Salt, Valley Of
a valley in which occurred two memorable victories of the Israelite arms: That of David over the Edomites. ( 2 Samuel 8:13 ; 1 Chronicles 18:12 ) That of Amaziah. ( 2 Kings 14:7 ; 2 Chronicles 25:11 ) It is perhaps the broad open plain which lies at the lower end of the Dead Sea, and intervenes between the lake itself and the range of heights which crosses the valley at six or eight miles to the south. This same view is taken by Dr. Robinson. Others suggest that it is nearer to Petra. What little can be inferred from the narrative as to its situation favors the latter theory.
Salutation
Salutations may be classed under the two heads of conversational and epistolary. The salutation at meeting consisted in early times of various expressions of blessing, such as “God be gracious unto thee,” ( Genesis 43:29 ) “The Lord be with you;” “The Lord bless thee.” ( Ruth 2:4 ) Hence the term “bless” received the secondary sense of “salute.” The salutation at parting consisted originally of a simple blessing, ( Genesis 24:60 ) but in later times the form “Go in peace,” or rather “Farewell” ( 1 Samuel 1:17 ) was common. In modern times the ordinary mode of address current in the East resembles the Hebrew Es-selam aleykum, “Peace be on you,” and the term “salam,” peace, has been introduced into our own language to describe the Oriental salutation. In epistolary salutations the writer placed-his own name first, and then that of the person whom he sainted. A form of prayer for spiritual mercies was also used. The concluding salutation consisted generally of the term “I salute,” accompanied by a prayer for peace or grace.
Samuel
was the son of Elkanah and Hannah, and was born at Ramathaim-zophim, among the hills of Ephraim. [ Ramah No. 2] (B.C. 1171.) Before his birth he was dedicated by his mother to the office of a Nazarite and when a young child, 12 years old according to Josephus he was placed in the temple, and ministered unto the Lord before Eli.” It was while here that he received his first prophetic call. ( 1 Samuel 3:1-18 ) He next appears, probably twenty years afterward, suddenly among the people, warning them against their idolatrous practices. ( 1 Samuel 7:3 , 4 ) Then followed Samuel’s first and, as far as we know, only military achievement, ch. ( 1 Samuel 7:5-12 ) but it was apparently this which raised him to the office of “judge.” He visited, in the discharge of his duties as ruler, the three chief sanctuaries on the west of Jordan—Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh. ch. ( 1 Samuel 7:16 ) His own residence was still native city, Ramah, where he married, and two sons grew up to repeat under his eyes the same perversion of high office that he had himself witnessed in his childhood in the case of the two sons of Eli. In his old age he shared his power with them, ( 1 Samuel 8:1-4 ) but the people dissatisfied, demanded a king, and finally anointed under God’s direction, and Samuel surrendered to him his authority, ( 1 Samuel 12:1 ) ... though still remaining judge. ch. ( 1 Samuel 7:15 ) He was consulted far and near on the small affairs of life. ( 1 Samuel 9:7 , 8 ) From this fact, combined with his office of ruler, an awful reverence grew up around him. No sacrificial feast was thought complete without his blessing. Ibid. ( 1 Samuel 9:13 ) A peculiar virtue was believed to reside in his intercession. After Saul was rejected by God, Samuel anointed David in his place and Samuel became the spiritual father of the psalmist-king. The death of Samuel is described as taking place in the year of the close of David’s wanderings. It is said with peculiar emphasis, as if to mark the loss, that “all the Israelites were gathered together” from all parts of this hitherto-divided country, and “lamented him,” and “buried him” within his own house, thus in a manner consecrated by being turned into his tomb. ( 1 Samuel 25:1 ) Samuel represents the independence of the moral law, of the divine will, as distinct from legal or sacerdotal enactments, which is so remarkable a characteristic of all the later prophets. He is also the founder of the first regular institutions of religious instructions and communities for the purposes of education.
Samuel, Books Of
are not separated from each other in the Hebrew MSS., and, from a critical point of view, must be regarded as one book. The present, division was first made in the Septuagint translation, and was adopted in the Vulgate from the Septuagint. The book was called by the Hebrews: “Samuel,” probably because the birth and life of Samuel were the subjects treated of in the beginning of the work. The books of Samuel commence with the history of Eli and Samuel, and contain all account of the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy and of the reigns of Saul and David, with the exception of the last days of the latter monarch which are related in the beginning of the books of Kings, of which those of Samuel form the previous portion. [ Kings, First And Second Books Of , B00KS OF] Authorship and date of the book,— As to the authorship. In common with all the historical books of the Old Testament, except the beginning of Nehemiah, the book of Samuel contains no mention in the text of the name of its author. It is indisputable that the title “Samuel” does not imply that the prophet was the author of the book of Samuel as a whole; for the death of Samuel is recorded in the beginning of the 25th chapter. In our own time the most prevalent idea in the Anglican Church seems to have been that the first twenty-four chapters of the book of Samuel were written by the prophet himself, and the rest of the chapters by the prophets Nathan and Gad. This, however, is doubtful. But although the authorship cannot be ascertained with certainty, it appears clear that, in its present form it must have been composed subsequent to the secession of the ten tribes, B.C. 975. This results from the passage in ( 1 Samuel 27:6 ) wherein it is said of David, “Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah to this day:” for neither Saul, David nor Solomon is in a single instance called king of Judah simply. On the other hand, it could hardly have been written later than the reformation of Josiah, since it seems to have been composed at a time when the Pentateuch was not acted on as the rule of religious observances, which received a special impetus at the finding of the Book of the Law at the reformation of Josiah. All, therefore, that can be asserted with any certainty is that the book, as a whole, can scarcely have been composed later than the reformation of Josiah, and that it could not have existed in its present form earlier than the reign of Rehoboam. The book of Samuel is one of the best specimens of Hebrew prose in the golden age of Hebrew literature. In prose it holds the same place which Joel and the undisputed prophecies of Isaiah hold in poetical or prophetical language.
Sandal
was the article ordinarily used by the Hebrews for protecting the feet. It consisted simply of a sole attached to the foot by thongs. We have express notice of the thong (Authorized Version “shoe latchet”) in several passages, notably ( Genesis 14:23 ; Isaiah 5:27 ; Mark 1:7 ) Sandals were worn by all classes of society in Palestine, even by the very poor; and both the sandal and the thong or shoe-latchet were so cheap and common that they passed into a proverb for the most insignificant thing. ( Genesis 14:23 ) Ecclus. 46 ; 13 , They were dispensed with in-doors, and were only put on by persons about to undertake some business away from their homes. During mealtimes the feet were uncovered. ( Luke 7:38 ; John 13:5 , 6 ) It was a mark of reverence to cast off the shoes in approaching a place or person of eminent sanctity. ( Exodus 3:5 ; Joshua 5:15 ) It was also an indication of violent emotion, or of mourning, if a person appeared barefoot in public. ( 2 Samuel 15:30 ) To carry or to unloose a person’s sandal was a menial office, betokening great inferiority on the part of the person performing it. ( Matthew 3:11 )
Saph
(tall), one of the sons of the giant slain by Sibbechai the Hushathite. ( 2 Samuel 21:18 ) In ( 1 Chronicles 20:4 ) he is called Sippai . (B.C. about 1050.)
