Commentary on the Holy Bible

•JiJ?"- "OUT 'King Solomon loved "'manr A* atrange women, * together with LoS^^vs the daughter of Pharaoh, women of

Jewt. And in her thankaKiving before Solomon, she alludeB to God'm bleuing on uie seed of Israel for ever; which is by no mesna the languid of a Pagan, but of a peraon Bkilled in the ancient hijrtory of this nation.

" She likewiae appeara to have neea a peraon of leam- 'ing, and of that wrt of leaminE which waa then almost peotdiar to Palcatine, not to JEihio|Ra; for we know that one of the reaaone of her eomins was to examine, whether Solomon was really the leamM man ht wu mid to be. She came to try him in all<eoriai, or panhlee, in vhieh Nathan had instructed him.

" The annala of the Al^Hiniana, being very full upon tUa point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no mewia •n iraiHKrfxkble one. They aay abewu a Paean when ahe left Azab; but, beiag full of admiration Solonum'a work% ahe was converted to Judsiam in Jenualem, and bore him a son, whom he called Menilek, and ^o waa their firat king.

" "Hie Aby asioiaoa, both Jews and ChristianB, believe the xlvth malm to be a propheiry of the queen's voyage to Jeruaalem; that ahe was attended by adaughter of Hiram'a fix)m l^re to Jerusalem; and that the last part of it contains a declaration of her having > Kn by Solomon, who was to be a king over a nation of die Gentiles.

" To Saba, or Azab, then, she returned with her son Uenilek; whom, after keeping him aome year^ ahe sent bade to his htiier to be instructed. Solomon did not negleet his oharf^; ai») he waa anointed uid crowned ki^f of iBihiopia, la the temple of Jerusalem; and, at his inauguration, took the name of David. After thia he returned to Azab, and brought with him a colony of Jews, amoi^ whom were many doctors of the law of Moses, particularly one of each tribe, to make judges of in his kingdom; from whom the present um^aret, or supreme judges, (three of whom always attended the king,) are said and believed to be deweeoded. With these came also Azarias, the bod of Zuiok the priest, and brmi^t with him a Hebrew transcript of the law, which was delivered into his custody, as he bore the tide of nebrtl, or high priest; and thia 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 Azorios, who are neftrefa, or keepers of the oluiieh ca Axum M this day. All Abysnniawas tbere- Qpon otmverted, and (he government <rf the church and stale modelled according to what waa then in use at Jerusalem.

" By the last act ot the queen of Soba'a reign, die settled the mode of succession in her country for the future: FHrtt, ahe enacted thai the crown should be hereditary in the bmily of Solomon for ever. Secondly, that, aher her, no woman should be capalile of wearing that crown, or being queen; but diot it should deaoeod to the heir male, however distant, in exclumon of all heira fei&ole, however near i and that these two articlea should bo considered aa the fiindomental laws of die kingdom, never to be altered or eboliAed. And, lastly, that the heirs mole of the royal house should always be smt iHiaonera to a high mountain, where ihey were to continoe till their deaUi, or till the suecesaion idiould open to them.

"The queen of S^ia, having mode these laws irrevocable by aU her poaterity, died, after a tong reign of forty years, m 996 before C%riM, placing her son Menilek upon the throne, whose posterity, the annals of Abvsainia would teach us to believe, have ever since reigned. So far, indeed, we must bear witness to thsoi. that this is no new doctrine, but has been steadGwdy and uniformly maintained from the earliest account of dme; first, when Jews, then la later days, after they embraced Cluistianity. We may fortber atkL that the testimony of all the neighbouring nations ia with them upon this subject, whether friemls or enemies, nwy only (ufiiv in the name of die queen, or in giving her two Dames.

2 Of the nations concerning which the Lobo said unto the children of lerael, ' Ye.shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in mifo you: for surely they will torn away your heart aller their goda: Solomon clave unto these m love.

3 AndhehadsevenhundredwiveSfprincesMs, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, *that hiB wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his ' heart woe not perfect with the Lord his Qod, * as waa the heart of David his father.

race of Solomon, descended from the queen of Safaa, whose device ia a lion pasaant, proper, upon a field gules; aul their motto. Mo Anbasaa am NixUcl Solomon am Negadi Juda! which signifies ' ITie lion of the raoe of Solonso and tribe of Judah hath overcome.'

BIr. Bruee jusdy finds foult with this table aa being dtftdivt: several kings must necessarily have been loal omofthislisL ItiiL probably, a late invention, tbeencient genealogical t^lea having been lost or destroyed; sad no wonder, when we consider the numerous pr edalory wars is which the people of Ab ■ ■ ■ >

I need scarcely add, that the very Uarnecl Samuel. Aart has endeavoured to prove fay arguments not to be despised, that the Scripture OplUr is we ialand 7>m^ banes, or Sermdib; now called Ceyfon. With any o«r opinions on this subject I think it unneeeMry to trouble the reader. Hiat the voyage which Mr. Broce deacribea would take up diree years, I diink be has satisfactorily proved: baton otherpointsand resemblances many readen will doubtless hesitate; while aome may suppose his theon is the most plauinble of any yet oftred to no publtt on dua very obscure subject. Binu^* TVaveb, vol. & p.'Vl.

Terse 1. Jliany strange uomcn] l^iat is, idolater*: — together uiUh the daughier PhamA: ahe was abo one of those strange women, and sa idohtO'; bot tmm think dn became a proselyte to the Jewidi religion, (n this there is no evidence.

Terse 3. He hadttvenhundrtdrnvu, prfneesMs] How he coukl ^t so many of the blood royal Irom the diScreat surrounding nations is astoniahing: but, probably, the daughters of noblemm, general*, &c. may be indooed.

And three hmtdred concn&ines] These were wtset ^ the second ranA, who were taken accordiog to the usages of those times: but their offiq;)ring could not inheriL Ssnh was to Abraham, what theue teven hundred pnaccmt* were to Solomon, and the three hundred coocubinca stood in the same reluion to the Israelitish khig, as Hagar and ITefuraA did to the patriarch.

Here then are one thousand wires to form, this great lad man's haram! Was it Dossible that such a person could have any piety to God, wno was abaoriied by such a nnmber of women 1 We scarcely allow a man to have the fear of Qod, who bos a second wtfe or mistress: in what stale then must the man be who had one thousand of tbemT We may endeavour to excuse all this by saying "It wass custom in the East to have a multitude of women i and Aat there were many of those whom Solomon profa^y never saw," dtc. &«. But was there any of them whom be s>^^ not have seen 7 Was it for reasons of state, or merOT coiu-t splendour, that he had so many 7 How U«n is it said, thi^L he loved many strange teomm 7 — that he dams to Otem in loee? And did he not give them the utmost ptotds of his attadwunlj when he not only tolerated their iui|iu> tous woi^ip in die land, but built tempte* to Ihetr idols t and, more, oumt tflcenM to diem kims^ft As we dnold not cond^nn what Gtod justifies; so we should not jiMti^ vHiatOodotrndemns. He went after AaUarwCA, the unpure Fenusof the £!idoiuaii«; after Jlfifeom, the aAomimatim ^ the Ammmiites t after CAenwsh, the aoonunolioii lh> IHoabHes; and after the murderous Motoeh, die otoiaftinlion qf the ckUdrtn <f Ammm. He aeeans lo hove gOM as fiu it!t iniqtu^ as it was possible.

6 For Solomon weat after ■> Asluoreth, the fpoddess of the ZMonians, and after > Milcom, the abomioatjon of the Araraonitee.

6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the X^D, and ^ weot not fully after the as did David his father.

7 ' Then did Solomon build a high place for ■ Chemosh, the abomination of Monb, in ' the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molecb, the fibominntioa of the children of Ammon.

8 And likemse did he for all hia strange wives, which burnt incense, and sacrificed unto their gods.

9 1] And the Lord was anp-y with Solomon, tMtcause " hia heart wna turned from the Lord God of Israel, p which had appeared unto him twice,

10 And ' had commanded him concerning this thiitf, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commajided.

11 Wherefore the Lobd said unto Solomon, Forasmocb as this ■ ia done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant, and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, 1 1 will surely rend the kji^om from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

12 Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it for David thv lather's Imt I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

13 " Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but wilt give ' one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake " which I have chosen.

14 f And the Lord stirred ■ up an adversary unto Solomon. Hadad the Edonute: he mof of the king's seed in Edom.

15 ' For it came to pass, when David was in fiidom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone

TerK d. The Lord wu imgry mih Sobmmii Had not tbii man'* delinquency been atronfrty markca by the divine diiapprobttion. It would h&va dm a fioal eHeot on die iDorab of manidnd. Vice ia via, no natter who -commtta it. Aitd God aa much di^laaaed with tin in Selomon, aa lie eaa be with It lo the moat profligate^ uktdueated wretch. And although Ood aeea the aune ma m preciflHy the mnu degree of moral furpUucis, aa to the act iUeif, yet there may be eirevmalanett whidi greatly aggravate nie ofTence, oiid aut^t the offender to greater pnnMnnieiit. Solomon waa wiae; he knew better: hie tmderatanding «howed him the vanity, aa well as the wiokedneaa, of idolatry. God had af^>eared unio him twice; and thua giveit him the moat direct proof of his being, and of hie providence. lYie promiaea at Ood had been./W- JUledtohimin thfl moat- remarkable roaniMr; and in atn^ awav, aa to prove ifaat they came by a divine eounael,and not by anv kind of camuUhf. All these were agrravo' ffona of solomon'a Crimea, aa to their demerit, for the same crime has, in every eaa^ the aame degree of moral turpitude ia the aight at God: but oireunwianeea man ao agsp^vnte, aa lo require the ofetvUr to be more gnevouely punished; so the punisnment may be legdl^ increaaM where the crime ia the same. Solomon deserved more pnniahment for hia worahip of Aahtaroth ttwn any of the Sidoniana did, though they performed precisely the aame a<^tB. The Sidoniana had never known the true God; Solomon had been fully acquainted with him.

Verse II. Foramuih as ihia ia done of t/ue] Was not this another wamiDg from the Lord? And mig^t not Solomon have yet recovered himself 1 Waa there not mer^ in this maaw^^ wbidl he Might han soii^ and

Verse 13. WUX rite om trib*-^fbr David my tervanfa aake] The One of the Mntiak muat be preserved. The TprtlvaUinr Lion must come out of the tribe of Judah: not only the tribe most be preserved, but the rcgai Une, and the regat right. All thia moat be done for the true David^t sake: and this was undoutMedly what Ood had in view by thus miraculously preserving the tribe of Judah, and me royvA line, in die inidat of so SnMil • ditMiioa.

IG (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut ofi' every male in Edomj)

17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomitea of his father's servants with him, to go into E^ypt; Hadad beitiff yet a little child.

18 And they arose out of Midian, and camo to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they come to Egy[)t, tmto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave nim a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.

19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Ctenttbath his eon, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pha- Taoh'fl house: and Genubath waa in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 ' And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that 1 may go to mine own country.

S3 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou aeekest togo to thine own country t and he answered, 'Nothingc howbeit let me go in any wise.

23 IT And God stirred him mp-aruOher adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from hblord ■* Hadadezer king of Zobah:

24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, * when David elew thorn of Zobah: and they; went to Damascus, and dwelt therein,, and reigned in Damascus.

And/or JemaaUm'a «a£e] As David was the type of the Me**iah, so was JmuaUm a type of the triie Churth I therefore, the old Jenualem must be preserved in the hands of toe tribe of Judah, till the true De^d ahoubl establish the mw Jitruaaiam in the same land. umI in the aame city. And what a series of providences did it require to do all these thiiwa I

Verse 14. The Loao wtxrrtd vp on adtgraart/] A Satan, |ev. When be sent to Hinun to aasiat him in l»ilding the temple of die Lord, be could aay, Thare was no iSaton, see chap. v. 4. And all hia kiiwdom was in peace and security; every man dwelt under hia vin^ and under kiajtg-tret, ctMp. iv.26 [but noV that be had tuned away from €lod, three Saima rise up against him at ono«^ Hadad, TZtfon, and Jeroboam.

