But Solomon, who filled the world with the fame of his wisdom, and received so many testi monies of the favour of God during his youth and manhood, was at length infatuated by the same seductions which brought so much sorrow on his father. Towards the close of his reign— His heart, though large, Beguiled by fair idolatresses fell To idols foul ; and he built temples for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom on the right hand (i. e., the south side) of the Mount of Corruption (I Kings xi. 7 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 13). There can be no doubt that this means on one or more of the four hills lying to the east of Jerusalem, on the opposite side of the valley of the Kedron, and constituting together what we know as the Mount of Olives. The name Corruption (Hammashchith) seems to have been given to this range of hills on account of its desecration by Solomon, and to he a sort of play upon the word Hammishchah, which means unction, and which it may be supposed to have derived from the olives for which it was famous. These temples con tinued to give a character of unholiness to the ground which was afterwards made so holy by thc footsteps of our Lord, till Josiah removed them, about 360 years afterwards. The same dishonour was done to the Valley of Hinnom on its south side, by the establishment there of the worship of Molech (2 Kings xxiii. to).
Grievous troubles fell upon Solomon as a punish ment for these sins, the worst of them all being the threatened disruption of his kingdom under his son and successor Rehoboam. Egypt, the old enemy of Israel, was the fosterer of this revolution ; Jeroboam, who had been announced by prophecy us its instrument, having sought shelter there from the expected indignation of Solomon. After Solo. moil's death, the separation of the kingdoms took place through Rehoboam's weakness and folly, and it was followed (n. c. 972), in the fifth year of his reign, by an invasion of his kingdom, and a siege of Jerusalem by Shishak, king of Egypt. Rehoboam ma.de no attempt to withstand him, but cowered within the wails of the city, which Shishak plundered of all its treasures. He then retired without doing further injury to its inhabi tants.
His grandson Asa was a thoughtful and high minded prince, who did much by his zeal and influence to banish idolatry and its attendant gross immorality from Jerusalem. He repelled a vast Cushite army which invaded his kingdom, and en riched himself with its spoils, much of which he devoted to the service of the Temple, in place of the treasures of which it had been rifled by Shishak. But he made use of these same dedi cated treasures to purchase the help of Benhadad, king of Syria, against Baasha, king of Israel, who made war upon him, B. C. 930, and imprisoned the prophet Hanani, who reproached him with this sin.
His son Jelmshaphat was an upright and most powerful monarch, who promoted religion and the administration of justice, and gained great influence over neighbouring nations ; but be acted inconsis tently in making alliances both with Ahab and Aha ziah, the wicked kings of Israel, and married his son Joram to Athaliala, Ahab's daughter. The influ ence of this wretched marriage pervaded the three following reigns of Joram, Ahaziah, his son by Athaliah, and Athaliah herself, who made her way to the throne by destroying all the princes oi the house of Judah except the infant Joash, her own grandchild, who was snatched out of her hands, and educated in the Temple till he was seven years old. She and her sons (2 Chron. xxiv. 7)—Lightfoot interprets natural sons, and Hales adherents—partially destroyed the Temple, and took from it the holy things, which they dedicated to the service of Baal. But she was overthrown and put to death by Jehoiada, the high-priest and guardian of young Joash, B. C. 878.
The temple and worship of Baal were imme diately destroyed, and as long as Jehoiada lived, Joash submitted himself to his guidance, and did much for the good of his people and the restoration of the house of the Lord. But he was a weak prince, and on Jehoiada's death fell into idolatry, and put Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, to death, for his testimony against it. He bought off Hazael from an invasion of Jerusalem by the gift of the treasures of the Temple, and perished by the hands of his own servants, B. C. 839.
His son and successor Amaziah made war against Joash, king of Israel, who defeated and took him prisoner, broke down 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem, and plundered the Temple. He died the victim of a conspiracy, B.C. 810.
Uzziah, his son, was very successful in war, and greatly strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem, which he furriished with engines for throwing great stones and arrows. His long reign of fifty-two years was the age of the prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Isaiah, and was marked by the occur rence of three terrible judgments, which had been the subject of prophetic warnings—an earthquake ; a plague of locusts, caterpillars, and cankerworms ; and an extreme drought. Uzziah died a leper for having dared to burn incense on the altar of in cense in the Temple, B. c. 758.
The reigns of Jotharn and Ahaz followed—the former a good prince, who built the gate between the king's house and the Temple ; the latter an idolater, who caused his sons to pass through the fire to Molech, and by trying to gain the help of the Assyrians against Israel gave them a footing in Jerusalem. Isaiah and Micah continued to prophesy during these reigns.