(6) The pmcer of the king and constitution of hii household. — The rule of Saul was characterized by its simplicity. ' The son of Kish ruled in peace at Gibea in the house of his father, leading the very simple life of the last of the judges. On leaving the h.arem in the morning he .seated him- self before the gate of the palace. There, sur- rounded by some attendants, under the protection of a small Benjaminite guard, he gave audience to every comer, inquired as to the news, questioned travellers, receiveil the oral reports of his officers, appeased quarrels, administered justice (2 S 15'-, el. 1 S 22"). Then, when the sun went down, ha withdrew into the apartments of the women. At the beginning of each month he gave a feast at which his olhcers had their assigned places, whilf he himself presided, his back prudently placed tc the wall for fear of a-ssa-ssins (1 S 2(»^). Finally, when he went out, he was preceded by nuinerf
252
GOVERNMENT
GOVEENMENT
(1 S 22"). Sudi alone were his privile^'es and his duties in time of peace' (Mareel Dieulatoy, Le lloi Diirid, p. 72f.). All tills was cliangetl with the evei-incieasin;,' prosperity of David. The king lenmined le.i<ier nnci father of his people only so long as they had no friendlj' intercourse with other nations. As soon as the Hebrew natijn was recognized, and its friendship sought by other states, the Hebrew king began to imitate the luxury of liia peers. A court was formed of the ollicials, wliose common interests grouped them round the king and made access to iiim ever more and more dilhcult for the mass of the people. The oflicials of David's court were — (1) military; (2) liousehold ; (3) religious. The following are men- tioned in his time— (1) The commander of ' the host ' (2 S 8'") ; the commander of the king's bodyguard of Cherethites and Pelethites (2 S 2U^, cf. 8"). (2) The recorder or remembrancer (T;ra 2 S 8"') ; the scribe or secretary (153 8") ; the counsellor (i'lfi' 2 S 15''-) ; the kmg's friend (n;;-; 2 S 15" IG'") ; the keeper of the king's audience (2 S 23'^, cf. 1 S 22» LXX) ; the overseer of forced labour (2 S 20='). (3) The priests (2 S 8"). Pro- phets do not seem to have been attached to the court, but had free access to the king (cf. 2 S 7. 12).
Under Solomon the pomp and luxury of the court was greatly increased. New buildings and fortilied cities (1 K 6. 7. 9) proclaimed the growing power of the monarch, and the separation of the court from the people is indicated by the tolerance of foreign religions and the personal nature of the treaties with foreign powers. Two new officials make their appearance — a chamberlain (n:;n-'?y 1 K 4') and a superintendent of taxes (1 K 4", and see below under ' Revenue '). After Solomon there was little change in the constitution of the court (but cf. Eunuch).
(c) Revenue. — Even in Saul's reign there seems to have been a regular system of taxation of families (1 S 17'-^, cf. 8", and Nowack, Heb. ArcJueol. p. 313). In addition to this the king received gifts (1 S lU'-'' 16'-°), and doubtless his share of the booty in war. This last is specially mentioned in the time of David (2 S 8" 12^"). Solomon's revenues were derived (in addition to the above mentioned) from the tribute of subject peoples (1 K 4^'); taxes on merchants (I K 10") ; liis sea-trade with Hiram (1 K 10"); and a royal regulation of the horse- trade with Egypt (v."). But the king taxed his own subjects much more rigorously than his pre- decessors. He divided the kingdom into twelve parts, each being represented by an officer, who was compelled to provide for the king's household foi one month in the year(l K 4). Judah is not mentioned in this division of the land, and was probably exempted from this form of taxation by favour of the king. Nowack, however, thinks there were originally thirteen divisions, and that the number was reduced to twelve by a later writer to agree with the number of the tribes (Eeb. Archceol. i. 313 note). Later, it seems that the goods of a condemned person might be forfeit to the king (1 K 21). But this may be merely an act of despotism. When reduced to great straits, the king took possession of the treasures, not only of his own treasury but also of the temple, in order to keep off an invading power (2 K 18").
(f?) Administration of justice. — There seems to have been littledevelopment here during this period. The system mentioned above persisted, modified only by the personal authority of the king and the members of his court (see quotation from W. R. Smith, above). Until B.C. 621 there was no written law except tlie short religious code contained in the 'Book of the Covenant' (Ex 20-23) ; nor were there any special courts or officials for the ad-
ministration of justice. The nielhod for settlinj disputes was rather by arbitration than by law in the Western sense. At the same time, tlie kin" himself in his capital and its nci"libourhood, and his officials in the chief towns, being the most im|iortant persons, were naturally appealed to for decisions, tiiough there was no law necessitating appeal to them rather than to any other person. Even such acts in later times as the imj)risoiiment3 of Jeremiah (Jer 37. 38) and the putting to death of Uri.ih (Jer 26), were acts of personal violence on the part of the king, and not due to the regular sentence of a court (cf. also the account of the charge against Nabotli, and the way in which he was put to death ( 1 K 22""-)). After the destruct ion of the Northern kingdom, an attempt was made in Judah (in 621) to regulate the legal as well as the religious procedure on the lines of the teaching of the pro|)hets by the jiroclamation of the Book of Deuteronomy (cf. DeuteuoNoMY). But the reali zation of this scheme was prevented by the ur. timely death of Josiah at the battle of Megiddo, nor was it fully adopted in Judiea until nearly two centuries later.