CHAPTER 7
1. Then Shlomoh [took] thirteen years to build his own house, and when he had finished his own house,
This does not necessarily mean Shlomoh’s house was more elaborate than YHWH’s Temple, just because he took almost twice as long to build it. Undoubtedly he had more of an urgency when building the Temple, and built his own at a more relaxed pace. Josephus agrees with this, saying he began after the Temple was completed, and was not as zealous for this project.
2. he built the House of the Forest of Levanon. Its length was 100 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits above four rows of cedar pillars, with cut cedar beams on the pillars.
This building, which was larger than the Temple and the same size as the courtyard of the Tabernacle, may have been built to commemorate where he got the materials for the Temple, or to celebrate the Phoenician alliance which included himself and Khiram. All through ancient history, many powerful nations conquered Levanon for access to these trees, but Shlomoh obtained them in a respectful and respectable way—by paying for them. By Roman Emperor Hadrian’s time (about 100 years after Y’shua’s death), the forests were already so depleted that he felt it necessary to cordon off a large area as a forest preserve. The modern Lebanese have done so again. The building also could have served as somewhat of a museum to exhibit his great knowledge of horticulture. (5:13) It was later used to house shields and vessels of gold. (10:17-21) The Aramaic targum Pseudo-Jonathan calls it “a house for the cooling of kings”, and Rashi describes it as a “summer house made for air”. Radak explains that it was common for kings to have summer homes in the forests because it was cooler there; apparently Shlomoh brought the forest to him, for a careful study of the Hebrew terms by Israeli botanist Nogah Reuveni shows that these “cut cedar beams” were probably ramified limbs amputated from trees with their needles still on them, bracketed horizontally into the cedar pillars to simulate live cedars. Josephus indeed says the pillars were embellished to look like trees with their leaves so subtly crafted that they appeared to be moving.
3. Then it was paneled with cedar on the side-beams that were on top of the 45 pillars (15 to a row).
Paneled with cedar: Hareuveni translates it, “roofed with 45 cedar planks, 15 in a row, which were laid upon the beams that rested on the pillars.” She illustrates this as 15 support beams laid perpendicular to the 4 rows (v. 2) of 15 cedar pillars, each across the tops of four of the pillars (one from each row), with the slats of wood laid at intervals perpendicular to the beams so they would still let sunlight come in through the roof.
4. And there were transparent framed passages in three rows, reflecting-glass [adjacent] to reflecting-glass in three occurrences.
Reflecting-glass: from a word meaning “light” or “place of seeing”, related to the term for “seer”, who would often have visions in the reflection in a well’s water.
5. And all the doorways and side-doorposts had squared frames, and a reflecting-glass was opposite a reflecting-glass three times.
At both ends of each framed “see-through” passage between the rows of “trees” were opposing mirrors that would reflect the “trees” endlessly back and forth, giving the illusion of being in an infinite forest—astounding the diplomatic and trade delegations that would visit Yerushalayim, leaving an indelible impression. (Hareuveni)
6. And he made the columned porch 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide. And the porch was over their faces, and the pillars and the main beam were over their faces.
7. And the porch of the throne where he judged he made the Porch of Judgment, and it was paneled with cedar from split floor to split floor.
This is a second porch where Shlomoh held court. Since this area had been a threshing floor where the former owner had winnowed grain, it must have been a breezy area, making it pleasant to sit in a semi-open-air place rather than indoors when the weather was warm.
8. And [as for] his own house where he lived, the other courtyard within the porch was just like this workmanship. And Shlomoh also made a house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken [as a wife], just like this porch.
Porch: literally, silencer. Pharaoh’s daughter was his first wife, and clearly the senior woman of his household once he took other wives, judging by the fact that he built her her own palace; since this thirteen years would end about 24 years into his 40-year reign, he undoubtedly had quite a few other wives by the time it was built.
9. All of these stones were costly, according to the measurement of hewn stones, sawed with saws inside and out, the foundation as well as the coping, and on the outside as far as the large courtyard.
David had set the Ammonites he conquered to the tasks of hewing wood and drawing water (2 Shmu’el 12:31). Would Shlomoh have retained them as slaves to do this work? 1 Kings 9:15-20 states that he used the remnants of the nations that Y’hoshua had conquered where not all were killed. Coping: the trim or molding on the eaves. The Hebrew term comes from the term for “handbreadth”.
10. And the foundation was of costly stones—large stones—stones ten cubits and eight cubits [long].
Costly: or precious, but there are no precious stones this big, so they could have been something like marble or just expensive limestone since they were so large. These would be twelve to fifteen feet (16 to 20 meters) long. Yeshayahu/Isa. 54:11 and Rev. 21:19 speak of the foundations of the whole city of Yerushalayim in days to come being built of such materials.
11. And above were precious stones, according to the measurement of hewn stones, and cedar.
12. And the large courtyard on every side was [made up] of three rows of hewn stones, and a row of cut cedar beams, both for the inner courtyard of the House of YHWH and for the porch of the House.
Or, cedar beams, and [it extended] to the inner courtyard… All of these buildings were part of the entire palace complex, and Josephus says there were also smaller outbuildings for cooking, dining, storage, etc.
13. Then King Shlomoh sent and brought Khiram from Tzor.
14. He was the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Nafthali, and his father was a man of Tzor, an engraver of bronze, and he was filled with all the skill and intelligence and knowledge to accomplish all the craftsmanship in bronze, so he came to King Shlomoh and carried out all of his craftsmanship.
This is not the same Khiram who was the king of Tzor, but was probably younger than he and named for him when Khiram was already king. He correlates with both B’tzal’El and Aholiav, constructors of the Tabernacle (Ex. 31). His name is elsewhere written as Khuram, which is reminiscent of B’tzal’El’s grandfather Khur, and bronze is a picture of judgment, the meaning of “Dan”, whose tribe Aholiav was from. Khiram means “noble”. Due to his mixed parentage, it is not certain that thos Khiram would be allowed to be part of the assembly of Israel, but he was celebrated for his expertise.
15. That is, he formed the two pillars of bronze. The height of one pillar was 18 cubits, and a measuring-cord of 12 cubits went around the second pillar.
The pillars were about 27 feet tall. I.e., the circumference of the pillar was 12 cubits, or 18 feet. This would make them about 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter. Somewhat different measurements are given in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 3.
16. And he made two capital-crowns, cast of molten bronze, to put on the tops of the pillars. Five cubits was the height of the one capital-crown; five cubits was also the height of the second capital-crown.
17. Nets of entwined chainwork festooned the capital-crowns that were on top of the pillars, seven for the one capital-crown, and seven for the second capital-crown.
Festoons: or, twisted threads.
18. When he fashioned the pillars, two rows went around on the one net to cover the capital-crowns that were on top of the pomegranates, and he did the same for the second capital-crown.
Pillars: from a word for standing or enduring, and they often do live up to this by being all that is left when the roof and walls have crumbled. Yahsahu said he would make the overcomer like a pillar in His Father’s household that would nevetr have to leave. (Rev. 3:12) The pomegranates: described in verse 20.
19. And the capital-crowns that were on to of the pillars were fashioned like six-petalled flowers on the porch—four cubits.
Six-petalled flowers: the identity is not precise, but it was probably daffodils, narcissus, or lilies. Four cubits: The capitals were each about 6 feet (2 meters) high.
20. And also, above the capital-crowns on both of the pillars, corresponding to the hollow that crossed over the network, were 200 rows of pomegranates all around on the second capital-crown.
21. He stood the pillars up for the porch of the Temple. When he set up the pillar on the right, he called its name Yakhin. When he set up the pillar on the left, he called its name Boaz.
For the porch: They apparently did not hold up the porch, but either stood on top of it or flanked its entrance—a common practice at that time, though its purpose is unknown. Yakhin means “He will establish”. Boaz means “in Him is strength”. Together, they would form a reminder to all who saw them that Israel’s strength and security were actually in YHWH. Boaz was also, incidentally, the name of Shlomoh’s great-grandfather, without whom neither he nor David would have existed. (Ruth 4:10) Moshe had sung of establishing the people on the mountain of YHWH’s inheritance (Ex. 15:17), and the pillars would remind the people who might have been complaining about how much he taxed them to pay for these projects that this was actually commanded in the Torah, as his authority to do such a thing.
22. And on the top of the pillars was workmanship of six-petalled flowers. Then the work on the pillars was complete.
23. Then he made a molten-cast “sea” ten by the cubit from rim to rim. It rotated around, and its height was five by the cubit, and a measuring-line of 30 by the cubit went all the way around it.
This large basin was 15 feet in diameter. Rotated around: or, was round on every side. It was 45 feet in circumference.
24. Under its rim it was encircled by gourd-shaped [decorations] going all the way around it, ten per cubit, enclosing the “sea” from every side in two rows. The gourd-shapes were cast [in the mold] when it was cast.
25. It stood on top of twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing the west, three facing the south, and three facing the sunrise, with the “sea” was [set] on them from above, and all of their back ends were [turned] inward.
This is how the twelve tribes (other than Levi) were laid out around the Tabernacle in the wilderness. (Numbers 2:3-31) It therefore symbolized the purification of all of the tribes of Israel.
26. And it was as thick as an extended handbreadth, and its rim was crafted like the rim of the cup of the bloom of a six-petalled flower. It could hold 2,000 baths.
Bath: a unit of liquid measure, equal to the dry measure of an eyfah (about 9 imperial gallons or 40 liters, so it could hold the equivalent of 80,000 coke bottles! Some rabbinical writings consider it half of this amount.)
27. Then he made ten bronze bases. Four by the cubit was the length of the one base, four by the cubit its width, and three by the cubit its height.
Bases: The Hebrew word emphasizes that they would be firmly fixed and would stabilize what they upheld. As we will see, these “bases” held washbasins that could be rolled around to different areas of the Temple courts as needed.
28. And this was the design of the base: they had valves, and the valves were between the joints.
Valves: literally, something that closed up.
29. And on the valves that were between the joints [there were] lions, oxen, and kh’ruvim, and on the joints, a pedestal [to stabilize] what was above. And below the lions and oxen were ornaments of sunken workmanship,
Pedestal: or, the same as. Sunken: or possibly, hanging.
30. with four bronze wheels for each base, as well as bronze axles. And its four occurrences had sloping [supports] underneath the washbasin. The molten-cast sloping [supports] were across from each ornament.
31. And its mouth was on the inside of the crown a cubit above, and its mouth was round with the same workmanship, a cubit and half a cubit. On its mouth were also carvings, and their valves were square, not round.
The same workmanship: The Temple Institute interprets this as meaning these washbasins were made in the same style as the much larger “sea”, except that it had a lid that opened and closed by a hinge. They were smaller, portable versions of it--carts that could be filled from the large washbasin and used wherever needed in the courts of the Temple.
32. And the four wheels were lower than the valves. The hubs of the wheels were on the base, and the height of one wheel was a cubit and a half.
Hubs: or, axle-trees; literally, hands, so the Temple Institute interpreted them as having five spokes, like fingers.
33. And the workmanship of the wheels was like the style of a chariot wheel—their hubs, their convex surfaces, their spokes, and what held them together were all of cast [metal].
34. And the four sloping [supports went] toward the four corners of one base, and the supports were [part] of the base [itself].
35. And the height of the top of the base was half a cubit, and it rotated all the way around, and on the top of the base, its hinges and its clasps came [directly] from it.
Hinges: again, literally hands—i.e., tenons. Clasps: or, closers, the same word in Hebrew as “valves” above, but with a different purpose here, that of keeping the lids of the basin closed. Came from it: i.e., were cast as part of the same mold when the basin was being made.
36. And on its hinge-plates and its clasps he engraved kh’ruvim, lions, and figures of palm trees, wherever there were blank spaces on each, with ornamentation all around.
He left no part of them bare or undecorated!
37. He made the ten bases like this; all of them had one [and the same] cast, one measurement, one shape.
Shape: or size; literally, one cut.
38. Then he made ten bronze washbasins. One washbasin held forty baths. The one basin [measured] four by the cubit. One washbasin [went] on top of one base, for [each of] the ten bases.
39. And he set five bases on the right shoulder of the House, and five on the shoulder on its left [side], and the “sea” he stationed eastward from the right shoulder of the House, toward the Negev.
The “right” shoulder would therefore be from the perspective of inside the Temple facing out the front door. The Temple Institute’s depiction of this “sea” actually has it in the northeast quadrant of the Temple courtyard for unknown reasons.
40. Then Khiram made the fire-pots and the shovels and the pitchers. Thus Khiram completed the production of all the craftsmanship that he made for King Shlomoh [for the] House of YHWH:
Pitchers: literally, vessels to toss the blood of the slaughtered animals against the altar. They had a long handle and were pointed at the bottom so the priest could not set them down until after he had dashed the blood out of them, so that it would not coagulate while he forgetfully did something else en route to the altar.
41. two pillars, the two bowls of the capital-crowns that were on top of the pillars, two nets to cover both bowls of the capital-crowns that were on top of the pillars,
42. 400 pomegranates for both of the nets (two rows of pomegranates for each net to cover both bowls of the capital-crowns that were on top of the pillars),
43. the ten bases and the ten washbasins on top of the bases,
44. and the one “sea” and the twelve oxen beneath the “sea”,
45. as well as the fire-pots, the shovels, and the pitchers. And all of these implements that Khiram made for King Shlomoh [for the] House of YHWH [were of] smoothly-polished bronze.
Smoothly-polished: from a term meaning to scour, push, wring out, or drive recklessly—i.e., burnished with very heavy friction! They would be extremely reflective. To be able to shine like this, we need the judgment of Torah and the sharpening of life in community.
46. The king [had] them cast in the district of the Yarden in the compacted clay soil between Sukkoth and Tzarthan.
Sukkoth was where Yaaqov had built stables for his animals, and Tzarthan was where the priests had stood in the river to stop the water flow while Y’hoshua led the whole nation across the Yarden into the Land. Thus this soil that was somehow best for the project was on the opposite side of the Yarden River from Yerushalayim, in present-day Jordan. The hard clay was itself the mold, whether directly or indirectly, such as through wax casts being made first and then displaced with gold as the present-day Temple menorah was made. But techniques existed then that are not understood today.
47. And Shlomoh left all the implements [unweighed] since they were very, very many; the weight of the bronze was not sought out.
Counting it all was overwhelming, but there was therefore no way to know how much space would be needed to store all these utensils, and there was no way to know the exact value of what was taken when the Temple was later pillaged. (2 Kings 25) When judgment (represented by bronze) is gone, nothing else can be properly measured. Bronze vessels would wear out quickly, and Shlomoh expected this complex to get a lot of use for many years, so he made “infinite” quantities. Iron vessels would have lasted much longer, but although the Bronze Age was over and iron was readily available, it was chiefly used for weapons or chariot wheels, and therefore had a strong connection with death in people’s minds, so YHWH did not utilize it in His sanctuaries. (Deut. 27:5)
48. Then Shlomoh prepared all the implements that were [for the] House of YHWH: the golden altar, the golden table on which the Bread of the Faces [would be set],
49. the five pure-gold lampstands on the right and five on the left in front of the oracle, and the golden blossoms, lamps, and tongs,
So there were ten lamps in the Holy Place, probably smaller than the prescribed menorah, and possibly with only a single oil-pan on each, but others depict them as each having a trunk and six branches like it. There was a much larger space to light here than in the Tabernacle, which had only half its floor space and one third of its height.
