The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 102

Mamre, an Amorite chieftain, with two brothers, was confederate with Abraham (Gen. xiv. 13). (3) The Perizzites. Either highlanders or dwellers in the hills &nd woods of Palestine (Josephus), or rustics living in the open country and in villages, as opposed to the Canaanites, who occupied walled towns (Kalisch)-if they were not, rather, a tribe of w9:ndering nomads whose origin is lost in obscurity (Keil)-they were found by Abraham in the centre of Palestine (Gen. xiii. 7), a.ud by Joshua in Lower Galilee (Josh. xvii. 15). A trace of them has been found in the present village of Ferasin, north-west of Shechem (Conder,' Handbook to the Bible,' p. 235). (4) 'l'ho Hivites. Translated "villager" (Gesenius), or "midlander" (Ewald), the one of which renderings is as good as the other, since both are conjectural, the Hivite is first heard of in the t.ime of Jacob as a settler near Shechem (Gen. x.xxiv. 2), and afterwards in Joshua's day further south at Gibeon (Josh. ix. 1, 7), though Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh (Josh. xi. 3), and Mount Lebanon (Judg. iii. 3) were probably their principal abodes. (5) Jebusites. A primitive branch of the Cana.anites, who held the country round Jerusalem as far down as the time of David (2 Sam. v. 6, 7). At the period of the conquest their king was Adonibezek, or" Lord of righteousness" (Josh. x. 1). 2. Their condition. Practically bond-servants, paying tribute to Solomon, they had no part in the civil commonwealth or religious theocracy of Israel. They illustrate the relation in which the world's inhabitants stand to the Church. Those have no share in this ; yet to this, against their will, they pay tribute and render important service- compelled, not by Christians, but by the King of Christians, who maketh all things on earth subserve the Church according to the counsel of his will (Eph. i. 11, 22; Dan. vii. 14). 3. Their occupation. The working-class population of those days, the artisans and labourers, Solomon employed them in the construction of his temple, palaces, and cities, just as the Pharaohs of former times had employed the progenitors of his people in ma.king bricks and erecting store cities in the land of Ham (Exod. i. 11). It was the custom then and long after to subject prisoners of war and the populations of conquered territories to senile work. Thothmes III. of Egypt carried labourers captive to build the temple of his father Amon (Wilkinson, '.Ancient Egyptians,' i. 344: 1878). The employment of foreign captives in such tasks was an ancient practice in Egypt (Brugsch, ' Egypt,' etc., L 417). An inscription of Esa.rhaddon states that the custom prevailed in Assyria, he himself saying of his captives from forei?:ll lands, "I caused crowds of them to work in fetters in making brick" (' Records of the Past,' iii. 120). Not even Solomon, and far less the Pharaohs of Egypt or the kings of Assyria., were acquainted with the golden rule. IL lsRAELITEB. 1. Their ancestry. Descendants of the twelve tribes, whose heads were the sons of Israel, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, their ancestry was honoured as well as ancient. 2. Their industry. The warriors of the kingdom, they did the fighting needful for the empire's protection and extension. Judged by the Christian standard, war is always an evil and often a sin; but in certain stages of civilization it appears to be inevitable, if neither necessary nor excusable. 3. Their dignity. From them were chosen the officers of the king's army, the captains of his chariots and of his horsemen, the chiefs of his officers, and the superintendents of his workmen (1 Kin11:s ix. 22). LEssoNs. 1. The sin of slavery. 2. The dignity of labour. 3. The nobility of free men.-W. Ver. 11.-The C0'/1,SO'l't of a king. L THE QUEEN'S PERSON. The daughter of Pharaoh. As to which Pharaoh, see homily oo vers. 1-6. If the Song of Solomon was an epithalamium in honour of his wedding wi~h this lady, her personal at!ractions, after ma.king allowances for the rhapsody peculiar to a lover and the luxunance of fancy characteristic of an Oriental, must have been considerable (Cant. i. 8, 10; iv. 1-7; vii. 1-9). II. THE QUEEN'S OHARACTEB, A heathen. However charming externally, there is no reason why her inward graces may not have been attractive. Like Egyptian ladies of rank, she would probably be skil!ed in needlework, perhaps also in using the spindle and in weaving. But still sbe was not acquainted with the true religion, being a worshipper of the god Ra, and the 0ther divinities that claimed tbe homage of her C10untryrnen, rather than of Jehovah the one Jiving and true God, Physical loveliness mr. vm. 1-18.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 103