see on that day when thou shalt go "into "an inner chamber to hide thyself.

25 Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's

son;

26 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

27 And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the LORD spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people.

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.

29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were

11 Or, from chamber to chamber.

with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.

31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

32 For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him.

33 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel "between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

34 And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the sun going down he died.

12 Heb. a chamber in a chamber.

15 Heb. between the joints, and between the breastplate.

13 Heb. from after him.
15 Heb. made sick.

14 Heb. in his simplicity.

Verse 5. "God will deliver it into the king's hand.”—The reader will not fail to note the remarkable ambiguity of this answer, which was well calculated to save the credit of these idolatrous priests, whatever might be the event." In the first place, it is not said what should be delivered into the king's hand-the word it, which seems in our version to refer to Ramoth-Gilead, not being in the original; nor is it said into what king's hand this unexpressed something should be delivered. Thus, although we should certainly understand them to mean, that the city, or the Syrian army, should be delivered into the hands of Ahab, and he so understood them, as it was doubtless their wish: yet if the event proved adverse, it was open to them to say that they meant that the Hebrew host was to be delivered into the hands of the Syrian king. Zedekiah indeed was more explicit; but his brethren, when the event proved otherwise than they expected, were at liberty to disavow his individual statement, and adhere to the ambiguity of their more general answer. It was very probable that this double meaning was not unobserved by Jehoshaphat, and occasioned that misgiving which led him to inquire for "a prophet of the Lord besides."

This response is calculated to remind one of the well-studied ambiguity exhibited in the answers of the heathen oracles of old. The one most in point is that which the oracle at Delphi gave to Croesus, king of Lydia, who sent to inquire whether he might venture to make war upon the Persians. The answer was, that by crossing the river Halys (to attack the Persians), Croesus would overthrow a mighty power. This safe and prudent answer, the Lydian monarch interpreted according to his wish: he crossed the Halys, and was defeated and taken captive by Cyrus. The Persian, on learning this circumstance, allowed his prisoner to send ambassadors to Delphi, to reproach the oracle for deceiving him. The oracle answered, that Croesus had himself only to blame: the oracle had only said, that if he attacked the Persians, a mighty empire would be overthrown: and if then he had desired further information, he ought to have inquired whether his own empire or that of Cyrus was intended. (Herodotus, Clio, 53, 91.) One would think that the priestesses of Delphi had taken a lesson from Ahab's priests of Baal.

10. "Made him horns of iron."-Horns being a general symbol of power, horns of iron were probably intended to symbolize the utmost energy of strength and power. As thus understood by the Jews, the act of Zedekiah must have seemed very expressive. It was intended, no doubt, to imitate an occasional practice, which we have found, and shall continue to find, among the true prophets, of imitating by symbolical action the purport of some of the messages with which they were entrusted.

CHAPTER XIX.

1 Jehoshaphat, reproved by Jehu, visiteth his kingdom. 5 His instructions to the judges, 8 to the priests and Levites.

hoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

AND Jehoshaphat the king of Judah re- 3 Nevertheless there are 'good things turned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. found in thee, in that thou hast taken away 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer the groves out of the land, and hast prepared went out to meet him, and said to king Je-thine heart to seek God.

VOL. II. 3 A

Chap. 17.4, 6.

361

lem.

4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: | troversies, when they returned to Jerusa and he went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

5¶ And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,

6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judg

ment.

7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

8¶ Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for con

2 Heb. he returned and went out.

9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

10 And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judg ments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass.

11 And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's mat ters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. 'Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

8 Heb. in the matter of judgment. 4 Deut. 10. 17. Job 34. 19. Acts 10, 34. Rom. 2. 11. Ephes. 6. 9. Col. 3. 25. 1 Pet. 1. 17.

5 Heb. Take courage and do.

Verse 5. "He set judges in the land."-David seems to have done this before; but this, as well as many other of David's improvements, must have been greatly disturbed by the division of the kingdom, although Jehoshaphat would appear to have been the first of the kings of Judah who perceived that the old regulation might be advantageously modified to adapt them to the altered circumstances of the kingdom. The proportion of Levites, also, to the rest of the population must have been far greater in the kingdom of Judah than it had been in the sole realm of David and Solomon, so that a larger number could be employed in the administration of justice. Some think, however, that David's judicial regulations had fallen into disuse, and that Jehoshaphat here revives them.

