Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-13


not be found in
them. AS the chief
object of life they are vanity and
Fexation OF spirit, chasing of shadows.
ieedlng on husks. a dry and desert land
where no water is. This leads us to the
true riches. The second part of the les
son, describing his worldly wisdom, a far
higher pursuit than riches, leads us to the
same lessons,-the right and wrong use
OF wisdom. and the feet that the greatest
wisdom and knowledge cannot satisfy the
soul This leads us to the true wisdom.
Ilme The first half of Solomon's reign,
b. c. 10i5-995.
Place. Chiefly Jerusalem, but extend
ing over the whole country.
solomon Twenty to forty years old.
the section includes the lesson and l
hulSs IL 1874: 10: li-29; and the parallels
enron. l: 1917: 8: 1928 together with
the example of Solomon's wisdom given
In Kings 8: 1928.
Io-day's lesson includes l Kings 4: %
"a. as follows:
20. judah and Israel" Clearly marked
"a from one another, though no separa-
tion mad yet taken place. Cambridge
-'lolc DWelt safely" They were cheer
I.h IN their enjoyment of Astounding
pienty. evidences these of a happy, peace
Iui ana prosperous administration. Every
man dwelt safely under his vine. that
clustered round his court, and under his
hs Tree which grew in his garden. They
were no longer obliged to dwell in forth
Hed cities for fear of their enemies: they
spread themselves over all the country.
Whlch they everywhere cultivated: and
nad always the privilege of eating the
fruits or their own labors. In this was
typihed the spiritual peace. and joy, and
molly security of all the faithful subjects
Oh Messiahs Observation-Disclosures Com
mentary
26-S. These verses describe the pro-
Visions for one branch of Solomon's
army, specially noted because it was new
and because of its greatness
All this wealth and prosperity was
lrauSht with dangers and temptations 1t
led TO great expressions. to outrageous
taxes, TO vice, luxury, corruption, and ir-
religion.
~ And God gave Solomon wisdom and
understanding exceeding much" His wis
dom took many directions. He had large
ness OF heart" that is great capacity, a
comprehensive. powerful mind, capable of
grasping the knowledge of many and diff
ttcult subjects, poetry, philosophy, nat :.
ural history in its various branches.
was master of them all'-Cambridge
Bible. AS the sand that is on the sea
shore The proverbial expression for
greatness of every kind.
80. "Exceled all the children Of
the east /. e., the Chaldeaps. and Ara
bans who from early times were noted
for their astrological investigations and
Tor their wisdom. Job is spoken of as
among these children of the East Job /:
-. and the character of their wisdom and
scientific learning may be gathered IN
some degree from the speeches of his
friends. Pythagoras is said 10 have visit
ed Arabia and derived from thence some
of the precepts of his philosophy. From
the same quarter came the wise men"
unto Bethlehem when Christ was born
Matt. =: D.-Cambridge Bible. "All the
wisdom of Egypt" Egypt was renowned
as the seat of learning and sciences, and
the existing monuments.
81. Wiser . . than Ethan" etc. In
Chronicles 2: 6 these four names are
given in the same order as sons of Zerah,
which may be another name of Mahol
mentioned in this verse. Or Mahol may
be a common noun, signifying a dance, a
chorus the sons of Mahol signify per-
sons eminently skilled in poetry and
music.
80. 'Spake three thousand proverbs"
OF which some are contained in the Book
of Proverbs, to which his name is given.
but these are not all his, nor would all
that are attributed TO him there approach
the number in the text. The proverb OF
the Hebrew was, as We see from those
preserved, more of the character of a
variable, or wise comparison. than what
we commonly call by that name. His
songs were a thousand and five" Psalm
- is ascribed to Solomon. and was prob
ably his The Song of Solomon" is now
regarded by the majority of later critics
as later than Solomon, and rather ex-
pressing his sentiments, or concerning
him. than written by him. Like. for in
.I,Ae. Of Punt and Nnp II
Antony In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:
still, as the Cambridge Bible expresses it,,
their character Is impressed upon this
song" Probably the bulk of Solomon S
songs were of secular character, and
consequently were not introduced into the
Canon. Cook.
SO. And he spake of trees" etc. He
gave descriptions of the whole vegetable
world and discussed the virtues of the
various plants. For it has been always of
their medicinal properties that the earli-
est works on plants have treated. They
were the remedies for all diseases, and a
knowledge of ''simples." as they We're
called I'm England in old times, was count
ed for the highest misunderstanding
Bible. "Of beasts He enjoyed rare op-
portunities for becoming familiar with the
various species of both the animal and
vegetable creation. His extended COM
merce with all nations brought to him
specimens of all rare trees, plants and
animals.-Puipit Commentary.
Light for To-day from Solomons Wis
dom. Wisdom Is good. 1t "excelleth folly
as light excelleth darkness" Wisdom is
the gift of God, opening to US channels OF
rich pleasure and important usefulness 10
our fellow creatures. solomon would not
have US understand that for this world
wisdom is no better than folly. He had
found the contrary. Folly is always dark
ness. Wisdom is always light. Worldly
wisdom is light for this world. and for this
worlds work is as much better than folly
as walking in the light is better than
cropping In the dark.