Satan
The word itself, the Hebrew satan, is simply an “adversary,” and is so used in ( 1 Samuel 29:4 ; 2 Samuel 19:22 ; 1 Kings 6:4 ; 11:14 , 23 , 25 ; Numbers 22:22 , 33 ; Psalms 109:6 ) This original sense is still found in our Lord’s application of the name to St. Peter in ( Matthew 16:23 ) It is used as a proper name or title only four times in the Old Testament, vis. (with the article) in ( Job 1:6 ; 12 ; 2:1 ; Zechariah 2:1 ) and without the article in ( 1 Chronicles 21:1 ) It is with the scriptural revelation on the subject that we are here concerned; and it is clear, from this simple enumeration of passages, that it is to be sought in the New rather than in the Old Testament. I. The personal existence of a spirit of evil is clearly revealed in Scripture; but the revelation is made gradually, in accordance with the progressiveness of God’s method. In the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a distinct mention of “Satan” the “adversary” of Job. But it is important to remark the emphatic stress laid on his subordinate position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all terror and all grandeur in his character. It is especially remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a power over outward circumstances, is attributed to him. The captivity brought the Israelites face to face with the great dualism of the Persian mythology, the conflict of Ormuzd with Ahriman, the co-ordinate spirit of evil; but it is confessed by all that the Satan of Scripture bears no resemblance to the Persian Ahriman. His subordination and inferiority are as strongly marked as ever. The New Testament brings plainly forward the power and the influence of Satan, From the beginning of the Gospel, when he appears as the personal tempter of our Lord through all the Gospels, Epistles, and Apocalypse, it is asserted or implied, again and again, as a familiar and important truth. II. Of the nature and original state of Satan, little is revealed in Scripture. He is spoken of as a “spirit” in ( Ephesians 2:2 ) as the prince or ruler of the “demons” in ( Matthew 12:24-26 ) and as having “angels” subject to him in ( Matthew 25:41 ; Revelation 12:7 , 9 ) The whole description of his power implies spiritual nature and spiritual influence. We conclude therefore that he was of angelic nature, a rational and spiritual creature, superhuman in power, wisdom and energy; and not only so, but an archangel, one of the “princes” of heaven. We cannot, of course, conceive that anything essentially and originally evil was created by God. We can only conjecture, therefore, that Satan is a fallen angel, who once had a time of probation, but whose condemnation is now irrevocably fixed. As to the time cause and manner of his fall Scripture tells us scarcely anything; but it describes to us distinctly the moral nature of the evil one. The ideal of goodness is made up of the three great moral attributes of God—love, truth, and purity or holiness; combined with that spirit which is the natural temper of the finite and dependent we find creature, the spirit of faith. We find, accordingly, opposites of qualities are dwelt upon as the characteristics of the devil. III. The power of Satan over the soul is represented as exercised either directly or by his instruments. His direct influence over the soul is simply that of a powerful and evil nature on those in whom lurks the germ of the same evil. Besides this direct influence, we learn from Scripture that Satan is the leader of a host of evil spirits or angels who share his evil work, and for whom the “everlasting fire is prepared.” ( Matthew 25:41 ) Of their origin and fall we know no more than of his. But one passage ( Matthew 12:24-26 )—identifies them distinctly with the “demons” (Authorized Version “devils”) who had power to possess the souls of men. They are mostly spoken of in Scripture in reference to possession; but in ( Ephesians 6:12 ) find them sharing the enmity to God and are ascribed in various lights. We find them sharing the enmity to God and man implied in the name and nature of Satan; but their power and action are little dwelt upon in comparison with his. But the evil one is not merely the “prince of the demons;” he is called also the “prince of this world” in ( John 12:31 ; 14:30 ; 16:11 ) and even the. “god of this world” in ( 2 Corinthians 4:4 ) the two expressions being united in ( Ephesians 6:12 ) This power he claimed for himself, as the delegated authority, in the temptation of our Lord, ( Luke 4:6 ) and the temptation would have been unreal had he spoken altogether falsely. The indirect action of Satan is best discerned by an examination of the title by which he is designated in Scripture. He is called emphatically ho diabolos, “the devil.” The derivation of the word in itself implies only the endeavor to break the bonds between others and “set them at variance;” but common usage adds to this general sense the special idea of “setting at variance by slander.” In the application of the title to Satan, both the general and special senses should be kept in view. His general object is to break the bonds of communion between God and man, and the bonds of truth and love which bind men to each other. The slander of God to man is best seen in the words of ( Genesis 3:4 , 5 ) They attribute selfishness and jealousy to the Giver of all good. The slander of man to God is illustrated by the book of Job. ( Job 1:9-11 ; 2:4 , 5 ) IV. The method of satanic action upon the heart itself. It may be summed up in two words—temptation and possession. The subject of temptation is illustrated, not only by abstract statements, but also by the record of the temptations of Adam and of our Lord. It is expressly laid down, as in ( James 1:2-4 ) that “temptation,” properly so called, i.e. “trial,” is essential to man, and is accordingly ordained for him and sent to him by God, as in ( Genesis 22:1 ) It is this tentability of man, even in his original nature, which is represented in Scripture as giving scope to the evil action of Satan. But in the temptation of a fallen nature Satan has a greater power. Every sin committed makes a man the “servant of sin” for the future, ( John 8:34 ; Romans 6:16 ) it therefore creates in the spirit of man a positive tendency to evil which sympathizes with, and aids, the temptation of the evil one. On the subject of possession, see Demoniacs .
Saul
(desired), more accurately Shaul. One of the early kings of Edom, and successor of Samlah. ( Genesis 36:37 , 38 ; 1 Chronicles 1:48 ) (B.C. after 1450.) The first king of Israel, the son of Kish, and of the tribe of Benjamin. (B.C, 1095-1055.) His character is in part illustrated by the fierce, wayward, fitful nature of the tribe and in part accounted for by the struggle between the old and new systems in which he found himself involved. To this we must add a taint of madness. which broke out in violent frenzy at times leaving him with long lucid intervals. He was remarkable for his strength and activity, ( 2 Samuel 1:25 ) and, like the Homeric heroes, of gigantic stature, taller by head and shoulders than the rest of the people, and of that kind of beauty denoted by the Hebrew word “good,” ( 1 Samuel 9:2 ) and which caused him to be compared to the gazelle, “the gazelle of Israel.” His birthplace is not expressly mentioned; but, as Zelah in Benjamin was the place of Kish’s sepulchre. ( 2 Samuel 21:14 ) it was probable; his native village. His father, Kish, was a powerful and wealthy chief though the family to which he belonged was of little importance. ( 1 Samuel 9:1 , 21 ) A portion of his property consisted of a drove of asses. In search of these asses, gone astray on the mountains, he sent his son Saul It was while prosecuting this adventure that Saul met with Samuel for the first time at his home in Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem. A divine intimation had made known to him the approach of Saul, whom he treated with special favor, and the next morning descending with him to the skirts of the town, Samuel poured over Saul’s head the consecrated oil, and with a kiss of salutation announced to him that he was to be the ruler of the nation. ( 1 Samuel 9:25 ; 1 Samuel 10:1 ) Returning homeward his call was confirmed by the incidents which according to Samuel’s prediction, awaited him. ( 1 Samuel 10:9 , 10 ) What may be named the public call occurred at Mizpeh, when lots were cast to find the tribe and family which was to produce the king, and Saul, by a divine intimation was found hid in the circle of baggage which surrounded the encampment. ( 1 Samuel 10:17-24 ) Returning to Gibeah, apparently to private life, he heard the threat issued by Nahash king of Ammon against Jabesh-gilead. He speedily collected an army, and Jabesh was rescued. The effect was instantaneous on the people, and the monarchy was inaugurated anew at Gilgal. ( 1 Samuel 11:1-15 ) It should be, however, observed that according to ( 1 Samuel 12:12 ) the affair of Nahash preceded and occasioned the election of Saul. Although king of Israel, his rule was at first limited; but in the second year of his reign he began to organize an attempt to shake off the Philistine yoke, and an army was formed. In this crisis, Saul, now on the very confines of his kingdom at Gilgal, impatient at Samuel’s delay, whom he had directed to be present, offered sacrifice himself. Samuel, arriving later, pronounced the first curse, on his impetuous zeal. ( 1 Samuel 13:5-14 ) After the Philistines were driven back to their own country occurred the first appearance of Saul’s madness in the rash vow which all but cost the life of his soil. ( 1 Samuel 14:24 ; 44 ) The expulsion of the Philistines, although not entirely completed, ch. ( 1 Samuel 14:52 ) at once placed Saul in a position higher than that of any previous ruler of Israel, and he made war upon the neighboring tribes. In the war with Amalek, ch. ( 1 Samuel 14:48 ; 15:1-9 ) he disobeyed the prophetical command of Samuel, which called down the second curse, and the first distinct intimation of the transference of the kingdom to a rival. The rest of Saul’s life is one long tragedy. The frenzy which had given indications of itself before now at times took almost entire possession of him. In this crisis David was recommended to him. From this time forward their lives are blended together. [ David ] In Saul’s better moments he never lost the strong affection which he had contracted for David. Occasionally, too his prophetical gift returned, blended with his madness. ( 2 Samuel 19:24 ) But his acts of fierce, wild zeal increased. At last the monarchy itself broke down under the weakness of his head. The Philistines re-entered the country, and just before giving them battle Saul’s courage failed and he consulted one of the necromancers, the “Witch of Endor,” who had escaped his persecution. At this distance of time it is impossible to determine the relative amount of fraud or of reality in the scene which follows, though the obvious meaning of the narrative itself tends to the hypothesis of some kind of apparition. ch. ( 2 Samuel 19:28 ) On hearing the denunciation which the apparition conveyed, Saul fell the whole length of his gigantic stature on the ground, and remained motionless till the woman and his servants forced him to eat. The next day the battle came on. The Israelites were driven up the side of Gilboa. The three sons of Saul were slain. Saul was wounded. According to one account, he fell upon his own sword, ( 1 Samuel 31:4 ) and died. The body on being found by the Philistines was stripped slid decapitated, and the headless trunk hung over the city walls, with those of his three sons. ch. ( 1 Samuel 31:9 , 10 ) The head was deposited (probably at Ashdod) in the temple of Dagon ( 1 Chronicles 10:10 ) The corpse was buried at Jabesh-gilead. ( 1 Samuel 31:13 ) The Jewish name of St. Paul.