8. "For the judgment of the Lord."-This high court seems a new institution, unless the idea were taken from the council which assisted Moses. We find no trace of the existence of such a court elsewhere in the historical books. The Jews think they discover in it their Sanhedrim, or great council of seventy, which made so great a figure in their later history, and which, although apparently of late origin, they contend to have originated with the seventy elders appointed by Moses. But with respect to this claim, see the note on Num. xi. 16. The number of the members of the court established by Jehoshaphat, we are not told; and if its functions have considerable resemblance to those of the Sanhedrim, this may well have been because that celebrated body was organized with an express reference to whatever intimations for the constitution of such a court could be obtained from the sacred books. The duties of the present court, as well as those of the inferior local tribunals mentioned above, are pretty clearly defined in the impressive addresses which the king made to them. We see that the great court of Jerusalem consisted of priests and paternal chiefs, and that it had cognizance of all judicial matters, whether civil or criminal. It has been somewhat disputed what is intended by the matters of the Lord," and "the king's matters," in verse 11. Grotius seems to understand that this does not define something supplementary, but refers to what had been previously stated, merely to intimate that, in one class of cases, the high-priest was to be president, and in the other Zebadiah," the ruler of the house of Judah." Under his view, the "matters of the Lord" are not exclusively ecclesiastical matters, as some suppose, but those matters generally which were defined by the law of God, and were to be judged by that law; and "the king's matters," not particularly matters of policy or state, but those matters which, not being defined by the law of God, were left to the judgment of the king. In this explanation we concur. It will be observed that there was a written law, to which no addition could be made; but then there must have arisen a great number of cases for which this law did not provide, and which were to be adjudicated by the law of custom, or according to the principles of equity. Of the former, the priests, as best acquainted with the law, were the proper judges; while the latter naturally devolved on the paternal chiefs, but, when the monarchy was established, under the superior authority of the king, who himself was the supreme judge in this branch of law. We never read of any cause brought before the king for which the law of Moses had provided. Perhaps an appeal had lain to the high priest for the written law, and to the king for the law of custom or equity. It is essential throughout to keep in mind the distinction between these classes of judicial cases. It is the same in Mohammedan countries, where the book which the Moslems hold sacred is also their law-book, to which, of course, no addition can be made. Hence, as in Persia, the written and unwritten law become objects of sepa rate jurisdiction, the respective powers and privileges of which are often matters of high dispute. The written law is administered by ecclesiastical persons, and the unwritten, by secular magistrates, with the king at their head. Referring to the frequently conflicting nature of these distinct judicatures, and the disputes as to the limits of their juris diction, it appears to us very probable that the design of Jehoshaphat, in the mixed character he gave to this high tribunal, was to make the two branches of judicature coalesce so far as seemed necessary to facilitate the operation of the general system.

21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holi 10 And now, behold, the children of Am-ness, as they went out before the army, and mon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy en'wouldest not let Israel invade, when they dureth for ever came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

:

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab | heard that the LORD fought against the stood up against the inhabitants of mount enemies of Israel. Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was

so much

26¶And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of "Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.

29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had

12 Heb. for the destruction.

18 Heb. there was not an escaping.
17 Heb. words. 18 1 Kings 16. 1.

30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. 31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who "is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

35 ¶ And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-gaber.

37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

14 That is, blessing. 15 Heb. head.
19 Heb. was made to ascend,

16 1 Kings 22. 41, &c.

Verse 36. "Tarshish.”—One of the results of the observations made under chap. ix. being to restrict the inquiry for Tarshish and Ophir to the shores of the Indian Ocean, and of its gulfs and islands, we now proceed to offer such further observations as may be necessary. Both places, if they are two, being visited in the same voyage, we shall confine our attention chiefly to Ophir, as any considerations concerning Tarshish must necessarily depend on the conclusions to which we may now arrive concerning Ophir.

