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النشر الإلكتروني

NOTE 1.

THE CAUSEWAY. (p. 42, n. 3, and p. 396, n. 1.)

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I HAVE followed our Authorized Version in interpreting 1 Kings x. 5, and 2 Chron. ix. 4, 1 Chron. xxvi. 16, of "a causeway." This interpretation is further supported, not only by Lightfoot, but by various other commentators, Jewish and Christian; and is remarkably confirmed by Josephus, where he speaks of the yepupa which united the palace in the Upper City with the Outer Temple, and particularly by that passage in which he explains that this transit was formed by the interruption of the valley. (See pp. 392-397, and notes.)

In the Theological Review of November, 1846, p. 612, n. 2, Dr. Robinson opposes this interpretation, (for which he somewhat unfairly represents Lightfoot as the sole authority,) and in his usual dictatorial style fixes on the words a meaning of his own; telling us that "the Hebrew by and by signify strictly a step, stair, and collectively, a staircase, as in Ezek. xl. 26; and the true rendering of the Hebrew would therefore be the stairs, (or staircase,) which went up to the house of the Lord.' Again, the word rendered 'causeway,' in 2 Chron. xxvi. 16, 18, is

strictly a raised way, highway; but it is also put to denote a staircase, stairs;" for which he cites 2 Chron. ix. 11, which Lightfoot will presently teach him to understand in a sense more consistent with what Dr. Robinson himself grants to be the strict meaning of the word.

As, under these circumstances, the best end to controversy appears to be, to carry the appeal to a court which is neither partial nor prejudiced viz. to the scholars who wrote before controversy, and had no theory to support,—a learned friend has kindly drawn up for me the following critical analysis of the passages in question.

"The principal passages which appear to allude to the great causeway, by which Solomon joined the royal palace to the temple are,

1 Kings x. 5.

2 Kings xii. 20.

1 Chron. xxvi. 16.

2 Chron. ix. 4.
Nehem. iii. 31.

1 Kings x. 5 and 2 Chron. ix. 4, are to be considered as identical; for the two passages are in all points but one so exactly parallel, that we must either with Houbigant suppose that in in Chronicles

is

וְעָלָתוֹ an error for

as in Kings; or that the two words are synonymous. We there read that "when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, &c., and his

ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; in

there was no more spirit in [יַעֲלִיָּתוֹ .Chron] אֲשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה בֵּית יְהוָה

T:

her."

The word is simple enough; it sometimes means an ascent, sometimes a burnt-offering. Dr. Robinson, however, insists not only that it means an ascent, but a particular kind of ascent, viz. a staircase. Now if he would condescend to consult proper authorities, he would find that strictly means an ascent, or he that ascends, is qui ascendit, (Rosenmüller); that it is as applicable to an ascent by a causeway, as to a staircase; and equally so to the burnt-offering which ascends in flame and smoke from the altar, as to a causeway or staircase. Indeed, in some of the best authorities (Lee's Lexicon, Parkhurst's Lexicon), burnt-offering is given as the first meaning of the noun, and an ascent as the second.

66

וְעָלָתוֹ the word

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It is not surprising that commentators, more conversant with Hebrew roots than with the topography of the Holy City, should here find a difficulty. It appears strange," they say, "that the steps to the temple should be a separate matter of astonishment'." And accordingly they translate the words ' And the holocausts which he offered up in the house of the LORD. This version is adopted by Houb. Dathe, Horsley, Clarke, and Boothroyd, among the moderns, and is countenanced by the Vulgate, LXX., Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions. To it, however, there appears one strong objection; viz. that it would require to be in the plural number; for I can by no means agree with those commentators who suppose that the sacred writers used singular for plural, and vice versâ, without method or reason. Their translation however of the word in shews us how objectionable they thought Dr. Robinson's staircase. All difficulties vanish, if by ascent, which is the ct meaning of the word, we understand the 'great causeway,' which connected the royal palace and the temple. Of Dr. Robinson's stupendous staircase we find no proof, but we do find that a deep valley was cut off in order to join the palace to the temple. (Josephus Ant. xv. xi. 5). Such a pathway would naturally be called an ascent with reference to the temple, to which the term of going up to was always applied.

