such districts of country as abounded in plants of a similar description. We are so used to consider tall and substantial trees, as necessary to compose a wood, that we know not how to include in that description the marsh plants, and those of lesser stem. Nevertheless, this battle was fought in a marshy district; where, after the first shock between the two armies, those who were repulsed, got entangled in the marsh, and being unable to escape from it, they perished in it. Some perhaps sunk at once, others died after a time; but many perished through ignorance of the paths and passages: as might easily be the case in the event of a battle on one of the great bogs in Ireland. This is not inconsistent with the size of the oak; a great oak, whereon Absalom was hanged; as both trees and plants may flourish on moist ground; or at different places in the same forest. CHAPTER XXI. VERSE 20. A man of stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number. The number of this man's fingers and toes is extraordinary, and more extraordinary still, if he was, as our translation adds, a man of great stature. It is usually among dwarfs, rather than giants, that nature produces such superfluities of members. Our Philosophical Transactions record several wonders of nature, not less remarkable than this, though I have not happened to note any of this very kind. Ob; was Ob really his father's name? perhaps not: Ob signifying a large skin bottle, say a cask, it describes his great size, son of bulk, son of great magnitude: son is often taken in this sense in Hebrew. Such a man is not unlikely to have been " son of Haraphah," the national champion; or educated in the military art by him. Saph was the second son, or scholar of Haraphah. Goliath of Gath, was the third son of Haraphah. In order to take off the reference of this Goliath, to him whom David slew, our translators have made him his brother, contrary to the text; the probability is, that this was either the name of this warrior's trade, or of his family. I think it clear, that these Philistines were killed at different times, and at considerable intervals of years; which renders it unlikely that they should all be sons of one person. If the reader can form a better hypothesis than the above, he is freely welcome. The history, at present, seems to need further eclaircissement. CHAPTER XXIII. VERSE 10. THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID. It appears to me, that this ode is not happily represented in our version; a little trouble, with some consideration, may assist in relieving it from several defects, and the reader, it is hoped, will excuse the attempt. On looking to Exod. xxiv, with the plate, the reader will find at the close of that article, an endeavour to illustrate the passage, Deut. xxxiii. 3. haps we shall err but little, if we connect the same wherein Jehovah is compared to the rising sun. Peridea with the sentiments of this ode; but then this ode rather refers to the brightness of the morning, illuminated by the solar rays, than like the simile of Moses, to the sun itself. The grass, to which the thorns are the kutj, plants mentioned, Gen. iii. 18. poet alludes, is desha, green growing grass; and the These are all articles of natural philosophy, and ing this poem, we should endeavour to conceive of an therefore these appertain to our plan. In considerEastern morning, and the effect of a morning shower on vegetables, in the East. The reader will be surprised, perhaps, should this supposed giant be reduced to a dwarf; and yet the natural import of the Hebrew words leads to that idea of him: for, as "days of number," are few, Job xvi. 22. and "men of number," are few, Deut. xxxiii. 6. so "men of measure" are dwarfs, Isai. xlv. 14. The words there, however, are anushi, maduh, inferior men of measures; but here they are, aish madin, a superior man of measures; nevertheless, the idiom seems to denote rather a chief by birth, or office, than a noble personage, by stature. That dwarfs may be valiant, needs no proof; but if any be wanting, witness" Uladislaus Cubitatis, king of Poland, A.D. 1306, who fought more battles and obtained more victories than any of his long shanked DAVID, the son of Jesse, saith, predecessors. Nullam virtus respuit staturam." Others might be selected. "Now these are the last words of David. The man raised to dignity, The anointed of the God of Jacob, The ruler among men, the JUST, But the difficulty of the passage lies in the observation, that the four champions mentioned in the verses 16 to 22. were ALL Sons to the GIANT, i.e. to one person. The word haraphah, rendered giant, To me doth the ROCK of Israel speak, signifies, so far as I can find, weakness, &c. and is taken, by a metonomy, or change of import, for a terrifier, one who weakens another by terrifying him. I suspect, therefore, that this word does not describe a giant in stature, but some public champion among the Philistines, a kind of officer, whose duty was connected with the army. This is conjecture only; but, 1st, This is not the word for giant elsewhere. 