Commentaria in III Regum
Chapter 9
God appears to Solomon, and promises him an eternal throne if he walks in his law; but if not, threatens him with the destruction of the kingdom and the temple. Then, verse 10, Solomon gives Hiram king of Tyre 20 cities; thence, verse 17, he builds and fortifies various cities, and makes all the remaining Chanaanites tributary to himself. Finally, verse 26, he sends a fleet to Ophir, which brings him 420 talents.
1. And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the building of the king, and all that he desired and was pleased to do, 2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon. 3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there always. 4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in simplicity of heart and in uprightness, and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my laws and my judgments, 5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David thy father, saying: There shall not be taken away from thy stock a man upon the throne of Israel. 6. But if you and your children, turning away, shall turn aside from following me, and will not keep my commandments and my ceremonies which I have set before you, but will go and serve strange gods, and adore them: 7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them: and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from my sight: and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people. 8. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? 9. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and adored, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil. 10. And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built the two houses, that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, 11. (Hiram the king of Tyre furnishing Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of,) then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12. And Hiram came out of Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not. 13. And he said: Are these the cities, brother, which thou hast given me? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day. 14. And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold. 15. This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer. 16. Pharao the king of Egypt came up and took Gazer, and burnt it with fire: and he slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a portion to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17. So Solomon built Gazer, and the nether Bethoron, 18. And Baalath, and Palmira in the land of the wilderness. 19. And all the towns that belonged to him, and were not walled, he fortified, and the cities of chariots, and the cities of horsemen, and whatsoever he pleased to build in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion. 20. All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites, and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, who are not of the children of Israel: 21. Their children, who were left in the land, and whom the children of Israel also could not destroy, Solomon made tributaries unto this day. 22. But of the children of Israel Solomon made no bondmen, but they were men of war, and his servants, and princes, and captains, and chief commanders of chariots and horsemen. 23. And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all the works of Solomon, who had the people under them, and ordered the works appointed. 24. And the daughter of Pharao went up from the city of David into her house, which Solomon had built for her: then built he Mello. 25. And Solomon offered three times a year holocausts and peace offerings upon the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was finished. 26. And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27. And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
2. THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM THE SECOND TIME, AS HE HAD APPEARED TO HIM (the first time) IN GABAON,—namely he appeared to him “by night,” as is said in 2 Paralipomenon 7:12, in a dream: for so he had appeared to him in Gabaon, chapter 3, verse 4.
3. I HAVE SANCTIFIED THIS HOUSE,—that is, “I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice,” as is explained in 2 Paralipomenon 7:12.
TO PUT MY NAME THERE FOR EVER,—namely, as long as the temple shall be and shall stand, it shall be called the house of the Lord, and there I shall show myself and my presence, grace and glory.
AND MY EYES AND MY HEART SHALL BE THERE ALWAYS,—as if to say: I shall cast my eyes on my house, and it shall be dear to me, to my heart and care.
4. AND IF THOU WILT WALK BEFORE ME, AS DAVID THY FATHER WALKED, IN SIMPLICITY (in Hebrew, rectitude; Septuagint, in holiness) OF HEART, AND IN UPRIGHTNESS.—In Hebrew beyosher, that is, in rectitude: that is, if with an entire, true, holy and perfect heart thou shalt serve me, so as to give me the whole heart, nor divide it, so as to give one part to me and another to idols and desires. For God demands our whole heart and our whole love, according to that: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength,” Deuteronomy 6:5. See what is said there. Whence, explaining, he adds:
AND WILT DO ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED THEE, AND WILT KEEP MY LAWS (statutes) AND MY JUDGMENTS (the rights and judicial laws given by me).
7. I WILL TAKE AWAY ISRAEL FROM THE FACE OF THE LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN THEM: AND THE TEMPLE WHICH I HAVE SANCTIFIED (dedicated) TO MY NAME, I WILL CAST AWAY—as we now see, on account of the killing of Christ, the Jews wandering and vagrant over the whole world, and their temple destroyed. So also God has often punished, and still punishes, Christians slipping into heresy and other crimes, by the destruction of nation and kingdom, and permits temples and monasteries to be burnt and overthrown.
10. AND WHEN TWENTY YEARS WERE ENDED (from the beginning of the building of the temple, that is, in the 24th year of Solomon’s reign) AFTER SOLOMON HAD BUILT THE TWO HOUSES, THAT IS, THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND THE HOUSE OF THE KING, etc.
11. THEN SOLOMON GAVE HIRAM TWENTY CITIES IN THE LAND OF GALILEE.—You will ask whether Solomon lawfully alienated these cities from Israel, and gave them to Hiram, a Gentile king of Tyre? I answer that he could not lawfully alienate them for ever, so as to make them a land of the Phoenicians, because he would have done an injury to the Israelites, against the law of God, who had assigned and given them to them. Again, Hiram would have drawn these Galileans to his idols and heathenism. Wherefore he did not give Hiram absolute and full dominion over them, but only the usufruct, that is, that Hiram should receive from them the revenues and rights which Solomon was wont to receive, until he should make up for the expenses he had incurred for Solomon; or at least until the life of the king of Israel. So Abulensis, Serarius, Salianus and others.
