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a temple had been built. For history has also declared this: "For they were burning incense and sacrificing in the highest places, because the house had not been built to the name of the Lord until now." 80.677 From this one must understand what is recounted of the other kings, that they removed the groves, and shattered the pillars of Baal; yet they did not remove the high places. For both Asa, and Jehoshaphat, and certain others, forbade sacrificing to demons, and destroyed their precincts; but they did not cease from offering sacrifices in the high places. To Hezekiah, however, and to Josiah, divine Scripture has testified to this perfection. But that in the high places they offered sacrifices to the God of all, the following testifies: "For Solomon, it says, loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father; yet he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places;" that is, not before the tabernacle, nor before the ark, according to the divine law. But that he offered the hecatombs and chiliombs not to idols, but to God at that time, history clearly teaches us: "For Solomon, it says, went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the highest and greatest, receiving a thousand burnt offerings. And Solomon offered upon the altar that was in Gibeon, and the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and he said to him, Ask a request for yourself." For if he had offered the sacrifices to idols, God would not have bestowed upon him all kinds of gifts. For when he chose wisdom above all these things of life together, whether things that are or are thought to be good, the great Giver gave him the gift of wisdom, as much as nature could receive; and wealth and power, and a kingdom in peace, above all the kings of that time; so that his fame ran through the whole inhabited world. And the words of his prayer are also admirable. For having recalled the good things that had come to his father, and having praised the Giver of these, he offered a supplication for himself: "And now, my Lord, Lord, you have given your servant instead of David my father; and I am a little child, and I do not know my going out and my coming in. And your servant is in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen, a great people, as the sand of the sea, which shall not be numbered for multitude, nor recounted; and you will give to your servant a prudent heart, to hear and to judge your people in righteousness, and to understand between good and evil." And through these words he showed the weakness of nature, and the immaturity of his age, and the greatness of the authority given him, 80.680 and the danger of judgment, and the necessity of prudence, and the wisdom of his request. Therefore the Lord God, having praised the request, both gave this, and set forth the other things. This also the Lord legislated in the holy Gospels: "For seek, he says, the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all the rest shall be added to you." These gifts, however, God gave to Solomon, and promised that he would deem him worthy of all providence: "For if you walk, he says, in my way, to keep my commandments, and my statutes, in which David your father walked, you will also lengthen your days." QUES. XIII. How is one to understand, "Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream?" Having arisen, he says, he remembered the dream; and understanding that the revelation was divine, he returned to the capital, and before the divine ark he offered a thank offering. QUES. XIV. For what reason did the one who wrote the history include the narrative concerning the two harlots? He wished to display the wisdom of the king. For it is of a truly most wise mind, to show what is hidden, and to reveal what is concealed, and to bring the test to nature, and to entrust the verdict of the case to it. Immediately, therefore, the one was shown to be the mother, and the one who was not the mother was exposed, QUES. XV. Having removed Abiathar, how did he again appoint him with Zadok? He took away the office, he did not strip him of the priesthood. For they held the dignity of the priesthood not from the laying on of hands, but from hereditary succession. QUES. X.