2dly, The first of these champions was Ishbi, son of I even like the light of the morning at sunrise, Of light showers, favouring the TENDER GRASS on the earth! In like manner, is it not all my salvation, and all my delight? Like as thorns to be weeded up are they all, seat. He who sat in the seat, the Tachmonite," &c. The comparison of the royal poet appears to be of his own family, to the growing vegetable, favoured by prolific showers, &c. contrasted with wicked thorns, which are only to be destroyed and burned. The reader will observe a slight transposition, for the sake of the English metre, in the twelfth line, which literally stands thus: A morning, without glooms, of splendour! CHAPTER IV. VERSES 22, 23. and in the concluding words, rendered in our public version, "in the same place ;" but introduced, it is presumed, more correctly in the following phrase: for these words, if referred to the thorns, are of no avail, or propriety; but, as they are here placed, they form a part of the title of the following matter, which is not complete without them. It is very true, that we should always be cautious in transpositions, and conjectures: to indulge such disposition is dangerous: but on the other hand, to refuse the assistance which it sometimes affords, especially in poetry, is to cramp the English language into confusion for the sake of preserving an order of Hebrew words, to which not even the Massorites themselves could possibly attach either mystery or meaning. I. KINGS. Solomon's provision for one day, was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, an hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl. The reckoning of provisions as expenses is customary in the East, where every thing is not as among ourselves referred to the standard of money. Solomon's provision reduced to yearly expenses, makes, of fine flour, nearly 11,000 measures; of meal, nearly 22,000 measures; oxen, nearly 11,000; sheep, 36,500. [Vide FRAGMENT, No. 27.] The particulars of this provision are: thirty cors of, 1st, Fine flour, selat. This probably means sifted flour, bolted flour, or flour of wheat: while, 2dly, Kemach, MEAL, means a coarser kind of wheaten flour, or a meal of some other corn, oats, or barley, for instance: this no doubt was for persons of inferior rank, who were fed from the table, i.e. the provision of Solomon. Scheuzer seems to think that the fine flour was used in pastry, sweet cakes, and other delicacies, observing from Martial, lib. xiii. Nec dotes poteris simile numerare, nec usus, "The uses to which bakers and cooks apply fine flour, are innumerable." It must be owned, that the pastry expenses of some of the Roman emperors, were beyond belief; and we find, so early as the days of Joseph, Gen. xl. 2. that Pharaoh had his chief baker, who, no doubt, had others under him in the kitchen establishment. 13 VOL. IV. 3dly, FAT oxen, bakar beraim. Oxen fatted in the house, stalled oxen; or rather young bulls, for mutilated oxen were forbidden among the Hebrews; the seven fat cows which Pharaoh saw in his dream, Gen. xli. 2. are described as beriath, fatted, carefully fatted; which word is the feminine of that in our text. 4thly, OXEN out of the pastures, bakar roi; bullocks fed in rich pastures, but not stalled. We read, Prov. xv. 17. "better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a sumptuous dinner on a stalled ox, and hatred therewith:" and, Matth. xxii. 4. the king says, "my oxen and my fatlings [stalled?] are killed." The stalled ox seems to take the preference over all kinds of provisions. In Homer we find the same; and many are the fat oxen which his heroes consume. 5thly, Sheep, tjon. 6thly, Harts, ail. See on Gen. xlix. 21. plate. 7thly, Roebucks, tjebi. The roebuck is an inhabitant of cold climates; and therefore is not likely to have formed part of the daily provisions of Solomon's table: the true animal is the gazelle or antelope, which abounds in hot climates, which is chased with great avidity, for the sake of its flesh, and is indeed the venison of the country. There are many kinds of gazelles: that particular species, in Scripture called the tjebi, requires ascertaining. See on Deut. xiv. 4. Nos. 5, 8. 8thly, Fallow deer, iachmur. See on Deut. xiv. 4. No. 6. 9thly, Fatted fowl, barbarim abusim. There is some difficulty in these words. Barbarim seems, at first sight, to refer to a country, Barbary, as our Turkey does to Turkey in the East, yet we have no authority for saying, that the country we now call Barbary, was known so early under this name, or that it furnished these fowls. It seems better to refer the word to the root, bar, signifying a free open place, a place for wandering in: whence Barbary, a country of wanderers, and therefore barbar, a wild, roaming country; a desert; and so we read in the Chaldee, Dan. ii. 38. wild beasts, i.e. beasts of a wild country, or nature, chiuth bara; a wild bull, tur bar; and others. If this be just, our phrase of wild fowl, would answer exactly to that in the text: we have already had wild animals, as the tjebi, and iachmur, and that fowl, as an article of provision, should be wholly omitted, is hardly supposable. We, however, usually make a distinction between fowl cooped up for fatting, and those not cooped up, barn door fowl: how far this applies to Eastern management I do not know. Our version, in rendering "fatted fowl," follows