Solomon by means of his wives falleth into idolatry: God raiseth him adversaries, Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam: Solomon dieth.
Salomon louing and marying manie wemen of diuers nations, is drawen by them to idolatrie. 9. God therfore offended suffereth Adad an Idumean, 23. Razon king of Damascus, 26. and Hieroboam his owne seruant to make warre against him. 29. Ahias the prophet fortelleth Hieroboam, that he shal reigne ouer tenne tribes, leauing but tvvo to Salomons heyres, 38. VVith promise to prosper, if he serue God. 42. Salomon dieth.
1And king Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon, and of the Hethites:Ma il re Salomone amò grandemente molte donne straniere, e anche la figliuola di Faraone, e delle donne di Moab, e di Ammon, e dell'Idumea, e di Sidone, e del paese di Heth,AND king Salomon loued manie wemen strangers, the daughter also of Pharao, and Moabites, and Ammonites, Idumeians, and Sidonians, and Hetheians:Rex autem Salomon adamavit mulieres alienigenas multas, filiam quoque Pharaonis, et Moabitidas, et Ammonitidas, Idumæas, et Sidonias, et Hethæas: 2Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love.Nazioni, delle quali avea detto il Signore a' figliuoli d'Israele: Voi non prenderete delle lor donne, e non darete loro delle vostre; perocché infallibilmente elleno pervertiranno i vostri cuori, per farvi seguire i loro dei. A tali donne adunque si unì Salomone con ardentissimo affetto.of the nations, wherof our Lord sayd to the children of Israel: You shal not goe in vnto them, neither shal anie of them come in vnto yours: for they wil most certainly turne away your hartes to folow their goddes. To these therfore was Salomon copled in most seruent loue.de gentibus super quibus dixit Dominus filiis Israël: Non ingrediemini ad eas, neque de illis ingredientur ad vestras: certissime enim avertent corda vestra ut sequamini deos earum. His itaque copulatus est Salomon ardentissimo amore. 3And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.Ed ebbe settecento mogli quasi regine, e trecento concubine: e queste, donne gli pervertirono il cuore.And he had wiues as it were queenes seuen hundred, and concubines three hundred: and the wemen turned away his hart.Fueruntque ei uxores quasi reginæ septingentæ, et concubinæ trecentæ: et averterunt mulieres cor ejus. 4And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.Ed essendo egli già vecchio, fu per opera delle donne depravato il cuore di lui sino a farlo andar dietro a dei stranieri; e il cuore di lui non fu sincero col Signore Dio suo, come fu il cuore di Davidde suo padre.And when he was now old, his hart was depraued by wemen, that he folowed strange goddes: neither was his hart perfect with our Lord his God, as the hart of Dauid his father.Cumque jam esset senex, depravatum est cor ejus per mulieres, ut sequeretur deos alienos: nec erat cor ejus perfectum cum Domino Deo suo, sicut cor David patris ejus.
5But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.Ma Salomone rendea culto ad Astarte dea de' Sidonj, e a Moloch idolo degli Ammoniti.But Salomon worshipped Astarthee the goddesse of the Sidonians, and Moloch the idol of the Ammonites.Sed colebat Salomon Astarthen deam Sidoniorum, et Moloch idolum Ammonitarum. 6And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.E fece Salomone quello, che non piaceva al Signore, e non perseverò in seguire il Signore, come fece Davidde suo padre.And Salomon did that which was not liked before our Lord, and he accomplished not to folow our Lord, as Dauid his father.Fecitque Salomon quod non placuerat coram Domino, et non adimplevit ut sequeretur Dominum sicut David pater ejus. 7Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the children of Ammon.Allora fu, che Salomone eresse un adoratorio a Chamos, idolo di Moab, sul monte, che sta dirimpetto a Gerusalemme, e a Moloch, idolo de' figliuoli di Ammon.Then built Salomon a temple to Camos the idol of Moab, in the mount that is agaynst Ierusalem, and to Moloch the idol of the children of Ammon.Tunc ædificavit Salomon fanum Chamos idolo Moab in monte qui est contra Jerusalem, et Moloch idolo filiorum Ammon. 8And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.E la stessa cosa fece per tutte le sue mogli straniere, le quali bruciavano incensi, e sagrificavano agli dei loro.And in this maner did he to al his wiues that were strangers, which burnt frankencense, and immolated to their goddes.Atque in hunc modum fecit universis uxoribus suis alienigenis, quæ adolebant thura, et immolabant diis suis. 9And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice;Il Signore pertanto si sdegnò contro Salomone, perchè l'animo di lui si era alienato dal Signore Dio d'Israele, il quale eragli apparito per due volte,Therfore our Lord was wrath with Salomon, because his minde was turned away from our Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared vnto him the second tyme,Igitur iratus est Dominus Salomoni, quod aversa esset mens ejus a Domino Deo Israël, qui apparuerat ei secundo, 10And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord commanded him.E lo avea ammonito intorno a questo di non andar dietro agli dei stranieri; ma egli non osservò il comando del Signore.and had commanded him concerning this word, that he should not folow strange goddes, & he kept not the thinges which our Lord commanded him.et præceperat de verbo hoc ne sequeretur deos alienos: et non custodivit quæ mandavit ei Dominus.
11The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant.Disse adunque a Salomone il Signore: Perchè tale (peccato) è in te, e non hai mantenuto il mio patto, e gli ordini, ch'io ti ho dati, io squarcerò, e spezzerò il tuo regno, e darollo ad un tuo servo.Our Lord therfore sayd to Salomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my couenant, and my preceptes, which I haue commanded thee, breaking I wil rent asunder thy kingdom, and wil geue it to thy seruant.Dixit itaque Dominus Salomoni: Quia habuisti hoc apud te, et non custodisti pactum meum, et præcepta mea quæ mandavi tibi, disrumpens scindam regnum tuum, et dabo illud servo tuo. 12Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.Ma nol farò io vivente te, per amor di Davidde tuo padre: io lo spezzerò tralle mani del tuo figliuolo,Neuerthelesse in thy dayes I wil not doe it, because of Dauid thy father: out of the hand of thy sonne I wil rent it,Verumtamen in diebus tuis non faciam propter David patrem tuum: de manu filii tui scindam illud, 13Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem, which I have chosen.E non torrò a lui tutto il regno, ma una tribù darò al tuo figliuolo, per amor di Davidde mio servo, e di Gerusalemme eletta da me.neither wil I take away the whole kingdom, but one tribe I wil geue to thy sonne for Dauid my seruant, and Ierusalem. Which I haue chosen.nec totum regnum auferam, sed tribum unam dabo filio tuo propter David servum meum, et Jerusalem, quam elegi. 14And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the Edomite, of the king’s seed, in Edom.Or il Signore suscitò un nemico a Salomone, Adad Idumeo della stirpe reale, che era nell'Idumea.And our Lord raysed vp an aduersarie to Salomon, Adad an Idumeite of the kinges seede, who was in Edom.Suscitavit autem Dominus adversarium Salomoni Adad Idumæum de semine regio, qui erat in Edom. 15For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the army, was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in Edom,Imperocché essendo Davidde nell'Idumea, ed essendo andato Gioab capitano delle genti da guerra a dar sepoltura a quelli, che eran rimasti uccisi, e ad uccidere tutti i maschi dell'IdumeaFor when Dauid was in Idumea, and Ioab the general of the warfare was gone vp to burie them that were slayne, and had slayne al malekind in Idumea, (Cum enim esset David in Idumæa, et ascendisset Joab princeps militiæ ad sepeliendum eos qui fuerant interfecti, et occidisset omnem masculinum in Idumæa 16(For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had slain every male in Edom,)(Conciossiachè per sei mesi ivi si trattenne Gioab, e tutto Israele, affine di porre a morte tutti i maschi dell'Idumea),for Ioab taried there six monethes and al Israel, til he slew al malekind in Idumea,)(sex enim mensibus ibi moratus est Joab, et omnis Israël, donec interimeret omne masculinum in Idumæa), 17Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy.Lo stesso Adad se ne fuggì accompagnato da altri Idumei servi del padre suo, per andar in Egitto: e Adad era di poca età.Adad him self fled, and men of Idumea of his fathers seruantes with him, to goe into Aegypt: and Adad was a litle boy.fugit Adad ipse, et viri Idumæi de servis patris ejus cum eo, ut ingrederetur Ægyptum: erat autem Adad puer parvulus.
18And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to Pharao, the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and assigned him land.E questi partitisi da Madian, giunsero a Pharan, e preser seco gente di Pharan, ed entrati in Egitto si presentarono a Faraone re dell'Egitto, il quale diede a lui casa, e vitto, e gli assegnò de' terreni.And when they rose out of Madian, they came into Pharan, and they tooke with them men of Pharan, and entered into Aegypt to Pharao the king of Aegypt: who gaue him a house, and appoynted him meates, and assigued him land.Cumque surrexissent de Madian, venerunt in Pharan, tuleruntque secum viros de Pharan, et introierunt Ægyptum ad Pharaonem regem Ægypti: qui dedit ei domum, et cibos constituit, et terram delegavit. 19And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen.E Adad s'ingrazianì talmente con Faraone, che questi gli diede per moglie una sorella germana della regina Taphnes sua moglie.And Adad found grace before Pharao excedingly, in so much that he gaue him to wife, the germane sister of his wife Taphnes the queene.Et invenit Adad gratiam coram Pharaone valde, in tantum ut daret ei uxorem sororem uxoris suæ germanam Taphnes reginæ. 20And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with Pharao among his children.E dalla sorella di Tuphnes ebbe egli il figliuolo Genubath, il quale da Taphnes fu allevato nella casa di Faraone; onde Genubath abitava in casa di Faraone co' figliuoli del re.And the sister of Taphnes bare him a sonne Genubath, and Taphnes brought him vp in the house of Pharao: and Genubath was dwelling at Pharaoes house with his children.Genuitque ei soror Taphnes Genubath filium, et nutrivit eum Taphnes in domo Pharaonis: eratque Genubath habitans apud Pharaonem cum filiis ejus. 21And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.Or avendo Adad sentito in Egitto, come Davidde si era addormentato co' padri suoi, e che Gioab capitano delle milizie era morto, disse a Faraone: Dammi licenza, ch'io men vada al mio paese.And when Adad in Aegypt had heard, that Dauid slept with his fathers, and that Ioab the general of the warefare was dead, he sayd to Pharao: Dismisse me, that I may goe into my countrie.Cumque audisset Adad in Ægypto dormisse David cum patribus suis, et mortuum esse Joab principem militiæ, dixit Pharaoni: Dimitte me, ut vadam in terram meam.
