THE<\/p>\n
FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS,<\/p>\n
commonly called,<\/p>\n
THE THIRD BOOK OF THE KINGS<\/p>\n
Ch. 1Ki 1:1-4<\/span>. David’s Feeble Age (Not in Chronicles)<\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. Now<\/em> ] The Hebrew has only the conjunction usually rendered And<\/em>. This sentence is not to be regarded as the commencement of a new history, but a continuation of what has been told in 2 Samuel. In Hebrew MSS. 1 and 2 Kings form but one book, as do also 1 and 2 Samuel , , 1 and 2 Chronicles. The division was first made in the LXX. which Jerome followed, and it was introduced in the printed Hebrew Bibles by Daniel Bomberg. The LXX. however treats these books as so closely connected with Samuel that the four books are all named alike ( . . . . ). They are so catalogued also in Origen’s list of the Canonical Books (Euseb. H. E.<\/em> vi. 25), and in Jerome’s Prologus Galeatus<\/em>. But we shall have occasion to point out some matters (e.g. the worship on the high places) which were viewed in a different light by the compiler of these later books from that in which they are regarded in the books of Samuel.<\/p>\n The two books fall naturally into three sections. (1) The reign of Solomon, 1 Kings 1-11. (2) The history of two kingdoms after their separation, till the overthrow of the northern kingdom, 1 Kings 12 – 2 Kings 17<\/span>. (3) The history of the kingdom of Judah from the Assyrian to the Babylonish Captivity, 2 Kings 18-25.<\/p>\n king David was old<\/em> ] The circumstances recorded in this passage must have happened when the feeble king had taken to his bed. By comparing 2Sa 5:4-5<\/span>, with 1Ki 2:11<\/span>, we arrive very nearly at the age given by Josephus ( Ant.<\/em> vii. 15. 2) who says David was seventy years old when he died.<\/p>\n stricken in years<\/em> ] Rendered literally on the margin ‘entered into days.’<\/p>\n they covered him with clothes<\/em> ] i.e. With bed-clothes; just as in 1Sa 19:13<\/span> where A.V. has ‘with a cloth.’ The word is however most frequently used of garments for wear.<\/p>\n Now – <\/B>Rather, and. The conjunction has here, probably, the same sort of connecting force which it has at the opening of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, etc., and implies that the historian regards his work as a continuation of a preceding history.<\/P> King David – <\/B>The expression king David, instead of the simpler David, is characteristic of the writer of Kings. (See the introduction to the Book of Kings) The phrase is comparatively rare in Chronicles and Samuel.<\/P> Stricken in, years – <\/B>David was perhaps now in his first year. He was thirty years old when he was made king in Hebron 2Sa 5:4<\/span>; he reigned in Hebron seven years and six months 2Sa 2:11<\/U><\/span>; 1Ch 3:4<\/span>; and he reigned thirty-three years at Jerusalem 2Sa 5:5<\/span>. The expression had here been used only of persons above eighty Gen 18:11<\/span>; Gen 24:1<\/span>; Jos 13:1<\/span>; Jos 23:1<\/span> : but the Jews at this time were not long-lived. No Jewish monarch after David, excepting Solomon and Manasseh, exceeded sixty years.<\/P> Clothes – <\/B>Probably bed-clothes. The king was evidently bed-ridden 1Ki 1:47<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n 1Ki 1:1-4<\/span><\/p>\n Now King David was old and stricken in years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Winter of Life<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Advised by the court physicians. An expedient not unusual in similar cases, when internal cordials failed, and with the limited skill of the faculty in the use of warmth-creating potions.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Was innocent. Suggested for no other than purely medical reasons. Sophocles lauded old age as a deliverance from the tyranny of the passions, as an escape from some furious and savage master.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Suspended only for a brief season the inevitable progress of decay. Medical skill is no more efficacious for the monarch than for the humblest subject. David died within the year. A moment comes in the winter of life when the warm pulse is stilled, and the once stalwart frame is locked in the icy embrace of death. (J. Barlow.<\/em>)<\/p>\n THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS<\/B><\/P> <\/P> -Year from the Creation, according to the English Bible, 2989.<\/P> -Year before the Incarnation, 1015.<\/P> -Year from the destruction of Troy, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 170.<\/P> -Year before the first Olympiad, 239.<\/P> -Year before the building of Rome, 262.<\/P> -Year of the Julian Period, 3699.<\/P> -Year of the Dionysian Period, 507.<\/P> -Cycle of the Sun, 3.<\/P> -Cycle of the Moon, 13.<\/P> -Year of Acastus, the second perpetual archon of the Athenians, 31.<\/P> -Pyritiades was king over the Assyrians about this time, according to Scaliger, Langius, and Strauchius. He was the thirty-seventh<\/I> monarch, (including Belus,) according to Africanus, and the thirty-third<\/I> according to Eusebius.