Sea, The molten
The great laver made by Solomon for the use of the priests in the temple, described in 1 Kings 7:23-26 ; 2 Chr. 4:2-5 . It stood in the south-eastern corner of the inner court. It was 5 cubits high, 10 in diameter from brim to brim, and 30 in circumference. It was placed on the backs of twelve oxen, standing with their faces outward. It was capable of containing two or three thousand baths of water (comp. 2 Chr. 4:5 ), which was originally supplied by the Gibeonites, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from the pools of Bethlehem. It was made of “brass” (copper), which Solomon had taken from the captured cities of Hadarezer, the king of Zobah ( 1 Chr. 18:8 ). Ahaz afterwards removed this laver from the oxen, and placed it on a stone pavement ( 2 Kings 16:17 ). It was destroyed by the Chaldeans (25:13).
Shaalabbin
Or Shaal’bim, a place of foxes, a town of the tribe of Dan ( Josh. 19:42 ; Judg. 1:35 ). It was one of the chief towns from which Solomon drew his supplies ( 1 Kings 4:9 ). It is probably the modern village of Selbit, 3 miles north of Ajalon.
Sheba
An oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah ( Gen. 10:7 ), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan ( Gen. 10:28 ), probably the founder of the Sabeans. (3.) Heb. id. A son of Jokshan, who was a son of Abraham by Keturah ( Gen. 25:3 ). (4.) Heb. id. A kingdom in Arabia Felix. Sheba, in fact, was Saba in Southern Arabia, the Sabaeans of classical geography, who carried on the trade in spices with the other peoples of the ancient world. They were Semites, speaking one of the two main dialects of Himyaritic or South Arabic. Sheba had become a monarchy before the days of Solomon. Its queen brought him gold, spices, and precious stones ( 1 Kings 10:1-13 ). She is called by our Lord the “queen of the south” ( Matt. 12:42 ). (5.) Heb. shebha’, “seven” or “an oak.” A town of Simeon ( Josh. 19:2 ). (6.) Heb. id. A “son of Bichri,” of the family of Becher, the son of Benjamin, and thus of the stem from which Saul was descended ( 2 Sam. 20:1-22 ). When David was returning to Jerusalem after the defeat of Absalom, a strife arose between the ten tribes and the tribe of Judah, because the latter took the lead in bringing back the king. Sheba took advantage of this state of things, and raised the standard of revolt, proclaiming, “We have no part in David.” With his followers he proceeded northward. David seeing it necessary to check this revolt, ordered Abishai to take the gibborim, “mighty men,” and the body-guard and such troops as he could gather, and pursue Sheba. Joab joined the expedition, and having treacherously put Amasa to death, assumed the command of the army. Sheba took refuge in Abel-Bethmaachah, a fortified town some miles north of Lake Merom. While Joab was engaged in laying siege to this city, Sheba’s head was, at the instigation of a “wise woman” who had held a parley with him from the city walls, thrown over the wall to the besiegers, and thus the revolt came to an end.
Shechinah
A Chaldee word meaning resting-place, not found in Scripture, but used by the later Jews to designate the visible symbol of God’s presence in the tabernacle, and afterwards in Solomon’s temple. When the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, he went before them “in a pillar of a cloud.” This was the symbol of his presence with his people. For references made to it during the wilderness wanderings, see Ex. 14:20 ; 40:34-38 ; Lev. 9:23 , 24 ; Num. 14:10 ; 16:19 , 42 . It is probable that after the entrance into Canaan this glory-cloud settled in the tabernacle upon the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. We have, however, no special reference to it till the consecration of the temple by Solomon, when it filled the whole house with its glory, so that the priests could not stand to minister ( 1 Kings 8:10-13 ; 2 Chr. 5:13 , 14 ; 7:1-3 ). Probably it remained in the first temple in the holy of holies as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence so long as that temple stood. It afterwards disappeared. (See CLOUD .)