1 Dr. A. Clarke.

In 2 Kings xii. 20, we read, "And his servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, [or Beth-millo], which

These last words have .[בֵּית מְלֹא הַיֹּרֵד סלא] "goeth down to Silla

been variously rendered, "And slew Joash in the house of Millo as he was going down to Silla," or, "And slew Joash in the house of Millo which goeth down to Silla." This latter version is by far the most natural way of taking the Hebrew words. Munster, Vatablus, Clarius, Gesenius, and some others, suppose that Silla was the name of a town. Abarbinel, and Patrick, &c., maintain that there were two Beth-millos, and that this is called "The house of Millo that goeth down to Silla,” in order to distinguish it from the Beth-millo in Jerusalem. To me it appears unlikely that there were two Beth-millos, especially with the coincidence of the one being coupled with and the other with

. Dr. A. Clarke says, "The house of Millo was a royal palace built by David, and Silla is supposed to be the name of the road or causeway that led to it."

Among the different explanations of these words given by Pool in his Synopsis, are the following:

[G.] In loco mu

In descensu Sella, [7] Quæ descendit in Sillah, P. Ang. Ma. quæ defert ad Sillam, Ca. Quâ descenditur ex domo in viam publicam, quæ cum adjectitia litera alibi dicitur nitionis qui vergit Sillam versùs, J. T. i. e. aggestum iter. Appellativè accipio ex collat, 1 Chron xxvi. 16. and 2 Chron. ix. 11; ubi Salomon legitur aggestà terrà ascensum fecisse ad domum Dei. [Jun. Pi. Ma.] Cùm vorago Mello, supra quam erat transitus Regis in Templum, geminum haberet clivum, alterum ad Templum, alterum ad regiam, videtur descensum Sella peculiariter vocatam esse declivitatem illam quæ erat ex parte regiæ, ubi erat quædam domus Regis, quam domum Mello vocat Scriptura, in quâ hic ægrotabat et occisus est.

The above extract is strongly corroborative of Lightfoot's view; but no interpretation of the passage in question will afford the slightest countenance to Dr. Robinson's theory, for even he will scarcely venture to assert that "strictly means a staircase.”

We now come to 1 Chron. xxvi. 16, thus rendered in our Authorized Version: "To Shuppim and Hosah the lot came forth westward, with the gate Shallecheth, by the causeway of the going up [ by nbiyn nbopa nabw], ward against ward."

הָעוֹלָה

The word Shallecheth, (of which Dr. Robinson offers no explanation) has by some been interpreted as The gate of projections, i. e.

through which the offal from the temple was carried out. If the reader will refer to the plan of Jerusalem, he will see that this gate led into the heart of the city: this circumstance alone would prevent us from accepting the above interpretation of the words, even if we had not the authority of the Chaldee Paraphrase, Kimchi, and Lightfoot, who render the words, The gate of casting up. Some have taken the term

as equivalent to which leadeth. This interpretation seems untenable. Lightfoot's note upon this word is as follows:

"The gate of Shallecheth or Coponius.—The word Shallecheth, by which this gate was first called in the time of Solomon, doth signify a casting up, and so saith Kimchi; it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrast in the sense of. Now this gate is said in 1 Chron. xxvi. 16 to have been by the cawsey going up; which going up is that renowned ascent that Solomon made for his own passage up to the temple, 1 Kings x. 5; 2 Chron. ix. 4. And the cawsey is that that Josephus meaneth, when he saith, a gate led to the king's house from the temple, the valley betwixt being filled up for the passage, which was a very great work, for the valley was large and deep. Therefore, it may very well be concluded that it was called Shallecheth, or the casting up, from the cawsey that was cast up to lead to it from the king's palace, this being his ordinary way to the temple.

