The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 156

plication of thy earva.nt, a.nd of thy people and so enooumged falsehood and impiety, Israel, when they shall pray toW1Ll"d this God is here entreated, oonsequently, to te.ke place : a.nd hear thou 1n heaven [Heh. unto cognizance of the oaths sworn bef Jre His heaven, Cl~t,;)~iJ-S~, e. pregnant construction a.Ite.r (ver. 31), and to be n swift witness =hee.r the prayer"thate.sceuds unto heaven. against the false swearers (Mai. iii. 6). It The chronicler here, e.s elsewhere, simplifies is, perhaps, because of the direct dishonour the meaning by reading "from heaven," which perjury offers to the Divine name 'Wi:ij(-l] thy dwelling place [Here, e.nd in that, as Bahr suggests, this prayer stands ver,i. 39, 43, and 49, heaven is described e.s the true dwelling place of Deity. Con- first among the seven, thus corresponding to fidently as Solomon believes the.t he he.s the •• Hallowed be 'l'hy name" in the Lord's built a habitation for the Lord, he never prayer, and to the third among the ten dreams that th,i "Most High dwelleth not co=andments. in temples made with hands" (Acts vii. 48; Ver. 31.-If any ma.n trespass [The force xvii. 4)] : and when thou hearest, forgive. of the Hebrew (which begins somewhat [There is possibly a play of words here- abruptly) "1~~ n~ (LXX. oo-a uv aµaprp) is ~Q~, tl!t,;)~J. probably, .is jor that which, or in all cases in With the next verse the special or par- which, i.e., when (as Ewald, 333 a). The ticular supplications begin. Like those of chronicler, as usual, simplifies by reading Cl~] a,gainst his neighbour, a.nd a.n oath be the Lord's prayer, they are seven in nnm- laid [Heb. and he (the neighbour) lay an bei, and no doubt for the same reason, viz., oath, i.e., prescribe a form of adjuration, because seven was the number of covenant, such as that in Deut. :xxi. 7] upon him to the number which expressed the relation- cauee him to swear, and the oath come ship between the Lord and His people (" die [This translation cannot be maintained. Signatur der Verbindung Gottes und der For in the Heb. there is no def. art., as there Welt "-Bii.h.r, Symbolik, i. 187 sqq.) In would be if ;,7~ were noun and nominative; fact, to the Jew the number "seven" was and, moreover, in that case the verb, to something like the sign of the cross to a agree with the feminine noun, would be i1N::l. large portion of Catholic Christendom, for And as no other meaning can be extracte'd it spoke to him of God's covenant of mercy from the words as they stand, wee.re driven to suspect a slight corruption of the text, e.nd peace. either (1) the omission of , between the And the first of the seven concerns oaths. words, which in that case would have stood The king implores the covenant-keeping i1?N, N:n, and would mean, "and he (the God to watch over the covenants of words accused) come and swear "-a conjecture made in the now consecrated sanctuary, and which is supported by the LXX., ral D..9p to protect their sanctity by punishing the 11:al i~ayopEvcrg, or (2) the omission of the false swearer. There were cases in which preposition .J, which would yield i1?H.J N.J, the Mosa.io la.w provided that an oath = and he (the accused) enters into the oath, an expression found in Neh. :x. 29 and Ezek. ehould be administered to suspected per- xvii. 13] before thine altar 1n this house. sons (Exod. x.x.ii. 11; Levit. v. 1, 4, &c.) [Despite the last words, the altar of sacri- And there were other ea.sea in which men of fice before the house is probably meant. their own accord, for" an end of all strife," This was the altar of the Jewish layman, would make oath. Now every oath, what- and, moreover, it was one visible sign of the covenant. Paa. I. 6 ; Exod. :xxiv. 6-8 ; cf. ever its form (Matt. xxiii. 16-22), is in xx. 24. The alte.r which afforded shelter to reality an affirmation '' by the God of truth" the man~layer, in the same way lent sanctity (Isa. I.xv. 16); it is an appeal to the know- to the oath. The practice of swearing by ledge and power and justice of the Most the altar (Matt. xxiii. 18) is of later date. High (Levit. m. 12 ; Deut. vi. 13 ; x. 20 ; Ver. 32.-Then hear thou 1n heaven Isa. xlviii. 1; Jer. xii 16; xliv. 26). A false [Heb. and thou, thou wilt hear the heavem, oath, consequently, dishonoured the Divine The same expression, tl!~tf t:1 vr.,~r-i. ia name, and polluted the sanctuary dedicated found in vers. 34, 36, 89. See Ewald, 800 a, Keil sees in it the adverbial use of the to that name, and if it went unpunished, accusative. Most of the versions read contra.dieted the principles and provisions " from heaven," as does the Chronicles aniJ of the dispensation of tempara.l punishments, one MS.], and do [i.e., act] and Judge thy on. \'l.11. 1-66.l '.l'HE FIRST BOOK OF KiNGS. 155