2 CHRONICLES 8 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Solomon’s Other Activities

1 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace,

CLARKE, "At the end of twenty years - He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve and a half, or thirteen, in building his own house. -Compare this with 1Ki_7:1.

GILL, "And it came to pass at the end of twenty years,.... See Gill on 1Ki_9:10.

HENRY, "This we had 1Ki_9:10-24, and therefore shall only observe here,

I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study, but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business as it is in summer to provide food for winter.

II. As he was a man of business himself, and did not consult his own ease, so he employed a great many hands, kept abundance of people to work. It is the interest of a state by all means possible to promote and encourage industry, and to keep its subjects from idleness. A great many strangers there were in Israel, many that remained of the Canaanites; and they were welcome to live there, but not to live and do nothing. The men of Laish, who had no business, were an easy prey to the invaders, Jdg_18:7.

K&D, "The city-building. - 2Ch_8:1. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1Ki_9:10. The twenty years are to be reckoned from the commencement of the building of the temple, for he had spent seven years in the building of the temple, and thirteen years in that of his palace (1Ki_6:38; 1Ki_7:1).

BENSON, "Solomon’s buildings, 2 Chronicles 8:1-6. His workmen and officers, 2 Chronicles 8:7-10. He settles his wife, 2 Chronicles 8:11. Fixes the method of the

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temple-service, 2 Chronicles 8:12-16. His trade, 2 Chronicles 8:17, 2 Chronicles 8:18.

COFFMAN, "The 20th Century Christian, as a general rule, could have little or no interest in Solomon's building program, which, in the matter of his huge horse business, to say nothing of anything else, was a violation of God's word!

"And all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem ... Lebanon ... in all ... his dominion" (2 Chronicles 8:6). Again we have the Chronicler's word that Solomon recognized no other limitation except his own undisciplined desires. (Read our comment under 2 Chronicles 7:11, above.) The Chronicler has mercifully spared us the details concerning these multiple pleasure-houses Solomon built all over Palestine.

ELLICOTT, " (1) And it came to pass.—The verb is identical with 1 Kings 9:10, slightly abbreviated.

Wherein.—When. The “twenty years” are reckoned from the fourth year of the reign (1 Kings 6:6), and include seven years during which the Temple was building, and thirteen during which the palace was built (1 Kings 6:38; 1 Kings 7:1).

PARKER, "1. And it came to pass at the end of twenty years [the twenty years date from the commencement of the temple in the fourth year of Solomon"s reign, seven years having been devoted to the construction of the temple, and thirteen to the building of the royal palace. (See 1 Kings 6:37-38 : 1 Kings 7:1; and 1 Kings 9:10)], wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,

GUZIK 1-6, "2 CHRONICLES 8 - ACHIEVEMENTS OF SOLOMON

A. Solomon and the surrounding nations.

1. (2 Chronicles 8:1-6) The dominion of Solomon.

It came to pass at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house, that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath. He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

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a. At the end of twenty years: It took Solomon seven years to build the temple and 13 years to build his palace. At the end of these twenty years his kingdom was secure, stable, and blessed.

b. He also built . . . He built . . . and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem: This passage reflects Solomon’s great heart and ambition as a builder. He energetically settled new cities and built storage cities, fortifications, chariot cities, and cities of the cavalry.

i. A problem comes in reconciling the mention of the cities that Hiram gave to Solomon, because 1 Kings 9:11-14 indicates that they were given by Solomon to Hiram. “While textual disturbance is possible, it seems more probable that they had been returned to Solomon, either because they were unacceptable (1 Kings 9:12-13) or because they had been collateral for a loan (1 Kings 9:14).” (Selman)

ii. Sadly, this new emphasis on chariots and cavalry shows that Solomon did not take God’s word as seriously as he should. In Deuteronomy 17:16, God spoke specifically to the future kings of Israel: But he shall not multiply horses for himself. It would be much better of Solomon had the heart reflected in Psalms 20:7 : Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

BI 1-6, "That the cities.

Solomon’s military enterprises

Chiefly in acquiring cities rebuilt and taken from the enemy.

I. Cities for stores (1Ki_9:19).

II. Cities for colonisation.

III. Cities for pleasure.

IV. Cities for defence. Lessons:

1. That those who attend to the spiritual will not neglect the temporal interests of a nation.

2. That amidst the temporal interests of a nation great risks exist. Hence—

(1) Lessons of prudence.

(2) The danger of prosperity. (J. Wolfendale.)

2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram[a] had

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given him, and settled Israelites in them.

BARNES, "The cities which Huram had restored to Solomon - These cities had not been mentioned previously by the writer of Chronicles, who, however, seems to assume that the fact of their having been given by Hiram to Solomon is known to his readers. See 1Ki_9:11-13.

CLARKE, "The cities which Huram had restored - See the note on 1Ki_9:11.

GILL, "That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon,.... Which Solomon first gave to him, but he not liking them, returned them to him, 1Ki_9:12,

Solomon built them; or rebuilt them, being very much out of repair, which might be one reason of Huram's not accepting them:

and caused the children of Israel to dwell there; they being inhabited by others, the remains of the Canaanitcs perhaps; see 2Ch_8:7.

