Ephraim; under his feet, on each side of the steps, were His banquets were of the most superb kind. All his plate and drinking vessels were of gold; none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.' His household daily consumed thirty oxen, a hundred sheep, besides game of all kinds--harts, roebucks, fallow deer, and 'fatted fowl,' probably for his own special table, from the Assyrian desert. There was a constant succession of guests." One class of them are expressly mentioned-Chimham and his brothers.6 The train of his servants was such as had never been seen before. There were some who sate in his presence, others who always stood, others who were his cupbearers, others musicians.8 His stables were on the most splendid scale. Up to this time, except in the extravagant ambition of Absalom and Adonijah, chariots and horses had been all but unknown in Palestine. In the earlier times, the ass had been the only animal used, even for princes. In David's time, the King and the Princes of the royal family rode on mules. But Solomon's intercourse with Egypt at once introduced horses into the domestic establishment, cavalry into the army. For the first time, the streets of Jerusalem heard the constant rattle of chariot wheels. Four thousand stalls were attached to the royal palace-three horses for each chariot, and dromedaries for the attendants. The quantity of oats and of straw was so great that special officers were appointed to collect it.1 There was one chariot of extraordinary 2 beauty, called the chariot of Pharaoh, in which the horses with their trappings were so graceful as to be compared to a bride, in her most magnificent ornaments. 4 6 dens. In the true style of an Asiatic sovereign, he established The garwhat his successors on the northern throne of Israel afterwards kept up at Samaria and Jezreel, but what he alone attempted in the wild hills of Judæa-gardens and ́parks (paradises), and trees of all kinds of fruit, and reservoirs of water to water the trees.' 3 One of these was probably in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, the spot afterwards known as the king's garden,' at the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and the Kedron. Another was south of Bethlehem, probably that called by 5 Josephus Etham,' a spot still marked by three gigantic reservoirs, which bear the name of the Pools of Solomon. A long covered aqueduct, built by him, and restored by Pilate, still runs along the hill side, and conveys water to the thirsty capital. The adjoining valley (the Wady Urtâs) winds like a river, marked by its unusual verdure, amongst the rocky knolls of Judæa. The huge square mountain which rises near it is probably the old Beth-hac-cerem (House of 'the Vine'), so called from the vineyards which Solomon planted, as its modern Arabic name Fureidis, the little 'Paradise,' must be derived from the Paradise' (the very word used in the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Canticles) of the neighbouring park. Thither, at early dawn, according to the Jewish tradition, he would drive out from Jerusalem in one of his numerous chariots, drawn by horses of unparalleled swiftness and beauty, himself clothed in white, 1 1 Kings iv. 28. 2 Cant. i. 9. Eccles. ii. 5. 42 Kings xxv. 4; Neh. iii. 15. followed by a train of mounted archers, all splendid youths, of magnificent stature, dressed in purple, their long black hair flowing behind them, powdered with gold dust, which glittered in the sun, as they galloped along after their master.1 A third resort was far away in the north. On the heights of Hermon, beyond the limits of Palestine, looking over the plain of Damascus, in the vale of Baalbec, in the vineyards of Baal-hamon, were cool retreats from the summer heat. Thither, with pavilions of which the splendour contrasted with the black tents of the neighbouring Arabs, Solomon retired.2 6 From Solomon's possessions on the northern heights, 'from Lebanon, the smell of Lebanon, the streams of Lebanon, the tower of Lebanon looking towards Damascus ;'3 from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Her'mon, from the lions' dens, from the leopards' dens,' on those wild rocks; from the fragrance of those mountains of myrrh, 'those hills of frankincense; the roes and young harts on the mountains of spices,' the spectator looks out over the desert plain; a magnificent cavalcade approaches amidst the clouds of incense; then, as now, burnt to greet the approach of a mighty prince.5 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? 'Behold his litter it is Solomon's. ... King Solomon hath 'made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon. made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of 'gold, the covering of it of purple; the centre of it is wrought with beautiful work by the daughters of Jeru 6 : 1 Josephus, Ant. viii. 7, §3. He 5 See Ginsburg on Cant. iii. 6. A like incident occurred on the entrance of the Prince of Wales into Beyrut, salem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold 'King Solomon.'' In the midst of this gorgeous array was the Sovereign The King himself. The King is fair, with superhuman beauty-his sword is on his thigh -he rides in his chariot, or on his warhorse; his archers are behind him, his guards are round him; his throne is like the throne of God; his sceptre is in his hand. He wears the crown, which, as still in Eastern marriages, his mother placed upon his head in the day of his espousals; he is radiant as if with the oil and essence of gladness; his robes are so scented with the perfumes of India or Arabia that they seem to be nothing but a mass of 3 myrrh, aloes and cassia; out of his palaces comes a burst of joyous music, of men-singers and 5 women-singers, the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments of all sorts. 6 4 The Queen, probably from Egypt, the chief of all his and Queen. vast establishment of wives and concubines, themselves the daughters of kings, was by his side, glittering in the gold of Ophir; one blaze of glory, as she sate by him in the interior of the palace; the gifts of the princely state of Tyre are waiting to welcome her-her attendants gorgeously arrayed are behind her; she has left her father and her father's house; her reward is to be in the greatness of her descendants. Such is the splendour of Solomon's court, which, even down to the outward texture of their royal robes, lived in the traditions of Israel. When Christ bade His disciples look on the bright scarlet and gold of the spring flowers of Palestine, which toil not, neither do they spin,' He carried back 1 Cant. iii. 6-11. 2 Ps. xlv. 3. Like those of his at tendants, Cant. iii. 8. Ibid. 9 (Perowne). Ps. xlv. 13 (Perowne). Ps. xlv. 8 (Perowne). their thoughts to the great King, Solomon,' who, in all his 'glory was not arrayed like one of these.' He had no mightier comparison to use; He Himself-we may be allowed to say so, for we feel it as we read His words-was moved by the recollection to the same thrill of emotion which the glory of Solomon still awakens in us. 1 Matt. vi. 29. |