--- title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible" author: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown" languages: [en] shelf: "Commentaries" section: 109 of 927 url: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/109/ cite: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, section 109. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/109/" --- # Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible *Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown* The Victorian standard commentary, critical and practical, from Genesis to Revelation. ## 109. 1 Kings · 3 of 9 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/109/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/109/#p-N [¶0] 7. Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel--The royal revenues were raised according to the ancient, and still, in many parts, existing usage of the East, not in money payments, but in the produce of the soil. There would be always a considerable difficulty in the collection and transmission of these tithes ([1Sa 8:15]). Therefore, to facilitate the work, Solomon appointed twelve officers, who had each the charge of a tribe or particular district of country, from which, in monthly rotation, the supplies for the maintenance of the king's household were drawn, having first been deposited in "the store cities" which were erected for their reception ([1Ki 9:19]; [2Ch 8:4], ). [¶1] 8. The son of Hur--or, as the Margin has it, Benhur, Bendekar. In the rural parts of Syria, and among the Arabs, it is still common to designate persons not by their own names, but as the sons of their fathers. [¶2] 21. Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river--All the petty kingdoms between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean were tributary to him. Similar is the statement in [1Ki 4:24]. [¶3] 22-23. Solomon's provision for one day--not for the king's table only, but for all connected with the court, including, besides the royal establishment, those of his royal consorts, his principal officers, his bodyguards, his foreign visitors, &c. The quantity of fine floor used is estimated at two hundred forty bushels; that of meal or common flour at four hundred eighty. The number of cattle required for consumption, besides poultry and several kinds of game (which were abundant on the mountains) did not exceed in proportion what is needed in other courts of the East. [¶4] 24. from Tiphsah--that is, Thapsacus, a large and flourishing town on the west bank of the Euphrates, the name of which was derived from a celebrated ford near it, the lowest on that river. [¶5] even to Azzah--that is, Gaza, on the southwestern extremity, not far from the Mediterranean. [¶6] 25. every man under his vine and ... fig tree--This is a common and beautiful metaphor for peace and security ([Mi 4:4]; [Zec 3:10]), founded on the practice, still common in modern Syria, of training these fruit trees up the walls and stairs of houses, so as to make a shady arbor, beneath which the people sit and relax. [¶7] 26. forty thousand stalls--for the royal mews (see on [2Ch 9:25]). [¶8] 28. Barley ... and straw--Straw is not used for litter, but barley mixed with chopped straw is the usual fodder of horses. [¶9] dromedaries--one-humped camels, distinguished for their great fleetness. [¶10] [1Ki 4:29-34]. His Wisdom. [¶11] 29. God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart--that is, high powers of mind, great capacity for receieving, as well as aptitude for communicating knowledge. [¶12] 30. Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country--that is, the Arabians, Chaldeans, and Persians ([Ge 25:6]). [¶13] all the wisdom of Egypt--Egypt was renowned as the seat of learning and sciences, and the existing monuments, which so clearly describe the ancient state of society and the arts, show the high culture of the Egyptian people. [¶14] 31. wiser than all men--that is, all his contemporaries, either at home or abroad. [¶15] than Ethan--or Jeduthun, of the family of Merari ([1Ch 6:44]). [¶16] Heman--([1Ch 15:17-19])--the chief of the temple musicians and the king's seers ([1Ch 25:5]); the other two are not known. [¶17] the sons of Mahol--either another name for Zerah ([1Ch 2:6]); or taking it as a common noun, signifying a dance, a chorus, "the sons of Mahol" signify persons eminently skilled in poetry and music. [¶18] 32. he spake three thousand proverbs--embodying his moral sentiments and sage observations on human life and character. [¶19] songs ... a thousand and five--Psalm 72, 127, 132, and the Song of Songs are his. [¶20] 33. he spake of trees, from the cedar ... to the hyssop--all plants, from the greatest to the least. The Spirit of God has seen fit to preserve comparatively few memorials of the fruits of his gigantic mind. The greater part of those here ascribed to him have long since fallen a prey to the ravages of time, or perished in the Babylonish captivity, probably because they were not inspired. ### Chapter 5 [¶22] [1Ki 5:1-6]. Hiram Sends to Congratulate Solomon. [¶23] 1. Hiram ... sent his servants unto Solomon--the grandson of David's contemporary [Kitto]; or the same Hiram [Winer and others]. The friendly relations which the king of Tyre had cultivated with David are here seen renewed with his son and successor, by a message of condolence as well as of congratulation on his accession to the throne of Israel. The alliance between the two nations had been mutually beneficial by the encouragement of useful traffic. Israel, being agricultural, furnished corn and oil, while the Tyrians, who were a commercial people, gave in exchange their Phoenician manufactures, as well as the produce of foreign lands. A special treaty was now entered into in furtherance of that