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ναὸς ἐδεδόμητο. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἡ ἱστορία δεδήλωκεν· "Ἦσαν γὰρ θυμιῶντες καὶ θύοντες ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοτάτοις, ὅτι οὐκ ᾠκοδομήθη ὁ οἶκος τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἕως τοῦ νῦν." 80.677 Ἐντεῦθεν νοητέον τὰ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἱστορού μενα βασιλέων, ὅτι ἐξῆραν τὰ ἄλση, καὶ τὰς στήλας τοῦ Βαὰλ συνέτριψαν· πλὴν τὰ ὑψηλὰ οὐκ ἐξῆραν. Καὶ γὰρ Ἀσὰ, καὶ Ἰωσαφὰτ, καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς, τὸτοῖς δαίμοσι θύειν ἐκώλυσαν, καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων τεμένη κατέλυσαν· οὐ μὴν ἐπαύσαντο τοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς τὰς θυσίας προσφέρειν. Τῷ μέντοι Ἰεζεκίᾳ, καὶ τῷ Ἰωσίᾳ, ταύτην τὴν τελειότητα μεμαρτύρηκεν ἡ θεία Γραφή. Ὅτι δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων τὰς θυσίας προσέφερον, τὰ ἑξῆς μαρτυρεῖ· "Ἠγάπησε γὰρ, φησὶ, Σολομὼν τὸν Κύριον, τοῦ πορεύεσθαι ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασι ∆αβὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ· πλὴν ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς ἔθυε καὶ ἐθυμία·" τουτέστιν οὐ πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς, οὐδὲ πρὸ τῆς κιβωτοῦ, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον νόμον. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ τοῖς εἰδώλοις, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ τότε τὰς ἑκατόμβας καὶ χιλιόμβας προσ έφερε, σαφῶς ἡμᾶς ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει· "Ἐπορεύθη γὰρ, φησὶ, Σολομὼν εἰς Γαβαὼν θῦσαι ἐκεῖ, ὅτι αὕτη ὑψηλοτάτη καὶ μεγάλη, χιλίαν ὁλοκαύτω σιν δεχομένη. Καὶ ἀνήνεγκε Σολομὼν ἐπὶ τὸ θυ σιαστήριον τὸ ἐν Γαβαὼν, καὶ ὤφθη Κύριος τῷ Σο λομῶντι ἐν ὕπνῳ τὴν νύκτα· καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Αἴτησαι αἴτημα σεαυτῷ." Οὐκ ἂν δὲ, εἰ τοῖς εἰ δώλοις τὰς θυσίας προσενηνόχει, ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ ἀντ απέδωκε τὰς παντοδαπὰς δωρεάς. Τούτων γὰρ ἁπάν των ὁμοῦ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον, ἢ ὄντων, ἢ δοκούντων ἀγαθῶν τὴν σοφίαν προελομένου, δέδωκεν ὁ μεγαλό δωρος σοφίας μὲν χάριν, ὅσην ἡ φύσις ἐδέχετο· πλοῦτον δὲ καὶ δυναστείαν, καὶ τὴν ἐν εἰρήνῃ βασιλείαν, ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς τηνικάδε βασιλέας· ὥστε τούτου τὸ κλέος πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην διαδραμεῖν. Ἀξιάγα στα δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς προσευχῆς τὰ ῥήματα. Ἀνα μνήσας γὰρ τῶν ὑπαρξάντων ἀγαθῶν τῷ πατρὶ, καὶ τὸν τούτων χορηγὸν ἀνυμνήσας, τὴν ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ἱκετείαν προσήνεγκε· "Καὶ νῦν, Κύριέ μου, Κύριε, σὺ ἔδωκας τὸν δοῦλόν σου ἀντὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ τοῦ πατρός μου· καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι παιδάριον μικρὸν, καὶ οὐκ οἶδα τὴν εἴσοδόν μου καὶ τὴν ἔξοδόν μου. Καὶ ὁ δοῦλός σου ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ λαοῦ σου, ὃν ἐξελέξω λαὸν πολὺν, ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, ἣ οὐ διαριθμηθή σεται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους, καὶ οὐ διηγηθήσεται· καὶ δώσεις τῷ δούλῳ σου καρδίαν φρονίμην, τοῦ ἀκούειν καὶ διακρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύ νῃ, καὶ τοῦ συνιέναι ἀναμέσον ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ." ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτων καὶ τῆς φύσεως ἔδειξε τὴν ἀσθένειαν, καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ ἀτελὲς, καὶ τῆς δοθείσης ἐξου 80.680 σίας τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ τὸ τῆς κρίσεως ἐπικίνδυνον, καὶ τῆς φρονήσεως τὸ ἀναγκαῖον, καὶ τὸ συνετὸν τῆς αἰτήσεως. Ὅθεν ὁ ∆εσπότης Θεὸς ἐπαινέσας τὴν αἴτησιν, καὶ ταύτην ἔδωκε, καὶ τἄλλα προὐτέ θεικε. Τοῦτο κἀν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ ∆εσπό της ἐνομοθέτησεν· "Αἰτεῖτε γὰρ, φησὶν, τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν." Ταύ τας μέντοι τῷ Σολομῶντι τὰς δωρεὰς δέδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς, πάσης δὲ αὐτὸν ἀξιώσειν προμηθείας ὑπέσχετο· "Ἐὰν πορευθῇς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μου, τοῦ φυλάσσειν τὰς ἐντολάς μου, καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου, ἐν οἷς ἐπορεύθη ∆αβὶδ ὁ πατήρ σου, καὶ μακρυνεῖς τὰς ἡμέρας σου." ΕΡΩΤ. ΙΓʹ. Πῶς νοητέον τὸ, "Ἐξυπνίσθη Σολομὼν, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐνύπνιον;" ∆ιαναστὰς, φησὶ, τοῦ ὀνείρατος ἀνεμνήσθη· καὶ συνεὶς θείαν οὖσαν τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν, ἐπανῆλθε μὲν εἰς τὴν μητρόπολιν, πρὸ δὲ τῆς θείας κιβωτοῦ χα ριστήριον θυσίαν προσήνεγκεν. ΕΡΩΤ. Ι∆ʹ. Τὸ κατὰ τὰς δύο ἑταίρας διήγημα τίνος χάριν τέθεικεν ὁ τὴν ἱστορίαν γραψάμενος; Ἐπιδεῖξαι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐβουλήθη σοφίαν. Σοφωτάτης γὰρ τῷ ὄντι διανοίας, τὸ τὰ λανθάνοντα δεῖξαι, καὶ τὰ κεκρυμμένα δηλῶσαι, καὶ προσ ενεγκεῖν τῇ φύσει τὴν βάσανον, καὶ αὐτῇ τῆς δίκης ἐπιτρέψαι τὴν ψῆφον. Αὐτίκα γοῦν ἡ μὲν μήτηρ ἐδείχθη, ἡ δὲ οὐ μήτηρ ἠλέγχθη, ΕΡΩΤ. ΙΕʹ. Παύσας τὸν Ἀβιάθαρ πῶς αὐτὸν πάλιν συνέταξε τῷ Σαδώκ; Τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφείλετο, οὐ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐγύμνω σεν. Τὴν γὰρ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀξίαν οὐκ ἐκ χειροτο νίας, ἀλλ' ἐκ γονικῆς εἶχον διαδοχῆς. ΕΡΩΤ. Ιʹ.