50. and the thresholds, snuffers, pitchers, hollow vessels, and fire-pans [were of] tightly-enclosed gold, while the hidden sockets for the doors of the innermost House, the Holy of Holies, [as well as] for the doors of the Temple building, [were of] gold.
51. When all the work that King Shlomoh had done [for the] House of YHWH was complete[ly in place], Shlomoh brought the holy items [that had belonged to] his father David, and he put the silver, gold, and utensils into the treasuries of the House of YHWH.
It seems that Shlomoh did all this other work with his own wealth, not that which his father had earmarked for the Temple, so that there would be more resources left by which to keep all of this operating without ceasing.
CHAPTER 8
1. Then Shlomoh called an assembly of all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers belonging to the descendants of Israel unto King Shlomoh of Yerushalayim, in order to bring the ark of YHWH’s covenant up from the City of David, which is Tzion.
This shows that what is called Mount Tzion today is a misnomor, since it is not in the City of David, but west of it on the next ridge over. This mistake was based on a misidentification of David's tomb. His actual tomb seems to have been found more recently--in the City of David, of course, where 1 Kings 2:10 says he was buried.
2. Then every man of Israel was gathered to King Shlomoh in the month of Eythanim (that is, the seventh month), at the festival.
The festival: clearly Sukkoth, as this is the one during that month in which the men were already required to come to Yerushalayim anyway. Eythanim (one of the few months whose Hebrew names and not just numbers are mentioned in Scripture) means "the things that can be relied on", and the three festivals of YHWH in that month are definitely that.
3. When all of the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests lifted up the ark
After the debacle of Uzzah, they went back to carrying it by poles (v. 7) as the Torah had specified.
4. and brought the ark of YHWH and the Tent of Appointment up along with all the implements of the Holy Place that were in the tent, and the priests and Levites brought them up.
The elders and leaders had probably come in advance of the rest of the people to break down the tent and possibly set it back up. The ark had been in a different tent, and we are not told either was ever set up near the Temple. The book of Maccabees tells us it was eventually stored in a cave in the Jordan River Valley along with the prophet Eliyahu’s mantle, and the site was not far from where Yochanan immersed, suggesting that he had actually found it and was literally wearing the mantle of the one in whose office Yeshua said he had come.
5. Then Shlomoh the king and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled thereupon with him [for the appointment] in the presence of the ark [were] slaughtering flock animals and cattle that [could] not be counted or numbered because they were so many.
6. Then the priests brought the ark of YHWH’s covenant in to its place in the sanctuary of the House—into the Holy of Holies under the wings of the kh’ruvim,
7. because the kh’ruvim were spreading out both of their wings toward the place for the ark, and the kh’ruvim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.
8. And they made the poles long [enough] for the heads of the poles to be seen from the Holy Place in front of the sanctuary, though they could not be seen outside, and they have been there until this day.
Until this day: when this history was recorded by the scribe.
9. There was nothing in the ark—only the two slabs—the stones which Moshe had deposited therein at Khorev when YHWH cut [a covenant] with the descendants of Israel during their departure from Egypt.
What about the other items? There is some hint in the Torah that there were actually two “arks”—one of which possibly fit inside the other, since it was not overlaid with gold. This might only be that one rather than the larger, since Aharon’s rod that budded and the omer of manna, which were also in it, are not mentioned. But the point here seems more to be that there was no idol in this Temple.
10. Then what took place when the priests came out of the Holy Place [was] that the cloud filled the House of YHWH,
11. and the priests were not able to remain to minister due to the presence of the cloud, because the weightiness of YHWH had filled the House of YHWH.
The same thing took place in Moshe’s time (Ex. 40:34-35), so this would show the people that YHWH was placing the same stamp of approval on the Temple as He had with the Tabernacle, as some might have been wondering if He had actually commanded the construction this time.
12. Then Shlomoh said, “YHWH said He would dwell in the thick [dark] cloud.
There seems to be a bit of humor in his voice as he begins with, “Well, He said He would do this!” to lighten up the gravity of their fear or frustration. In Deut. 5:22 the same term for “thick cloud” is used to describe the setting at Mt. Sinai when YHWH gave Moshe the commandments. But Shlomoh may be alluding to Psalm 18:11, written by his own father, which describes clouds and darkness in different terms but clearly alludes to similar circumstances relating to YHWH’s presence. He demonstrated His presence and approval very vividly. This may be the first time this cloud was seen since Y’hoshua’s time.
13. “I have truly built You a lofty Home, a fixed place for You to dwell in for ages.”
A fixed place: It is well-founded on bedrock and on huge ashlar stones, many of which have not been moved even to our day. The actual place where the ark of the covenant sat is still visible as a rectangular cut in the rock which is exactly its size. (See photo at 6:19) This would stabilize it even further. These events also took place during the month of Ethanim, which means “permanent things that endure”. So Shlomoh may have been alluding to that as well.
14. Then the king turned to face [them] and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and the whole congregation of Israel was standing,
He would now have his back to the Temple—something rarely done, out of respect for YHWH. But now he was acting in the opposite role—on behalf of the people as a representative of YHWH, whereas he had been in the opposite role prior to this point. The priests in the second Temple also turned away from the Temple to bless the people. The words of his blessing are not recorded, possibly because no one else was ever meant to use this particular blessing again. David had followed a similar pattern when blessing the people. (2 Shmu’el 6:18)
15. so he said, “Blessed is YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, who spoke by His mouth with David my father, and has by His hand fulfilled [what He] said:
16. “‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out from Egypt, I had not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house for My name to come to be there, but I did choose David to be over My people Israel.’
17. “But it was with the heart of David my father to build a House for the Name of YHWH, the Elohim of Israel.
Note that it was not a house for YHWH Himself (see below), but a place for His Name to be highlighted. The site was already meaningful due to events in the lives of Avraham and Yaaqov. So why does it seem as if He did not choose it until David made it his capital? It seems Shlomoh’s main purpose in invoking the “name above all names” at that time—that of the previous “messiah”—was to prove he was right in centralizing the worship of YHWH. This was a political move—allowing slaughter to YHWH to be done only in the territory of Yehudah and Binyamin. There had been other worship sites—Giv’on and Shiloh being the primary ones—and many who marketed live animals to worshippers in them would be upset. People would also have to travel further from some points to worship here, possibly taking up to a week to arrive. Some of the priests would have to move permanently from the other Levitical cities, though David had set up an order for them to come serve in the Temple in shifts. Shlomoh is telling these people that it is not that their cities were so bad, but this was David’s city. He is showing his authority (including verse 12) for making this move, which without YHWH’s clear endorsement could have caused him major political problems.
18. “So YHWH said to my father David, ‘On account of the fact that it has come upon your heart to build a House for My Name, you have done rightly because it has been on your heart.
19. “‘It’s just [that] you will not [be the one to] build the House, because your son who will come forth from your loins—he will build the House for My Name.’
David did not act disappointed about this, but kept working diligently to ensure that the project would get done. This is the first fulfilment of that promise, but this house eventually fell, but another son of David a thousand years later would build a more permanent "house" for YHWH Himself, not just His name, to dwell in--out of living stones. (1 Kefa 2:5)
20. “So YHWH has brought the word that He spoke to reality, because I have arisen in the place of my father and am sitting on the throne of Israel, as YHWH said, and have been building the House for the Name of YHWH, the Elohim of Israel,
Several other sons of David who were in line for the throne had died during his lifetime, so Shlomoh is especially grateful that at least one survived to carry out his father’s wish. He is clearly awed and very conscious of being a fulfillment of prophecy, as should we as we recognize all the prophecies of the return of the Northern Kingdom of which we are a part today.
21. “and I have set there a place for the ark in which [lies] the covenant of YHWH, which He cut with our ancestors when He brought them out from the Land of Egypt.”
22. Then Shlomoh stood in front of the altar of YHWH in the sight of the whole congregation of Israel, and stretched out [the palms of] his hands toward the skies,
In the sight of: denotes in front of, across from, or opposite, at a distance from, but conspicuously visible to. There would not have been a wall between the altar and the courtyard where the people stood, as there was in the Second Temple.
23. and said, “O YHWH, Elohim of Israel, there is no elohim like You in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, who keeps the covenant and [retains] kindness for Your servants who walk before Your face with their whole heart!
All the other elohim “eat their worshippers for lunch”, just wanting the attention their worship brings.
24. “[You] who have kept [Your word] to Your servant, David my father, which You promised to him—You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled [it] with Your hand, just as it is this day!
25. “So now, O YHWH, Elohim of Israel, safeguard for Your servant, David my father, that which You told him, saying, ‘Not a man who belongs to you will be cut off from sitting on the throne of Israel before Me, if your sons will just guard their path, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’
If: Just after the American Constitutional Convention in 1787, one of its architects, a Dr. Franklin (not Benjamin) was asked, “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” He answered, none too optimistically, “A republic—if you can keep it.” We have the hope of something much better than a republic, but it is just as fragile, as it depends on our maintaining it. We were on the verge of having the Messianic Kingdom here in Shlomoh’s day, but we could not keep it that time. 410 years later this Temple was destroyed. Y’shua’s successors also lost hold of most of it. But YHWH is giving us another open door today, and we must “keep it” this time.
26. “And now, O Elohim of Israel, please let Your word, which You spoke to Your servant David, my father, be upheld,
27. “since can Elohim really dwell on the earth? Indeed, the heavens and the heavens of heavens could not contain You; how much less this House that I have built?!
The heavens: i.e., the sky that we can see, the atmosphere. Heavens of heavens: outer space, both what we can see and what we cannot, as well as the dimensions which we know exist but which we cannot fathom. How much less: the term in Hebrew (af) sounds like a nasal guffaw (being the word for “nose” as well)—since the very idea would be laughable if spoken seriously. And how much less again could one man’s body contain all of YHWH?
28. “Yet You have turned [Your face] toward the prayer of Your servant and toward his request for favor, O YHWH my Elohim, to listen to the [joyful] cry and the prayer that Your servant is interposing before You today
Have turned Your face: i.e., shown respect for.
29. “that Your eyes might be open toward this House night and day—toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name will [come to] be there’, to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place.
The prayer: i.e., whatever prayer he might yet make in days to come. And since he does not specify that this refers to himself, though this is understood, but only says “Your servant”, it can apply to any of YHWH’s servants.
30. “As You have heard Your servant’s request for favor—and that of Your people Israel, when they will pray toward this place, then may You listen toward the place of Your dwelling in the heavens, and may You hear and forgive:
This is the reason we turn toward Yerushalayim when we pray—not because it is magical or because YHWH is only there and not wherever we may be, but because Shlomoh prayed a special blessing on those who approach Him in that manner. He also suggests that there is a special connection between this place on earth and His dwelling place in the heavens.
31. “[if] a man errs in regard to his fellow, and an oath is laid on him, [requiring] him to swear, and the oath comes before Your altar in this House,
Comes before: i.e., if the case came all the way up through the lower courts, being too difficult for the rulers of 10, 50, 100, and 1,000, and had to be brought before the priests, who were the highest authorities on Torah law.
32. “then may You hear [in] the heavens, and act, and bring justice to Your servants, to condemn the one who is wicked, and bring his way [of doing things back] on his own head, and to vindicate the one who is righteous, and to give to him in accordance with that to which he has a right.
I.e., “give Your priestly judges the wisdom to rule rightly.”
33. “When your people Israel may be beaten before an enemy when they might sin against You, and they turn back toward You and raise their hands [in surrender] to Your Name, and judge themselves and beg You for favor in this House,
34. “then may You listen [from] the heavens and pardon the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the Land that You gave to their ancestors.
This is very pertinent to us today, as we are in a foreign land because of the sin of our ancestors. It behooves us all the more to turn our petitions toward that place if we cannot actually go there and pray for this very thing.
35. “When the skies are restrained and there is no rain because they may have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and raise their hands [in surrender] to Your Name, and turn away from their sin because You have afflicted them,
Afflicted: or, humbled. This is the same term for what we are to do to our souls on Yom haKippurim (Lev. 16:29; 23:27) after the 40-day season of intensified repentance. It also means “become busy with your souls”, and indeed YHWH did give us something to do to overcome the problems listed here and below. Sukkoth, which immediately follows, is the time to pray for rain in the Land. If we do not repent in season, we cannot expect Him to send rain in season. (Deut. 11:17)
36. “then may You listen [from] the heavens and pardon the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, that You might direct them [toward] the right way in which they should walk, and provide rain on Your Land, which You have given to Your people as an inherited possession.
Direct: teach, prod, shoot or cast. He does not just let them off the hook; there is a purpose for His forgiving.
37. “If there is a famine in the Land, or a plague, or blight or mildew or [swarm of] locusts, if there should be consuming [larva], if its enemy has oppressed it within the land of its gates—any pestilence, any disease [there might be],
Consuming larva: or, stripping young locust.
38. “[and there results] any prayer or any request for favor that may come for any human being belonging to Your whole people Israel, who will each recognize the plague of his own heart and spread out [the palms of] his hands toward this House,
Why does he brig up all these scenarios at what is meant to be a joyful time? Because he is a prophet, even if this simply means he understands where people’s tendencies will carry them. This recognition is the real purpose YHWH sends us problems such as these—because there is already a worse problem right within us, and we need to acknowledge it before we dare to ask Him for relief. This plague is selfishness, and in a way better understood by the descendants of Avraham’s concubines whom he sent with giftings to the east, much of the trouble in our lives directly emanates from where our hearts are—what we ignore, what we give weight to, what we embrace. We create our own problems. Therefore, we must see this House itself—though it could be walked into—as still being a model of the Kingdom. “What do these stones mean?” as Y’hoshua said the children would ask about another heap built as a witness. Its design teaches us how to bring selflessness to its fullness. This pattern is to overcome the pattern David said was laid out for the golden calf (Psalm 106), which has stayed with us.
39. “then may You listen [in] the heavens, the place of Your dwelling, and pardon, and act, and give to each whose heart You know according to his habits (because You alone are acquainted with the heart of all the sons of Adam),
Many people who do not wish to change use the excuse that, “YHWH knows my heart”. This verse tells us that the way He knows our hearts is by how we act.
40. “so that they may revere You all the days that they are alive on the surface of the Land that You gave to our ancestors.
Revere: fear, stand in awe of, respect.
41. “And likewise toward the foreigner (he who is not from among Your people Israel, but has come from a distant land for the sake of Your Name--
Foreigner: in this case, he specifically had Khiram of Tzor in mind, because he could hardly refuse to allow those who had helped build the Temple to come there to worships! The term (nokri) means someone passing through the Land or who deals with Israel in some way. He might have a summer house in Israel, and is friendly toward her, but does not necessarily spend much of his time there, in contrast with a sojourner or exile (ger) living more or less permanently in the midst of Israel.
