thunder-storm accompanied by a discharge of meteoric stones, (and that these set on fire the
bitumen with which the soil was saturated, and which was used in building the city. And it may
be that this burning out of the soil caused the plain to sink below the level of the Dead Sea, and
the waters to flow over it—if indeed Sodom and its sister cities are really under the water.—ED.)
The miserable fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is held up as a warning in numerous passages of the
Old and New Testaments. (Mark 8:11; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:4-7)
Sodoma
(Romans 2:29) In this place alone the Authorized Version has followed the Greek and Vulgate
form of the well-known name Sodom.
Sodomites
This word does not denote the inhabitants of Sodom; but it is employed in the Authorized
Version of the Old Testament for those who practiced as a religious rite the abominable and unnatural
vice from which the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have derived their lasting infamy.
Solomon
(peaceful). I. Early life and occasion to the throne .—Solomon was the child of David’s old
age, the last born of all his sons. (1 Chronicles 3:5) The yearnings of the “man of war” led him to
give to the new-horn infant the name of Solomon (Shelomoth, the peaceful one). Nathan, with a
marked reference to the meaning of the king’s own name (David, the darling, the beloved one),
calls the infant Jedidiah (Jedid’yah), that is, the darling of the Lord. (2 Samuel 11:24,25) He was
placed under the care of Nathan from his earliest infancy. At first, apparently, there was no distinct
purpose to make him the heir. Absalom was still the king’s favorite son, (2 Samuel 13:37; 18:33)
and was looked on by the people as the destined successor. (2 Samuel 14:13; 15:1-6) The death of
Absalom when Solomon was about ten years old left the place vacant, and David pledged his word
in secret to Bath-sheba that he, and no other, should be the heir. (1 Kings 1:13) The words which
were spoken somewhat later express, doubtless, the purpose which guided him throughout. ( 1
Chronicles 28:9; 20) His son’s life should not he as his own had been, one of hardships and wars,
dark crimes and passionate repentance, but, from first to last, be pure, blameless, peaceful, fulfilling
the ideal of glory and of righteousness after which he himself had vainly striven. The glorious
visions of (Psalms 72:1) ... may be looked on as the prophetic expansion of these hopes of his old
age. So far,all was well. Apparently his influence over his son’s character was one exclusively for
good. Nothing that we know of Bath-sheba lends us to think of her as likely to mould her son’s
mind and heart to the higher forms of goodness. Under these influences the boy grew up. At the
age of ten or eleven he must have passed through the revolt of Absalom, and shared his father’s
exile. (2 Samuel 15:16) He would be taught all that priests or Levites or prophets had to teach.
When David was old and feeble, Adonijah, Solomon’s older brother attempted to gain possession
of the throne; but he was defeated, and Solomon went down to Gihon and was proclaimed and
anointed king. A few months more and Solomon found himself, by his father’s death, the sole
occupant of the throne. The position to which he succeeded was unique. Never before, and never
after, did the kingdom of Israel take its place among the great monarchies of the East. Large treasures,
accumulated through many years, were at his disposal. II. Personal appearance .—Of Solomon’s
personal appearance we have no direct description, as we have of the earlier kings. There are,
however, materials for filling up the gap. Whatever higher mystic meaning may be latent in (Psalms
45:1) ... or the Song of Songs, we are all but compelled to think of them us having had at least a
historical starting-point. They tell of one who was, in the eyes of the men of his own time, “fairer
frankie
(Frankie)
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