Saw
Egyptian saws, so far as has yet been discovered, are single-handed. As is the case in modern Oriental saws, the teeth usually incline toward the handle, instead of away from it like ours. They have, in most cases, bronze blades, apparently attached to the handles by leathern thongs. No evidence exists of the use of the saw applied to stone in Egypt, but we read of sawn stones used in the temple. ( 1 Kings 7:9 ) The saws “under” or “in” which David is said to have placed his captives were of iron. The expression in ( 2 Samuel 12:31 ) does not necessarily imply torture, but the word “cut” in ( 1 Chronicles 20:3 ) can hardly be understood otherwise.
Scribes
(Heb.sopherim), I. Name .— (1) Three meanings are connected with the verb saphar, the root of sopherim— (a) to write, (b) to set in order, (c) to count. The explanation of the word has been referred to each of these. The sopherim were so called because they wrote out the law, or because they classified and arranged its precepts, or because they counted with scrupulous minuteness every elapse and letter It contained. (2) The name of Kirjath-sepher, ( Joshua 15:15 ; Judges 1:12 ) may possibly connect itself with some early use of the title, and appears to point to military functions of some kind. ( Judges 5:14 ) The men are mentioned as filling the office of scribe under David and Solomon. ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ; 20:25 ; 1 Kings 4:3 ) We may think of them as the king’s secretaries, writing his letters, drawing up his decrees, managing his finances. Comp ( 2 Kings 12:10 ) In Hezekiah’s time transcribed old records, and became a class of students and interpreters of the law, boasting of their wisdom. ( Jeremiah 8:8 ) After the captivity the office became more prominent, as the exiles would be anxious above all things to preserve the sacred books, the laws, the hymns, the prophecies of the past. II. Development of doctrine .—Of the scribes of this period, with the exception of Ezra and Zadok, ( Nehemiah 13:13 ) we have no record. A later age honored them collectively as the men of the Great Synagogue. Never perhaps, was so important a work done so silently. They devoted themselves to the careful study of the text, and laid down rules for transcribing it with the most scrupulous precision. As time passed on the “words of the scribes” were honored above the law. It was a greater crime to offend against them than against the law. The first step was taken toward annulling the commandments of God for the sake of their own traditions. ( Mark 7:13 ) The casuistry became at once subtle and prurient, evading the plainest duties, tampering with conscience. ( Matthew 15:1-6 ; 23:16-23 ) We can therefore understand why they were constantly denounced by our Lord along with the Pharisees. While the scribes repeated the traditions of the elders, he “spake as one having authority,” “not as the scribes.” ( Matthew 7:29 ) While they confined their teachings to the class of scholars, he “had compassion on the multitudes.” ( Matthew 9:36 ) While they were to be found only in the council or in their schools, he journeyed through the cities and villages. ( Matthew 4:23 ; 9:35 ) etc. While they spoke of the kingdom of God vaguely, as a thing far off, he proclaimed that it had already come nigh to men. ( Matthew 4:17 ) In our Lord’s time there were two chief parties: the disciples of Shammai, conspicuous for their fierceness, appealing to popular passions, using the sword to decide their controversies. Out of this party grew the Zealots. The disciples of Hillel, born B.C. 112, and who may have been one of the doctors before whom the boy Jesus came in the temple, for he lived to be 120 years old. Hillel was a “liberal conservative, of genial character and broad range of thought, with some approximations to a higher teaching.” In most of the points at issue between the two parties, Jesus must have appeared in direct antagonism to the school of Shammai, in sympathy with that of Hillel. So far, on the other hand, as the temper of the Hillel school was one of mere adaptation to the feeling of the people, cleaving to tradition, wanting in the intuition of a higher life, the teaching of Christ must have been felt as unsparingly condemning it. III. Education and life.—The special training for a scribe’s office began, probably, about the age of thirteen. The boy who was destined by his parents to the calling of a scribe went to Jerusalem and applied for admission in the school of some famous rabbi. After a sufficient period of training, probably at the age of thirty the probationer was solemnly admitted to his office. After his admission there was a choice of a variety of functions, the chances of failure and success. He might give himself to any one of the branches of study, or combine two or more of them. He might rise to high places, become a doctor of the law, an arbitrator in family litigations, ( Luke 12:14 ) the head of a school, a member of the Sanhedrin. He might have to content himself with the humbler work of a transcriber, copying the law and the prophets for the use of synagogues, or a notary, writing out contracts of sale, covenants of espousals, bills of repudiation. The position of the more fortunate was of course attractive enough. In our Lord’s time the passion for distinction was insatiable. The ascending scale of rab, rabbi, rabban, presented so many steps on the ladder of ambition. Other forms of worldliness were not far off. The salutations in the market-place, ( Matthew 23:7 ) the reverential kiss offered by the scholars to their master or by rabbis to each other the greeting of Abba, father ( Matthew 23:9 ) the long robes with the broad blue fringe, ( Matthew 23:5 )—all these go to make up the picture of a scribe’s life. Drawing to themselves, as they did, nearly all the energy and thought of Judaism, the close hereditary caste of the priesthood was powerless to compete with them. Unless the Priest became a scribe also, he remained in obscurity. The order, as such, became contemptible and base. For the scribes there were the best places at feasts, the chief seats in synagogues. ( Matthew 23:6 ; Luke 14:7 )
Scrip
The Hebrew word thus translated appears in ( 1 Samuel 17:40 ) as a synonym for the bag in which the shepherds of Palestine carried their food or other necessities. The scrip of the Galilean peasants was of leather, used especially to carry their food on a journey, and slung over their shoulders. ( Matthew 10:10 ; Mark 6:8 ; Luke 9:3 ; 22:35 ) The English word “scrip” is probably connected with scrape, scrap, and was used in like manner for articles of food.
Sechu
(the watch-tower), a place mentioned once only— ( 1 Samuel 19:22 )—apparently as lying on the route between Saul’s residence, Gibeah, and Ramah (Ramathaim-zophim), that of Samuel. It was notorious for “the great well” (or rather cistern) which it contained. Assuming that Saul started from Gibeah (Tuleil el-Ful), and that Neby Samwil is Ramah, then Bir Nebolla (the well of Neballa) just south of Beeroth, alleged by modern traveller to contain a large pit would be in a suitable position for the great well of Sechu.
Selahammahlekoth
(the cliff of escapes or of divisions), a rock or cliff in the wilderness of Maon, southeast of Hebron, the scene of one of those remarkable escapes which are so frequent in the history of Saul’s pursuit of David. ( 1 Samuel 23:28 )
Seneh
(thorn), the name of one of the two isolated rocks which stood in the “passage of Michmash,” ( 1 Samuel 14:4 ) 6 1/2 Miles north of Jerusalem.
Seraiah
The king’s scribe or secretary in the reign of David. ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ) (B.C. 1043.) The high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. ( 2 Kings 25:18 ; 1 Chronicles 6:14 ; Jeremiah 52:24 ) (B.C. 594.) The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite. ( 2 Kings 25:23 ; Jeremiah 40:8 ) The son of Kenaz and brother of Othniel. ( 1 Chronicles 4:13 , 14 ) Ancestor of Jehu a Simeonite chieftain. ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 ) One of the children of the province who returned with Zerubbabel. ( Ezra 2:2 ) (B.C. 536.) One of the ancestors of Ezra the scribe. ( Ezra 7:1 ) A priest, or priestly family, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 10:2 ) A priest, the son of Hilkiah. ( Nehemiah 11:11 ) The head of a priestly house which went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. ( Nehemiah 12:12 ) The son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. ( Jeremiah 51:59 , 61 ) He went with Zedekiah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (B.C. 594.) Perhaps he was an officer who took charge of the royal caravan on its march, and fixed the places where it should halt.