JAMISON, "cities which Huram had restored ... Solomon built them, etc. — These cities lay in the northwest of Galilee. Though included within the limits of the promised land, they had never been conquered. The right of occupying them Solomon granted to Huram, who, after consideration, refused them as unsuitable to the commercial habits of his subjects (see on 1Ki_9:11). Solomon, having wrested them from the possession of the Canaanite inhabitants, repaired them and filled them with a colony of Hebrews.

K&D, "2Ch_8:2-42Ch_8:2 must be regarded as the apodosis of 2Ch_8:1, notwithstanding that the

object, the cities which ... precedes. The unusual position of the words is the result of the aphoristic character of the notice. As to its relation to the statement 1Ki_9:10-13, see the discussion on that passage. 2 ,בנהCh_8:2, is not to be understood of the fortification of these cities, but of their completion, for, according to 1Ki_9:10, 1Ki_9:13, they were in very bad condition. שב ,he caused to dwell there, i.e., transplanted Israelites thither ,ויcf. 2Ki_17:6. The account of the cities which Solomon built, i.e., fortified, is introduced (2Ch_8:3) by the important statement, omitted in 1 Kings 9: “Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.” על ,to be strong upon, that is, prevail against ,חזקconquer; cf. 2Ch_27:5. Hamath-zobah is not the city Hamath in Zobah, but, as we learn from 2Ch_8:4, the land or kingdom of Hamath. This did not lie, any more than the city Hamath, in Zobah, but bordered on the kingdom of Zobah: cf. 1Ch_18:3; and as to the

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position of Zobah, see the Commentary on 2Sa_8:3. In David's time Hamath and Zobah had their own kings; and David conquered them, and made their kingdoms tributary (1Ch_18:3-10). Because they bordered on each other, Hamath and Zobah are here bound together as a nomen compos. עליה יחזק signifies at least this, that these tributary kingdoms had either rebelled against Solomon, or at least had made attempts to do so; which Solomon suppressed, and in order to establish his dominion over them fortified Tadmor, i.e., Palmyra, and all the store cities in the land of Hamath (see on 1Ki_9:18.); for, according to 1Ki_11:23., he had Rezon of Zobah as an enemy during his whole reign; see on that passage.

BENSON, "2 Chronicles 8:2. The cities which Huram had restored — Which Solomon gave to Hiram, but which, not being pleased with them, he restored to him again, 1 Kings 9:12. Solomon built them — That is, rebuilt them, and placed his own subjects in them.

ELLICOTT, " (2) Which Huram had restored.—Literally, which Huram gave.

Solomon built them.—Rebuilt or restored and fortified (Joshua 6:26; 1 Kings 15:17). The parallel passage (1 Kings 9:11-13) records a contrary transaction; that is to say, it represents Solomon as giving to Huram twenty cities in Galilee, as a return for his past services. It is added that these cities did not please Huram, in consequence of which they got the name of “The Land of Kâbûl” (i.e., “Like-nought”). The Authorised Version here assumes that the explanation of Josephus (Antt. viii. 5, § 3) is correct. That writer states that Huram restored the despised cities to Solomon, who thereupon repaired them, and peopled them with Israelites. Others assume an exchange of friendly gifts between the two sovereigns; so that Solomon gave Huram twenty Israelite cities (Kings), and Huram gave Solomon twenty Phenician cities (Chronicles): this seems highly improbable. The former explanation appears to be substantially correct. The chronicler, or the authority which he follows here. has omitted to notice a fact which seems to derogate from the greatness of Solomon, viz., the previous surrender of the territory in question to the Tyrian king; and has chosen to speak of Huram’s non-acceptance or return of Solomon’s present, as a gift. He then goes on to tell of the future fate of the twenty cities. Solomon repaired or fortified them, and colonised them with Israelites; for this border-land was chiefly inhabited by Gentiles (Isaiah 9:1, “Galilee of the Gentiles”). A border-land is naturally more exposed to the ravages of an invader; and the cities which Solomon ceded to Huram may have been in a half-ruinous condition. This would account for Huram’s disappointment in them. The statement of our text, then, is neither an “effacement,” nor a “travesty” (Reuss), nor even a “remodelling” of that of the older text “in favour of Solomon” (Zöckler). It replaces the older text by another statement which is equally true, and not incompatible with it.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

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Ver. 2. Which Huram had restored.] Out of dislike of them. [1 Kings 9:12] Or, Which Huram had given to Solomon, that by exchange of courtesies their love might increase.

PARKER, "2. That the cities which Huram had restored [literally, which Huram gave] to Solomon [ 1 Kings 9:11-13] Solomon built them [rather, rebuilt or repaired them. Their bad condition may have been one of the reasons why they were rejected by Hiram], and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it.

BARNES, "Hamath-zobah - Usually identified with the “great Hamath” Amo_6:2; the capital of Coele-Syria; but probably a town of Zobah otherwise unknown, which revolted from Solomon, and was reduced to subjection.

CLARKE, "Hamath-zobah - “Emessa, on the river Orontes.” - Calmet.

GILL, "And Solomon went to Hamathzobah,.... In an hostile manner, which is the only instance of any warlike expedition of Solomon's. This was Coelesyria, which though subdued in the times of David, perhaps rebelled, and now Solomon went forth to reduce it:

and prevailed against it; took it.

