forth out of thy loins, he shall build the | house for my name. 10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel. 12 ¶ And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:" 13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, 14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no god like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts: 15 Thou which has kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, "There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. 17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. 18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? "behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: 20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest 4 Heb. the length thereof, &c. Psalm 132. 12. Chap. 2. 6. Or, be smitten. put thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place. 21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall "make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive. 22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; 23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteous ness. 24 And if thy people Israel 13be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; 25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. 26¶When the "heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; 27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inherit 5 Exod. 15. 11. 62 Sam. 7. 12. 1 Kings 2. 4; and 6. 12. Isa. 66. 1. Acts 7. 49. 10 Or, in this place. 11 Heb. pray, 14 Or, towards 151 Kings 17. 1. 16 Chap. 20. 9. 18 Or, toward this house. 7 Heb. There shall not a man be cut off. 12 Heb and he required an oath of him. 17 Heb. in the land of their gates. heart thou knowest; (for thou only "knowest the hearts of the children of men:) 20, 31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live "in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 32 Moreover concerning the stranger, "which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; 33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. 34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; 35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 36 If they sin against thee, (for there is "no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; 37 Yet if they "bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; 38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: 59 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. $8 40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 29 41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. 42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant. 21 Heb. upon the face of the land. 22 John 12. 20. Acts 8. 27. 24 Or, right. 25 Prov. 20. 9. Eccles. 7 20. James 3. 2. 1 John 1. 8. 7 Heb. bring back to their heart. 28 Or, right. 29 Heb. to the prayer of this place. 20 Psal. 132. 8. CHAPTER VII. prayer the pavement, and worshipped, and praised 1 God having given testimony to Solomon's 4 Then the king and all the people 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house. 3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon 5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 And the priests waited on their offices the Levites also with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. 7 Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burn offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat. 8 Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. mine ears attent "unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now have 12I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judg 9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feastments; seven days. 10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart, for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. 12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 8 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now "mine eyes shall be open, and 18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, 1314There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, "Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? 22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them. 5 Josh. 13. 3. 6 Heb. a restraint. 71 Kings 9. 1, &c. 8 Deut. 12. 5. Heb. upon whom my name is called. 10 Chap. 6. 40. 11 Heb. to the prayer of this place. 12 Chap. 66. 13 Chap. 6. 16. 14 Heb. There shall not be cut off to thee. 15 Levit, 26. 14. Deut. 28. 15. 16 Deut. 29. 24. Jer. 22. 8, 9. Verse 8. "The river of Egypt."—We have all along contended that this river was not the Nile; but that it must be understood of a river between the Nile and Gaza, and which formed the boundary line between the territories of the Hebrew and Egyptian kings. We also preferred the hypothesis which, after the Septuagint, fixes this river at or near Rhinocorura, the present El Arish. We have since been gratified in finding an unexpected corroboration of this view in a fact of Arabian history, which shows that, even at a period when the boundaries of ancient kingdoms in this quarter had become rather confounded by long subjection to the same power, El Arish was still considered the boundary point between Egypt and Palestine. The anecdote has never been quoted in evidence on this point; but we think its testimony very conclusive. When the Arabian general Amrou had completed the conquest of Palestine, and was about to proceed to Egypt, the khalif Omar sent him a conditional letter of recal from his command. The letter stated that if Amrou were already in Egypt, he was to remain there; but if still in Palestine, he was to hold himself recalled. Amrou, then on his march towards Egypt, was apprised of the contents of this letter before the messenger arrived; and when he came, ordered him to wait till he should have leisure to read the letter. "In the mean time he hastens his march, fully resolved not to open it till he came to the confines of Egypt. When he came to a place called Arish, having assembled the officers in his tent, he called for the messenger, and opened the letter with the same gravity and formality as if he had been altogether ignorant of its contents. Having read it, he told the company what was in it, and inquired of them whether the place where they then were belonged to Syria or to Egypt. They answered, ‘To Egypt. Then,' said Amrou, 'we will go on.'" (Ockley's Conquest of Syria,' p. 346.) CHAPTER VIII. 1 Solomon's buildings. 7 The Gentiles which were left Solomon made tributaries; but the Israelites rulers. 11 Pharaoh's daughter removeth to her house. 12 Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices. 14 He appointeth the priests and Levites to their places. 17 The navy fetcheth gold from Ophir. AND 'it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, 2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it. 4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. 