Verse 15. Waa gone tip to bury Uie slain] Hia aktoi Edomitea', for Joan had m the course of aiz months exterminated all the males, except Hadad and hia aervant^ who eaci^>ed to Egypt. Instead of burv the siatn, the Tmrgamhaa it, taia/cettuapoiia^&a^ittn.

Vma 17. Hadad being yet a mU dUlill ntn Moor AotoR, a little boy. Qm who was approMBsive of his danger^ and oould, with his fiMher's semaii^ intka his esc^w. Not an iimnt.

Verae 19. 7%ey tmise mi q/* Jlfidfon] IWy at Ant retired to Hidian, which lay to the southwest of the Dead sea. Not aupposing themselves in aafe^ there, they went afterward to Para^ in the sawfa of Idumea i and getting a number of persoiu to join them in Paran, they went strai^t to Egypt,.where we find Hadad beoiune a favourite with Pharat^ who gave him hia sister-in-law to wife t and incorporated him and his llunily with his own.

Terse 22. Ltt me go in any vciae.\ It aoes not appear that be avowed his real intention to Pharaoh: for at this time there must have been peace between Israel and Egypt; Solomon having married the doubter of Ptw-

Verse 23. Rexmtke ton<^ EHadah'\'ni\a Ood fulfilled his threatening by the prophet Nathan; ^he eommitinifoity I viU AaHen him with the rod tff men / and wiA MS nriptt the ddUiren of n««n, 2 Sam. viL 14.

Verae 24. And reignidin AimasGiisl Boon was one of the captains of Uadadexer, whom David defeated. Itseena Ifaa^st ibis liroa^ EUion esei^fied wiib his naai

25 Aod he was an adversary to Israel all the daraofSolomon.bcBideBthe mischief that Hadtui did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

ac Ktt 26 f And Jeroboam the aonof Ne- AMLOiiH. bat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, SolotofciaStr mon's servtuit, whose mother's name v>eu Zeruah, a widow woman, even be I lifted up Mg hand against the king.

27 And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: ^Solomon built Mitlo, and ■ repaired the brwches of the city of Darid lua lather.

28 And the man Jeroboam weu a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he "was industrious, he made him ruler over alt the > charge of the house of Joseph.

29 And it came to pass at that thne, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet "Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he tiad clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that w<M on him, and ■ rent it in twelve pieces:

31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee- ten pieces: for * thus saith the Lord, the Ood of Israel, BehoU. I will rend the kingdom out of the band of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the oity which I have chosen odt of all the trStee of Israel:)

33 f Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtorcth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and io keep my sta-

Rod having lived, as ta supposed, lonie time by plunder, be seized on Damaseus, and nigpoed there, till David took I>amascti& when he subdued 9yria, and drove out Rezon. Bat after Solomon's defection from Ood, Rezon, finding that Ood bod demrted from Israel, recovered Oamaacus; wmI KHning wim Hadad, haraaocd Solomon during dte remaining part of his reign. Bat some think tbat Hadad and Bexon were the same perwm.

Verse 26. - Jeroboam the son qf NAai\ From the eonlezt we learn diat Jeroboam, while a young man, was emiHoyed by Solomon to superintend the improvements maahwAm^tx MiUo; and nad so dis^igaianed himself ttter« by Ms industry and itood conduct, as to attract general netioe, and to induos Solomon to set him over all the labourers employed in that work, belonging to the tribe<rf Bpfiraim and Matuuaeh^ called here the Aoum of Jo-.At first it appears that Solomon enutloyed none of dw hraeSUa in any drudgery.- but it is lUcefy diat, as be grew pro&ne, be rrew ^rannic^ and oppressive; and, at the works of MUio, he changed his conduct j and there, in all probability, were the seeds of disaSeotioo sown. And Jeroboam, MiR^ a clever and ealernisiag man, knew wdl bow to avail hiawelf of the geDaral discontent.

Verse 39. When Jen^aamWHtoutof JenuaUm] On what ermnd he was out of Jerusalem we know not.

Ahifah the ShUonUe] ne was one of those who wroGe die history of the reign of Solomon, as we find from 2 ObroB. ix. 29 1 anAitu nii^MMed that it was by him Ood ■pake twice to Solomon t and particularly delivered the iMinge which we find in this im^iter, ver. 11 — 13.

Verse 31. Tithe AeelmpUeeel "nie gamurU was die symbol of die kinedom. o/ Urael; the (tsetse pwesa the symbol of the twtat Mbea; the ten pieeee, given lo Jeroboam, of the ten tribe* which should be given to him, and afterward form the kingdom tif brad, ruling in Samaria, to diMtnguish it from the Hngdom iff Judah, nUiag in Jerusalem.

Verse 36. TluU DvM my tervant maj/ Asm a Ught mhoaf] That his posterity nscr nevw fail, and the regal Itae nerer beeome eztinet. This, as we have alreuy seen, was ia refen&ce to the Mesnah. He was not only IMIfn Ught, but he was a UgM to enligktm the OentUee.

Verse iff. Aceording to aS that ^souideHreA) It jqipian from dnt dwt Jerobow bad aflUetud dM kiDg- 8M

tutes and my judgments, as did David his. father.

34 Howbeit! will not take the whole kingdom out of his band: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commaadments and my statutes:

35 But '' I wtit take the kingdom oat of hw son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even tea tribes.

36 And unto his son will I give one trflie. that •David my servant may have a • light alw^ before me in Jerusalem, the city which I bav* chosen me to put my name there.

37 And I wdl take thea, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy aoul desdreth, and shah be king over Israel.

38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken onto all that I command thee, and wHt walk in my ways, and do thai is right in my sight, to kem my- atatutea and my commaodmenta, as David my servant did; that ■ I will be with thee, and * build thee a sure bouse, as I bnflt for Davii, and will give Israel unto Aee.

39 And I wiU for this ^^Uet tbfi seed Dir vid, but not for ever.

boam: attd Jeroboam arose, and fled into Eeypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypi until the death of Solomon.

41 IT And * the rest of the ' acu of Soltnnoii, and all that he did, and hia wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

42 r And the * time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

43 'And Solomon slept with his kcSP' fathers, and was buried in the city of <«.to*-,m David his father: and ^ Rehoboam his '^JtSt son reigned in his stead.

dom, and was sedadg Utt an ^portunitf to eeixc oa ike government. God now tells him by his pro|d>et, vhai he eltaU have, and uAof he ekall not fuive; in order to prevent him from attempting lo seixe on the whole king^w■^ to the preiudiee of the spiritual seed of David.

Verse 3B. Andhuildlhe»a»urahaiim\ He would ham eonthmed his posterity on the dkrone of Iamel»bad be ml by his wiekeoMSB, rarfeited the promiees of Ood^ aod thrown hiawelf out of the protectioD of the Host Hi^

Verse 39. Bnt not fer «s<r] nwy dull be is aActHB aod distress till the Meseiah come; who shall sit on the throne of David, to order it and eaiabliih it in judmeoi and justioe for ever. Jambi say^ on this versei whea the Heasiah cornea, the kingdom shall be tesUrad lo iha house of David.

Verse 40. Sau^it^-to kUl JenboamJ He dwo^t It this means to prevent the punishment due to his cnnes.

Unto S/iiekak king <if Egypt] This ia the first time we meet with the proper name of as Egyptian king t Pharaoh being d» common name for all the sovmigas of that oountiy. Some suppose that ibis £9UsiUA was (he Saottrie, so renowned for his wars and his eoprpissle Btit it is UlKly duA thia king lived long bafere SoIomb's tine.

V«M 41. Tfto book Iff the act» ttf SUomen] TVes aets were wrinen by Neman die prophet, Ahijsh die Shtlonitck and Iddo the seer; as we lean from i Cbroo. ix. 29. Probably from these were the books of Kiags aad Chronioles oompoeedi but the ofiginal documents era long since losL

_^ys /owaoore year* t wiueh is suffieientty absurd. Oatmet supposes hnn to have been eighteen yeara oid when he eame to die thronet and that he died, A. K. 3029^ aged Jl/Vi^ years: and, when we consider the exosaa in wmch be lived, and tbe arimioal passioim -mbiA n» most have iadulgea amoog his thousand wives, and dieir idotrntrais and impure wonbip, this life was aa bag as oould be leaeonaUy ezMcted.

VtneA SoUmonHeptvmkiM/dihere] HeMia almost dkefiower of bis u's; and, it aspear^ uaregntted. His goveminent was no blessing to Israel; and wd^ its exactione and (m>reasion% die toondstian of dial scfaMSB which was so fatal to die nnh^>p7 P**^ 4f Iwssl aad

Jodah I and wat the moat powarfo! procuring mam of the miwriea whieb han Mien npon Ibe Jewbm pMpk from fliu tune luttil now.

1. In his iofsney and youth he had the high honour of be^ pe<»iliBrly Imed by tha Lord; and he nad a name civen ram I7 the ezpren authority of God himielf; irhid), to himaelf and othera, muat ever call to remembraooa dih peculiar fitroor of the Moat High.

liwre ie little doubt that he was a moat amiaUe youth; mm) hia whole conduct appeared to jtmOlj dw expee- Wfons Uiat were formed of him.

2. He ascended the laraelitiih dirone at time the most hvaorable tor the cultivation ot those arts so necessary to the oomftnt and improvement of life. Among all the surroundiiw mtimu, Israel had not one open ettemy: there was neShtr advirtary nor evil oeeurrmt, 1 Kings v. 4. He had rat on every eide; and, from the tiniveraal and ptofonnd peace v?hich he enjoyed, the very important name Jedtdiah, "beloved of the Lord," vhien was given him by divine audtority, was changed to that of Solomon, Uie peoceod/e, 2 Sam. xii. 24, 26. which at once indicated the state of the country, and the chancier of his own mild, pacific nittd.

3. To die dying dmrge of his pious ftidier, relative to the building a temple fbr the Lord, he paid the moat punctual attention. He was Cond of arAUadure. as we may team from the aecouni that is given of his mimerous buildings and improvements: anoyet it does not appear that he at all excelled in architectural knowledge. Hiram, the amiable kintf of Tyre, and his ezoellem workmen, were the ^rand directors and executors of the whole. By his pubbe buildings he doubtless rendered Jerusalem higjtly respectable; Dot his passion for such worics was nc^ on the whole, an advantage to hia subjects, as it obliged him to have recourse to a burdensome system of taxation 1 whteh at first oppreaaed and exaspnated hia people, and ultiraUelr led to (ba htal aepaiatioo of brael aadrJudah.

4. "Htat be improved the trade asd cohhrsms of his flovatry is snAetently evident: by his poblio bniUii^ vast multitudes were employed; and knowledge in iba most beiMfeial arts must have been greatly inereaasd, and the spirit of vkduMry highly cultivated.