the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate nevertheless, the weight of evidence seems to preponderate in favour of fowl not cooped up for fatting; but roaming at liberty, whether of the domestic or wild kinds: perhaps both are included. Wild game might be a convenient rendering, perhaps. CHAPTER IV. VERSE 33. Solomon spake of trees, from the CEDAR, which is in Lebanon, to the HYSSOP, that springeth out of the wall: he spake also, 1st, of beasts; and, 2dly, of fonls; and, 3dly, of creeping things; and, 4thly, of fishes. We learn from this passage, that whatever might be the gift of wisdom bestowed on Solomon from on high, he cultivated it by the most assiduous study: that he collected the remarks of others, and remarked also for himself whatever of natural principles and natural occurrences came within his reach. We see also, that he treated them systematically, placing first, among trees, the cedar, and ending with, it is likely, some kind of moss, or other minute plant, which grows on walls. That the word rendered hyssop, is capable of this sense, seems clear, from this description of it; for hyssop itself does not grow on walls. Solomon also places botany before natural history, which latter he arranged into, 1st, great beasts, quadrupeds; 2dly, birds; 3dly, reptiles, whatever creeps along the ground; 4thly, fishes, whatever inhabits the waters. We have seen, on Deut. iv. 16. that the same order of natural history was observed by Moses. Is it impossible that the principles, and perhaps some works of Moses, on this subject, might have reached the time of Solomon, who here evidently follows him? It is a curious inquiry, whether any copies of these works of Solomon are still in being? Perhaps when Alexander overrun Asia, Aristotle might procure them; and might even make them the foundation of his own system of natural history. This is very consistent with the character of Aristotle, and is much more credible than the magical books which abuse the name of Solomon, by claiming him as their author. It may be remarked also, that an eminent naturalist is often quoted, and studied by others, who yet may vary in their systems from him; but then this can only be when his works have been published. Perhaps Solomon, having no need, did not publish his collections; or if he published them, they are totally lost, unless some parts of them are preserved in foreign languages. CHAPTER V. VERSE 11. Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat, and 20,000 measures of oil. The word rendered measure is cor; and being applied both to the wheat and to the oil, shews, that the cor was a measure both for dry things and for liquids. That Judea abounded in wheat, and that the Tyrians imported it from thence, and indeed depended on this supply, appears from Ezek. xxvii. 17. and from Acts xii. 10. where we read, that their country was nourished by the country of king Herod. N.B. Josephus reads, 2,000 cors of oil. We read, 2 Chron. ii. 10. "that Solomon gave to those who cut timber for him, 20,000 cors of beaten wheat; 20,000 cors of barley; 20,000 baths of wine; 20,000 baths of oil." This provision for the workmen was, no doubt, distinct from the premium paid to Hiram for his grant of their services. The beaten wheat of this passage may refer to the same mode of getting off the husk as is used to rice, [q. to rice itself?] or to the pounding it into meal. That measures of the same nature were continued in use in later ages, appears from Luke xvi. 5. where we read of "an hundred baths of oil, and an hundred measures, cors, of wheat." That Judea abounded in oil, vide on Gen. xxxvii. 25. CHAPTER X. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA. This queen's visit to Solomon is one of the most remarkable events of his reign. As it appears to have had important consequences in her own country, we shall insert Mr. Bruce's account of it, as related in the annals of Abyssinia, which that traveller has communicated to the public. It is so very seldom that we are able to offer the counterpart of Scripture histories, from writers of other countries, that we are glad to embrace any opportunity of what writers against the authority of Scripture have called “impartial testimony;" we doubt not, that could we appeal to ancient histories on other subjects also, that their evidence would be no less corroborative of Scripture narrations. "It is now that I am to fulfil my promise to the reader, of giving him some account of the visit made by the queen of Sheba; it should properly be Saba, Azab, or Azaba, all signifying south; as we erroneously call her, and the consequences of that visit: the foundation of an Ethiopian monarchy, and the continuation of the sceptre in the tribe of Judah, down to this day. "We are not to wonder, if the prodigious hurry and flow of business, and the immensely valuable transactions they had with each other, had greatly familiarized the Tyrians and Jews, with their correspondents the Cushites and Shepherds on the coast of Africa. This had gone so far, as very naturally to have created a desire in the queen of Azab, the sovereign of that country, to go herself and see the application of such immense treasures that had been exported from her country for