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were undersetters molten, at the side of every | the chapiters that were on the top of the addition.

31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.

32 And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten.

34 And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself.

35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.

36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the "proportion of every one, and additions round about.

37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.

38 Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.

39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.

40 ¶ And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the

LORD:

41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of

two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;

42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were "upon the pillars;

43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;

44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;

45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of "bright brass.

46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, "in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many neither was the weight of the brass "found out.

48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was,

49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,

50 And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the "censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

51 So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the "things "which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

15 Heb. in the base. 17 Heb. nakedness. 18 Heb. shoulder. 19 Heb. upon the face of the pillars. 20 Heb. made bright, or scoured. 21 Heb, in the thickness of the ground. Heb. for the exceeding multitude. 23 Heb. searched. 24 Heb. ash-pans.

25 Heb. holy things of David. 252 Chron. 5. 1.

Verse 2. "The house of the forest of Lebanon."-Not that this house was in Mount Lebanon, but apparently so termed because of the great number of cedar trees employed in its construction, or perhaps with a particular reference to the large number of cedar columns, which might, not inaptly, be compared to a forest of cedars. It is not very clear whether this was Solomon's palace in Jerusalem, or a sort of country residence at no great distance from the city. Josephus seems to understand the former, and the Targum the latter. The idea to be formed of this palace is probably that the house of the forest of Lebanon, the house wherein the king dwelt, and the house of Pharaoh's daughter, were only different parts of the same large building. This is the notion of Lamy; and as it agrees well with the arrangement exhibited in Oriental palaces, we are disposed to concur in it. According to this view, the palace stood in the centre of a large oblong square, against the enclosing walls of which were built the necessary offices and apartments of the officers of the court. The palace itself was also, on the whole, an oblong mass, consisting of two hollow squares, one on each side of a great central oblong hall and portico. This central hall, one hundred cubits long by fifty broad, was perhaps, in a

more particular sense, the house of the forest of Lebanon, on account of the forty-five cedar pillars which supported its ceiling of cedar. This would seem to have been the grand royal hall of the palace. In front of this hall was the grand porch of judgment, the particular mention of which illustrates the ideas given in a note to 2 Sam. xv., and is obviously analogous to the gate of judgment of the Alhambra at Granada. This central porch and great hall seem to have been devoted to public affairs. On the right is the king's house, being a square court surrounded on all sides by a colonnade in front of the buildings which compose the house, except on the side next the wall, where there are no buildings, but only the colonnade. On the other side of the great hall was a nearly similar house for Pharaoh's daughter, or, in other words, the haram or house for that princess and her female establishment; both the explanation of the text and Lamy's idea founded on it, being in strict accordance with existing usages, under which the females, both in royal and private establishments, occupy a building quite distinct from that of the men. In reality, this division of a mansion into three parts, one for the public, a second for the male part of the family, and a third for the females, still prevails in the East, where a mansion consists of what we should consider two or three houses, distinct, but adjoining and connected by doors and passages. It might be difficult to substantiate from the text every detail in this account; but we think that, as a probable approximation, it will be found as good an illustration as can be given of the indications which the text affords.

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10." Stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits."-These stones being called "great," as indeed they were, lead us to suppose that those similarly denominated in chap. v. 17 (see the note there), may have been about the same size. Josephus, speaking of the present stones, observes that some parts of the fabric were built of stones of ten cubits, the walls being wainscoted with sawn slabs of great value-"such as are dug out of the earth for the ornament of temples and palaces, and which make famous the quarries from which they are taken." Many of the stones in the existing walls of Jerusalem are fifteen or sixteen feet long, by four high and four deep; and it is remarkable that these dimensions, as to length, correspond to those given in the text.

