The Expositor's Bible: The First Book of Kings

697

Comp. Rom. xii. 5. Kissing images was a sign of idolatry then as it is now. The foot of the statue of St. Peter in Rome is worn away with kisses. Hosea xiii. 2 tells us of the custom of kissing the calves. Comp. Psalm ii. 12. Cicero tells us that the lovely brazen statue of Hercules at Agrigentum had the mouth and chin partly worn away by the kisses of the devout (in Verr., iv. 43).

698

Herder, who was a devout poet, and therefore a true imaginative interpreter of devout poetry, says: "The vision was to show the fiery zeal of the Prophet that would amend everything by the storm, the mild process of God, and proclaim His longsuffering tender nature as previously the voice did to Moses: hence the scene was so beautifully changed." Long before him the wise Theodoret had said: Διὰ δὲ τούτων ἔδειξεν ὅτι μακροθυμία καὶ φιλανθρωπία μόνη φίλη Θεῷ. Irenæus, still earlier (c. Hær., iv. 27), saw in the vision an emblem of the difference between the law and the gospel; and Grotius, following him, says, "Evangelii figuratio, quod non venit cum vento, terræ motu, et fulminibus ut lex," Exod. xix. 16 (see Keil, ad loc., whose illustrations are often valuable when his exegesis is false and obsolete).

699

Psalm xviii. 7-9; comp. 2 Sam. xxii. 8-11.

700

Isa. xiii. 13.

701

Isa. xxix. 6; comp. Ecclus. xxxix. 28.

702

W. S. Landor.

703

1 Kings iv. 12. It was in the north part of the Jordan valley.

704

1 Kings xix. 19.

705

The Hebrew can hardly bear the meaning that he was finishing the twelfth furrow in his field, ploughed by his single yoke of oxen.

706

For these particulars, and the following translations, see Dr. Ginsburg in Records of the Past, xi. 163; and Dr. Neubauer, id., New Series, ii. 194; The Moabite Stone, Second Edition (Reeves & Turner), 1871; Dr. Schlottmann, Die Sieggessaüle Mesas, 1870; Nöldeke, Die Inschrift der König Mesa, 1870; Stade, i. 534; Kittel, ii. 198, etc.

707

Chemosh-Gad perhaps came to the throne in the fourth year of Omri, about b. c. 926, and reigned till the close of Ahaziah's reign (b. c. 896).

708

Comp. 1 Sam. vii. 12.

709

For it is indirectly mentioned that "his father" had taken cities from Omri.

710

LXX., Exod. iii. 16.

711

Comp. Josh. ix. 18; Judg. xi. 11.

712

1 Kings xx. 10. Elohim here, doubtless, means the false gods of Benhadad. Vat. LXX., ὁ θεός; but Chaldee, "the terrors."

713

"Fanfaronnade, qui veut dire; je réduirai cette bicoque en poussière; j'ai avee moi plus de monde qu'il ne faudra pour l'emporter tout entière" (Reuss). Comp. Herod., viii. 226, where Dieneces answers the braggart vaunt of the Medes.

714

Reuss renders it, "Ceignant n'est pas encore gaignant." The proverb resembles in different aspects the precept of Solon, τέρμα ὁρᾶν βιότοιο, and "Praise a fair day at night"; and the Italian, "Capo ha cosa fatta"; and the Latin, "Ne triumphum canas ante victoriam"; and the French, "Il ne faut pas vendre le peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué."

715

A.V., "pavilions"; but the word (sukkoth) implies that they were temporary booths rather than tents. They resembled the birchwood pavilions made for the Turkish pachas in campaigns (Keil).

716

A.V., "Set yourselves in array." LXX., οἰκοδομήσατε χάρακα; Vulg., circumdate civitatem.

717

Now in the British Museum.

718

1 Kings xx. 14 (נַעָרִים).

719

Jarchi —more Rabbinico– says that these were the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

720

1 Kings xx. 20, LXX., καὶ ἐδευτέρωσεν ἒκαστος τὸν παῤ αὐτοῦ.

721

Or, "pell-mell." The Hebrew in 1 Kings xx. 20 is, עַל־סוּס וּפָרָשִׁים, "on a horse with (some) horsemen." Klostermann would supply הוּא. Jonathan takes וּפָרָשִׁים as a dual – "and two riders with him"; LXX., ἐφ' ἵππων ἱππέων; Vulg., in equo cum equitibus suis; Luther, "sammt Rossen und Reitern."

722

See 2 Sam. xi. 1. The custom of all countries in the ancient world was to devote the summer months only to campaigns. There were few or no standing armies, and the citizen-conscripts had to look after their farms, or the nation would have starved. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians introduced a gradual revolution in these respects.