JAMISON 3-6, "And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah — Hamath was on the Orontes, in Coele-Syria. Its king, Toi, had been the ally of David; but from the combination, Hamath and Zobah, it would appear that some revolution had taken place which led to the union of these two petty kingdoms of Syria into one. For what cause the resentment of Solomon was provoked against it, we are not informed, but he sent an armed force which reduced it. He made himself master also of Tadmor, the famous Palmyra in the same region. Various other cities along the frontiers of his extended dominions he repaired and fitted up, either to serve as store-places for the furtherance of his commercial enterprises, or to secure his kingdom from foreign invasion (see on 2Ch_

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1:14; see on 1Ki_9:15).

K&D, "

ELLICOTT, " (3) And Solomon went.—Marched (2 Samuel 12:29).

Hamath-zobah.—That is, Hamath bordering on Zobah. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 18:3.) Solomon’s conquest of the kingdom of Hamath, which had been on terms of amity with David, is not mentioned in 1 Kings 9; nor indeed anywhere else in the Old Testament. Thenius (on 2 Kings 14:25) supposes that the text describes not a conquest of Hamath itself, but only the annexation of part of its territory; viz., a part of the highly fruitful plain of Cœle-Syria, called by the Arabs Ard-el-Beqâa. This appears to be correct.

Against it.—Or, over it (a late construction, 2 Chronicles 27:5; Daniel 11:5).

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

Ver. 3. And prevailed against it.] King James, when he first entered England at Berwick, himself gave fire to, and shot off a piece of ordinance, in which cannon he might seem to have discharged war out of England; so did Solomon out of Israel, by this one expedition.

4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath.

CLARKE, "Tadmor - Palmyra. See the note on 1Ki_9:18, for an account of this superb city.

GILL, "And built Tadmor in the wilderness,.... Of which See Gill on 1Ki_9:18.

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and all the storehouses which he built in Hamath; a country in Syria, which he made himself master of, and where he laid up store of provision and ammunition to keep it, should any attempt be made to rescue it out of his hands. According to an Arabic writer (a), Solomon in the twenty fourth year of his reign having demolished Antioch, built seven cities, of which Tadmor was one.

BENSON, "2 Chronicles 8:4. He built Tadmor — For the explanation of this and the following verses, see notes on 1 Kings 9:17-18, &c.

ELLICOTT, " (4) And he built Tadmor in the wilderness.—That is, Palmyra, in the wilderness, on the traders’ route between the coast and Thapsacuson the Euphrates. See 1 Kings 9:18, where Tamar or Tammor of the Heb. text is explained by the margin to mean Tadmor; and the epithet, “in the wilderness,” seems certainly to identify the two names. That Solomon was the founder of Palmyra is the tradition of the country to this day.

And all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.—1 Kings 9:19 mentions these cities, but not their locality. They were no doubt “places of arms,” and served as outposts against the hostile neighbouring kingdom of Zobah-Damascus. (See 1 Kings 11:23-25.) So far as they lay on the caravan route, they would serve also as victualling stations. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 32:28.)

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

Ver. 4. And he built Tadmor, &c.] See 1 Kings 9:18-19.

PARKER, "4. And he built Tadmor in the wilderness [that Isaiah , Palmyra, in the wilderness, on the traders" route between the coast and Thapsacus on the Euphrates. That Solomon was the founder of Palmyra is the tradition of the country to this day], and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars,

BARNES, "Built - “Rebuilt,” or “repaired” (as in 2Ch_8:2). The two Beth-borons

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were both ancient cities (see Jos_10:10 note).

GILL, "Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether,.... Only mention is made of the latter in 1Ki_9:17,

fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; fortified cities in the tribe of Ephraim.

K&D, "2Ch_8:5-6Besides these, he made Upper and Nether Beth-horon (see on 1Ch_7:24) into fortified

cities, with walls, gates, and bars. ר מצ ערי is the second object of ויבן, and וגו ת מ ח is in apposition to that. Further, he fortified Baalah, in the tribe of Dan, to defend the kingdom against the Philistines, and, according to 1Ki_9:15-17, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer also, - which are omitted here, while in 1Ki_9:17 Upper Beth-horon is omitted, -and store cities, chariot cities, and cavalry cities; see on 1Ki_9:15-19.

ELLICOTT, " (5) Also.—And. 1 Kings 9:17, “And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether.”

Built—i.e., fortified, as the rest of the verse explains. (See 1 Chronicles 7:24.) He built them as (or into) fenced cities, viz., walls, doors, and bar (Micah 7:12; Deuteronomy 3:5). This description is wanting in Kings.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:5 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

Ver. 5. Fenced cities.] To prevent and frighten an enemy.

6 as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses[b]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

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CLARKE, "All the store cities - See the note on 1Ki_9:19.

GILL 6-11, "And Baalath,.... See 1Ki_9:18. From hence, to the end of 2Ch_8:11, it is the same with 1Ki_9:19. See Gill on 1Ki_9:19. 1Ki_9:20. 1Ki_9:21. 1Ki_9:22. 1Ki_9:23. 1Ki_9:24.