12. "For the inner court of the house of the Lord."-The description refers to Solomon's palace, not to the Temple: we may therefore either conclude, with Boothroyd, that the name of the Lord has been erroneously introduced by some copyist; or else that comparison only is to be understood, and that we should read-"like the inner court of the Lord's house." We prefer the last explanation, as it only requires the change of a single letter, for, in the word which

ולחצר—now stands

14. "His father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass."-Thus it would seem that there were not among the Hebrews any who could undertake the ornamental finishings of the Temple and the palace-particularly in metal. It is indeed doubtful whether Solomon could have completed his famous works without foreign assistance. Yet it will be recollected that when the Israelites had recently left Egypt, there were men quite competent to undertake the various rich and finished works in jewellery and metal, which were required for the tabernacle-such as the pillars, the rich curtains the ark with its hovering cherubs, the altars, the candelabrum, the table of shew-bread, and the priestly dress with its jewelled ornaments. It would indeed have been strange, if, in so large a host fresh from Egypt, some few had not been found who were skilled in the arts of that country; but from the present circumstance it would seem that the skill brought from Egypt had not been preserved. Nor is this wonderful, when we consider that the Israelites, as an agricultural and pastoral people, frequently under the oppression of their neighbours, and engaged in continual wars, were not in a state favourable to the cultivation, or even to the preservation of the arts of luxury and ornament. The fame of the Phoenicians for their skill in such arts has already been explained in the note to Josh. xix. 28.

16. "Five cubits."-"Three cubits" in 2 Kings xxv. 17. Perhaps they were abridged in the subsequent repairs of the Temple. We have mentioned these pillars in the general description of the Temple. They must have been very valuable, as well from their material as workmanship, since Nebuchadnezzar thought it worth while to transport them to Babylon. The English reader may be disposed to feel some surprise to discover brass so profusely employed in the most splendid ancient works, considering the comparatively low value it now bears. But we are to recollect that the

denomination "brass" comprehended copper and all metals compounded with copper, some of which were obtained with great labour and expense, and were in consequence highly valued. It is impossible to say what quality of brass is intended when that metal is merely named; but there were certainly some kinds considered much more precious than silver. This appears from the remark of Homer upon the exchange which Glaucus made of his golden armour for the brazen arinour of Diomede:

"Then Jove so blinded Glaucus, that for brass

He barter'd gold: gave armour such as cost

A hundred oxen for the cost of nine."-CowPER.

It thus appears that, at the time of the Trojan war, the value of gold compared with brass was but one hundred to nine. At present, silver does not bear near so high a relative value to gold as this. The calculation indeed supposes that the armour of each was of nearly equal weight, which, as they belonged to men of equal strength, seems not an unreasonable supposition.

21. "Jachin... Boaz."-The two names together form a kind of sentence, as the marginal interpretation reads; or it may be otherwise rendered-Jachin, it shall stand-Boaz, in strength. There have been various mystical speculations about these pillars and their names. The authors of the Universal History offer the conjecture that there was perhaps an inscription upon the base of each pillar, and that the names were respectively taken from the word with which each of the inscriptions commenced, according to the practice to which we have had several occasions to refer, several of the Old Testament books being denominated from the initial word. This conjecture is at least ingenious.

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44

FOUNTAIN OF LIONS IN THE ALHAMBRA.

23. Molten sea."-We have already had occasion to observe that the Hebrews called all large collections of water," seas," of which the present is a striking instance. There have been various representations of this famous ressel, most of them distinguished rather for elegance of taste than for conformity to the text. Whatever be its agreement with the Scripture, no objection from elegance of taste can apply to the explanation of the Rabbins, who conceive that the vessel was round for the two upper cubits of its height, and square below. This seems to have been devised for

the purpose of giving a greater capacity to the sea, and also as somewhat sanctioned by the statement that the twelve oxen faced, by threes, the cardinal points of the compass. This representation of the brazen sea is not however generally received, and we have given one which seems as fair an approximation as the statements in the text enable us to form. We need not repeat the particulars given in the text, which are sufficiently clear, as far as they go; but may add, that Josephus (a better authority in such points than the Rabbins) says that the vessel was hemi-spherical, its bottom resting on a pillar a cubit in diameter, and on the hinder parts of the twelve oxen.