22And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing; yet I beseech thee to let me go.E Faraone gli disse: Che ti manca in mia casa, onde tu abbi da cercare di andartene al tuo paese? E quegli rispose: Niente; ma ti prego di darmi licenza.And Pharao sayd to him: For what lackest thou with me, that thou seekest to goe into thyne owne countrie? But he answered: Nothing: yet I besech thee that thou dismisse me.Dixitque ei Pharao: Qua enim re apud me indiges, ut quæras ire ad terram tuam ? At ille respondit: Nulla: sed obsecro te ut dimittas me. 23God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba.Suscitò ancora Dio a lui un altro nimico, Razon figliuolo di Eliada, il quale avea abbandonato Adarezer re di Soba suo signore.God also raysed vp to him an aduersarie, Razon the sonne of Eliada, who had fled Adarezer the king of Soba his lord:Suscitavit quoque ei Deus adversarium Razon filium Eliada, qui fugerat Adarezer regem Soba dominum suum: 24And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.Ed egli adunò gente contro di lui, e diventò capitano di ladroni, ai quali Davidde faceva aspra guerra; ed egli no se n'andarono a Damasco, e ivi abitarono, e a Razon diedero il regno di Damasco.and he gathered men agaynst him, and he became the captayne of theues, when Dauid killed them: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus,et congregavit contra eum viros, et factus est princeps latronum cum interficeret eos David: abieruntque Damascum, et habitaverunt ibi, et constituerunt eum regem in Damasco: 25And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon: and this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he reigned in Syria.Ed egli fu nemico d'Israele per tutto il tempo di Salomone: e questo oltre il flagello di Adad, e l'odio di lui contro Israele: egli regnò nella Siria.and he was an aduersarie to Israel al the dayes of Salomon: and this is the euil of Adad, and hatred agaynst Israel, and he reigned in Syria.eratque adversarius Israëli cunctis diebus Salomonis: et hoc est malum Adad, et odium contra Israël: regnavitque in Syria. 26Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, lifted up his hand against the king.Parimente Geroboam figliuolo di Nabath, Ephratheo, di Sareda, servo di Salomone, di cui la madre vedova chiamavasi Sarva, si ribellò contro il re.Ieroboam also the sonne of Nabath, an Ephratheite of Sareda, the seruant of Salomon, whose mother was called Serua, a woman widow lifted vp his hand agaynst the king.Jeroboam quoque filius Nabat, Ephrathæus, de Sareda, servus Salomonis, cujus mater erat nomine Sarva, mulier vidua, levavit manum contra regem.
27And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon built Mello, and filled up the breach of the city of David, his father.E la causa, per cui si ribellò contro di lui, ella è questa, perchè Salomone edificò Mello, e colmò la voragine della città di Davidde suo padre.And this is the cause of his rebellion agaynst him, because Salomon built Mello, and filled vp the breache of the citie of Dauid his father.Et hæc est causa rebellionis adversus eum, quia Salomon ædificavit Mello, et coæquavit voraginem civitatis David patris sui. 28And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the tributes of all the house of Joseph.Or Geroboam era uom valoroso, e possente, e Salomone veggendolo giovane di buona indole, e attivo, gli avea data la soprintendenza de' tributi di tutta la casa di Giuseppe.And Ieroboam was a strong man and mightie: and Salomon seing the youngman of a good witte & industrious, had made him chief ouer the tributes of al the house of Ioseph.Erat autem Jeroboam vir fortis et potens: vidensque Salomon adolescentem bonæ indolis et industrium, constituerat eum præfectum super tributa universæ domus Joseph. 29So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the field.Or in quel tempo egli avvenne, che uscendo Geroboam da Gerusalemme, si imbattè per istrada in Ahia di Silo, profeta, il quale era coperto di un mantello nuovo: ed erano loro due soli nella campagna.It came to passe therfore at that tyme, that Ieroboam went out of Ierusalem, and the prophete Ahias the Silonite found him in the way, couered with a new cloke: and they two onlie were in the field.Factum est igitur in tempore illo, ut Jeroboam egrederetur de Jerusalem, et inveniret eum Ahias Silonites propheta in via, opertus pallio novo: erant autem duo tantum in agro. 30And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided it into twelve parts:E Ahia preso il suo mantello nuovo, che aveva addosso, lo spezzò in dodici parti.And Ahias taking his new cloke, wherwith he was couered, cut it into twelue partes.Apprehendensque Ahias pallium suum novum quo coopertus erat, scidit in duodecim partes. 31And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.E disse a Geroboam: Prendi per te dieci pezzi; perocché così dice il Signore Dio d'Israele: Ecco, che io spezzerò tralle mani di Salomone il regno, e daronne a te dieci tribù.And he sayd to Ieroboam: Take vnto thee ten pieces: for thus sayth our Lord the God of Israel: Behold I wil rent the kingdom out of the hand of Salomon, and wil geue thee ten tribes.Et ait ad Jeroboam: Tolle tibi decem scissuras: hæc enim dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Ecce ego scindam regnum de manu Salomonis, et dabo tibi decem tribus.
32But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant, David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:Ma una tribù resterà a lui per amor di Davidde mio servo, e la città di Gerusalemme eletta da me fra tutte le tribù d'Israele:But one tribe shal remayne to him for my seruant Dauid, and Ierusalem the citie, which I haue chosen of al the tribes of Israel:Porro una tribus remanebit ei propter servum meum David, et Jerusalem civitatem, quam elegi ex omnibus tribubus Israël: 33Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did David, his father.Perchè egli mi ha abbandonato, e ha renduto culto ad Astarte dea de' Sidonj, e a Chamos dio di Moab, e a Moloch dio de' figliuoli di Ammon; e non ha camminato nelle mie vie, per adempire quello, che è giusto dinanzi a me, e i miei comandamenti, e le mie leggi, come Davidde suo padre.because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthee the goddesse of the Sidonians, & Chamos the god of Moab, and Moloch the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my waies, to doe iustice before me, and my preceptes, and iudgementes as Dauid his father.eo quod dereliquerit me, et adoraverit Astarthen deam Sidoniorum, et Chamos deum Moab, et Moloch deum filiorum Ammon: et non ambulaverit in viis meis, ut faceret justitiam coram me, et præcepta mea et judicia, sicut David pater ejus. 34Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts.Ma nulla parte del regno terrò dalle mani di lui; ma farò, che egli il governi per tutto il tempo di sua vita, per amor di Davidde mio servo eletto da me, il quale osservò i miei comandamenti, e le mie leggi.Neither wil I take away al the kingdom out of his hand, but I wil make him prince al the daies of his life, for Dauid my seruant, whom I chose, who kept my commandmentes and my preceptes.Nec auferam omne regnum de manu ejus, sed ducem ponam eum cunctis diebus vitæ suæ, propter David servum meum quem elegi, qui custodivit mandata mea et præcepta mea. 35But I will take away the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give thee ten tribes:Ma terrò il regno dalle mani del suo figliuolo, e a te darò dieci tribù:But I wil take away the kingdom out of his sonnes hand, and wil geue thee ten tribes:Auferam autem regnum de manu filii ejus, et dabo tibi decem tribus:
36And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, that my name might be there.E al figliuolo di lui darò una tribù, affinchè resti pel mio servo Davidde un piccol lume in perpetuo dinanzi a me in Gerusalemme, città eletta da me, per chè ivi si onorasse il nome mio.and to his sonne I wil geue one tribe, that there may remayne a lampe to Dauid my seruant at al times before me in Ierusalem, the citie which I haue chosen, that my name might be there.filio autem ejus dabo tribum unam, ut remaneat lucerna David servo meo cunctis diebus coram me in Jerusalem civitate, quam elegi ut esset nomen meum ibi. 37And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.E io prenderò te, e regnerai sopra tutto quello, che tu più ami, e sarai re sopra Israele.And thee wil I take, and thou shalt reigne ouer al thinges, that thy soule desireth, and thou shalt be king ouer Israel.Te autem assumam, et regnabis super omnia quæ desiderat anima tua, erisque rex super Israël. 38If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:Se tu adunque sarai attento a tutto quello, ch'io ti ordinerò, e camminerai nelle mie vie, e farai quello, che è giusto dinanzi a me, osservando i miei comandamenti, e le mie leggi, come fece Davidde mio servo, io sarò con te, e ti edificherò una casa permanente, come edificai la casa di Davidde, e ti farò signore d'Israele.If therfore thou wilt heare al thinges, that I shal command thee, and wilt walke in my waies, and doe that which is right before me, keeping my commandmentes and my preceptes, as Dauid my seruant did: I wil be with thee, and wil build thee a faythful house, as I built a house to Dauid, and I wil deliuer Israel to thee:Si igitur audieris omnia quæ præcepero tibi, et ambulaveris in viis meis, et feceris quod rectum est coram me, custodiens mandata mea et præcepta mea, sicut fecit David servus meus: ero tecum, et ædificabo tibi domum fidelem, quomodo ædificavi David domum: et tradam tibi Israël: 39And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for ever.E umilierò in questo la stirpe di Davidde, ma non per sempre.and I wil afflict the seede of Dauid vpon this, but yet not alwaies.et affligam semen David super hoc, verumtamen non cunctis diebus.
40Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and fled into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon.Salomone adunque tentò di far uccidere Geroboam; ma egli andò a rifugiarsi in Egitto presso di Sesac re dell'Egitto, e stette in Egitto fino alla morte di Salomone.Salomon therfore would haue killed Ieroboam: who arose, and fled into Aegypt to Sesac the king of Aegypt, and was in Aegypt vntil the death of Salomon.Voluit ergo Salomon interficere Jeroboam: qui surrexit, et aufugit in Ægyptum ad Sesac regem Ægypti, et fuit in Ægypto usque ad mortem Salomonis. 41And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the days of Solomon.Or tutte le altre geste di Salomone, e tutto quello, che egli operò, e la sua sapienza, tutto sta scritto nel libro dei Giorni di Salomone.And the rest of the wordes of Salomon, and al that he did, and his wisedom: behold they are al written in the Booke of the wordes of the daies of Salomon.Reliquum autem verborum Salomonis, et omnia quæ fecit, et sapientia ejus, ecce universa scripta sunt in libro verborum dierum Salomonis. 42And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, were forty years.E il tempo, che Salomone regnò in Gerusalemme sopra tutto Israele, fu di quarant'anni.And the daies, that Salomon reigned in Ierusalem ouer al Israel, are fourtie yeares.Dies autem quos regnavit Salomon in Jerusalem super omnem Israël, quadraginta anni sunt. 43And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead.E Salomone si addormentò co' Padri suoi, e fu sepolto nella città di Davidde suo padre; e succedette a lui nel regno Roboam suo figliuolo.And Salomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid his father, and Roboam his sonne reigned for him.Dormivitque Salomon cum patribus suis, et sepultus est in civitate David patris sui: regnavitque Roboam filius ejus pro eo.