Shimei
Famous. (1.) A son of Gershon, and grandson of Levi ( Num. 3:18 ; 1 Chr. 6:17 , 29 ); called Shimi in Ex. 6:17 . (2.) A Benjamite of the house of Saul, who stoned and cursed David when he reached Bahurim in his flight from Jerusalem on the occasion of the rebellion of Absalom ( 2 Sam. 16:5-13 ). After the defeat of Absalom he “came cringing to the king, humbly suing for pardon, bringing with him a thousand of his Benjamite tribesmen, and representing that he was heartily sorry for his crime, and had hurried the first of all the house of Israel to offer homage to the king” (19:16-23). David forgave him; but on his death-bed he gave Solomon special instructions regarding Shimei, of whose fidelity he seems to have been in doubt ( 1 Kings 2:8 , 9 ). He was put to death at the command of Solomon, because he had violated his word by leaving Jerusalem and going to Gath to recover two of his servants who had escaped (36-46). (3.) One of David’s mighty men who refused to acknowledge Adonijah as David’s successor ( 1 Kings 1:8 ). He is probably the same person who is called elsewhere (4:18) “the son of Elah.” (4.) A son of Pedaiah, the brother of Zerubbabel ( 1 Chr. 3:19 ). (5.) A Simeonite ( 1 Chr. 4:26 , 27 ). (6.) A Reubenite ( 1 Chr. 5:4 ). (7.) A Levite of the family of Gershon ( 1 Chr. 6:42 ). (8.) A Ramathite who was “over the vineyards” of David ( 1 Chr. 27:27 ). (9.) One of the sons of Heman, who assisted in the purification of the temple ( 2 Chr. 29:14 ). (10.) A Levite ( 2 Chr. 31:12 , 13 ). (11.) Another Levite ( Ezra 10:23 ). “The family of Shimei” ( Zech. 12:13 ; R.V., “the family of the Shimeites”) were the descendants of Shimei (1).
Ships
Early used in foreign commerce by the Phoenicians ( Gen. 49:13 ). Moses ( Deut. 28:68 ) and Job (9:26) make reference to them, and Balaam speaks of the “ships of Chittim” ( Num. 24:24 ). Solomon constructed a navy at Ezion-geber by the assistance of Hiram’s sailors ( 1 Kings 9:26-28 ; 2 Chr. 8:18 ). Afterwards, Jehoshaphat sought to provide himself with a navy at the same port, but his ships appear to have been wrecked before they set sail ( 1 Kings 22:48 , 49 ; 2 Chr. 20:35-37 ). In our Lord’s time fishermen’s boats on the Sea of Galilee were called “ships.” Much may be learned regarding the construction of ancient merchant ships and navigation from the record in Acts 27 , 28 .
Shishak I
=Sheshonk I., king of Egypt. His reign was one of great national success, and a record of his wars and conquests adorns the portico of what are called the “Bubastite kings” at Karnak, the ancient Thebes. Among these conquests is a record of that of Judea. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign Shishak came up against the kingdom of Judah with a powerful army. He took the fenced cities and came to Jerusalem. He pillaged the treasures of the temple and of the royal palace, and carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made ( 1 Kings 11:40 ; 14:25 ; 2 Chr. 12:2 ). (See REHOBOAM .) This expedition of the Egyptian king was undertaken at the instigation of Jeroboam for the purpose of humbling Judah. Hostilities between the two kingdoms still continued; but during Rehoboam’s reign there was not again the intervention of a third party.