42. “since they will hear of Your great Name and Your firm hand and Your outstretched arm) when he has come and prayed toward this House--
43. “may You hear [from] the heavens, the established place where You sit, and do according to all for which the stranger calls out to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name so they can revere You just like Your people Israel and be aware that this House that I have built is called by Your Name.
Name: implies also one’s reputation. The stranger: This could have been an open door for idolatry to make inroads intro Israel, so he qualifies this in verse 41. But YHWH has worshippers who are not directly part of the covenant. He honors any who honor Him. The prophets uphold the idea that some foreigners will have high positions in the Kingdom if they prove abundantly loyal. (Compare Proverbs 17:2.) Y’shua alludes to this when he speaks of us letting our light shine. (Mat. 5:16)
44. “When Your people goes out to battle against its enemy in the way that You have sent them and they pray to YHWH in the direction of the city that You have chosen and this House that I have built for Your Name,
45. “then may You hear their prayer and their plea for favor from the heavens, and carry out justice for them.
Though YHWH never commanded that we pray toward Yerushalayim, this special blessing only applies to those who do. Carry out justice for them: or, prosecute their cause.
46. “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not miss the target) and You become exasperated with them and turn them over to the face of an enemy, and their captors take them away captive to the land of the enemy, [whether] far away or nearby,
When: not “if”; Shlomoh assumes this will eventually take place, based on his familiarity with human nature. Exasperated: as in English, the Hebrew term stems from a word meaning to breathe hard. Far away or nearby: could also mean “later or sooner”.
47. “and they turn their hearts back [while still] there in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and cry out to You for pity in the land of their exile, saying, ‘We have erred, we have become crooked, we are guilty!’
While still there in the land: This clearly applies to us. We cannot expect Him to bring us back to the Land unless we repent while outside it, for we must already be a set-apart people before we will be ready to live there a gain. Compare the nations who come from the ends of the earth who say, “Our fathers have inherited lies.” (Yirmeyahu 16:19)
48. “and they turn back to You with all their heart and with all their longing in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to You in the direction of their Land, which You gave to their ancestors—the city that You have chosen and the House that I have built for Your Name--
49. “then may You hear their prayer and their plea for favor from the heavens, and plead their cause,
50. “and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and [pardon] all their trespasses in which they have crossed the line against You, and grant them pity in the face of their captors, that they may have compassion on them,
Grant them pity: as when the Egyptians donated many types of expensive items to the Israelites who were getting ready to leave. Nowadays we seldom feel overtly like captives, but in modern times the Jews under the Soviet state were specifically restrained from returning to the Land. Called the “refuseniks”, they have stories of how when they demonstrated to YHWH that they wanted “with all their heart and with all their longing” to emigrate to Israel by giving up the prospect of a higher education so they would not be in demand in the “motherland” or went to other extremes to petition for the permits to leave for their true motherland—and were eventually granted pity, though sometimes not until after long hunger strikes.
51. “since they are Your people and Your inherited possession, whom You brought out of Egypt—out from the iron-smelting forge--
52. “so may Your eyes be open to Your servant’s plea for favor and Your people Israel’s cries for pity to hear them every [time] they call out to You,
53. “because You have separated them out to be an inherited possession for Yourself from all the peoples of the earth, as You promised by the hand of Moshe Your servant when You brought our ancestors out from Egypt, O Master YHWH!”
Separated: divided from, withdrew from, and excluded everything else; from the same word for Havdallah, the time of making a distinction between the Sabbath and the rest of the week. We can therefore draw an analogy between Israel and the Sabbath, for we are meant to be a people that will bring YHWH rest, in contrast to all other nations.
54. And as Shlomoh finished praying to YHWH this whole intercession and request for favor, he rose up from bowing on his knees before the altar of YHWH with [the palms of] his hands spread [toward] the skies,
55. and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel [with a] loud voice, saying,
56. “Blessed is YHWH, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised! Not one word has failed of everything pleasant that He promised through Moshe His servant.
Rest: or, a resting place. Failed: fallen or let drop. Indeed, until this building was complete, there did remain some unfinished business in the Torah. David had done what the prophet later told us to do: to give YHWH “no rest until He establishes Yerushalayim as a song of praise in the Land. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 62:7) Through Moshe: literally, by the hand of Moshe.
57. “May YHWH our Elohim be with us as He was with our ancestors; may He not abandon us or let us go,
He is still not resting on his laurels. He does not assume that this will take place automatically. Let us go: or set us free, let us loose. That does not sound like such a bad thing, but last time the sanctuary was about to be built, the people had loosened themselves—“thrown off restraints” (Ex. 32:25), so Shlomoh especially prayed that YHWH would not abandon them to their own natural inclinations. He knew all too well that true freedom only came from remaining within boundaries that had to be preserved and guarded carefully, or it would be lost very quickly.
58. “so that [we may] incline our hearts toward Him, to walk in all His ways, and to guard His orders, His prescribed customs, and His principles of judgment, as He commanded our ancestors.
59. “And may these words which I have prayed before YHWH be near to YHWH our Elohim day and night to accomplish the vindication of His servant and the vindication of His people Israel—each day’s matter on its day,
Matter: or word. I.e., whatever word in His Torah applies to the particular day. Compare Y’shua’s instruction to pray that YHWH would “give us today our bread for today” (Mat. 6:11) and Agur’s request in Proverbs 30:8.
60. “so that all the peoples of the earth might know that YHWH—He is Elohim; there is nothing more.
61. “So let your heart be completely with YHWH our Elohim, to walk in His prescribed customs and to preserve His orders as [they are] this day.”
The “your” here is plural. If only Shlomoh himself would have done what he told Israel to be sure to do!
62. Then the king and all who were with him made a slaughter before YHWH,
63. and Shlomoh did the slaughter of the peace offerings that were slaughtered unto YHWH—22,000 oxen, and 120,000 flock animals; thus the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the House of YHWH.
Peace offerings: literally, completenesses.
64. On that day, the king set apart as holy the center of the courtyard that was in front of the House of YHWH, because he had carried out the ascending [offering] there, along with the tributes and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was in YHWH’s presence was too small to contain the ascending [offerings], the tributes, and the fat of the peace offerings.
The center: The whole complex was 500 cubits (750 feet or about 250 meters) square. Apparently until this point there was no division of the inner courts from outer ones as there was in the second Temple; all the invitees could apparently see the altar from where they watched. (v. 14) Or, this verse may even refer to designating an additional place for another altar or several more since one was not enough. This time they did not need to enlarge the altar space because there were too many sins to atone for, but because of the people’s and especially Shlomoh’s generosity.
65. Now at that time Shlomoh carried out the Feast, and all of Israel along with him, a great congregation [gathered] from the entrance to Khamath to the River of Egypt, before YHWH our Elohim, seven days, then seven days—fourteen days [in all].
The first seven days may have been observed only by the elders mentioned in verse 1 before the rest of the people arrived. The Feast: that is, Sukkoth—though he extended it, possibly because there was so much meat to be eaten. Therefore, the seven previous days would have been a feast as well. Either Yom Kippur (five days before Sukkoth begins) was not observed that year since the sanctuary had not yet been dedicated, or it was not generally practiced at all since Y’hoshua’s time, for this appears to be the first time the observance of even Sukkoth, the most joyful holy week, is mentioned since that time. Israel has generally done better at keeping the feasts in exile than while at peace in the Land!
66. On the eighth day, he gave the people a sendoff, so they blessed the king and went to their tents rejoicing and pleased of heart for all the prosperity that YHWH had brought about for David His servant and for Israel His people.
The eighth day is Shmini Atzereth, which means something like an “encore” or “affectionate farewell”. And apparently they did have an encore, because 2 Chron. 7:10 tells us that he sent them away on the 23rd of the month, which would be the ninth day, as the feast starts the 15th. In the Jewish diaspora today, an extra day is added, called Simkhat Torah (“rejoicing in the instruction”), and the eighth day is therefore considered to last for 48 hours, as some other festivals are as well, partly because of the difficulty in past times of communicating quickly enough when the new moon was sighted in Israel. Tents: This shows that while a sukkah (temporary booth) would be built for a community, the people would not generally sleep in it, but would sleep in tents and just do the other ceremonies of Sukkoth in the sukkah.
CHAPTER 9
1. Then what took place as Shlomoh was finishing the House of YHWH, the house of the king, and every desire of Shlomoh’s that he took pleasure in doing,
2. [was] that YHWH appeared to Shlomoh a second time, just as He had been seen by Him at Giv’on,
3. and YHWH said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your request for favor with which you have pleaded before Me. I have regarded this House that you have built as set apart, in order to set My Name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there [for] all the days.
For all the days: including today, even with the Temple gone. This is even why the Dome of the Rock is there now. Christian Crusaders had started chipping away the bedrock under the site of the Holy of Holies and selling it off, but the Muslims put a stop to this; they are apparently the only ones YHWH saw as worthy to guard the site of His sanctuary until the Jews returned. But He also said His heart would remain there. But this is even true in a very tangible way, because the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “heart” is 32, and the 32 steps to the Temple complex from the south remain intact to this day. Forever, from YHWH’s perspective, means not just forward in time from that point, back the full circle, for He does not live in a straight line. Anything He establishes will turn out to have always been established. Once we meet the Kingdom, it will somehow be as if it had always been the case. His desire to walk among His people was there even in the Garden of Eden, which was at the same site, and when the Temple has done its job at repairing what Adam shattered, those whose desire is for Him will be able to be back there with Him again.
4. “And [as for] you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, to do according to all the orders I have given you, and guard the customs I have prescribed and My [principles of] judgment,
Integrity: or, completeness, innocence, simplicity. Uprightness: or straightness, levelness, evenness, without crookedness in any direction. Shlomoh needed frequent reminders to walk in YHWH’s ways, and soon we will find out why.
5. “then I will keep the throne of your dominion over Israel stable forever, just as I promised David your father, saying, ‘Not a man of yours will be cut off from [sitting on] the throne of Israel.’
This promise was contingent on his obedience; the one in verse 3 was not. Israel: in particular the part that was other than his own tribe of Yehudah, for he and Sha’ul and David had really been sitting on “two different thrones” simultaneously—that of Yehudah and that of Israel.
6. “If you or your descendants keep turning back from [following] after Me and do not keep My commandments—My prescribed customs that I have put before you, but go and serve other elohim and prostrate yourselves to them,
Keep turning back: i.e., not on just one occasion, but as a habit; others translate it as “turn back at all”.
7. “then I will cause Israel to be cut off from [being] upon the face of the ground that I have given them and the House that I have allowed to be set apart to My Name, and I will send [them] away from upon My face, and Israel will become a byword and a sharp taunt among all the peoples.
Note the parallels between being “upon the face of the ground” and “upon the face of YHWH”. Shlomoh was held responsible for what would become of the northern tribes as well. A sharp taunt: i.e., a verbal “jab”. Amazingly, Israel (mistakenly used as a synonym for the Jews alone) became a byword even among those who used to be Israelite and forgot their identity!
8. “As for this House, which is the highest, everyone who passes over it will be stunned and will whistle, and they will say, ‘On account of what has YHWH done such a thing as this to this Land and to this House?’
Passes over it: The only remaining parts of the Temple are indeed covered by flagstones now and people walk right over it, since it has been leveled so low. The Land, too, which was once “flowing with milk and honey”, would become mostly desert and swamp for centuries. Only in our lifetime has this been significantly reversed.
9. “And they will say, ‘On account of the fact that they forsook YHWH their Elohim, who brought their ancestors out from the land of Egypt, and they took hold on other elohim and bowed down to them and served them; that’s why YHWH has brought all this trouble on them.”
If we leave Him behind, we have to expect to leave His blessings behind as well; we cannot have it both ways.
10. Thus it was that by the end of twenty years, Shlomoh had built both of the houses—the House of YHWH and the king’s palace.
We are therefore halfway through Shlomoh’s reign.
11. Khiram the king of Tzor had assisted Shlomoh with cedar trees and with cypress trees, and with all the gold he wanted. At that time King Shlomoh began giving Khiram twenty cities in the district of the Galil.
This is the first mention of the Galil (Galilee) by this name in Scripture.
12. When Khiram came from Tzor to see the cities that Shlomoh had given him, they were not satisfactory in his eyes.
Did Shlomoh have to give him peripheral land that was not actually Kanaan proper? Or were these cities more like diplomatic embassies or the permission to have a military or trading presence rather than an actual gift of all of the land around these cities as well.
13. So he said, “What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?” So they have been called “the district of Kavul” to this day.
Kavul: in Phoenician, this means “displeasing”, while in Hebrew it means, “bound, binding, or limitation” or even “sterile”. To someone used to having a lot of trees around him, he might have found it both cramping and sterile to live in a city with no greenery, since that was generally left for outside the walls to make the most efficient use of a small space. Josephus says the area was not far from Tzor. This would make it easier to annex to his territory, being contiguous with it, and may be why Shlomoh chose these particular cities.
14. But Khiram sent the king a hundred and twenty kikkar of gold.
A kikkar (literally “circle” or “whirling”) is 3,000 sanctuary sheqels (Ex. 38:25), so the total would have been 360,000 sheqels of gold. A sheqel is the equivalent of 220 grains; others say 320 barley-corns, or about ¾ of an ounce, judging from extant Maccabean sheqels. So the total weight, by this count, is 16,875 pounds (over 8 tons). Unless Khiram is acting like the buyer in Proverbs 20:14, he seems to be concerned lest someone see them and say Shlomoh gives gifts that one cannot do much with, making him look like a “heel”, so he paid a high price for the cities so he could claim, “We bought these just to be nearer to Yerushalayim.” It would be better for others to think the thought of donating something to his neighboring kingdom had simply never occurred to Shlomoh than to let them think he gave a gift that was really worthless. Being a righteous man, and used to the practice of doing something for another’s name, Khiram was concerned about Shlomoh’s reputation.
15. And this is the reason [for] the labor force that King Shlomoh raised: to build the House of YHWH, his own house, the Millo, and the wall of Yerushalayim, as well as Khatzor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
Reason: literally, word, affair, or matter. Millo: literally, the “filling-in”, thought to be the “stepped-stone structure” found by archaeologists on the edge of the City of David, built to buttress the palace and eastern wall with added support. Khatzor: the former capital of the 13 Kanaanite kingdoms; as Shlomoh reinforced it, it had a moat 48 feet across, keeping enemy archers and slingers at a distance. Megiddo is a strategic crossroads where the only trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia crosses a pass on Mt. Karmel into the Yezre’el Valley, the only plain extending all the way from the Yarden River to the Mediterranean Sea. Gezer was a very large city between the territories of Efrayim and Dan where the coastal plain begins to give way to the foothills, guarding the Beyth-Horon ascent, the only easy way to traverse the mountains to reach Yerushalayim.
16. (Pharaoh the king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer, burnt it with fire, and slain the Kanaanites who were in the city, and given it as a sendoff [gift] to his daughter, the wife of Shlomoh.)
Gezer was very hard to capture, having steep hills on all sides. (Compare Y’hoshua 16:10 and Judges 1:28.) Sendoff: i.e., a wedding dowry. How ironic that Egypt finally helped Israel with the job YHWH had given Israel when she came out of Egypt! They had previously been made forced laborers, but even David never drove them out.