Shaalbonite, The
Eliahba the Shaalbonite was one of David’s thirty seven heroes. ( 2 Samuel 23:32 ; 1 Chronicles 11:33 ) He was a native of a place named Shaalbon, but where it was is unknown. (B.C. 1048.)
Shaaraim
(two gates), a city in the territory allotted to Judah, ( Joshua 15:36 ) in Authorized Version incorrectly Sharaim. ( 1 Samuel 17:52 ) Shaaraim one of the towns of Simeon, ( 1 Chronicles 4:31 ) must be a different place.
Shalim, The Land Of
(the land of foxes), a district through which Saul passed on his journey in quest of his father’s asses. ( 1 Samuel 9:4 ) only. It probably was east of Shalisha.
Shalisha, The Land Of
one of the districts traversed by Saul when in search of the asses of Kish. ( 1 Samuel 9:4 ) only. It was a district near Mount Ephraim. In it perhaps was situated the place called Baal-shalisha, ( 2 Kings 4:42 ) 15 Miles north of Lydda.
Shammah
(astonishment). The son of Reuel the son of Esau. ( Genesis 36:13 , 17 ; 1 Chronicles 1:37 ) (B.C. about 1700.) The third son of Jesse, and brother of David. ( 1 Samuel 16:9 ; 17:13 ) Called also Shimea., Shimeah and Shimma. One of the three greatest of David’s mighty men. ( 2 Samuel 23:11-17 ) (B.C. 1061.) The Harodite, one of David’s mighties. ( 2 Samuel 23:25 ) He is called ” Shammoth the Harorite” in ( 1 Chronicles 11:27 ) and ” Shamhuth the Izrahite” ibid. ( 1 Chronicles 27:8 ) In the list of David’s mighty men in ( 2 Samuel 23:32 , 33 ) we find “Jonathan, Shammah the Hararite;” while in the corresponding verse of ( 1 Chronicles 11:34 ) it is Jonathan.
Shammuah
son of David, ( 2 Samuel 5:14 ) elsewhere called Shammua and Shimea.
Sharar
(strong), the father of Ahiam the Hararite. ( 2 Samuel 23:33 ) In ( 1 Chronicles 11:35 ) he is called Sacar . (B.C. 1040.)
Shaveh
(plain), The valley of, described ( Genesis 14:17 ) as “the valley of the king,” is mentioned again in ( 2 Samuel 18:18 ) as the site of a pillar set up by Absalom.
Shavsha
(nobility), the royal secretary in the reign of David, ( 1 Chronicles 18:16 ) called also Seraiah in ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ) And Sheva in ( 2 Samuel 20:25 ) End in ( 1 Kings 4:3 ) Shisha .
Sheba
one of the towns of the allotment of Simeon, ( Joshua 19:2 ) probably the same as Shema. ( Joshua 15:26 ) (seven, or all oath). A son of Raamah son of Cush. ( Genesis 10:7 ; 1 Chronicles 1:9 ) A soil of Joktan. ( Genesis 10:28 ; 1 Chronicles 1:22 ) A son of Jokshan son of Keturah. ( Genesis 25:3 ; 1 Chronicles 1:32 ) We shall consider, first, the history of the Joktanite Sheba; and secondly, the Cushite Sheba and the Keturahite Sheba together. I. The Joktanites were among the early colonists of southern Arabia, and the kingdom which they there founded was for many centuries called the kingdom of Sheba, after one of the sons of Joktan. The visit of the queen of Sheba to King Solomon. ( 1 Kings 10:1 ) is one of the familiar Bible incidents. The kingdom of Sheba embraced the greater part of the Yemen, or Arabia Felix. It bordered on the Red Sea, and was one of the most fertile districts of Arabia. Its chief cities, and probably successive capitals, were Seba, San’a (Uzal), and Zafar (Sephar). Seba was probably the name of the city, and generally of the country and nation. II. Sheba, son of Raamah son of Cush settled somewhere on the shores of the Persian Gulf. It was this Sheba that carried on the great Indian traffic with Palestine, in conjunction with, as we hold, the other Sheba, son of Jokshan son of Keturah, who like Dedan appears to have formed, with the Cushite of the same name, one tribe. (on oath), the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, ( 2 Samuel 20:1-22 ) the last chief of the Absalom insurrection. The occasion seized by Sheba was the emulation between the northern and southern tribes on David’s return. ( 2 Samuel 20:1 , 2 ) Sheba traversed the whole of Palestine apparently rousing the population, Joab following in full pursuit to the fortress Abel Beth-maachah, where Sheba was beheaded. ( 2 Samuel 20:3-22 )
Sheep
Sheep were an important part of the possessions of the ancient Hebrews and of eastern nations generally. The first mention of sheep occurs in ( Genesis 4:2 ) They were used in the sacrificial offering, as, both the adult animal, ( Exodus 20:24 ) and the lamb. See ( Exodus 29:28 ; Leviticus 9:3 ; 12:6 ) Sheep and lambs formed an important article of food. ( 1 Samuel 25:18 ) The wool was used as clothing. ( Leviticus 13:47 ) “Rams skins dyed red” were used as a covering for the tabernacle. ( Exodus 25:5 ) Sheep and lambs were sometimes paid as tribute. ( 2 Kings 3:4 ) It is very striking to notice the immense numbers of sheep that were reared in Palestine in biblical times. (Chardin says he saw a clan of Turcoman shepherds whose flock consisted of 3,000,000 sheep and goats, besides 400,000 Feasts of carriage, as horses, asses and camels.) Sheep-sheering is alluded to ( Genesis 31:19 ) Sheepdogs were employed in biblical times. ( Job 30:1 ) Shepherds in Palestine and the East generally go before their flocks, which they induce to follow by calling to them, comp. ( John 10:4 ; Psalms 77:20 ; 80:1 ) though they also drive them. ( Genesis 33:13 ) The following quotation from Hartley’s “Researches in Greece and the Levant,” p. 321, is strikingly illustrative of the allusions in ( John 10:1-16 ) “Having had my attention directed last night to the words in ( John 10:3 ) I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to give names to the sheep. He informed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock of sheep I asked the shepherd the same question which I had put to the servant, and he gave me the same answer. I then had him call one of his sheep. He did so, and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions and ran up to the hands of the shepherd with signs of pleasure and with a prompt obedience which I had never before observed in any other animal. It is also true in this country that a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. The shepherd told me that many of his sheep were still wild, that they had not yet learned their names, but that by teaching them they would all learn them.” The common sheer, of Syria and Palestine are the broad-tailed. As the sheep is an emblem of meekness, patience and submission, it is expressly mentioned as typifying these qualities in the person of our blessed Lord. ( Isaiah 53:7 ; Acts 8:32 ) etc. The relation that exists between Christ, “the chief Shepherd,” and his members is beautifully compared to that which in the East is so strikingly exhibited by the shepherds to their flocks [ Shepherd ]
Shemuel
(heard by God). A commissioner appointed from the tribe of Simeon to divide the land of Canaan. ( Numbers 34:20 ) (B.C. 1450.) Samuel the prophet. ( 1 Chronicles 6:33 ) Son of Tola, and one of the chiefs of the tribe of Issachar, ( 1 Chronicles 7:2 ) (B.C. 1014.)
Shen
(tooth), a place mentioned only in ( 1 Samuel 7:12 ) Nothing is known of it.
Shephatiah
(judged by Jehovah). The fifth son of David. ( 2 Samuel 3:4 ; 1 Chronicles 3:3 ) (B.C. about 1050.) The family of Shephatiah, 372 in number, returned with Zerubbabel. ( Ezra 2:4 ; Nehemiah 7:9 ) see also Ezra 8:8 (B.C. 536.) The family of another Shephatiah, who came up with Zerubbabel. ( Ezra 2:4 ) A descendant of Judah. ( Nehemiah 11:4 ) One of the princes of Judah who counselled Zedekiah to put Jeremiah in the dungeon. ( Jeremiah 38:1 ) (B.C. 589.) One of the Benjamite warriors who joined David in his retreat at Ziklag. ( 1 Chronicles 12:5 ) (B.C. 1054.) Chief of the Simeonites in the reign of David. ( 1 Chronicles 37:16 ) Son of Jehoshaphat. ( 2 Chronicles 21:2 ) (B.C. 887.)