<\/P> -Year of Alba Silvius, the sixth king of the Latins, 15.<\/P> -Year of David, king of the Hebrews, 40.<\/P> <\/P> CHAPTER I<\/P> <\/P> David, grown old, is, by the advice of his physicians,<\/I><\/P> cherished by Abishag the Shunummite<\/I>, 1-4.<\/P> Adonijah conspires with Joab and Abiathar to seize on the<\/I><\/P> government<\/I>, 5-10.<\/P> Nathan and Bathsheba communicate these tidings to the aged king<\/I>,<\/P> 11-27.<\/P> David immediately pronounces Solomon his successor, and causes<\/I><\/P> Zadok and Nathan to proclaim and anoint him king<\/I>, 28-40.<\/P> Adonijah and his friends hear of it, are afraid, and flee away,<\/I><\/P> Adonijah laying hold on the horns of the altar, from which he<\/I><\/P> refuses to go till Solomon shall promise him his life; this he<\/I><\/P> does, and banishes him to his own house<\/I>, 41-53. <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. I<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. Now King David was old<\/B><\/I>] He was probably now about sixty-nine<\/I> years of age. He was thirty<\/I> years old when he began to reign, reigned forty<\/I>, and died in the seventieth<\/I> year of his age, 2Sa 5:4<\/span>, and 1Kg 2:11<\/span>; and the transactions mentioned here are supposed to have taken place about a year before his death.<\/P> <\/P> But he gat no heat.<\/B><\/I>] Sixty-nine was not an advanced age; but David had been exhausted with various fatigues, and especially by family afflictions, so that he was much older in constitution than he was in years. Besides he seems to have laboured under some wasting maladies, to which there is frequent reference in the Psalms.<\/P> <\/p>\n Stricken in years; <\/B>Being in the end of his seventieth year. He gat no heat; <\/B>which is not strange in a person not only of so great an age, but also who had been exercised with so many hardships in war, and with such tormenting cares, and fears, and sorrows, for his own sins, (as divers of his Psalms witness,) and for the sins and miseries of his children and people. See Pro 17:22<\/span>. Besides, this might be from the nature of his disease, or bodily distemper. <\/P> <\/p>\n 1, 2. Now king David was old<\/B>Hewas in the seventieth year of his age (2Sa 5:4<\/span>;2Sa 5:5<\/span>). But the wear and tearof a military life, bodily fatigue, and mental care, had prematurely,if we may say it, exhausted the energies of David’s strongconstitution (1Sa 16:12<\/span>). Inmodern Palestine and Egypt the people, owing to the heat of theclimate, sleep each in a “separate” bed. They only departfrom this practice for medical reasons (Ec4:11<\/span>). The expedient recommended by David’s physicians is theregimen still prescribed in similar cases in the East, particularlyamong the Arab population, not simply to give heat, but “tocherish,” as they are aware that the inhalation of young breathwill give new life and vigor to the worn-out frame. The fact of thehealth of the young and healthier person being, as it were, stolen tosupport that of the more aged and sickly is well established amongthe medical faculty. And hence the prescription for the aged king wasmade in a hygienic point of view for the prolongation of his valuablelife, and not merely for the comfort to be derived from the naturalwarmth imparted to his withered frame [PORTER,Tent and Khan<\/I>]. The polygamy of the age and country mayaccount for the introduction of this practice; and it is evident thatAbishag was made a concubine or secondary wife to David (see on 1Ki2:22<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Now King David was old, [and] stricken in years<\/strong>,…. Was seventy years of age; for he was thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years, 2Sa 5:4<\/span>; this was just the age of man, Ps 90:10<\/span>;<\/p>\n and they covered him with clothes<\/strong>; not wearing apparel, but bed clothes; he seems to have been bedridden and paralytic:<\/p>\n but he got no heat<\/strong>; by them; having no natural heat in him, clothes could not communicate any to him, only keep the cold from him, see Hag 1:6<\/span>; there are many persons at the age he was, that are lively, healthful, and robust, comparatively speaking at least; but David’s strength was impaired, and his natural force abated by his many wars, fatigues by night and day in campaigns, and the many sorrows and afflictions he met with from his family and his friends, as well as enemies; which exhausted his natural moisture, weakened his nerves, and drank up his spirits, and brought upon him the infirmities of a decrepit old age very soon.