17. And Shlomoh rebuilt Gezer, [and fortified] Lower Beyth-Horon,
Fortified: or rebuilt. Beyth-Horon is further into the foothills along the road from Gezer to Yerushalayim, near where the higher mountains begin. This pass was always strategic (being significant in the wars of the Maccabees and even during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948—the only way an army coming from this direction could access Yerushalayim). An army would have to fight its way past these cities to be able to get to the capital.
18. Baalath, and Thadmor in the uninhabited part of the Land,
Baalath (“mistress”) was in the original territory of Dan near the coast. Shlomoh had built Thadmor after his conquest of Khamath-Tzova (north of Levanon).
19. as well as all the storage-cities that belonged to Shlomoh, his chariot-cities, the cities [for] the war-horses, and every pleasing thing that Shlomoh desired to build, in Yerushalayim, in Levanon, and in the whole territory of his dominion.
Storage-cities: or collection-points. Cities for the war-horses: Megiddo was one of these. It sounds as if some of his building projects were right in Levanon, the source of the timber, as well.
20. All the people who were left of the Emorites, the Khittites, the Prizzites, the Khiuites, or the Y’vusites—whichever were not of the sons of Israel—
These were all branches of the Kanaanites. (Gen/ 10:15ff; compare verse 16 above.)
21. their descendants who were left after them in the Land, whom the descendants of Israel had not been able to devote to destruction—[these] Shlomoh raised up as a slave-labor force until this day.
Y’hoshua had begun the task of conquering them, but his successors slacked off and let the status quo, which was adequate at first, remain the long-term reality. Since Israel missed the window when all these peoples were fearful of them, they were left in place and ended up cramping the Israelites. (Judges 1:27-34; 2:15-18) Either they had special talents that were too highly valued by the Israelites to “waste” (though YHWH had told them to), or they were the type of people who would fight hard if they saw themselves as being wiped out, but don’t mind being slaves if they are allowed to live in their ancestral home. And being enslaved to Israel would put them in a far better position than they would be in if exiles anywhere else. Governments can get what they want from you if they allow you to keep the things or practices that are closest to your heart. The economy in time probably came to rely on them like the migrant workers and illegal immigrants of today. 2 Chron. 2:17 says they numbered 3,600 in David’s census.
22. But Shlomoh did not designate [anyone] from the sons of Israel as a slave, because they were the men of war, his servants, his captains, his third [ranking officers], and the overseers of his chariots and war-horses.
Other accounts might disagree with this, and so would the men under Yarav’am at the time of Shlomoh’s death; this may have been written by someone who had pragmatic reasons to take this political stance. This same scribe has already told us what he had demanded of his own people, but somehow this fit in a different category than slavery.
23. These were the captains of those who were stationed over Shlomoh’s work: 550 dominating the people who produced the craftsmanship.
24. Actually, Pharaoh’s daughter went up out of the City of David to her house, which he had built for her—then he built the Millo!
He must have realized she would not enjoy all the noise of the construction crew, or he thought some of the old palace might collapse in the process of the restructuring, so he took her out ahead of time. But 2 Chron. 8:11 gives us an additional reason: he was conscious of the fact that this was a political marriage and she was still a pagan who had not necessarily embraced YHWH, so she was not allowed to live in the palace of David where the ark of the covenant had been kept for some time, therefore rendering it a holy place of sorts. This could just have been an excuse to keep her as a wife, saying that since she had a palace of her own, she was not really part of his house, so his household was still holy.
25. And Shlomoh offered up ascendings and completeness [offering]s three times during the year on the altar that he built to YHWH, and he offered incense on the one that was before YHWH. Thus the House was finished.
The three occasions were the pilgrimage festivals when all Israel came up. (2 Chron. 8:12-13) Either this was a secondary altar hinted at in 8:64 or this is just speaking of Shlomoh’s having paid for or supplied the animals to sacrifice, while the priests still actually carried out the slaughter, for we know that when King Uzziah tried to burn incense in the Temple, he was warned against usurping the priestly role, and when he ignored the warning, was struck with leprosy. (2 Chron. 26:19ff) These animals were meant to be taken from the people. Shlomoh may have been giving them a break, saying, in effect, “I know I have already burdened you with taxes and heavy labor, and I can afford this, so don’t worry about providing these offerings.” His intentions were probably not bad, but there were probably some political considerations to this largesse as well. They were benefiting from Egyptian generosity as well (v. 16), and there were some undercurrents of dissatisfaction brewing, but the people were less likely to rebel if Shlomoh was paying all the bills. But this could be taken too far. Maybe he should have only done this every other year, or every seven years, because the people would get out of practice and lose their skill at kosher slaughtering, and would also get used to this blessing and come to think of it as their right, and therefore become lazy, no longer wanting to do anything for themselves.
26. And King Shlomoh produced a fleet [of ships] at Etzion-Gever, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Reed Sea in the territory of Edom.
To allow Shlomoh to use their territory like this, the Edomites must have either been allies as well, or fearful enough of this superpower neighbor to let him have what he wanted (like the Guantanamo Bay base that the U.S. maintains in a nation it does not even trade with, because of its strategic location). Though he did not really need a navy as such, since no enemies were threatening him, he may have done military “maneuvers” in foreign waters just to “flex his muscle” and remind them that he was a force to be reckoned with. But the majority of this fleet was used for international trade, the extent of which we will see better in chapter 10. Etzion-Gever means “backbone of the strongman”—possibly due to a land formation in the mountains there. Eloth is the Eilat of today, at the southern tip of Israel on the northern coast of the eastern branch of the Reed Sea. From here ships could sail both east to the Indies and around the Cape of Africa to Britain, where we know Phoenicia had colonies early on to mine tin. But they might not have had to go so far. At that time there was also the equivalent of the Suez Canal already in place, having been built by Pharaoh Sesostris III around 400 years before this, and its channel is still traceable today. This would have been easily accessed from this port. Why would they not just depart from a port on the Mediterranean? Steve Collins points out that Shlomoh had a huge ore-smelting facility at Etzion-Gever, and “to import the ores in sufficient quantity to keep the blast furnaces operating, it made sense to base a large fleet at the site of the industrial activity”. (The Origins and Empire of Ancient Israel)
27. So Khiram sent his servants—sailors who knew the sea—into the fleet [to be] with Shlomoh’s servants.
Sailors: literally, men of ships. He sent seamen to share their expertise with his ally, for there were no better sailors in the world at that time than the “Phoenicians” (a later Greek term for any inhabitants of the Levant, and thus actually including Israel as well since it was part of this alliance). Chapter 10 will tell us more about what they did.
28. And they came to Ofir and acquired gold from there—420 kikkar [in weight]—and brought it to Shlomoh the king.
Ofir was also “Hebrew” territory, for Ofir was the grandson of Ever, who in turn was the grandson of Shem, though by this time that probably meant little to the Ofirites. His land was by this time in what is now southern Arabia (on the eastern shore of the Reed Sea). Except for the Greeks and Romans, ancient navies usually belonged to individual kings, so this was Shlomoh’s personal navy, though he used it to benefit all of Israel. The gold of Ofir was of the finest quality, known everywhere in the ancient world much like French wine was a generation ago. It would have been like saying one bought a diamond from Tiffany’s rather than from a run-of-the-mill jeweler. It was what every king wanted for his crown. The Ofirites apparently let him have all he wanted, since no one was as powerful as he was at that time, being the heir to what his father established (like the Vanderbilt or Rockefeller families of today) as well as the leader of the alliance that now included the Phoenicians, Israel, and Egypt.
CHAPTER 10
1. The Queen of Sheva heard the report of Shlomoh to the reputation of YHWH, and she came to put him to the proof-test with difficult questions.
Sheva: There are three possibilities in Scripture as to what this nation was. The first was a tribe in southern Arabia known as the Sabaeans, who robbed Iyov--another Hebrew nation (descendants of Ever through Yoqtan). The second is a nation descended from Avraham and Qeturah through Yoqshan—again, Semites. There was also a Kushite Sheva, a son of Raamah, a Khamitic people who could have then become the Ethiopians, as in one tradition, for we know that nation was well-established by the time of Moshe. All three are reiterated in 1 Chronicles, which also recounts this story, so we are left without any indication of which Sheva she ruled, except that the immediate context here is of Ofir, whose ancestor was a brother of the first listed above. (Gen. 10:28-29) This is also likely because this Sheva is listed in the table of 70 nations, which generally sets the tone for the whole of Scripture, but by the same token, so is the Kushite Sheva. Shlomoh must have been making it very clear that it was YHWH who had brought him this wealth and wisdom, not his own hand. She is one foreigner who came for the sake of YHWH’s Name. (8:41) It was very unusual to have a female ruling a nation in that time, and it was also unusual for rulers to come themselves rather than sending representatives. (5:14-15) Velikovsky thinks Sheva may be a title rather than a nation in this case, and finds striking parallels with Hatshepsut, who was at that time Queen of both Egypt and Ethiopia. (Ages in Chaos)
2. So she came to Yerushalayim with very great wealth: camels carrying spices, a very large amount of gold, and precious stones. When she had come to Shlomoh, she said to him everything that had come upon her heart.
Wealth: or even, an army. Heb., khayil. She may be the prototype for his “capable woman” (eysheth khayil) in Proverbs 31.
3. And Shlomoh brought all her matters out into the open; there was not one thing concealed from the king, which he did not make known to her.
I.e., he solved all her riddles with no exceptions.
4. When the Queen of Sheva saw all of Shlomoh’s skill, and the House that he had built,
5. and the food [on] his table, and how his servants were situated, and the functioning of those who waited on him, and what they were dressed in, as well as his cupbearers and the stairway which he ascended [in the] House of YHWH, there was no breath left in her!
Situated: seated, settled, or located. Functioning: or post, station, office, service, standing. In other words, they were extremely well-organized and operated like clockwork. Stairway: some render it “ascending (burnt) offering”, but the verb form of “ascended” does not mean “caused to go up” as it should in such a case, but “went up”. Breath: or, spirit. She appears to have been trying to show off, but what she found literally “took her breath away”, and “burst her bubble”.
6. And she said to the king, “The report that I heard in my land about your words and your skill was true,
7. “though I did not believe the reports until I came and my eyes saw [it], but in fact the half was not told me!
Believe: or trust. She seems to have been somewhat bored with her own servants and wanted someone to challenge her—as Shlomoh probably did as well.
8. “How advanced your men are! How advanced your servants are—these who stand before you all the time, who hear your wisdom!
If she was “blown away” by his wisdom in a few days, she could hardly imagine how wise his servants, who got to hear his sage advice so often, must have been. Advanced: or progressive, well-led on the right way, blessed. The Torah allowed him to do scientific tests on plants and animals that others might have worshipped and would therefore not interfere with.
9. “May YHWH your Elohim, who took [such] pleasure in you [as] to allow you [to be] on the throne of Israel, be blessed! In YHWH’s eternal love for Israel, He put you in place as king to accomplish right court-rulings and justice!”
He put you in place: A gentle reminder from a foreigner that he should never forget where it all came from. Ancient peoples always saw different regions as being under a particular local elohim, and would attribute great progress in a particular region to that deity.
10. And she gave the king 120 kikkar of gold and very many spices and precious stones; no such spice came as that which the Queen of Sheva gave to King Shlomoh, for [sheer] abundance.
120 kikkar: This is the same amount Khiram of Tzor had given him. It may have been a prescribed rate that expressed absolute surrender to a greater king.
11. Also, the fleet of Khiram that had carried gold from Ofir brought very many sandalwood trees from Ofir, as well as precious stones,
Sandalwood: a sweet-smelling wood native to southern India, which can grow to 20 feet in height and 4 feet in circumference. It has an antiseptic quality, and the outer layers are black while the inner ones are ruby red. It is easy to see why it would be considered some of the best wood and ideal for both building embellishments and decorative instruments:
12. and the king made the sandalwood trees [into] a support for the House of YHWH, for the king’s palace, and for lyres and harps for the singers. No equal to [these] sandalwood trees has ever come, nor have any been seen to this day.
13. And King Shlomoh gave the Queen of Sheva anything that delighted her that she asked for, besides that which Shlomoh gave her according to the royal hand. Then she turned [her face] and went to her land—she and her servants.
The royal hand: Possibly a customary gift to diplomatic visitors, but “hand” has many idiomatic uses, including that of the reproductive organ. And indeed there is a strong tradition that he fathered her son, whose name was Menelek, who, the legend continues, became the patriarch of a line of Ethiopian kings that continued until Haile Selassie’s overthrow by the Marxists in the mid-1970s. It may be that only DNA testing will show whether this is so or not. But the fact still remains that anyone who wants to become part of Israel’s covenant with YHWH may do so, whatever his race.
14. Now the weight of the gold that came to Shlomoh in one year was 666 kikkar of gold,
Considering the only other use of the number 666 in Scripture as the “mark of the beast”, we have to wonder if this is what had the initial negative influence on King Shlomoh.
15. besides [that which came] from the explorers, the merchandise of the traders, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land.
Explorers: more about this in verse 22.
16. And King Shlomoh made 200 bucklers of hammered gold (600 [sheqels] of gold was piled up on [each] buckler)
Buckler: a large shield which by etymology might have had spikes on it. Piled up: apparently hammered on in several layers, though this would not have been the case for the Temple menorah, which was to be hammered out of a single piece of gold.
17. and 300 shields of hammered gold (each shield amounted to three minas), and the king assigned them [to] the House of the Forest of Levanon.
A mina is fifty sheqels, and a sheqel is equivalent to about 11.3 grams, so each shield would weigh 6.78 kilograms (about 5 pounds) and each buckler 1.695 kg. (Encyclopedia Judaica) Others say that this was how a mina was measured in silver, whereas in gold it was 100 sheqels and 1/100 of a kikkar.They do not seem to have been used for battle, as gold would hardly stand up to iron weapons, but decorative—or these terms for “bucklers” and “shields” may have had secondary uses, as this building seems to have been more of a museum or even a zoo.
18. And the king made a large throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold.
Ivory: literally, tooth. (See note on verse 22.) Why did he not let the ivory’s beauty be seen?
19. The throne had six steps, and the revolving top of the throne [came] from behind, and [there were] arms on this [side] and that toward the place to sit, with two lions standing beside the arms,
20. and twelve lions standing there on the six steps, on either side; none like it has been made in any of the [other] dominions.
21. Also, all of King Shlomoh’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all of the furnishings of the House of the Forest of Levanon were of tightly-joined gold; there was no silver. (It was not considered anything in the days of Shlomoh,
Gold was so plentiful that silver had no special value at all!
22. because the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea along with one of Khiram’s fleets. Every three years the fleet of Tarshish would come, carrying gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.)
