LECTURE XXVI. SPECIAL AUTHORITIES FOR THIS PERIOD. I. The contemporary accounts contained in 1. The "Book of the Acts" (or Words) of Solomon (1 Kings xi. 41) 2. The "Book" (i. e. the Words or Acts) of the Prophet Nathan (2 Chr. ix. 29). 3. The "Prophecy" of Ahijah the Shilonite (ibid.). 4. The "Visions" of Iddo the Seer (ibid.). Of these some materials are probably preserved in the accounts of the two historical books of the Old Testament (1 Kings i. 1 — xi. 48 1 Chr. xxviii. 1-2 Chr. ix. 31), and of Ecclus. xlvii. 13–23. II. The contemporary literature of the reign of Solomon. 1. The writings of Solomon himself (1 Kings iv. 32, 33). (a.) Three thousand proverbs. (b.) One thousand and five songs. (c.) "Words" (works) on Natural History. Of these some parts are preserved to us either actually or by imitation in the three books which bear the name of Solomon. 1. "The Proverbs” (i. — xxix.). 2. "The Song of Solomon," or "The Song of Songs." 3. "Ecclesiastes" or "The Preacher" (Heb. Koheleth). To these add the Psalms sometimes connected with him: Ps. ii., xlv., lxxii., cxxvii. III. Books or traditions extraneous to the Canon. 1. His Deutero-canonical or apocryphal writings. (a.) The Wisdom of Solomon, in the person of Solomon, but apparently by an Alexandrian Jew. (This and Ecclesiasticus follow in the LXX. and Vulgate, immediately on the three Proto-canonical books of Solomon, and with these are called "The five books of Wisdom.") (b.) The Psalter of Solomon. Eighteen Psalms which once stood in the Alexandrine MS. at the end of the New Testament, following the Epistles of Clemens Romanus, as appears from the index. They have been published from a MS. in the Augsburg Library by De la Cerda. (Fabricius, Codex Pseudepigraphus Vet. Test. 914-999.) See Lecture XXVIII. (c.) Correspondence between Solomon and Vaphres, King of Egypt, preserved by Eupolemus (Eusebius, Præp. Ev. ix. 31, 82). (d.) Correspondence of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre. (a) Letters preserved by Eupolemus (Eusebius, Præp. Ev. ix. 33, 34, and Josephus, Ant. viii. 2, § 6, 7, 8), of which the copies apparently existed both at Tyre and Jerusalem in the time of Josephus. (3) Riddles, mentioned by Menander and Dios, the Phonician historians (Josephus, Ant. viii. 5, § 3, and c. Apion, i. 17, 18; Theophilus Antioch. ad Autolycum, iii. p. 131, 132). (e.) Charms, seals, &c., of Solomon, alluded to by Josephus, Ant. viii. 2, § 5 (see also Pineda, De Rebus Salomonis; and Fabricius, Codex Pseudepigraphus Vet. Test. p. 1031-1057). 2. Later traditions of his history. (a.) In Josephus, Ant. viii. 1-7. (b.) In the Arabian stories (Koran, xxii. 15-19, xxvii. 20–45, LECTURE XXVI. THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON. SOLOMON, the third king of Israel, is as unlike either The age of of his predecessors as each of them is unlike Solomon. the other. No person occupies so large a space in Sacred History, of whom so few personal incidents are related. That stately and melancholy figure — in some respects the grandest and the saddest in the sacred volume is, in detail, little more than a mighty shadow. But on the other hand, of his age, of his court, of his works, we know more than of any other. Now, for the first time since the Exodus, we find distinct traces of dates- years, months, days. Now at last we seem to come across monuments, which possibly remain to this day. Of the earlier ages of Jewish history, nothing has lasted to our time except it be the sepulchres and wells, works of Nature rather than of men. But it is not beyond belief that the massive walls at the reservoirs near Bethlehem, the substructures of the temple at Jerusalem, and at Baalbec, are from the age of Solomon. Now also we come within certain signs of contemporary history in the outer world. In the reign of Solomon we at last meet with an Egyptian sovereign, designated by his proper name-Shishak and in his still-existing portraiture on the walls of Karnac, we have thus the first distinct image of one who beyond question had communicated with the chosen people. Now also the date to which we have |