"This cawsey is held by some to have been set on either side with oaks and teyle trees, which grew up there, and served for a double benefit, the one to keep up the cawsey on either side, that it should not fall down; and the other was to make the king a pleasant walk and shade, with trees on either side, as he came and went. And so they render that verse in Esai. vi. 13, where the word is only used besides in all the Bible: In it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and be eaten as a teyle tree, or as an oak by Shallecheth; that is, as the rows of trees on the sides of the cawsey." (Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple, Vol. IX. chap. v. sect i. p. 226.)

The next words have generally been rendered in a way which more or less corroborates Lightfoot's view, as may be seen by the following extract from Pool's Synopsis.

Juxta portam, quæ ducit ad viam ascensionis,pa nabw ¬yw by

. Cum porta projectionis, Mo. (vel Sallecheth, P. vel emissoria, sive emissionis, Ca. V. h. e. per quam emittebantur sordes: Hujus meminit Esaias vi. 13 [V.]). in strata ascensionis, Mo. in via strata ascendente, P. V. i. e. acclivi, V. in semita clivosa, Ca. In via ascensionis, i. e. superiori, aut acclivi, scil. porta erat, [Mar.] Cum porta quæ vergit ad

semitam superiorem, M. Ti. [ac si

in

esset præfixum, et ♫

significaret ire, à] Cum porta injectûs in aggesto ascensu, J. T. Heb

in aggere ascendente, Jun. i. e. Cum ea porta ad quam ex arce Sionis porrigebatur via aggesta, cui injecta erat terra, per quam viam ex Templo ascendebatur in arcem. Confer 1 Reg. x. 5. and 12; item 2 Chron. ix. 11. [Pi] Juxta portam quâ itur per viam holocaustorum, Strig. quâ itur ad altare holocaustorum, [Belg].

Against all this Dr. Robinson tells us that strictly means a

T

causeway; but in the passages under consideration stairs: that strictly means stairs; indeed, he does not appear inclined to allow it

any other meaning: if therefore he construes as stairs, and by as stairs, he must render yo

"the stairs of the stairs," &c.,

an idiom highly pleonastic, to say the least.

The only passage to which Dr. Robinson appeals in support of his

מְסִלּוֹת theory that

mean stairs, is 2 Chron ix. 11, which according

to our Authorized Version runs thus:

"And the king made of the algum-trees terraces [or, stays; Heb., highways] to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers," &c.

Here Dr. Robinson, with peculiar modesty, settles the doubts of commentators, and tells us that "certainly mean stairs." When he speaks with such certainty we think he can hardly be aware how scholars have differed upon this point, nor have seen the following extracts from Pool, Lightfoot, and the Lexicon of Professor Lee.

Pool's Synopsis.- [Gradus in domo Domini,] Elevationes in domo Dei, Mo. ascensiones, 6. gradus M. Ti. Strig. Sign. additamenta illa quæ apponuntur laquearibus aut columnis ornamenti causa. Nam vox Hebræa ab exaltando dicitur, [V]. Columnas, Ar. cancellos, Sy. aggestam viam, J. T. Heb. aggerem, Jun. Viam repagulis et fulcris utrinque munitam à regia ad Templum, [Ma. ex Jun.] Tigna P. [Vox huic parallela in 1 Reg. x. 12. est Typ]. Una vox alteram explicat: loricus, seu peribolas, i. e. fulcra quibus se sustentarent et tenerent ascendentes. Ità Buxt. ex Abarb. Vind. 11. ii. 382.]

T:

sign. viam aggestam, sive ascensum;

Lightfoot. The word T, 1 Kings x. 12, doth properly signify a prop, or support: yet is expressed, in 2 Chron. ix. 11, "The king made of the almug-trees highways to the house of the LORD.” "And I think, (saith the Rabbin) (Ralbag in 1 Kings x.) that in the ascent that he made to go up to the house of the LORD from the king's house, he made, as it were, battlements;" (that is, rails on either side)

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