Tarshish: thought to be Tartessos in Spain, it was a port somewhere at the far western end of the Mediterranean or beyond. Steve Collins (in Israel’s Lost Empires) identifies three possibilities for what this fleet was. It may have been a fleet based at Tartessos, but actually operated by the “Phoenician” alliance of Israel with Khiram and Egypt, for ancient Phoenician inscriptions found in the Americas reveal that “ships of Tarshish” with Semitic crews had made numerous voyages to the New World around this time. Spain would be a logical jumping-off point for such voyages. Tarshish may have therefore been a colony belonging to this alliance, as its language, according to Dr. Barry Fell, is clearly a dialect of the Hebrew-Phoenician language family. Archaeologist Dr. Cyrus Gordon thinks Tarshish may have even referred to ore-rich Mexico. A clan of the tribe of Binyamin was also named Tarshish (1 Chron. 7:10), and the crews of this fleet may have therefore been made up primarily of people from this clan. “Ships of Tarshish” may later have also come to refer to a class of large, ocean-going vessels first used by the “Phoenicians” (as Yehoshafat is said to have built a fleet of them at Etzion-Gever over a century later, 22:48). Young’s Analytical Concordance states that one possible definition is “mighty ships fitted for long voyages”, and Phoenician galleys were the world’s largest at that time. Three years: the time it took Ferdinand Magellan’s crew to circumnavigate the globe in 1519-1522, including time for exploration and trade, under conditions much more hostile than in Shlomoh’s day, when the Phoenicians and Egyptians already had established trade routes in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. So it is quite conceivable that they returned at such intervals for the same reason. Ivory: “tooth of [plural of a foreign word]”. Both the Aramaic targum and LXX have “elephant teeth”, the Aramaic using the same word used for elephant in modern Hebrew. Peacocks: Heb., tuki, the term is also used of a parrot in modern Hebrew, and was probably used of any large bird, because the English word “turkey” derives from it as well, being coined of an unfamiliar bird found in North America by Europeans who nearly chose Hebrew over English as the national language for their new nation.
23. And King Shlomoh exceeded all the [other] kings of the earth for wealth and for wisdom,
24. and all the earth was seeking an audience with Shlomoh to hear his wisdom, which Elohim had allowed [to be] in his mind,
25. and they were each bringing his tribute—articles of silver, articles of gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, a year’s matter in [that] year.
Weaponry: or armor. A year’s matter: thought to mean a particular set rate.
26. Shlomoh also amassed chariotry and war-horses, and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 war-horses, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Yerushalayim.
27. And the king made the silver in Yerushalayim as [common as] stones, and he made cedars like sycamore-fig trees in the Sh’felah for [sheer] numbers.
Sh’felah: the foothills between the central mountain range and the coastal plain; literally, “that which falls”, i.e., drops in elevation from the perspective of Yerushalayim. Compare the “streets of gold” in the New Yerushalayim.
28. And the horses that belonged to Shlomoh were imported from Egypt and from Queh; the king’s traders acquired them from Queh at a price!
Queh: now in southern Turkey, it was in the province later known as Kilikia, of which the Apostle Paul’s hometown of Tarsos was the capital. Traders: or merchants, traffickers.
29. And a chariot exported from Egypt came up for 600 [sheqels] of silver and a horse for 150, and it was the same for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram; they were being delivered by them.
Aram: now Syria. It sounds as if the delivery price was as high as the purchase price.
CHAPTER 11
1. But King Shlomoh loved many foreign women, both Pharaoh’s daughter, [as well as] Moavitesses, Ammonitesses, Edomitesses, Tzidonians, and Hittites--
2. from the nations that YHWH told the descendants of Israel, “You must not go in to them, and they must not come in to you; they will certainly cause your heart to be turned away after their elohim”—Shlomoh clung to them for [the sake of] love.
Clung: The same term used in Gen 2:24 of a man leaving his father and mother and clinging to his wife. Clinging to the one means, in a sense, forsaking the other. To love these women, Shlomoh indeed had to leave behind the ways of his father David and his mother Bathsheva. And he had to forsake his other Father and Mother—YHWH and the Torah. Love: These marriages were not just the result of passing lust or even just for the sake of political alliances; he was actually attached to the foreign women. Contrast the men who came back with Ezra, who, when they heard the Torah, put away the pagan wives they had taken from the Land. (Ezra 10) David had also repented immediately when rebuked.
3. He had both 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines! But his wives turned his heart away.
Whether or not a prophet ever brought Shlomoh a rebuke about this, he should have known from the Torah he had made a copy of (Deut. 17:18) that an Israelite king was not to multiply wives for himself. (Deut. 17:17) It might have been better if he had married Israelite wives. But a thousand? Ten or twelve would have been allowable for a king. How many children did he have that he did not even known? He probably thought that if he was the wisest man in the world, and the wealthiest, he could certainly handle this. But there are many things we think we are ready for, but which are a slippery slope onto shaky ground, so YHWH forbade this practice. If we cannot be honest with ourselves about the consequences our actions might have, we should at least ask advice from others.
4. And indeed, in the time of Shlomoh’s old age, his wives caused his heart to be turned after other elohim, and his heart was not completely with YHWH his Elohim like the heart of David his father.
Old age: What a warning! We might think many temptations will disappear with age, but more often they do not, and we can never rest on the laurels of our youth.
5. Shlomoh went after both Ashtoreth, the elohim of the Tzidonians and Milkom, the disgusting thing of the Ammonites.
Elohim: in this case, a goddess, though the Hebrew term is no different. Tzidonians: Just because Khiram acknowledged YHWH did not mean his whole nation did, and apparently his Tzidonian wife remained pagan. It was allowable to have political shalom with this nation, but not to intermarry with it. (v. 2)
6. Thus Shlomoh did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and did not [walk] fully after YHWH like David his father.
Evil: What he did not was not even called rebellion, sin, or crookedness, but simply evil—the same term used for those whose conduct brought on the deluge in Noach’s day. (Gen. 6:5) What a frightening thing to receive this assessment from YHWH Himself!
7. Then Shlomoh built a cultic platform for Kh’mosh, the abomination of Moav, on the hill that faces Yerushalayim, and for Molekh, the abomination of the sons of Ammon.
So the Ammonites, though descendants of Lot, were no longer even monotheists. (having another deity listed in v. 5) Kh’mosh means “the subduer” and Molekh, “the ruling one”—names meant to strike fear in their enemies, much like our sports teams today. The hill: not the Mount of Olives, but the one that would be called the Hill of Evil Counsel. Appropriately enough, this where the United Nations has its headquarters in Israel! It carries on the tradition Shlomoh began here of the spirit of many nations coming together, though they are not really agreed. The way this site was identified was through bones of infants being fond there in clay boxes.
8. And he did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and made slaughters to their elohim.
9. So YHWH was fuming with Shlomoh because he had turned his heart aside from YHWH the Elohim of Israel, who had appeared to him twice
Fuming: based on the Hebrew word for “nose”. YHWH really harps on this, probably because Shlomo is the king, and he should have known better, and he was to be an example to his people of obedience. His sin was all the worse because YHWH had given this specific instruction to him in particular:
10. and had given him orders about this [very] thing so [he would] avoid walking after other elohim, but he was not careful [to do] what YHWH had commanded him.
11. So YHWH said to Shlomoh, “On account of the fact that it has turned out this way with you, and you have not guarded My covenant or My prescribed customs—orders that I [placed] upon you—I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant,
He was no longer worthy to be king. A dynasty that was intended to continue forever was ruined after only one generation.
12. “though I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
There is a tension in YHWH’s heart between His fond memories of David and distress over how his son turned out. He hesitates to punish the direct seed of someone who loves Him, no matter how evil they become. But He has to do something to curb it.
13. “Only, I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will allow your son one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Yerushalayim, which I have chosen.”
14. And YHWH raised up an adversary for Shlomoh—Hadad the Edomite; he was from among the descendants of the king of Edom.
15. What had taken place when David was in Edom, when Yo’av, the commander of the army, went up to bury the slain when he had been striking down every male in Edom
16. (because Yo’av had remained there six months with all of Israel until he had caused every male in Edom to be cut off),
17. [was] that Hadad had escaped—he and [some] Edomite men from among the servants of his father with him—to enter Egypt, while Hadad was a little lad.
18. As they rose up out of Midyan and entered Pa’aran, they took men with them out of Pa’aran and came into Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he gave him a house and promised him bread; he also gave him land.
19. And Hadad found very much favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he gave him a wife—the sister of his own wife (the sister of Takhp’neys the ruling woman),
It sounds as if this Pharaoh was quite young, but he is probably the one who later became Shlomoh’s first father-in-law.
20. and the sister of Takhp’neys bore him his son G’nuvath, and Takhp’neys weaned him right within the household of Pharaoh. That is, G’nuvath was in Pharaoh’s household right among the sons of Pharaoh.
21. When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had lain down with his ancestors and that Yo’av, the commander of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Give me a sendoff so I can go to my land.”
22. But Pharaoh said to him, “Because…? What are you lacking with me, that here you are seeking to go to your land?” And he said, “Nothing; still, send me off anyway.”
Nekhemyah assumed his master, the king of Persia, would feel insulted in the same way if he wished to leave. Hadad seemed to be dissatisfied despite all this special treatment.
23. Elohim also raised up as an adversary for him R’zon the son of Elyada, who fled from [being] with his master, Hadad’ezer the king of Tzovah
R’zon means “honorable prince”. Shlomoh now literally had trouble from the right hand (the south) and the left (the north).
24. and gathered men around him and was captain of a marauding band. When David [started] to kill them, they went to Damaseq and lived in it. He even started to reign [as king] in Damaseq.
25. And he turned out to be an adversary to Israel all the days of Shlomoh, along with the trouble that Hadad [caused], and he loathed Israel while he was reigning over Aram.
26. And Yarav’am the son of N’vat, an Efrathite from the Tz’redah (a servant of Shlomoh whose mother’s name was Tz’ruah, a widow woman)—he also raised a hand against the king.
This fortress town was in the territory of Menashe, but it sounds as if Yarav’am was from the tribe of Efrayim and simply living on Menashe’s adjoining tribal land for some reason.
27. And this is the matter [for] which he lifted up his hand against the king: Shlomoh had built the Millo, closing up a breach of his father, David’s city.
Breach: There is no record of an enemy having breached David’s wall, so it may have collapsed when he built the large palace there, under the weight of the new building which taxed the old Y’vusite wall’s foundations too heavily.
28. And the man Yarav’am was a hero of the army. When Shlomoh noticed the young man because he got the work done, and he appointed him overseer of the whole burden of the House of Yoseyf.
Got the work done: i.e., he was industrious. House of Yoseyf: This is why Yarav’am revolted: Shlomoh did not include his own tribe in the forced labor. Besides building the Temple, he was building a “shrine” to Yehudah and belittling the Northern Kingdom. He was presenting David only as a Jew, not as an Israelite. As overseer of the forced laborers, Yarav’am knew their plight better than anyone else, and he apparently earned their trust by alleviating the difficulties of the projects Shlomoh dreamed up without being aware of the nuts and bolts of what all it involved.
29. And what took place at that time [was that] as Yarav’am was leaving Yerushalayim, the prophet Akhiyah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the field.
He was from Shiloh, one of the places where the Tabernacle had rested for many years. It is not clear whether Yarav’am or Akhiyah was the one wearing the new garment.
30. Then Akhiyah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and started tearing it into twelve pieces.
31. And he said to Yarav’am, “Take ten pieces for yourself. This is what YHWH, Elohim of Israel, says: ‘Watch! I am tearing the dominion from the hand of Shlomoh and giving you the ten tribes.
The ten: apparently it was clear to him which ten these were. Like the garment, this unified nation was essentially new. Most people owned only one or two garments at a time in that day, so a new one would be especially valued.
32. “‘But the one tribe will be his for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Yerushalayim, the city which I have chosen from [among] all the tribes of Israel,
He said the same thing YHWH had told Shlomoh privately, so Akhiyah was a true prophet who heard from Him. The one tribe could not be Levi, because they belonged strictly to YHWH, not to either side of the conflict. One reason many Levites are actively reaching out to the Northern Kingdom now may be that they are not actually Jews. Yehudah took responsibility for Binyamin when he went to Egypt, though he was Yoseyf’s only full-blooded brother, and in chapter 12 we will see Binyamites fighting for Yehudah, so this may be the “one tribe” if another besides Yehudah is actually meant. (12:20 suggests that it is not.) Binyamin has therefore been a special link between the two Kingdoms, and may constitute many who are considered Jews—especially Orthodox—yet who acknowledge Y’shua as Messiah. This also shows how much importance YHWH places on Yerushalayim, which the Palestinians are trying to make their capital.
33. “because they have abandoned Me and bow themselves down to Ashtoreth the elohim of the Tzidonians, to Khemosh the elohim of Moav, and to Milkom the elohim of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways (in order to do what is upright in My eyes) or My prescribed customs or My procedures of judgment, like David his father.
34. “Now, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand because I will let him be ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose, who guarded My commands and My prescribed customs.
35. “But I will take the dominion out of his son’s hand and give you the ten tribes.
36. “And to his son I will allot one tribe, so that David My servant may always have a candle in My presence for all time in Yerushalayim, the city that I have chosen for Myself in order to set My Name there.
37. “Then I will fetch you, and you will reign according to all that your soul may crave, and you will become king over Israel.
Note that he does not say “all Israel” any longer.
38. “And it will turn out—if you obey everything about which I give you orders, and walk in My ways and do what is upright in My sight, to guard My prescribed customs and My orders as David My servant did—that I will be with you and will build a firmly-established household for you like [the one] I built for David, and will entrust Israel to you.
Entrust Israel: What a huge responsibility! And what a precedent to compare to—David’s! He was not perfect, but had been perfectly motivated. But this was a big “i”. All was contingent on his keeping things the way David had set them, and Shlomoh was already letting that slip away. If Yarav’am slipped, he was not promised a dynasty as David had been.
39. “And for the sake of this I will suppress the seed of David, but certainly not for all time!”
Suppress: humble, lower, restrain, afflict in the sense of disciplining.
40. Then Shlomoh tried to put Yarav’am to death, so Yarav’am got up and fled to Egypt.
This was the closest country for him to flee to which would not extradite him, as he knew from the precedent of Hadad above, and he also retraced the steps of his ancestors as well as, symbolically, the descendants of the people whom he would rule. But Egypt was the one country Israel was specifically forbidden from going to for help. (Deut. 17:16; compare Yeshayahu 31:1) How did Shlomoh know Yarav’am was a threat? No one had been present when Akhiyah gave him the message. He must have put two and two together, knowing that one called his servant would receive part of his kingdom, and who was more of a servant to him than Yarav’am? (v. 28)
41. Now the rest of Shlomoh’s words and all that he did—that is, his wisdom—aren’t they written in the Book of the Affairs of Shlomoh?
Words…affairs: or matters; the word is the same in both cases. To the best of our knowledge, this book is no longer extant.
42. And the days that Shlomoh reigned in Yerushalayim over all of Israel [totaled] 40 years;
43. then Shlomoh lay down with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David, his father, and Rehav’am his son reigned in his place.
CHAPTER 12
[Year 3070 from creation; 930 B.C.E.]
1. And Rehav’am went to Sh’khem because all of Israel had come [to] Sh’khem to make him king.
Sh’khem is the special property of Yoseyf, and the place where Y’hoshua had spoken the curses and blessings over those who kept and broke the Torah respectively. Either Shlomoh had told him nothing about YHWH’s rescinding of the ten tribes from him, or he was acting in outright defiance of it, wanting what was not his, like the man after whom that city was named. (Gen. 34:2) Yaaqov had buried idols there rather than burning them, and now they were re-emerging.
