Some have regarded this Hiram as a different person from the friend ol' David, since Josephus states that the Temple was built in the twelfth year of the reign of the Tyrian king who aided Solomon in the work (Apion, i, 17 sq. ; the eleventh, according to Ant. xiii, 3, 1); but this is probably only by a computation of the historian, whose numerical calculations in these points are far from trustworthy. (See Nessel, Dhs. de amicilia Salom. et Ilirami, Upsal, 1734.) Hiram is also spoken of by Herodotus (ii, 44) as the builder of new temples to Hera- cles, INIelcart, and Astarte, and the adorner of that of Zeus-Baalsamin.
Ewald {Gesch. Israel, III, i, 28,83) and Jlovers (H, i, 320 sq.,446 sq.) give a Hiram II, who reigned from 551- 532 B.C., toward the close of the Chald.-Babylonian em- pire, and who is not mentioned in the Bible.
Dr. Robinson describes a remarkable monument of Solomon's ally, still extant, which he passed a little be- yond the village of Hunaneh, on his way from Safed to T^'re {Bib. Res. iii, 385). "It is an immense sarcopha- gus of limestone, resting upon a pedestal of large hewn stones ; a conspicuous ancient tomb, bearing among the common people the name of Kaibr Hairan, ' Sepulchre of Hiram.' The sarcophagus measures twelve feet long by six feet in height and breadth ; the lid is three feet thick, and remauis in its original position ; but a hole
\
HIRAM
273
HIRMOLOGION"
has been broken thronc;h the sarcophasijus at one end. Tlie pedestal consists of three layers of tlie Uke species of stone, each of three feet, thick, the upper layer pro- jecting over the others ; the stones are large, and one of tliem measures nine feet in length. This gray, weather-beaten monument stands here alone and soli- tary, bearing the marks of liigh antiquity; but the name and the record of him by whom or for whom it
Jiiili 'w\\mM^
The "lomboflliiun"
was erected have perished, like his ashes, forever. It is indeed possible that the present name may have come down by tradition, and that this sepulchre once held the dust of the friend and ally of Solomon ; more probably, however, it is merely of Mohammedan application, like so many other names of Hebrew renown, attached to their wclys and monuments in every part of Palestine.
1 know of no historical trace having reference to this tomb; and it had first been mentioned by a Frank trav- eller (iMonro, 1833) only five years before." (See also Thomson,. Land ami Bool; i, 290 sq.)
3. The son of a widow of the tribe of Dan, and of a Tyrian father. He was sent by the king of the same name to execute the principal works of the interior of the Temple, and the various utensils required for the sacred services (1 Kings vii, 13, 14, 40). We recognise in the enumeration of this man's talents by the king of Tyre a character common in the industrial history of the ancients (comp. those of Bezaleel, Exod. xxxi, 3-5), namelj', a skilful artificer, knowing all the arts, or at least many of those arts Avhich we practise, in their dif- ferent branches. See Handicraft. It is probable that he was selected for this purpose by tlie king from among others equally gifted, in the notion that his half- Hebrew blood would render him the more acceptable at Jerusalem. B.C. cir. 1010. He is called "Ihiram" in
2 Chron. ii, 13; iv, 11, 16, and "Hirom" in the margin of 1 Kings vii, 40. In 2 Chron. ii, 13, i^X Cnm is rendered "Huram my father's;" so in 2 Chron. iv, 16, 1'^SX CnW is rendered "Huram his father;" Avhere, however, the words "i^N and I'^SX can hardly belong to
' 'iV.— S
the name, but are appellations; so that "Ifnram my (or hui) father" seems to mean Huram my counsellor, i. e. foreman, or master-workman,
Hirca'nus (Tp/cavof, i. e. llyrcanus), "a son of Tobias," who had a large treasure placed for security in the treasury of the Temple at the time of the ^■isit of IleUodorus (2 Mace, iii, 11), B.C. cir. 187. Josephus also mentions "children of Tobias" (jzaih^ Tw/Siov, Ant. xii, 5, 1), who, however, :_ belonged to the fa('ti(m of :\fcii-
-^g- daus, and notices csiicciiilly a
^M:^ son of one of tlicm (.loscph) who
was named Hyrcanus (.1 7il. xii, ;^-; 4, 2 sq.). But there is no suf-
ficient reason for identifying the Hyrcanus of 2 IMacc. with this fjrandson of Tobias eitlier by supposing that the elhpsis {rov TujjSiov) is to be so filled up j^:,, (Grotius, Calmct), or that the 1^ sons of Joseph were popidarly ^^ named after their grandfather =r^ (Ewald, Gesch. iv, 309), which j^^: could scarcely have been the -^K" case in consequence of the great -^ eminence of their father. — :5|_. Smith. See JlAccAisiiES. -^ The name of Hyrcanus oc-
<;' -" curs at a later period under the iMaccabees. It has been thought t hat it was adopted on account I if a victory gained l)y Jolm, the son and successor of Simon Mac- (abaeus, over the Hyrcanians ( Euseb. Chron. lib. ii; Snip. Sc- \erus. Hist. Sacr. lib. ii, c. xxvi). Josephus informs us that Hyr- canus accompanied Antiochus ^ YII Sidetes into Parthi.i, and ;, Nicolaus of Damascus says that a trophy was erected at the riv- er Lycus to commemorate the victory over the Parthian gen- eral (.4 nt. xiii, 8, 4). The H j-r- canians were a nation whose territory was bounded on the north by the Caspian Sea, and would thus be at no great distance from Par- thia, where John Hyrcanus had gained the victor}'. It is remarkable that the different statements agree in the position of the countries, Hyrcania, Parthia, and the river Lycus (of Assyria) being contiguous. As Jo- sephus, liowever, does not give any exjjlanation of the name {Ant. xiii, 7, 4; War, i, 2, 3), and the son of Si- mon is nowhere called Hyrcanus in 1 Mace, the reason for its assumption is uncertain. — Kitto. See II vrcaxus. Hireling (^"^sb, salir'; /Lua^wroc), a laborer who is employed on hire for a limited time (Job xii, I ; xiv, 6; Jlark i, 20). By the Mosaic law such a one was to be paid his wages as soon as his work was over (Lev. xix, 13). The little interest which would be felt by such a temporary laborer, compared with that of the shepherd or permanent keeper of the flock, furnish a striking illustration in one of our Lord's discourses (John X, 12, 13). The working-day in the East begins with the rising of the sun, and ends when it sets. The para- ble in Matt, xx, 1-14, is interesting, not only as show- ing what were tlie day's Avages of a laborer at tliis pe- riod in Juda-a, "a penny," i. e. the Roman denarius, about fifteen cents of our money, but also as showing that the salvation of the Gentiles can in itself become no impediment to the Jews; and as eternal life is the free gift of Gt)d, he has a right to give it in whatever jjroportions, at whatever times, and on whatever condi- tions he pleases. See Servant; "\Vac;es, etc.