11:1
Haydock
Strange women, who had been brought up in the service of idols, and were not sincerely converted. (Haydock)
Haydock
He began with the spirit, but ended in the flesh, Galatians 3:3., and Ecclesiasticus 47:21. He was aware of the dangerous conversation of women, Ecclesiasticus 19:2. Yet he has left us in his own person an example of that dreadful truth, that it is difficult to love with discretion. (Haydock)
Calmet
Amare et sapere vix cuiquam conceditur. Nothing could be more beautiful than the commencement of his reign, nor more terrible than the latter part of it. Thou hast stained thy glory, etc., Ecclesiasticus 47:22. Hence we may apply to him, How are thou fallen from heaven? (Isaias 14:12.) (Calmet)
Salien
Pharao. This marriage seems to be blamed, as the source of Solomon's misfortunes; though it is probable, that she had pretended to embrace his religion. (Menochius) (Salien)
Tirinus
He ought to have repudiated her as soon as she relapsed. (Tirinus)
11:2
Haydock
Gods. See Exodus 34:16., and Deuteronomy 7:4. The law only forbids expressly the marrying of the women of Chanaan. But it was easy to discern, that the spirit of the law equally prohibited connexions with others who were addicted to idol-worship. See 1 Esdras 10:3. Such alliances are always dangerous, and generally prove fatal; (Calmet) unless there be good reason to believe that the parties are sincerely converted: in which case the prohibition ceases. (Haydock)
Love. Thus, nitimur in vetitum semper, cupimusque negata; and, stolen waters are sweeter, says impure love; but her guests are in the depths of hell, Proverbs 9:17, 18.
11:3
Haydock
Concubines, or secondary wives. (Haydock)
Salien
Those who have any sense of modesty, can hardly read this without blushing. (Salien)
Solomon was guilty not only of intemperance, but also of a transgression of the precept. (Menochius) (Deuteronomy 17:17.)
Haydock
He shall not have many wives: though as that command is indefinite, and David had eighteen, without blame, (2 Kings 3:3.) it is difficult to say how many a person might have, at that time, without exceeding the bounds of moderation. (Haydock)
Calmet
But a thousand wives for one man, is certainly too great a number. When Solomon wrote the Canticles, he had only sixty queens and eighty concubines, Canticle of Canticles 6:8. The Rabbins allow the king eighteen wives. But it is probable that most of the kings indulged themselves in a greater latitude. Darius, of Persia, took along with him to the wars 350 concubines, when he was overcome by Alexander. (Atheneus 13:1.) Priam had also many wives, besides Hecuba, the queen. The inferior wives looked upon those who had this title with a degree of respect, bordering on adoration. (Calmet)
11:4
Year of the World 3023, Year before Christ 981.
Calmet
Old; about fifty. (Salien) (Calmet)
Haydock
This is an aggravation of his guilt. (Haydock)
Haydock
Solomon spent the first thirty years of his reign in virtue: but towards the termination of it, he gave into idolatry, and into such excesses, that he deserves to be ranked with Henry VIII, who began well, but ended with dishonour. (Haydock)
Tirinus
Heart, and mind also, ver. 9. He sacrificed to idols, not only externally, but gave them internal worship; (Salien) so much was his understanding darkened, unless (Haydock) he acted against his better knowledge, Ecclesiastes 2:9. (Tirinus)
Du Hamel
Father who did not continue long in sin. (Du Hamel)
St. Gregory
"The wisdom, which had been given to him, entirely abandoned his heart, which the discipline even of the smallest tribulation had not guarded." (St. Gregory, Pastoral. p. 3.)
St. Augustine
"He had commenced his reign with an ardent desire of wisdom, and when he had obtained it by spiritual love, he lost it by carnal affections." (St. Augustine, Doct. 3:21.)
St. Augustine
"Prosperity, which is a severe trial for the wise, was more disadvantageous to him than wisdom herself had been profitable." (St. Augustine, City of God 17:20.)
Calmet
The Fathers do not attempt to palliate the guilt of Solomon; and those aggravate his crime, who endeavour to excuse him by saying, that his mind was still convinced that there could be but one God, and that his adoration of idols was merely external, and out of complaisance to his wives. See Santius,etc. (Calmet)
11:5
Haydock
Astarthe. Hebrew Hashtoreth, "ewes," is in the plural form, as if to denote many idols. But the moon, or the queen of heaven, (Jeremias 7:18.) is particularly designated, Judges 2:12. (Haydock)
Moloch. Hebrew Molciom, (their king) "the abomination;" (Haydock) supposed to be the sun, (Sanctius) or saturn. (Tirinus) See 4 Kings 23:10.
11:7
Tirinus
Chamos. Bacchus or Priapus, called Komos, by the Greeks, as he presided over "feasting." His worship was most shameful, and therefore performed in the night. The temples erected by Solomon, were not entirely demolished till the reign of Josias. (Tirinus)
Calmet
Hill. Hebrew, "Then Solomon erected a high place (temple, altar, or grove) to Chamos, the abomination of Moab, on the, etc., hill;" it is supposed of olives, (Haydock) to the east of Jerusalem, which was hence called, the mount of offence, 4 Kings 23:13. (Calmet)
Menochius
Yet no place was consecrated to idols within the city. (Menochius)
Haydock
The idols of Egypt are not specified, though the daughter of Pharao would, probably, interest herself in their favour. The Jews were more prone to those of Chanaan. We find, however, that they were addicted to the worship of Adonis, who was highly revered in Egypt; (Ezechiel 8:14.; Calmet) and the golden calves were an imitation of Apis. (Haydock)
Salien
Six temples were probably built, as wives of so many different nations are specified, ver. 1. (Abulensis) (Salien)
11:9
Haydock
Twice, or repeatedly. See 3 Kings 9:2. (Haydock)
Abulensis
He had appeared to him at Gabaon, and after the consecration of the temple, (Menochius) besides sending a prophet to him while he was building, 3 Kings 6:12. (Abulensis)
Calmet
God was not content with giving him the general commandments: he had condescended to caution him in a most particular and earnest manner: (Haydock) so that his transgression is more horrible and ungrateful. (Calmet)
Salien
No doubt the priests and prophets had often besought him to alter his conduct; but the sinner is deaf, till God speak to his heart. (Salien, the year of the world 3054.)
11:11
Haydock
This. Literally and Hebrew, "Because thou hast this with thee." (Haydock)
Salien
Since this is thy conduct, and fixed determination, to abandon my service, I will also reject thee. The Lord spoke to him in a third vision, (Calmet) or by the mouth of Ahias, (Abulensis) who was likewise appointed to inform Jeroboam of his election to a part of the kingdom. (Salien, the year of the world 3059.)
11:12
Menochius
Sake. As David placed this son upon the throne, the disgrace would seem to revert on him. (Menochius)
Haydock
Here we behold the reward of piety, and how desirable a thing it is to have saints for our parents. (Haydock)
11:13
Challoner
One tribe. Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe. (Challoner)
Tirinus
That of Benjamin had been so reduced, that it scarcely deserved the name of a tribe. It was also invariably connected with the adjoining tribe of Juda; as many of the other tribes, after the captivities of Assyria and Babylon, went by the common title of Jews. (Tirinus)
Calmet
The Levites, and many of the Israelites, came to inhabit in the land of Juda, for the sake of the true religion, 3 Kings 12:17., and 2 Paralipomenon 11:13, 16. Jeroboam banished the tribe of Levi from his dominions, that he might more easily introduce a change of religion among his subjects. The two kingdoms were thus almost equal in strength. (Calmet)
Salien
Chosen for the abode of holiness, and the seat of government. (Salien)
Worthington
One tribe....and Jerusalem; which latter may denote the tribe of Benjamin. (Worthington)
11:14
Adversary. Hebrew Satan. Nothing of this kind could molest him, while he continued faithful, 3 Kings 5:4. But now he sees the arm of God stretched out, pressing him to repent.
Salien
Adad. Septuagint Ader. Josephus says that this prince solicited Pharao to let him return into his own country, after the death of Joab: but was prevailed upon to desist from the attempt, till the affairs of Solomon began to decline. He then endeavoured to get possession of the country; but, being repelled by the strong garrisons of the Hebrews, he went and joined Razar, (Hebrew Razon) who had revolted against Aderezer; and made inroads into the dominions of Solomon consented, at the entreaty of Pharao, that Adad should reign over Idumea, on his paying tribute; and that the latter attempted to throw off the yoke. (Salien)
Calmet
But these particulars are uncertain, and Idumea was subject to the kings of Juda till the days of Joram, 2 Paralipomenon 21:8. (Calmet)
11:15
Salien
In Edom, in the 15th year of his reign. (Salien)
Abisai was the general in this expedition, 2 Kings viii., and 1 Paralipomenon 18:12.
11:17
Pineda
Boy. About five (Salien) or 12 years of age. (Pineda)
11:18
Land, to maintain him (Josephus) out of the royal domains, (Calmet) of which the kings were possessed. (Didor. 1:p. 46.)
