The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 211

wa.s its elevation " (Diet. Bib. iii. p. 1493) ;LXX. XP•t1•'1' t1vyrr.E1iXut1µwa. This immense cf. Isa.. vi. 1], and the top [Heh. head] of quantity of gold is quite paralleled in the the throne was round behind [ea.me word accounts of profane writers, " Sardana- oh. vii. 23, 24. Thenius a.nd Bahr under- palus, when Nineveh was besieged, had 150 stand it of an arched or rounded canopy golden bedsteads, 150 golden tables, a atto.ohed to the ba.ok ; Keil euppoees that million talents of gold, ten times as much the back was arched or rounded in form]: silver, &c. (Ctesias, ap. Athenaeus, xii. p. 29). and there were stays [Heh. hands, i.e., No less than 7170 talents of gold were used arms] on either Bide on the place of the for the vessels and statues of the temple of seat [see drawing of Assyrian throne in Bel in Babylon . . . Alexander's pillage of La.yard's " Nineveh," ii. 301 ; Diet. Bib. iii. Ectabana was estimated at 120,000 ta.Ients p. 1494], and two lions [probably of wood of gold," &c. (Bahr, in loc.)]; none were of overlaid with gold. Cf. Jer. x. 3, 4] stood silver [Heh. none sil11er. The Marg., " there beside the stays. was no silver in them," i.e., they were un- alloyed, is a misapprehension of the true . Ver. 20.-And twelve lions stood there meaning] : it wa.e nothing accounted of 1n on the one side and on the other, upon the the days or Solomon. s1x steps [It is somewhat doubtful whether there were twelve or fourteen lions in all. Ver. 22.-For [Reason why silver was so Most co=entators assume that there were lightly esteemed. It was because of the fourteen, and the text will certainly bear prodigious quantity both of gold and silver that construction. But it is altogether more brought in by the fleet] the king had at likely that there were twelve; that is to say, sea a navy of Tarehish [It has been much that the two lions on the topmost step are disputed (1) whether this was a second the two mentioned in the preceding verse as fleet, or the same as that mentioned eh. " standing beside the stays," otherwise ix. 26-28, as trading to Ophir, and (2) there would have been four lions on that whether this fleet, if it were not the same, step. And we all know that twelve had a went to Ophir or to Tartessns in Spn.in. Keil significance such as could not attach to any and Bahr contend that there was but one other number (Bahr, Symbolik, i. 201-205; fleet, first, because there is no mention of a ii. 133, 423). It would signify that all the second fleet at eh. ix. 28, and, secondly, be- tribes had an interest in the royal house (of. cause the cargoes were practically the same. oh. xii. 16 ; 2 Sam. xx. 1); and a right of I incline (with Rawlinson, al.) to think there approach to the throne (cf. eh. xviii. 31). were two separate navies, for the following The lion, a familiar emblem of sovereignty reasons : (1) The expression " navy of among many nations, had an especial ap- Tarshish " (in 2 Chron. ix. 21 expanded propriateness in this case, as being the into " ships going to Tarshish," which Keil symbol of t~~ tribe of.Judah (Gen. xlix. 9 ; and Bahr are compelled to set aside as a cf. Num. XXlll. 24; xxiv. 9). 'we a.re to see mistake on the part of the writer), taken in in them partly " symbols of the ruler's connexion with the following words, "with authority" (Keil), and partly, perhaps, they (Cl!, togethe,· with, as !Dell as) the navy of represented the twelve tribes as guardians of Hiram" (i.e., as we conclude from ver. 11, the throne. "The king mounted between the navy mamied, or, it may be, owned, by figures of lions to his seat on the throne, Rimm) points to a separate fleet ; (2) the and sat between figures of lions upon it" cargoes, so far from being the ea.me, strike (Wordsworth). Thrones somewhat similar me as being altogether diverse. The Ophir to this in character, but much less magnifi- fleet brought in "gold, almug trees, and cent, are represented on the Assyrian monu- precious stones." The navy of Te.rshish ments. The historian might justly add] : "gold and silver, ivory, apes, and pe11- t,here was not the llke made [Heh. not cocks." See below. (3) Even if we tinder- macle so] 1n any kingdom. stand here by the" navy of Hiram" a Phceni- Ver. 21.-And au king Solomon's drink- oio.n fleet, still B second fleet is indicated. ing v~ssels were of gold [us were thoso of But this leads us to consider the destina- Assyria and Il11bylou. 'fllis lavish display tion of these ships. The term, '' fleet of Tar- of wealth was oharactc1istio of Oriento.l shish," does not in itself prove anything, for courts. Rawlinson quotes Chardin's de- the expression, "ships of Te.rshish," is oriptiou of the splendour of the court of Blmost a synouym for "merchant vessels." Persia, "Tout est d'or massif," &c., and In oh. xxii. 48 we read," Jehoshaphat made adds, " :Both Symes and Yule note a simi- ships of 'fo.rshish to go to Ophir," and they lo.r use of gold utensils by the king of Ava " were broken at Ezion -geber " (cf. Psa. (Symes, p. 372; Yule, p. 81) "], and all the xlviii. 7; JonBh i. 3). It is probable that in vessels or the house or the forest of Lebanon Jewish lips the words were a nomen gene- were or pure gold [i-ll9 ; see on oh. vi. 20. • rale for all vessels going long voyages (IS&. 214 THE F!RST BOOK OF KINGS. [ CH. X. 14-29,