Shepherd
In a nomadic state of society every man, from the sheikh down to the slave, is more or less a shepherd. The progenitors of the Jews in the patriarchal age were nomads, and their history is rich in scenes of pastoral life. The occupation of tending the flocks was undertaken, not only by the sons of wealthy chiefs, ( Genesis 30:29 ) ff.; Genesis37:12 ff., but even by their daughters. ( Genesis 29:6 , 8 ; Exodus 2:10 ) The Egyptian captivity did march to implant a love of settled abode, and consequently we find the tribes which still retained a taste for shepherd life selecting their own quarters apart from their brethren in the transjordanic district. ( Numbers 32:1 ) ff. Thenceforward in Palestine proper the shepherd held a subordinate position. The office of the eastern shepherd, as described in the Bible, was attended with much hardship, and even danger. He was exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, ( Genesis 31:40 ) his food frequently consisted of the precarious supplies afforded by nature, such as the fruit of the “sycamore” or Egyptian fig, ( Amos 7:14 ) the “husks” of the carob tree, ( Luke 15:16 ) and perchance the locusts and wild honey which supported the Baptist, ( Matthew 3:4 ) he had to encounter the attacks of wild beasts, occasionally of the larger species, such as lions, nerves, panthers and bears, ( 1 Samuel 17:34 ; Isaiah 31:4 ; Jeremiah 5:6 ; Amos 5:12 ) nor was he free from the risk of robbers or predators hordes. ( Genesis 31:39 ) To meet these various foes the shepherd’s equipment consisted of the following articles: a mantle, made probably of sheep skin with the fleece on, which he turned inside out in cold weather, as implied in the comparison in ( Jeremiah 43:12 ) (cf. Juv. xiv. 187.); a scrip or wallet, containing a small amount of food ( 1 Samuel 17:40 ) a sling, which is still the favorite weapon of the Bedouin shepherd, ( 1 Samuel 17:40 ) and lastly, a which served the double purpose of a weapon against foes and a crook for the management of the flock. ( 1 Samuel 17:40 ; Psalms 23:4 ; Zechariah 11:7 ) If the shepherd was at a distance from his home, he was provided with a light tent, (Song of Solomon 1:8; Jeremiah 35:7 ) the removal of which was easily effected. ( Isaiah 38:12 ) In certain localities, moreover, towers were erected for the double purpose of spying an enemy at a distance and of protecting the flock; such towers were erected by Uzziah and Jotham, ( 2 Chronicles 26:10 ; 27:4 ) while their existence in earlier times is testified by the name Migdal-edar ( Genesis 35:21 ) Authorized Version “a tower of Edar;” ( Micah 4:8 ) Authorized Version “tower of the flock.” The routine of the shepherd’s duties appears to have been as follows: In the morning he led forth his flock from the fold ( John 10:4 ) which he did by going before them and calling to them, as is still usual in the East; arrived at the pasturage he watched the flock with the assistance of dogs, ( Job 30:1 ) and should any sheep stray, he had to search for it until he found it, ( Ezekiel 34:12 ; Luke 15:4 ) he supplied them with water, either at a running stream or at troughs attached to wells, ( Genesis 29:7 ; 30:38 ; Exodus 2:16 ; Psalms 23:2 ) at evening he brought them back to the fold, and reckoned them to see that none were missing, by passing them “under the rod” as they entered the door of the enclosure ( Leviticus 27:32 ; Ezekiel 20:37 ) checking each sheep, as it passed, by a motion of the hand, ( Jeremiah 33:13 ) and, finally, he watched the entrance of the fold throughout the night, acting as porter. ( John 10:3 ) [See Sheepfold, under Sheep ] The shepherd’s office thus required great watchfulness, particularly by night. ( Luke 2:8 ) cf. Nahu 3:18 It also required tenderness toward the young and feeble, ( Isaiah 40:11 ) particularly in driving them to and from the pasturage. ( Genesis 33:13 ) In large establishments there are various grades of shepherds, the highest being styled “rulers,” ( Genesis 47:6 ) or “chief shepherds,” ( 1 Peter 5:4 ) in a royal household the title of abbir “mighty,” was bestowed on the person who held the post. ( 1 Samuel 21:7 ) [ Sheep ]
Sheva
(Jehovah contends). The scribe or royal secretary of David. ( 2 Samuel 20:26 ) He is called elsewhere Meraiah , ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ) Shisha , ( 1 Kings 4:3 ) And SHANSHA. ( 1 Chronicles 18:16 ) (B.C. 1015.) Son of Caleb ben-Hezron by his concubine Maachah. ( 1 Chronicles 2:49 ) (B.C. about 1445.)
Shiloh
(place of rest), a city of Ephraim. In ( Judges 21:19 ) it is said that Shiloh is “on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem and on the south of Lebonah.” In agreement with this the traveller of our own city, going north from Jerusalem, lodges the first night at Beitin, the ancient Bethel; the next day, at the distance of a few hours, turns aside to the right, in order to visit Seilun, the Arabic for Shiloh; and then passing through the narrow wady which brings him to the main road, leaves el-Lebban, the Lebonah of Scripture, on the left, as he pursues “the highway” to Nublus, the ancient Shechem. [ Shechem ] Shiloh was one of the earliest and most sacred of the Hebrew sanctuaries. The ark of the covenant, which had been kept at Gilgal during the progress of the conquest, ( Joshua 17:1 ) seq., was removed thence on the subjugation of the country, and kept at Shiloh from the last days of Joshua to the time of Samuel. ( Joshua 18:10 ; Judges 18:31 ; 1 Samuel 4:3 ) It was here the Hebrew conqueror divided among the tribes the portion of the west Jordan region which had not been already allotted. ( Joshua 18:10 ; 19:51 ) In this distribution, or an earlier one, Shiloh fell within the limits of Ephraim. ( Joshua 16:5 ) The ungodly conduct of the sons of Eli occasioned the loss of the ark of the covenant, which had been carried into battle against the Philistines, and Shiloh from that time sank into insignificance. It stands forth in the Jewish history as a striking example of the divine indignation. ( Jeremiah 7:12 ) In the Authorized Version of the Bible Shiloh is once used as the name of a person, in a very difficult passage, in ( Genesis 49:10 ) “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Supposing that the translation is correct, the meaning of the word is peaceable or pacific, and the allusion is either to Solomon, whose name has a similar signification, or to the expected Messiah, who in ( Isaiah 9:6 ) is expressly called the Prince of Peace. [ Messiah ] Other interpretations, however, of the passage are given, one of which makes it refer to the city of this name. [See the following article] It might be translated “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, till he shall go to Shiloh.” In this case the allusion would be to the primacy of Judah in war, ( Judges 1:1 , 2 ; 20:18 ; Numbers 2:3 ; 10:14 ) which was to continue until the promised land was conquered and the ark of the covenant was solemnly deposited at Shiloh.
Shimeah
Brother of David, and father of Jonathan and Jonadab, ( 2 Samuel 21:21 ) called also Shammah, Shimea, and Shimma. (B.C. about 1060.) A descendant of Jehiel, the father or founder of Gibeon. ( 1 Chronicles 8:32 ) (B.C. perhaps 536.)
Shimei
(renowned). Son of Gershon the son of Levi, ( Numbers 3:18 ; 1 Chronicles 6:17 , 29 ; 23:7 , 9 , 10 ; Zechariah 12:13 ) called Shimi in ( Exodus 6:17 ) (B.C. after 1706.) Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of the house of Saul, who lived at Bahurim. (B.C. 1023.) When David and his suite were seen descending the long defile, on his flight from Absolom, ( 2 Samuel 16:5-13 ) the whole feeling of the clan of Benjamin burst forth without restraint in the person of Shimei. He ran along the ridge, cursing and throwing stones at the king and is companions. The next meeting was very different. The king was now returning from his successful campaign. Just as he was crossing the Jordan, ( 2 Samuel 19:18 ) the first person to welcome him was Shimei who threw himself at David’s feet in abject penitence. But the king’s suspicions were not set at rest by this submission; and on his death-bed he recalls the whole scene to the recollection of his son Solomon. Solomon gave Shimei notice that from henceforth he must consider himself confined to the walls of Jerusalem, on pain of death. ( 1 Kings 3:36 , 37 ) For three years the engagement was kept. At the end of that time for the purpose of capturing two slaves who had escaped to Gath, he went out on his ass, and made his journey successfully. Ibid. ( 1 Kings 2:40 ) On his return the king took him at his word, and he was slain by Benaiah. Ibid. ( 1 Kings 2:41-46 ) One of the adherents of Solomon at the time of Adonjah’s usurpation. ( 1 Kings 1:8 ) (B.C.1015.) Solomon’s commissariat officer in Benjamin. ( 1 Kings 4:18 ) Son of Pedaiah, and brother of Zerubbabel. ( 1 Chronicles 3:19 ) (B.C. 536.) A Simeonite, son of Zacchur. ( 1 Chronicles 4:26 , 27 ) Son of Gog, a Reubenite. ( 1 Chronicles 5:4 ) A Gershonite Levite, son of Jahath. ( 1 Chronicles 6:42 ) Son of Jeduthun, and chief of the tenth division of the singers. ( 1 Chronicles 25:17 ) The Ramathite who was over David’s vineyards. ( 1 Chronicles 27:27 ) A Levite of the sons of Heman, who took part in the purification of the temple under Zedekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 29:14 ) (B.C. 726.) The brother of Cononiah the Levite, in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 31:12 , 13 ) Perhaps the same as the preceding. A Levite in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. ( Ezra 10:23 ) One of the family of Hashum, who put away his foreign wife at Ezra’s command. ( Ezra 10:33 ) A son of Bani, who had also married a foreign wife, and put her away. ( Ezra 10:38 ) (B.C. 459.) Son of Kish, a Benjamite, and ancestor of Mordecai. ( Esther 2:5 ) (B.C. before 479).