Vatable
He appointed him governor of some part of the country. (Vatable)
11:19
Haydock
Full. Septuagint, "elder sister of his wife Thekemina." (Haydock)
11:23
Menochius
Razon. He must have been now about 94 years old; unless this was the son of Aderezer's general. (Salien) (Menochius)
11:24
Haydock
Robbers, or (Hebrew and Septuagint) "a band" with whom he made depredations. (Haydock)
Calmet
Damascus, with David's consent, on their admitting a garrison, (2 Kings 8:6,) and consenting to pay tribute; (Menochius) or Razon might make himself master of this place, only after the apostacy of Solomon. His successors became very formidable to the Jews, particularly Razin, (4 Kings xv., and xvi.) who was slain by Theglathphalassar, 4 Kings 5:9. (Calmet)
11:25
Haydock
Solomon, after he once began. (Haydock)
Menochius
Adad. Hebrew, "and with the evil of Adad, and he detested Israel." (Menochius)
Haydock
Razon and Adad conspired to attack Solomon. (Haydock)
Calmet
Adad may be the common name of the kings of Damascus. Some copies of the Septuagint do not speak of Razon, but continue the history of Adad, ver. 14. They also read Edom here instead of Aram, or Syria, which would remove the confusion. (Calmet)
Worthington
Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam always oppugn Solomon after his fall; and signify the flesh, the world, and the devil. (Worthington)
11:26
Haydock
King, attempting to draw the people into rebellion, as he perceived that they were discontent with the buildings at Mello. He had a command over them; and though he was, for the present, obliged to save himself by flight, he had sown the seeds of rebellion by his discourses, in such a manner, that the imprudent answer of Roboam (Calmet) easily brought them to maturity. (Haydock)
11:28
Salien
He was of the former tribe. (Salien)
Haydock
At first Solomon employed none of the Israelites to work, 3 Kings 9:22. But he afterwards oppressed them grievously. The king's right was to make his subjects cultivate his lands, etc., 1 Kings 8:11. They did not pay money, (Matthew 17:24,) but wrought for the king. Hebrew, "he made him ruler over all the charge," (or levy.) (Haydock)
Haydock
The Vulgate often uses the word tribute (Calmet) for sebel. Josephus believes that Jeroboam had the command over the forces of the house of Joseph: but he had rather the superintendency over the workmen. (Haydock)
11:29
Kennicott
Garment. Salma occurs 16 times in this sense, and simlee 27. The latter, we may presume, is the true reading, as it is in the Samaritan Pentateuch invariably; Exodus 22:26, 27, both words are printed in the Hebrew Bible. But it is not probable that Moses should have written them so; no more than a Latin author would use both vestinentum and vestimentum. Shamal, in Arabic, signifies "he clothed himself all over." (Kennicott)
Calmet
Way leading to Ephraim, (Menochius) his department. (Calmet)
Haydock
Field. Septuagint, "he drew him aside out of the road: and Ahias had on a new cloak, and both were in the field." (Haydock)
Haydock
Jeroboam would not probably go unattended; (Menochius) and it seems this transaction soon transpired, and came to the ears of Solomon. (Haydock)
11:30
Calmet
Parts. He speaks by his actions, (Menochius) thus foretelling what should happen, as was customary with the prophets, Osee 1:2., Jeremias 27:2., Ezechiel 12:7., and Acts 21:11. (Calmet)
Worthington
This tended to make a deeper impression on the mind, (Haydock) and convince all, that what was spoken, was not in jest. (Worthington)
11:34
Menochius
Make, or permit him to reign. (Menochius)
11:36
A lamp. Posterity, (2 Kings 21:17.) power, and glory, 4 Kings 8:19.
11:37
Calmet
Desireth. It seems he was already disposed to revolt. (Calmet)
11:38
Calmet
Faithful house, which shall not be destroyed, nor lose the kingdom, for a long time. Jeroboam never complied with the condition. (Calmet)
11:39
Menochius
For this infidelity of Solomon, (Haydock) afflict, by raising up a rival. (Menochius)
Calmet
For ever. Notwithstanding the wickedness of many of its princes, this family was to subsist, in a distinguished rank, till the coming of the Messias; that the completion of the promises might be more observable. (Calmet)
Menochius
After 250 years, the throne of Israel was subverted. (Menochius)
11:40
Haydock
Therefore, being apprized of what had passed, as well as to prevent the farther attempts of Jeroboam. (Haydock)
Calmet
Sesac. He is the first, whose proper name is given in Scripture. Whether he was of the same family, as the Pharao, whose daughter Solomon had married, cannot be ascertained. Marsham makes Sesac the same with the renowned Sesostris, the Sethosis of Manetho. But Usher thinks that Sesostris reigned immediately after the Israelites left Egypt; while Pezron, etc., suppose that Amenoplis, who was drowned, was even his grandson. (Calmet)
11:41
Haydock
Words, or transactions. (Haydock)
Challoner
Book. This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in holy writ. (Challoner)
Haydock
Nathan, Ahias, and Addo, composed these journals, 2 Paralipomenon 9:29. (Haydock)
Calmet
Similar works were kept at the courts of Persia and of Babylon, Esther 6:1., and 1 Esdras 6:2. Plutarch quotes the journal of Alexander; and Tacitus (An. iii.) informs us, that the smallest occurrences were specified in journals, at Rome, while things of greater importance were recorded in the annals. The books of days, are cited in the Paralipomenon, so that we cannot suppose that these journals are the same with that work. (Calmet)
Salien
God was pleased that those writings should not come down to us; so that we can only speak from conjecture of the repentance of Solomon. (Salien, the year of the world 3058.)
11:42
Haydock
Forty. Josephus says eighty; and some suppose, that the Scripture only specifies the years during which Solomon reigned virtuously. Pezron is of the same opinion as Josephus. (Haydock)
Calmet
Others contend that it is a manifest mistake. Immoderate pleasures hastened his old age and death, when he was about fifty-eight years old. All in him was great, whether we consider the virtues of his early days, or the vices of his old age. He falls from heaven into the abyss. His repentance is a problem. (Calmet)
11:43
Year of the World 3029, Year before Christ 975.
Challoner
Solomon slept, etc. That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight years of age, having reigned forty years. (Challoner)
Calmet
St. Chrysostom, at different times, seems to have entertained opposite opinions on this head, (Haydock) which has been a matter of controversy among the Fathers, as it is at present with us. We ought to adore and imitate, with trembling, the silence of Scripture. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint seem favourable to Solomon: (Proverbs 24:32.) "At last I did penance, and looked forward, to embrace discipline." (Haydock)
Calmet
But the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Vulgate have nothing similar. (Calmet)
Haydock
Some think that the Book of Proverbs, as well as that of Ecclesiastes, was composed by him after his repentance; and that he expresses his sentiments of affliction and self-condemnation, (Proverbs 30:2.) and his opinion of all earthly gratifications, Ecclesiastes 1:2., etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
Yet this dreadful uncertainty may serve to keep us all in humble fear, and teach us to work out our salvation with trembling. (Calmet)
Pineda
If Solomon really repented, (Haydock) he might not have time or power to remove all the vestiges, and the very foundations of the idolatrous temples, which Ezechias also neglected in ruins, as no longer dangerous, and as so many monuments of the folly of Solomon. But Josias caused them to be entirely removed, 4 Kings 23:13. (Salien, the year of the world 3059.) The daughter of Pharao would probably imitate her beloved husband. (Pineda)
Chron. Min. Heb. Salien
Sadoc seems to have departed this life about the same time with Solomon; as his son Achimaas, who had married Basemath, the king's daughter, succeeded him in the pontificate, at the commencement of Roboam's reign. (Chron. Min. Heb. Salien)
11:13
One tribe.... Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe.
11:41
The book of the words, etc.... This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in holy writ.
11:43
Solomon slept, etc.... That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight years of age, having reigned forty years.
11:3
Though pluralitie of wiues was then alowed, yet it was forbid to multiplie manie. Deut.
11:13
The tribe of Iuda.
By Ierusalem is vnderstood the tribe of Beniamin, wherin it stood. so there remained two tribes to Salomons heyres.
11:15
Concordance 2. Reg. •.
11:23
Concordance ••. Reg. 10.
11:25
From the time that Salomon fel to idolatrie, he was more impugned by three perpetual aduersaries, Adad, Razon, and Hieroboam; mystically signifying the flesh, the world, and the diuel.
11:30
This fact cō firmed his wordes. that he spoke seriously & fained not.
11:43
VVhether he repented and was saued or no, is vncertaine.
11:1
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.27.1
… And the foreign women turned away his heart after strange gods. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord: he did not walk after the Lord, as did David his father. And the Lord was angry with Solomon; for his heart was not perfect with the Lord, as was the heart of David his father.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 6.3
… Amnon was beautiful and fair in countenance, yet (the adversary) took him captive by desire for his sister, and Absalom slew him on account of the humbling of Tamar. Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth, yet in the days of his old age his wives led his heart astray.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.12
… “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.” Being a king he feared no one else. So, too, with Solomon. Wisdom used him to sing her praise, and he treated of all plants “from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall;” and yet he went back from God because he was a lover of women.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.5
… or how David, after having a number of wives, seduced the wife of his soldier Uriah, and caused Uriah himself to be killed in the battle; or how his son Solomon had three hundred wives, and seven hundred concubines, and princesses without number;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.33
… “From the fruit of thy body,” saith the Lord unto David, “shall I set upon thy sea.” He promised from his seed something for evermore: and, Solomon, born to him, became master of such wisdom, that the promise of God respecting the fruit of David’s body was believed to have been fulfilled in him; but Solomon fell,
11:3
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 2.2
… For the son of this David, Solomon by name, was caught by the same snare as his father, and out of complaisance to women fell away from the God of his fathers.
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.24
… He passes on to Solomon, through whom wisdom itself sang its own praises. Seeing that not content with dwelling upon his praises, he calls him uxorious, I am surprised that he did not add the words of the Canticles: “There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and maidens without number,” and those of the First Book of Kings;
11:4
Tertullian † AD 220 The Prescription Against Heretics 3
… Saul, who was good beyond all others, is afterwards subverted by envy. David, a good man “after the Lord’s own heart,” is guilty afterwards of murder and adultery. Solomon, endowed by the Lord with all grace and wisdom, is led into idolatry, by women.
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.63
… “Be not joined together with unbelievers. For what participation is there between righteousness and unrighteousness? or what communication hath light with darkness?” Also concerning Solomon in the third book of Kings: “And foreign wives turned away his heart after their gods.”
11:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 127.1
… Solomon himself was a lover of women, and was rejected by God: and this lust was so great a snare unto him, that he was induced by women even to sacrifice to idols,
11:11
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 1
… Nevertheless I will not do this in thy days.” Wherefore? “For David thy father’s sake, I will take it out of the hand of thy son.”
11:12
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 21.13
… and Jesus wept over Jerusalem, His persecutor, which was to be laid waste. David handed over the kingdom to Solomon, and was gathered to his people; and Jesus handed over the keys to Simon, and ascended and returned to Him who sent Him. For David’s sake, sins were forgiven to his posterity; and for Jesus’ sake sins are forgiven to the nations.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 2.2
… This same Solomon then, who was formerly righteous and wise but who ran a risk of being deprived of all the kingdom on account of his sin, God permitted to keep the sixth part of the government on account of the renown of his father.
11:13
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Catechising of the Uninstructed 20
… In the service of prefiguring this King in that earthly kingdom of the people of Israel, King David stood forth pre-eminent,
11:14
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.20
… Then, again, the throne for ever with the kingdom for ever is more suited to Christ than to Solomon, a mere temporal king. From Christ, too, God’s mercy did not depart, whereas on Solomon even God’s anger alighted, after his luxury and idolatry. For Satan
Origen † AD 254 A Letter from Origen to Gregory 2
… Now the sacred Scripture is wont to represent as an evil the going down from the land of the children of Israel into Egypt, indicating that certain persons get harm from sojourning among the Egyptians, that is to say, from meddling with the knowledge of this world, after they have subscribed to the law of God, and the Israelitish service of Him. Ader
Origen † AD 254 Letter of Origen to Gregory 2
… and in this a great truth is wrapped up. For some it is of evil that they should dwell with the Egyptians, that is to say, with the learning of the world, after they have been enrolled in the law of God and in the Israelite worship of Him. Ader the Edomite,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 25
… Did not the Lord, against whom they sinned, and would not walk in His ways, nor hear His law? and He has brought upon them the anger of His wrath.” And again, when Solomon sinned, and departed from the Lord’s commandments and ways, it is recorded, “And the Lord stirred up Satan against Solomon himself.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.55
… Such was his conduct in these cases, such its result. Did he then treat others in a different way, and engage in petty disputes about trifles, or fail to rise to the heights of philosophy in a course of action which merits no praise and is best passed over in silence? By no means. He who once stirred up the wicked Hadad against Israel,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.18
… It is not surprising that I declare this of men and women, when the jealousy of the Pharisees succeeded in crucifying our Lord Himself. All the saints have had illwishers, and even Paradise was not free from the serpent through whose malice death came into the world. So the Lord stirred up against Paula Hadad the Edomite
11:23
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.81
In the Gospel according to John: “Jesus said, Thou couldest have no power against me, unless it were given thee from above.” Also in the third of Kings: “And God stirred up Satan against Solomon himself.”