HENRY, "III. When Solomon had begun with building the house of God, and made good work and quick work of that, he prospered in all his undertakings, so that he built all that he desired to build, 2Ch_8:6. Those who have a genius for building find that one project draws on another, and the latter must amend and improve the former. Now observe, 1. How the divine providence gratified even Solomon's humour, and gave him success, not only in all that he needed to build and that it was for his advantage to build, but in all that he had a mind to build. So indulgent a Father God is sometimes to the innocent desires of his children that serve him. Thus he pleased Jacob with that promise, Joseph shall put his hand on thy eyes. 2. Solomon knew how to set bounds to his desires. He was not one of those that enlarge them endlessly, and can never be satisfied, but knew when to draw in; for he finished all he desired, and then he desired no more. He did not sit down and fret that he had not more cities to build, as Alexander did that he had not more worlds to conquer, Hab_2:5.

ELLICOTT, " (6) And Baalath.—1 Kings 9:18. Like the two Beth-horons, it lay west of Jerusalem, and was a bulwark against the Philistines: (Comp. Joshua 19:44, a Danite town.) The rest of this verse is identical with 1 Kings 9:19, which see. (Chronicler has twice added all.)

In the above section no mention is made of the fortification of Jerusalem, and the building of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, which last city had been taken by Pharaoh, and given by him to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. (See 1 Kings 9:15-16.) On the other hand, as we have seen, the chronicler supplies several important details which are wanting in the parallel account.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

Ver. 6. And in Lebanon.] In the forest of Lebanon, where he had his summer house.

PARKER, "6. And Baalath, and all the store cities [according to 2 Chronicles 32:28, the store-cities were places for collecting stores of provisions; when they were situated on the great trade-roads they were no doubt intended to relieve the wants of travellers and their beasts of burden] that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

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[It is worthy of note that in the above section no mention is made of the fortification of Jerusalem, and the building of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, which last city had been taken by Pharaoh, and given by him to his daughter, Solomon"s wife (See 1 Kings 9:15-16)].

7 There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these people were not Israelites).

JAMISON, "2Ch_8:7-11. The Canaanites made tributaries.

all the people that were left, etc. — The descendants of the Canaanites who remained in the country were treated as war prisoners, being obliged to “pay tribute or to serve as galley slaves” (2Ch_2:18), while the Israelites were employed in no works but such as were of an honorable character.

K&D 7-8, "On the arrangement of the statute labour, see on 1Ki_9:20-23. - This note is in Chr. abruptly introduced immediately after the preceding. 2Ch_8:7 is an absolute clause: “as regards the whole people, those.” מן־בניהם (2Ch_8:8) is not

partitive: some of their sons; but is only placed before the אשר: those of their sons (i.e., of the descendants of the whole Canaanite people) who had remained in the land, whom the Israelites had not exterminated; Solomon made a levy of these for statute labourers. The מן is wanting in 1 Kings, but is not to be struck out here on that account. Much more

surprising is the אשר after שראל 2Ch_8:9, which is likewise not found in 1 ,מן־בני

Kings, since the following verb נתן לא is not to be taken relatively, but contains the

predicate of the subject contained in the words יש אשר This .מן־בני cannot be otherwise

justified than by supposing that it is placed after יש בני as in Psa_69:27 ,מן it is placed

after the subject of the relative clause, and so stands for יש בני מן בן those who :אשרwere of the sons of Israel (i.e., Israelites) Solomon did not make ... The preplacing of בניהם מן in 2Ch_8:8 would naturally suggest that יש בני מן should also precede, in order to bring out sharply the contrast between the sons of the Canaanites and the sons of Israel.

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ELLICOTT, "Verses 7-10

(b) THE FORCED LABOUR OF THE CANAANITES(2 Chronicles 8:7-10).

With this section comp. 1 Kings 9:20-23, and the Notes there. In Kings it stands in more obvious connection with what precedes; for there the account of Solomon’s buildings is headed by the words, “And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, for to build the house of the Lord,” &c. (1 Kings 9:15).

(7) As for all the people that were left.—The verse agrees with 1 Kings 9:20.

(8) But.—Omit. The of also is wanting in 1 Kings 9:21. So Syriac, but not LXX. and Vulgate.

Consumed not.—1 Samuel 15:18. Kings, “were not able to exterminate.” The chronicler’s reading is probably due to the fading of letters in his MS. authority.

Them did Solomon make to pay tribute.—On them did Solomon levy a tribute. Kings has the fuller expression, mas ‘ôbçd, “tribute of labourers.” “Solomon en fit de levées pour la corvée” (Reuss).

(9) But of the children of Israel.—See 1 Kings 9:22. The Heb. text has the relative (‘asher) after “children of Israel.” But some few MSS., and the ancient versions, omit it. It is, perhaps, an accidental repetition from the beginning of 2 Chronicles 8:8.

According to Diod. Sic. i. 56, Sesostris (Rameses II.), the great Egyptian monarch, was wont to inscribe over the temples he built, “No native hath laboured hereon.”

After “men of war,” Kings adds, “and his servants,” which is omitted here as unsuitable, after the preceding statement. It means, however, courtiers and officers.

Chief of his captains.—Heb., captains of his knights; which appears to be incorrect. Read, “his captains and his knights,” or “aides-de-camp.” as in Kings. LXX., καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ δυνατοὶ.

