Solomon and Solomonic LiteratureConway, Moncure Daniel
History
Solomon and Solomonic Literature
Conway, Moncure Daniel
Hebrew literature -- History and criticism; Solomon, King of Israel
[17] Gaya and ajyâiti, translated by Haug "reality and unreality"
(Parsis, p. 303). The translation "living and not living" was sent
me by Prof. Max Müller in answer to a request for a careful rendering.
[18] Sacred Books of the East, Vol. V., pp. 16, 53-54. Text and notes.
[19] American Journal of Philology. Vol. III.
[20] In 1 Chron. iii. 19 Shelomith is a descendant of Solomon. In these
studies "Abishag the Shunamith," 1 Kings i. 2, has been conjecturally
connected with Psalm xlv., and the identity of her name with Shulamith
has also been mentioned. This identity of the names was suggested by
Gesenius and accepted by Fürst, Renan, and others. Abishag is thus
also a sort of "Solomona." In 1 Kings i. there is some indication of
a lacuna between verses 4 and 5. "And the damsel (Abishag) was very
fair; and she cherished the King and ministered to him; but the King
knew her not. Then"--what? why, all about Adonijah's effort to become
king! David did not marry Abishag; she remained a maiden after his
death and free to wed either of the brothers. The care with which
this is certified was probably followed by some story either of her
cleverness or of her relations with Solomon which gave her the name
Shunamith--Shulamith--Solomona. Of the Shunamith it is said they found
her far away and "brought her to the King," and in the beginning of the
Song Shulamith says "The King hath brought me into his chambers." This
suggests a probability of legends having arisen concerning Abishag,
and concerning the lady entreated in Psalm xlv., which, had they
been preserved, might perhaps account for the coincidence of names,
as well as the parallelism of the situations at court of the lady of
the psalm, of Abishag the Shunamith, and of Shulamith in the "song."
The "great woman" called Shunamith in 2 Kings 4 was probably so
called because of her "wisdom" in discerning the prophet Elisha,
and the reference to the town of Shunem (verse 8) inserted by a
writer who misunderstood the meaning of Shunamith. This story is
unknown to Josephus, though he tells the story of the widow's pot of
oil immediately preceding, in the same chapter, and asserts that he
has gone over the acts of Elisha "particularly," "as we have them set
down in the sacred books." (Antiquities. Book ix. ch. 4.) The chapter
(2 Kings iv.) is mainly a mere travesty of the stories told in 1 Kings
xvii., transparently meant to certify that the miraculous power of
Elijah had passed with his mantle to Elisha. There is no mention of
Shunem in the original legend. (1 Kings xvii.)
[21] Compare Psalm xlv. 12-15.
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