<\/p>\n When king David had become so old that they could no longer warm him by covering him with clothes, his servants advised him to increase his vitality by lying with a young and robust virgin, and selected the beautiful Abishag of Shunem to perform this service. This circumstance, which is a trivial one in itself, is only mentioned on account of what follows – first, because it shows that David had become too weak from age, and too destitute of energy, to be able to carry on the government any longer; and, secondly, because Adonijah the pretender afterwards forfeited his life through asking for Abishag in marriage. – The opening of our book, ( and<\/em> the King), may be explained from the fact that the account which follows has been taken from a writing containing the earlier history of David, and that the author of these books retained the Vav<\/em> cop<\/em>. which he found there, for the purpose of showing at the outset that his work was a continuation of the books of Samuel. as in Jos 13:1<\/span>; Jos 23:1<\/span>; Gen 24:1<\/span>, etc. “ They covered him with clothes, and he did not get warm<\/em>.” It follows from this that the king was bedridden, or at least that when lying down he could no longer be kept warm with bed-clo thes.<\/em> does not mean clothes to wear here, but large cloths, which were used as bed-clothes, as in 1Sa 19:13<\/span> and Num 4:6<\/span>. is used impersonally, and derived from , cf. Ewald, 193, b<\/em>., and 138, b<\/em>. As David was then in his seventieth year, this decrepitude was not the natural result of extreme old age, but the consequence of a sickly constitution, arising out of the hardships which he had endured in his agitated and restless life. The proposal of his servants, to restore the vital warmth which he had lost by bringing a virgin to lie with him, is recommended as an experiment by Galen ( Method. medic. <\/em> viii. 7). And it has been an acknowledged fact with physicians of all ages, that departing vitality may be preserved and strengthened by communicating the vital warmth of strong and youthful persons (compare Trusen, Sitten Gebruche u. Krankheiten der Hebrer<\/em>, p. 257ff.). The singular suffix in is to be explained on the ground that one person spoke. , a maid who is a virgin. , to stand before a person as servant = to serve (cf. Deu 1:38<\/span> with Exo 24:13<\/span>). , an attendant or nurse, from = , to live with a person, then to be helpful or useful to him. With the words “that she may lie in thy bosom,” the passage passes, as is frequently the case, from the third person to a direct address.<\/p>\n Introduction.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 1015.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 Now king David was old and<\/I> stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. 3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 And the damsel was<\/I> very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.<\/P> David, as recorded in the foregoing chapter, had, by the great mercy of God, escaped the sword of the destroying angel. But our deliverances from or through diseases and dangers are but reprieves; if the candle be not blown out, it will burn out of itself. We have David here sinking under the infirmities of old age, and brought by them to the gates of the grave. He that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the snare;<\/I> and, one way or other, we must needs die.<\/I> 1. It would have troubled one to see David so infirm. He as old, and his natural heat so wasted that no clothes could keep him warm, v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>. David had been a valiant active man and a man of business, and very vehement had the flame always been in his breast; and yet now his blood is chilled and stagnated, he is confined to his bed, and there can get no heat. He was now seventy years old. Many, at that age, are as lively and fit for business as ever; but David was now chastised for his former sins, especially that in the matter of Uriah, and felt from his former toils and the hardships he had gone through in his youth, which then he made nothing of, but was now the worse for. Let not the strong man glory in his strength,<\/I> which may soon be weakened by sickness, or at last will be weakened by old age. Let young people remember their Creator in the days of their youth,<\/I> before these evil days come. What our hand finds to do for God, and our souls, and our generation, let us do with all our might, because the night comes, the night of old age, in which no man can work; and, when our strength has gone, it will be a comfort to remember that we used it well. 2. It would have troubled one to see his physicians so weak and unskilful that they knew no other way of relieving him than by outward applications. No cordials, no spirits, but, (1.) They covered him with clothes,<\/I> which, where there is any inward heat, will keep it in, and so increase it; but, where it is not, they have none to communicate, no, not royal clothing. Elihu makes it a difficulty to understand how our garments are warm upon us<\/I> (Job xxxvii. 17<\/span>); but, if God deny his blessing, men clothe themselves, and there is none warm<\/I> (Hag. i. 6<\/span>), David here was not. (2.) They foolishly prescribed nuptials to one that should rather have been preparing for his funeral (v.