2. As it turned out, when Yarav’am the son of N’vat heard [about it], he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of Shlomoh the king and dwelt in Egypt,
3. they sent and summoned him, so Yarav’am and the whole congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehav’am, saying,
4. “Your father made our yoke stiff, so now you should lighten some of the stiff servitude of your father, and some of his heavy yoke that he had laid on us; then we will serve you.”
Stiff: hard, burdensome, severe. When many people are angry about the same thing, it brings a kind of unity. Yarav’am was a “labor union leader” who had gone from being the “boss’s lackey” to being a thorn in his side, because the “management” was not dealing properly with the labor force. YHWH gave him this “campaign platform” as leverage. Was he sincere in hoping Rehav’am would repent and preserve the union? It does not appear that Yarav’am was given this position because he was any more righteous, but because he was the more convenient of two evils.
5. So he told them, “Go [away] for three more days, then return to me.”
6. And the king, Rehav’am, consulted with the elders who had been the ones stationed in the presence of Shlomoh his father while he was alive, saying, “How do you advise that I should bring a word back to this people?”
7. And they spoke to him to say, “If you [are] to be a servant to this people today, you will serve them and be responsive to them, and speak beneficial words to them, then they will be your servants all the days [of your life].”
These are the words of those who had experienced forty years of Shlomoh’s rulership and probably were very familiar with David’s as well, having lived long enough to see the vicissitudes of other nations and the results of their political moves. Among men, they would be the wisest available, but even they may have only been emphasizing the fact that the Northern tribes were a huge tax base, and if he went easier on them, he would have their favor. What is blatantly missing is enquiring from the priests or prophets about what YHWH Himself wants him to do. Apparently his father had not been an example to him in this regard late enough in his life for Rehav’am to even consider this a viable option.
8. But he ignored the counsel of the elders [by] which they advised him, and consulted with the generation that had grown up with him, who were standing before him,
Generation: literally, born ones--his own contemporaries, his cronies who would be giddy with the new level of authority that Shlomoh’s death had brought him.
9. and said to them, “What do you recommend when we bring a word back to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten some of the yoke that your father had laid upon us’?
He said “we” to them, seeming to allow them a share in the spoils, rather than “I” as he did with the elders, for he spoke like a statesman before them, but with his “punk buddies”, he seems to have the mocking tone of a smart aleck. He is really only looking for “yes-men” to tell him it is all right to do what he already wants to do, so he can prove what a “big man” he is. So he finds the weakest link and tries to get numbers on his side.
10. So the boys who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is how you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, so you lighten it from on top of us!’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little [finger] is thicker than my father’s thigh!
Thigh: or possibly waist.
11. “‘And now, my father loaded you down with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke! My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’”
Their advice was to crack down on these “rebels” and “show them who was boss” by being tougher still on them, like Pharaoh did, reasoning that if they still had energy to complain, they were not busy enough. It is one thing to begin with a strong hand against one’s enemies, as Shlomoh did, deterring many other potential enemies from rising up at all. But it is quite another to be so heavy-handed against those one is called to serve, if their concerns are reasonable. After all, they did not ask for his yoke to be taken away altogether.
12. So Yarav’am and all the people came to Rehav’am on the third day, just as the king had spoken, saying, “Come back to me on the third day.”
13. And the king answered the people harshly, and repudiated the counsel [by] which the elders had advised him,
Like most teenagers, he placed no value on the experience of his forbears. He had not even learned wisdom from his father, for his mother was not Torah. (See note on v. 14.)
14. and spoke to them in line with the advice of the “boys”, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke! My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!”
Thus he admits that the king of Yehudah had been beating his fellow Israelites, keeping them in line with a whip. Their fear was taught by men (Yeshayahu/Isa. 29:13); it was not genuine, nor were these contributors to the Temple doing so out of willingness as for the Tabernacle. (Ex. 36) The scribe may have been simply trying to save his neck when he said Shlomoh enslaved no Israelites (9:22), but maybe he had simply found a loophole through the fact that the “forced labor” is a different term than the Hebrew word for “slave”. While this might have worsened only after Shlomoh considered Yarav’am a threat, still an Israelite is to be enslaved only if his debt is too high to pay any other way, and he is to be treated like one of the family. (Ex. 21:2ff) Instead, Shlomoh “became Pharaoh”. Rehav’am was most likely the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Shlomoh’s first wife. In that case, he was pagan and might never have even worshipped YHWH. Shlomoh brought the whole nation “back to Egypt”! But I will: This was a direct insult to his father, and whether or not Shlomoh commanded any respect late in life, still the noble thing for his son to do would be to honor his father. While Shlomoh’s ways did need improving upon, when he said, “I can do better than my father” in this roundabout way, he was not thinking about repenting for his father’s sins.
15. Thus the king did not heed the people, because [the] turn of events was from YHWH, in order to make His saying stand firm, which YHWH had spoken via Akhiyah the Shilonite to Yarav’am the son of N’vat.
Turn of events: or, revolution.
16. When all of Israel saw that the king was not listening to then, they sent word back to the king, saying, “What part do we have in David? And [there is] no share [of inheritance for us] in the son of Yishai! To your tents, O Israel! Look at your house now, O David!” So Israel went to its tents.
To your tents: i.e., “Of course you know this means war!” This was a repetition of what had taken place when David was not acting as king (2 Shmu’el 21), but he repented; Rehav’am did not. It was not David himself they were repudiating, but what his descendant had made of his once-glorious household by turning it inward in a selfish way. Israel’s punishment for breaking the covenant was to be cut in two like the animals divided at the covenant ratification ceremony, for they symbolize that one is calling upon himself a curse, saying, “If I do not keep my part of the agreement, may I become like these animals!” The blame for this split—and even our descent into paganism--lies with Yehudah, not Efrayim, because it was a result not of rebellion but of Shlomoh’s turning to idolatry. So it was Yehudah’s—and most directly the descendants of Shlomoh’s-- responsibility to make amends for this. When Y’shua came to reunite the tribes of Israel, he, as heir to David’s throne, in making amends for Shlomoh’s and Rehav’am’s failures in this regard, said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavily-loaded, and I will give you rest! Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and well-grounded in what I desire, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mat. 11:28-29) He was certainly thinking of this incident when he said that. The last phrase also echoes Yirmeyahu 6:16, in which YHWH promises rest for the soul of the one who seeks the ancient/eternal path. And Y’shua was certainly bringing that to those from the Northern Kingdom who had gone off into idolatry and exile, but it could also be translated, “an intermission so you can catch your breath”—which is exactly what these people were asking for. He then added, “for My yoke fits pleasantly, and the load I [will ask you to carry] is easy to bear.” (11:30) His own fellow Jews at the time of the Second Temple were laden heavily with halakhah that was given the same weight as Torah in many people’s minds, being based not on simply building a fence around the Torah, but on fences around fences around fences, and it was too much for any but the very wealthy to sustain. They, too, needed his interpretation of the Torah, which cut to the heart of the matter and emphasized the fact that it was all about loving YHWH and one’s fellow, not about being spectacularly religious. But his followers, when the time had fully come to start bringing the descendants of the exiled northern tribes back into Torah, also recognized that they should not lay too heavy a burden on them, but rather let them start with the essentials and build their Torah-keeping muscles at a healthy pace until they could handle the heavier loads that would necessarily come as they matured. (Acts 15:19-21)
17. As for the descendants of Israel who were living in the cities of Yehudah, Rehav’am exercised dominion over them.
18. And King Rehav’am sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him with [building] stones, so that he died. So King Rehav’am pressed hard to get up into his chariot and escape to Yerushalayim.
Forced labor: or, enforced tribute, levy of taxes, serfdom. Building stones: how ironic, when it was building projects he had forced on them. They used against him the only thing he provided them with. Pressed hard: i.e., rushed.
19. And Israel has been in revolt against the House of David to this day.
House of David: See note on v. 26. We could still say the same today, though finally it is coming to an end.
20. As it turned out, when all of Israel heard that Yarav’am had come back, they sent and summoned him to the assembly, and they made him king over all of Israel. None followed after the House of David except the tribe of Yehudah alone.
They declared him king of the whole nation, apparently including Yehudah, unless now Yehudah was specifically excluded from the definition of “Israel”.
21. When Rehav’am arrived at Yerushalayim, he assembled the whole House of Yehudah along with [some from the] tribe of Binyamin—180,000 select makers of war—to fight with the House of Israel, to bring the dominion back to Rehav’am the son of Shlomoh.
It would have appeared that the way Yarav’am only received ten tribes was that Shim’on was intermingled with Yehudah in its land, having received only cities, not territory. This is probably “the descendants of Israel who were living in the cities of Yehudah” in verse 17. But the “one tribe” that Rehav’am was granted may have been Binyamin instead, in which case Shim’on must have dissipated among the rest of the northern kingdom after revolting along with them (v. 18). But it may be that from Binyamin he only had these warriors, as that tribe was especially noted for its warriors. Considering that a few generations ago only 600 men were left of Binyamin, it is unlikely that this 180,000 is speaking only of Binyamin, but probably includes Yehudah’s warriors as well. The Temple was in Binyamin’s land—just across the border from Yerushalayim—so it is logical that they would fight along with the tribe that held it. One thing Yarav’am did not inherit was Shlomoh’s riches, and the southern kingdom is still prosperous enough to muster more men than the ten northern tribes. Most of David’s army had been mercenaries, and many of these may have also been foreigners. Edom and other states that David and Shlomoh had made vassals would have contributed, being much like the residents of Puerto Rico today—“independent” but still considered “Americans”.
22. But the word of Elohim came to Shma’yah the man of Elohim, saying,
Shma’yah means “Hear, O YHWH!” But he was telling Rehav’am just the opposite: “You had better listen to YHWH!”
23. “Tell Rehav’am the son of Shlomoh, the king of Yehudah, and the whole House of Yehudah and Binyamin and the rest of the people,
24. “‘This is what YHWH says: “Do not go up or fight with your brothers, the House of Israel. Each of you return to his house, because this thing has come from Me.”’” So they obeyed the word of YHWH, and turned back to leave, in accordance with YHWH’s word.
Either Shma’yah’s name had its desired effect, or he was already well enough respected that no one questioned the fact that he was YHWH’s spokesman. Return to his house: This might even include those from the Northern Kingdom living in the South or were willing to fight for it because the Temple was there.
25. And Yarav’am fortified Sh’khem in the mountains of Efrayim and lived in it, then he went out from there and fortified P’nu-El.
P’nu-El was where Yaaqov wrestled with the messenger. (Gen. 32:31) Like Gid’on (Judges 8), he was retracing Yaaqov’s steps.
26. But Yarav’am said in his heart, “Now the dominion may revert to the House of David!
Now: after Rehav’am decided to obey YHWH and forego the battle, there would be peace between the two peoples, and they might decide to settle their differences more fully and reunite. He is running off of paranoia: “What if…?” He is getting ahead of any real need, worrying about something that would never have taken place if he let today be today and simply obeyed YHWH. YHWH gave him his reign, and He would preserve it. But Yarav’am is beginning to credit the people with putting him in power instead, so He no longer trusts YHWH with something that was never his concern before, but has been given to him only for the sake of all of Israel. This leads to his thinking that he has the authority to change the laws YHWH laid down at Mt. Sinai. House of David: The idiom most commonly used for Yehudah at that time, as evidenced even by an inscription found at the tel of the city of Dan at the extreme north of Israel in the 1990s, which would be one of the places that would especially be Yerushalayim’s rival. (v. 29)
27. “If this people goes up to carry out slaughterings in the House of YHWH at Yerushalayim, the heart of this people may turn back to their master—to Rehav’am, the king of Yehudah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehav’am, [the] king of Yehudah!”
In peacetime there would be access to Yerushalayim for all of Israel. Yarav’am’s heart was already becoming corrupted by power. He was no longer as concerned for the spiritual welfare of the people he started out to serve as with holding onto the position that was now his, though by calling Rehav’am “their master”, he seems to even be calling into question his own legitimacy as king—yet he still wants to retain the position!
28. So the king devised a plan [within himself] and made two golden calves, and he told them, “It is too much for you to go up to Yerushalayim; here are your elohim, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Devised a plan: or “took counsel”, but it does not say with whom. Just like Aharon, he (knowingly or not) symbolized through the golden calves the immaturity of his own reasoning and that which he would bring about in the hearts of his people once they stopped having full access to the Torah. And of course two calves are better than one! It is too much: He encouraged them to take the easy way (just like Efrayim’s masses today), and therefore they grew weaker.
29. And he placed the one in Beyth-El, and the [other] one he put in Dan,
Beyth-El is on the border between Binyamin and Efrayim; the name (“house of Elohim”) makes it obvious why he would choose that location. YDan is at the extreme north of the Land, so those who lived in that sector could go as far from Yerushalayim as they still could go within their own Land—a major political statement. But Dan was also a watering-stop on the only trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia, at the narrow pass that leads into Levanon, so it would also derive much pagan influence from all the peoples who passed through it; YHWH had intended for Israel to be the influence on the peoples who passed through their Land instead.
30. and this matter became a missing of the target, because the people went before the one all the way to Dan,
The one: It seems that the people did not do much with the calf at Beyth-El, but that they all went all the way to Dan—as far as they could get from Yerushalayim and still be within their own Land.
31. and he made a house of cultic platforms, and made priests of the fringes of the people, who were not from the sons of Levi.
This was the second missing of the target (after the idolatry itself)—the repudiation of the restriction YHWH had put on who could be His priests. Were these “fringes” the riff-raff—the “lunatic fringe” as we might say today? Or were the Levites simply remembering how many of them had died because of the golden calf, and telling the people to “get their own priests” if they were going to worship idols?
32. And Yarav’am produced a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that was in Yehudah, and he made [an ascending offering] go up on the altar, and did the same at Beyth-El, to make a slaughtering to the calves that he had fashioned. And he stationed at Beyth-El priests of the cultic platforms that he had made.
This full moon is in the mid-to-late autumn, but it is a whole month after Sukkoth. This allowed any who did wish to go to Yerushalayim if they so wished. This tells us also that, probably since Shlomoh had dedicated the Temple, Sukkoth was indeed being celebrated in this generation, though according to Nekhemyah 8:17, no one built a sukkah during the approximately 1,000 years between Y’hoshua’s and Nekhemyah’s day (of which this incident falls right near the midpoint). Yarav’am may have even built some, recycling what Yehudah had neglected and making it seem like something new and different, and therefore attractive. It may be best that we make a point of not doing anything special on that day, to keep it common and not holy in any way. The base of this altar and the cultic platform complex at Dan has been unearthed and cleared by archaeologists, and a full-size frame “outline” of the altar has been built on top of it—possibly to remind the returning House of Israel of our potential to fail and to warn us away from it.
33. And he [offered] up [a sacrifice] atop the altar that he had made in Beyth-El on the fifteenth day of the eighth month—in the month that he had determined in his own heart. Thus he made a feast for the descendants of Israel and offered up on the altar for incense.
