Chaucer uses the word simply in the sense of 'public' in Persones Talc, 105, 'The spyces of Penitence been three. That oon of hem is sol- enipne, another is commune, and the thriddo is privee.'
These examples illustrate the use of the word in AV. In all its numerous occurrences it signifies 'stated' or 'public,' having no Heb. word corre- sponding to itself, but being used along with assembly or meeting for n^y;' or rryi'i (see Driver on Am 5°') ; with feast or rfay sometimes (as Nu 10'", La I'', Hos 2") for lyio* (prop, stated time, then used esp. of stated sacred seasons [see Lv 23- RVm ' appointed seasons ']) ' solemn feast ' ; also thrice in AV (Nah 1", Mai 2^, Ps 81») for Jn, and (with ^•ce/)) for j:ri Dt 6" [RV omits 'solemn,' harmonizing with Lv 23^1t It is easy to understand how the modem sense of ' serious,' ' grave,' or ' gloomy ' arose, but in AV that sense is never present.
The expression ' with a solemn sound ' occurs in Ps 92^ (' tTpon
the hari;* with a solemn sound '), on wliicli de Witt remarks, * Heb. hi'jQditon, from the verb hdfjdh, whii-li is iniitutivc of any low, su]>inC3sed sound, and especially applicable to the soft trill of the liar)). The Enjflish Bible has the rendering " solemn sound," which does not at all represent tho meanmg of the word.' Not now, for the next verse says, ' r<jr thou, Lord, haat made me ^\aA. ' ; but ' solemn ' once expressed gladness as readily as (gravity. Elyot (Govenioitr, i. 41) s-peal<s of the theatre as ' an open place where aj the people of Rome behelde solemne actis and playes.'
In accordance with the meaning of 'solemn,' solemnity always means a sacred or ceremonious occasion. It is tlie tr. of Aay, a feast, in Is 30-* ('in the night when a holy solemnity [RV ' a holy feast'] is kept') ; and of mut-d, a (sacred) season, in Dt 31'<' (RV ' set time '), Is 33» (RV ' solemnity,' RVm ' set feast '), Ezk 45" (RV ' appointed feast '), 46" (RV 'solemnity,' RVm 'appointed feast'). The word also occurs in Sir 50" ' the s. of the Lord ' ((t6<r/ios 'K.vplov, RV 'worship of the Lord,' RVm ' Gr. adornment') ; and 2 Mac 15^'' 'in no case to let that day iiass without s.' [aTrapaajitiavTov , RV 'undistinguished'). Cf. Shaks. Mids. NighVs Dream, V. i. 376—
' A fortnijjht hold we this solemnity. In nightly revels and now jollity.
And so also solemnly means sacredly or cere- moniously, (in 43^ 'The man did solemnly protest untou8'(AVm 'Heb. protesting he did protest');
1 S 8* ' Howlieit yet protest suleiunly unto them ' ;
2 Mac \i* ' of the boughs which were used solemnly in the temple' (tCiv voixi^otiivuv SoWif tov lepov). Cf. Fuller, Ilobj War, 338, 'His [the prince's] clothes are such as may beseem his Greatnesse, es|iecially when he solemnly appears, or presents himself to forrein Embassadours.
J. HAS'HNOS. SOLOMON {nbS^ ; BA ZaXw^'i", I>uc. :Lo\oiiiiv and SaXo^uii', NT and Josephus -o\o/»iij'). — The third king of Israel, a son of David and Bathsheba.
1. The JVanM.— Another name Jedldlah (i,"'!"'; ' beloved of
Jah
pro]
'; B'Ui^i.', A E'tSf^Kx, Luc. 'Ii^^i^idt) wiuj given him by the ,)het Nathan OH a pledvre that the Lord would be specially gracious to him, and ttiat liis fulher was restored to the Divine favour. Ah that name, however, occurs only once (2 8 12'^), we may infer that it never camo into common use. Not improl>. ably it niay have been deemed too sat-Ted for such use. The name Jedidiah haa tho same root as David, viz. in ' a primitive caressing word. 'J Wellhausen ami others conform the Heb. text of 2 S 12"-^ to tho Vulg. and represent l>fivid as the originator of tho name. The hypothesis is unlikely consider- ing the diirerence of tho relations of David and Natiian to J" at
* lyte ODce also of itolnnn auembly,
t On tho distinction of i:) and ly^O Me vot 1. p. 8fXK
X See Oxf. lidi. Lex. :v.
060
SOLOMON
solo:mon
•he time when the name was given, and that the name was a sacred one and the vehicle of a Divine message. Chej-ne (art. • Jediiliah ' in i'HC. Bibl.) not only alters the text but makes for it a new context, and so arrives at the original and remarkable result tli:it Jcdidiah was David's first son by Bathslicba, and that he called his second son byhernot Shclomuh, bnt ' bhillumS (lO*".:', i.e. 'his compensation') because of Jedidiah.' Accord- in-' to that finding, Solomon was never called Jedi.liah. Nor was he entitled to the name of Solomon. His rc.-vl name was Shillumo, although no Hebrew kin- is known to ha\e borne that name. It is difficult to see where, on the hypothesis of Chcvne, the consolation of David could come in. Nor is it probable that any Hebrew king would call his son by the name Shillumo. Shillumah is only used in the OT once (Ps 91<=), and it is in the sense not of coinpainatiou but of rcinbulion, the reward of the wicked (so shillum in Hos 9', Is 348). Shitlum and Bhalmmlm, are also each used once (Mio 7S, Is l-*) of ' rewards ' in the sense of bribes. „ „ ,_ . ^. ^