Cmnmeree does not appear to have been much recarded, if 0Ven known, ia Israel, previously to the days of 80I0- non. The most eelebraied maritime power then in Ae world was that of the Tyrians. Widt great addreas and prudence he availed himself of their experienoe and com- IMcial knowledge; sent his ships, u company widi nieir% to make Itm^ and dangerous out lucrative voyages; atM^^ getting their sailors aboard of hia owa vessals, be d pooseaaton of their nautical skill inowledge of those safe ports in which they harboured, and of the rich oounlries with which they traded. His fneadly alliaoce with the kiu of Tyre was a source of ad wilace u Israel i and might have been much more so, had a been pnidendy managed. But, after the time of Stdomon, wafind it scareely mentioned; and diereforeit does not appear that the Jews continued to follow a Iraek which bad been so suecessfiilly opened to tbem: their widlcws oontsntioas, and the ruinous wars of the two kingdoms, walyfla a)] their commercial exertitHW} till, at laiiRth, all the roaritima skill, which dtey had acquired from tho sipert and industrious Tyrians dwindled down 10 die puny art of managing a few boats on die internal Um of ibair own ooimtry. Had it not baes Ibr the deatiuetive Ceuda that raigned between the two ktagdoma of Israel and Judah. that oountry might have become ane of the best and richest maritime powers of eidier Asia or Europe, "nwir aituation was crand and eonuBandinr} but their exeoiaUa jeakusics deprtvad dwm of ita idvaniamaxpoaed themiotbeaggnsaieiiaof thairooaiBias, •■d naUy teougfat tbam to nun.

i. That StdoowB vaa truly ^mu in hia jroudt there •an ba DO doubt i it woaoa dtto aeeount that theliortf ■ kwodUmi and his coal in tbe canae of tniardigion, and Ugfa respaet for the honour of God, an Mimtfi indirationa •fMub a frame of minid. Had we no other proof of this than his |>rqMr/or wMoM, and his proysr at die dedica. liait of the isn^ it wouU put the matter for ever beyond •spniot indepamintly of the diract Mtimoaiea we have ftaaa Ood biMdr on die aubioet. Ho lovad dia mrMp aadof-Auncssor Oodi and waaa paoanto biisubieou in the Mrlctest attentica to reUgious duties. He even ex- 1 die remtiiitiooa of the law, iu the ■altitude ot hia It and wan a oaioAil obaervar of thost annual festivals K necea«ry to wmtrrt the memoty ot tba priacipal taetM of the Ismelitish biotoiT, and dwse miraniVMa

6. Utm can be no doubt that Solomon posoaaaed the knoieUdge of gweming vdl: of the impoiianoe of this knowlec^ he was duly aware 1 and thia was die iaj»- dom that he ao particularly sought from God. " I am," said he, "but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in I end thy servant is in the midst of a great peo- i>le that cannot be counted for muhilude. Give, thera. i>re, thy servant an underwtanding keari to judge Uw people; and that I may diecem bUicem good ana btMi tor who is able to jw^e thia thy so great a people? And the apeech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked diis diing,'' 1 Kings iii. 8—10. This totedom he did receive from Ood: uid he is here a pattern to all kings, who^ as they an the vio»amta of the LottL sbouU earnestly seek that wisdom whicb it fWun abov^ tnatduy may be able to know how to govern the people •niniatad to their care; because, in eveiT civil govemmeoi, there era a multitude of diings on wbidi a tang may be called to decide, concerning whidi neither tbe lawa^ nor the commonly received political maxima by wbidh, in nartienlar eases, die conduct of a governor ts to be legulated, oan give any sneeific direction.

7. But the wisdom of Solomon was not oonfinad to the art of government: he ^>pean to have pBsseastd a univeraal Jmowledre. He sages of the East were parU'eularly diMinguiahed oy their accurate knotriedge ^kuman natures from which they derived innumerable maxima for the reflation of man in every part of his mwol conduct, and in all die relations in which be couM possibly be placed. Henee their vast profision of masime, provtrbe, instructive YaAj««, tmologuee, migmae, Ac.; ereat colleDtiona of which still remain locked up m the wnguoges of Asia, particularly tbe iSbnscra, AroMcL and Pereian; besides those which, by the industry of learned men, hava been translated and publiriied in the longimges of Eun^. Much of this kind appears in the hoc^ of^ffSstfoat and MIedeeiiutieue in the Apocrypha; and in the very asoellent collections of D^HerbeUd, Viedelou, and OiOmd, in the Bi&ltolke^ Orientt^ That Solomon rjaaoiiad this wisdom in a very high degree, the Book of Proveria bears ample testimony; leaving Ecdeeiaetet, for tbe jmaent, out of die consideration

S. As a poet, Solomon stands deservedly high; though of his one thoueand and Jive poeme, not one, except the Book of Caniulee, r«naina. tliis ode alone, taken in a literary point of view; ia suAoienl to raise any man toahighd^ree of poetic fame. Itia a moat inlareating drama; where, what Racine terma the g'<nis craafsnr, the creative genius, every where appears: in whidi the imagery, which ia always borrowed from nature, ia impressive and aublimet tbe characters accurately diatinguiHied utd defined; the atrongeat passion, in its purest and most vigorous workings, ele^ady portrayed; and in which allusions, the most delicate, to tranaacliona (rfthe tendereat complexion, while sufficiently deseribad to make iban intelligible, ore nevertheless hidden from die tfB ^ die gross vulgar, by a tioaue as li^ht as a goaaamw covering. Sudi ia the nature of that inimitable ode; which, had it not been perverted by weak but well-designing men to

Erpoaea to which it can never Iwitimalely ap^, would ve ranked with the highest pniduotiona of the EpiAalamian kind that ever came from tbe pen of man. But, alas I for thia exquisite poem; its true sense baa been ptgverted t it has beenybrcsd to Kwak a language that was never intended, a language lar from being honourable to the coMM wfaieh it was brought to support, and subversiva of the vsan and simplioi^ of dia ode itaaUl By a toreed mode 01 interpretation, it has been hackneyed to death t and allegorixed to destruction. It ia now little read, owii^ to the injudicious in which it has been

It waa scarcely to be expected tbat the son of such « fiither riwuld not, independentW of iumitatioa, have cn^t a portion of tbe pure poetic jtn. T1kw|^ the ^lirit <^ poetry, strictly ^waking: is not tiananianUs by ndinair geneiation, yet most celebnted poeta have had poetieM parenta: out, in many cases^ the talent has degenerated mto that of music; and the ^rii ^ po^ry in the sir* baa become a meta musical instrunent in the bands of the mm. 1^118, however, haa not been die case with theaoaofDa* vid} fir, though vaatly inferior to bis biber in Ibiagi^ ha bad iwvwdielna lbs spirit and powaraofaflrat-iatojwA

9. Bis knowledge m nofnrol Aiatory nust have bean very extensive; it is said, " He spake of frees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that spriiweih out of die walL Ha aoake also off Aaak^ of JMG^ ofr^iftt««, ftodofjesAw," 1 Cings iT. 33. All ihia knowledge hu periBhoi: his eountiTmen, the propheU excepted, were without laatt, and took no paina to prcBerve what they did not relieh. A man of ■ucb mental powen •ad eompr^iennoii, under the directioa of divine li^t, mtut have spoken of things as they are: his doctrine, therefore, of generation and eorruptum, of nutrUUm, «egetaiion, proaaction, oHmentt, trtbea, daagea, famiiiet, and habiU, relative to the di&rent subjects in botany, xootogy, ornithology, entomolcgy, and iththyolagy, which are all evidently referred to here, murt have been at once comet, instnictive, and delightful- 1 have already lamented the labour it cost our Rays, Taarn^orU, lAnnt; B^gimB, WUtou^bya, SiBammerdama, and BbMcha, to regain uiose sciences which possibly were possMsed in their highest dsfiees the Israelilish king; and which, alael are all lost, except a few traces in the Book of Ecctesiames; if that work can be traced to so remote an age as that of Solomon.

10. As a moral fhiloaoplier the author of the Book of BedeaioMteo oocuptei no mean rank. Atpresent we may «oiu^r this work as a production of Sidomon^ though Ibia is disputed; and the question shall be considered in it* proper place. Tbi* book contains such a fiind of wisdom, applied to the regulation <if life, and all referred CO the proper end, thai it most deservedly oocupiea a high |)htce in Biblical e<Aictf and deserves the eioaeat aUentioa of every reader.

U. "nte proofs of Solomon's vast wisdom, as brought into praetwMl tftect, lie m 8 very small compass, bemuse his history is 'the Bible is dtort j his own writinee. in Mneral, lost; and the annala of his reign, as eompilea by rfadian the prophet, Ahijoh the Shilonite^ and Iddo the •eer, long since perished. The decision between the two harlots is almost the only instance.

Of his interesting interview with the quern of iSAeba, ftnd the diseaasions mto irtiieh th^ entered, we nave only ' timfia stated, vithoat the least dMail of paiticulara. Hiose vbo have read the Coneetma of Hariri, or the HutopadeM of KeesAnoo Sarma, will regret that the conversation of the wisest of men, with probably the most intelligent of women, should have been lost to the world; which.may be reasomddy concluded to have been as far ■upeiior to the exodlent works above referred to^ as they are bmond the mastm* RoA^ffmoaali, and the tayitu^t or Madame Maintenm.

12. 'Hie wisdom of the East has been ever eelrinrated; and, if we may believe their own best writers, much of what they possess has been derived Emm Solomon I Encomiums of hia wisdom ore evei^ where to be met with in the Asiatic writers; and his name is famous in every part of the AtsL Most of the oriental historians, poeta, and philosopheia, mention fisttmsn ben Daoud, " Solomon, the son of David." They relate that he ascended the throne of Israel at the deeu] of hia father, when he was only twtlve years of age; end that Gtod subjected to hia government not only men, but good and evil U», AitfoveU of the air, and the vinda of heaven. "Iitey Agree with the sacred writers in stating that be employed Mwn years in bailding the temple at Jerusalem.

Solomon's ual, and Solomon's ring, are highly cel- «bnted by titemt and to which they attribute a great ' variety ofmagicol effbcts. "Vbuy state that, without his ring, he had not the science of.^vemment: and having onee lost it, he did not remount his throne for for^ days, as bein{^ destitute of that wisdom without which ne could not deiMde according to truth and equity. But these things ore pnAsbly spoken ait^orieaUff \j lliMr oldest wrilara. Of the Iftrone of this prince Ib^ qteok in terms ef die most profound admiiatiom I have met with the moat minute description of its magnificence, its ivory, gold, and jewels; and an estimate of its cost in tacs of rupees I According to those writers it bod 12,000 seats of gold on ilie right hand, for patriarchs ukl pnqdiels; and as many on the leit, for the doctors of the law who anitf- «d him m the distribution of justice.

In varioas parts of the Koran Solomtm is aptAen of in terms of Cat highest respect, and is represented as a true believer; though, through the envy of demons, magic and sorcery were attributed to him. Mtduimmed spraks of this in the second surat of his Koran. Hie story, in sum, is this: The devils, by God's permission, having tempted Solomon without success, mode use of the following ttrotagem to blast his reputation 7 they wrote several books of magic and hid them under his throne; and, after his death, toM the chief men that If they wished to know 1^ what means Solomon hnd obtained absolute dominion over «i*n, genii, and the wintU, they should dig under his throne. Hiis they did, and Ibtind the aforeBaSl hooka full of impious superetitions. The better sort would not lean these incantations; but the common people did, and nd>- lislied them as the genuine works of Solomon. Fron this imputation the Koran justifies hiin,by saying, Solomon looa not an -wnbdieotT, surat 2. From the wonderworking tignet and ring of the Asiatics come the daticit of Solomon, so celebrated among the Jewidi rabbins, ool the Chriatioa philosophers: for sodi things, tenoi in Cot' nclius Agrippo, and such like writers, are not late inves. tions, but have descended from a very remote anii^ty, ai the Koran, and the Tarious commentatora on it, soft. ciently prove. See CoZmd^ond Sale.

The oriental traditions concerning this prince ban been embodied in the Soliman NainA of Ferdooey, ia Persian; and in the SoKman NamA of Vaeebit in TSmish. D'Herbelot mentions one of theae hiauriua li Persian verse, containing IS7I couplets.

