(Amos vii. 14; Isa. ix. 10). In the vale; following Pisce.tor (born circ. 1180) and i.e. in the lowl1md country, called the V11tnblus (born circ. 1546), would tr:i nslate Bbefel11h. This is the middle one of the tho word B company," and rP.n.d, "n compnny three divisions in which J udroa is some- of the king's merebants took 0, compa11y (of times described-mountain, lowland, and l,orses) e.t e. price." Others \VOUld translate valley. Thie lowland was really the low bills, the word "import;" 0,nd read, "the imp,,rt between mountains and plain, near Lydda of the king's mercha,nts was an import at and Daroma (the "dry," i.q. Negeb, Deut. e. price," i.e. in money. Neither of th,-so xxxiv. 13), while the valley was the valley renderings ce.n be considered rr,r1\l v satis- of Jordan, from Jericho to Engedi (Conder's factory. Some slight corruption of text • Handbook to the Bible,' pp. 302, 309, still baulks us, therefore. 2nd edit.). Ver. 17.-Bix hnndred shekels of silver. Ver. 16.-B:orses brought . .. out of Egypt. Some add np in this amount the vehicle Later on we read that horses were imported itself, harness, hone or horses necessary to from other countries as well ( eh, ix. 24, 28), it, and the expense of caniage of the whole. as, for instance, from Arabie. and Armenia Whether or no horses are included may be (Ezek. xxvii. 14). Linen yarn. The words doubtful. The a.mount added up reaches, are without doubt wrong here. But it is according to various· estimates, £00 or £70. impossible to say with any certainty what If we take the silver shekel at 38. 4.l. should be in their place. The Vulgate according to one of the later authoriti,,,. shows here fr()'TTI, Coa, presumably meaning (Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 81, Tekoa, e. small place on the road from Egypt 2nd edit.), the amount will be £100; an,! so to Jerusalem. It might not he.ve been easy for e. horse £25. For a.ll the kings of the to surmise, however, so much as this, but Hittites, and the kings of Syria; see eh. for the fact that the Septuagint shows in viii. 7, 8; iL 14, 23, 24, 26; 1 Kings iv. 21, the parallel place, " And from Tekoe. " 24; 2 Kings vii. 6; which last place in (Amos i. 1). The Septuagint, however, particular suggests that Solomon would be he.a for the present place, Keil 71 .,.,µ.¾, .,-f;,v •µ.- the more willing to assist neighbouring 'lTOpwnoii fJcia-il'..ew, 1Tope6e118ci1, 1tcil -li'Y&pci(ov. peoples in the purchase of horses, etc., who The Hebrew word here translated '' linen might be already tributary to him, or even yam" is ~1R1? (i.q. i"\)P,1? niph. of nJP., "to be vassals, or who might in futme be in the gathered together"). Gesenius, followed better position to help him, when either by De Wette (and others), and himself required or hired to do so.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-17.-Each highest need of life offers to turn into the first accepted and best rewarded prayer of life. This chapter of seventeen verses might remind us of a picture and its mount and frame, a precious stone and its setting. In this sense it is a unity. The first six verses are used just to prepare us for the contents of the six that follow; and the last five summarily assure us that the fulfilment did not fall short of, nor halt long behind, promise. The now sole reign of Solomon, begun with the blessing that causeth to prosper, seemed (all too briefly, perhaps) to direct itself spontaneously to those religious observances that alike rightly acknowledged the past goodness of God, and augured the very best of auguries for the future. For Solomon acted promptly and religiously himself, and also taught and led a whole nation, his own nation, to do the same, when he sought and repaired to "the brazen altar" "before the tabernacle of the Lord "-that sacred and time-honoured tabernacle which" Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness." Since that date, oh, what journeys it had made !-what much more varied, stranger, wanderings and history it had representatively shared I What a career that nation escaped from Egypt now just five centuries had already run I what a mark on the very world's history it had availed to make! But to the picture itself, rather than its surroundings-picture, parable, solemn and sweet reality, all in one I There are to be noticed and studied: (1) the appearance to Solomon; (2) the unhesitating prayer of Solomon; (3) the answer and promise vouchsafed to Solomon. I. THE APPEARANCE TO SOLOMON. 1. The veritable/act in it; i.e. that it was God, who appeared. What we often vaguely call Providence; or a happy thought; or a sudden suggestion; or an unaccountable impression; or, worst of all, a chance of the waking mind or of the dream ;-should in devout language, and equally in devout truth, be call~d by the name that is Love and that is also to be supremely feared. 2. The method of it. Probably enough in drear:i, in one or other of the kinds of dream, with which Scripture s THE SECOND BOOK OF THE OHRONIOLES. [oH. 1. 1-17.