.''-M. Vers. 29-89.-The Message of A..lvijah. As Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem with his commission from Solomon to rule as his lieutenant over the house of Joseph, meditating how he might use his fo…
835 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.