Indeed, the traditiona concerning the wonderful kikowledffe of Solomon, which abound so much in the East, ara^ at least, an indirect proof that many diings relative to this prince have been preserved among them which an not mentioned in our sacred books; Dot which they have blended so miserably with fiibles that it is impoaaiNe now to diatinguish the precious from the vile.. Works attributed to Solomon have existed in difietent ages, from his time till the present, JSusefrius states that Hezekiah, finding the Jews putting too much confidence in the books oT Solomon, relative to cau-oa and dtf- /erent oecuU arte, <xdQred them to be suppresaed. Jbsephu positively savs^ that Solomon did compose boatt of charms to cure diataaee; and amfurofions to expd demone, Antiq, lib. viii. chap. 2. He states brther, that a Jew, named EHezar, cured several demoniacs in the pc^ aence of Vespasian, by reciting the cAamu whkh nod bera iovcnteti by Solomon. R. D. ^imdU, ^leaks of a. book of Solomon, entitled The Cure qf £>taeaMe, wUdi Oaubrard supposes to be the same work of wludi JamphuB apoaks. And Origm speaks of eonjuntioBs wlikli were used by the Jews in his time, and which they pnofeaa ed to derive from the books of Solomon.

There are still extant books of this kind attributed to Solom<m: such as The EncAanimeiU*, Hu Qa^itte, TTu Ring, TTte Ifygromantia, 1^ Tfew JUbons, and Hu Shaaoaa Iom; but tbeae, as tb^ now stand, an die inventioasof quaeka and unpostor% and entitled tow regard. If there were any books roataining the wisdsw of Solomon, tb^ are either irrecoverably hut, or exisi in mutilated fragments anumg the Eastern sBges; uid aie disfigured by being connected with improbable tales, and pretended mantraa or charms.

n. Hitherto we have looked only nl dte bright side sf Solomon's character; we must now take a muut itm Misfoctory view of this singular man: one in whom every thing great, gloriou% wise, and holy, and every thing little, mean, foSlisb, and iinpioa% pfedominated by nna. He forsook the God of his merciea in a great varieqr of ways.

1. Whatever may be thought of the step, in a political point of view, be roost assuredly went out of the war of Ood's providenoa^ and acted conuraiy to his law, in mafaag affinity vnth FhameKa daugMsr. ^le saend wriws frequently refer to this: and it is never meotioMd widi approbation; it ia nUher associated with drcumsiaiKca that place it in a reprehensible point of view. She wu doubtless an tdoAito-; and the ouestion of ber beconiinga proseiy^e, is fiir from being sationetorily sMied. 1 bslim she was the first means « drawing off his haait froa As trtte<3od.

2. HisexpensivebuildingSiobliginghimiobavaneaane toasystem of oppressive taxation, was wmNIms- flawin his chamter. Though with gretu zeal, and honourable iwh»- try, and at great expenee, he built a temple for the Lord, which he completed in seven years; yet die expense hen was little in comparison of what was incurred by Ais omm AoHS^ called i^nnaaeet^eieforeMtof Lihanon, in wh^ he spent incredible sums, and consumed twariy Qtithm years; almost twice the time emidoyed u) buUdiog die Maple at Jerusalem, lliis wouM ftavehad no evil openrioa, provided he had not been obliged to impose heavy taxes oa rtis subjects, which produced an almost universal dtaa&ction. Add to this, be had a most expensive bousebokl: m« Oumeand womei^ port Wiwst part nistresses, wcnld require immense rienes to suppmrt ^ir pomp, and Ki**^ dieir ambition. The people, therefore, piatly ensnplsswfl of an establishment, which, notwithslandii^ die rid— brou^t into the country, roust be both odious and opfmsive.

3. He b^n his reign by en imnspicious act, the Amm of his brother Adontjan. litis was a sin agatnst Ooi Ha twtora; andnosrtof aumeaneverwuh outitiieuilt. If »lale potictf required it, whicb ia very queUionaEle, what had tliat to do with ihefitlingg of Aumont/y, and the love qf God. Oa tto pratence whatever ia Solotnoo juatified in thia wi.

4. Hia inordinate love of women: — he had no doubt formed matrimonial alliances with all kinedoms and neighbouring states, by taking their eittert auddaugktcn to be hia wives, to the fearful amount of no less than aetmhuH' dredl Politicians mov endeavour to justify these acta by asserting that, in the Astern countries, they were matters of a aound policy, rather than an arguinent of the prevalence of an irref ular and unbridled poaaion. Let thia stand for its value:— -but what can such apologieta say for the addiiional Uiree hundred coneubiites, for die taking of whom no such necessity can be pleaded? But even allowtns that state policy might require such extensive alliancea, what are we to say to uie flagrant breaches of a most positlve law of God 1 Most solemnly and most authoritatively had he said, that his people ahould not give their daughtera m the heathen, oor take the daughters of the heathen to be their wives -, lest they ahould turn their hearts away from aerving the Lord. In the face of this moat positive declaration, Solomon took wives of the most idolatrous of the ■urrouoding nations: who succeeded, according to what waa fbr^lu, in turning hia heart away from Ood.

Si He became on idolater r— he woritumed "Ashtanxh,. tht Tenos of the Sidonians; Hileom, rae abomination of the Ammonites; Chsmoah, die abomination of the Hoabites: and Moleeh, the abomination of the children <ST Ammon." He did more; he built a temple to each of these; "and to all the gods of all tua strange mta, wiuA burned inoeas^ and Mcrifieed unto (beb godi^" tsbmp. mL 6—8.

6. By this time we may aap|xiae that ibe Udit of Ood hod entirely departed from his mind. He wbo knew to woU the true Gfod, now served him not: or, if be d^ It was in conjunction with those idols; thus bringing the Supreme Being on a level with demons, or the figments of impure hearts and disordered bncies. We n^d not wonder at the tale of the mighty Samson, betraying his life's secret in the lep of Delilah t or of tbe unoonqueraUe Henules,faandling toe distaff among Otetnaids of Ompb^ queen of Lydia; wbmwe see die son of David, Ihaonoe well-beloved of the Lord, the wisest of human beings, for pte love of his mfUoiary of wives and concubinea erecting temples to devils, and burning incense to them that were no gods: not conskiering that an idol is nothii^ in ^ worn. To yrhat an ind^cribable state of blindness and ftuaitr most this man have been bmu^t before he could have been e^»ble of sadi acts as thesel O Ludlbr, son of the morning, how art thou bllen 1

7. I have already hinted that Solomon's oppressive taxation laid the feundadoo of that discontent wnich, ahordy after his death, produced the separation of Israel and Judah; also the long and ruinous wan which drenched these states in Uood: and was doubtless the cuiae that ten^twelflhs of Uie Jewish people Became idolaters; whi<^ crime was punished by iie just judgments of God, bv the Babylonidi captivitT, whicb lasted seven^ years; ana by the carrying away ta the tea Israelitish tribes by the Assyrian^ who are lost from the map of the universe, and no longer numbered among the children of men 1

8. What greatly nf^^nxm the whole of this most dismal tale is, diat this strange defection from Chid, truth, reason, and common sens^ was persisted in to his old age; or, in old UB, meaning tmdoubtedly, his latter days, hie wives tumea away his heart from Ood. But hia idolatry must have been of many yeart^ standing; he meddled with it in his connexion with the princess of Egypt t each of his idolatrous wives in succession increased the propensity: to chastise him for this very idolatry, the Lord stirred up on adversary unto him, Badtid the Edomite, and Rtzon the son of Eliodoh, who waa an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, 1 Kings xi. 14—25; which •orelv intimates diat this idolatry vf3 not the tin merely of bis Old age; as, tocfaaatiss Mm for it, Rezou was an adversary to Israel all his days. And, as Solomon reigned for^ yew, we may feirly presume that a principal part of that time was nient in idolatrous practices.

9. This dismal account has a more dismal close still; for, in the same place in which we are informed of his apoatan, we are infimned of his death i without the sli^tc«t intimation that hs over repented and turned to uod. It is true, diat what is wantin* in fact, is supplied by conjFedMre; for it ta firmly believed that ^' he did repent, and wrote the B»ok <^ Eede$ia«tc$ afker his conversicm, which is a decided proof of his repentaoce." I am sorry that I cannot strengtiien this opinion; of which I find not the shadow of a prooL 1. The Book of Ecolesioslea, though it speaks much of the vanity of the creatur«; yet speaks litUe or ootliing of the vanity or sin of ideiatry. 2. It is not the language of a man whowa« recovering from a slate of the most awful backsliding. Is there an^ direct confession of *tn in it1 Is there any thing in it like the p«nitential eonfeatioiu of his fiMher 1 or like ihe lameaUationa of Jeremiah 1 Is diere any where to be heard in it the tilling of a broken htart, or strong crying and tears to deprecate the justice, and implore the mercy, of a deeply offended Gudi Doe* it any where exhibit the langua^^ of a pmitentj or expressions suitable to the state arul circumstances of this supposed jwnitent king of Israel 1 Excellent as it is of its kind, is It any thing more than a valuable collection of experimental euiic^ relative to the emptinet the creature, and the folly of eoxthly pursuita, and workTfy anxieties 1 3. Nor is it even poA dwtbt that Solomon wrote this book; it certainly does, in several plaoei^ bear evidences of dmes posterior to those of Solomon. Kminent scholars have <uscemed a deterioration in the a^le from the pure classical Hebrew; with an admixture of exotic terms, that did not exist in the Hebrew lango^;^. previously to the Babylonish c^ttivicy. But supposing' that the^ are mistaken ber^ I still cooteod that it is not the lannsoe of a penitant souL 4. It bu been msmomAt that as sotomon was a type of Christ, it it not likely that he has finally perished. To this I answer — 1. I know not that Solomon was a type of Christ. The reference to Cant iii. 7. viii. 11, 12. is to me no Proof whatever of ths point. 2. Were it even odierwise, tuis would be no proof of his repentonee, when the Smptures are silent on the sidneot. "nie hnxm trpent waa a type of QuisL Jdm iu. 14b and was held in neat veBaration for a eonnderablA dme among the Jews; but when it became an incitemmt to idolatry, it was called nAuAtan, a brazen IrUU, taken down, and desboyed, 2 Kings xviii. 4. Typicu persons^ and ^ioal thit^ mav perish as welt as odien. Hie antitype alone will inbllibly remain. Finallj, there seenit every evidence that he died in hia tins. His crimes wen gready aggravated: be forsook tfae Lord, who bad pewea unto bim twiee; bis wives turned away^ bis heart in his old age: thm is not a sini^ testimony in the Old or New TMtament fliat intimates he died in a safe stale. That awful denunciation of divine justice stands pointblank in the way of all contraiy suppositions: " If diou farsaka the Lord, bewillcastdieeoffibr ever," 1 Cbron. xxvtiL 9. He d^ forsake the Lord; and he forsook biminhtsTwy lastotysi and diere is i» evidence that he ever agamelava

Reader, let Umdtatsiandedi lake beedkrt be fUI I not only fmlly, but finally. Certainly, unconditional final perseverance will find hltle support in the case of Solomon. He was once most ineonirovertibly in grace. He lost that KTao& and sinned most grievously u«inst God. He was round in dlis stale in hia old age. He died, as fiur as tha Scripture informs us, widioutrepeataace. Even the doubifulnesB in which the bare letter of Ibe Snipture leaves the eternal state of dlis moo, is a blast of H^tniw to the siren song of " once in grace, and still in grace t" ''onceadlild, anda child for ever."

I shall close these obaervations widi the aceomt given by Abal FaragvL an Arabic writer of the thirteenth century, in his work entitled The Hutory tko PyHottUo, pago 56. "But m this SolomOn uwsgresssd. because toward the end of his life be took other women or foreign natiaob berides Um daughter of Phuaofa; nadont with whom Ood had forbidden Uie children of Israel to form matrimonial alKanees; but leaning toward their gods, he wor^pped their idols. In the tkirly-Jburth year of his reign^ built a house for idols in the mount which is opposite to Jentsalem; and the length of it was one hundred cubits, its breadth fifty, and its height thirty. He made also for lunself golden rineld% and a tawen tea, sl^)ported on the honu of brazen oxen. Ood reproved turn for bis infideligr, and gave him for ninidnnent in this world that he took away Irom his eon tne greater part of the kingdom. Moreover, theduration of his reign was/n-fy years; 1V>' J3<^»b istbsy and he died wilhaut repentance, and was buried In the sepulchre of his father David."