(10) The chief of king Solomon’s officers.—“Captains of the overseers,” or “prefects,” i.e., chief overseers, or inspectors of works (Comp. 1 Chronicles 18:13, and 2 Chronicles 17:2, for the word n’çîbîm, prefects.) The Heb. margin suggests niççabîm, the word used in Kings.

King Solomon’s.—Literally, Who were to king Solomon. Kings, who were over the work for Solomon. Clearly the latter has been corrupted into the form presented by our text through a confusion of mĕlâkâh, “work,” with mèlek, “king.”

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Two hundred and fifty.—See 2 Chronicles 2:17, and 1 Kings 9:23. In the latter place 550 is the number. The number here is an error of transcription, דנ, i.e., 550, having been mistaken for ונ, i.e., 250 (Kennicott).

Bare rule.—They were taskmasters. (Comp. Syriac, “who made the people work who were working at the works.”)

The people—i.e., the Canaanite remnant (2 Chronicles 8:7). Kings adds, who were labouring at the work. (See Syriac.)

GUZIK 7-10, "2. (2 Chronicles 8:7-10) Solomon and the conquered peoples of his dominion.

All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel; that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy; from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

a. From these Solomon raised forced labor: Solomon’s practice of using the people of neighboring conquered nations as forced labor is also described in 1 Kings 5:15-18.

b. Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work: Israelites were used for the work of building the temple and Solomon’s palace, but they were not forced labor (1 Kings 5:13-14). They were often used in the management of the forced labor (who ruled over the people).

8 Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these people remaining in the land—whom the Israelites had not destroyed—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day.

COFFMAN, ""Solomon raised a levy of bondservants" (2 Chronicles 8:8). These descendants of the original Canaanites whom Israel had displaced, were first

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conscripted and enslaved for building the temple and the king's house, some 153,600 of them (2 Chronicles 2:1-2); but the significance of this mention of them is that, after the completion of Solomon's building program, they were permanently enslaved. No doubt these were used as waiters and servants of that vast concourse of people who attended the feast of the dedication.

It is not hard to understand why the Israelites considered this an ideal arrangement indeed, and why, even down to the times of Christ, the Jews desired absolutely nothing, either in heaven or on earth, except the restoration of that godless slave-state of king Solomon, to which restoration their expected Messiah was vainly supposed by them to devote his entire resources! The reason they rejected Christ was their realization that he would never cooperate in such a restoration.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:8 [But] of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

Ver. 8. Them did Solomon make to pay tribute.] Not for a toleration of their heathenish superstitions - as our William Rufus dealt by the Jews here, nor to use them as the Pope still doth the Jews in his dominions, to suck from the meanest, and to be sucked - or rather squeezed as full sponges - by the greatest; but for state service, and haply to gain them to God.

9 But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers.

CLARKE, "But of the children of Israel - See the note on 1Ki_9:21.

K&D 9-10, "שלישיו ושרי should be altered into ושלישיו שריו as in 1Ki_9:22, for

שלישים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exo_14:7 and 2Sa_23:8.

Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים chief of the ,שרי

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superiors, i.e., chief overseer. The Keth. נציבים, praefecti, is the true reading; cf. 1Ch_18:13; 2Ch_17:2. The Keri has arisen out of 1Ki_9:23. These overseers were Israelites, while in the number 550 (1Ki_9:23) the Israelite and Canaanite upper overseers are both included; see on 2Ch_2:17. בעם refers to 2 ,כל־העםCh_8:7, and denotes the Canaanite people who remained.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they [were] men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

Ver. 9. But of the children of Israel.] See 1 Kings 9:22.

PARKER, "9. But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains [Heb. captains of his knights; which appears to be incorrect. Read, "his captains and his knights" or "aides- Deuteronomy -camp," as in Kings], and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

10 They were also King Solomon’s chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.

BARNES, "On the number compare 1Ki_5:16 note.

JAMISON, "two hundred and fifty that bare rule — (Compare 1Ki_9:23). It is generally agreed that the text of one of these passages is corrupt.

COKE, ". And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, &c.— But those chief officers who presided over the works of Solomon, were two hundred and fifty. See 1 Kings 9:23 where they are said to be five hundred and fifty. Other inferior officers were included perhaps in the former account.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, The only warlike expedition that Solomon was engaged in,

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we have in 2 Chronicles 8:3 reducing to his obedience Hamath-zobah, which seems to have revolted. His buildings, to which his genius led him, still went forward; and the old inhabitants of the land, now brought under tribute and proselyted, afforded him a number of workmen, without employing the nobler freeborn Israelites. Having built a palace for his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, he removed her from the city of David, where she had her residence before; for, though probably a proselyte herself, many of her Egyptian servants might retain the idols and iniquities of Egypt; and a place which had been favoured with the ark of God, so long the seat of worship, and where David prayed and sung before the Lord, ought not to be profaned by such inhabitants. Note; They who marry into improper families, will find a burden and a snare from the evil manners of their wife's friends and relations, with whom they become necessarily connected.

2nd, Solomon had not only built a temple for the honour of God, but took care to continue waiting upon him there in his instituted ways. Building churches will do a man no good, if his spirit be not engaged in the service of the sanctuary.

