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to the Lord." And it is clear, that from his association with David this man learned that the God of Israel is the maker of heaven and earth. But let no one suppose that this book disagrees with the books of Kings, since here we find the length of the temple to be sixty cubits, but there forty. For he will find, in addition to the forty, another twenty for what is called the Debir, that is, the Holy of Holies; and when twenty is added to forty, it becomes sixty. So again, we find the height in the books of Kings to be twenty-five cubits, but here one hundred and twenty. But in the model the divine David showed that the divine temple did not have only one story; "For you will make the house," he says, "and its upper chambers." And the history of the books of Kings teaches that the house had not only two stories, but also three stories. And he called the city of David Zion. "For Solomon," it says, "assembled 80.821 all the elders of Israel, and all the chiefs of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of the sons of Israel, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David; this is Zion." Thus he calls the upper city. For having walled it as more secure, he built the royal palace in it; "And every man of Israel was assembled to King Solomon at the feast; this is the seventh month." And he calls the Feast of Tabernacles the feast; for this was the third feast. "And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the Debir of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the Cherubim." And from this it is clear that he called the inner sanctuary of the temple, which is inaccessible and untouchable and a royal hall, Debir, which the divine Scripture is fond of naming the Holy of Holies. However, when Solomon had prayed and made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices that were offered. Again, however, the history teaches that the psalms are of the all-praised David. And it speaks thus: "And the Levites with the instruments for the songs of the Lord, which King David had made, to give thanks before the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever, in the hymns of David by his hand." And so great was the piety of Solomon that he moved Pharaoh's daughter into the newly-built palace, saying: "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because it is holy, where the ark of the Lord has entered." And he appointed the gatekeepers and the singers according to the arrangements of David. And Josephus called the transportable wood pine wood. The book of Kings said these had become pillars for the house of the Lord and for the king's house; but the present history says stairs for the house of the Lord and for the king's house. Again, however, we learn from this that Nathan the prophet, and Ahijah the Shilonite, and Joel who cast the vote against Jeroboam, had written books. "'And the rest of the acts of Solomon,' it says, 'the first and the last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?'" And we have learned from this that the man of God, who commanded the altar in Bethel to be broken, whom the lion crushed for having transgressed the command of God, was named Joel. QUES. 1. How is this to be understood, "The king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs from God, that the Lord might establish his word, which he spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite?" Those who enjoy divine providence perceive 80.824 what is to be done, being made wise by God. But those who are deprived of this grace are carried about at random. For this the passage has here declared, that it seemed good to the Lord God to rend the kingdom in two on account of the father's transgressions. However, when the division took place and Jeroboam made the golden calves, the priests and Levites living in the ten tribes moved to the Davidic kingdom; for in that was the divine temple. And here the history teaches that also

