Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible / by the late Mr. Charles Taylor, with the fragments incorporated. The whole condensed and arranged in alphabetical order; with numerous additions.

  • Antoine Augustin Calmet
Date:
1833
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible / by the late Mr. Charles Taylor, with the fragments incorporated. The whole condensed and arranged in alphabetical order; with numerous additions. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    769/996 page 747
    of reconciling1 all these passages, which seem so con- tradictory and repugnant to eacli other. The better to prove this, he observes, that in 2 Kings xxiv. 12. it is said, “And Jehoiachim, the king ot Ju- dah, went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mo- ther, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him,” &c. And, verse 15, “ and he carried away Jehoiachim to Babylon, and the kiny's mother, and the king’s wives, and his offi- cers,” &c. And Jeremiah, (xxix. 2.) mentioning the same circumstances, says, “After that, Jeconiah the king, and the queen, -and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah, &c. departed from Jerusalem.”'—It is evident, that the queen, in this verse, cannot mean the king’s wife, as it would seem, by the translators’ rendering always the word, (m*31 n He GeuiKeH) queen ; but it means the lady that is invested with that dignity, of being called the king's mother; the phrase .TVS} n (ne cem lien) in Jeremiah, corresponding with nSon dn (am He MeLeK, the king’s mother) and TON (amu, his mother) in Kings. The Vulgate translates the word m'3J GeBiReH. in 1 Kings xi. 19. and 2 Kings x. 13. Regina; in 1 Kings xv. 13. Princeps; in 2 Chron. xv. 16. Deposuit Imperio; in Jer. xxix. 2. Domina ; and in xiii. 18. Dominatrici ;—and the [English] translators always render it queen. That “ king’s mother” was a title of dignity, he fur- ther remarks, is obvious by 1 Kings ii. 19. “ Bath-sheba, therefore, went in to king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah; and the king rose to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand for it was better to say, “ and caused a seat to be set for her;” but he says, for the king's mother: and, perhaps, it was on this oc- casion that Bath-sheba was first invested with the honour of that dignity. (Critica Sacra Examined, p. 131—135.) These conjectures of Mr. Baruh are established be- yond all reasonable doubt, by the following extracts, furnished by Mr. Taylor:— “ The Oloo Kani (not Oloo Kauai) is not governess of the Crimea. This title, the literal translation of which is “ great queen,” simply denotes a dignity in the harem, which the khan usually confers on one of his sisters ; or, if he has none, on one of his daugh- ters, or relations. To this dignity are attached the revenues arising from several villages, and other rights.” (Baron du Tott, vol. ii. p. 64.) “On this occasion, the king crowned his mother, Malacotawit; conferring upon her the dignity and honour of Iteghe, the consequence of which station I have often de- scribed ;—i. e. as king’s mother, regent, governess of the king when under age,” &c. &c. (Bruce’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 531.) “ Gusho had confiscated, in the name of the king, all the queen's [i. e. the Iteghe] or king’s mother’s villages, which made her believe, that this offer of the king to bring her to Gondar was an insi- dious one. In order to make the breach the wider, he had also prevailed upon the king's [natural] mother to come to Gondar, and insist with her son to be crowned. and take the title and estate of Iteghe. The king was prevailed upon to gratify his [natural] mother, under pretence that the Iteghe had refused to come upon his invitation ; but this, as it was a pretence only, so it was expressly a violation of the law of the land, which permits of but one Iteghe, and never allows the nomination of a new one, while the former is in life, however distant a relation she may be to the then reigning king. In consequence of this new coro- nation, two large villages, Tshemmera and Tocussa, which belonged to the Iteghe, as appendages of her royalty, of course devolved upon the king’s own mo- ther, newly crowned, who sending her people to take possession, the inhabitants not only refused to admit her officers, but forcibly drove them away, declaring they would acknowledge no other mistress but their old one, to whom they were bound by the laws of the land.” (Ibid. vol. iv. p. 244.) From these extracts we perceive, (1.) that the title and place of “ king’s mother” is of great consequence; and, in reading Bruce, we find the Iteghe interfering- much in public affairs, keeping a separate palace and court, possessing great influence, authority, &c. (2.) That while any Iteghe is living, it is contrary to law to crown another; which accounts at once for Asa’s Iteghe, or king’s mother, being his grandmother, the same person as held that dignity before he came to the crown. (3.) That this title occurs also in other parts of the East: and is given without consideration of na- tural maternity. (4.) Itshouldseem,that“queen,”in our sense of the word, is a title and station unknown in the royal harem throughout the East. If it be taken at all, it is by that wife who brings a son after the king’s coronation: such son being presumptive heir to the crown, his mother is sometimes entitled, “ sultana queen,”—or, “prime sultaness;” but not with our English ideas annexed to the title queen. (5.) That this person is called indifferently, “ queen,” or “ Iteghe,” or, “ king’s mother:” even by Bruce; whence arises the very same ambiguity in the extracts from him, as has been remarked in Scripture. This illustration also sets, in its proper light, the interference of the “ queen,” in the story of Belshaz- zar; (Dan. v. 10.) who, by her reference to former events, appears not to have been any of the wives of Belshazzar; neither, indeed, could any of his wives have come to that banquet, (see Esth. iv. 16.) or have ap- peared there under those circumstances, even had such an one been acquainted with the powers and talents of Daniel, as a prophet, or as a public man, or servant of the king; or, if intelligence of wiiat passed at the banquet had been carried into the harem, both of which ideas are very unlikely. Whereas, the queen evidently speaks with much influence, if not authority; and was a proper person to be informed, and consulted also, on any emergency : beside, as her palace was separate and distant from the king’s, (though it might be within the circuit of Babylon, and certainly was, at this time, as Babylon was now under siege,) it allows for the interval of confusion, conjecture, introduction of the wise men, &c. before the queen’s coming.—Accounts must have been carried to her, and her coming from her own palace to the king’s must have taken up time. In order, therefore, to determine who was this “ queen,” which has been a desideratum among learned men, it is not enough to know, who might be Belshazzar’s wife, or wives, at the time: but also who was Iteghe, or king’s mother, before he came to the crown; and who, therefore, being well acquainted with former events, and continuing in the same dignity, might naturally allude to them on this occasion. Had in- quiry into this matter been conducted on these princi- ples, in all probability it had been more conformable to the manners of the East, and had superseded many ineffectual conjectures. QUEEN OF HEAVEN, a name which the Hebrew idolaters gave to the moon. Jeremiah (vii. 17, &c.) says, “ The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to
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