He may have thought that because it was allowable for someone to do the Passover slaughter a month late (if he was ritually impure or on a journey), then it must be equally allowable to celebrate Sukkoth a month late, for no reason except to be different. But YHWH only said this of Passover. The Northern Kingdom has continued to substitute other days for those YHWH has ordained, again following the tugging of our own hearts, whether for emotional or logical reasons—anything but obeying His actual commands.
CHAPTER 13
1. Then, lo and behold, a man of Elohim came from Yehudah to Beyth-El by the word of YHWH while Yarav’am was standing atop the altar to burn incense.
From Yehudah’s territory, Beyth-El was only about a mile across the Beyth-Horon Descent, which at that time constituted the border between Yehudah and Israel. He thus was only sent to his audience’s “front door” and was not meant to fully enter its house. (v. 9) Avraham had built an altar here (Gen. 12:8), which Yarav’am may have thought was all the precedent he needed. The two altars were at the extreme northern and southern parts of the Kingdom of Israel, as if they were guarding the land. The historian Josephus, (Antiquities of the Jews, 8:9:1), who apparently had access to more detailed traditions about this story, says that this took place during the feast of pseudo-Sukkoth that Yarav’am had initiated, and that he took it upon himself to be high priest.
2. And he uttered a loud proclamation about the altar by the word of YHWH, and said, “O Altar! Altar! This is what YHWH says: ‘Watch! A son will be born to the House of David. Y’oshiyahu is his name, and he will slaughter on you the priests of the cultic platforms who are burning incense on you, and they will burn human bones on you!’”
Yarav’am reigned from approximately 930 to 909 B.C.E. Yoshiyahu (who was king from 639 through 609 B.C.E.) would thus not come on the scene until 300 years later (which would already be after the dispersion of the Northern Kingdom, indicating that Yehudah would at least have access to the area after the Assyrian Empire was weakening), so this story would have to be passed down from generation to generation and be remembered. One wonders why none of the kings in the line of David named his son Yoshiyahu sooner, unless the prophecy was not known to Yehudah until later. It may have been given as a sign, or as an assignment, or both. Human bones: literally, bones of Adam. Nothing would be more defiling to an altar connected with YHWH. But bones are a picture of the House of Israel in particular (Y’hezq’El 37), and their being consumed forebodes the fact that it would completely cease to be a nation for an extremely long time. The story of what Yoshiyahu did is found in 2 Kings 23:14ff.
3. And on that day he provided a [miraculous] sign, to say, “This is the sign that YHWH has pronounced: Look! The altar [will] be torn apart and the ashes that are on it [will] be spilled out.”
Ashes: Josephus renders it, “the fat of the sacrifices”. The physical cause might have been the gravitational pull of the planet Mars, which would (until 701 B.C.E.) cross earth’s orbit and cause major cataclysms during what are now called March and October, and the latter would line up with the timing of this incident in the eighth month.
4. Then what took place when King Yarav’am heard the word of the man of Elohim, which he proclaimed in regard to the altar, was that he stretched out his hand from atop the altar, to say, “Arrest him!” But his hand, which he had stretched out against him, withered, and he was not able to draw it back to himself.
Withered: or dried up. But there is a play on words here, because the Hebrew word for “arrest” (or “seize”) is realized as tif-sh, while “withered” is tiyvash. Yarav’am had employed his hand against YHWH, and would not use it righteously, so YHWH took away its “license to operate”. This is reminiscent of David’s vow, “If I forget you, O Yerushalayim [the very thing Yarav’am was trying to make his subjects do], may my right hand forget [its skills].” (Psalm 137:5) The eighth month was also when the Deluge of Noakh took place, and that is the first time these Hebrew words “stretch out” and “draw back” are used together (when he sent out the dove). So we should compare the two incidents. Like Noakh, Yarav’am was given a covenant, but when he reached out to take something he did not deserve, his hand, rather than the flood waters, is what dried up.
5. And the altar was torn apart and the ashes spilt out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of Elohim had given according to the word of YHWH.
This would not only ruin the altar, but apparently ritually defile it as well. Normally, ashes are to be removed from the altar (Ex. 27:5; Lev. 1:16) and poured outside the camp (Lev. 4:12) in a ritually-pure place (Lev. 6:11). In some cases, the high priest would do so, while in other cases the Levites would. (Num. 4:13) The ashes of the red heifer had to be gathered by someone who was ritually pure. This was a sign that they could see immediately to show that the prophecy of the altar’s demise would also be reliable. So like Pharaoh, Yarav’am received two proofs. The question now was whether Yarav’am would accept this judgment or defiantly try to rebuild it. The fact that human bones would be burned on it (v. 2) tells us that it must have been repaired.
6. Then the king responded and said to the man of Elohim, “Please, beg the face of YHWH your Elohim, and intervene on my behalf, so my hand can come back to me!” So the man of Elohim begged the presence of YHWH, and the man’s hand retracted to him, and it was like [it had been] at first.
Like Pharaoh, he asked for prayer when he began to feel YHWH’s judgment. Your Elohim: He does not claim YHWH as his own, though he was undoubtedly calling the two golden calves “YHWH” as Aharon did.
7. And the king said to the man of Elohim, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, so I can give you a reward.”
Refresh: or sustain. Reward: or, gift. (He may have meant it as a bribe, but maybe it was only out of appreciation.
8. But the man of Elohim said to the king, “If you were to give me half of your house, I would not come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place!
Elisha likewise refused a gift from Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:15-16), because the term for “reward” in v. 6 can also mean “bribe”, which can blind the righteous. (Ex. 23:8) In any case, Israelite are forbidden to eat what is connected with pagqn slaughterings. (Ex. 34:15) The place was not worthy of a servant of YHWH; it was defiled by the worship of demons, and to eat there would be like ratifying a false covenant.
9. “Because the same [thing] has been commanded me by the word of YHWH, saying, ‘You must not eat bread or drink water, or go back on the road by which you came.’”
He needed to set an example to the Northern Kingdom of changing course and going in a different direction.
10. So he went by a different road, and did not return by the way on which he came to Beyth-El.
11. But a certain elderly prophet was living at Beyth-El, and his son came and told him every action that the man of Elohim had carried out that day at Beyth-El, and they recounted to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.
They: The reference changes from singular to plural midstream in Hebrew. Prophet: We must not miss the fact that the text does not tell us whose prophet he was. That he was a prophet does not automatically mean he was holy or righteous, but only that he had access to things that are in the spirit world, and sometimes this would even include the words of YHWH. Y’shua warns us to beware of false prophets. (Mat. 7:15)
12. And their father said to them, “Where is this [man]? [By] what road did he go?” And his sons had seen [on which] road the man of Elohim who came from Yehudah had gone.
13. So he told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me!” And they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
14. And he went after the man of Elohim, and found him sitting under the terebinth tree. And he said to him, “Are you the man of Elohim who has come from Yehudah?” And he said, “[That’s] me!”
15. So he said, “Come home with me, and eat bread!”
16. But he said, “I can’t go back with you or come with you, nor may I eat [any] bread or drink [any] water with you in this place,
17. “because a word came to me through the word of YHWH, “You must not eat bread or drink water there, nor may you turn back to go on the [same] road by which you walked into it.”
18. But he said to him, “I am also a prophet like yourself, and a messenger spoke to me by the word of YHWH, to say, “Bring him back with you into your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.” (He was lying to him.)
What was his motive? To test him? Or to get him in trouble? Josephus tells us this false prophet was held in high esteem by Yarav’am, and, being weak and ill, feared that “Yadon” would now be held in higher esteem by Yarav’am because he had proven a man whose words held true. But since he identified himself with the younger prophet and used YHWH’s name, he trusted him, especially deferring to him since he was his elder and would thus hold some authority in his eyes. He never seems to have considered that someone might lie in YHWH’s Name. Could he also have been the unnamed person who gave Yarav’am counsel to make the altars in the first place (12:28)? In any case, if the worship here ceased, according to the young prophet’s advice, the elder would lose respect from his townspeople.
19. So he went back with him and at bread in his house and drank water.
20. But what came about while they were sitting at the table [was] that a word came [from] YHWH to the prophet who had brought him back,
21. and he summoned the man of Elohim who had come from Yehudah, saying, “This is what YHWH says: ‘Because you have rebelled against the mouth of YHWH, and have not guarded the order [by] which YHWH your Elohim commanded you,
Guarded: Apparently he thought YHWH had changed his mind, or else he was just glad for an excuse to do what his stomach was telling him to do, but he did not seem to even puzzle over the contradiction. Because the prophet seemed to be on YHWH’s side instead of clearly in conflict with Him like Yarav’am, who offered the same invitation, he now let down his guard. This is how confusing much prophecy that goes on in the name even of YHWH is today, when YHWH’s instruction is so lightly guarded. He could clearly hear from YHWH, but because of some faulty assumption in his own mind, the message became garbled.
22. “‘and you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place of which He told you, “You must not eat bread or drink water”, your corpse will not make it to the grave of your ancestors.’”
The place: He was outside the land in which the Torah was still more prevalent, and he was not meant to feed off the place he has just cursed; he was only there to deliver a warning and a sign. Not make it to the grave of your ancestors: This would be a much more drastic punishment than mere death. It meant great shame, and was one form of being “cut off from his people”. Yaaqov, Yoseyf, Moshe, and Aharon were all “gathered to their fathers”; this man who knew the right thing to do and did not do it lost his heritage and his inheritance—a picture of the whole Northern Kingdom against whom he had railed at first. He was a prime example of those who start off faithful, then grow slack, and die in their sin. (Y’hezq’El 3:18-20)
23. And what took place after he ate bread and after he drank was that he saddled the donkey for him—for the prophet whom he had brought back--
He: that is, the elder prophet.
24. and he left. Then a lion found him on the road and killed him, and his corpse was cast off in the pathway, and the donkey [kept] standing beside it, and the lion [kept] standing beside the corpse!
He: the younger prophet. In the pathway: likely to be trampled underfoot, adding insult to injury. Donkeys often show up with prophets in Scripture, even Avraham, who also heard from YHWH.
25. As men were passing by, lo and behold, they saw the corpse thrown [down] on the road, and the lion standing beside the corpse, and they came and talked intensely about it in the city where the elder prophet lived.
26. When the prophet who had brought him back from the journey heard it, he said, “He is the man of Elohim who rebelled against the mouth of YHWH, so YHWH gave him over to the lion, and it tore him [in pieces] and killed him, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke to him!”
Those who know YHWH’s will the best are held most accountable for what they do with His words. But the other prophet makes no mention of his own hand in the prophet’s disobedience! And he had not been the channel for all of these “words” from YHWH; all he told him was that he would not be buried with his ancestors. But Leviticus 26:21-22 had warned long before this that unrepentant Israel would have wild beasts sent among them to make the highways desolate, so this strange scene is direct testimony to the veracity of YHWH’s threat.
27. So he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle up the donkey for me!” So they saddled it,
28. and he went and found his corpse thrown [down] on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing near the corpse, and the lion had not eaten the corpse, nor had it torn apart the donkey.
The lion was clearly not there because it was hungry. It was an executioner for YHWH, and this made it clear to all who passed by that the only reason it had killed him was because of who he was and what he had done. This prophet provided another sign even in his death, though he was on the wrong side of it this time, and it burned him. The lion has long been a symbol of Yehudah (Gen. 49:9), so the lion was there to make sure he did not return to Yehudah, from which he had come, but was buried outside its territory. The lion also represents the fact that YHWH had restrained Yehudah from battling against Israel. In mercy it stood by to protect the body from any other scavengers, just as the Son of man (also from Yehudah) said he was the one who scattered Israel (Mat. 13:37) and he would be the one to regather her. (Luqa 19:10)
29. So the prophet took up the corpse of the man of Elohim and laid it [gently] on the donkey, and brought him back, and he came to the elder prophet’s city to bewail and bury him.
Josephus says he made a funeral for him at great expense.
30. And he laid his corpse in his own tomb, and they wailed over him, “Alas, my brother!”
Brother: his fellow prophet. Since he himself had a reputation of being a false prophet, who “kissed up” to the king, this would also tarnish the reputation of the younger prophet, who would thus be associated with him. Once he had disobeyed and was among the dead, they were indeed brothers. But one must wonder from this part of the story whether he did not have some regrets about his part in tempting the man of Elohim to sin, for as Yoseyf of Ramathayim buried Y’shua in his own tomb, there seems to have been some admission that he was more deserving of honor than he, since he did affirm that his words would come true, whatever turn his later actions took.
31. And what he did after he buried him was that he said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb in which the man of Elohim is buried; lay my bones beside his,
32. “because the word that he proclaimed by the word of YHWH about the altar that is in Beyth-El, and about all the houses of the cultic platforms that are in the cities of Shomron, will by all means come about.”
Shomron: or Samaria, the region south of the Yezre’el Valley, west of the Yarden River, and north of Binyamin. Shomron, the capital city as such, had not yet been built. This took place under the reign of Omri. (Probably because of this, the Northern Kingdom was for as long time called “the house of Omri”.) Josephus adds that he thought that if he were buried with this true prophet, he would receive no injurious treatment after his death (i.e., for being a false prophet), since the bones of the two men could then no longer be distinguished. And indeed, being in this tomb spared his bones from being among those burned by Yoshiyahu. (2 Kings 23:17-18) He says the younger prophet’s name was Yadon. Another writing called the Constitutions calls him Adonais. But this is speculation; his name is left out of the Book of Life, and so was the elder prophet’s.
33. After this event, Yarav’am [still] did not repent from his evil way, but went back and made priests of the cultic platforms from the fringe of the people. He filled the hand of whoever wished [to do the job] and they became priests of the cultic platform.
Even those who went only by tradition rather than Torah still knew this was not appropriate. Josephus says the false prophet went and asked Yarav’am why he listened to the words of the prophet who had been so dishonored. When Yarav’am told him about his withered hand, the false prophet tried to persuade him that it had only been worn out by the labor involved in the multitude of sacrifices he had offered, and that its restoration came only because he had rested for some time. He also said the altar, being new and untested, had cracked under the weight of the abundance and size of the sacrifices laid on it. How could he explain away the lion that did not eat the prophet or the donkey? He could give credit to his two golden calves for preventing the lion from acting like a typical lion, just as “Jesus” is put into contexts and given credit for things with which he had no direct connection. (Not to diminish any true prophecies about the real Y’shua, for he is worthy of much honor, but he was still only the vessel YHWH chose to use; YHWH was the one who did the work. We do not drink the glass, but its contents.) Like their Christian descendants, they were worshipping these calves as YHWH, not as the Ba’als yet, but the effect was the same. In any case, Yarav’am took the mauling by the lion as discrediting the man of Elohim, since his own prophet had still managed to overcome the prophet who had made his hand wither and his altar break apart. He therefore took this as an excuse and a license to follow the course he preferred. Afterward, Josephus says, Yarav’am kept trying to come up with more and more new ways to “make improvements” on the Torah. So YHWH gave him what he asked for, turning him over to the table that he had set for himself.
34. And this thing became a missing of the target [for the] House of Yarav’am—[enough] to bring it to desolation and destruction from off the face of the earth.