Siloam, Pool of
Sent or sending. Here a notable miracle was wrought by our Lord in giving sight to the blind ( John 9:7-11 ). It has been identified with the Birket Silwan in the lower Tyropoeon valley, to the south-east of the hill of Zion. The water which flows into this pool intermittingly by a subterranean channel springs from the “Fountain of the Virgin” (q.v.). The length of this channel, which has several windings, is 1,750 feet, though the direct distance is only 1,100 feet. The pool is 53 feet in length from north to south, 18 feet wide, and 19 deep. The water passes from it by a channel cut in the rock into the gardens below. (See EN-ROGEL .) Many years ago (1880) a youth, while wading up the conduit by which the water enters the pool, accidentally discovered an inscription cut in the rock, on the eastern side, about 19 feet from the pool. This is the oldest extant Hebrew record of the kind. It has with great care been deciphered by scholars, and has been found to be an account of the manner in which the tunnel was constructed. Its whole length is said to be “twelve hundred cubits;” and the inscription further notes that the workmen, like the excavators of the Mont Cenis Tunnel, excavated from both ends, meeting in the middle. Some have argued that the inscription was cut in the time of Solomon; others, with more probability, refer it to the reign of Hezekiah. A more ancient tunnel was discovered in 1889 some 20 feet below the ground. It is of smaller dimensions, but more direct in its course. It is to this tunnel that Isaiah (8:6) probably refers. The Siloam inscription above referred to was surreptitiously cut from the wall of the tunnel in 1891 and broken into fragments. These were, however, recovered by the efforts of the British Consul at Jerusalem, and have been restored to their original place.
Solomon
Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage ( 2 Sam. 12 ). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 ( 1 Chr. 22:5 ; 29:1 ). He succeeded his father on the throne in early manhood, probably about sixteen or eighteen years of age. Nathan, to whom his education was intrusted, called him Jedidiah, i.e., “beloved of the Lord” ( 2 Sam. 12:24 , 25 ). He was the first king of Israel “born in the purple.” His father chose him as his successor, passing over the claims of his elder sons: “Assuredly Solomon my son shall reign after me.” His history is recorded in 1 Kings 1 -11 and 2 Chr. 1 -9. His elevation to the throne took place before his father’s death, and was hastened on mainly by Nathan and Bathsheba, in consequence of the rebellion of Adonijah ( 1 Kings 1:5-40 ). During his long reign of forty years the Hebrew monarchy gained its highest splendour. This period has well been called the “Augustan age” of the Jewish annals. The first half of his reign was, however, by far the brighter and more prosperous; the latter half was clouded by the idolatries into which he fell, mainly from his heathen intermarriages ( 1 Kings 11:1-8 ; 14:21 , 31 ). Before his death David gave parting instructions to his son ( 1 Kings 2:1-9 ; 1 Chr. 22:7-16 ; 28 ). As soon as he had settled himself in his kingdom, and arranged the affairs of his extensive empire, he entered into an alliance with Egypt by the marriage of the daughter of Pharaoh ( 1 Kings 3:1 ), of whom, however, nothing further is recorded. He surrounded himself with all the luxuries and the external grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly assisted him in his numerous undertakings. (See HIRAM .) For some years before his death David was engaged in the active work of collecting materials ( 1 Chr. 29:6-9 ; 2 Chr. 2:3-7 ) for building a temple in Jerusalem as a permanent abode for the ark of the covenant. He was not permitted to build the house of God ( 1 Chr. 22:8 ); that honour was reserved to his son Solomon. (See TEMPLE .) After the completion of the temple, Solomon engaged in the erection of many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem and in other parts of his kingdom. For the long space of thirteen years he was engaged in the erection of a royal palace on Ophel ( 1 Kings 7:1-12 ). It was 100 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high. Its lofty roof was supported by forty-five cedar pillars, so that the hall was like a forest of cedar wood, and hence probably it received the name of “The House of the Forest of Lebanon.” In front of this “house” was another building, which was called the Porch of Pillars, and in front of this again was the “Hall of Judgment,” or Throne-room ( 1 Kings 7:7 ; 10:18-20 ; 2 Chr. 9:17-19 ), “the King’s Gate,” where he administered justice and gave audience to his people. This palace was a building of great magnificence and beauty. A portion of it was set apart as the residence of the queen consort, the daughter of Pharaoh. From the palace there was a private staircase of red and scented sandal wood which led up to the temple. Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of securing a plentiful supply of water for the city ( Eccl. 2:4-6 ). He then built Millo (LXX., “Acra”) for the defence of the city, completing a line of ramparts around it ( 1 Kings 9:15 , 24 ; 11:27). He erected also many other fortifications for the defence of his kingdom at various points where it was exposed to the assault of enemies ( 1 Kings 9:15-19 ; 2 Chr. 8:2-6 ). Among his great undertakings must also be mentioned the building of Tadmor (q.v.) in the wilderness as a commercial depot, as well as a military outpost. During his reign Palestine enjoyed great commercial prosperity. Extensive traffic was carried on by land with Tyre and Egypt and Arabia, and by sea with Spain and India and the coasts of Africa, by which Solomon accumulated vast stores of wealth and of the produce of all nations ( 1 Kings 9:26-28 ; 10:11 , 12 ; 2 Chr. 8:17 , 18 ; 9:21). This was the “golden age” of Israel. The royal magnificence and splendour of Solomon’s court were unrivalled. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, an evidence at once of his pride, his wealth, and his sensuality. The maintenance of his household involved immense expenditure. The provision required for one day was “thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl” ( 1 Kings 4:22 , 23 ). Solomon’s reign was not only a period of great material prosperity, but was equally remarkable for its intellectual activity. He was the leader of his people also in this uprising amongst them of new intellectual life. “He spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes” ( 1 Kings 4:32 , 33 ). His fame was spread abroad through all lands, and men came from far and near “to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” Among others thus attracted to Jerusalem was “the queen of the south” ( Matt. 12:42 ), the queen of Sheba, a country in Arabia Felix. “Deep, indeed, must have been her yearning, and great his fame, which induced a secluded Arabian queen to break through the immemorial custom of her dreamy land, and to put forth the energy required for braving the burdens and perils of so long a journey across a wilderness. Yet this she undertook, and carried it out with safety.” ( 1 Kings 10:1-13 ; 2 Chr. 9:1-12 .) She was filled with amazement by all she saw and heard: “there was no more spirit in her.” After an interchange of presents she returned to her native land. But that golden age of Jewish history passed away. The bright day of Solomon’s glory ended in clouds and darkness. His decline and fall from his high estate is a sad record. Chief among the causes of his decline were his polygamy and his great wealth. “As he grew older he spent more of his time among his favourites. The idle king living among these idle women, for 1,000 women, with all their idle and mischievous attendants, filled the palaces and pleasure-houses which he had built ( 1 Kings 11:3 ), learned first to tolerate and then to imitate their heathenish ways. He did not, indeed, cease to believe in the God of Israel with his mind. He did not cease to offer the usual sacrifices in the temple at the great feasts. But his heart was not right with God; his worship became merely formal; his soul, left empty by the dying out of true religious fervour, sought to be filled with any religious excitement which offered itself. Now for the first time a worship was publicly set up amongst the people of the Lord which was not simply irregular or forbidden, like that of Gideon ( Judg. 8:27 ), or the Danites ( Judg. 18:30 , 31 ), but was downright idolatrous.” ( 1 Kings 11:7 ; 2 Kings 23:13 .) This brought upon him the divine displeasure. His enemies prevailed against him ( 1 Kings 11:14-22 , 23-25 , 26-40 ), and one judgment after another fell upon the land. And now the end of all came, and he died, after a reign of forty years, and was buried in the city of David, and “with him was buried the short-lived glory and unity of Israel.” “He leaves behind him but one weak and worthless son, to dismember his kingdom and disgrace his name.” “The kingdom of Solomon,” says Rawlinson, “is one of the most striking facts in the Biblical history. A petty nation, which for hundreds of years has with difficulty maintained a separate existence in the midst of warlike tribes, each of which has in turn exercised dominion over it and oppressed it, is suddenly raised by the genius of a soldier-monarch to glory and greatness. An empire is established which extends from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt, a distance of 450 miles; and this empire, rapidly constructed, enters almost immediately on a period of peace which lasts for half a century. Wealth, grandeur, architectural magnificence, artistic excellence, commercial enterprise, a position of dignity among the great nations of the earth, are enjoyed during this space, at the end of which there is a sudden collapse. The ruling nation is split in twain, the subject-races fall off, the pre-eminence lately gained being wholly lost, the scene of struggle, strife, oppression, recovery, inglorious submission, and desperate effort, re-commences.”, Historical Illustrations.