<\/I><\/span> 2-4<\/span>); but they knew what would gratify their own corruptions, and perhaps were too willing to gratify his, under colour of consulting his health. His prophets should have been consulted as well as his physicians in an affair of this nature. However, this might be excused then, when even good men ignorantly allowed themselves to have many wives. We now have not so learned of Christ, but are taught that one man must have but one wife (Matt. xix. 5<\/span>), and further that it is good for a man not to touch a woman,<\/I> 1 Cor. vii. 1<\/I><\/span>. That Abishag was married to David before she lay with him, and was his secondary wife, appears from its being imputed as a great crime to Adonijah that he desired to marry her (ch.<\/I><\/span> ii. 22<\/span>) after his father’s death.<\/P> <\/p>\n Introduction to Books of Kings<\/p>\n Like the Books of Samuel <\/em>the Books of Kings were originally one book. The Books were given their name in ancient times, by the Hebrews, because they begin with the words, “Now King”; <\/em>and of course, because they deal with the kings of Israel, and later those of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Whereas the Books of Samuel dealt much more fully with the reigns of Saul and David, relatively little space is given the many kings of the divided kingdoms. The portion of First Kings dealing with Solomon is the exception to this.<\/em><\/p>\n The author of the Books of Kings, under God, is unknown, <\/em>although scholars have found considerable evidence to believe that it was authored by the Prophet Jeremiah. It was almost certainly written by a contemporary of Jeremiah, if not he himself. The language is said to be quite similar to that in the Prophecy of Jeremiah, while certain statements indicate that all except the closing verses of Second Kings were written by a contemporary. It is believed that Jeremiah was returned to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar when that king captured Egypt, after the prophet had been carried there unwillingly.<\/em><\/p>\n The Books fall into three distinct parts: 1) <\/em>The reign of Solomon, 1Ki 1:1<\/span> to 1Ki 11:43<\/span>; 1 Kings 2) reigns of the contemporary kings of Israel and Judah 1Ki 12:1<\/span> – 2Ki 17:41<\/span>; 2 Kings 3) reigns of the Judaic kings to the captivity of Babylon, 2Ki 18:1<\/span> to 2Ki 25:30<\/span>. The first period <\/em>ends with the death of Solomon and the division of the kingdom; the second period <\/em>ends with the Assyrian destruction of the northern kingdom, Israel; the third period <\/em>ends with the fall of Judah to Babylon, with a postscript to the release of King Jehoiachin in Babylon. Chronologically the Books span a period of more than four hundred years, about 972-560 B. C.<\/em><\/p>\n Author’s Note: The parallel sections of Kings and Chronicles will be treated jointly in the following commentary. The Introduction to Chronicles and a treatment of other portions will be found at the end of this section.<\/p>\n First Kings – Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n David’s Illness, verses 1-4<\/p>\n First Kings opens with the information <\/em>that David had become old and decrepit.<\/em><\/p>\n Actually the record shows that he was about seventy years old at his death, an age not thought of even then as extremely. old. However, seventy years may well have been fairly aged for most persons of the times.<\/p>\n Others are mentioned who lived to be much older, but David had been through many hardships and sorrows. He had seen much of life in seventy years, and it had not always been good to him.<\/p>\n His ailment seems to be one that is common in the aged, <\/em>even to present times.<\/em><\/p>\n David’s circulation was poor and his body remained cold. The remedy proposed was likely one not uncommon for the times. It was not of the immoral nature which might suggest itself to a modern reader. A warm, healthy young body against that of the king would be very comforting, and to nourish a young woman in his bosom was perhaps less suggestive than to have so used a young boy.<\/p>\n So they found a very beautiful girl, from Shunem, <\/em>in the tribe of Issachar, near the head of the Valley of Jezreel. Her name was Abishag, and she fulfilled her task well. She treated the king tenderly, nursing and waiting upon him.<\/em><\/p>\n She became a part of his harem, but he never violated her, or used her as a concubine. It appears that she was actually no more than his nurse.<\/p>\n <\/span>SOLOMON AND THE SACRED TEMPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 Kings 1-11.<\/p>\n IN previous discussions, we have called attention to the chronology of the Old Testament, and have shown that the Books are correctly placed from the standpoint of history. Certainly the Books of the Kings belong where found in the Sacred Canon. David has held the field of view in the Books of Samuel, and I Kings opens with a record of his age, infirmity and approaching death.