CHAPTER VIII.

_SOLOMON’S REIGN CONTINUED._ 2 KINGS IX.–XI. 2 CHR. VIII. IX. B.C. 1005–975.

BEFORE the Temple was thus completed, Solomon had proceeded to construct other magnificent buildings. Amongst these was a sumptuous palace for himself, surrounded with beautiful pleasure-grounds, which stood within the city opposite to the Temple, and occupied 13 years in building (1 K. vii. 1). Another palace he built for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had espoused, and besides it the house of the forest of Lebanon[329], 175 ft. long, half that measurement in width, and 50 ft. high. The roof, which was made of cedar, was supported by 4 rows of cedar columns, and the whole received light from 3 rows of windows on each side. Adjoining it were the women’s apartments, a banqueting-hall, and spacious and luxuriant gardens.

Other works were designed for use and security; among these were artificial reservoirs for supplying the city with water, and the strengthening or repairing of a fortress called Millo (1 K. ix. 15), already begun by David (2 Sam. v. 9). Solomon also fortified Baalath[330]; Gezer[331] and the two Beth-horons on the great road towards the sea-coast; the strong and important post of Hazor[332] to defend the entrance from Syria and Assyria; Megiddo to guard the Esdraelon plain; while, for the protection of his eastern caravans, he built Tadmor, afterwards called _Palmyra_, in the Syrian wilderness, and Tiphsah or _Thapsacus_[333] on the Euphrates (2 Chr. viii. 3–6).

Illustration: SOLOMON’S DOMINIONS, THE KINGDOMS OF JUDAH & ISRAEL AND THE LANDS OF THE CAPTIVITIES.

London: Macmillan & Co.

His reign was a period of great commercial activity. On the North-west the important kingdom of Phœnicia was united with him by the bonds of a strict alliance. Once only did Hiram, king of Tyre, express any dissatisfaction with the dealings of his powerful friend. Solomon had bestowed upon him twenty cities which he had conquered in the land of Galilee, on the borders of Asher. But when the Tyrian king came forth to see them, he was much dissatisfied. One of them named Cabul, now _Kabûl_, about 8 or 9 miles east of _Akka_, in his own Phœnician tongue denoted _displeasure_, and this name he gave to them all (1 K. ix. 10–13).

1. But Phœnician enterprise was turned to account in other directions. Having possession of the Eastern shore of the Red Sea, Solomon strengthened the ports of Elath and Ezion-geber (_the giant’s backbone_), and with the assistance of Tyrian shipwrights, constructed a fleet, which sailed to Ophir[334], and returned with gold, silver, ivory, and other products (1 K. ix. 26–28).

2. The Tyrian alliance opened up also the traffic of the Mediterranean. On every shore washed by this sea Phœnician energy had founded colonies, and opened trading ports, of which the chief was Tarshish, or Tartessus――“the Peru of Tyrian adventure[335]”――on the southern coast of Spain, at this time abounding in gold and silver mines. Hither Solomon’s fleet sailed in company with that of Hiram, and brought back every three years of its precious products (1 K. x. 22).

3. Another important outlet for trade was supplied by Egypt. Not only had Solomon espoused a daughter of Pharaoh, but in defiance of the Mosaic Law (Deut. xvii. 16) he exchanged the produce of his own country for the horses and chariots of Egypt, as also for the linen-yarn, spun from the flax which the Nile valley yielded in abundance (1 K. x. 28, 29).

4. Last, but not least important, was the inland trade of the Arabian peninsula. Caravans of the native tribes transported on camels the spices, incense, gold, precious stones, and valuable woods of the country, especially the almug or sandal, and brought them into the dominions of Solomon, or, if they were intended for his Tyrian allies, to Gezer and Beth-horon, whence they were transported to the port of Joppa.

But though these several branches of commerce opened up to the Hebrew kingdom many and various sources of national prosperity, and tended to multiply the luxuries and magnificence of the court, this prosperity was on the surface only. Hidden beneath its external splendour were several cankers, which surely though secretly undermined the true life of the nation. First of all, this massing of gold and silver, as doubtless the Jewish Lawgiver had foreseen, could only be brought about by a process of severe taxation. And while forced to bear burdens heavy and grievous, the nation saw the tide of commercial profits, instead of being fairly distributed among the people, flowing only into the royal exchequer. Secondly, these commercial alliances seriously affected the nation’s allegiance to Jehovah. In imitation of other Oriental empires Solomon surrounded himself with a numerous harem, having 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 K. xi. 1–3). Besides the daughter of Pharaoh, he espoused women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, and, as he grew old, they turned away his heart from the worship of the true God. Three times, indeed, during the year he celebrated the Festivals of Jehovah (1 K. ix. 25), but the licentious worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, of Moloch and Chemosh, found its way even into the Holy City, and their hideous orgies were enacted “hard by the oracles of God” (1 K. xi. 5–8).

At first, perhaps, there may have been few signs of weakness in a fabric so vast and so magnificent. In the figurative language of the sacred record, _silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar-trees as sycamores; Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry_; in the enjoyment of profound peace, _every man dwelt safely under his vine and under his fig-tree_. Princes administered the government of various portions of the empire (1 K. iv. 1–6); officers deputed for the purpose provided victual for the royal table, and barley and straw for Solomon’s 40,000 chariot-horses, his 12,000 war-horses (1 K. iv. 26), and his swift mules; kings and princes of subject-provinces brought in their tribute at a fixed rate year by year (1 K. x. 25); and when the queen of Sheba came with her great train from distant Yemen in Arabia to prove the king with hard questions, and beheld his palace, _and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers_, and the ascent from his own palace to the Temple[336], there was no spirit left in her, and she confessed that the half of his fame and magnificence had not been told her (1 K. x. 1–9).

Before long, however, clouds began to gather portending the coming storm. Once at Gibeon, on the occasion of his accession, again after the dedication of the Temple (1 K. iii. 5; ix. 2), the Lord had appeared to Solomon, and on condition that he continued to walk in the ways of his father, had promised to crown him with prosperity, and establish his dynasty, but at the same time had warned him that any apostasy would bring down severe punishment. But promise and warning had been alike forgotten, and when the Lord appeared for the third time, it was to announce that the kingdom should be rent from him (1 K. xi. 9–13).