For other particulars relative u the different transaeticM of this reign, the reader is referred to the tiote^ hi the order of dieir ocourenoe! and to those treatises whiob bare ban written on the pnAability duu Solomon did or did mat reoentofhis idolatry; and also to the notes on AccbtfatMt where the tid:^t will be again reviewed

1 BwlBBla, K-A HiGakoaai eoM la Jmnha. uid a I OKa <f JwU ud Btnjuadn, ud RoJi iha mmba' u «ii ha— iWf aiKl *iiil< (Mk I» pnipae* lo rtliu Ua aM

■*;"-k2!;ii2 A ' Rehoboam went to Shechem; j^nSS: XX fcr all Israel were come to She- ohetu to make him king. S Aad it came to pan, when ^ Jeroboam the Bon of Nebat, who waa yet in * Egypt, heard of U, (for he was fled from the preeeiKe of King Solomon, and Jen^MMira dwelt in Egypt.)

3 That they sent and caHed him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Reholraam, saying,

4 Thy lather made our » yoke grievous r now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy fh^er. and hu heavy yoke which he put upon us, Ufhter, and we will serve thee.

5 And he said unto Uiem, Depart yet 7^ thr«e days, then come agam to me. And toe peojde departed.

e 1F And King Rehoboam eonsulted with the oM men, that stood before Solomon his father, while be yet lived, and said. How do ye advise that I may answer this people 7

7 AoA they spake unto himi saym^, * If thou wSi be a serrant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak

NOTBS ON CHAPTER XH. Tans 1. XtMoam tfmi to Sh«A«tn] Bebobow mm fnkahlj' tk» only ua of Solonoa; for aJtbough he had n MMiMsd wivM, he had not the UMsing of a numeroua aSkfmBg; and thcu^ ho was the wioeat of mea hunielf, hia aoKTaa a poor unprincipled fooL Had Solomoq kept hiiMaU within rwonahle bounda ia mUrinMoial a&ir% he would probably have had mora children; mod mich a* wmH ban had eoaunon aeue eooai^ to dimm the dalioMTf of their aiuilioi^ and mle aeootdiag to naaoa and

Vw»4. UugrifomaMniM and heavy yok*\'nvey ■em here to oonplaia of two thiuga: ezceiMve^ leborioua ■ewwe, and a heavy tazation. At fint, it ia auppoaed, 8olofB<Mt employed no ivaelite in drudgery; afte^raid, when he fanook the God of cmnpaMionf he aeemed to have used them as ttovMi and to have revived die Egyptian bondage.

VatKl. ff'AouwiUbeanrvaninntolhUpeopU] TUa im a oooatitutional idea of a king i he ia the trwmt but not the tlmse, of hia people; everyvegel act of a juat king ia an aet of urviet to the atate. The king is net Mily the Jimtitain of law and JtuUce; but aa he naa tha apjpoimnwM of all ojlcart and conaequently, he w the

I the aanant of his people; and, in being auoh) be ia their &ther awl their king.

7Vy imll b* thy Krvantt for ever.] The my to«niure Ae obedienoe of the people, ia to hold the reina of empire whh a steady and impartial hand: let tbe people see that lha king liuajbr Vum, and not for Htnttff t and tbcy will (Aef, \Sn, and defend him. The state ia mainlained ob the port or tbe ruler and tbe ruled by mutual acta id aervioe and bencvolenoe. A good king haa no aalf-intereat; and sDcb a king will ever have obedient and loyiog subjects. The baugfa^ proud tyrant will have a wu^mciotu and Jtalmu pec^le, hourly ripening for nvolt. tiiB king is made for tbe people, not toe people for the king, I<et every pttmiatt wMMlycoaaider ibie: and let every ni/i^'ecf know that the beavieai oarea rest on the heart, and die beavie«t la^a— ibility reals on the bead, of the king. Let them, tbsaeCons under bis government, fashion tneawelv«s aa obedient diildren } aekoowledge him their head; and duly consider lehMt auAoriiy be Homi that they may love, wmr, and obey bim. Bttpm are die pBq>le who hare waek aUng; aafo u die king who has audi a people.

good words to them, then they will be thy ew-

8 But he forsook the counsel of tbe old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grovm up with him, and which stood before him.

9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which tfey father did put upon us lighter?

10 And the young men that were erown up with him, spake unto him, eaying, Tnua shaft thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make Ihou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thoo say unto them. My little finger shall be thidker than my father's loins.

11 And now, whereas my father did lade yoa with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: mt father hath chastised you with wnips, nut I win chastise you with aeor|Hons.

13 If So Jeroboam and all the peoj^ came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, eaying, Come to me again the third day.

13 And the Bog answered the people 'roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;

14 And spake to them after the counsel of the voung men, saying. My father maJe your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my fibber al«o chastised ^ou with whips, but I will ciiaitMt you with scorpions.

15 Wherefore the king heark«ied not unto the people; ' for the cause was from the Lou, that he mig^it. perform his saying, which tbe Loiw ^ spake oy Ahijab fhe Shuonite nnto Jeroboam the son flif NeKit.

Terse 10. And&» yetaur nun Ativun grown i^wiA himi It was a ousttna in dinbreat countries loedneatewidi the heir to tbe throne young noblemen of nearly tbe aaaM Bge. Tbie, aa Calmet observes, answered two great aad important ends: 1. It excited the pruice to emulatioa; that be might, as for as possible, surpass in all manly ezeirase^ and in ul acts oi prudence and virtue, those wbom ana day he was to auipaas in tbe elevation and digniw of bis station. 2. lliat be might acquire a correct kumlodga of tbe dimaitm and vievrs of those who were likely to ht, under nim, the highest ofScers of the atate; and, conaa quently, know the better how to trust and empl^ diein. "nie old oounsellora B/ehobcnia did not know: with the young nobility he had been fcmiliar.

JUjr UUle fiiucer *haU be thicktr} A proverbial mode of enression: "My lltde Jtnrer ia thidter diaa my fatber'a Aiah," Am vmA as the ungft surpasses tbe tittUJbigtr in thickness, so much does my power ezeeed tkat of my father; and tbe use that I aball make of it lo esnploy aaa taxyou, shall be in propcntion.

Terse II. Chtutiuyou viih tcorpjens-l Should rebel, or become disaoeeted, my fother's lAep shall be a teorpion in my hand. EUs was ehasftaem^Rt. mine riall be jamMmmi. 3l laidore^ and after him Calmet, and others assert that tbe acorpion was a scst of severs wfa^v the lashes of which were armed with iron pointi^ llwt sunk into and tore tbe flesh. We know that the a,«i'pi'ea waa a military engine among tbe Romana for thoatimg amnet, which, being poisoned, were likened to the sgm^ pioa's Btii^ aw) tbe wound it inflicted.

Terse 167 TV MUMiMu./rom Ihe Ij>rd] God kft bus to himself and did notineline hia heart to follow the eounsal of the wiae men. T%is is making the best of our piest version: but ^ we oome lo inquire into the meaning of tbe cADBB of all this confusion aiid anarchy, we ^wlTfind it was Behoboant's folly, cnteUy, and dtmoUc iyran^! — and waa At* from the Lord 1 But does the text speak dna bad doetrinel No; it says nasriAbo, the mKvoumamwoB fnmtheLard. This is consistent with all tbe daclarationa which went before. God stirred up die people to rsvek bon a man who had neither akiU nor humanity to govani tbra. We had auch a nan rwDfuMm in these nalioaa; in nm% and, thank God, we have nevernnee needed anodiar. Neos of our ancient trenslatioDe understood the word as our sent version does: they have it eilber Vu luaitiM awat waa,^»mlka£«K(orawaslfteL0r^«(HU>nfAiicBt ibat they Anild turn away fron diis iboliah kbig.

16 t So when aH Israel nw Uiat the bine hearkeoed not tuto them; the ^eoi^e answerea the king, wing, > What portion have we in David? neither have ve inheritance in the aon oTJease: to your tents. O leraei: now see to thine own hoiue, David. So Israel departed unto their teuL*.

17 But kiM /or the children of Israel wtuch dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

18 Then Kixi^ Rehoboam i aent Adoram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him

Eith itones, that he died. Therefore King Reoboam inade speed to get him up to his chariot, to See to Jerusalem.

19 So ■■ Israel •> rebelled against the house of David uoto this day.

20 y And it came to pass, when all Israel beard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah P odIv.

21 1[ And when ' Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, whidi were warriors, to light against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

22 But * the word of Ood come unto Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,

23 Speak unto Rehoooara, Uie son of Solomon, kins of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah ana Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,

24 Thus Boith the Lord, Ye shall not go up. nor fieht against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; ' for uiis thing is from me. They heartcened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.

25 H Then Jeroboam " built Sbediem in mount Ephraim, and dwel t therein; and went out from

26 II And Jeroboam said in his heart. Now •hall the kingdom return to the house of David:

27 If this people * go up to do sacrifice in the

house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of tins people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Jtidah. and they shall kill me, and go agam to Rehoboam king

28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and ■ made two calves c^f gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ' behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egyi>t.

29 And he set the one in 'Betb-el, and the other put he in ■ Dan.

30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

31 And he made a < house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people,

which were not of the sons of Levi.

32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifleenth day of the month, like unto * the feast that ia in Judah, and he

oflered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, I sacrificing unto the calves that he had made; and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.

33 Bo he ' offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fillecnth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had ^devised of bis own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he ofiered upon the altar, > and <■ burnt incense.

Vent 16. 8o bnutd^rUd onto their tatU.] That is, the ton tribea wididiw their a.UegUuice from Rehoboam j only Jvdah sad Beajamin, frequently reckoned one tribe, rairwining with him.

Tens IB. Kfn^ JSebAoom tent Adamm] Am thie was the penoa who waa niperietendent arer the trOnO^ he was probably seni to collect the ordinary taxei; but the people, indignanl «u the matUr who had given them nichaDruti^ answer, auoed the tenant to death. The sending of Adonm to collect the taxes, when the public mind was in tuch m state of fermentation, was anotlwr proof of Rehoboam'a fcllr and iacspasi^ •> govern.

Verae 20. Aiuh hint king mtr ait ZmwL] What ie called Israel here, waa ten-twelfths of die whole nation and had they a right td call another person to ^ throne 1 They hod not: ihey had neither legal nor eonttUutionai rielit. Jeroboam was not of the blood royal t he luid no a^tnity to the kingdom. Nothing could juatiiV thii act, but the just judgment of Ood. God thus punisned a disobedient and gains^riag people; and especially Solomon's bmfly, whose sins sgainit the Loan ware of do ordinary

1 24. Far thU thing u from mt] That is, die »»paration of the ten tribes from ihe house of David.

T^k^y — returned to depart] Thia waa ereet deference, both in Rel)olK»un and his officen^ to relinauiah, at the ooHunand of the pophe^ a war which tbey tnought they bad good grounds to undertake. TVu remnant of the fwpti heard tbs divine command gratefully, for the mass of mankind are awae from war. No natiMU would ercr rise up agiiinat »ach other, were ihey not ioatigatid lo it, or compelled by their rulers.

Ve« 27. And they thaU kiU nul He found he had little causa to truat this fickle people: though they had declared for him, it was more fron Mpriea, dttiss 9f VOL.I.-103

AND, behold, there came "a man "m^ of God out of Judah by the word J^Ltt-.ua of the Loan unto Beth-el: • and Jero- mSt^S" bo«n stood by the altar 'to burn 9mr*.n.

