HIRAM (cyn ; \€ipit^). — Some confusion exists as to the actual form of the name. In the books of Samuel and Kings the form given above is that which is usually adopted ; but in 1 K S'"- '* [Heb. M. 32J ■J40 Hirom (cn-n) occurs, while the Chronicler adheres to the form Huram (cn-n ; in 1 Ch 14' Kethihh dtp). The LXX invariably gives Xetpdfi ; Josephus Etpa/ios (c. Apion. i. 17, 18) and Ei^a/iOj (Ant. VIII. ii. 6, etc.). "The name further appears ,aa r(pu>ios (Herodotus, vii. 98; Syncellus, p. 343 H.) and 'Zovpuiv (Eupolemon cited by Eusebius, Pr(c/>. Evang. ix. 33, 34). The name is undoubteilly Phoenician, and is equivalent to Ahir>am (oyrx N'u 26**) = ' brother of the exalted one ' ;* cf. Baetligen, Bcitrdge zur Semit. Eeligionsgeschiehte, p. 156 (but see Gray, Heb. Proj). NnnKs, 7oir., upon whose theory the meaning is ' brother is exalted '). Ac- cording to Movers (Oi'ePAoJUii'er, i. p. 505 f.), Hiram or Huram is the name of a deity = ' the coiled or
* Names of this type are especially common in Phtunician; cf. Abibaal, Abiram. Similar instances of the dropping of the
Initial N occur in Hebrew (Kiel, 1 K IG" S^'n. 'or Sx-nii), and in Phoenician (n^Son, "iSon = ' brother of Milk,' 'of Millcatb' n:Scnn = * sister of Milkatb').
niRAM
HIRAM
389
twisted one' ; but this derivation is very improb- able.
1. Kin;,' of TjTC, und contonipor.iry witli David ftnd Solomon. According; to 2 S 5", 1 Ch 14', H. sent an embassy to David after tlie conquest of Jerusalem, and provided him with artisans and materials for the building of his palace. On the accession of Solomon messengers were again sent to Iho Israelite court, doulitless to ofl'er congratula- tions to the new king (1 K 5"-). A treaty was concluded between the two kingdoms, in accord- ance with which II. su[)plicd cedar trees and lir trees from Lebanon, together with skilled workmen for the building of tlie temple. In return, Solomon paid a yearly tribute of 20,000 cors of wlieat and 20,000 baths of pure oil (after the reading of LXX, 2 Ch and Josephus ; the Hebrew gives ' 20 cors of oil,' 1 K 5°""). At the end of the twenty years ' wherein Solomon had built the two bouses, the house of the Lord and the king'.s house,' he
S resented Hiram with twenty cities in the land of alilee. The gift, however, failed to please the Phoenician king,* though in return he made Solo- mon a present of 120 talents of gold (1 K 9'""'''). The friendly relations between the two monarchs were further strengthened by their combined trad- ing operations : for ' the king (Solomon) had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram : once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and pea- cocks ' (1 K lO^'-, 2 Ch 9-'). In addition to this, we are expres.sly told that the sailors of Solomon's merchant vessels trading between Ezion-geber (at the top of the Gulf of Akabab) and Ophir were accompanied bj" Hiram's servants, ' sliipnien that had knowledge of the sea' (1 K '.P'--", 2 Cli S"- '■"), and were well acquainted with the route to Ophir (1 K 10").
In the Chronicler's account of Solomon's dealings with Hiram (2 Ch 2"-) the yearly tribute paid by the former is incre.ised to '20,0il(i measures of beaten wheat, and 20,000 measures of barley, and 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths ot oil,' and is Bpi)licd to the maintenance of the Tyrian work- people.
'I his statement seems due to some confusion on the part of the Chronicler : probably a certain quantity of wheat ,and pure oil was .sui>plied to the I'hienician court, and a similar contribution of barley, wine, and oil liandeil over to ' the hewers that cut timber.' The Book of Kings only men- tions tlie former payment, which the Chronicler incorrectly combines with a second statement (ai)i)arent!y obtained from another source) relating to the workpeople only. A more striking dis- crepancy between the two accounts occurs at 2 Ch 8'-', where the Chronicler, who ignores the present of gold made by Hiram to Solomon (1 K <)'*), refers to the cities of tialilce as if they had been presented to Solomon by Hiram. The omis- sion, a.s well as the contradiction of the statement of 1 K 9"'-, is iiroliably due to the den'.re of the Chronicler to bring tlie history more into con- formity with the views of his own age. According to the later conception it would be a.s improbable that Solomon, with his fabulous riches, should receive gold from Hiram, as that he should pre- sent Israelite cities to a foreign monarch.
A more serious dillicultv, however, confronts us when we comjiare tlie biblical narrative with the
• 1 K 9" ' and he called tlioin tho land ot Cabul. rnliul ii Qflimlly taken ft8=' worth nolluiij;.' It Is more prohahle that thu LXX ipitr rcprcaentfl the truer reading', viz. * land of tlalilee ' 0*73.1 pip, iiup]K>9in^ him to have conncrte*! the word with 'r'^J •duntr.* 8eeKtostennannin /<«.), Hiihl (fM/'p. '221), however, con8i(leni that the t4;rrit^ir.v lay aoinewhere near the town 01 that name (Josi W^) in N. lialilie : in thia can the I..\X if- \l treated a« a mistranslation ot S137, as If Sl3^.