a series of years, and the prince who so magnificently employed them. There can be no doubt of this expedition, as Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyssinian, and all the countries round, vouch it pretty much in the terms of Scripture. "Many, such as Justin, Cyprian, Epiphanius and Cyril, have thought this queen was an Arab. But Saba was a separate state, and the Sabeans a distinct people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and have continued so till very lately. We know, from history, that it was a custom among these Sabeans, to have women for their sovereigns in preference to men, a custom which still subsists among their descendants. "By Barbariæ is meant the country between the tropic and the mountains of Abyssinia, the country of Shepherds, from berber, shepherd. Her name, the Arabs say, was Belkis; the Abyssinians, Macqueda, Our Saviour calls her Queen of the South, without mentioning any other name, but gives his sanction to the truth of the voyage."The queen of the South, or Saba, or Azab, shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon'; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here," Matth. xii. 42; Luke xi. 31. No other particulars, however, are mentioned about her in Scripture; and it is not probable our Saviour would, say she came from the uttermost parts of the earth, if she had been an Arab, and had near 50° of the continent behind her. The gold, the myrrh, cassia, and frankincense, were all the produce of her own country. "Whether she was a Jewess or a pagan is uncertain; Sabaism was the religion of all the East. It was the constant attendant and stumbling block of the Jews; but considering the multitude of that people then trading from Jerusalem, and the long time it continued, it is not improbable she was a Jewess. "And when the queen of Sheba heard of the name of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions," 1 Kings, x. 1. and 2 Chron. ix. 1. Our Saviour, moreover, speaks of her with praise, pointing her out as an example to the Jews, Matth. vii. 43. and Luke xi. 31. And, in her thanksgiving before Solomon, she alludes to God's blessing on the seed of Israel for ever, 1 Kings, x. 9. and 2 Chron. ix. 8. which is by no means the language of a pagan, but of a person skilled in the ancient history of the Jews. "She likewise appears to have been a person of learning, and that sort of learning which was then almost peculiar to Palestine, not to Ethiopia. For we see that one of the reasons of her coming, was to examine whether Solomon was really the learned man he was said to be. She came to try him in allegories, or parables, in which Nathan had instructed Solomon. "The annals of Abyssinia, being very full upon this point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no means an improbable one. They say she was a pagan when she left Azab, but being full of admiration at the sight of Solomon's works she was converted to Judaism in Jerusalem, and bore him a son, whom she called Menilek, and who was their first king. However strongly they assert this, however dangerous it would be to doubt it in Abyssinia, I will not here aver it for truth, nor much less still will I positively contradict it, as Scripture has said nothing about it. "The Abyssinians, both Jews and Christians, be lieve the xlvth Psalm to be a prophecy of this queen's voyage to Jerusalem; that she was attended by a daughter of Hiram's from Tyre to Jerusalem, and that the last part contains a declaration of her having a son by Solomon, who was to be king over a nation of Gentiles. "To Saba, or Azab, then, she returned with her son Menilek, whom, after keeping him some years, she sent back to his father to be instructed. Solomon did not neglect his charge, and he was anointed and crowned king of Ethiopia, in the temple of Jerusalem, and at his inauguration took the name of David. After this he returned to Azab, and brought with him a colony of Jews, among whom were many doctors of the law of Moses, particularly one of each tribe, to make judges in his kingdom, from whom the present umbares, or supreme judges, three of whom always attend the king, are said and believed to be descended. With these came also Azarias, the son of Zadok the priest, and brought with him a Hebrew transcript of the law, which was delivered into his custody, as he bore the title of Nebrit, or High Priest; and this charge, though the book itself was burnt with the church of Axum in the Moorish war of Adel, is still continued, as it is said, in the lineage of Azarias, who are Nebrits, or keepers of the church of Axum at this day. All Abyssinia was thereupon converted, and the government of the church and state modelled according to what was then in use at Jerusalem. "By the last act of the queen of Sheba's reign, she settled the mode of succession in her country for the future. 