5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6 And Baalath, and all the store cities 1 Kings9, 10, &c. that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion. 7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel, 8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to put of the children of Israel did Solopay tribute until this day. mon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horse men. 10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people. 11 ¶ And Solomon 'brought up the daugh1 Kings 3, 1, and 7.8. * Heb. all the desire of Solomon, which he desired to build. ter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto | required: the porters also by their courses the house that he had built for her: for he at every gate: for 'so had David the man of said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of God commanded. David king of Israel, because the places are 'holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come. 12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch, 13 Even after a certain rate every day offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feast, 'three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 14 ¶ And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the "courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day 15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures. 16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected. 17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber. and to "Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sca; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon. 6 Exod. 23. 14. Deut. 16. 16. Verse 4. "Tadmor in the wilderness."-In the Syrian desert there are the magnificent ruins of an ancient city, which made a conspicuous figure in ancient times under the name of Palmyra. This is not doubted to occupy the site of the Tadmor built by Solomon. The names Tadmor" and "Palmyra" equally refer to the palm-trees which grew there; and the former is at this day the only name by which the spot is known to the natives, although the palms have now disappeared. Major Rennel, in his work on the Comparative Geography of Western Asia,' enters into elaborate investigations with the view of determining the geographical site of Palmyra. His conclusions place it in N. lat. 34° 24', and E. long. 38° 20′, being 90 geographical miles from the nearest point (to the north) of the Euphrates; 102 miles from the nearest eastern point of the same river; and 109 miles E. by N. from Baalbec. It is situated on a small oasis in the midst of a vast desert of sand, in which there is no trace of any other than Arabian footsteps; and the existence of a most glorious city, thus isolated in the inhospitable waste, is one of those wonderful circumstances which require to be accounted for by other considerations than those which immediately appear. The spot where Palmyra stands enjoys the advantage of a good supply of wholesome water-a circumstance of such importance in a desert region, that to this doubtless we are to look for the first element of that importance and splendour at which Palmyra ultimately arrived. Through the desert in which it lies, the caravans which conveyed by land the produce of Eastern Asia, from the Persian Gulf and Babylon, to Phoenicia, Syria, and Asia Minor, must of necessity pass; and as to such caravans it is necessary to adopt the line of march in which water may be found, there can be no doubt that the advantages, in this respect, which Tadmor offered, rendered it, at a very remote period, a resting-place to the eastern caravans, in their route westward through the desert. This brings us to the most probable reason that can be found for the measure which Solomon took, of building a city in this remote and inhospitable region. We know that this enterprising king engrossed the maritime commerce which existed between the east and west by the channel of the Red Sea; and we are therefore justified in supposing, that, as his sovereignty extended to the Euphrates, and the caravans must needs therefore pass through his territories, he did not neglect the opportunity of obtaining benefit from the land trade between Eastern and Western Asia. From what we know of his character, it is improbable that this most profitable branch of trade should not attract his attention; and the fact of his building a city in such a place as Palmyra seems to furnish something like actual proof that his views were really directed towards it. Tadmor was doubtless a fortified city, which, while it enabled the king to hold this region in such complete occupation as to provent the passage of the trade without his concurrence, afforded every accommodation and convenience which the vast caravans could require, and every facility for those commercial transactions of which it must soon have become the seat under such circumstances. It would naturally soon cease to be a mere resting-place, and become an emporium for the land trade, where the. merchants of the east and west met each other, and transacted their exchanges and sales. What precise part Solomon took we cannot tell. He may have contented himself with levying dues and customs upon the commodities; or he may have required the further conduct of the trade to be left to the Hebrew merchants, who, in that case, probably bought up the goods, and resold them at a profit to the Phoenicians and others. But judging from the analogies we have in the horse trade with Egypt, it is more probable that the king himself, by his factors, bought up the commodities of the East, and re-sold them for his own emolument. Here certainly is a sufficient motive for the foundation of a city at Tadmor. It is however not unlikely that the Phoenicians were at the bottom of Solomon's commercial speculations. We may conceive that, as they were on the most friendly terms with him, and had rendered him great aid in his undertakings, they felt at liberty to suggest to him how greatly he might oblige them and enrich himself, by promoting and sharing in that Oriental commerce which they could not carry on without his assistance. The caravans of the East were probably principally directed to Tyre; and Hiram might easily show Solomon the benefit they might mutually derive from the establishment of a fortified town at Tadmor, for the protection of his own frontier, and for the safeguard of the caravans across the desert, in which they were then, as now, exposed to the assaults of the Bedouins. To this he might also be induced by the prospect of an intermediate participation in the trade, or of a right of custom on the goods carried across the desert. A most important evidence for the |