I.e., this was the last straw, the filling of the cup of wrath. This incident, in which a man of Yehudah brought a message against the North and then died in that territory, would certainly drive the wedge between the two kingdoms deeper. There is much in this account that foreshadows the history of the Northern Kingdom, including lying prophets who defend “righteous idolatry”, crystallized in Christianity, the religion of the majority of the Northern Kingdom today. Aharon had said his golden calf was the elohim who brought Israel out of Egypt, but now Israel has two golden calves, so the rift now is between the Temple and those who worship more than one elohim, thinking both are YHWH. What could better foreshadow the deification of Y’shua? Our refusal to repent of this eventually “gained” us a third deity as well. No benefit came to anyone in this story, unless we who read it now learn from it and go in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER 14
1. At that time, Aviyah the son of Yarav’am became ill,
Aviyah means “YHWH is my Father”! Yet even his own father was not acting according to this worldview.
2. and Yarav’am said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so they will not know that you are Yarav’am’s wife, and walk to Shiloh. [Go] see Akhiyah the prophet there. He spoke about my becoming king over this people.
Now he thinks about YHWH’s prophet—only when he is in trouble! Disguise: or simply, change. He assumed the prophet knew he was not worthy to ask anything from the Elohim he had abandoned, since, unlike David, he had not repented when rebuked, but he might have compassion on the plight of a poor stranger. Since he had had a favorable report from this prophet the first time, he seemed to be expecting the same again.
3. “So take in your hand ten [loaves of] bread, along with biscuits and a bottle of honey when you come to him. He will tell you what will befall the lad.”
This is reminiscent of the twelve loaves of the Bread of the Faces in the Tabernacle when all of Israel was united. Yarav’am had authority over ten of the tribes they represented. Biscuits: from a word meaning “easily crumbled”. Again this (again maybe inadvertently) speaks of the condition of the Northern Kingdom—it was crumbling. And the honey might have been a plea to find a way to glue it together (since the word comes from a rot meaning sticky or gummy), or it may have been like a bribe to “sweeten up” the prophet so he would answer in the way Yarav’am wanted. Sha’ul also brought a gift when he was going to inquire of a prophet; prophets did not require payment when they came to deliver a word from YHWH, but it only seemed right to honor one who spoke for YHWH when asking for a favor. He was worthy of his hire, for he had to eat as well.
4. So Yarav’am’s wife did just that—she got up and walked to Shiloh and entered the home of Akhiyah. Now Akhiyahu was unable to see, because his eyes were fixed due to his age.
Akhiyahu: Yarav’am had spoken of him using the shorter version of his name. This might mean he was implying familiarity or informality.
5. But YHWH told Akhiyahu, “Pay attention! Yarav’am’s wife is coming and will request something from you for her son, since he is sick. You must say thus and so to her. And when she comes, she will be making herself out to be a stranger.”
He did not need his eyesight, for YHWH revealed her ruse.
6. So it was that as Akhiyahu heard the sound of her feet coming in the entrance, he said to her, “Come in, wife of Yarav’am! Why is it that you are making yourself out to be a stranger, when I am sent to you with [a] severe [message]?
She seemed unwilling to face up to her guilt (or at least the guilt of her husband.—though the consequence would be the same either way)
7. “Go say to Yarav’am, ‘This is what YHWH, Elohim of Israel, says: “Because I raised you up from among the people to let you [be] ruler over My people Israel,
Elohim of Israel: He emphasized His ownership of the people Yarav’am is merely called to shepherd for Him, while in fact he is acting as if he has the right to decide what to do with them.
8. “‘“even tearing the sovereignty away from the House of David to give it to you, but you have not turned out [to be] like My servant David, who guarded My commandments and walked after Me with all of his heart to do only what was right in My eyes.
YHWH is saying, “You have not turned out to be worth what I had to do to My friend; I had to treat him badly to make things work for you to salvage the other tribes, but it was all a waste!”
9. “‘“And you have caused more evil to take effect than all who had come before you, and went and fashioned for yourself other elohim and cast-metal images in order to anger Me, and you have thrown Me away behind your back!
More evil than all before: While Sha’ul consulted a witch, he did so privately, and did not worship idols. David had only two major sins on his record, and only one of them directly affected the whole nation. And while Shlomoh let his wives worship whatever they wanted, he never abandoned YHWH’s Temple. In contrast, Yarav’am was telling his subjects to forsake the place where YHWH had set His Name.
10. “‘“Therefore watch Me [as I am the one] bringing trouble on the House of Yarav’am. And when I have cut off whoever [there is] in Israel belonging to Yarav’am [who] urinates on a wall, [whether he is] shut away or out in the open, I will burn away what is left of the House of Yarav’am just as one burns away the dung until it is consumed.
Urinates on a wall: that is, any male, but the choice of words reflects the fact that Yarav’am deserved no honor, for he had insulted the special attention YHWH had given him by having the audacity to ignore His clearly-stated intentions, and so his sons are insulted in return. Wall: This term is generally used of a place deserving reverence, such as a city or temple. Urinating on it would certainly defile it if we compare Deut. 23:12-14. This phrase was also used by David about Naval (1 Shmu’el 25:22), YHWH uses the same language regarding Baasha (16:11), and Eliyahu does concerning Akhav (21:21). The meaning is that he will have no posterity. Dung: YHWH uses the most distasteful terms about the man He chose to rule Israel, because of the stench he has caused in YHWH’s nostrils, which was as bad as excrement to Him. He leaves him no dignity at all. Shut away: It was common to hide an heir to the throne whose life was threatened (Deut. 32”36; 2 Kings 11:2; 14:26; Mat. 2:13-15)
11. “‘“Anyone belonging to Yarav’am who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and whoever dies in the field, the birds of the skies will consume, because YHWH has spoken.”’
Izevel and her sons would suffer the same dishonor. (21:23-24)
12. “Now [as for] you, get up and go to your home. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die,
13. “and all of Israel will lament him and bury him, because [of all those] belonging to Yarav’am, only this [one] will come to the grave, because among the House of Yarav’am, [only] in him was there found something right toward YHWH, Elohim of Israel.
He was the only one among Yarav’am’s sons who would receive a decent burial. (Compare v. 11 and 15:29 below.) The others would have no honor, and there are even hints in Jewish tradition that being buried with one’s fathers means one would be resurrected sooner if among the righteous. We are not told what it was that YHWH found worthy in Aviyah; it may have been nothing but his name. “Even a child is known by his doings, if they are pure or right.” (Prov. 20:11) Yet YHWH looks on the household as a whole entity, and because the head was evil, the sins of the father were visited on the innocent son. Now matter how righteous his wife or son may have been, YHWH looked to the head when He judged a house. This is a great warning for us, especially as heads of households.
14. “And YHWH has raised up for Himself a king over Israel, who will cut off the House of Yarav’am. This is the day. And what? Even now.
House: in this case, it signifies a dynasty.
15. “And YHWH has struck Israel as the stalk sways in the water, and uprooted Israel out of this pleasant Land that He gave to their ancestors, and scattered them across the river, because they have made their Asherim, provoking YHWH to anger.
As the stalk sways in the water: This may mean it would be an easy task for YHWH to bring this about. Across the river: not just the Yarden, but probably the Ferath (Euphrates) in particular, because that was what Avram had originally crossed. “Across” is from the same word from which “Hebrew” comes, so YHWH was giving a harsh sentence here. Since Israel was acting as if Avram had never crossed over, He was going to send them back to where he came from. He “un-hebraicized” them. Maybe then we would notice our plight and repent.
16. “And He will give Israel up on account of the guilt of Yarav’am, which he wrongly [perpetrated], by which he caused Israel to go off track.”
On account of: literally “on the rolling”. I.e., the ball Yarav’am started rolling has picked up momentum, and this is the result. He himself never made Asherim (v. 15); he only perverted the true worship rather than intending to change it altogether. But his compromise with the golden calves led others to feel they had a license to do so.
17. So Yarav’am’s wife got up and left, and came into Tirtzah. When she arrived at the threshold of the house, the lad died.
Tirtzah was about twelve miles north of Shiloh, just beyond Sh’khem. It means “place of delight”, and was apparently the city Yarav’am had chosen as his capital. The similar word, tirtzakh (“you shall murder”) might apply better in this case, though, because she might have avoided her son’s death by staying away from the city and sending a messenger instead. (v. 12)
18. So they buried him, and all of Israel mourned for him, in agreement with the word of YHWH, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Akhiyah the prophet.
19. And the rest of the affairs of Yarav’am—how he fought and how he reigned—[you can] see them written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Chronicles: literally, “words/matters of the days”.
20. And the days that Yarav’am reigned were twenty-two years, then he lay down with his ancestors, and his son Nadav began to reign in his place.
21. [Meanwhile] Rehav’am the son of Shlomoh had been king in Yehudah. Rehav’am was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 17 years in Yerushalayim, the city where YHWH chose, out of all the tribes of Israel, to set His Name. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
41 years old: This would mean he had already been born a year before Shlomoh took the throne (for he reigned 40 years). Prior to this we had only heard that he had married Pharaoh’s daughter after he became king, and it seemed she had been his first wife. This is the first we have been told about Naamah. Her name means “pleasantness”, yet she was from a people YHWH had told Israel not to marry. (11:1-2) This also tells us that Rehav’am died at least five years before Yarav’am did. We seem to be changing subjects here, but not really. There is only one Israel in covenant with YHWH, and though the Kingdom split, what one part of it did could not help but eventually affect the other. The Northern Kingdom seemed to be getting away with their sin, and it was allowing them better relationships with neighboring lands, so the Southern Kingdom appeared to have an excuse, just as Christianity’s compromises spawned the atmosphere for Conservative Judaism and the Reform variety (which we could almost call “Jewish Methodism”). When we are slack, Yehudah often tends to be too. On the other hand, when we act more righteously, we give Yehudah an easier context in which to fulfill her calling. Like a seesaw, we cannot move one side without moving the other.
22. And Yehudah did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and they provoked Him to jealous [anger] more than their ancestors ever did, by their sins [in] which they missed the target.
This evil seems to be a direct result of Shlomoh’s wife, the mother of the crown prince, being a pagan. The king's mother was always a more influential woman in the kingdom than the king's wife.
23. They even built for themselves cultic platforms and sacred poles and Asherim on every lofty hill and under every flourishing tree.
Sacred poles: phallic symbols much like the obelisks we see today, based on Egyptian architecture, but possibly of a rougher, less geometric style. Ahserim were similar—male images meant to be consorts with the goddess Asherah.
24. And there even came to be a male temple prostitute in the Land, and they carried out the same disgusting practices [that] the Gentiles that YHWH had dispossessed from before [the faces of] the sons of Israel [had done].
In the Land: that is, YHWH’s own property! This only two generations after David! This was the last straw.
25. So what took place in the fifth year of King Rehav’am, Shoshaq the King of Egypt came up against Yerushalayim,
Shoshaq: also known as Shishak or Sheshonq I, who reigned c. 945-924 B.C.E. He is the one who had harbored Yarav’am when he was fugitive from Shlomoh (11:29-40). This attack took place in 925 B.C.E. 2 Chronicles 12 gives much more detail about this story, showing that the downward spiral began after Yarav’am’s kingdom was settled or established. He began to think he, rather than YHWH, had established it. He had not resolved in his heart to seek YHWH. (12:14) He might not have made his own copy of the Torah as he was commanded to. (Deut. 17:18) So Shoshaq came with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless soldiers, including foreign mercenaries.
26. and he seized the treasures of the House of YHWH and the treasuries of the house of the king—indeed, he took it all. And he was taking all the golden shields that Shlomoh had made.
When the prophet told Yehudah why this was taking place, they repented en masse, and YHWH had mercy. (2 Chron. 12:3ff) YHWH only allowed them to pillage, not destroy. Still, they and the Northern Kingdom both became Egypt’s vassals so that they would have a taste of what it meant to serve the Gentiles in contrast to serving YHWH (12:8), again with the intent of making them repent. Rehav’am was no longer considered worthy to have responsibility for YHWH’s treasures, or the much greater treasure of His unified kingdom, since he had not cared for them properly. Symbolically, with the gold gone, he could no longer repent for worshipping the wrong things. (See note on Ex. 38:21.) These shields had originally been in the House of the Forest of Levanon. We might ask, however, why an Egyptian king would be any more worthy, being a full-fledged idolater? This may not have been the case, at least in comparison to the former Pharaohs. Shoshaq was a Libyan prince who founded the 22nd dynasty, and he succeeded the Pharaoh who was Shlomoh’s father-in-law because that Pharaoh was his father-in-law as well, and he had no son. In addition to subduing Yehudah, he asserted his dominion over the Northern Kingdom, according to a fragment of a stele he left at Megiddo. He did leave a triumphal relief scene at the temple of Amun in Thebes (suggesting that he worshipped at least one pagan deity), naming many towns he attacked or threatened, which included ‘Azzah (Gaza), Giv’on, Tirtzah (Yarav’am’s capital), P’nu’el, Hevron, Be’er-sheva, and Arad.
27. So to replace them Rehav’am made shields of bronze and entrusted them into the hand of the captains of the runners who guarded the entrance to the house of the king.
Bronze: a symbol of obstinacy (Yeshayahu 48:4), which Rehav’am exhibited by the fact that he did replace them quickly with whatever resources he had, rather than waiting on YHWH to show him how to reverse his actions. He had a tradition to maintain.
28. And it turned out that whenever the king went into the House of YHWH, the runners would pick them up and return them to the runners’ room.
Was this to guard the king or to keep them hidden so they would not be known to Shoshaq? Or was Rehav’am ashamed to have this sign of defiance of YHWH’s judgment in sight when he did go to pray?
29. And the rest of the words of Rehav’am and all that he did—aren’t they written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yehudah?
2 Chron. 12:15 also refers to the records of Shemayah the prophet (possibly the writer of this account here) and genealogies kept by Iddo the seer.
30. And there was war between Rehav’am and Yarav’am continuously.
Continuously: literally, all the days. Just because YHWH had told him not to take the northern tribes back did not keep Rehav’am from taking “pot shots” at Yarav’am just to irritate him, chastise him, or remind him that not all of Israel was his. And the Northern Kingdom kept retaliating for centuries after it dissipated throughout the world but gained the upper hand over Yehudah and forgot it was the Northern Kingdom.
31. When Rehav’am lay down with his ancestors, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Then his son Aviyam began to reign in his place.
Aviyam means “My father is the sea”, or possibly “father of the sea”—possibly a reference to his being a seafarer in his own right, though the alliance with Khiram the “Phoenician” king remained with the Northern Kingdom rather than the southern. He probably still had a fleet at Etzion-Gever on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. Some think this was just a scribal error for Aviyah, though the error would have to have been made numerous times.
INTRODUCTION:
This section covers more of King Shlomoh's construction projects, and continues through the division of Israel into two kingdoms which continues to affect us today, and which was partially remedied after Yeshua's day, but which is at last beginning to be completely healed as the Northern Kingdom reawakens to its identity.
THE FIRST BOOK
OF THE
Kings
Part 2 (Chapters 7-14)
7:40-8:21 is a haftarah (companion passage) to Torah Portion VaYaq'hel.
Reconstruction of the altar found at Dan