11:28
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 78.34
34. “And He rejected,” he saith, “the tabernacle of Joseph, and the tribe of Ephraim
11:29
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.35
… But the believer knows that there is a profounder reason. Consider, therefore, the true motives. The miracle was performed in the district of Samaria, to which country also belonged one of the lepers. Samaria, however, had revolted from Israel, carrying with it the disaffected nine tribes, which, having been alienated by the prophet Ahijah,
11:30
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 3.10
… just as he, for instance, bore that person who divided his garment into twelve parts, and gave ten of them to the servant of King Solomon, to the future king of Israel.
11:31
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.18.3
… The arrangement also made by Sarah when, after ten years, she gave her handmaid Hagar to him, that by her he might have a son, showed the same thing. Moreover, the servant of Abraham who was sent to Rebekah, and presented her at the well with ten bracelets of gold, and her brethren who detained her for ten days; Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptres
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Unity of the Church 7
… for thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten sceptres unto thee; and two sceptres shall be unto him for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to place my name there.”
11:33
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.19
… What shall we say to these things who know no limit to our getting, who worship gold and silver, as those of old worshipped Baal, and Astarte and the abomination Chemosh?
11:34
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.7
… “I have found David according to My heart”? Who ever walked in holiness of heart and in justice as he did, so as to fulfil the will of God; for whose sake pardon was granted to his children when they sinned, and their rights were preserved to his heirs?
11:1
1. NOW KING SOLOMON LOVED MANY FOREIGN WOMEN, namely Gentiles and Canaanites, who worshipped their own gods and idols, and induced Solomon their husband to worship the same. See here how dangerous it is to take infidel or heretical wives. 2. OF THE NATIONS CONCERNING WHICH THE LORD SAID TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: YOU SHALL NOT GO IN TO THEM. This law is found in Exodus xxxiv, 16, and speaks only of the Canaanites, as is clear there, such as were the Sidonians and Hethites: wherefore Solomon sinned against the law in taking them. Otherwise the law permitted the Hebrews to take women of other nations as wives, provided that they first, having abjured idols, were converted to the true God and the religion of the Hebrews. In this also Solomon sinned, because he took them persisting in their idolatry; whence he was drawn by them to worship idols. Thus Abulensis.
11:3
3. AND HE HAD WIVES AS IT WERE QUEENS SEVEN HUNDRED AND CONCUBINES THREE HUNDRED, that is, a thousand in all. "Queens" are called the primary wives, who were daughters of kings and princes, and therefore were used with royal treatment and title: "concubines" were secondary wives, namely plebeian ones. Although St. Jerome, in epistle 132, calls them "harlots." Miserable was this fall of Solomon, a man most wise and most holy, by which he lapsed into six grave crimes. First, his crime was that he married foreign women and idolaters against the law. Second, that he married too many, namely a thousand. For the Law in Deuteronomy, chapter xvii, verse 17, commanded the king and said: "He shall not have a multitude of wives." Third, that he gave them power to worship their idols, indeed he built them temples on the Mount of Olives. Fourth, that he himself worshipped the same. Fifth, that by his example he impelled many Hebrews to worship the same. Sixth, that he imposed enormous tributes on the people, because to adorn so many queens and feed them magnificently, immense wealth was necessary. And this is the heavy yoke, concerning which in the following chapter, the Hebrews complain to Rehoboam his son, and therefore they make a schism from him. In Solomon one can see how true is that old saying: Beautiful clothing, jest, drink, food, leisure, sleep, Enervate the mind and foster luxury. AND THE WOMEN TURNED AWAY HIS HEART; they deflected his mind and will from God to idols. 4. AND WHEN HE WAS NOW OLD, HIS HEART WAS PERVERTED BY WOMEN TO FOLLOW STRANGE GODS. Hence it is clear that Solomon truly worshipped idols, wherefore it is strange that Robert Stephanus denies this very thing here. For the same thing is affirmed by St. Irenaeus, book IV, chapter xlv, Justin, Dialogue Against Trypho, Tertullian, book V Against Marcion, St. Basil, epistle to Chelidon, St. Augustine, book XIV On the City of God, chapter xi. But he worshipped them, not because he thought there was any divinity in them, but to gratify his concubines. Hear St. Augustine, book XI On Genesis According to the Letter, chapter xlii: "Thus Solomon, a man of such great wisdom, is it to be believed that in the worship of idols he believed there was something useful? But he was not able to resist the love of women drawing him to this evil, doing what he knew ought not to be done, lest he sadden his deadly delights in whom he was perishing and dissolving." He confirms this very thing by the example of Adam, when he adds: "Thus also Adam, after the woman seduced by the forbidden tree ate, and gave it to him that they might eat together, was unwilling to sadden her, whom he believed could waste away without his solace; if he were alienated from her mind, and altogether she would perish by discord. Not indeed by the concupiscence of the flesh, which he had not yet felt in resisting the law, the law of his members against the law of his mind: but by a certain friendly benevolence, by which it often happens that God is offended, lest man become an enemy from a friend; which he ought not to have done, the just outcome of the divine sentence indicated."
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5. BUT SOLOMON WORSHIPPED ASTAROTH, THE GODDESS OF THE SIDONIANS. This was Venus, of which I spoke in Judges, chapter ii, verse 13. AND MOLOCH, or "Milcom," to whom they sacrificed sons by burning them, of which I spoke in Leviticus xviii, 21. Whence Pineda and Salianus think that Solomon himself sacrificed and burned his son or sons to him.
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7. THEN SOLOMON BUILT A TEMPLE TO CHAMOS. "Chamos" is κῶμος, the god of drunkenness, namely Bacchus; whence from him was named carousing. See what is said in Romans xiii, 13, to those words: "Not in revelries." The cause of so great a fall was Solomon's excessive prosperity, wealth, luxuries and lusts. The proximate cause was his wives, whom he loved most ardently: for these drove him mad according to that saying: "Wine and women cause the wise to fall away." Learn here how women are to be avoided; for their love is insuperable, and they extort from their lovers whatever is most precious and most wicked: flee them therefore, because you are neither wiser than Solomon, nor stronger than Samson, nor holier than David; who all fell through women. Eusebius of Emesa wisely here: "Those are to be admonished," he says, "to whom this world prospers, who are struck by no adversities of this world, that Solomon after receiving wisdom is described as having fallen even to idolatry, because he is remembered to have had no adversity in this world before he fell: but wisdom being granted, he utterly abandoned it, because no discipline of tribulation, at least the smallest, guarded him, except after he abandoned God, and knew himself to be abandoned by God." And St. Bernard, book II On Consideration to Eugenius, near the end: "Observe," he says, "how rare it has always been for one not to relax his mind somewhat in prosperity from his own custody and discipline. When has this not been to the incautious as fire to wax, as a ray of sun to snow or ice? David was wise, Solomon was wise: but the one in part, the other in whole, acted foolishly when too flattering prosperous things smiled upon them. Great is he who falling into adversity did not fall or fell little from wisdom. Nor less is he to whom present felicity smiled, did not mock it. Although you will more easily find those who retained wisdom when fortune was contrary to them, than those who did not lose it when it was favorable."
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11. Because thou hast had this with thee, because thou hast brought it into thy mind to apostatize from me and to worship idols. Or, because in thee hath been found the crime of apostasy and idolatry. I WILL REND THY KINGDOM (into two; namely into the kingdom of Judah and Israel, or of ten tribes); AND I WILL GIVE IT TO MY SERVANT. Jeroboam, whom I will make king of Israel, cap. xii. 13. I will give one tribe to thy son, "one," namely besides his own, as if to say, Besides the tribe of Judah, from which because David was born, hence it itself is reckoned as the proper possession of his descendants, I will add also one other tribe, namely Benjamin. Thus Abulensis, or, as Cajetan holds, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were reckoned as one and the same, and were called "the kingdom of Judah." Furthermore, Abulensis, Torniellus and Salianus hold that God spoke these things to Solomon, not by himself nor by an Angel, because Solomon would be unworthy of that, but through Ahijah the Shilonite, of whom verse 29. Yet Pineda, lib. III, cap. ii, num. 5, holds that God here appeared to Solomon a third time by himself; for the words signify this plainly, when it is said verse 11: "And the Lord said to Solomon." Finally, Solomon answered nothing to God, whence it appears that he persisted in his crime. Thou wilt ask, whether Solomon is damned or saved? This is an ancient problem. They hold him damned: Tertullian, lib. II De Praescript. cap. ii; Cyprian, epist. 7; St. Augustine, lib. XVII De Civit. Dei, cap. viii and xx; St. Chrysostom, serm. De Paenitentia; Bede in lib. III Reg. cap. vi; Rabanus in IV Reg. cap. xxiii; Isidore, De Vita et morte Proph. cap. xxiv; Lyran, Abulensis, and others here. The first reason is, because Scripture, recounting his so grave a fall, does not add his repentance, as it does add it in the fall of David. Secondly, because he himself did not destroy his temples built for idols: for he destroyed them at last, Josiah did. Some answer that he either preserved them, or destroyed them down to ruins, which, rebuilt by the impious, are called "the high places of Solomon;"; but they say this, they do not prove it. Thirdly, because God seems to have heaped upon Solomon in this life all goods for this reason, that his merits might be rewarded in this life, and his crimes punished in the future, according to that word of Abraham to the rich man: "Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." Fourthly, because the burning love of women, strengthened by long habit, is almost insuperable: but such was the love of Solomon, who was surrounded on all sides by so many of his mistresses desperately loved, that even if he wished to repent, he could not. This is borne out by what happened a few years ago in Italy to one of our Society. He was called to attend a certain man living in concubinage at his death. He attended, and with all his strength urged him to repentance, that he might bid farewell to illicit loves, now coaxing, now threatening him with God's judgment and hell. And his concubine also, weeping, begged him to repent, and to provide for the salvation of his soul in dying: all sang in vain to deaf ears. For he said that he neither wished nor could abandon a friend so long beloved. Wherefore, impenitent, he breathed out his wretched soul. On the other hand, the ancient Rabbis, and from them St. Jerome, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Rupert, Pineda, Salianus, Barradius, Serarius, Sanchez, Bellarmine and others, hold that he repented and was saved, who assert that after his fall he wrote Ecclesiastes, in which, as it were repenting, he exclaims that he had devoted himself to vain loves and idols: "Vanity of vanities, and all things are vanity." This argument would be strong, if it were established that Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon after his fall, not before, concerning which I have spoken in the preface to Ecclesiastes: for his sayings and writings are recounted at the beginning of this book cap. iv and v, before his fall: but his fall is narrated in this cap. xi only in his old age. They prove first, because God, II Reg. vii, had promised to David that he would correct Solomon, if he sinned, "with the rod of men," by which namely men are accustomed to be chastised so that they may be amended. Secondly, because in Prov. cap. xxiv, 23, the Septuagint adds: And I also at last did penance, and looked that I might choose discipline. Thirdly, because Solomon was Iddia, that is, beloved of God, a type of Christ and a canonical writer of so many sacred books. Pineda proves this in many ways, lib. VIII De Rebus Salomon, cap. 1, sect. 6. I have opened my opinion Eccli. xlvii, 22, at those words: "Thou hast given a blemish to thy glory." A certain notable preacher at Rome publicly asserted while preaching, that it was recently revealed to a certain holy person that Solomon has endured sharp punishments in purgatory up to these times, but that he has now been absolved from them and has gone into heaven. But these revelations are to be examined, nor should easy credence be given to women asserting them.