undertaking which was the great work of Solomon's splendid and peaceful reign. [¶24] 6. command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon--Nowhere else could Solomon have procured materials for the woodwork of his contemplated building. The forests of Lebanon, adjoining the seas in Solomon's time, belonged to the Phoenicians, and the timber being a lucrative branch of their exports, immense numbers of workmen were constantly employed in the felling of trees as well as the transportation and preparation of the wood. Hiram stipulated to furnish Solomon with as large a quantity of cedars and cypresses as he might require and it was a great additional obligation that he engaged to render the important service of having it brought down, probably by the Dog river, to the seaside, and conveyed along the coast in floats; that is, the logs being bound together, to the harbor of Joppa ([2Ch 2:16]), whence they could easily find the means of transport to Jerusalem. [¶25] my servants shall be with thy servants--The operations were to be on so extensive a scale that the Tyrians alone would be insufficient. A division of labor was necessary, and while the former would do the work that required skilful artisans, Solomon engaged to supply the laborers. [¶26] [1Ki 5:7-12]. Furnishes Timber to Build the Temple. [¶27] 7. Blessed be the Lord--This language is no decisive evidence that Hiram was a worshipper of the true God, as he might use it only on the polytheistic principle of acknowledging Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews (see on [2Ch 2:11]). [¶28] 8. Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things ... and I will do--The contract was drawn out formally in a written document ([2Ch 2:11]), which, according to Josephus, was preserved both in the Jewish and Tyrian records. [¶29] 10. fir trees--rather, the cypress. [¶30] 11. food to his household--This was an annual supply for the palace, different from that mentioned in [2Ch 2:10], which was for the workmen in the forests. [¶31] [1Ki 5:13-18]. Solomon's Workmen and Laborers. [¶32] 13. Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel--The renewed notice of Solomon's divine gift of wisdom ([1Ki 5:12]) is evidently introduced to prepare for this record of the strong but prudent measures he took towards the accomplishment of his work. So great a stretch of arbitrary power as is implied in this compulsory levy would have raised great discontent, if not opposition, had not his wise arrangement of letting the laborers remain at home two months out of three, added to the sacredness of the work, reconciled the people to this forced labor. The carrying of burdens and the irksome work of excavating the quarries was assigned to the remnant of the Canaanites ([1Ki 9:20]; [2Ch 8:7-9]) and war prisoners made by David--amounting to 153,600. The employment of persons of that condition in Eastern countries for carrying on any public work, would make this part of the arrangements the less thought of. [¶33] 17. brought great stones--The stone of Lebanon is "hard, calcareous, whitish and sonorous, like free stone" [Shaw]. The same white and beautiful stone can be obtained in every part of Syria and Palestine. [¶34] hewed stones--or neatly polished, as the Hebrew word signifies ([Ex 20:25]). Both Jewish and Tyrian builders were employed in hewing these great stones. [¶35] 18. and the stone squarers--The Margin, which renders it "the Giblites" ([Jos 13:5]), has long been considered a preferable translation. This marginal translation also must yield to another which has lately been proposed, by a slight change in the Hebrew text, and which would be rendered thus: "Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders, did hew them and bevel them" [Thenius]. These great bevelled or grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were those originally employed "to lay the foundation of the house." ### Chapter 6 [¶37] [1Ki 6:1-4]. The Building of Solomon's Temple. [¶38] 2. the house which king Solomon built for the Lord--The dimensions are given in cubits, which are to be reckoned according to the early standard ([2Ch 3:3]), or holy cubit ([Eze 40:5]; ), a handbreadth longer than the common or later one. It is probable that the internal elevation only is here stated. [¶39] 3. the porch--or portico, extended across the whole front (see on [2Ch 3:4]). [¶40] 4. windows of narrow lights--that is, windows with lattices, capable of being shut and opened at pleasure, partly to let out the vapor of the lamps, the smoke of the frankincense, and partly to give light [Keil]. [¶41] [1Ki 6:5-10]. The Chambers Thereof. [¶42] 5. against the wall of the house he built chambers--On three sides, there were chambers in three stories, each story wider than the one beneath it, as the walls were narrowed or made thinner as they ascended, by a rebate being made, on which the beams of the side floor rested, without penetrating the wall. These chambers were approached from the right-hand side, in the interior of the under story, by a winding staircase of stone, which led to the middle and upper stories. [¶43] 7. there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building--A subterranean quarry has been very recently discovered near Jerusalem, where the temple stones are supposed to have been hewn. There is unequivocal evidence in this quarry that the stones were dressed there; for there are blocks very similar in size, as well as of the same kind of stone, as those found in the ancient remains. Thence, probably, they would be moved on rollers down the Tyropean valley to the very side of the temple [Porter, Tent and Kahn]. [¶44] 9-10. built the house--The temple is here distinguished from the wings or chambers attached to it--and its roofing was of cedar-wood.