1. The temple work was carried on exactly according to the divine prescription, and the courses of priests and Levites in waiting according to David's institution. Note; Regular and stated returns of worship are carefully to be observed.

2. Solomon's trade flourished. He visited his sea-ports in person, and, with the assistance of Hiram's mariners, made a very successful voyage to Ophir. Note; (1.) The master's eye is most necessary over his own affairs. (2.) Men brave every danger of the seas for the gold of Ophir; and shall we be less solicitous to secure the more enduring treasures of grace and glory?

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:10 And these [were] the chief of king Solomon’s officers, [even] two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

Ver. 10. See on 1 Kings 9:23.

11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

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BARNES, "Of Pharaoh - Here again the writer of Chronicles assumes in his reader a knowledge of the facts recorded in the marginal references

CLARKE, "The daughter of Pharaoh - “And Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Solomon brought up from the city of David to the palace which he had built for her.” - T.

Because the places are holy - Is not this a proof that he considered his wife to be a heathen, and not proper to dwell in a place which had been sanctified? Solomon had not yet departed from the true God.

HENRY, "IV. That one reason why Solomon built a palace on purpose for the queen, and removed her and her court to it, was because he thought it by no means proper that she should dwell in the house of David (2Ch_8:11), considering that that had been a place of great piety, and perhaps her house was a place of great vanity. She was proselyted, it is likely, to the Jewish religion; but it is a question whether all her servants were. Perhaps they had among them the idols of Egypt, and a great deal of profaneness and debauchery. Now, though Solomon had not zeal and courage enough to suppress and punish what was amiss there, yet he so far consulted the honour of his father's memory that he would not suffer that place to be thus profaned where the ark of God had been and where holy David had prayed many a good prayer and sung many a sweet psalm. Not that all the places where the ark had been were so holy as never to be put to a common use; for then the houses of Abinadab and Obed-edom must have been so. But the place where it had been so long, and had been so publicly attended on, was so venerable that it was not fit to be the place of so much gaiety, not to say iniquity, as was to be found, I fear, in the court that Pharaoh's daughter kept. Note, Between things sacred and things common the ancient landmarks ought to be kept up. It was an outer-court of the temple that was the court of the women.

JAMISON, "Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her — On his marriage with the Egyptian princess at the beginning of his reign, he assigned her a temporary abode in the city of David, that is, Jerusalem, until a suitable palace for his wife had been erected. While that palace was in progress, he himself lodged in the palace of David, but he did not allow her to occupy it, because he felt that she being a heathen proselyte, and having brought from her own country an establishment of heathen maid-servants, there would have been an impropriety in her being domiciled in a mansion which was or had been hallowed by the reception of the ark. It seems she was received on her arrival into his mother’s abode (Son_3:4; Son_8:2).

K&D, "The remark that Solomon caused Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married (1Ki_3:1), to remove from the city of David into the house which he had built her, i.e.,

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into that part of his newly-built palace which was appointed for the queen, is introduced here, as in 1Ki_9:24, because it belongs to the history of Solomon's buildings, although in the Chronicle it comes in very abruptly, the author not having mentioned Solomon's marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (1Ki_3:1). The reason given for this change of residence on the part of the Egyptian princess is, that Solomon could not allow her, an Egyptian, to dwell in the palace of King David, which had been sanctified by the reception of the ark, and consequently assigned to her a dwelling in the city of David until he should have finished the building of his palace, in which she might dwell along with him. המה is, as neuter, used instead of the singular; cf. Ew. §318, b. See also on 1Ki_3:1 and 1Ki_9:24.

BENSON, "2 Chronicles 8:11. Unto the house which he had built — This house he had built for her, because the ark was now in the house of David, which therefore ought to be kept pure and free from every danger and appearance of pollution. For though Pharaoh’s daughter was proselyted to the Jewish religion, and had renounced idolatry, it is not likely that both she and all her servants had embraced the whole law of Moses; and therefore they might many ways defile a place made sacred by that symbol of the divine presence.

COFFMAN, "Solomon had married the daughter of Pharaoh quite early in his reign (1 Kings 3:1), and the action mentioned here evidently took place at an early time in Solomon's reign when he still retained some sensitivity to the implications of the Word of God. "This daughter of Pharaoh was the daughter of Hor-Psibkhannu, the last Pharaoh of the weak Twenty-First Dynasty. Her idolatries eventually led to the apostasy of Israel (1 Kings 11:1ff)"[1]

ELLICOTT, " (11) And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh.—See 1 Kings 9:24, which is much briefer than the present notice. The chronicler has not mentioned this princess before (comp. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 9:16), and mentions her here only in connection with Solomon’s buildings. (See Note on 2 Chronicles 12:2.) Solomon’s Egyptian consort was probably a princess of the XXII. Bnbastite Dynasty, founded by Shishak, which was of Semitic origin.

For he said.—The motive here assigned is wanting in the other text, and is characteristic of the chronicler both in thought and language; though it is too much to say with Thenius that the princess could not have lived anywhere else than in the old palace of David, until the new one was built. 1 Kings 3:1 says only that Solomon brought her “into the city of David.”

King of Israel.—In contrast with the Egyptian origin of the princess.

Because the places are holy.—For a holy thing is that unto which, &c. (The plural pronoun hçmmâh, “they,” is equivalent to a neuter-sing, in the usage of the chronicler.)

