1 Kings 9:18

_AND BAALATH, AND TADMOR IN THE WILDERNESS, IN THE LAND,_ Baalath - Baalbec, called also Aven, or On (Amos 1:5). But some think that Baalath was in the south of Palestine, near the Shephelah, or Philistines plain (cf. 2 Chronicles 8:5). TADMOR - probably from х_ TAMAR_ (H8558)] palm, a city of palms; called by the Greeks Palmyra, between Damascus and the Euphrates-was rebuilt and fortified, as a security against invasion from Northern Asia. It was anciently a superb city, ten miles in circumference. It was situated in a dreary desert, in the midst of barren, uninhabited sands. It became the capital of a great kingdom, the emporium of the Eastern world; and its merchants dealt with the Roman and western nations for the products and

15-28 Here is a further account of Solomon's greatness. He began at the right end, for he built God's house first, and finished that before he began his own; then God blessed him, and he prospered in all his other buildings. Let piety begin, and profit follow; leave pleasure to the last. Whatever pains we take for the glory of God, and to profit others, we are likely to have the advantage. Canaan, the holy land, the glory of all lands, had no gold in it; which shows that the best produce is that which is for the present support of life, our own and others; such things did Canaan produce. Solomon got much by his merchandise, and yet has directed us to a better trade, within reach of the poorest. Wisdom is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, Proverbs 3:14....

Verse 1 Kings 9:18. _AND TADMOR IN THE WILDERNESS_] This is almost universally allowed to be the same with the celebrated _Palmyra_, the ruins of which remain to the present day, and give us the highest idea of Solomon's splendour and magnificence. _Palmyra_ stood upon a fertile plain surrounded by a barren desert, having the river Euphrates on the east. The ruins are well described by Messrs. _Dawkes_ and _Wood_, of which they give fine representations. They are also well described in the ancient part of the _Universal_ _History_, vol. i., p. 367-70. The description concludes thus: "The world never saw a more glorious city; the pride, it is likely, of ancient times, and the reproach of our own; a city not more remarkable for the state of her buildings and unwontedness of her situation than for the extraordinary _personages_ who once flourished there,...

TADMOR - The Hebrew text here has, as written, Tamor (or Tamar), and as read, Tadmor. That the latter place, or Palmyra, was meant appears, first, from the distinct statement of Chronicles 2 Chronicles 8:4 that Solomon built Tadmor, and the improbability that the fact would be omitted in Kings; secondly, from the strong likelihood that Solomon, with his wide views of commerce, would seize and fortify the Palmy-rene Oasis: and thirdly, from the unanimity of the old versions in rendering Tamar here by Tadmor. The probability seems to be that Tamar was the original name of the place, being the Hebrew word for “a palm,” from where it is generally agreed that the town derived its name. Tadmor was a corrupt or dialectic variety of the word, which was adopted at the city itself, and prevailed over the original appellation. No reference is found to Tadmor in the A

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS AND UNDERTAKINGS.—So far the historian has spoken exclusively of the two greatest works of Solomon's reign, the Temple and the Palace, and principally of the former. Even the message just related was, as we have seen, the response to the prayer offered when the temple was consecrated. But he now proceeds to mention other proofs of Solomon's greatness, and of the prosperity of his reign—doubtless because the glory of Israel then reached its climax, and the author would be tempted to linger over these details because of the dark contrast which his own time supplied—and this leads him to speak of the means by which all these enterprises were accomplished. The particulars here given are but fragmentary, and are grouped together in a somewhat irregular manner. It would seem as if both this account and that of the chronicler had been compiled from much more copio...

AND BAALATH,.... A city in the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:44 AND TADMOR IN THE WILDERNESS, IN THE LAND; or "Tamar", as in the Cetib, or Scriptural reading; for we go according to the marginal reading, and so Thamato in Ptolemy p; and is thought by some to be the same with Tamar in Ezekiel 47:19, which Jerom there says is Palmyra. Tamar signifies a palm tree, from whence this city had its name Palmyra, the situation of which place agrees with this; hence we read both in Ptolemy q and Pliny r of the Palmyrene deserts: the ruins of it are to be seen to this day, and of it this account is given; that it is enclosed on three sides with long ridges of mountains, which open towards the east gradually, to the distance of about an hour's riding; but to the south stretches a vast plain, beyond the r

5. JEHOVAH APPEARS UNTO SOLOMON AND THE GREATNESS OF THE KING CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The second appearance of the LORD to Solomon (1 Kings 9:1)_ 2. Transactions with Hiram (1 Kings 9:10) 3. The levy of the king (1 Kings 9:15) 4. Pharaoh's daughter occupies the house (1 Kings 9:24) 5. The king's offerings (1 Kings 9:25) 6. Solomon's navy (1 Kings 9:26) Jehovah's righteous government in the midst of His people Israel had

SOLOMON'S DEALINGS WITH HIRAM. THE LEVY. The source of this section seems to be the Acts of Solomon (see above). After Solomon had completed his buildings he was obliged to give Hiram cities in Galilee (1 Kings 9:11). The Chronicler, regarding this as unworthy of the great king, makes Hiram give the cities to Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:2). Galilee (pp. 28- 30) is mentioned in Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:32; 1 Chronicles 6:76, and in 2 Kings 15:29, nearly always

TADMOR. Called, later, Palmyra (from its palms)....

_and Baalath_ This place is mentioned (Joshua 19:44) among the places which fell to the tribe of Dan, and must therefore have been on the border of the country of the Philistines, and for that reason we may presume that it was included among the places which Solomon strengthened. _and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land_ Here the Hebrew text reads TAMAR, and Tadmor is only given on the margin (Keri). The R.V. adopts the reading of the text, probably because of the words -in the land." All the places mentioned here lie in Palestine, and we know from Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47:19; Ezekiel 48:28) that there was a city Tamar on the south border of the Holy Land, which was towards the wilderness. It seems therefor