Verse 29. Midt two ealva qf gold} He invented a politieal religion, and instituted feasts in bis own time% di^reot horn thoae appointed by the Lord; gave the people eerttun (dnects of deTOtion, and pretended to think it would be both iaoonvHiient and oppressive to them ts have to go up to Jeruaalem to worship. Thia waa not the laat time that religion was made a state engine to serve political purposes. It is strange that, in pointing out hia calves to the people, he should use the same word* that Aaron used when he made die rolden calf in the wilderness 1 when d>ey muathave heard what terrible judgments foil upon tlwir forefathers for thia idolatry.

Verse 29. One in Beth~fl, and the othar — iai Dan.^ One at Ihe tauihern, and the other at the northern extremity of the land. Solomon's idolatry had prepared the people for Jeroboam's abominations. ■> Verse 31. A home <^ high p^oce*] A temple of temples; be bad many h^ pitmt in the land i and, to iiailate the temple at Jerusideni, he made one diief over all the rest, where he establisbea a priesthood of hia own ordination.

Made priette <^ Ou toutet of the people] He took die people indifierenUy aa they came; and made them priesis till be had «uni^ without troubling himself whether they were of the family of Aaron, or the house of Levi, or not.. Any priests would do well enough for ■udt gods. Alt those whom h« took seem to have been wortluess good-fbr-DOthing fellows, who had neither piety nor good ssnse. Probably the son« of Levi had grace enough lo refttss to aancdoa diis new ptieetfaood, and idolatrous worship.

Verse 32. Ordained a ftaM} The Jews heU their featt of taberaacUt on the T5d) day of the stseaA

S And he cried a^nst the altar m the word of the LoRB, and sGud, O altar, altar, thus aaith the Lord: Beheld, a child Hhall be bom unto the hooBe of David. ^Josuh by namef and

El thee shall he otter the priests of higli es that bum incenee apon thee, and men's IS shall be burnt upon thee.

3 And he gave '' a sign the saine day, saring, This it the aiffn which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar ahedl be rent, and the asbeB that ore upon it shall be poured out.

4 It And it came to pass, when Kinff Jeroboam heard the saving of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth hu hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not ^11 it in again to him.

5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

6 And the king answered and said unto the man of Glod, ■ Entreat now the face of Hie Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God be- •ought I the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him a?ain, and became as it was before.

7 IT And the king said unto the man of God. Come home with rae, and refresh thyself, and " I will give thee a reward.

month: Jeroboam, who would meet the prejudice! of the people, u br 01 he could, appointed a mmiLar tiewt on (he I6w of the eighth, month: thu> sppeoiing to hold the thing, while he subrerted the ordinance.

Verae 33. Bt offered uj>on ths altar] Jerobotun probably performed the fimctiona of hi^ priest himeel^ that he might in his own paraon condenoe the civil and eccle- ■iaaciw power.

Verae 1. 7%«ra came a man of Ood] Who thia wa% WB know not. The ChaUUe, Smiae, and ^ra6M^ call liin a prophet. I^e Vulgate and S^titagint follow the Hebreic. vrrhti uA elohim, meani a divine person; one wholly devoted to Ood'a aervice. Some have thou^t it woa Shemaiah. othen Joel, and others Iddo. It could not have been eitner the former or the tatter, for he wrote tbe acta of Jeroboam, 2 Chron. ix. 29; and the prophet vaa killed before be returned home: but conjecture ia idle OBHohaauI^aet

Jeroboam ttoad by Ou altar] Like godc like inrieBt: he made himself high prieat: and be took of uie lowest of the peopUh and made them priaau of the high places: they proved ihemselves to he/boU, by worshipping of ealvet.

Verae 2. He cried ^oinef tn4 altar] He dMKHUioed the destrucdoD of this utolatrous system.

A chUd s&ott be bom — JoHah byname] Hiis is one of dw most nmarkable and mosl aiognlar prO|diecies in the Old TeatamenL It here most eircumatantially foretells a hct which took place three hmdred ana Jbrty years after the prediction: « fact which was attested the two nations. The Jem, in whose behalf this propbeey was delivered, would guard it most sacredly;.And it was d)s intenst of the JbraeUtea, against whom it was levsUsd, (o impugn its authenticity and expose iu fiila^ood, had diis been possible. This prediction not only showed tbe knatMUdge at God, but his power. He gave, as it were, this warning to idolatry, that it might be on its goaro, and defend itself agoiitst this Joaiah, whenever a person of that name ahoulo be found sitting on the throne of David: and, no doubt, it was on the alert, and took all prudent measures for its own defence; but all in vain; for Joaiah, in the eighteenA year of his reign, literally ac> eompliahed this prooheey, as we may read, 2 Kinm, chap, zxiii. 1 6~-W. And from this latter place we findtbat the proiAiecy had three permanent tesumonials of its truth. 1, The neuse of Israel. Z The house of Judoh. And, 3. The tomb of the prophet, who delivered this prophecy, who, being slain by a lien, was brou^t bock and buried at Belh-elt Die naerteription on irtiose tomb remained till the day on which Josuth destroyed that altar, and burnt dead men's bones upon it. See above, verses IB, 17, and IS.

Verse 3. And h* gate a Hgn] A miracle, to prove ffaatdia prophecy atapuld be bf&M in its sMKHL ■

S And the man of God said unto the king, *If thon wilt give me half thfaie house, I will not jga ID with thee, neither will I eat bread nor dmik water in this place:

9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, " E!at bo bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camesL

10 So 1m went another way, and retorned not by tbe way that he came to Betb^

1 1 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Betii-elt and hh ■ sMis came and told bini all the works that the man of God had dcfue that day in Beth-el: the wordcr which he had spoken unto the king, them the/ told also their lather.

12 And their father eeid untv tbem. What way went he 1 For his sons had* seen what my the man of God went, which came Ihna Jodai.

13 And he said unto his sons. Saddle me' the ass. So they saddled him the as*: and he rods thereon,

14 And went after the man oTGod. and fonu him sitting under an oak: and he said unto hin^ Art thou the man of God that cameat from Jddah? And he said, I ant.

15 Then he said unto him. Come home win me, and eat bread.

16 Afid he said, ' I may not return with Aee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17 For * it was said to me ■ by the word of the Lord, Thou sluilt eat no bread nor drink water

Verse 4. Lay hold on klm.\ No doubt stretching oat his own hand at the same time, through lage^ pnde, and haste, to execute his own orders.

Aiidhia hand-^ritd iqi] lie whole arm?ii i anin suddenly rigid; tbe nervea no longer eonuMnicated ihsir influence, and tbe nusdes eqased M ob^ the dicina at the will.

Verse 6. 7?ie altar aUo was rsnf] It sfdit or clave <f its own accord; rad, as the split parts would decline at the top from the line of their perpendicular, ao tbe asbee and eoals would fitU off, or be poured out.

Verse6. Entreat— the face qf the homo Ikf €hd] lbs faee of God is his ^favour, as we see in many parts of the Sacred Writings: he sml ihv Qod; tor Jeroboam knew that he was not hit Ood, tor be was now in tbe vnry act of acknowledging other gods, and bad do portion in the Ood of Jacob.

And fkeAin^s&tuuf IMS restored] Bothmimelaavew wrought to show tbe truth of the Jewish nligie% ud t» convince this bold innovator Ki hta wietedaew^ and t»

Verse 7. Cmtu home with mo — and Ivrill giw due s reward,} Come and be one of my priests, and I will give thee a proper salary.

Verse 9. J^»oV(u ii ehargtdmm JSat no broad, Ae.} •niat is^ have no kind of oooimmieMioawilh thnaaiiloMisrfc He was charged also not to return byibs waythat bo oame; probably lest the acconot of what wae done sbonld have reached uie eara of any of the people through wiioB he had pa*a*d, and he sun^ inoonvewaneea oo the ooont, either hy nersBCutian from the idolaters, or fnm curious people deuqiog him, in order to cumo bun to gna on account of tbe transootioos which took place at BetbraL lUs ii a reason why he Aould not retnra bv the same way; but what As reason of diia part of tbe dwcgs wsn^ if not the above, is not easy to see.

Verse 11. An old propha] Probably once a prophet of the Lord, who had mllen firom his stwdfastneaa, and yet not so deeply as to lose the knowledge of ibe tiue Ood, «id join with Jeroboam in bis klolatries. We find be was not at the king's sacrifice, though hia oona won tbsi*! sad perhaps even they were there not as idolaCara, bot as 'poO' taton of what was done.

Verse 14. And went after the man tifChtnitnindtf think that this was with any evil desigii. His sons Yai givenhim Buohanaooountof the predictioo,dtepaw(riaad influence of Aia proidiet, that be wiriwd to bave a psftieahff acquainianee with nim, in Order that he nicbt get father information relative to the solemn import of the ptephen which he had denounced against tbe idtrfatiy wt Belb^ This good man ootaki not rave been sn objeot of tbe oH prophet's malevtrianea.

18 He Mikl unto him, I am a prophet also as thou or/; and an an^el Qftke onto rae by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he nay eat bread and drink water. But he lied anto him.

19 So he went back with him, and did eat brMd in his bouse, and drank water.

20 T And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Loan came onto the prophet that brought him back:

31 And he cried unto the lum of God that came from Judah, saying, Thos uith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lobd thy Qod commanded thee,

22 But eamest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, ^ of the which the LOSDiiA say to thee. Bat no bread, and drink tta water; thy carcass shall not come unto the •epulchre of thy fathers.

23 T And it came to pass, alW he had eaten hread, and mSier he had drnnk, that he saddlM for him the ass, to vrU, tat the prophet whom be bad brouffht back.

24 And when he was gone, * a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and bis carcass was

Ten* 18. An anrtl tpake vnto «4} That ha IM unto Aim ia ban expreHly asaerted, and ia amply proved by tha mrmL Bat wkyriuiuld kedeeaiva him') Tlie sinplo printipio of eariHity ta kaov all about this prediction, and the struige facta whi^ had taken place, of -muAt he had heard MaeMHid hand, by meaaaafhiaaoa^iraaiufficient to indues m»A a pnaoa to jrat iha inUlligenca be wiahed, by ai^ Rteaaa. We may add to thia, that, as he found the man of Ood Biuinjr uixler an oak, probably /aini with foHgvt mA JiuHng.mr he had had no reA«shmen^ his ftumonUy night have led bim to practise thia deception, in order to perauade him to take some refreshment. Having bllen from Ood, OS I have suppiosed, ver. 11. his own tendemeaa of conadence was gone j and he would not aeniple to do a iMrat aiit, if even a Umporat good eould come of iL Again, ia it not possible that the old prophet waa himaelf dtea,ved7 fi)r, though he Utd unto &(m, it is possible that be was not conscious of his lie, for Satain, as an on^et tif K^, might have deceived him in order to lead htm to deceive the other. He doea not m, as the man of God did, 11 mu taid tome by the leont iff me Ijord— No: but An angel tpake unto me fry tfta word As liord. And I think it very likely that an angel did appnr to him on die occasion \ an anrel ^ darkneet and w>latry, in the garb of an angel <J^ li^ht, who wished to use him as an instrument to bring discredit on the awful tmasactions which bad lauly taken ploc^ and to destroy him who had foretold the destruction of his power and innuence.

