The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 139

aive a.a to which we.s the right e.nd which it fails to account, as the first-ne.mecl tho left. The right side we.a the south. emendation does, for the ~~!;)-,l[. It we.a probe.bly for convenience the.t the see. did not ete.nd due ea.et of the house, i.e., Ver. 43. And the ten bases and the ten between the porch e.nd o.lte.r.J lavere [Heb. "the ba.~es, ten and the lavers, Ver. 40.-And R1ra.m made the lavera ten"] on the ba.ees. [See on vers. 27-37.] [So the ~ec. Text. But perhe.pe we ought Ver. 44.-And one [Heb. the one] sea and to read n11 1t;,, i.e., pots, here, e.e in ver. 45 twelve oxen [Heb. the oxen twelve] under and 2 Chron. iv. 11. Thie word is joirred with the sea [vers. 23-26]. shovels e.nd he.sons, not only in these two Ver. 45.-And the pots [see on ver. 40J, pe.sse.ges, but e.leo in Exod. xxvii. 3, and the shovels, and the be.sons, and all 2 Kings xxv. 14, Jer. Iii. 18; in other these vessels [according to the Ken] which words, the e.pproprie.te term in this con- Hiram made [There is no mention of the nexion would be "pots," while "le.vers," e.lta.r, e.s in 2 Cbron. iv. I, possibly because having been just mentioned in ver. 38, would it was not made by Hiram (Bahr)] to involve e.n idle repetition. Altogether, [rather, for] king Solomon for [Heb. omits) therefore, there ce.n be little doubt the.t we the house of the Lord, were of bright brass. should here read n,i 1Ci1 for n1, 1:,i1. It is [Me.rg. made bright, i.e., polished after apparently theree.ding of the Che.Id., LXX., casting.] e.nd some MSS. These" pots "were used, not Ver. 46.-In the pla1n [Heb. Ciccar, i.e., for carrying a.way the ashes (Keil), but, as oircle or circuit, the word used only of the the name implies (1 11;), ejferuescere), for boil- Ghor or Jordan ve.lley. This tract is ciuled ing the flesh of the peace offering (1 Sam. "The Cicce.r" Gen. xiii., 11, xix. 17, &c. ii. 13, 14), a.nd the shovels [these, a.gain, e.e See Stanley, " Sinai and Palestine," App., the name implies (V~ from n~: abstulit; see § 12) of Jordan [in the Heb. this ri,er (" t/w descender") always takes the a.rt. J did the Gesen., Thesaurus, p. 607), were used for king cast them, in the clay ground [Heb. talcing away the ashes from the altar (Exod. e.s me.rg. in the thickness of the ground. x.xvii. 3; Num. iv. 14), a.nd the basons. [The Whether the soil was made thick by stamp- sacrificial bowls for receiving the blood of ing (Keil) it is impossible to say. H looks the victims (Exod. x.xxviii. 3; Num. iv. 14).] e.s if this site had been chosen because the So Hiram made a.n end of doing all the soil we.s suitable] between Succoth [Gen. work [the writer now recapitulates the work xxxiii. 17. It appears from J udg. viii. 5 of Hiram. The repetition me.y be due to that it lay ee.st of the Jordan (cf. Josh. xiii. the fa.et .J::at the history was compiled from 27, where it e.llotted to the tribe of Gad); various lists e.nd documents] that he made "and indeed it has been recovered, under its king Solomon for [Heb. omits the prep.] later name Te.rale., e.t Tell De.r'e.la., north- the house of the Lord. east of the Do.m.ieh ford" (Conder, p. 229). Ver. 41.-The [Heb. omits the art. e.nd As Ze.rtrur.il. we.s e.lmost certainly west of the reads pillars, two] two plllars, and the two J ordnn, and as the casting-from the na- bowls of the chaplters that were on the ture of the country-must as certainly top of the two pillars; a.nd the two net- have been done to the west of the river, it works to cover the two bowls of the is somewhat surprising to find a trans- che.p1ters which were upon the top of the Jordanic town mentioned e.s one of the pillars. [See on verses 16-20.] landmarks defining the site. It is possible Ver. 42.-And four hundred pome- that there was a western Succoth-a place granates [Heb. the pomegranates, 400] for no.mod Sfikiit was discovered by Robinson the two networks, even two rows of pome- e.nd Van de vclde, e. few miles south of granates for one network, to cover the two Ilctbshean; but this name is rndice.lly clif- bowls of the chaplters that were upon the ferent (Conder). It is, therefore, more prob- plllars [Heb. upon the face of the pillars]. able that, being near the ford of the river, A chapiter could hardly be correctly de- this place was so well known that it woultl scribed e.s 'l/i1 ,_,;i'?p. It is probable that serve better than e.ny of the less familfa.r this is e. clerical ·error, o.nd the.t we should western towns to identify the site of the foundry] and Zarthan. [See note on chap. ''-~'P ree.d 'lli1 (Biihr, Keil), " upon the t100 iv. 12.J pille.rs." So LXX. hr' aµ,por;po,, r.r.:I., This Ver. 47.-And Solomon left all the ves- sels 1m10eig/1ed [the interpretation of tho is e. more likely emendation the.n ~~, l;,p, It A. V. italics is justified by the next clausPs] is true this fotter is the ree.ding of some because they were exceeding many : neither MSS., e.nd is followed by the Syr. e.nd Vulg., was the weight of the brass found out. but it ce.n easily be acoounted for, being 1\ [Marg. searched. So Gesen. al. This repetition of tho Inst words of ver. 41, whih: ·does not mca.u that tl.Lo " bro.ss for e1Lcb  186 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [en. vn. 1-b.l,