<\/p>\n The Books of Biblical history make up, for the most part, an unbroken series. The events reported as attending the kings death are at once natural, in keeping with the times and customs of that far-off century. The scramble between the sons as to succession in office and the inheritance of riches and honor, are easily believable because they belong to every century, and abate not. The methods of Adonijah, amounting to merely a repetition of Absoloms abortive attempt, reveal the mental inability and moral and political incapacity of that ambitious boy. His neglect to take Nathan, the Prophet, into counsel, or to seek advice from Benaiah and other mighty men, or even regard his brother Solomons claims, reveal the fact that he knew himself to be indulging a political plot that could succeed only in shadows and secrecy.<\/p>\n The opening chapter makes clear the fact that the Prophet of God is a capital statesman, for it was Nathan who brought this whole matter to the attention of Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon; and through her, reached the king and settled the question, and seated Bathshebas son on the throne.<\/p>\n An interesting study is excited by those verses in this same first chapter which reveal two things; first, that the dying man is far more interested in things eternal than in things temporal (1kings 1:29<\/span>); more deeply concerned in permanent Israel than in his own passing throne (1 Kings 1:30<\/span>); more alive to the moral and spiritual interests of his country than to its material and political supremacy; and in proportion to that interest, anxious to be succeeded in office by the one man to whom he could intrust both Gods people and Gods truth (1Ki 2:2<\/em><\/span><\/em> fol.).<\/em><\/p>\n With this introduction, we come naturally to three themes that compass somewhat clearly the chapters of our text: Solomons Succession to the Throne; Solomons Greatest Single Achievement; The Secrets of Solomons Signal Failure.<\/p>\n <\/span>SOLOMONS SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE<\/strong><\/p>\n Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly (1Ki 2:12<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n In coming to this office, he came as his fathers favorite. In the establishment of Israel, Isaac desired the line through Esau, and Rebecca contrived to secure it through her favorite, Jacob; but in this instance, father and mother agree as to the son who shall stand in the fathers stead. It is not at all likely that this choice was wholly a result of the certain influence exerted over the king by the beautiful Bathsheba. That impulse was doubtless present, but the controlling sentiment of the matter rested upon a firmer foundation. A father knows his own children. He knows their weaknesses and their strength; their abilities and their disabilities; their traits of dependableness and their habits of deceit. As between Adonijah and Solomon, David did not need to debate. From the days when as infants they lay in his arms until now, he had studied them, and doubtless often with this very hour in view; and his judgment was already made and had been communicated to both Bathsheba and the Prophet. It is difficult for children to imagine that their parents understand them, properly estimate them, justly judge them; but practically every family furnishes a positive proof that the best judges of character are the very people who have sought to control conduct and direct endeavor. The after history of Solomon is not all the Christian reader could wish. Had David lived on for two-score more years, feeble, infirm, having surrendered the reigns of rule into Solomons hands, he would have seen much come to pass that would have grieved his aged soul; but in spite of all that, he still would have gone to his grave, convinced beyond debate that Adonijah would have fallen shorter still, and Israels interests suffered more deeply in his hands.<\/p>\n These facts are the basis of a second reason why the rulership went to Solomon.<\/p>\n He was the Lords chosen. <\/strong>Men easily make mistakes in judging their fellows. Fathers even fall short in truly estimating the worth or worthlessness of their own, but God, who looketh on the heart <\/em>rather than on the outward appearance,<\/em> and who knows what is in man, as against what man imagines and announces himself to be, makes no such mistake. With the discernment of an infinite wisdom, Jehovah saw in Solomon mental traits, moral convictions, spiritual aspirations, that led Him, as He was led in the case of David, the father, to elect this man from among many sons.