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14. AND THE LORD RAISED UP AN ADVERSARY TO SOLOMON, ADAD THE IDUMAEAN, FROM THE SOUTH, JUST AS HE RAISED UP RAZON AS AN ENEMY TO HIM FROM THE NORTH, verse 23. This punishment was inflicted by God upon Solomon while still living; the former, namely the division of the kingdom, was inflicted upon him after his death. How God raises up enemies against Israel and the faithful, I have explained in Judges III, 8. Furthermore, Pineda, book VII, chapter xviii, number 7, holds that these threats of God concerning the division of the kingdom were made to Solomon in the thirty-second year of his reign, so that in the remaining eight years he would endure the greatest troubles both in mind and body. The same author, however, in his Chronology, refers this rebuke to the end of the thirty-seventh year of Solomon. He wishes the adversaries to have been raised up to Solomon in the thirty-eighth year, Solomon himself to have repented in the thirty-ninth year, and finally to have died in the fortieth year: which distribution seems most consonant with reason, says Salianus.
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15. AND JOAB WENT UP TO BURY THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SLAIN. It is probable, as Cajetan holds, that it happened then that the garrisons of David left in Idumaea, which he had subdued, were slain by the Idumaeans after his death: and so Joab went there to bury them and to avenge their death: hence he slew all the males of the Idumaeans, except perhaps the small children, who are excepted by the law in Deuteronomy xx, 14.
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21. HE SAID TO PHARAOH: LET ME GO THAT I MAY DEPART INTO MY OWN LAND. Here there appears to have been a sequence of history which Scripture here wraps up in few words. Adad, of the royal seed of Idumaea, fled as a boy, or rather was carried off by servants into Egypt, when David was laying waste Idumaea. In Egypt he found favour with Pharaoh, so much so that Pharaoh gave him his wife's sister as a wife. He, hearing that David the devastator of Idumaea was dead, asked permission from Pharaoh to return to his kingdom of Idumaea, which Pharaoh at length granted. Therefore in the third year of Solomon he returned to Idumaea, being about thirty years old, as Abulensis says, where with the good will of Solomon, through the intervention of Pharaoh, who had joined both to himself by affinity, he appears to have reigned in Idumaea as a tributary under the same law and condition of tribute which David had imposed; for nothing is found to have been changed or disturbed in Idumaea from that time. He, in the final years of Solomon, seeing him become effeminate, infatuated and contemptible, denied him the tribute, and rebelling, vindicated himself and his Idumaea into freedom. Thus Abulensis, Salianus and others (1).
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23. God also raised up an adversary to him, Razon, who, as follows, becoming a prince of robbers, established himself as king of Damascus. This punishment was just and fitting, so that to Solomon rebelling against God, both subjects and those subdued in war would likewise rebel. Thus God raises up adversaries to the sinner, who may goad him and compel him to return to God.
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25. AND RAZON WAS AN ADVERSARY TO ISRAEL ALL THE DAYS OF SOLOMON: AND THIS IS THE EVIL OF HADAD, AND THE HATRED AGAINST ISRAEL, AND HE REIGNED IN SYRIA. Josephus, Cajetan and others explain it thus, that is to say, Razon joined himself with Hadad, and strengthened by his aid rebelled against Solomon, and made himself king of Syria. But they err: for Razon made himself king of Syria, namely of Damascus, as was said in the preceding verse. But Hadad, as the son of the king of Idumaea, reigned in his own Idumaea. The sense therefore is, that is to say, Razon was an adversary to Israel and Solomon, and thus increased the evil of the hostility of Hadad against Israel, "and he reigned in Syria," namely Razon himself, not Hadad. Whence the Chaldean renders it, and (Razon) was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, and with the evil which Hadad did, he rebelled in Israel, and reigned over Aram, that is Syria, that is to say, Razon with Hadad rebelled against Solomon, and afflicted Israel, and made himself king of Syria. Thus Vatablus, Pineda and Salianus. This is clearly signified by the Roman Septuagint, which transposes these words and joins them to verse 22, where they thus read: And Ader returned into his own land, that is the evil which Ader did, and he aggravated, or afflicted Israel, and he reigned in the land of Edom: For Aram some read Edom: for the letters ד and ר are very similar, so that one is often substituted for the other; as here for Hadad the Septuagint reads Ader. Scripture therefore concludes by joining together two enemies of Solomon, namely Hadad and Razon, and adding a third and greatest one in the following verse, namely Jeroboam. Finally, both opinions can be reconciled by saying that Hadad first reigned in Idumaea, then from it, as being mountainous and barren, migrated into Syria, as being rich and fertile, and upon the death of Razon his companion in rebellion succeeded him in the kingdom of Syria. For his son Benadad was king of Syria, as appears in III Kings xx, 1, indeed from Hadad the other kings of Syria after him were called Benadad, that is sons and successors of Hadad, and therefore hostile to Israel. Thus St. Jerome in chapter I of Amos, the Rabbis and Vatablus, book IV of Kings, chapter vi, verse 28. 26. JEROBOAM ALSO THE SON OF NABATH, AN EPHRATHITE. This was the third enemy of Solomon. The Hebrews according to St. Jerome in the Tradition hold "Nabath" to be Shimei, who cursed David, and therefore was slain by Solomon, wherefore his son Jeroboam conceived a grave and, as it were, inborn hatred against David and Solomon from his father, and therefore rebelled against him. But they err: for Shimei was of the tribe of Benjamin, but Jeroboam was "an Ephrathite" that is of the tribe of Ephraim, which tribe was arrogant, rival to Judah, and desirous of power. Whence in Jeroboam it occupied that, and held it almost throughout the entire time of the kings of Israel. Salianus shows by many examples the arrogance and turbulent character of the Ephraimites in the year of the world 3057, number 22. A WIDOW WOMAN. Thus the Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint here; but in the following chapter the Roman Septuagint has, a woman who fornicates, or a harlot: and thus reads Lucifer of Cagliari, book On the Kings of the Apostates. LIFTED UP HIS HAND AGAINST THE KING, after he received from the prophet Ahijah ten rents of the mantle, and through them the promise from God of the kingdom of ten tribes, as follows; for then it appears he solicited the ten tribes by the revelation of this prophecy, so that they would fall away from Solomon, so harsh an exactor of tributes, to him as one who would be milder: perhaps also he openly rebelled against Solomon, and invaded the kingdom, as these words insinuate. Thus Josephus, Pineda and Salianus; although Abulensis and Torniellus also hold that Jeroboam rebelled before the prophecy of Ahijah. In which he sinned: for God here promised him the kingdom of ten tribes only through Ahijah, but did not actually give it to him now, but only after the death of Solomon under Rehoboam. Wherefore unjustly and wrongfully did Jeroboam rise up against Solomon his king. Thus Abulensis. Just as when Samuel secretly anointed David as king, he did not thereby give him the right to the kingdom, but that he should reign after the death of Saul: whence David, while Saul lived, attempted nothing concerning the kingdom. Finally, Salianus thinks that Jeroboam likewise attempted nothing against Solomon, but only that it is said he "lifted up his hand against the king," because he was designated by Ahijah as king against Solomon, and he accepted this designation of Ahijah. For in common speech, he who accepts a kingdom, although offered to him, is said to rebel against the king; but Serarius says he "lifted up his hand" against Solomon, because he lifted it against Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But since Scripture properly signifies by this phrase that he soon attempted something against Solomon, and this is confirmed by adding: "And this is the cause of his rebellion against him." He therefore rebelled against Solomon himself. Whence Josephus, book VIII, chapter ii: "By these," he says, "words of the Prophet, Jeroboam, being raised to great hopes, since he was otherwise of an restless and ambitious nature, as soon as he came into his own province, not unmindful of the prophetic presage, began to solicit the people to fall away from Solomon: and thus to confer the principate upon him." Josephus is followed by Torniellus, Pineda, Abulensis and others.
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31. Take for yourself ten divisions, so that by this you may know that you will take away from Rehoboam out of the twelve tribes of Solomon's kingdom, and will arrogate to yourself ten tribes of Israel, as Ahijah presently explains. Symbolically, these ten divisions signified that the kingdom of ten tribes in ten families succeeding one another would be divided, and would be divided ten times, says Rupertus. For this was the order and succession of the kings of Israel or of the ten tribes. Jeroboam made the first division of the ten tribes from the two. His son, says Rupertus, lib. V, cap. IV, by name Nadab was struck down by Baasha. This is the second division of the kingdom of Israel. Baasha's son Elah was killed by Zimri, and he reigned in his place. Zimri burned himself in the palace while Omri was besieging it, and he also reigned in his place. After him Ahab reigned, and after him his son Ahaziah, and after him his brother Joram. But Jehu killed him and reigned in his place up to the fourth generation. The fifth from him was struck down by Shallum, and he reigned in his place. But Menahem also struck him down and reigned in his place. The son of this one, Pekahiah, was struck down by Pekah son of Remaliah, and he reigned in his place, but Hoshea also conspired against him and struck him down and killed him, and reigned in his place. Against him the king of the Assyrians came up and carried Israel away into Assyria. This was the tenth division. For in Jeroboam the first, in Baasha the second, in Zimri the third, in Omri the fourth, in Jehu the fifth, in Shallum the sixth, in Menahem the seventh, in Pekah son of Remaliah the eighth, in Hoshea the ninth, in the king of the Assyrians, who, dividing those separated from God and their king David, also divided them in place, by transferring them into Assyria, is rightly reckoned the tenth. Tropologically, Jeroboam the first schismatic denotes heretics, who rend their Church by heresy: and especially princes, who in order to invade the kingdom of their orthodox king, introduce heresy and call heretics to their aid, as Jeroboam did (we have seen this same thing done in Belgium) and for this reason lost his kingdom, as God here threatens him by predicting. Hence appropriately, says Angelomus, "Jeroboam in Hebrew is interpreted as judging the people. For heretics also seem to judge the people, when they make followers of their error." Then indeed that happens: "Take for yourself ten divisions." Thus also Rupertus, lib. V, cap. v, Eucherius, Bede and others.
