LXXVI THE ROYAL PALACE (I Kings vii: 1–12) And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was a hundred cubits,1 and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above over the forty and five beams, that were upon the pillars; fifteen in a row. And there were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks. And all the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks. And he made the porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them. And he made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. And his house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken to wife), like unto this porch. All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar1. See note on page 28. wood. And the great court round about had three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and the porch of the house. LXXVII THE VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA TO SOLOMON (I Kings x:1-13) And when the queen of Sheba1 heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Jehovah, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told2 her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent3 by which he went up into the house of Jehovah; there was no more spirit1 in her. And she said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half 1. A country on the shores of the Arabian Gulf, 1500 miles from Jerusalem. 2. Answered. 3. Sacrifices; some authorities, however, define the word as a passageway or bridge connecting the Temple and the Palace, which were separated by a ravine. 4. Doubt. was not told me; thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, that stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because Jehovah loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do justice and righteousness." And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents1 of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir,2 brought in from Ophir great plenty of almugtrees and precious stones. And the king made of the almug-trees pillars for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for the singers: there came no such almug-trees, nor were seen, unto this day. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants. LXXVIII SOLOMON'S RICHES AND WISDOM Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, besides that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mingled peo 1. A talent equals $1642.50. 2. Supposed to have been the southern or southeastern part of Arabia on the Persian gulf. 3. Thought to be sandal-wood trees. ple,1 and of the governors of the country. And king Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were stays2 on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate3 year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars 1. The people of Arabia. 2. Supports. 3. A sum agreed upon. made he to be as the sycomore-trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means. [In the latter part of Solomon's reign of forty years he forsook the worship of Jehovah and turned to foreign gods. As a punishment Jehovah told the King that upon his death Israel would be divided and only the kingship of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin given to Rehoboam, his son. After Solomon's death the kingdom, which had been getting unstable, became permanently divided, as had been decreed by Jehovah. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin were known as the kingdom of Judah, while the other ten tribes constituted the larger kingdom of Israel. Jerusalem was the seat of the government of Judah, and Samaria of the other kingdom. In spite of some hostility between the two kingdoms, they did not entirely lose sight of their common ancestry and religion. The kingdom of Israel, owing to its close contact with the surrounding nations, became more idolatrous than the sister kingdom. It was in these troublous times that there arose men called "prophets," independent preachers who boldly faced kings and people and sought, often with great success, to restore the true worship and to cure the kingdoms of the taint of idolatry. The first and greatest of these men was Elijah, who, living at the capital of the kingdom of Israel, Samaria, labored to convince King Ahab and his wicked queen, Jezebel, of the necessity of returning to the true God.] |