Shobab
(rebellious). Son of David by Bath-sheba. ( 2 Samuel 5:14 ; 1 Chronicles 3:5 ; 14:4 ) (B.C. about 1046.) Apparently the son of Caleb the son of Hezron by his wife Azubah. ( 1 Chronicles 2:18 ) (B.C. after 1706.)
Shobach
(expansion), the general of Hadarezer king of the Syrians of Zoba, who was defeated by David. ( 2 Samuel 10:15-18 ) In ( 1 Chronicles 19:16 ) he is called Shophach . (B.C. 1034.)
Shobi
(glorious) son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon. ( 2 Samuel 17:27 ) He was one of the first to meet David at Mahanaim on his flight from Absalom. (B.C. 1023.)
Shochoh
( 1 Samuel 17:1 ) same as Socoh.
Shual, The Land Of
a district named in ( 1 Samuel 13:17 ) only. It is pretty certain from the passage that it lay north of Michmash. If therefore it be identical with the “land of Shalim” ( 1 Samuel 9:4 )—as is not impossible—we have the first and only clue yet obtained to Saul’s journey in quest of the asses. The name Shual has not yet been identified.
Shunem
(double resting-place), one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Issachar. ( Joshua 13:18 ) It is mentioned on two occasions— ( 1 Samuel 23:4 ; 2 Kings 4:8 ) It was besides the native place of Abishag. ( 1 Kings 1:3 ) It is mentioned by Eusebius as five miles south of Mount Tabor, and then known us Sulem. This agrees with the position of the present Solam, a village three miles north of Jezreel and five from Gilboa.
Sibbechai
(a weaver), one of David’s guard, and eighth captain for the eighth month of 24,000 men of the king’s 1043.) He belonged to one of the principal families of Judah, the Zarhites or the descendants of Zerah, and is called “the Hushathite,” probably from the place of his birth. Sibbechai’s great exploit, which gave him a place among the mighty men of David’s army, was his single combat with Saph or Sippai, tire Philistine giant, in the battle at, Gezer or Gob. ( 2 Samuel 21:18 ; 1 Chronicles 20:4 )
Siphmoth
(fruitful), one of the places in the south of Judah which David frequented during his freebooting life. ( 1 Samuel 30:28 )
Sirah
(the turning), The well of, from which Abner was recalled by Joab to his death at Hebron. ( 2 Samuel 3:26 ) only. It was apparently on the northern road from Hebron. There is a spring and reservoir on the western side of the ancient northern road, about one mile out of Hebron, which is called Ain Sara.
Snow
This historical books of the Bible contain only two notices of snow actually falling— ( 2 Samuel 23:20 ) 1Macc 13:22 ; but the allusions in the poetical books are so numerous that there can be no doubt as to its being an ordinary occurrence in the winter months. ( Psalms 147:16 ; 148:8 ) The snow lies deep in the ravines of the highest ridge of Lebanon until the summer is far advanced and indeed never wholly disappears; the summit of Hermon also perpetually glistens with frozen snow. From these sources probably the Jews obtained their supplies of ice for the purpose of cooling their beverages in summer. ( Proverbs 25:13 ) The liability to snow must of course vary considerably in a country of such varying altitude as Palestine. At Jerusalem snow often falls to the depth of a foot or more in january or February, but it seldom lies. At Nazareth it falls more frequently and deeply, and it has been observed to fall even in the maritime plain of Joppa and about Carmel.
Socoh
the name of two towns in the tribe of Judah. In the district of the Shefelah. ( Joshua 15:35 ; 1 Samuel 17:1 ; 2 Chronicles 11:7 ; 8:18 ) In the time of Eusebius it bore the name of Socchoth, and lay between eight and nine Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, on the road to Jerusalem. It may be identified with esh-Shuweikeh, in the western part of the mountains of Judah. From this village probably came Antigonus of Soco, who lived about the commencement of the third century B.C. Also a town of Judah, but in the mountain district. ( Joshua 15:48 ) It has been discovered about 10 miles southwest of Hebron; bearing, like the other Socoh, the name of esh-Shuweikeh .
Solomon
(peaceful). I. Early life and occasion to the throne .—Solomon was the child of David’s old age, the last born of all his sons. ( 1 Chronicles 3:5 ) The yearnings of the “man of war” led him to give to the new-horn infant the name of Solomon (Shelomoth, the peaceful one). Nathan, with a marked reference to the meaning of the king’s own name (David, the darling, the beloved one), calls the infant Jedidiah (Jedid’yah), that is, the darling of the Lord. ( 2 Samuel 11:24 , 25 ) He was placed under the care of Nathan from his earliest infancy. At first, apparently, there was no distinct purpose to make him the heir. Absalom was still the king’s favorite son, ( 2 Samuel 13:37 ; 18:33 ) and was looked on by the people as the destined successor. ( 2 Samuel 14:13 ; 15:1-6 ) The death of Absalom when Solomon was about ten years old left the place vacant, and David pledged his word in secret to Bath-sheba that he, and no other, should be the heir. ( 1 Kings 1:13 ) The words which were spoken somewhat later express, doubtless, the purpose which guided him throughout. ( 1 Chronicles 28:9 ; 20 ) His son’s life should not he as his own had been, one of hardships and wars, dark crimes and passionate repentance, but, from first to last, be pure, blameless, peaceful, fulfilling the ideal of glory and of righteousness after which he himself had vainly striven. The glorious visions of ( Psalms 72:1 ) ... may be looked on as the prophetic expansion of these hopes of his old age. So far, all was well. Apparently his influence over his son’s character was one exclusively for good. Nothing that we know of Bath-sheba lends us to think of her as likely to mould her son’s mind and heart to the higher forms of goodness. Under these influences the boy grew up. At the age of ten or eleven he must have passed through the revolt of Absalom, and shared his father’s exile. ( 2 Samuel 15:16 ) He would be taught all that priests or Levites or prophets had to teach. When David was old and feeble, Adonijah, Solomon’s older brother attempted to gain possession of the throne; but he was defeated, and Solomon went down to Gihon and was proclaimed and anointed king. A few months more and Solomon found himself, by his father’s death, the sole occupant of the throne. The position to which he succeeded was unique. Never before, and never after, did the kingdom of Israel take its place among the great monarchies of the East. Large treasures, accumulated through many years, were at his disposal. II. Personal appearance .—Of Solomon’s personal appearance we have no direct description, as we have of the earlier kings. There are, however, materials for filling up the gap. Whatever higher mystic meaning may be latent in ( Psalms 45:1 ) ... or the Song of Songs, we are all but compelled to think of them us having had at least a historical starting-point. They tell of one who was, in the eyes of the men of his own time, “fairer than the children of men,” the face “bright, and ruddy” as his father’s, (Song of Solomon 5:10; 1 Samuel 17:42 ) bushy locks, dark as the raven’s wing, yet not without a golden glow, the eyes soft as “the eyes of cloves,” the “countenance as Lebanon excellent as the cedars,” “the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely.” (Song of Solomon 5:13-18) Add to this all gifts of a noble, far-reaching intellect large and ready sympathies, a playful and genial humor, the lips “full of grace,” and the soul “anointed” as “with the oil of gladness,” ( Psalms 45:1 ) ... and we may form some notion of what the king was like in that dawn of his golden prime. III. Reign .