Terae 19. So ht went back with htm} He permitted himself to be imposed on: ba m^t have diought, as he bad aceompliahM every purpose for which God sent him, and had actually begun to return by another way, God, who had f^ven Kim tke cbargu, had authority K> say. " As di7 purpose was to obey every injunction, even to the letter, I now permit thee to go with thia old proidict, and take some refreshment.** now God might have as well dispensed with &is part of the injunctiou, as ha did in the ease of Abraham — Take thy ton I»a«c,auf07U}/ton,whmn OtouloMt — andqferhimforabtirnt-offering: but, when he saw his perfect readineas, be disiwitsed with the actual offering, and accepted a ram in his atead. Thus much may be swd in vinAcation of the man of God: — But, if this bo so, why should be lie ptuiabed with dtoA, tot doing what he had reaaon and jtracedent to believe miofat be the will of Ood 1 I answer — He aheuld not turn taken a step Imek, till be had remission of tbe clause from the same aothority wUeh gave him the general tnessage. Heabould have had it from the word of (he Lord to hxmaeif, in both eaaea, as Abraham had } and not taken an apparent contra- £ctfon of what was before delivered unto him, from the Bwath of a •frosg'er, who only professed to have it from an angel, who pretended to tftik unto him fry the word ^ ffto Lord. In tbii^ and in this alone, lay the otuful' turn <rf the Mt sf the man ot Ood, who eama t«t of Jqdah.

east in the way, and the ass stood by it, the Hon also stood by the carcasB.

25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass east in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass; and they came and told it in the city wliere the old prophet dwelt.

86 TT And when tM prophet that brought hiin back from the way heard thereof, he stud, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lobd: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.

27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

28 And he went and foond his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor * torn the ass.

29 And the prophet took up the carcass of tbe man of God, and laid it upon tbe ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to tbe city, to mourn, and to bury him.

30 And he laid his carcass in his own srave: and they mourned over bIm, »a^ng, ' Aub, my brother!

31 And it came to pass, after he had buried bim, that he.spake to his sons, saying, When I

Kennieott, " has been raised against this part of the history, en account of God's denouncing sentence on the trtu prophet by the mouth of the JaUe prophet: but, if ve examine with attention tbe original words here, tbev will be found to signify either, A« frrougU Atm frncx; or,wA^A< had broKghi baekf f(H- the very same words, vrvn -mt aehtr kethibo, occur again ver. 23.; where they are now translated, whom he had brought back; and where they cannot be transUted otherwise. This being the case, we are at liberty to consider the word of die Lord as delivered to the true prophet, ttaUs brought back; and then the sentence is pronounced by Ooo himaelf| calling to him out of heavei^ as in Q«a. xxii. U. And that this doom waa thus pronounced by Ood, not by the blse prophet, we are assured in ver. 26. "The Lord hadi delivered him unto the lion, according to the word of the Lord, which njt spake unto bim.' Mteplmo expressly aasertl^ that the aentence waa declared by God to the true projAiet" The Arabic asserts the same.

yerBa21. Andhe] That, ia according to the above interpretatioiL Ae toicM of Ood from heaven, addressing the man of God; tbe old prophet baviq; notl^ to do iD this business.

Verae22. Hiif earcaanhaU not eonu] Utis intunated to him that be was iodic en wiHrndy doath t bat probably did not <pect/V by what means.

Verse 24. A hon met him — and oUw him] By nermitting hintself to be seduced by the old prophet, when Ite sbmild have acted only on the expressly declared counsel of Ood, he committed the tin unto deoA; that is, such a sin as Ood will punish with tbe death of tbe body, wliile h« extends mennr to the souL See my notes on 1 John V. 16, 17.

From the instaoee ben related we see^ as in various other cases, that (rfken Judgment begin* at the kouee cf Qod. The trua prophet, for raceiving that as a reveladoo from God which waa oppoaed to tbe revelation which himaelf had received, and which waa contumed by so many miiaclea is slain by a lion, and his body depnved of thia burial of his lathers; while the wicked king, kcA the ola hlkn jtfopbec, are both permitted to live I If this waa s«e«rt<y to the man of God, it was marcy to tha others i neither of whom was prepared to meat his judge. Here we may well say, " If tiie righteous scarcely oa wmA, wbere shall tbe sinner and tha ungodly appear T'

Yene S8. T^e Uon had net eaten toe earoae*, nor torn th* oas.] All here was preternatural. The lion, though he bad killed the inan, does not devour him; tbe ass stands quietly by, not fearing tbe Uon i and the lion doea not atp tempt to tear the ass: both stand aa guardians of the Uleo prtvhat. How evident is tbs band of 0«d in all I

Terse 30. Alas, my frnitftari] This HuDMilatifln is very simple^ vrar abort, and very pathetic. Perbuia the old

C^el said it as much in rdhranee to Atmsaf/^ who had n the causa of Ibis untinely death, as in rafcraoea to iba man of- Ood, whose eorpae he now eoaiMtlMl id tomh.

am dead, thea bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of Ood is buried; f lay my bones bejBide his bones:

32 ^For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Betli-el, and against all the nouses of the high places which are in the cities of i Sotuaria, sluill sorely come to paee, '.Mjjw 33 11 * After this thing Jeroboam B. u Bi«-9si returned not from his evil way, but

34 " And this thing became sin unto the house. of Jeroboam, even ° to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. '

fi^kliukm!' 2 And Jeroboam eaid to his wife,. fim-ag. Arise, I pray thee, and disfuise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there u Afaijah the prophet, which told me that p.I shoiUdbe kins over this people.

3 1 Ami take ' with tliee ten loaves, and ■ cracknels, and a > cruise of honey, and go to Kim: he shall tell thee what shall become ofthe child.

TeraeSl. Lay my bonea baide hU bmea] ThU&rgUM s ■trongeonviaion, in the mind of the oldjpropbet, (hat the deoeasra wu a good and holy man of Ood) and he ia willing to have place vith him in the genaral remrrection.

Venn 32. Jn the citica of Samarial It i> roost certain that Samaria, or as it ia tailed in Hebrew, SAontn-tm, wai not built at this time. Wc are expreasly told that Omri, king of Israel, founded thia city on the hill which he boiwit for two talenu of silver, from a person of the name of flUnur, after whom he eeJled the ci^ Samaria, or fiA«nuron, see dum. xvL 'M. And diia was JUly yeara after the deadi of Jeroboam. Hov dien could the old pro^et m«tk of Samaria, not then in exiatence, unless be did it by the spirit of prophecy, calling thinga that are not as though they were; aa the man of God called Joaiali by name three huTtdred years before he was bom 1 Some aunxwe that the hislorian adds these words, bet^use Samaria existed in Air time, and he well knew that it did not exist in the time of die old [wopbeti for himself, in the xTiih chapter, gives ua the at^count of its ftnmdation by Omri. After all, it ia possible that Ood miriit have given this revelation V> the old prophet; and thua by anticipation, which ia the language of prophecy, spoke at Samaria aa Aen existing. 'This is the solution of Bin^igtmt, and ia thought aouod by many good critics.

Verse 33. Jenboam returned notfmm hi* evU way] IRien is sometbii^ exeeodingl^ obstinate and perverse, as well as Uinding and infetuaung, in idolatry. The ^ndietien lately delivered at Beth-et, and the miracles wrought in eonfirmation of it, were surety sufficimt to have affected and alarmed any heart, not wholly aiul inoorrifplily hardened; and yet they had no effect on Jeroboam I

Made— ike loaeet Ihe people prieete] So hardy was diis bad man in his idolatry, that he did not even attempt U form any thinr sceordine to the model of Ood'a true wtvritip; he wouM have noming like God and truth. In hia calvee, or rather oxen, he copied the manner of Egypt; and, in the fbrmation of his {wteathood, he seems to have gone aside from all models. Among the worst of heathens, the priesthood was filled wMi raspeetaMe men t but Jen>- boam took of (he lowest of the people, and put diem in thatofSce.

WhoeoMer wold, he eon»eeraltd ftiml He made no discrimiBation: any vagabond that oBena was accepted, even ot those who bad no ohani'^er; who were too itUe to work, and too stupid to learn.

y«rsa S4. And thtt tkiTtg became ain] lliese abomiaalians wen Ids glaring, and too inwliii^ to the Divine 8U

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and ° and went to Shiloh, and came to the house oi Ahijah. But Ahijah i:ould notsee; far Itis efes * weee set by reason of hia age.

5 If And the Lord said unto Ahijah, BcImM the wile of Jeroboam cometh to ask a tbti» of thee for her eon; for he i* sick: thua and tniis shall thou Bay unto her: for H shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feigO' herself to bt another woman.

6 And it was to, when Ahijah heard the aomi of her feet, as she came in at the door, that h* said. Come in, thou wile of Jeroboam; why feigBest thou thyself to be lUKtther? for 1 am sent to thee vith * heavy itdirtft.

7 Go, teU Jeroboam, Thos saith the Lout God of Israel, ■ Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and ma^p thee prince over my people Israel, /

8 And' rent the kingdom Itamcfrom the hotiBC of David, and gave it the?: tgA9^ thou hast not been as my servant Davl|p< who kept mv commandments, and who followed* me wnh aU his heart, to do that only which vac right in mine eyes;

9 But hast done evil above ail that were before thee: ■ for Uioa hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke ma tm anger, and *> hast cast me behind thy hack:

10 Therefore, behold, *I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and <> wilt cut off from Jeroboam him thatpisseth against the wall, ■ and him that ia shut up and leit in Iwael, and wfll take away the remnant ofthe house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

Majesty, to be permitted to last; tiierefore hia house wis cut od^and destroyed from the foce of the earth.

A HOLT priesihood, a rigfUfiaoM ministry, is a bkaiag la any state; because it has a moat powerml effect on the moraU bt the community; inducing order, sobriety, and habits of industry among the people; on the contrwn', the proffieacy of the clergy, and false principlea of ^cl^g■ai^ are the most likely to unsetUe a kingdom, and to viag about deHtructive revolutions in the alate. Tiaa is the principle in which all national estabJishmenis of religion were originally formed. The state thou^it proper to secure a permanency of relision, that religion might a*. cure the safety of the state; Mcause it waa suppoara, from the general aversion of men from good, that, if ]eh to themselves, (hey would have no religion at alt. When the religion of the country ia pure, fbuoded solely on the oraclea of God, it deserves the utmost sanction of the mcc, aa well as the attention of every indivichial. A Christian state has surelv authority to enact, Tlu Chrietian retigit^ ie, and akalt oe, the religion of this land; and, prejudice apor^ riiould not the laws provide for the permancoee <i this mtem? Is the form of Christianity littely to be pveserved in times of general profligacy, if the laws do not secure Its permanence? What would our nation have been if we had not had a version of the Sacred Writings established.t^ the authoDiy of the lawsj and a fbnn at sound words for general devotion eswhlished bjr the sams authority? Whatever the reader may do, the writer disiAs Gh>d for the relisrioua eatabliahment of his country.

the miseries which foil on the house of Jeroboam; bat it was another merciful warning, intended la turn him from his idolatry and wickedness.

Oocftneb] a^vpi nakadim, epotled, or perferaled bread: thin cakes, pierced through with many bolei^ the some as is called Jewi? bread to the present day, sod usr4 by them at the passover. It was cnstomary to give pcesents to all great personages; and no person cooaotied « prophet without briiwine aomethiie in nis hand.

It wouM have been dtseredhsble to Jerohnam'e catvss, s it had been known that he had conanlted a prophet of Jebovnh.

Veree 8. And rent Hu kingdom away from the Amim David^ Thai is, ptrmilted it to bs rent; faseaaue of me fidly aiM ioMlenee oTRehoboam.

11 ' Him that ilieth of Jeroboam in the cAj Bhfdl the dosB eat; and him tiiat dieth in the Aeld shall the TowIb of the ak eat: for the Lobb hath Bpoken tf.

12 AriBC thou, therefore, get thee to thme own house: and ' when thy feet miter into the city, the child shall die.. ^.

13 And all Israel shall mourn for nim, and bury him: for he onlr of Jerrfwam shall come to the ereve, becauae in him ^ there ie found some

14 1 Moreover, the Lorb ehaK ruse him up a king over Israel, who shaH cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now,

15 For the Lord shajl smite Israri, as a reed b shaken in the water, and he shall * root up Israel out of this ' good land, which he gave to their Others, and shall scatter them " Deyond the river, ■ because they have nutde their groves, provokirie the Lord to anger.