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Κυρίῳ." ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὡς ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ∆αβὶδ συνηθείας μεμάθηκεν οὗτος, ὡς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ Θεὸς οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἐστι ποιητής. Μηδεὶς δὲ νομι ζέτω, τήνδε τὴν βίβλον πρὸς τὰς Βασιλείας διαφω νεῖν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ ναοῦ τὸ μῆκος ἑξήκοντα μὲν πήχεων ἐνταῦθα εὑρίσκομεν, ἐκεῖ δὲ τεσσαράκοντα. Εὑρήσει γὰρ πρὸς τοῖς τεσσαράκοντα ἄλλους εἴκοσι τοῦ κα λουμένου ∆αβεὶρ, τουτέστι τοῦ Ἁγίου τῶν ἁγίων· εἴκοσι δὲ προστιθεμένων τοῖς τεσσαράκοντα, ἑξή κοντα γίνονται. Οὕτως πάλιν τὸ ὕψος πέντε μὲν καὶ εἴκοσι πήχεων ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις εὑρίσκομεν, ἐν ταῦθα δὲ εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατόν. Ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ παραδείγ ματι δεδήλωκεν ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ, ὡς οὐχ ἕνα μόνον ὄροφον εἶχεν ὁ θεῖος νεώς· "Τὸν οἶκον γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ τὰ ὑπερῷα αὐτοῦ ποιήσεις." Καὶ ἡ ἱστορία δὲ τῶν Βασιλειῶν διδάσκει, ὅτι οὐ μόνον διώροφα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τριώροφα εἶχεν ὁ οἶκος. Πόλιν δὲ ∆αβὶδ τὴν Σιὼν ὠνόμασεν. "Ἐξεκκλησίασε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Σολομὼν 80.821 πάντας τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῶν φυλῶν, καὶ τοὺς ἡγουμένους τῶν πα τριῶν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, τοῦ ἀνενεγκεῖν τὴν κιβωτὸν διαθήκης Κυρίου ἐκ πόλεως ∆αβίδ· αὕτη δὲ Σιών." Οὕτω δὲ καλεῖ τὴν ἀνωτέραν πόλιν. Ὡς ὀχυρωτέραν γὰρ τειχίσας, ἐν αὐτῇ τὰ βασίλεια ᾠκοδόμησε· "Καὶ ἐξεκκλησιάσθη πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Σολομῶντα πᾶς ἀνὴρ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ· οὗτος μὴν ἕβδομος." Ἑορτὴν δὲ τὴν σκηνοπηγίαν καλεῖ· αὕτη γὰρ τρίτη ἦν ἑορτή. "Καὶ εἰσήνεγκαν οἱ ἱερεῖς τὴν κιβωτὸν δια θήκης Κυρίου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, εἰς τὸ ∆α βεὶρ τοῦ οἴκου, εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, ὑποκάτω τῶν Χερουβείμ." Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν οὖν δῆλον, ὡς ∆αβεὶρ τὸ ἄδυτον, καὶ ἄψαυστον, καὶ ἀνάκτορον ἐκάλεσε τοῦ ναοῦ, ὅπερ Ἅγια ἁγίων ὀνομάζειν φί λον τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ. Τοῦ μέντοι Σολομῶντος προσ ευξαμένου, καὶ πέρας ἐπιτεθεικότος τῇ προσ ευχῇ, πῦρ κατενεχθὲν οὐρανόθεν τὰς προσενεχθεί σας θυσίας ἀνάλωσε. Πάλιν μέντοι ἡ ἱστορία διδά σκει, ὡς τοῦ πανευφήμου ∆αβίδ εἰσιν οἱ ψαλμοί. Λέγει δὲ οὕτως· "Καὶ οἱ Λευῖται ἐν ὀργάνοις ᾠδῶν Κυρίου, ὧν ἐποίησε ∆αβὶδ ὁ βασιλεὺς, τοῦ ἐξομολο γεῖσθαι ἔναντι Κυρίου, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, ἐν ὕμνοις ∆αβὶδ διὰ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ." Τοσαύτη δὲ ἦν ἡ τοῦ Σολομῶντος εὐσέβεια, ὅτι τοῦ Φαραὼ τὴν θυγατέρα εἰς τὰ νεόδμητα μετέστησε βασίλεια, λέγων· "Οὐ κατοικήσει ἡ γυνή μου ἐν οἴκῳ ∆αβὶδ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἅγιος οὗτος, οὗ εἰσῆλθεν ἐκεῖ ἡ κιβωτὸς Κυρίου." Κατέστησε δὲ καὶ τοὺς πυλωροὺς, καὶ τοὺς ᾠδοὺς, κατὰ τὰς τοῦ ∆αβὶδ διατάξεις. Τὰ δὲ ἀγώγιμα ξύλα πεύκινα ὁ Ἰώσηπος κέκληκε. Ταῦτα τῶν μὲν Βασι λειῶν ἡ βίβλος ὑποστηρίγματα ἔφη γεγενῆσθαι τοῦ οἴκου Κυρίου, καὶ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως· ἡ δὲ προκειμένη ἱστορία, ἀναβάσεις τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου, καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ βασιλέως. Πάλιν μέντοι μανθάνομεν ἐντεῦθεν, ὡς Νάθαν ὁ προφήτης, καὶ Ἀχιὰ ὁ Σιλωνίτης, καὶ Ἰωὴλ ὁ κατὰ τοῦ Ἱεροβοὰμ τὴν ψῆφον ἐξενεγκὼν, βίβλους εἶχον συγγεγραμ μένας. "Καὶ οἱ κατάλοιποι γὰρ, φησὶ, τῶν λόγων Σολομῶντος, οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι, οὐκ ἰδοὺ οὗτοι γεγραμμένοι ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων Νάθαν τοῦ προφήτου, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων Ἀχιὰ τοῦ Σιλωνίτου, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὁράσεσιν Ἰωὴλ τοῦ ὁρῶντος περὶ Ἱεροβοὰμ υἱοῦ Ναβάτ;" Μεμαθήκαμεν δὲ ἐντεῦθεν, καὶ ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ τὸ ἐν Βαιθὴλ θυσιαστήριον ῥαγῆναι κελεύσας, ὃν ὁ λέων συνέτριψε τοῦ Θεοῦ παραβεβηκότα τὴν ἐντολὴν, Ἰωὴλ προσηγορεύετο. ΕΡΩΤ. Αʹ. Πῶς νοητέον τὸ, "Οὐκ ἤκουσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅτι ἦν μεταστροφὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα στήσῃ Κύριος τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, ὃν ἐλάλη σεν ἐν χειρὶ Ἀχιὰ τοῦ Σιλωνίτου;" Οἱ τῆς θείας κηδεμονίας ἀπολαύοντες συνορῶσι τὸ 80.824 πρακτέον ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφιζόμενοι. Οἱ δὲ ταύτης ἐστερημένοι τῆς χάριτος, ὡς ἔτυχε φέρονται. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ὁ λόγος δεδήλωκεν, ὅτι ἔδοξε τῷ ∆εσπό τῃ Θεῷ ῥῆξαι διχῆ τὴν βασιλείαν διὰ τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς παρανομίας. Τῆς μέντοι διαιρέσεως γενομένης, καὶ τοῦ Ἱεροβοὰμ τὰς χρυσᾶς δαμάλεις κατασκευάσαν τος, οἱ ἐν ταῖς δέκα φυλαῖς οἰκοῦντες ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευῖ ται πρὸς τὴν ∆αβιδικὴν μετέστησαν βασιλείαν· ἐν ἐκείνῃ γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ναός. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει, ὅτι καὶ