—All the data for a continuous history that we have of Solomon’s reign are— (a) The duration of the reign, forty sears, B.C. 1015-975. ( 1 Kings 11:4 ) (b) The commencement of the temple in the fourth, its completion in the eleventh, year of his reign. ( 1 Kings 6:1 , 37 , 38 ) (c) The commencement of his own palace in the seventh, its completion in the twentieth, year. ( 1 Kings 7:1 ; 2 Chronicles 8:1 ) (d) The conquest of Hamath-zobah, and the consequent foundation of cities in the region of north Palestine after the twentieth year. ( 2 Chronicles 8:1-6 ) IV. Foreign policy .— Egypt. The first act of the foreign policy of the new reign must have been to most Israelites a very startling one. He made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter ( 1 Kings 3:1 ) The immediate results were probably favorable enough. The new queen brought with her as a dowry the frontier city of Gezer. But the ultimate issue of alliance showed that it was hollow and impolitic. Tyre. The alliance with the Phoenician king rested on a somewhat different footing. It had been a part of David’s policy from the beginning of his reign. Hiram had been “ever a lover of David.” As soon as he heard of Solomon’s accession he sent ambassadors to salute him. A correspondence passed between the two kings, which ended in a treaty of commerce. The opening of Joppa as a port created a new coasting-trade, and the materials from Tyre were conveyed to that city on floats, and thence to Jerusalem. ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ) In return for these exports, the Phoenicians were only too glad to receive the corn and oil of Solomon’s territory. The results of the alliance did not end here. Now, for the first time in the history of the Jews, they entered on a career as a commercial people. The foregoing were the two most important to Babylon alliances. The absence of any reference to Babylon and Assyria, and the fact that the Euphrates was recognized as the boundary of Solomon’s kingdom, ( 2 Chronicles 9:26 ) suggests the inference that the Mesopotamian monarchies were at this time comparatively feeble. Other neighboring nations were content to pay annual tribute in the form of gifts. ( 2 Chronicles 9:28 ) The survey of the influence exercised by Solomon on surrounding nations would be incomplete if we were to pass over that which was more directly personal the fame of his glory and his wisdom. Wherever the ships of Tarshish went, they carried with them the report, losing nothing in its passage, of what their crews had seen and heard. The journey of the queen of Sheba, though from its circumstances the most conspicuous, did not stand alone. V. Internal history .— The first prominent scene in Solomon’s reign is one which presents his character in its noblest aspect. God in a vision having offered him the choice of good things he would have, he chose wisdom in preference to riches or honor or long life. The wisdom asked for was given in large measure, and took a varied range. The wide world of nature, animate and inanimate, the lives and characters of men, lay before him, and he took cognizance of all but the highest wisdom was that wanted for the highest work, for governing and guiding, and the historian hastens to give an illustration of it. The pattern-instance is, in all its circumstances, thoroughly Oriental. ( 1 Kings 3:16-28 ) In reference to the king’s finances, the first impression of the facts given us is that of abounding plenty. Large quantities of the precious metals were imported from Ophir and Tarshish. ( 1 Kings 9:28 ) All the kings and princes of the subject provinces paid tribute in the form of gifts, in money and in kind, “at a fixed rate year by year.” ( 1 Kings 10:25 ) Monopolies of trade contributed to the king’s treasury. ( 1 Kings 10:28 , 29 ) The total amount thus brought into the treasury in gold, exclusive of all payments in kind, amounted to 666 talents. ( 1 Kings 10:14 ) It was hardly possible, however, that any financial system could bear the strain of the king’s passion for magnificence. The cost of the temple was, it is true, provided for by David’s savings and the offerings of the people; but even while that was building, yet more when it was finished one structure followed on another with ruinous rapidity. All the equipment of his court, the “apparel” of his servants was on the same scale. A body-guard attended him, “threescore valiant men,” tallest and handsomest of the sons of Israel. Forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen made up the measure of his magnificence. ( 1 Kings 4:26 ) As the treasury became empty, taxes multiplied and monopolies became more irksome. A description of the temple erected by Solomon is given elsewhere. After seven years and the work was completed and the day came to which all Israelites looked back as the culminating glory of their nation. We cannot ignore the fact that even now there were some darker shades in the picture. He reduced the “strangers” in the land, the remnant of the Canaanite races, to the state of helots, and made their life “bitter with all hard bondage.” One hundred and fifty-three thousand, with wives and children in proportion, were torn from their homes and sent off to the quarries and the forests of Lebanon. ( 1 Kings 5:15 ; 2 Chronicles 2:17 , 18 ) And the king soon fell from the loftiest height of his religious life to the lowest depth. Before long the priests and prophets had to grieve over rival temples to Molech, Chemosh, Ashtaroth and forms of ritual not idolatrous only, but cruel, dark, impure. This evil came as the penalty of another. ( 1 Kings 11:1-8 ) He gave himself to “strange women.” He found himself involved in a fascination which led to the worship of strange gods. Something there was perhaps in his very “largeness of heart,” so far in advance of the traditional knowledge of his age, rising to higher and wider thoughts of God, which predisposed him to it. In recognizing what was true in other forms of faith, he might lose his horror at what was false. With this there may have mingled political motives. He may have hoped, by a policy of toleration, to conciliate neighboring princes, to attract larger traffic. But probably also there was another influence less commonly taken into account. The widespread belief of the East in the magic arts of Solomon is not, it is believed, without its foundation of truth. Disasters followed before long as the natural consequence of what was politically a blunder as well as religiously a sin. VI. His literary works.—little remains out of the songs, proverbs, treatises, of which the historian speaks. ( 1 Kings 4:32 , 33 ) Excerpts only are given from the three thousand proverbs. Of the thousand and five songs we know absolutely nothing. His books represent the three stages of his life. The Song of Songs brings before us the brightness of his -youth. Then comes in the book of Proverbs, the stage of practical, prudential thought. The poet has become the philosopher, the mystic has passed into the moralist; but the man passed through both stages without being permanently the better for either. They were to him but phases of his life which he had known and exhausted, ( Ecclesiastes 1:1 ; Ecclesiastes 2:1 ) ... and therefore there came, its in the confessions of the preacher, the great retribution.