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32. Moreover one tribe (Judah with Benjamin associated with it) SHALL REMAIN TO HIM, namely to Solomon, that is to Rehoboam the son and successor of Solomon. 36. THAT THERE MAY REMAIN A LAMP TO DAVID MY SERVANT. "Lamp" is called the posterity of King David, not of any kind, but royal, splendid and glorious. For just as the light of the sun spreading itself forth scatters new light in the air, and just as one candle or lamp lights another, and this one another and another; so likewise King David begat King Solomon, and Solomon begat King Rehoboam, and thus of his other descendants. "Lamp" therefore is called here the royal succession of the descendants of David, which was as it were a lamp and as it were a certain remnant of light, that is of the splendor and glory of David shining forth in Jerusalem. Thus Cajetan.
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37. But I will take you up, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38. If therefore you will hear all things that I shall command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David my servant did: I will be with you, and will build you a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to you. 39. And I will afflict the seed of David for this, but yet not all days. 40. Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose and fled into Egypt to Sesac king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom: behold all are written in the Book of the words of the days of Solomon. 42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years. 43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
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38. I WILL BUILD YOU A FAITHFUL HOUSE, that is a royal family, continuous and stable, so that namely your descendants in the kingdom of the ten tribes may succeed in continuous succession. It is remarkable that Jeroboam and princes like him do not believe these words of God, who is the first truth, and his promises; but by contrary means through impiety, frauds and crimes they attempt to prepare for themselves the stability of kingdom and royal offspring; by which it comes to pass that they stir up God against themselves, and thus are utterly overthrown by him, as happened to Jeroboam and to all the kings of Israel his successors.
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39. AND I WILL AFFLICT THE SEED OF DAVID UPON THIS, that is, on account of this, namely on account of thee, if thou shalt be faithful to me, as if to say: If thou shalt serve me faithfully, I will exalt thee, and the rivals of David's posterity, who are thine enemies, I will humble and depress. VERILY NOT ALL DAYS. The Rabbis in Seder-Olam, cap. xv, refer this to the kingdom of Asa, king of Judah, who greatly exalted the kingdom of Judah. Salianus and others refer it to Hezekiah; for in his sixteenth year the ten tribes were carried away into Assyria, and then the kingdom ceased, and the kings of the ten tribes were rivals of the kings of Judah. Mystically, this was most fully accomplished by the Messiah, namely by Christ, who as the son of David again reigned over all Israel and the whole world, and is worshipped by him as God, Messiah and King of kings. Thus Cajetan, Abulensis, Serarius and others. Whence the disciples asked Christ about to ascend into heaven: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1. Furthermore, God so earnestly inculcates true religion and worship of himself upon Jeroboam, because he foresaw that he would make a schism from God and the temple on account of the kingdom, although God wished through him to repair the schism from Solomon made in the worship of God. But why did God, foreknowing this, nevertheless make him king? I answer, that he might punish the people, and give to it a king like itself, namely an impious one, just as he had already before given to it the impious Saul, says Rupertus, and from him Salianus. For the people were already for the most part corrupted, both by imitation of the king and by their own wickedness, to which idleness, luxury, and abundance of all things impelled them. Wishing therefore to chastise the impious people, God gave Jeroboam as king, who would obey the desires and wishes of the people in worshipping idols, and thus would become the cause of so many calamities, and finally of their utter destruction, according to that passage in Job xxxiv, 30: "He maketh a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people."
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40. SOLOMON THEREFORE WISHED (the matter being understood, namely that Ahijah had brought the kingdom of the ten tribes to Jeroboam) TO KILL JEROBOAM, as a rival and usurper of his kingdom. The Chaldean adds, Cant. cap. viii, vers. 12, that he also wished to kill Ahijah, because he himself had brought the kingdom to him, and therefore Ahijah likewise fled into Egypt: but Scripture has nothing here concerning Ahijah; yet it is probable. For kings are delicate, and persecute any, even the holy, who strive to bring other kings to power, as guilty of treason; for he who touches the kingdom touches the apple of their eye. But this was a great blindness of Solomon, says Dionysius, ambition and impatience, as if he wished and could prevent the purpose of God concerning the division of the kingdom.
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41. In the Book of the Words (that is, of the deeds or acts) of Solomon, namely in the Diaries, Chronicles and Annals of Solomon. 43. AND SOLOMON SLEPT (with the sleep of death) WITH HIS FATHERS, in the fortieth year of his age, as Lyran, Abulensis, and others say. Zonaras and Cedrenus relate that his sepulchre was split asunder and collapsed under the Emperor Hadrian, and that this event portended tumults and disturbances among the Jews. Thus also Dio in his account of Hadrian, book LXIX, treating of the desertion of the Jews, on account of which nearly all were slain by him and all Judaea was laid waste: "This," he says, "had been announced to them before the war was waged, from the fact that the monument of Solomon, whom they hold in the highest reverence, had of its own accord been divided and had fallen into ruin." The figure and form of Solomon is gathered from Canticles v, 10: "My beloved is white and ruddy," etc. Thus Pineda collects it, book VI, chapter iv, and from him Salianus. Solomon was of a white and ruddy complexion, of a warm and moist nature, but somewhat warmer, with thick hair; with golden hair, and moderately curling, like the fronds of palm trees; eyes of just magnitude, filling their sockets, shining and blue, with a gentle and placid gaze; cheeks blooming and cheerful, like lilies mixed with roses: his lips thin and soft, like the ruddy lilies of Syria; his mouth breathing forth a sweet odour; hands delicate, soft, well-formed, as if polished on a lathe; fingers longer, arms more slender; chest and thorax white, like an ivory box, of moderate size and form; his legs like columns of marble, or of the whitest Parian marble; feet like the most elaborately wrought golden bases, of moderate size; his gait firm and constant; his stature tall and upright; his voice most sweet: worthy to represent one fair in form above the sons of men. But the advancing years and vices took away most of these things from Solomon: and especially the unbridled lust and diseases, sorrows and anguishes on account of idolatry sent upon him by God in his old age: whence Ecclesiasticus, chapter xlvii, concludes his praises with this mournful catastrophe and lamentation: "And thou didst bow thy loins unto women: and in thy body thou didst many things amiss: and thou didst stain thy honour, and profane thy seed, so as to bring wrath upon thy children, and to be grieved at thy folly, that thou didst divide thy kingdom." See the words there. In the twentieth year of Solomon's reign was born Homer, the wisest poet of the Greeks, whom Virgil, the prince of Latin poets, imitated and followed throughout in Latin verse. Wherefore concerning Homer's birthplace seven cities of Greece contend, namely "Smyrna, Rhodes, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athens:" Indeed the inhabitants of the island of Io, as Gellius testifies, book III, chapter xi, erected an altar to Homer and sacrificed to him as to a god. Homer was a contemporary and equal of Hesiod. Thus it was fitting that under Solomon, the wisest of the Hebrews, indeed of all mortals, wisdom should be born among the Greeks, and from thence be transferred to the Latins. Thus from St. Cyril, book VII Against Julian, and others, Salianus says that in the twentieth year of Solomon, which was the 168th year from the destruction of Troy, 460 years before Rome was founded, then also the sixth king Silvius, son of Aeneas Silvius, was reigning in Latium, and Dido founded Carthage, as Eusebius says in his Chronicle. Finally Josephus, book VIII, chapter iii, places this epitaph upon Solomon: "Solomon dies, the most fortunate, the most wealthy and the most prudent of all kings, except for the sin to which he was drawn in his old age by women." Already before he had proclaimed, and preached to the whole world, Solomon: "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity," and yet the vanity and vain appearance of women maddened him in his old age, and made him vain, so that he made himself the supreme mirror of vanity. For his wisdom vanished, his holiness vanished, his power vanished, his happiness and glory vanished, his health and present life finally vanished, would that not his eternal life. What is man, even the wisest, the richest, the most powerful, if he forsakes God and is forsaken by God? surely he is nothing other than a slave of vanity, an image of folly, a prey of death, an abyss of miseries. Oh! if it were permitted to Solomon to return to life, what penance would he do, what manner of life would he establish, what would he cry out to mortals! surely that which St. Salvius, recalled from death to life, says in Gregory of Tours, book VII of the History, chapter 1: "Hear, ye sons of Adam, and understand, that there is nothing which ye see in this world; but all is vanity. Therefore despise all things as vain, that ye may deserve to attain the true glory of God in heaven." Vain are sceptres, vain are tiaras, vain is Venus, vain are riches, vain are wines, vain is the whole world. "O cares of men, O how much emptiness is in things!" Nothing is true, nothing is good, nothing is great, except what is eternal. Think of eternal things, seek eternal things: that God may bless you eternally, for ever and ever. Amen.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
11:1
… King Solomon had foreign wives: the daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt, Moabite, Sidonian, Hittite women (1 Kings 11:1). Many centuries earlier, Esau son of Jacob married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite (Gen. 26:34). Judg. 1:22 ff. recounts that an …
There is also insistence on reproving marriage with foreign women as a cause of religious syncretism and moral corruption (cf. Gen. 28:6-9; Jud. 3:5 f.; I Kings 11:1 f.; Mal. 2:11 f.; Esd. 9:1 ff.; Neh. 10:30; 13:23-25). In a particular way the prohibition applied to the various Canaanite populations of Palestine or of the neighboring regions …
… It continues by describing the extraordinary power of this King against the occult forces; finally it is noted how he lost all superhuman power because of his love affairs with foreign women (cf. 1 Kings 11:1 ff.).