723

1 Kings xx. 24. LXX., σατράπας.

724

R.V., "and were victualled," not, as in A.V., "and were all present." Alex. LXX., διοικήθησαν; Vulg., acceptis cibariis.

725

Why two? No explanation is given. It has been conjectured that Judah had sent a separate contingent to help them in their distress.

726

Some have supposed that an earthquake occurred, and Canon Rawlinson mentions (Speaker's Commentary) that the earthquake of Lisbon is said to have destroyed sixty thousand persons in five minutes.

727

חֶדֶר בְּחֶדֶר. Comp. for similar phrases, (Heb.) Lev. xxv. 53; Deut. xv. 20; 1 Kings xxii. 25; 2 Chron. xxviii. 26. Klostermann, with one of his amazing conjectures, reads "by the spring Harod in Harod"! LXX., εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κοιτῶνος, εἰς τὸ ταμεῖον; Vulg., in cubiculum quod erat intra cubiculum. Josephus makes it a cellar (εἰς ὑπόγαιον οἶκον ἐκρύβη), "like the modern serdaubs in which the inhabitants of many Eastern cities live in the summer" (Rawlinson).

728

The accidental sigh of the engineer was sufficient to prevent the colossal Egyptian statue of a Pharaoh from being moved to its destination. Even Rome shared the immemorial superstition.

729

Suet., Claud.

730

xx. 33, יֲנִחֲשׁוּ, from נַחַשׁ, "an augury"; LXX., ἀνελέξαντο τὸν λόγον (οἰωνίσαντο); Vulg., quod acceperunt viri pro omine.

731

Layard, Nineveh, 317-19.

732

The compact is vainly dignified with the name of a בְרִית, or "covenant."

733

חֻצֹות. Compare the Lombard Streets, and the Jewries in London and Paris.

734

Clericus says, rightly: "Factum Ahabi, quamvis clementiæ speciem præ se ferret, non erat veræ clementiæ, quæ non est erga latrones exercenda; qui si dimittantur multo magis nocebunt."

735

The object and necessity of this for his purpose is by no means apparent. Perhaps it was to figure the wound which Ahab had by his conduct wilfully inflicted on himself or on Israel.

736

Verse 38. This, and not "with ashes upon his face," is the meaning of the Hebrew אֲפֵר. LXX., τελαμών, "a headband"; Vulg., aspersione pulveris; and so, too, Peshito, Aquila, and Symmachus.

737

1 Kings xx. 39. שַׂר in the sense of סַר, according to Ewald's reading.

738

About £350. Evidently, therefore, the captive is supposed to be a very important person.

739

אִישׁ חֵרְמִי.

740

סַר וְזָעֵף; Vulg., indignans, et frendens, a phrase only used of Ahab (xxi. 4-5). Josephus (Antt., XIII. xv. 5) says that Ahab imprisoned and punished the prophet, whom, with the Rabbis, he identifies with Micaiah.

741

Zech. xiii. 4.

742

On this defection and imposture of prophets, see Jer. xxiii. 21-40. Isa. xxx. 9, 10; Ezek. xiii. 7-9; Micah ii. 11; Deut. xviii. 20.

743

Jer. xxii. 17.

744

De Gubernat. Dei., viii.; Ambrose, Ep., xli.; Cassian, De Instit. Monastic. passim. See chap. xvi. of my Lives of the Fathers (St. Jerome), and Zöckler, Gesch. der Askese, for many authorities.

745

See my Lives of the Fathers, vol. i. (St. Martin of Tours).

746

See Jer. xxiii. 20-40.

747

The Alex. LXX. throughout calls Naboth "an Israelite," not "a Jezreelite."

748

Both the Hebrew text of 1 Kings xxi. 1 and Josephus (Antt., XIII. xv. 6) locate the vineyard of Naboth at Jezreel. The LXX., however, place it apparently near the threshing-floor of Ahab in Samaria (παρὰ τῇ ἅλῳ Ἀχαὰβ βασίλεως Σαμαρείας), which is the same as the "void place" of 1 Kings xxii. 10. At both cities Ahab's palace was on the city wall, and on either supposition Naboth's vineyard was close by the palace.

749

Lev. xxv. 23, "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is Mine." Numb. xxxvi. 7; Ezek. xlvi. 18.

750

2 Sam. xxiv. 24; 1 Kings xvi. 24.

751

The word rendered "sad" is rendered "mutinous" by Thenius.

752

LXX., 1 Kings xxi. 7, Σὺ νῦν οὓτως ποιεῖς βασιλέα ἐπὶ Ισραήλ·

753

The signet was carved with the king's name. Rawlinson aptly compares Lady Macbeth's "Infirm of purpose give me the daggers!"