Stones
Besides the ordinary uses to which stones were applied, we may mention that large stones were set up to commemorate any remarkable event. ( Genesis 28:18 ; 35:14 ; 31:45 ; Joshua 4:9 ; 1 Samuel 7:12 ) Such stones were occasionally consecrated By anointing. ( Genesis 28:18 ) Heaps of stones were piled up on various occasions, as in token of a treaty, ( Genesis 31:47 ) or over the grave of some notorious offender. ( Joshua 7:26 ; 8:29 ; 2 Samuel 18:17 ) The “white stone” noticed in ( Revelation 2:17 ) has been variously regarded as referring to the pebble of acquittal used in the Greek courts; to the lot cast in elections in Greece to both these combined; to the stones in the high priest’s breastplate; to the tickets presented to the victor at the public games; or, lastly, to the custom of writing on stones. The notice in ( Zechariah 12:3 ) of the “burdensome stone” is referred by Jerome to the custom of lifting stones as an exercise of strength, comp. Ecclus. 6:21 ; but it may equally well be explained of a large corner-stone as a symbol of strength. ( Isaiah 28:16 ) Stones are used metaphorically to denote hardness or insensibility, ( 1 Samuel 25:37 ; Ezekiel 11:19 ; 36:26 ) as well as firmness or strength. ( Genesis 49:24 ) The members of the Church are called “living stones,” as contributing to rear that living temple in which Christ, himself “a living stone,” is the chief or head of the corner. ( Ephesians 2:20-22 ; 1 Peter 2:4-8 )
Sun
In the history of “greater light,” of the creation the sun is described as “greater light,” in contradistinction to the moon, the “lesser light,” in conjunction with which it was to serve “for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years,” while its special office was “to rule the day.” ( Genesis 1:14-16 ) The “signs” referred to were probably such extraordinary phenomena as eclipses, which were regarded as conveying premonitions of coming events. ( Jeremiah 10:2 ; Matthew 24:29 ) with Luke 21:25 The joint influence assigned to the sun and moon in deciding the “seasons,” both for agricultural operations and for religious festivals, and also in regulating the length and subdivisions of the years “correctly describes the combination of the lunar and solar year which prevailed at all events subsequent to the Mosaic period. Sunrise and sunset are the only defined points of time in the absence of artificial contrivances for telling the hour of the day. Between these two points the Jews recognized three periods, viz., when the sun became hot, about 9 A.M. ( 1 Samuel 11:9 ; Nehemiah 7:3 ) the double light, or noon. ( Genesis 43:16 ; 2 Samuel 4:5 ) and “the cool of the day,” shortly before sunset. ( Genesis 3:8 ) The sun also served to fix the quarters of the hemisphere, east, west north and south, which were represented respectively by the rising sun, the setting sun, ( Isaiah 45:6 ; Psalms 50:1 ) the dark quarter, ( Genesis 13:14 ; Joel 2:20 ) and the brilliant quarter, (33:23; Job 37:17 ; Ezekiel 40:24 ) or otherwise by their position relative to a person facing the rising sun—before, behind, on the left hand and on the right hand. ( Job 23:8 , 9 ) The worship of the sun, as the most prominent and powerful agent in the kingdom of nature, was widely diffused throughout the countries adjacent to Palestine. The Arabians appear to have paid direct worship to it without the intervention of any statue or symbol, ( Job 31:26 , 27 ) and this simple style of worship was probably familiar to the ancestors of the Jews in Chaldaea and Mesopotamia. The Hebrews must have been well acquainted with the idolatrous worship of the sun during the captivity in Egypt, both from the contiguity of On, the chief seat of the worship of the sun, as implied in the name itself (On being the equivalent of the Hebrew Bethshemesh, “house of the sun”) ( Jeremiah 43:13 ) and also from the connection between Joseph and Potipherah(“he who belongs to Ela”) the priest of On, ( Genesis 41:45 ) After their removal to Canaan, the Hebrews came in contact with various forms of idolatry which originated in the worship of the sun; such as the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Molech or Milcom of the Ammonites, and the Hadad of the Syrians. The importance attached to the worship of the sun by the Jewish kings may be inferred from the fact that the horses sacred to the sun were stalled within the precincts of the temple. ( 2 Kings 23:11 ) In the metaphorical language of Scripture the sun is emblematic of the law of God, ( Psalms 19:7 ) of the cheering presence of God, ( Psalms 84:11 ) of the person of the Saviour, ( John 1:9 ; Malachi 4:2 ) and of the glory and purity of heavenly beings. ( Revelation 1:16 ; 10:1 )
Syria
is the term used throughout our version for the Hebrew Aram, as well as for the Greek Zupia . Most probably Syria is for Tsyria, the country about Tsur or Tyre which was the first of the Syrian towns known to the Greeks. It is difficult to fix the limits of Syria. The limits of the Hebrew Aram and its subdivisions are spoken of under Aram . Syria proper was bounded by Amanus and Taurus on the north by the Euphrates and the Arabian desert on the east, by Palestine on the south, by the Mediterranean near the mouth of the Orontes, and then by Phoenicia on the west. This tract is about 300 miles long from north to south, and from 50 to 150 miles broad. It contains an area of about 30,000 square miles. General physical features .—The general character of the tract is mountainous, as the Hebrew name Aram (from a roof signifying “height”) sufficiently implies. The most fertile and valuable tract of Syria is the long valley intervening between Libanus and Anti-Libanus. Of the various mountain ranges of Syria, Lebanon possesses the greatest interest. It extends from the mouth of the Litany to Arka, a distance of nearly 100 miles. Anti-Libanus, as the name implies, stands lover against Lebanon, running in the same direction, i.e. nearly north and south, and extending the same length. [ Lebanon ] The principal rivers of Syria are the Litany and the Orontes. The Litany springs from a small lake situated in the middle of the Coele-Syrian valley, about six miles to the southwest of Baalbek. It enters the sea about five miles north of Tyre. The source of the Orontes is but about 15 miles from that of the Litany. Its modern name is the Nahr-el-Asi, or “rebel stream,” an appellation given to it on account of its violence and impetuosity in many parts of its course. The chief towns of Syria may be thus arranged, as nearly as possible in the order of their importance: 1, Antioch; 2, Damascus; 3, Apamea; 4, Seleucia; 5, Tadmor or Palmyra; 6, Laodicea; 7, Epiphania (Hamath); 8, Samosata; 9, Hierapolis (Mabug); 10, Chalybon; 11, Emesa; 12, Heliopolis; 13, Laodicea ad Libanum; 14, Cyrrhus; 15, Chalcis; 16, Poseideum; 17, Heraclea; 18, Gindarus; 19, Zeugma; 20, Thapsacus. Of these, Samosata, Zeugma and Thapsacus are on the Euphrates; Seleucia, Laodicea, Poseideum and Heraclea, on the seashore, Antioch, Apamea, Epiphania and Emesa (Hems), on the Orontes; Heliopolis and Laodicea ad Libanum, in Coele-Syria; Hierapolis, Chalybon, Cyrrhus, Chalcis and Gindarns, in the northern highlands; Damascus on the skirts, and Palmyra in the centre, of the eastern desert. History.—The first occupants of Syria appear to have been of Hamitic descent—Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, etc. After a while the first comers, who were still to a great extent nomads, received a Semitic infusion, while most Probably came to them from the southeast. The only Syrian town whose existence we find distinctly marked at this time is Damascus, ( Genesis 14:15 ; 15:2 ) which appears to have been already a place of some importance. Next to Damascus must be placed Hamath. ( Numbers 13:21 ; 34:8 ) Syria at this time, and for many centuries afterward, seems to have been broken up among a number of petty kingdoms. The Jews first come into hostile contact with the Syrians, under that name, in the time of David. ( Genesis 15:18 ; 2 Samuel 8:3 , 4 , 13 ) When, a few years later, the Ammonites determined on engaging in a war with David, and applied to the Syrians for aid, Zolah, together with Beth-rehob sent them 20,000 footmen, and two other Syrian kingdoms furnished 13,000. ( 2 Samuel 10:6 ) This army being completely defeated by Joab, Hadadezer obtained aid from Mesopotamia, ibid. ver. 16, and tried the chance of a third battle, which likewise went against him, and produced the general submission of Syria to the Jewish monarch. The submission thus begun continued under the reign of Solomon. ( 1 Kings 4:21 ) The only part of Syria which Solomon lost seems to have been Damascus, where an independent kingdom was set up by Rezon, a native of Zobah. ( 1 Kings 11:23-25 ) On the separation of the two kingdoms, soon after the accession of Rehoboam, the remainder of Syria no doubt shook off the yoke. Damascus now became decidedly the leading state, Hamath being second to it, and the northern Hittites, whose capital was Carchemish, near Bambuk, third. [ Damascus ] Syria became attached to the great Assyrian empire, from which it passed to the Babylonians, and from them to the Persians, In B.C. 333 it submitted to Alexander without a struggle. Upon the death of Alexander, Syria became, for the first time the head of a great kingdom. On the division of the provinces among his generals, B.C. 321, Seleucus Nicator received Mesopotamia and Syria. The city of Antioch was begun in B.C. 300, and, being finished in a few years, was made the capital of Seleucus’ kingdom. The country grew rich with the wealth which now flowed into it on all sides. Syria was added to the Roman empire by Pompey, B.C. 64, and as it holds an important place, not only in the Old Testament but in the New, some account of its condition under the Romans must be given. While the country generally was formed into a Roman province, under governors who were at first proprietors or quaestors, then procounsuls, and finally legates, there were exempted from the direct rule of the governor in the first place, a number of “free cities” which retained the administration of their own affairs, subject to a tribute levied according to the Roman principles of taxation; secondly, a number of tracts, which were assigned to petty princes, commonly natives, to be ruled at their pleasure, subject to the same obligations with the free cities as to taxation. After the formal division of the provinces between Augustus and the senate, Syria, being from its exposed situation among the province principis, were ruled by legates, who were of consular rank (consulares) and bore severally the full title of “Legatus Augusti pro praetore.” Judea occupied a peculiar position; a special procurator was therefore appointed to rule it, who was subordinate to the governor of Syria, but within his own province had the power of a legatus. Syria continued without serious disturbance from the expulsion of the Parthians, B.C. 38, to the breaking out of the Jewish war, A.D. 66. in A.D. 44-47 it was the scene of a severe famine. A little earlier, Christianity had begun to spread into it, partly by means of those who “were scattered” at the time of Stephen’s persecution, ( Acts 11:19 ) partly by the exertions of St. Paul. ( Galatians 1:21 ) The Syrian Church soon grew to be one of the most flourishing ( Acts 13:1 ; 15:23 , 35 , 41 ) etc. (Syria remained under Roman and Byzantine rule till A.D. 634, when it was overrun by the Mohammedans; after which it was for many years the scene of fierce contests, and was finally subjugated by the Turks, A.D. 1517, under whose rule it still remains.—ED.)