… sometimes a symbol of the Messiah, not all the individual traits of his life lent themselves to this symbolic use, and least of all did his marital vicissitudes lend themselves to it, since his marital straying was reproached to him by the Bible itself (I Kings 11, 1-4; Ecclus. [Vulg.] 42, 21-22). And in reality neither his marriage to the Egyptian woman, nor much less his supposed loves with the Shulammite or other women, had such resonance as …
… And it often derives from "mixed marriages"; King Solomon offers us a typical example of this (III Kings 11:1-18). Within the ambit of a single religion, rivalry between independent sanctuaries drives them to appropriate from one another conceptions and practices that meet with the favor of their clients. …
11:3
… S. formed for himself a harem with an exaggerated number of women (1 Kings 11, 3; cf. Cant. 6, 8), many of them foreign and idolatrous, toward whom the theocratic king, builder of the temple of Yahweh, was so weak as to build in Jerusalem and its surroundings …
11:4
… In it the Septuagint translates with τέλειον the Hebrew word tāmim which indicated perfection (Deut. 18:13; I Reg. 8:61; 11:4; Wis. 9:6) more in the sense of legal, exterior perfection than intimate, though not excluding it (cf. Fr. Platt, Perfection, in Enc. of Rel. and Eth., IX, 728 ff.).
11:5
… Milcom is the Babylonian Malkum, venerated by the eastern Semites from the 24th century B.C. Solomon erected an altar to Milcom to the right of the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11:5, 7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13).
… The Vulgate uses the name in 1 Kings 11:5, 33. The plural is found in Judg. 2:13; 3:7, etc., and is explained analogously to the plural of Baal. …
11:7
CHAMOS (Hebrew Kéméf). - National and principal god of the Moabites (Judg. 11:24; 1 Kings 11:7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13), who were therefore called the "people of C." (Num. 21:29; Jer. 48:46). King Mesha is called "son of C.," and to him, as to a god of war, in order to be delivered …
… Gē-Hinnōm or Gehenna (v.), where human sacrifices had been offered to Moloch (II Kings 23:10); he overturned the altar of the šē'īrīm (Vulg. satyrs), which was near the gate of the city; he desecrated the high places (maššēhōth) erected by Solomon (I Kings 11:7) near the Mount of Olives in honor of Astarte, Chemosh and Moloch: there had been raised steles and sacred poles to Baal and 'Āšērāh, which J. had demolished, filling the places …
In the Old Testament M. is always placed in relation to human sacrifices, particularly of children (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35); they were slaughtered (Ezek. 16:21) and then placed on a grill (tōpheth) to burn, according to the typical Hebrew expression: ha-ābhīr... bā'ēl lam-mōlekh …
11:14
… 18], and cf. 11:14, 23, 25), it is translated ἐπίβουλος "plotter." Διάβολος translates šār and šōrēr ("enemy": Haman) in Esth. 7:4 and 8:1. While the Vulgate of the Old Testament transliterates satan 5 times, the Septuagint admits oṇrā only in 1 Kings 11:14, 23. Διάβολος also occurs in Wis. 2:24 (origin of "death in the world") and 1 Macc. 1:36.
EDOM (IDUMEA). - Name by which are called: 1) the adult Esau (Gen. 25, 30; 36, 19); 2) his descendants and their land (Ex. 15, 15; Num. 20, 14 ff.; Judg. 5, 4; 11, 17 f.; II Sam. 8, 14; I Kings 9, 26; 11, 14 ff.; II Kings 3, 8 f.; 8, 20-22, etc.). …
Joab (HEB. JÔ'ÂBH "YAHWEH IS FATHER")
… fall: this earned him the post of supreme commander (II Sam. 5, 6-8; I Chron. 11, 4-6). He distinguished himself in the wars against the Ammonites, the Arameans and especially against the Edomites, whom he nearly exterminated (II Sam. 10-11; Ps. 59, 2; I Kings 11, 14-21).
Gen. 26:21, "accusation" Ezra 4:6) occurs in the Hebrew Bible nine times as a common noun: "adversary" in war (1 Sam. 29:4; 1 Kings 5:18; 11:14, 23, 25) or in court (Ps. 108:6) or one who bars the way: 2 Sam. 19:23; cf. Matt. 16:23 and Matt. 8:33: Jesus rebuffs Peter who obstructs his path to the cross; 1 Macc. 1:36 the Akra …
11:17
where Jeroboam took refuge, pursued by Solomon's wrath (I Kings 11:40), as Adad had done in the time of David (I Kings 11:17-22). In 927 King Shoshenq even interfered directly in the affairs of Syria and plundered Jerusalem (I Kings 14:25 ff.), subsequently invading also the kingdom of Jeroboam, his protégé; …
David, persecuted by Saul, took refuge there after the death of Samuel (I Sam. 25, 1); the Idumean Hadad too, fleeing from Joab toward Egypt, crossed the desert and led with him many inhabitants of the country (I Reg. 11, 17 ff.).
11:20
… related vicissitudes of the nation, the prophetic message follows uninterruptedly as a constant ministry (I Sam. 3:1; Act. 3:24; Hebr. 11:32). In the time of David: Gad (I Sam. 22:5; etc.) and Nathan (II Sam. 7:2; etc.); under Solomon: Ahijah (I Reg. 11:20; etc.); Shemaiah under Rehoboam; a "man of God" under Jeroboam; Jehu under Baasa (ibid. 12:22; 13; 16:1); Hanani under Asa; Jehu, Jahaziel, Eliezer under Jehoshaphat (II Par. 16:7-10; …
11:23
… David subdued the Aram (v.) of D.; however, under the reign of Solomon D., through the agency of Rezon, became independent again (II Sam. 8, 5-9; I Kings 11, 23-26). Asa, king of Judah, sought and obtained an alliance against Baasha (v.), king of Israel, with Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion (in the Septuagint: Εὐρῶμ), who then incorporated …
… cities, he conquered Hamath, near Hermon (L. Desnoyers [v. op. cit. in bibl.], II, p. 220, n. 1); but the city was retaken from him by Solomon (2 Chron. 8:3), to whom, however, R. continued to give serious trouble, more than Edom itself to the south (1 Kings 11:23 ff.).
Soba (Heb. Ṣābhāh, Ṣābhā', LXX Σοφά,-᾿Αλ)
They had to defend themselves against the Kingdom of S., mostly because it was engaged in small anti-Israelite coalitions: Saul (I Sam. 14:47), David (II Sam. 8:3; 10:6 ff.) and Solomon, who subdued it (II Chron. 8:3; cf. I Kings 11:23-25). After the age of Solomon it is no longer mentioned: it was probably absorbed by Damascus and followed its fortunes until the Assyrian conquest. …
11:26
Already during the reign of Solomon he had distinguished himself as an intelligent worker and had been superintendent of the laborers of the house of Joseph (1 Kings 11:26 ff.). …
11:27
By means of a great embankment or millō' (I Kings 11, 27) the city of David was joined to the new city and with a new wall (called "the first wall" by Fl. Josephus, Bell. …
… The etymology of the name (= "filling") and the purpose set by the monarch "to close up the breach of the city of David" (1 Kings 11:27) suggest a rampart or earthwork, whose exact nature nevertheless remains unknown, to protect some weak point between the "city of David" and the constructions of the Temple and the adjacent palaces.
11:29
Ahiah (Vulgate Ahias; Hebrew 'Abijjah, as in Achiah, q.v.)
… his new cloak into 12 parts and handing 10 of them to him) the will of the Lord to split the kingdom, giving him 10 tribes to govern, and to leave to the descendants of Solomon, because of their sins, one tribe (Judah with a good part of Benjamin; cf. 1 Kings 11:29-40). Now old and blind, to Jeroboam's wife, who had come from Tirzah to question him in Shiloh about their sick son Abijah (v.), he foretold the death of the latter and the destruction …
… In that period the prophet Ahijah signified to him by a symbolic action (tearing the cloak into 12 parts) that he would become head of 10 tribes (1 Kings 11:29-39). Persecuted therefore by Solomon, he sought refuge in Egypt with the pharaoh Shishak. …
… Already in the time of Solomon, Ahijah, to foretell the division of the Kingdom, divided his new cloak into 12 parts and gave 10 of them to Jeroboam (I Kings 11:29 ff.; cf. Is. 20; but especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel, with 4 visions and 11 symbolic actions: F. Spa-
Shiloh (Heb. Šilô or Šilôh; Gr. Sēlō, Sēlōn)
… the Ark fell into the hands of the Philistines and the Sanctuary was destroyed, where the priest Eli had received the boy Samuel (1 Sam. 4; Jer. 7:12; 26:16; Ps. 38:60), the city gradually lost its former importance, although it was still populated (1 Kings 11:29). It regained splendor in the time of the Seleucids down to the Byzantine era; Christians, Jews and Muslims venerated its sacred memories until the 14th century.
… are also found in several historical books, e.g., those performed by Samuel (1 Sam. 11, 5-7), by Jonathan (ibid. 20, 20-22), by the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh (who, by dividing his cloak into twelve parts, symbolized the division of Solomon's Kingdom: 1 Kings 11, 29-39), by a son of the prophets (ibid. 20, 35-43), by the false prophet Zedekiah (ibid. 22, 11), by Elisha (2 Kings 14-19), by Nehemiah (Neh. 5, 12-13). In the New Testament, symbols connected …
11:40
where Jeroboam took refuge, pursued by Solomon's wrath (I Kings 11:40), as Adad had done in the time of David (I Kings 11:17-22). In 927 King Shoshenq even interfered directly in the affairs of Syria and plundered Jerusalem (I Kings 14:25 ff.), subsequently …
Shishak (Heb. Šīšaq, Septuagint Σονοχίμ)
Since Solomon had persecuted Jeroboam, the latter took refuge with S. and remained there until the death of Solomon (I Kings 11:40), so that the hypothesis was formed that Jeroboam himself was the instigator of S.'s invasion of Palestine; but the Pharaoh, after invading the Kingdom of Judah, also plundered a considerable …
11:41
1 and 2 (3 and 4) Book of Kings
The following sources are explicitly cited: the Book of the acts of Solomon (I Reg. 11, 41); the Annals of the Kings of Judah (15 times, the first for Rehoboam [I Reg. 14, 29], the last for Jehoiachin [II Reg. 24, 5]); the Annals of the Kings of Israel (18 times, the first …
… When the hagiographer cites literary sources, it must be supposed that in principle he approves of them (e.g., I Kings 11:41; 14:29; 15:31, etc.). …
11:43
… cemeteries, cut into rocky walls, but also artificial ones (cf. for Abraham and Sarah: Gen. 23, 4-20; for Deborah: ibid. 35, 8; for Jacob, ibid. 49, 29-30; for Moses: Deut. 34, 6; for Joshua: Ios. 24, 30-33; for David: I Reg. 2, 10; for Solomon: ibid. 11, 43; etc.). …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.