The present text says that it contained 2000 baths, which is about 16,000 gallons; but in Chronicles iv. 5, which is followed by Josephus, 3000 is the number given. Some suppose one of these texts corrupted, while others endeavour to account for the discrepancy by a difference of measures, or by relative explanations-such as that of some of the Rabbins, who suppose that the basin or cup could contain 3000 baths, but usually contained only 2000; or that of Calmet, who concludes that the cup held 2000, and the base or foot 1000 more, making together the three thousand. Most of the Jewish writers say that it was supplied with water by a pipe from the well Etam, which seems more probable than that, as others say, the Gibeonites performed the duty of keeping it full. It was kept continually flowing, according to the same accounts, there being spouts which discharged for use from the basin, as much water as it received from the well Etam. As most, if not all, the Jewish ablutions were performed in running water, this is highly probable; and we may suppose that the priests performed their ablutions at these flowing streams. This, indeed, the Jews say, with respect to ordinary ablutions, but they add, that in complete ablutions of the whole person, the priests got into the basin, and to prevent their being drowned, was the reason that it never contained more than 2000 baths, according to the above-mentioned interpretation. Every one will see the absurdity of this notion. When a complete ablution was necessary, the priest could stand under the running streams, or bathe in the hollow base which received the discharged water, and which also must have had an outlet. It is not clear whence the streams were discharged; but it may have been from the mouths of the oxen, or, as some conceive, from embossed heads, in the sides of the vessel. We give a cut of the Fountain of the Lions in the Moorish palace, the Alhambra, at Granada. It is interesting as exemplifying the same principle of construction, and may therefore be taken to explain some points in the description of the present vessel. Indeed, it is said to have been made in professed imitation of Solomon's brazen sea. It stands in a handsome square court, which is paved with marble, and surrounded with a fine colonnade of white marble pillars. This is called the Court of the Lions. The fountain from which it receives this name consists of a basin of white marble, six feet in diameter, and resting on twelve rather mis-shapen lions-or, more correctly, it rests on pillars, with which the hinder parts of the animals are connected, and through which the water enters their bodies, and is discharged from their mouths. That Solomon's oxen served the same purpose, and were connected in the same manner with the basin, is not improbable. It should be observed, that within the basin we have noticed, there is another, which is properly the fountain, and supplies water to the larger. If there were something like this in Solomon's brazen sea, we could easily reconcile the difference between 2000 and 3000 baths, by supposing that the former expressed the contents of the inner cup, and the latter the entire quantity which both the inner and outer cups contained. Speaking of this famous fountain, Swinburne says, "While the pipes were in good order, a great volume of water was thrown up that, thrown down into the basins, passed through the beasts, and issued out of their mouths into a large reservoir, where it communicated by canals with jets-d'eau in the apartments. The fountain is embellished with many festoons and Arabic distichs."

38. "Ten lavers of brass."-For observations on these, and some other particulars, see 1 Chron. iv. 48. "The altar of gold.”—The altar of incense.

49. "Candlesticks of pure gold."-Concerning their form we have no information. Probably they were on the model of that which had been in the Tabernacle, and which formerly engaged our attention. Now, instead of one laver, one table, and one candlestick, there are ten of each. What became of the old ones is uncertain. The Jews think they were all preserved and occupied the places of honour in the new Temple.

CHAPTER VIII.

62

1 The feast of the dedication of the temple. 12, 14
Solomon's blessing. 22 Solomon's prayer.
His sacrifice of peace offerings.
THEN 'Solomon assembled the elders of Is-
rael, and all the heads of the tribes, the
'chief of the fathers of the children of Israel,
unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they
might bring up the ark of the covenant of
the LORD out of the city of David, which is
Zion.

2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

tion, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.

7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves

3 And all the elders of Israel came, and thereof above. the priests took up the ark.

4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congrega

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8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the 'holy place before the oracle, and they were not

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seen without: and there they are unto this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark 'save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, "when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud 'filled the house of the LORD,

11 So that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

12¶ Then spake Solomon, The LORD 'said that he would dwell in the thick dark

ness.

13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood :)

15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose 'David to be over my people Israel. 17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the

congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

23 And he said, "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:

24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, 12 13There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel: "so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before mc.

26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, "My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make "toward this place.

30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray "toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:

32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee "in this house:

Deut. 10. 5. 6 Or, where. 7 Exod. 40. 34. 82 Chron. 6. 1. 92 Sam. 7. 8. 10 2 Chron 6. 12. Chap. 2. 4. 2 Sam. 7.12. 13 Heb. There shall not be cut off unto thee a man from my sight. 14 Heb. only if. 16 Or, in this place. 17 Or, in this place. 18 Heb, and he require an oath of him. 19 Or, towards.

119 Mac. 2 8.
15 Deut. 12 1..

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