16 And he shall give Israel up because the sins of Jeroboam, who £d sin, and who made Israel to sin.

17 \ And Jeroboam's wife arose, end departed, and came to f Tirzah: and ■> when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

18 And they buried him i and all Israel mourned for him,, ' according to the word of the Loan, which he spake by the hand oOom servaiM Ahiiah the prophet.

Kcm-mi Jeroboam, how he ■ warred, and bow L ot?^n he reigned, behold, they are written in -"^ the book of the Chrofiicles of the kings

20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned wer« two and twenty years: and he « alept with his fkthers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

^JJjJp* 21 IF And Reh<Aoam the son of B.cfln-4s. Solomon reigned in Judah. "Reho- Lo^uMO. boam leiu iorty and one years old

when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the cit^ * which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. * And his mother^s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.

22 > And Judah did evtt in the sight of the LoB», and they ' provoked him to jeiuou«y with their sioe which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. Sft For they also buUt them ' high places, and images, ^ and groves, on every Ikigii hiU, aadl ■ under every green tree.

S4 'And tlnre were also eodomites in Ibe land: ondtheydid according to all the aboiniiMV* tions of the nations which the Loan east oat before the children of Israd.

35 If ■ And it came to pasa in the *^*^Xrt fifth year of King Rchoooam, that *M,hoi m. Shishak king of Egypt came ap II^JmS^ against Jerusalem:

M ' And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king*B house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold ' which Bok>- mon had made.

27 And King Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed thtm unto the hands of the chief of the ^ giKurd, which kept the door of the king's house.

28 And it was to, when the king went into the bouee of the Lord, that the guard bare.thwn, and brought them back into me goard-ehamber.

29 If I Now the rest of the acts of *-Jt»» Rehoboam, and all that he did, ore a cTtMrn. they not wriuen in the book the ^ oSSir*£» Chronielet of the kings of Judah?

30 And there wos^ war between Re^Eotu and Jeroboam all their days.

31 lAnd Rehoboam slept with his V'&us' Aithera^ and was buried with his fathers amloi-uz. in the city of David. " And his mother's ^t'llSS' name wag Naamah, an Ammonitess.

T«m 10^ Him that piueth againat tht vail] Every male i wo AaalA this phrase be svctt where reedered.

Vene It. Shail Uu don tat] Ttiej Bh&ll not have an hODOorable faurial; and nail not oone into the tapulchm of their fttthera.

Vsrse 13. In him there is found some good thing] Far be it frtna Ood to deitray the rigfaUoua with the wiolnd: dod nspsets mo a iifib gust^ heosuas it is asacd lirom lilaiaetf. The Idngdotn of heaven is likesgrain ofmtutani-

Verae 16. For the Lobd AaU »mit» AroeH See ibia prophecy fulfilled, chap. xv. 29 — 30. when Baaeba destroyed all the houae and posterity of 'Jeroboam.

Verve 19. TTie rett <ifth» tut* ^ Jtrobaam — are wriUtn in th4 — Chronica} For some important particulars relative to thia retRD, aee S Chron. xiii. I — 20.

Verse 24. Tvun vera olio aotlwniiw in tha Imnd spw^p kadaahim, eonseerated peraons) persoos who bai devoted tbemadves to praetioes of the gisleat iapttri^, in tbe lerrioe of the moat impure idol*.

Varae 26. B* took ateoy tho trotuwf] All the Ireop ■ures -which Solomon had amasseil, bothin tbe temple and in hia own houaea: a booty tin most iiameiwe ever a^uired in onsplaee.

These were thrtc hundred in mimber, aiid wan all made of beaten gold. See a oompotstioa of tbnr value ia lbs note on cluip. X. 17.

Verae 28. TTie guard bare them} The guard probably were just three handred, anawering to the number of the ahielda.

Veise 31. Naamah^ an AmmoniUee] Ha was bom of a hMtban modwr, and bsgottsa ot sa spostais fiithert— ftom aneh an impure fimumn eosM meet waisr poaribly »priart

Alr^am hie eon rngwd in hie etead[ "Hvough right- I eanaot ba propagated, bsesass it IS aufMrnoiHra/

^tMcn^banxswa may^ for chat ia a Keaiiicie afTtpriag of natunh Abijam wu tlw wicked am ctf aa apailote fafMC. anii hta^enieh mother. Once may be grano] on a atoek i but toi nona do evil that good nmy come cf it. A bat] Block will produce Lad ftuiL

Dr. Kamiiott ob^ervra, Ihnt thc^ umrLC uf ituo Ling af Judaii IB now npreeaed time ways; LerL-, 41111 in four udur

EtoceB, it ia jlbuom, ^ AHm t intw} t)wtt\ it is JMbitf jt in elaren otbnr plaoea, iC la Abiah^em it u afmntd bf ' St. hfatL i. 7, Peffnaji tymnet rt* ABlAl ud ifaia ii tiba readily of llnttten- ot aennitotC* and ^.ReeeVe MSS. and ctlhirlctn rt^^cinble nSiiitina nf Q^K Hi?(rvw Slbla,

'Flu' raliliijis anv, imrl ^anir-Lilarly ff,rfi, f^ol. J-/rcti{, that die iSiaUbub: mriiliuned in iliis ctiaptor ni I'jiar>uili rVet'lii^ | and that he invaded Israel in order to set the ivory ibrme of hia eon-in-law Solomon, which he had always coveted: and diia throne he earned awav. It appears, however, ihu he spoiled die temple, the lung's palace, &c.; and, in uort, took evaty thing away without reaiatasce which he ehoee to carry (M£ It la very likely that thia had a good effitet 00 Rehohoam t it probaluy cauaed him (o frequent the temp)^ ver. 23. which, it ia likely, he had before neglected. This hiatory ia more particularly told in 2 Chron. zii. to which tbe reader will do well to refer i and, aa to Rehoboam, though eo much poaitive iniqui^ is not laid tohisehftfas SB to hit lather, yet little can be aaid for his piety i the idtwtry introduced by Solomon does not appear to bave been ban ened in the dayaof Rehoboam..

3 And he walked in all the bidb of his father, wbkh he had done before him: and ■ his heart was net perfect with the Lobb his God, as the heart of David his &thor.

4 Nevertkrfese, « for OaWd*B sake did the Lord hie Qod give him a " lampin Jerusalem, to set up his son aftw him, and to establish Jerusalem:

5 Because David * did that wAieh wot right im the eye* oC the Lord, and turned not aside from Any thing that he commanded him all the days of his Ufa, * save 011I7 in the matter <^riah the Hittitc.

6 " And there was war between Rehoboam aad Jerohoam all the days of his life.

7 ^ New the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all tiiot he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles ofthe kings of Jndah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

V«rae 1. Seig^ned Abijam over Juda/L] Ofdria son of K^obMin, of bu bmbren, and of RdtoboBm'a family in general, see the eleventh of 2 Chron. when many partieaum are added.

Verse 3. HU heart wu not perfeet] He wu an idolater; or did not mpport the worship of the true Ood. iiiis appears to be. the general meaiuDg of the heaH not being pet^eet vUh God,

Verae 4. The Lord — give Mm a lampl That ijs, a SOB to succeed him: sae oiap. zi. 36.

Verae & Sate only in the matter ^ OKoll] Properly ■peaking, this is the only flagrant fault or crime in the life of David. It was a horrible offence; or rather, a uAote eyetem qf qffeneea. See the notes on 2 Sam. xi. and zii.

Verse 6. TTure v>aa war bettoun Rehoboam and Jeroboam] "niis was mentioned in the preceding chapter, ver. 30. and it can mean no more than this: there vaa a conitnual apirU tf hMtilHy kept up between the two kiogiiomB, and no doubt frequent akimUMng between bordering parties; but it never broke mt into open toar, tor this was particularly forbidden. See dnvp. xii. 24. Hostility did exist, and no doubt frequent skirmishes; but 4^m war, and pitched battUe, there were none.

But why is this circumstance repealed, and the history of Abijam interrunted by the repetilion'} lliere is some reason to believe that Rehoboam is not the true reading, and that it should be Mijam: " Now there was war between Mijam and Jeroboam alt the days of his life." And this is the reading of fourteen of Kennico^a and De ftowCe HSS. The ^p-iae has, Abia the eoA nf Rehoboam; the Arabic has, Aoijam. In the SepluagiiU, the whole verse is omitted in the London Polyglou; but it is extant in diose of Comptuiam and AiUwtrp. Some opma of the TVirgum have AWam also; and the i^dttfe Prfnesp* of the Vulgate has Aois. This is doubtless the tnw readiaf^ as we know there was a very memtftable war between Abia and Jeroboam; see it pamenlsrly descvibed 2 Chron. ziii 3, &c

Verse 10. BU mother'a nairu] Our trandaura diooj^t that grandTnother was likely lo be As ouaning, and tiiereiore have put it in the margin.

The daughter qf Ahiahcdom^ She is called, says Catn«C, the dmtgHer tf Abeahm, according to ne eualom of the Scriptures, which give the name of dsugftfer indifferently to the nisei^ ma granddaugUsf', aiM greatgranddaughter.

Terse \t. Hutodomiteal Sisnpn ha kedaehim; litemlly, Oie holy, or caneetraled one*. See on chap. xiv. 24.

Verse 13. iS^ had vUide an idol in a grove) The original word mVsD mtpeUtaM, is variously luderatood. I shall ^ive its different views in the versions.*

8 'And Abuam slept with his fe^ ^STiSL? thers; and they buried him in the city a»***ppr David: and Aaa his eon reigned

9 ir And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam kiiv of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

Iff And forty and one years reiened ^j^gfhe in Jerusalem. And his ■ mother's saica-^ name -was Maachah. the daughter of l^K^Ss Abishalom..

11 And Asa did that vAich woe right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.

12 ° And he look away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that hi» Aithers bod made.

13 And also ■* Maachah hie mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa ■ destroyed her idol, and ' burnt it by the brook Kidron.

14 ■ But the h^h j^aces were not removed: nevertheless Asa's ^ heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.

15 And he brought in the i things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedidated, into the house of the Loan, silver, and «»ld, tuad vessels.

16 IF And there was war between *-'SJi" Aaa and Baasha king of Israel all B.v.m~m. their days. l aS^Tin

17 And ^Baaaha king of Israd went

chief in die sacred rites of Priapus, and in his giovs which she bad consecntted." — Vulutb. " And Ana, (other copies Maadia,) bo xenHmd fnw being governess, becwse die bad nmde an aassBhfy ia her grove." — Sbptoagikt. "Moreover he deprived Maacha, his mother, of bar own magnificence; because she bad ccldnwted k a(H lemniiy to her own worship." — Stbiac. "And even Maacha his mother he removed from the kingdom, because she bad made an idol in a grove." — Cmauizx.

"Biaides^ he removed Maacha, his modier, from her kingdom, because she had made a high tree mto aa idoC" — AaABic " Also, he removed Maacha his mother, from the kin^ dom, because she had made a horrible statue; and our rabbins aay, that it was called ns^so m^>otete^ because KrrarV irViiD mipelia leyatsoulbi^ it frodiieed wmderfutHdSeiiUt Gv ^ nada it ad siistfar aisaiftH mrtib, and ahs used U daily." BMn Sohmm Jarehi.

From the whole, it is preUy evident that the image was a mere Pritmue, or sometbiitf of the same nature; and that Maachah had an asswnUy io the ^rove where thia image was set up, and doubtlee* worsfaimed it with tfas most impure rites. What the Roman Priapiu was I Iteed not tell the Jeamed reader; and, as (o the unlearned, it would not {nroflt him to know it. Maaehak was bkm likely another MeooaHna t and Asa probably did for hia mother what Claudius did for his wife.