EDOmTE
60
EDREI
avenged (1 Sam. xiv, 47), while David subjugated them (2 Sam. viii, 14 ; comp. 1 Kings xi, 15 sq. ; Psa. Ix, 2, 10), and his successor Solomon fitted out a merchant fleet in the Edoinitish harbors (1 Kings ix, 26), al- though under his reign a partially successful revolt took place (1 Kings xi, 14 sq.). In the division of the Hebrew commonwealth the Edomites continued under the swaj' of Judah (prol)abl3' bv means of viceroys, 2 Kings iii, 9, 12, 2G ; l)ut compare 1 Kings xxii, 48 ; 2 Kings viii, 20), so that their ports were at the disposal of Jewish commerce to the time of Joram (1 Kings xxii, 49), under whose reign (B.C. 885) thej' threw off their allegiance (2 Kings viii, 20), and maintained their independence by force of arms against several succeed- ing princes of the weak kingdom of Judah (2 Kings viii, 21). Amaziah (2 Kings xiv, 7 ; 2 Chron. xxv, 11), in B.C. cir. 836, and also Uzziah (2 Kings xiv, 22 ; 2 Chron. xxv, 11), in B.C. cir. 802, again reduced the Edomites to subjection ; but under Ahaz (B.C. cir. 738) they invaded Judsa (2 Chron. xxviii, 17), while, at the same time, the harbor of Elath was wrested from the Jewish dominions bj"^ the Sj'rians (2 Kings xvi, 6). From this time forward, the Edomites, fa- vored by the increasingly formidable attitude of As- syria, and later of Chalda-a, remained in merely nom- inal connection with the kingdom of Judah, enjoying real independence, until they too at last were forced to succumb to the ChakbTan power (Jer. xxvii, 3, 6). The early prophets, nearly contemporary ■with these events, had already announced Judah's future triumph over these rebellious subjects and persistent enemies (Isa. xi, 14 ; Joel iii, 19 ; Amos i, 11) ; but, after they had made common cause with the foes of Israel at the capture of Jerusalem (Ezek. xxxv, 15 ; xxxvi, 5 ; Obad. 10, 13 sq.), the denunciations of the prophets became still more decisive (Jer. xlix, 8, 20 ; Lam. iv, 21 sq. ; Ezek. xxv, 12 sq. — compare 35 ; Obad. pass. ; Psa. cxxxvii, 7 ; comp. Isa. xxxiv, 5 sq. ; Ixiii, 1 sq.). The Edomites, it is true, likewise felt the ravages of the Chalda;an march (Mai. i, 3 sq.), but they were left in their own land (in opposition to the view of Eich- horn, IMr. Prnph. ii, 618, G24 ; Bertholdt, Einhit. iv, 1440, 162G, wlio maintain that the Idumreans were po- litically annihilated by Nebuchadnezzar ; see Geseni- us, Comm. on Isa. i, 906 : nor are the predictions of the utter desolation of Edom, e. g. Jer. xlix, 17 sq., to be pressed to their extreme fultiiment; see Heinrich, Le Jdumcea ejitsque vastatione, Lips. 1782), and they even rent away a portion of southern Palestine (comp. Ezek. xxxv, 10), including the town of Hebi-on (1 Mace, v, 65). During the Sj'rian rule they continued to evince their old ill will against the Jews (1 Mace, v, 3, 65 ; 2 Mace. X, 15 ; xii, 32 sq.), until they were wholly sub- dued by John Hyrcanus (B.C. cir. 129), and, by a com- pulsory circumcision, were merged in the Jewish state (Josephus, Ant. xiii, 9, 1 ; xv, 7, 9; comp. lFr»-, iv, 5, 5; yet they were invidiously termed half-Jev^s, Ant. xiv, 15, 2). From that time Idunuiea continued under a Jewish prrefect {nroari^yoc, Joseph. Ant. xiv, 1, 3). One of these, Antipater, managed so to ingratiate him- self with the Jewish court, and, during the disputes concerning the Maccaba;an succession, wielded the procuratorship of all Juda\'i, with which the friendship of the emperor had invested him. with such efficiencj' (B.C. 47), that he eventually secured tlie supreme pow- er instead of Hyrcanus II (.Toso]ih. .\nt. xiv, 8,.')). His gon Herod became the acknowledged king of the Jews, and founded an Idumrean dynasty in Palestine. Idu- maea formed a province of his dominions, and was un- der the administration of a special governor (fiipx'tiij', Josc])h. Ant. XV, 7, 9). Concerning tlie farther history of this people, we can here only remark, that the Idu- mseans in the last Jewish contest acted the same ruin- ous part with the Jews themselves (.Joseph. Wpr. iv, 4, 1 and 5 ; vii, 8, V). The name of Edom or ]:domite is to this day hateful to the Jews (Otlio, Lex. Jiabh. p. 196 ; Lightfoot, Hor. Beb. p. 693). From tlie time of
the overthrow of the Jewish nation, the name of Idu« masa no longer occurs, but passes away in the wider denomination Arabia (comp. Steph. B}'Z. p. 334, 341 ; Strabo xvi, 760, 749) ; since alreadj' for a long period the southern part of the ancient land of the Edomites was reckoned, together with its metropolis Petra, to Arabia, and entitled separately from (the Jewisli prov- ince) Idumoea (Joseph. Ant. xiv, 1, 3 ; xvii, 3, 2 ; U'ar, i, 13, 8) ; so that Idumrea, while on the north it in- cluded in addition a Jewish district (comp. the term Idumasan for Jew, especialh' among the Koman poets, Celsii Hierob. ii, 469 sq.), at the same time was con- tracted in its southern boundary (comp. Ptol. v, 16, 10 ; V, 17 ; Strabo, xvi, 760 ; Jerome in Obad. 1) ; but this does not affect Biblical geography, and it would be difficult to reduce the point to full historical and topo- graphical clearness (sea Keland, Palast. p. 69 sq.). See Arabia; Petra.