1st, She enacted, that the crown should be hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever. 2dly, That, after her, no woman should be capable of wearing that crown or being queen, but that it should descend to the heir male, however distant, in exclusion of all heirs female whatever, however near: and that these two articles should be considered as the fundamental laws of the kingdom, never to be altered or abolished. And, lastly, that the heirs male of the royal house should always be sent prisoners to a high mountain, where they were to continue till their death, or till the succession should open to them. oner. "What was the reason of this last regulation is not known, it being peculiar to Abyssinia; but the custom of having women for sovereigns, which was a very old one, prevailed among the neighbouring shepherds in the last century; and, for what we know, prevails to this day. It obtained in Nubia till Augustus's time, when Petreius, his lieutenant in Egypt, subdued her country and took the queen Candace prisIt endured also after Tiberius, as we learn from St. Philip's baptizing the eunuch, Acts viii. 27. and 38. servant of queen Candace, who must have been successor to the former; for she, when taken prisoner by Petreius, is represented as an infirm woman, having but one eye. This shews the falsehood of the remark Strabo makes, that it was a custom in Meroë, if their sovereign was any way multilated, for the subjects to imitate the imperfection. In this case, Candace's subjects would have all lost an eye, Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 777, 778. Candace indeed was the name of all the sovereigns, in the same manner as Cæsar was of the Roman emperors. As for the last severe part, the punishment of the princes, it was probably intended to prevent some disorders among the princes of her house, that she had observed frequently to happen in the house of David, 2 Sam. xvi. 22; 1 Kings, ii. 13. at Jerusalem. "The queen of Saba having made these laws irrevocable to all her posterity, died after a long reign of forty years, in 986 before Christ, placing her son Menilek upon the throne, whose posterity, the annals of Abyssinia would teach us to believe, have ever since reigned. So far we must indeed bear witness to them, that this is no new doctrine, but has been steadfastly and uniformly maintained from their earliest account of time; first, when Jews, then in later days after they had embraced Christianity. We may further add, that the testimony of all the neighbouring nations is with them upon this subject, whether they be friends or enemies. They only differ in name of the queen, or in giving her two names. As for her being an Arab, the objection is still easier got over. For all the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, especially those of the coast opposite to Saba, were reputed Abyssins, and their country part of Abyssinia, from the earliest ages to the Mahometan con quest, and after. They were her subjects, first, Sabean pagans like herself, then converted, as the tradition says, to Judaism, during the time of the building of the temple, and continuing Jews from that time to the year 622 after Christ, when they became Mahometans. "Of their kings of the race of Solomon, descended from the queen of Saba, the device is a lion passant, proper, upon a field gules, and their motto, "Mo Anbasa am Nisilet Solomon am Negadé Jude," which signifies, "the lion of the race of Solomon and tribe of Judah hath overcome." So far Mr. Bruce, vol. i. p. 471, &c. I wish to remark on the motto of the Abyssinian kings, that we find allusions to it in Scripture. It appears to have originated from the simile, Gen. xlix. 9. and to this motto, or title, a reference may be thought, Psalm 1. 22. "consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:" where the phrase differs from Psalm vii. 2. in which place the Psalmist speaks of being himself torn in pieces: see Micah v. 8. But I think there is a direct quotation of this motto in Rev. v. 8. "the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed," or overcome; so that the comparison of a chief of the tribe of Judah, to a lion, is not only sanctioned by the original comparison in Genesis, but appears to have been constantly kept in memory, and preserved by a public and authoritative memorial: in fact, by national and royal insignia. Mr. Bruce adds the following information, which shews the practicability of the queen of Sheba's journey. Indeed journies of a much greater length are now annually made, in order to visit Mecca; and it is very credible, that the antiquity of similar journies is very great. We have queried elsewhere, whether they may not be as old as Ishmael. "In the gentle reigns of the Mamelukes, before the conquest of Egypt and Arabia, by Selim, a caravan constantly set out from Abyssinia directly for Jerusalem. They had then a treaty with the Arabs. This caravan rendezvoused at Hamayen, a small territory, abounding in provisions, about two days journey from Dobarwa, and nearly the same from Masuah: it amounted sometimes in number to a thousand pilgrims, ecclesiastics as well as laymen. "They travelled by very easy journies, not above six miles a day, halting to perform divine service, and setting up their tents early, and never beginning to travel till toward nine in the morning. They had hitherto passed in perfect safety, with drums beating, and colours flying; and in this way, traversed the desert by the road of Suakem," Travels, vol. ii. p. 158. VERSE 10. The queen of Sheba gave to Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold. |