I Kings - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 358

11-1 THE MONARCHICAL PERIOD.—·—I. KINGS. 11-19

11

Chiefs of the Hitites, and from thc Chiefs of Aram, who brought them to hand. (mc. moo to 970.) Salomon} 3au1is mth Sins. King Solomon, however, loved

many foreign women, beside the daughter of Pha.roh;-—- Moabites, Amouites, Aramites, Zidonians, Hitites,—-of those nations whom the Evmz-1.1vmo said to the children of You shall not marry with them, and they shall not marry with you, for they will tum your hearts Solomon descended to love them, and had seven hundred princess wives, and three hundred plebeian wives, and when Solomon bemme old his wives turned his heart after strange gods, and his heart was not at peace with his Evan-Lrvmc Gon like the heart of his father David} Solomon consequently went after Ashteroth, the goddessof the Zidonians; and after the abominable Milkom, of the Amonites. Thus Solomon did wrong in the sight ofthe

(probably it was much more), which would giike a chariot and pairt of horses cost 0 omon 2- Chariot ... {337 ro 0 TWO HOYSBS ••• I6 O {514 6 0 ——F. F.

4 It must not be supposed that all the women

of Solomon in our·English sense. The actual Hebrew is »that is, they were the attendants and female 0$cials of the Royal Household, such as we call Maids of Honour, Ladies of the Bedchamber, Housemaids, &c., &c. The Princesses would: be Resident Representa- tives, or Hostages, of the numerous Tribes and subsidiary Kings and Chiefs who were under the control and suzerainty of the Hebrew, Empire,. residing at the Court as agents or yledges for the good behaviour of their relat ves. The absurd ideas of the Monastic Commentators repeated by our modernones, that all these women about the Palaces of Solomon were physically his --a meaning the Hebrew word does not bearehas led to the wildest foliies and libelsgfon this great Monarch, Statesman, tand P osopher. It is time those follles were swept away. Luther pointed out nearly four hundred years ago the same facts as I now do, but human folly and a wicked desire to vilify a Biblical Statesman and Teacher has iucited our Commentators, and especially our pretended Critics, to repeat the libels of theirgpmqnkish predecessors, ln Evan-uvmciand did not walk after the Evan-Livmc like David his father. Solomon also built towers to the

abominable Kemosh of Moab, on the hill opposite to jerusalem, and to abominable Molek, of the Amonites, and did the same for all his foreign wives, with censers and altars for their gods. Therefore the EVER- LNING was displeased with Solomon, for his heart declined from the EVER· LIVING GOD of Israel Who had appeared to him often, and had instructed him upon this matter, never to follow after other gods ;»-but he regarded not what the EVER- LIVING had commanded him. The EVER-L1v1NG consequently

Say, what has been done to you, that you have not regarded My Covenant, and My Institutions, as I commanded you ?· 3 I will tear away the kingship from you, and give it to your servant! How- ever, I will not do this in your days, because of David your father. I will tear it from the hand of your son Yet I will not tear the whole king— ship. I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David My servant, and for the sake of jerusalem which I havechosen. 10 II IZ (About 12.0.984.) Qauhiiii appear in ®hnnt. The EvER·L1v1NG, however, raised

up an enemy to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, who was of the Royal race of Edom, and when David invaded Edom at Aloth, ]'oab, the commander of the army, buried the slain, and executed all the males of the king of Edom, for }’oab occupied six months there with the force of Israel until they destroyed all the male lifeof (the king! of) Edom. But Hadad escaped, withpsome Edomite nobles, omcers of his father, and went to the Mitzeraim. But Hadad was a little childs And they went up from Midian, and came to Paran, and collected men to them- selves from Paran, and went to Mitzer, to Pharoh, kingof the Mitzeraim,who gave him a house and maintenance, The land is open Hadad also found great 16 18

) ls to be under-

stogd,_the name of the country representing

spite of the great Reformefs commomsense { in Hebrew and Old English the Monarch refutation of tl1em.—F. F. See Shakespeare.-F. F; 358