<\/p>\n The reaction in my mind, on reading the first chapters of I Kings, was a revolt. In my haste I came near questioning the wisdom of God to set such a man as Solomon on the throne, or to lend His approval to his methods of government. That grew out of the slaughters recorded in chapter 2. My soul sickened when he sent his servant Benaiah to slay his brother, and he fell upon him that he died (1Ki 2:25<\/em><\/span><\/em>);<\/em> when Joab was taken from the horns of the altar and slain without mercy (1Ki 2:30-34<\/em><\/span><\/em>); <\/em>when Shimei perished at Benaiahs hands and by the kings command (1Ki 2:39-41<\/em><\/span><\/em>),<\/em> I confess I came to the phrase, And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon,<\/em> with a sickening sense, asking myself, Can one cement the foundations of a true throne with the blood of his brothers, and be under a Divine benediction?<\/p>\n But I am glad for further study. Our judgments are often immature; our speech is often hasty, and when we take issue with the Divine will, our way is always mistaken. I had overlooked for the time that each of these men had not only courted death, but practically compelled it, and had compelled it by the violation of the Law of the Lord. For instance, the one of them to whom the readers sympathy goes out most quickly is Joab, the warrior, the man who had once favored David and fought for him; but alas, when one reviews the history of Joab, he consents to the justice of his fate. How many he had slain, and with what perfidy he had performed these slaughters! Guile had been his brutal instrument. He took Abner aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died (2Sa 3:27<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em> He concealed his sword while whispering in Amasas ear and yet ripped him until his bowels fell to the ground (2Sa 20:10<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em> The Law of the Lord was, If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die (Exo 21:14<\/em><\/span><\/em>);<\/em> and the Law of the Lord is living still and Solomons servant is merely executing the same.<\/p>\n Slaughter is horrible; battle and death wound and offend our spirits; but battle and death and slaughter are not, when all are combined, the undermining factors of civilization, the fiends of successful rebellion against all moral worth, that disregard of Divine law and disobedience to the same, surely effect. It is important, I grant you, that men shall live their natural days, but far more important is it that the law of God shall live. In the last analysis, death is the natural incident of disobedience, so that the brutal features of Solomons reign are features intended to end the shedding of blood. It was a war against war; it was a just judgment against unjust judgments; it was a capital punishment of most capital crimes.<\/p>\n Solomon also became the choice of the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.<\/em><\/p>\n And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them (1Ki 1:39-40<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n It is a great sequence when the public acclaims the will of the Lord. The government chosen of God and clearly accepted by the people has magnificent promise, and holds momentous prospects. It is fairly evident from the whole text that Solomon had those personal traits that rendered Absalom popular in his daythe traits of physical beauty and prowess; but in Solomons case, intellectual acumen and even a certain spiritual power added to his acceptance with the people. It may be true that the designing politician easily deceives the public and often experiences undeserved popularity; but few uninspired sentences are more true than Abraham Lincolns, You cannot fool all the people all of the time.<\/p>\n We are not enamored of the notion of the old Latin proverb, Vox populi, vox Dei,<\/em> for it is a rule that has more exceptions than applications! But on the other hand, the final judgment of man is compelled to conform to the judgment of God, for what God sees and understands by His infinite wisdom becomes increasingly evident by the action that makes history; and sooner or later the voice of the people will second the voice of God.<\/p>\n Victory ought to be comparatively easy for a young man entering upon an important office with the backing of a kingly father, an infinite Lord and the will of the people. At many points Solomon witnessed success; his rule was long continued; his material prosperity became the amazement of the age; his political powers rapidly increased, while his mental and spiritual perceptions were the envy of kings and queens.<\/p>\n I think, however, it is well to dwell upon<\/p>\n SOLOMONS GREATEST SINGLE ACHIEVEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n This was not his alliance with Pharaoh, nor his marriage into the kings house, nor the political supremacy to which he attained, nor the luxurious living in which he indulged himself, nor the splendors of his court! On the other hand, it was the creation of the temple of God. That achievement is as easily linked up, however, with some facts of his mental and spiritual existence as it is with his political and religious supremacy.<\/p>\n He laid for lifes fabric a true foundation.