The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 108

by historians (see, among many others, bounty, "besicle" all that belonged ns nn Herod., iii. 113; Diod., iii. 46; Strabo, xvi. 4, equiveJent for "what she had brought." § J 9). Much of a.II this so-termed giving was She got so much sheer gift, beside nil that, e,idently matter of exchange, The queen acco1·ding to the then Eastern custom, was got, qnid pro quo, while ver. 13 of the parallel her due. (1 Kings x.) seems t.o speak of the other Ver. 14.-Beside, eto. The preposition trner gi,ing. m) left both here and in the parallel, Ver~. 10, 11.-Either these two verses are before the words "men of," eto., in the oom- misplaced (with their parallel, 1 King.a x. 11, pound English word ohapmen (Authorized 12), or they ought to have, though unstated, Version), shows clearly the construction of some occult bearing on the queen. There this and the following sentence; from the are snme slight indications pointing to this, previous verse needs to coma the words, after and the meauing is perhaps that the terraces, our "beside," "the weight of gold whioh balustrades, stairs (which possibly is the came," etc. This gold probably came by idea in the "asc.ent," ver. 4), pillars, etc., way of tax payments from the merchant made of the wood which Hira.m's e.nd Solo- travellers, and as tribute money from the mon's servants had formerly brought with kiugs of the part of Arabie. where the blood gold, were the artificial-work wonders which was mingled, Jewish and Arabian, and not helped to astound the queen. Terraoes to exclusively and indepllndently Arabian (see the house of the Lord, and to the king's the word used in place of our Arabian in palaoe. These so rendered terraces were the parallel, and Jer. xxv. 24), and from probably stairs, and, e.s already intimated, those governors(perhe.ps in some cases super- may have composed the "a.scent" (ver. 4), seding older kings) of adjacent countries, and explain the mention of it in ver. 4. The that had become in some part tributary to algum trees. This is the Hebrew text order Solomon. Governors. For this unusual and of the lamed and gimel alphabet characters, un-Hebrewword (nin~), see Ezra v. 6; Hag. as the Authorized Version order in the i 1; Neh. v. 14. Gesenius mentions Turkish, parallel almug is also the order of its Persian, and Sansc'rit derivations that would Hebrew. The tree is mentioned only six well suit it. It is very noticeable that it is times-three times in Chronicles ( eh. ii. 8; employed also by the writer of Kings. It is ix. 10, 11) and three times in Kings (l Kings used of a ruler in the Assyrian empire (2 x.. 11, 12). Apparently this wood did grow Kings :xviii. 24 ; Isa. xxxvi. 9), in the Chnl- in Lebo.non (eh. ii. 8), though we think this dean (Ezek. xxiii. 6, 23 ; J er. li. 23), in the not certain. Kimchi thinks it was the buk- Persian (Esth. viii. 9; ix. 3), specially of kum (Arabic word), which Europeans call the Persian governor of Judrea (Hag. i. 1, Brazil wood, and which (Keil) was found in 14; ii. 2, 21; N eh. v. 14, 18 ; xii. 26; Mai. Ethiopia, as well as India. Some think it i. 8); while Gesenius reads this passage in the sandal-wood of Malabe.r. Whatever it onr present text and its parallel, to speak was, it no doubt was to be purchased at the of governors of Juda:,a (the country). See emporium of Ophir. The intrinsic nature also l Kings xx. 24, where the word is trans- of the wood, and its intrinsica.lly valuable lated (Authorized Version) '' captains," and nature, may easily be inferred from its use is in the Syrian king's mouth. The word for the woodwork and sounding-board wood- is not used before Kings. It is used hy the work of mnsica.l instruments like the harp writer of Kings three times; of Chronicles, and psaltery. This fact would much incline once; by Ezra, six times; in Nehemiah, to the view that the red sandal-wood is what eight times ; in Esther, three times ; in is here called e.lgum. The 'Speaker's Com- Daniel, four times; and in the remaining mentary' quotes Max Muller(' Lectures on prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, Lan 00 uage,' 1st series, p. 191) for the state- Malachi, ten times in all. The Authorized ment that the vernacular for this wood in Version out of the whole number of these India is valguka. Harps . . . psalteries (see occurre~ces of the word, has rendered it our Exposition on eh. v. 12, and articles in "ca.ptains"thirteen times;'' deputies," twice; Smith's •Dictionary of the Bible,' and others. and "governors," twenty times. The senrence, there were none such seen in Vera. 15, 16.-Targets ... shields. The the land of Judah, may be read as an indica,. Authorized Version" target" is unfortunate, tion that they had been pa.rt of the exhibition though it may with somewhat grim truth made to the Queen of Sheba. represent fact. It was a very large solid Ver. 12.-Beside that whioh she had shield, originally made of some common brought unto the king. The parallel 1:ias material as basketwork or wood, and covered not this obscure clalll!e but has, "beside with 1ei:ther; these with a plate of gold. that which Solomon ga~e her of his royal The absence of the word "shekel" in each bounty." Professor Dr. Murphy explains our clause, both here and in Kings, leaves it open olallile fUi purporting to say this: Solomon to us to suppose thnt the belia, or half· gave 1111 the queen's desire in the way of shekel, may be the right word. Now, the en. 1x. 1-31.J THE SECOND IlOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 10!)