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TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because [the places are] holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

Ver. 11. For he said, My wife shall not dwell.] Or, He had said so, sc., before he built a house for her: and while the ark was yet in the city of David.

Because the places are holy.] And she not yet too holy, but retaining some of her Egyptian profanenesses: vel propter multiplices huius sexus immunditles legales. Solomon had, against the law of God, married this and other strange wives, for political ends no doubt, and as hoping that by his wisdom he should reclaim them, or at least rule them. He did so at first, as we see in this instance. For we may not think that Solomon did this out of superstition, - as the monks at this day pare and sweep the rooms of their monasteries wherein women have been, as if they were unclean creatures, - but out of the reverential fear of God, and a religious respect to the ark. Howbeit afterwards, overcome by the importunities of his strange wives, he yielded to them shamefully. Watch, therefore, and beware.

POOLE, " Not because every place where once the ark came was thereby consecrated to God, and night not after the ark was gone be put to any common use; for then both the house of Obed-edom and all other places where the ark either rested or passed were made holy thereby, and unlawful for men to dwell in; but either,

1. Because she was a woman, and attended by many other women, who besides the common pollutions of all, are subject to many and frequent ceremonial pollutions peculiar to their sex, and either she, or at least many of her followers, might be heathens at this time; and therefore he thought it indecent that such persons should come as it were in God’s stead, and succeed him in the place where he had dwelt. Or,

2. He speaks not of the time when the ark was gone, but whilst it was there; and these words contain a reason not of the more remote words, why he now brought her up thither, but of the words immediately preceding, why

he built this house

for her; because the ark was now in the house of David, which therefore, ought to be kept pure and free from the very danger and appearance of pollution.

PARKER, "11. And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of

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David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come. [See footnote, post, p229].

GUZIK, "B. Solomon and the daughter of Pharaoh.

1. (2 Chronicles 8:11) Solomon marries an Egyptian princess.

Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”

a. Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her: This marriage to a princess of Egypt was the first of Solomon’s many unwise marriages (1 Kings 11:1-3). These unwise marriages launched the spiritual downfall of Solomon.

b. My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy: With this, Solomon admitted that his wife was an unbeliever and unholy – yet he married her just the same. This led Solomon along a remarkably wicked path (1 Kings 11:4-8).

i. “Is not this a proof that he considered his wife to be a heathen, and not proper to dwell in a place which had been sanctified? Solomon had not yet departed from the true God.” (Clarke)

ii. “Solomon had, against the law of God, married this and other strange wives, for politic ends no doubt, and as hoping that by his wisdom he could reclaim them, or at least rule them. . . . Howbeit afterwards, overcome by the importunities of his strange wives, he yielded to them shamefully. Watch, therefore, and beware.” (Trapp)

iii. “To build a house for Pharaoh’s daughter outside the Holy City is to open its gates sooner or later to Pharaoh’s gods.” (Morgan)

iv. “The blessedness of the marriage tie depends on whether the twain are one in spirit, in a common love for Christ, and endeavour for his glory. Nothing is more terrible than when either admits in the secrecy of the heart, concerning the other, My husband or my wife cannot accompany me into the holy places where I was reared, and in which my best life finds its home.” (Meyer)

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12 On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord,

GILL, "Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord,.... Meaning not barely at the time he rebuilt the above cities, for it was his constant practice:

on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch; the brasen altar, which was at the entrance into the temple, within the court; of which see 2Ch_4:1.

HENRY 12-16, "Here is, I. Solomon's devotion. The building of the temple was in order to the service of the temple. Whatever cost he was at in rearing the structure, if he had neglected the worship that was to be performed there, it would all have been to no purpose. Assisting the devotion of others will not atone for our own neglects. When Solomon had built the temple, 1. He kept up the holy sacrifices there, according to the law of Moses, 2Ch_8:12, 2Ch_8:13. In vain had the altar been built, and in vain had fire come down from heaven, if sacrifices had not been constantly brought as the food of the altar and the fuel of that fire. There were daily sacrifices, a certain rate every day, as duly as the day came, weekly sacrifices on the sabbath, double to what was offered on other days, monthly sacrifices on the new moons, and yearly sacrifices at the three solemn feasts. Those are spiritual sacrifices that are now required of us, which we are to bring daily and weekly; and it is good to be in a settled method of devotion. 2. He kept up the holy songs there, according to the law of David, who is here called the man of God,as Moses was, because he was both instructed and authorised of God to make these establishments; and Solomon took care to see them observed as the duty of every day required, 2Ch_8:14. Solomon, though a wise and great man and the builder of the temple, did not attempt to amend, alter, or add to what the man of God had, in God's name, commanded, but closely adhered to that, and used his authority to have that duly observed; and then none departed from the commandment of the king concerning any matter, 2Ch_8:15. He observed God's laws, and then all obeyed his orders. When the service of the temple was put into this good order, then it is said, The house of the Lord was perfected, 2Ch_8:16. The work was the main matter, not the place; the temple was unfinished till all this was done.

