glorifying the God of Israel; and she beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded. And she gave a siklos[1] of gold and one hundred myriads of silver and choice bronze, and she went into the Temple. And (she beheld) the altar of incense and the brazen supports (ἀναφόρους) of this altar, and the gems of the lamps flashing forth of different colours, and of the lamp-stand of stone, and of emerald, and hyacinth, and sapphire; and she beheld the vessels of gold, and silver, and bronze, and wood, and the folds of skins dyed red with madder. And she saw the bases of the pillars of the Temple of the Lord. All were of one gold …[2] apart from the demons whom I condemned to labour. And there was peace in the circle of my kingdom and over all the earth.
117. And it came to pass, while I was in my kingdom, the King of the Arabians, Adares, sent me a letter, and the writing of the letter was written as follows:—
"To King Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard, and it hath been heard unto all the ends of the earth, concerning the wisdom vouchsafed in thee, and that thou art a man merciful from the Lord. And understanding hath been granted thee over all the spirits of the air, and on earth, and under the earth. Now, forasmuch as there is present in the land of Arabia a spirit of the following kind: at early dawn there begins to blow a certain wind until the third hour. And its blast is harsh and terrible, and it slays man and beast. And no spirit can live upon earth against this demon. I pray thee then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, contrive something according to the wisdom given in thee by the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able to capture it. And behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land will serve thee unto death. And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if thou wilt perform this act of righteousness for us. Wherefore we pray thee, contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought to naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority. Because we are thy suppliants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord. All health!"
118. And I Solomon read this epistle; and I folded it up and gave it to my people, and said to them: "After seven days shalt thou remind me of this epistle. And Jerusalem was built, and the Temple was being completed. And there was a stone[3], the end stone- ↑ A shekel. Philo has the form σίκλις, i. 468. σίγλος is the usual spelling in the LXX.
- ↑ There seems to be here a lacuna in the MS.
- ↑ λίθος ἀκρογωνιαῖος κείμενος μέγας ἐκλεκτός, ὅντινα ἐβουλόμην θεῖναι εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς γωνίας. Cp. 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7, who combines in the same way Ps. cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16. Cp. Matt. xxi. 42, Mark xii. 10, Luke xx. 17.