But even as limiting our view to the Indian Ocean, the variety of theories which lie before us is most perplexing; for there are few countries or islands on which some speculator or other has not set up a mark to tell us that "This is Ophir." In order to lead the reader to our own conclusions, it is necessary to review the principal hypotheses; in doing which we shall endeavour, as far as consists with the brevity required from us, to state the chief arguments which the supporters of each place, and the principal objections which the advocates of other places, have alleged; introducing also such other arguments or objections as have been the result of our own researches and reflections,

It is to be premised that all those who have directed their attention to this largely-discussed subject have proposed to themselves three conditions for the inquiry:-1. To find a place having a name similar, or that may be made similar, to that of Ophir. 2. To find a place affording such productions as those which were brought back by Solomon's navy. 3. And to account for the expenditure of three years in the voyage out and home. On these conditions we shall only at present remark, that the question is unnecessarily encumbered with the last of them; for the duration of the voyage is nowhere mentioned in connection with Ophir, but with Tarshish. In one text it is, that the ships of Tarshish returned every three years; and in the other, that the ships which went to Tarshish returned every three years. Whatever be understood of Tarshish, there is certainly nothing to intimate that Ophir was the most distant point of the voyage; but only that it was a principal and important point (if any definite point) in a voyage of the specified duration. Then, subject to these conditions, let us lightly follow the investigation to, 1st, the south-western coast of Arabia; 2nd, the eastern coast of Africa; 3rd, the Persian Gulf; and, 4th, the coast and isles of India.

1. ARABIA. The principal advocates of the opinion which places Ophir on the south-western coast of Arabia, within or beyond the Straits, are Prideaux, Gosselin, and Vincent. The idea seems to have been originally derived from Eupolemus (an ancient author cited by Eusebius), who says that David "built ships at Elath, a city of Arabia, and from thence he sent metal-men to the island of Urphe, situated in the Erythrean Sea, and affording abundance of gold, which the metal-men brought to Judea." This is not very good authority; and if it were, it would prove nothing to

the purpose, as the name" Erythrean Sea" was by no means confined to the Red Sea, but extended to the Indian Ocean. and even the Persian Gulf. However understood, there is nothing in the statement to bring Ophir to the coast of Arabia. Urphe was an island, which we may look for almost anywhere within the ample ocean where inquiry is open. Dr. Prideaux does not express a very strong opinion; neither does Vincent commit himself decidedly on a question which is, as he says, "more embarrassed by hypothesis, and distracted by erudition, than any other which concerus the commerce of the ancients." He does, however, rely very much on the circumstance that the name of "Ophir" first occurs in Scripture in connection with Havilah and Jobab, all three sons of Joktan, and all having their residence in Arabia Felix. This is extremely dubious; as may be shown by the fact that Calmet, with the same reliance upon this person's name, fixes his place of settlement to be Armenia, and accordingly carries Solomon's fleet round to the Persian Gulf, and up the Tigris or Euphrates! As all the inquirers into this matter place much reliance upon analogies of name, we will take this opportunity of introducing an excellent remark made by Dr. Vincent himself, on a different occasion:-"The similarity of name is a corroborating circumstance when we are sure of our position; but till the position be ascertained, it is only a presumptive proof, and often fallacious." The foundations being so weak, it is scarcely necessary to examine the superstructure. But there is one point to which it is requsite to advert. With respect to production,-some require only the contents of the first invoice-gold, algum-trees, and precious stonesfrom Ophir; looking somewhere else for the "silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks," of the second; while others require all these articles from Ophir. Now it is certain that Arabia could not, from its native resources, supply all the objects enumerated; nor indeed have we reason to believe that even gold, algum-trees, or precious stones could be supplied-if supplied at all-as articles of extensive trade. But it is answered, that nothing in either list is mentioned which might not be abundantly found in Arabia, as collected by the Arabian merchants from India and the eastern coast of Africa, with which they certainly traded. But no one who has attended to the commercial character of the Phoenicians, who must have had the conduct of the undertaking, will for a moment suppose that they, who were certainly the most enterprising merchants and skilful navigators of the time, were content to obtain, at second hand and at an enhanced price, from the Arabians, what they were equally able to obtain from the original markets. We cannot properly estimate the importance of the undertaking, without supposing that its object was to obtain at first hand the required commodities, and share with the Arabians in the trade to the countries from which they came.

