Page:The Song of Songs (1857).djvu/168

 A THIRD.

9 A palanquin hath king Solomon made for himself, Of the wood of Lebanon. 10 Its pillars he hath made of silver, Its support of gold, its seat of purple,

of a passive form, has an active signification; this is not unfrequently the case, especially when it belongs to an intransitive verb. Comp. [HE: b.Tv.Ha b.ayhvoOh], he trusted in Jehovah, Ps. cxii. 7; Gesen. 50, 3, Rem. 2; Ewald, § 149 d. This removes the apparent contradiction caused by the Authorized Version, "They all hold swords;" when in the next clause, as Hodgson and Good remarked, we are told that each had his sword on his thigh. [HE: 'iyS/], a man is used as a distributive for each, every. Comp. Gen. xv. 18; xlii. 25; Gesen. § 124, 2, Rem. 1; Ewald, § 278, b. We must supply [HE: Hogv.r] after [HE: 'iyS/]. Comp. Exod. xxii. 27; Ps. xlv. 4. [HE: p.oHad], fear, metonymically for the object of fear (Gen. xxxi. 42, 53), here marauders. This is evident from Ps. xci. 5; Prov. iii. 24. [HE: b.alEylvOt], in or during the nights, i.e. nocturnal marauders. Vide supra, iii. 1.

9. A palanquin, &c. As the train draws nearer, a third person recognizes it as the newly-made palanquin, of which he gives a circumstantial description. Palanquins were and are still used in the East by great personages. They are like a couch, sufficiently long for the rider to recline, covered with a canopy resting on pillars at the four corners, hung round with curtains to exclude the sun; they have a door, sometimes of lattice-work, on each side. They are borne by four or more men, by means of strong poles, like those of our sedan-chairs; and in travelling great distances, there are always several sets of men to relieve each other. The materials of which these palanquins are made, and the style of their construction, depend upon the rank and wealth of the owners. The word [HE: 'ap.ir^eyOvn/] is most probably derived from [HE: p.oroh], to run, to be borne quickly. Comp. [GR: tro/chos], from [GR: tre/chein], [GR: forei=on], from [GR:fe/rô], currus from currendo, ferculum from fero. The form [HE: 'ap.ir^ey.vOn/] is, according to the analogy of [HE: d.im^eyvOn/], likeness (Ps. xvii. 12), and [HE: p.id^eyOvn/], ransom (Exod. xxi. 30); comp. Gesen. § 84, 15; Ewald, § 163 c. with a prosthetic [HE: '] (Gesen. § 19, 4; Ewald, § 162 c,) followed by a Dagesh forte like [HE: 'ap.eden/], a palace, Dan. xi. 45; see Fürst, Lexicon. Ewald, however, derives it from [HE: prh] = [HE: brh], to work out, to build, to form, hence [HE: 'a:p.ir^eyvOn/], ein Prachtstück. Kimchi derives it from [HE: p.oroh], to be fruitful, and says it is called [HE: 'ap.ir^eyvOn/], because [HE: Spryn/ vrbyn/ `lyh], people increase and multiply therein. But this is contrary to the description here given of the procession. Besides, a bridal bed has no ([HE: mer^ek.oboh]) seat. [HE: `oS\ah], to make, means also to have made, to order to be made. A person is frequently described in Scripture idiom as doing that which he orders to be done. 2 Sam. xv. 1; Gal. ii. 5, 6. The [HE: min/] in [HE: ma`axay] denotes the material of which the frame-work was made. Ps. xlv. 4. The wood of Lebanon, i.e. cedars and cypresses, Zech. xi. 1, 2; 1 Chron. ii. 8.

10. Its pillars he hath made, &c. The description here given of the costly construction of this magnificent palanquin is by no means a mere poetic embellishment. A similar litter was presented by the British government in 1766 to the Nabob of the Carnatic, of which the following account is given by Williams in loco, from the public prints of the time: "The beams are solid gold, the inside beautifully decorated with silver lining and fringe throughout; the panels are painted in the highest style of finishing, and represent various groups and heads of animals, after the manner of Asia, beaded with gold richly raised above the surface, and engraved. The stays and different other ornaments are of embossed silver." Curtius (viii. 9, 23)