13. AND HE CALLED THEM THE LAND OF CHABUL.—“Chabul” in the Phoenician language, says Josephus, book 8, chapter 5, signifies not pleasing, or displeasing. So Abulensis, Cajetan and others; but in the language of the Hebrews chebel signifies fetters, whence chabul signifies a clinging and muddy land, which holds back those who walk, and as it were puts fetters on them, so that they can hardly advance. So R. David, Vatablus and Pagninus. Chabul could also by metathesis be derived from keleb, that is, a dog, as if to say: a dog-land, vile and foul like a dog; whence Josephus says that Hiram would not accept these cities, and so they remained to Israel.
15. THIS IS THE SUM OF THE EXPENSES WHICH KING SOLOMON OFFERED TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND HIS OWN HOUSE, AND MELLO, AND THE WALL OF JERUSALEM, AND HEZER, etc.—as if to say: This is the cause or matter of the many expenses and outlays which Solomon made; namely the building of the temple, of his house, of Mello, etc. For in these buildings he made very great expenses, and exhausted his most opulent treasury. For the Hebrew is, this is the word of the tribute, that is, this is the reason and cause of so great a tribute, which Solomon laid upon the people (on account of which the people murmured, and revolted from Roboam to Jeroboam), namely that from it the temple and so many cities might be built. For building exhausts even royal and very great wealth. So Vatablus, Serarius, Sanchez and others.
It could be translated secondly, with the Septuagint, this is the sum of the distribution, namely that into which Solomon distributed and expended his wealth and such great tributes, so that the sum of the expenses is the sum of the things on which the expenses were made, namely the building of the temple and of so many cities. For otherwise properly no sum of Solomon’s tributes or wealth is set out here.
16. AND GAVE IT FOR A PORTION TO HIS DAUGHTER, SOLOMON’S WIFE.—Already before, when she married Solomon, he had given her a dowry. “For a portion,” therefore, that is, as an addition to the dowry. Whence the Hebrews have, he gave it to her shilluchim; the Septuagint apostole, that is, things sent, namely gifts; that is, he gave it to her as a gift, as the Chaldee translates.
Thamor, that is, Palm. This city seems, then, to have been called Palmira from the abundance of palms, and the palm groves abounding there, says St. Jerome on Ezechiel chapters 47 and 48. It was situated beyond the Jordan on the borders of Israel and belonged to the half-tribe of Manasses, 27 miles from Damascus. Solomon therefore built it there as at the extreme limit of his empire, and girded it with very strong walls: afterwards, restored by the Emperor Hadrian, it was called Hadrianopolis. From this famous city the whole neighbouring region and wilderness was called Palmirena. See Adrichomius, page 92, number 73.
21. SOLOMON MADE TRIBUTARIES,—namely the Chanaanites, all that were left in Judea, whom the Hebrews could not exterminate. You will ask whether Solomon sinned here, for God had commanded all the Chanaanites to be killed. Abulensis answers that he did not sin, because neither had David his father killed them: whence either God dispensed in his law, or rather the law then did not bind, because then all danger ceased which was feared for Israel from the Chanaanites, namely lest they should entice the Hebrews to their idols: for they were now wholly put down by David and Solomon, so that they did not dare to do this and lift up their heads. Again, Solomon might fear that, if he himself killed all the Chanaanites, the Philistines and other nations would in revenge likewise slay all the Jews dwelling among them, nay would themselves make war. Add that the law commanding the Chanaanites to be killed chiefly concerned the Chanaanites who lived in the time of Josue and afterwards, when the land was to be conquered and possessed, as is indicated in this verse. So Cajetan and others.
26. AND KING SOLOMON MADE A FLEET.—Pineda thinks that Solomon fitted out this fleet at the beginning of his reign, to collect gold for the building of the temple. But David had already abundantly provided this before: whence Salianus opines that he prepared this fleet after the building of the temple, in the 24th year of his reign, and he gathers this from verse 10, which understand of the later and greater fleets. For that before the temple, on account of the immense expense of it, as well as of the palaces and cities to be built, he fitted out this fleet to procure gold, is clear from chapter 10, verse 12, where it is said that Solomon made of the thyine wood brought from Ophir the supports of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house.
27. THAT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE SEA.—For the Tyrians and Phoenicians, being dwellers by the sea, were famous in all ages among all nations in the art of seamanship and all navigation.
28. AND THEY CAME TO OPHIR, AND FETCHED FROM THENCE GOLD, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TALENTS, AND BROUGHT IT TO KING SOLOMON.—You will ask, what and where is Ophir? Some think it was Angola, in which are Ethiopians, who were brought to Solomon as slaves, as even today they are brought thence into Spain. Others think it was Malacca, others Sofala, others with Eugubinus inner Persia, others Africa. Two opinions are more probable. The first, that Ophir is the kingdom of Peru in the West Indies, both because there is very much gold there, and most praised, which is brought thence nearly every year to Spain, and because Ophir by transposition of letters is Peru; and because the gold of Ophir is called gold Parvaim, that is, of the two Perus, namely the lesser and the greater, 2 Paralipomenon 3:6. So Vatablus, Arias and others, who think that the new world was opened and known by Solomon.