The south-western coast of Arabia being the nearest of all the points where Ophir has been sought, has required other considerations than mere distance to account for the time consumed in the voyage. Prideaux, who conceives Tarshish to have been distinct from, and more distant than Ophir, and who looks only for gold, algum-trees, and precious stones there, observes properly, that the time does not affect Ophir-and that the navy, after having been there, might have gone, as far as needful to fill up the time, to some place in the Indian Ocean, affording gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. The guarded conclusion of this most learned and judicious writer is no more than, that if Arabia did, in the time of Solomon, afford the productions required from Ophir, those who place Ophir there seem to have the best foundation for their conjectures: "But," he adds, "more than conjecture no one can have in this matter." Those who require all the productions from Ophir, and yet look for that place in Arabia, must account for the consumption of time, as Dr. Vincent does, when examining that other hypothesis which places Ophir on the African coast. "The navigators were Phoenicians; and we learn from Homer (Odyss. xv. 454) their manner of conducting business in a foreign port. They had no factors to whom they could consign a cargo in the gross, or who could furnish them on the emergence with a lading in return; but they anchored in a harbour, where they were their own brokers, and disposed of their cargoes by retail. This might detain them for a twelvemonth, as it did in the instance to which I allude; and if the Phoenicians traded in the Eastern Ocean, as they did in the Mediterranean, we may from this cause assign any duration to the voyage which the history requires.' It is well to cite these two explanations here, as, together or sepa rately, they may be taken to serve well enough as general explanations, independent of the distance of Ophir from Ezion-geber.

2. EASTERN AFRICA. Various points on the eastern coast of Africa have been fixed upon, but the general conclusion is in favour of Sofala. Bruce is now usually cited as the great advocate of this opinion; but as nearly all the facts on which he reasons are from John dos Sanctos, and as his reasonings on these facts have in some instances been disproved, we feel it the better course to let the friar give his own statement, as we find it in Purchas. It has all the weight due to the account of one whose knowledge of the country was derived from actual residence in it.

"Near to Massapa is a great high hill called Fura, whence may be discerned a great part of the kingdom of Monamotapa: for which cause he (the king) will not suffer the Portugals to go thither, that they should not covet his great country and hidden mines. On the top of that hill are yet standing pieces of old walls and ancient ruins of lime and stone, which testify that there have been strong buildings: a thing not seen in all Cafraria; for (even) the king's houses are of wood, daubed with clay, and covered with straw. The natives, and especially the Moors, have a tradition from their ancestors, that those houses belonged to the queen of Saba, who carried much gold thence down to the Cuama to the sea, and so along the coast of Ethiopia to the Red Sea. Others say that these ruins were Solomon's factory, and that this Fura or Afura is no other than Ophir, the name being not much altered in so long a time. This is certain, that round about that hill there is much and fine gold. The navigation might, in these times, be longer, for want of so good ships or pilots as now are to be had, and by reason of much time spent in trucking with the Cafars, as even in this time the merchants often spend a year or more in that business, although the Cafars be grown more covetous of our wares, and the mines better known. They are so lazy to gather the gold, that they will not do it till necessity constrain them. Much time is also spent in the voyage by the rivers, and by that sea, which hath differing monSoons, and can be sailed but by two winds, which blow six months from the east, and as many from the west. Solomon's fleet had, besides those mentioned, this let, that the Red Sea is not safely navigable but by day, by reason of many isles and shoals; likewise it was necessary to put into harbours for fresh water and other provisions,"["This," notes Purchas, "was by reason their ships were small, as that infancy of navigation required."]" and to take in new pilots and mariners, and to make reparations; which considered "-["with," says Purchas, their creeping by the shore for want of compass and experience in those seas, and their Sabbath rests, and their truck with the Cafres "]"might extend the whole voyage, in going, staying, and returning, to three years. Further, the ivory, apes, gems, and precious woods (which grow in the wild places of Tebe within Sofala) whence they make almaidias, or canoes, twenty yards long, of one timber, and much fine black wood (ebony) grows on that coast, and is thence carried to India and Portugal; all these may make the matter probable. As for peacocks, I saw none there, but there must needs be some within land; for I have seen some Cafers wear their plumes on their heads. As there is store of fine gold; so also is there fine silver in Chicona where are rich mines."

This extract offers some most interesting points for consideration, on which our limits do not allow us to dwell. In this hypothesis, the analogy of name between Ophir and Afura, or, as some fancy, between Ophir and Sofala, and the