Vers. 11-15.-The two Hirams. I. HIRAM TRE KWG. 1. His kingdom. Phce- nicia. Variously explaine? as " the land of palms," "the land of purple-dyeing," "the land of the brown-red," with reference to the colour of the skin of its inhabitants Phcenicia in Solomon's time was bounded on the west by the Mediterranean on th~ ea.st by Lebanon, on the south by the kingdom of Israel, while towards the n~rth the limit was uncertain, though usually fixed about Arvad, thus making in all a territory a hundred a.ud twenty miles long and twenty miles broad. "It is a liberal estimate for the area to reckon it at four thousand square miles, which is less than that of at least one English county" (Rawlinson, 'Phcenicia: Story of the Nations,' p. 2). Well watered by streams from Lebanon, the country was extremely fertile. In addition to cedars on the heights of Lebanon, fruit trees and vines clothed its slopes, whilst the valleys yielded an abundance of pal.ms, fat pasture, garden produce, and corn. Silicious earth for making glass was fonnd upon the coast, which also furnished the purple shells necessary for dyeing. Iron and probably copper were obtained at Sarepta and else- where (Riehm, • Handworterbuch,' art. "Phcenicien "). 2. His capital. Tyre-in Hebrew Sor, in Assyrian Surro, in Old Latin Sarra. The city is supposed to have been so called because of its having been built-at least the insular part of it-upon a rock. Most likely yonnger than Sidon, it was yet a city "whose antiquity was of ancient days" (Jer. xxiiL 7). Founded two hnndred and forty years before the building of Solomon's temple (Josephus,' Ant.,' viii. 3. 1), it was greatly celebrated for its natural and artificial splendour (Ezek. xxvii 3). Planted in a pleasant place (Hos. ix. 13), it was afterwards compared to "a virgin bathing in the sea, a Tartessus ship swimming upon the ocean, an island on shore, and a ciiy in the sea" (Kitto's 'Cyclopmdia,' art. " Tyre"). 3. His subjects. The men of Tyre. Renowned as wood-cutters and artists, " skilful to work in gold. and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blne, and in fine linen, and in crimson,'' they were likewise merchants who traded with all parts of the then known world (Ezek. xxvii. 1-36). As to physical characteristics, on the whole" the Phcenicians probably, both in form and feature, very much resembled the Jews who were their near neighbours, and who occasionally inter- married with them (1 Kings xi. 1; xvi. 31; eh. ii. 14),'' while as to moral characteris- tics, they shared those of the W estem Semites generally-" first, pliability corn bined with iron fixedness of purpose; secondly, depth and force; thirdly, a yearning for dreamy ease, touether with a capacity for the hardest work; fourthly, a love of abstract thought~ and fifthly, religiousness, together with an intensely spiritual conception of the Deity" (Rawlinson, 'Phrenicia,' p. 25). 4. His history. A son of Abibaal, the first King of Tyre, and a contemporary as well as friend of both David a1;1d Solo1n:on (see preceding homily), he was cl~arly a m~n of ~ul~ure.. He coul~ write, and 1n that accomplishment many later kings, even lil Christian times and in our own land, have been deficient. Withred, King of Kent, .A.D. 700, thus concluded a charter to secure the liberties of the Church: "All the above dictated by myself I have confirmed, and, because I cannot write, I have with mine own hand expressed this by putting the sign of the holy cross + " (Adam Clarke). Writing, however, had been introduced into Phrenicia from Egypt long before the days of Hiram (Rawlinson, • Phcenicia,' p. 328). Whether copies of the epistolary correspondence of Hiram and Solomon were preserved in "the public records of Tyre" (Josephus,' Ant.,' viii. 2. 8) may be doubtful, but no ground exists for challenging the accuracy of the biblical account that both Solomon and Hiram could write. 6. His character. Originally a worshipper of Baal, and a au. 111. 1-17.] 'l'IIE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES, 81
restorer of the temple of the sun-god, he n.ppears to have become an enlightened and sincere follower of Jehovo.b, whom he recognizes as not merely the national Divinity of Jsrncl, but also o.s the Malrnr of heaven and earth (ver, 12). That he was courteous and kind, his intercourse both with David and Solomon attests. Thn.t he was a shrewd man of business, who could look well after his own interest, shines out by no means dimly in the hint given to Solomon to forward" the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord had spoken of," when he would see to the felling of the timber ( vers. 16, 16). II. HIRAM THl!l ARTIST, 1. His parentage. The son of a Tyrian brass-worker, and of a Danite widow belonging to the tribe of Naphtali (ver. 14; 1 Kings vii. 14), he was probably on this account selected by the aged sovereign as one likely to be accept- able to the Hebrew monarch and his people. The discrepancy as to the tribe from which Hiram's mother proceeded may be removed by supposing that she was originally a Danita maiden, whose first husband belonged to the tribe of Naphtali, and whose second was a. Tyrian. 2. His profession. A sort of universal genius, who had skill and understanding to find out every device put before him-like the artist Harmon, of whom Homer (' Iliad,' v. 59, 60) says that he "knew how to form with his hands all ingenious things." "As 'l'heodore of Samos was an architect, a caster of works in bronze, an engraver of signets, and a maker of minute works in the precious metals, as Michael Angelo Buonarotti was at once a. painter, a sculptor, an architect, and a worker in bronze" (Rawlinson,' Phrenicia,' p. 97), so Hiram of Tyre, like Bezaleel (Exod. mi. 4), was goldsmith, silversmith, brazier, iron-worker, stone-carver, wood- engraver, linen-weaver, all in one. 3. His renown. On account of professional eminence the king had dignified him with the title .Abi, "my father," which meant" master," in the sense that he was both master of his work and master of works for the king, as afterwards he is styled Solomon's father (eh. iv. 16), because he manufactured for i::lolo- mon the vessels for the house of the Lord. Compare Joseph's calling himself "a father," i.e. a. master or manager, "to Pharaoh" (Gen. xlv. 8). Learn : 1. The highest office of a. king-to promote the material, intellectual, and religious prosperity of his people. 2. The proper duty of friendship-to rejoice in the welfare, co-operate in the undertakings, and reciprocate the courtesies of others. 3. The noblest service of art-to consecrate its genius to the glory of God and the advance- ment of true religion.-W.