<\/strong> When God appeared to him in Gibeon in a dream at night, and said, Ask what I shall give thee (1Ki 3:5<\/em><\/span><\/em>),<\/em> the answer revealed the soul of the youth. Give * * Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad (1Ki 3:9<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em> A prayer like that could result only in the Divine favor; yea, even in the Divine affection. So far as the record goes, the boy Solomon had been a beautiful lad, his life clean, his conduct upright, his character above reproach; and now to have such a prayer emanate from his lips invites both human and Divine love. We are compelled to think that the principles which compel Gods love are not wholly different from those which control human affection. When the rich young ruler, white-souled, intellectually accomplished, spiritually enthusiastic, fell at the feet of Jesus to inquire what good thing he could do to inherit eternal life, Christ looked upon him to love him. It may be true that by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified<\/em> in the sight of God; but it is not true that God disregards the deeds of the Law, looks with contempt or indifference upon high human conduct, takes no vital concern in beautiful character. The whole Scripture seems to clearly intimate that upright conduct linked with spiritual expression is lovely in the sight of God.<\/p>\n Neither the Bible nor Spirit-instructed men imagine, with the author of a certain University textbook, that the human intellect is merely a brute mind greatly developed, nor do they hold with another author, compulsory upon students study in some institutions, that the soul is accounted for by the development of the social in brute life.<\/p>\n On the contrary, the Bible teaches that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul,<\/em> including intellect and spirit, his reasoning powers and his capability of receiving revelation.<\/p>\n If Solomon lived now and was a student in certain departments of the University, they would be teaching him that the only possible way of having wisdom is to evolve the ape intellectuality to a higher plane; but suffering the misfortune of living and dying before Darwins day, the great soul of the worlds wisest man knew no better than to look upward instead of downward for such acquisition, and pray, Give * * Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad<\/em> (1Ki 3:9<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n There are some of us who are perfectly willing to be regarded as belonged to Mediaeval times, if Mediaevalism takes the Scripture against the speculation of man and looks above for true wisdom instead of back, beneath, or below. If I could have my personal choice for every child born into my home, concerning the whole matter of education, I would rather have him or her begin the real battle of life begging for such a blessing and believing that God is capable of granting it, than to have him made familiar with all the sophistries and speculations of those modern text-books that turn men to believing that they are a big improvement on brute ancestors, and boasting the same. One thing is fairly clear, namely, that men who believe God and build life according to the laws of His Book, are the simple men of the centuries to which they belong, and become the inspiring examples to children born of later days.<\/p>\n He built not for self alone, but he remembered God.<\/strong> It is not difficult to believe, if one follows the personal history of this potentate, that his steps are determined by definite objectives. When all Israel had come under his sway, he appointed twelve officers, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision (1Ki 4:7<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em> In other words, he was a man who organized government and who organized finances, and witnessed the fruits of his organization in both fields by bringing the entire people to subjection and creating a palace of such splendor and attendants as the world has seldom seen. Forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen (1Ki 4:26<\/em><\/span><\/em>),<\/em> sound almost as extravagant as the years of Methuselahs life, and yet there is far less doubt of the latter than of the former. That he was not a mere indolent, daddled in the lap of a daily luxury wrung from unwilling taxpayers, is everywhere apparent. He was a man among men, a prince among thinkers, a king among courtiers. His fame was in all the nations. He spake 3,000 proverbs; he wrote 1,005 songs; he made all nature to contribute in illustration, and he compelled admiration from all the kings of the earth Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>Overtakes men in the highest rank.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Chills the vital sources of the <\/strong>naturally robust. And they covered him with clothes, and he gat no heat.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Is but temporarily alleviated by the best considered human devices. The cherishing of Abishag was–<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n