mountains. From a comparison of these incidents it mav be inferred that the change in the form of govern- ment took place duruig the wanderings of the Israelites in the Desert, unless we suppose, with rvosenmiiller, that it was only this north-eastern part of Edom which was now subject to a monarch, the rest of the country remaining under the sway of its former chieftains. But whether "the regal power at this period embraced the whole territory or not, perhaps it did not supplant the ancient constitution, but was rather grafted on it, like the authority of the Judges in Israel, and of Saul, the tirst king, which did not materially interfere with the government that previously existed. It further ap- pears, from the list of Iduma^an kings, that the monarchy was not hereditary, but elective (for no one is spoken of as the son or relative of his predecessor) ; or probably that chieftain was acknowledged as sovereign who was best able to vindicate his claim by force of arms. Every successive king appears to have selected his own seat of government: the places mentionetl as having enjoyed that distinction are Diuhabah, Avith, Pagu or Pai. Even foreigners were not excluded from the throne, for the successor of Samlah of INIasrekah was Saul, or Shaul, "of Rechoboth, on the river." The word Rechohoth means, literally, streets, and was a not uncommon name given to towns ; but the emphatic addition of '• the riv- er" points evidently to the Euphrates, and between Rakkah and Anah, on that river, there are still the re- mains of a place called by the Arabs Rachabath Malik Ibn-Tauk. In the age of Solomon we read of one Ha- dad, who " was of the king's seed in Edom" (1 Kings xi, 14) ; from which some have conjectured that by that period there was a royal dynasty of one particular fami- ly; but all that the expression may imply is that he was a blood relation of the last king of the country. Hadadwas the name of one of the early sovereigns "who smote Midian in the field of Moab" (Gen. xxxvi, 35). The country was attacked by Saul with partial suc- cess (1 Sam. xiv, 47). A few years later David over- threw the Edomites in the "valley of Salt," at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea (Robinson, Bib. Bes. ii, 109), and put garrisons in their cities (2 Sam. viii, 14 ; 1 Chron. xviii, 11-13; 1 Kings xi, 15. Comp. the in- scription of Psa. Ix, and v, 8, 9 ; cviii, 9, 10, where " the strong city" may denote Selah or Petra). Then were fulfilled the prophecies in Gen. xxv, 23, and xxvii, 40, that the " elder should serve the younger ;" and also the prediction of Balaam (Numb, xxiv, 18), that Edom and Seir should be for possessions to Israel. Solomon created a naval station at Ezion-geber, on the Elanitic Gulf, from whence his ships went to India and Eastern Africa (1 Kings ix, 26; 2 Chron. viii, 18). Towards the close of his reign an attempt was made to restore the inde- pendence of the country Ijy one Hadad, an Idumisan prince, who, when a child, had been carried into Egj'pt at the time of David's invasion, and had there married the sister of Tahpanhes the queen (1 Kings xi, 14-23). See ILvDAD. If Edom then succeeded in shaking off the j'oke, it was only for a season, since in the days of Jehoshajihat, the fourth JcAvish monarch from Solomon, it is said " there was no king in Edom ; a deputy was king;" i.e. he acted as viceroy for the king of Judah. For that the latter was still master of the country is ev- ident from the fact of his having fitted out, like Solomon, a fieet at Ezion-geber (1 Kings xxii, 47, 48 ; 2 Chron. XX, 3G, 37). It was, no doubt, his deputy (called Mmj) who joined the confederates of Judah and Israel in their attack upon Jloab (2 Kings iii, 9, 12, 26). Yet there seems to have been a partial revolt of the Edomites, or at least of the mountaineers of Seir, even in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx, 22) ; and under his success- or, Jehoram, they wholly rebelled, and " made a king over themselves" (2 Kings viii, 20, 22 ; 2 Chron. xxi, 8, 10). From its being added that, notwithstanding the temporary suppression of the rebellion, " Edom revolted from mider the hand of Judah unto this day," it is prob- able that the Jewish domiuioii was never completely re-
stored. Amaziah, indeed, invaded the country, and hav- ing taken the chief city, Selah or Petra, he, in memori- al of the conquest, changed its name to Joktheel (q. d. subdued of God) ; and his successor, Uzziah, retained possession of Elath (2 Kings xiv, 7; 2 Chron. xxv, 11- 14; xxvi, 3). But in the reign of Ahaz, hordes of Edomites made incursions into Judah, and carried away captives (2 Chron. xxviii, 17). About the same period, Rezin, kmg of Syria, expelled the Jews from Elath, which was thenceforth occupied by the Edomites (2 Kings xvi, 6, where for Syriaris, d^al'^X, we ought to read Edomites, D'^^'nX, De Rossi, Variai Lectioncs, ii, 247). Now was fulfilled the other part of Isaac's pre- diction, viz., that in course of time Esau " should take his brother's yoke from off his neck" (Gen. xxvii, 40). It appears from various incidental expressions in the later prophets that the Edomites employed their recov- ered power in the enlargement of their territory^ in all directions. They spread as far south as Dodan in Ara- bia, and northward to Bozrah iu the Hauran ; though it is doubtful if the Bozrah of Scripture may not have been a place in Idumrea Proper (Isa. xxxiv, 6 ; Ixiii, 1 ; Jer. xlix, 7, 8-20 ; Ezek. xxv, 13 ; Amos i, 12). During the decline of the Jewish power, and wars of Judah and Israel, the Edomites gradually enlarged their possessions. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerus alem,the Edomites joined him and took an active part in the plunder and slaughter which followed. Their cruelty at that time is specially referred to in Psa. cxxxvii, and was the chief cause of those dreadful prophetic curses which have since been executed upon their country (Jer. xlix, 17 ; Lam. iv, 21 ; Ezek. xxv, 13, 14 ; Obad. 10-21). From the language of Malachi (i, 2, 3), and also from the ac- counts preserved by Josephus {Ant. x, 9, 7), it would seem that the Edomites did not wholly escape the Chal- dean scourge ; bnt instead of being carried captive, like the Jews, they not onlj' retained possession of their own territory, but became masters of the south of Judah, as far as Hebron (1 Mace, v, 65, comp. with Ezek. xxxv, 10 ; xxxvi, 5). Probably as a reward for the assistance af- forded by them to the Chaldreans, the Edomites were permitted to settle in Southern Palestine, and in the country lying between it and the borders of Egj^pt. Tl.ei name Idumaea was now given to the whole comitrj', from the valley of the Arabah to the INIediterranean (Joseph. Ant. V, 1, 22 ; Strabo, xvi, 2), and from Eleutheropolis to Elath {S^Tome, Comment, in Ohad.). Hence arose the mistakes of Roman writers, who sometimes give the name Idumwa to all Palestine, and even call the Jews Idumreans (Virgil, Georg. iii, 12 ; Juvenal, viii, 160).