[145] 1 Chron. vii. 4-15. In David's time there were only eight descendants of Ithamar, but sixteen of Eleazar (1 Chron. xxiv. 4). For full discussion of these priestly genealogies, see Lord A. Hervey, _On the Genealogies_, pp. 277-306. It is true that they are not free from elements of difficulty, but I am unable to find any valid ground for the suspicion of some critics that Zadok was not even a priest, or of the priestly house at all. All the evidence we have points in the opposite direction. [146] Num. xxv. 13. [147] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6; 2 Kings xxi. 6. "His children." [148] 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; 2 Kings xvi. 3. "His son." [149] 1 Sam. ii. 27-36. For eight centuries there was no other instance of a high priest's deposition. [150] Isa. iii. 10. CHAPTER XII. _THE BOY-KING'S WISDOM._ 1 KINGS iii. 1-28. "An oracle is upon the lips of a king."--PROV. xvi. 10 (Heb.). "A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eye."--PROV. xx. 8. "Ch' ei fu Rè, che chiese senno Acciochè Rè sufficiente fosse." DANTE, _Parad._, xiii. 95. "Deos ipsos precor ut mihi ad finem usque vitæ quietam et intelligentem humani divinique juris mentem duint."--TAC., _Ann._, iv. 38. It would have thrown an interesting light on the character and development of Solomon, if we had been able to conjecture with any certainty what was his age when the death of David made him the unquestioned king. The pagan historian Eupolemos, quoted by Eusebius, says that he was twelve; Josephus asserts that he was fifteen. If Rehoboam was indeed as old as forty-one when he came to the throne (1 Kings xiv. 21), Solomon can hardly have been less than twenty at his accession, for in that case he must have been married before David's death (1 Kings xi. 42). But the reading "forty-one" in 1 Kings xiv. 21 is altered by some into "twenty-one," and we are left in complete uncertainty. Solomon is called "a child" (1 Kings iii. 7), "young and tender" (1 Chron. xxix. 1); but his acts show the full vigour and decision of a man.[151] The composite character of the Books of Kings leads to some disturbance of the order of events, and 1 Kings iii. 1-4 is perhaps inserted to explain Solomon's sacrifice at the high place of Gibeon,[152] where stood the brazen altar of the old Tabernacle.[153] But no apology is needed for that act.[154] The use of high places, even when they were consecrated to the worship of Jehovah, was regarded in later days as involving principles of danger, and became a grave offence in the eyes of all who took the Deuteronomic standpoint. But high places to Jehovah, as distinct from those dedicated to idols, were not condemned by the earlier prophets, and the resort to them was never regarded as blameworthy before the establishment of the central sanctuary.