The second and more common opinion is that Ophir was in the East Indies, and so embraced several gold-bearing regions of it, such as the Golden Chersonese, so called from the abundance of gold, Sumatra and Taprobana, Pegu, Ceylon and other gold-bearing regions of the East Indies. So Sanchez, Serarius, Salianus, Gaspar Varerius, book On Ophir, Joseph Acosta, book 1 On the Nature of the New World, chapters 13 and 14. Favouring it are Josephus, Hesychius, Theodoret, Procopius and St. Jerome, epistle 140 to Principia, who asserts that Ophir was named from Ophir son of Heber. It is proved first, because this fleet set out from the port of Asiongaber situated on the Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf: from this the voyage is easy, direct and near, by the Comorin promontory, to Sumatra and Taprobana, as lying directly opposite it, as is plain from cosmographical maps; but the voyage from the Red Sea to Peru would have been very long, and plainly dangerous and winding, for it would have been necessary either to go round by the East the whole of the East Indies, Malacca, the Japanese and the Chinese, and there turn the course back toward America; or at least by the West to sail round the Cape of Good Hope and the whole of Africa and the vast Ocean; thence by Brazil, the Patagonians, Chile and the Strait of Magellan to head for Peru: but the voyage to Peru would have been far easier and nearer from Joppe and Tyre, that is, from the Mediterranean Sea, as it is today from Seville in Spain.
Secondly, because the use of the magnet was then unknown: wherefore sailors measured their courses by the pole and the polar stars: whence they hugged the neighbouring shores, and did not dare to pass Gades (where Hercules set up his pillars, as the limit of navigation which no one should dare to pass), much less the equinoctial line. Hence Gades was held to be the extreme limit of the earth, even by the Tyrians themselves, as Strabo testifies, book 3, Diodorus, book 5, and Paterculus, book 1. Whence the old proverb: “To Gades.” In Peter Apian, book 1 Antiquities, this monument at Gades is extant: “I, Heliodorus the mad, a Carthaginian, ordered myself to be buried by testament in a sarcophagus at the end of the world, to see whether anyone madder than I would ever penetrate to these places to visit me.”
Thirdly, if the West Indies, and the voyage to them, had been discovered and made common by Solomon, its memory and continuance would certainly have remained: for the desire of gold would have stirred all to it. But now no memory of it exists, nay, before Americus Vespucius (whence it was called America) that land was held by all as new and unknown. Add that from the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea, there was then frequent voyaging of the Tyrians and others to the East Indies, as Pineda shows from ancient authors.
Fourthly, because Sumatra, Taprobana and neighbouring places abound in excellent gold, gems, thyine woods, ivory and other precious things, which are said to be in Ophir and Tharsis, chapter 10, verses 11 and 22, whereas Peru lacks thyine woods, apes, peacocks, ivory and elephants, according to Joseph Acosta in the place cited, who lived in Peru for 15 years. Add that Maffei, book 16 History of the Indies, writes that the Peguans, from the tradition of their ancestors, trace their stock to Jewish exiles condemned by Solomon to the gold mines of Ophir, and sent to dig gold in Peru and neighbouring places. Moreover, from Ophir excellent gold is called Ophirisian, and thence obrizum, says St. Jerome in the place cited.
Fifthly, Ophir was named from Ophir son of Jectan, grandson of Heber. Moreover the brother of Ophir was called Hevila, and both inhabited the regions of the East Indies and the eastern quarter by the river Ganges, which, called by their names, were most productive of gold and gems.
Hence the answer to the arguments of the former opinion is plain. Add that Ophir by its name rather points to Africa. For in Ophir the first letter is Aleph, which is in Africa. Whence the Septuagint and Josephus for “Ophir” translate Sophir or Sofira, which some think is Sofala, a region of Africa, by which those coming from the Red Sea sail to Sumatra and the rest of the East Indies. Of the gold of Parvaim I shall speak on 2 Paralipomenon 3:6. Finally, the name Peru was unknown, nay is even now unknown to the Peruvians: for the Spaniards lately gave it to that region from a certain river situated there, called Peru, according to Acosta and others.
Finally, why should Solomon, the wisest king, have sent for gold from so remote a place, where the voyage was most dangerous? But if anyone, however, will altogether have Ophir to be Peru, let him say that part of this fleet sailed to Peru, another to Sumatra and the East Indies, as now, by the division of Pope Alexander VI, the Portuguese sail to the East Indies, the Spaniards, their neighbours, to the West. More on Ophir see in Pineda, book 4 On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 16.
GOLD OF FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TALENTS,—2 Paralipomenon 8:18 supplies, in its manner, and counts 450 talents. Mystically, Solomon by this voyage represented, nay opened the way for the Spaniards and Portuguese to the Indies, both for gold (leaving the wealth of the East Indies, near to them and most excellent, they sought it in the West Indies), but rather that they might win for Christ, who is the true Solomon, the souls of the Indians, more precious than all gold.