Solomon, Song of
Called also, after the Vulgate, the “Canticles.” It is the “song of songs” (1:1), as being the finest and most precious of its kind; the noblest song, “das Hohelied,” as Luther calls it. The Solomonic authorship of this book has been called in question, but evidences, both internal and external, fairly establish the traditional view that it is the product of Solomon’s pen. It is an allegorical poem setting forth the mutual love of Christ and the Church, under the emblem of the bridegroom and the bride. (Compare Matt. 9:15 ; John 3:29 ; Eph. 5:23 , 27 , 29 ; Rev. 19:7-9 ; 21:2 , 9 ; 22:17 . Compare also Ps. 45 ; Isa. 54:4-6 ; 62:4 , 5 ; Jer. 2:2 ; 3:1 , 20 ; Ezek. 16 ; Hos. 2:16 , 19 , 20 .)
Solomon’s Porch
( John 10:23 ; Acts 3:11 ; 5:12 ), a colonnade, or cloister probably, on the eastern side of the temple. It is not mentioned in connection with the first temple, but Josephus mentions a porch, so called, in Herod’s temple (q.v.).
Songs
Of Moses ( Ex. 15 ; Num. 21:17 ; Deut. 32 ; Rev. 15:3 ), Deborah ( Judg. 5 ), Hannah ( 1 Sam. 2 ), David ( 2 Sam. 22 , and Psalms), Mary ( Luke 1:46-55 ), Zacharias ( Luke 1:68-79 ), the angels ( Luke 2:13 ), Simeon ( Luke 2:29 ), the redeemed ( Rev. 5:9 ; 19 ), Solomon (see SOLOMON, SONGS OF ).
Surety
One who becomes responsible for another. Christ is the surety of the better covenant ( Heb. 7:22 ). In him we have the assurance that all its provisions will be fully and faithfully carried out. Solomon warns against incautiously becoming security for another ( Prov. 6:1-5 ; 11:15 ; 17:18 ; 20:16 ).
Syria
(Heb. Aram), the name in the Old Testament given to the whole country which lay to the north-east of Phoenicia, extending to beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris. Mesopotamia is called ( Gen. 24:10 ; Deut. 23:4 ) Aram-naharain (=Syria of the two rivers), also Padan-aram ( Gen. 25:20 ). Other portions of Syria were also known by separate names, as Aram-maahah ( 1 Chr. 19:6 ), Aram-beth-rehob ( 2 Sam. 10:6 ), Aram-zobah ( 2 Sam. 10:6 , 8 ). All these separate little kingdoms afterwards became subject to Damascus. In the time of the Romans, Syria included also a part of Palestine and Asia Minor. “From the historic annals now accessible to us, the history of Syria may be divided into three periods: The first, the period when the power of the Pharaohs was dominant over the fertile fields or plains of Syria and the merchant cities of Tyre and Sidon, and when such mighty conquerors as Thothmes III. and Rameses II. could claim dominion and levy tribute from the nations from the banks of the Euphrates to the borders of the Libyan desert. Second, this was followed by a short period of independence, when the Jewish nation in the south was growing in power, until it reached its early zenith in the golden days of Solomon; and when Tyre and Sidon were rich cities, sending their traders far and wide, over land and sea, as missionaries of civilization, while in the north the confederate tribes of the Hittites held back the armies of the kings of Assyria. The third, and to us most interesting, period is that during which the kings of Assyria were dominant over the plains of Syria; when Tyre, Sidon, Ashdod, and Jerusalem bowed beneath the conquering armies of Shalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib; and when at last Memphis and Thebes yielded to the power of the rulers of Nineveh and Babylon, and the kings of Assyria completed with terrible fulness the bruising of the reed of Egypt so clearly foretold by the Hebrew prophets.”, Boscawen.