754

Josephus calls it an ἐκκλησία. "Set Naboth on high" (Heb.) "at the head of the people"; LXX., ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λαοῦ; Vulg., inter primos populi.

755

The charge was that "he cursed God and the king." LXX. (by euphemism), εὐλόγησε; Vulg., Benedixit. The Hebrew word has both meanings (comp. Exod. xxii. 28, where some would render Elohim not "God," but "the judges." See marg. of R.V.). Stoning was the punishment of blasphemy (Lev. xxiv. 16), and took place outside the city (Acts vii. 58).

756

2 Kings ix. 26.

757

2 Sam. xvi. 4.

758

In 1 Kings xxi. 16 the LXX. curiously says, that "when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead he rent his garments, and clothed himself in sackcloth; and after this he also arose," etc. This mourning for the means but acceptance of the fact would not be in disaccord with Ahab's moral weakness.

759

2 Kings ix. 25, 36.

760

LXX.

761

2 Kings ix. 36. LXX., ἐν τῷ προτειχίσματι. The חֵל of an Eastern city is the desert space outside the walls where the "pariah dogs prowl on the mounds."

762

אַט, LXX., κλαίων; Josephus, Chaldee, and Peshito, "shoeless."

763

1 Kings xxi. 27. καὶ περιεβάλετο σάκκον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπάταξε Ναβουθαί.

764

Psalm cix. 17, 18.

765

2 Chron. xviii. 2.

766

2 Kings iii. 7.

767

1 Kings xxii. 10 (Peshito).

768

The LXX. has, "The Lord shall deliver into thy hands even the king of Syria." At first they all said, "Adonai shall deliver it"; but afterwards, perhaps stung by the doubts of Jehoshaphat, or encouraged by the audacity of Zedekiah, they said, "Jehovah shall deliver it."

769

Deut. xxxiii. 17. "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people altogether to the ends of the earth."

770

The LXX., omitting "besides," implies Jehoshaphat's opinion that these were not true prophets of Jehovah. So, too, the Vulg., "Non est hic propheta Domini quispiam?"

771

Compare Agamemnon's bitter complaint of Calchas.

772

1 Kings xxii. 9. LXX., εὐνοῦχον ἔνα. And this is probably the meaning of סָרִיס, not "officer," as in A.V.

773

For he had seventy sons, besides daughters (2 Kings x. 7)

774

The words implied that the king would fall, though the army would escape (1 Kings xxii. 17, בְּשָׁלוֹם). Comp. Numb. xxvii. 16, 17 "Let the Lord … set a man over the congregation, … who may lead them out and in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd."

775

Theodoret explains it as anthropomorphism, and condescension to human modes of speech (προσωποποιΐα τίς ἐστι διδάσκουσα τὴν θείαν συγχώρησιν).

776

1 Kings xxii. 21. It is "the," not "a" spirit, i. e., the unclean spirit of deception (τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης, 1 John iv. 6). Comp. Zech. xiii. 2, "Also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land." St. Paul says in 2 Thess. ii. 11: "God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie."

777

The worst of insults (Job xvi. 10; Lam. iii. 30).

778

The words (verse 28) "And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you," are believed by Nöldeke, Klostermann, and others to be an interpolation from Micah i. 2, by some one who confused Micaiah with Micah. They are omitted in the LXX.

779

We have no reason to accuse Ahab of any bad or selfish motives here. No doubt Micaiah's prophecy of his approaching death had made him anxious. If the LXX. reading, "but put thou on my robes," were right, the case would be different.

780

We see in this order a trace of the single combats which mark the Homeric battles.

781

2 Chron. xviii. 31: "And the Lord helped him, and God moved them from him."

782

So Jarchi. Josephus calls him Aman.

783

1 Kings xxii. 34. "At a venture"; marg., "in his simplicity"; comp. 2 Sam. xv. 11.

784

What the French call le défaut de la cuirasse (Keil). Luther has, zwischen den Panzer und Hengel.

785

Josephus, Antt., VIII. xv. 6.

786

Köster thinks that there may be reference to the fact that the name "dog" was given to the unchaste.

787

Amos iii. 15; Psalm xlv. 8; Hom., Od., iv. 72.

788

It is supposed that Mohammed alludes to Elijah in the Qur'an, Sura xxi. 85: "And Ishmael, and Idris, and Dhu'l Kifl ("he of the portion") – all these were of the patient; and we made them enter into our mercy; verily they were among the righteous" (Palmer's Qur'an, ii. 53).

789

See W. Robertson Smith, Journ. of Philology, x. 20.

790

See Reuss, Hist. d'Israel, i. 101-103.