K&D, "The sacrificial service in the new temple. Cf. 1Ki_9:25, where it is merely briefly recorded that Solomon offered sacrifices three times a year on the altar built by him to the Lord. In our verses we have a detailed account of it. אז, at that time, scil. when the temple building had been finished and the temple dedicated (cf. 2Ch_8:1), Solomon offered burnt-offerings upon the altar which he had built before the porch of the temple.

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He no longer now sacrifices upon the altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon, as in the beginning of his reign (2Ch_1:3.).

COFFMAN, "There are some uncertainties here. There seems to be an implied disapproval of Solomon's actions in offering all these sacrifices, which certainly were offered upon an unauthorized altar; and the word even in 2 Chronicles 8:13 most certainly suggests that what Solomon did here was sinful in usurping ritualistic functions that pertained to the priests. Francisco, however, insists that, "Solomon was directing the activities and was not personally involved."[2] We accept this opinion as accurate, because we cannot possibly imagine that this pleasure-mad monarch would have had the self-discipline required for doing what is stated in these verses.

Of course, the specific mention of all these sacrifices which are elaborately spelled out in the Pentateuch is further proof of its Mosaic authorship, and of king Solomon's thorough acquaintance with it a full half millennium before modern radical critics would date it if they could.

ELLICOTT, " (c) REGULATION OF THE TEMPLE WORSHIP(2 Chronicles 8:12-16).

This whole section corresponds to the single verse, 1 Kings 9:25, which the chronicler has paraphrased in 2 Chronicles 8:12-13, and extended by the addition of further details in 2 Chronicles 8:14-15.

(12) Then.—After the consecration of the Temple.

Offered.—Not once, but habitually; according to the prescriptions of the Mosaic Law (2 Chronicles 8:13).

On the altar . . . which he had built.—And apparently no longer at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:3).

Before the porch.—Not in Kings.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

Ver. 12. Then Solomon offered.] These sacrifices were their sacraments, visible words directing them to Christ.

PARKER, "12. Then [after the consecration of the temple] Solomon offered [not

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once, but habitually; according to the prescriptions of the Mosaic law ( 2 Chronicles 8:13)] burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,

GUZIK, "2. (2 Chronicles 8:12-16) The order of Solomon’s administration.

Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts; the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries. Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

a. Solomon offered burnt offerings: In accordance with the commanded morning and evening sacrifices (according to the daily rate as mentioned in Numbers 28:1-8) Solomon administrated the burnt offering for Israel. He also observed the other sacrifices commanded by the Law of Moses.

b. According to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service: Solomon carried forth the administration for the temple service as it was originally organized by King David (1 Chronicles 24).

c. Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered: This was a reflection of his great wisdom and an answer to his prayer for help in leading the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 3).

13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.

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CLARKE, "Three times in the year - These were the three great annual feasts.

GILL, "Even after a certain rate every day, according to the commandment of Moses,.... The daily sacrifice, morning and evening, Exo_29:38,

on the sabbaths, and on the new moons; when there were additional sacrifices, Num_28:9, &c.

and on the solemn feasts three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; which serves to explain the three times in 1Ki_9:25.

K&D, "2Ch_8:13“Even sacrificing at the daily rate, according to the direction of Moses.” These words

give a supplementary and closer definition of the sacrificing in the form of an explanatory subordinate clause, which is interpolated in the principal sentence. For the following words וגו ת לשבת belong to the principal sentence (2Ch_8:12): he offered

sacrifices ... on the sabbaths, the new moons, etc. The ו before בדבר is explicative, and

that = viz.; and the infin. ת ;.according to the later usage, instead of infin. absol ,להעל

cf. Ew. §280, d. The preposition ב (before דבר) is the so-called b essentiae: consisting in the daily (rate) to sacrifice (this); cf. Ew. §299, b. The daily rate, i.e., that which was prescribed in the law of Moses for each day, cf. Lev_23:37. ת עד למ is further explained by the succeeding clause: on the three chief festivals of the year.

ELLICOTT, " (13) Even after a certain rate every day.—Literally, and with a day’s matter on a day (Leviticus 23:37) they had to offer (infinitive construct, as at 1 Chronicles 13:4; 1 Chronicles 15:2), or, perhaps, he would offer.

The solemn feasts.—Literally, set seasons, viz., the three great festivals whose designations follow. (The form mô‘adôth for mô‘adîm occurs here only.)

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, [even] in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

Ver. 13. Three times in a year.] At the three great feasts following.

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PARKER, "13. Even after a certain rate [the Hebrew is ambiguous; the meaning probably is "day after day "] every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses [see Exodus 29:38; Numbers 28:3, et seq.], on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered.

BARNES, "The man of God - This phrase, so common in Kings (see the introduction to Kings, 4th note), is rare in Chronicles, and is applied only to Moses 1Ch_23:14, David, and one other prophet 2Ch_25:7, 2Ch_25:9.

GILL, "And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service,.... The twenty four courses which served weekly in their turns, 1Ch_24:1.

and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as duty of every day required; who also had their courses by lot, to sing the praises of God, when the priests sacrificed, or blew the trumpets, 1Ch_25:1,

the porters also by their courses at every gate; from hence Dr. Lightfoot concludes that these were divided into twenty four classes, as the priests and Levite singers were:

for so had David the man of God commanded, 1Ch_26:1, who in all these affairs acted as a prophet, under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit of God.

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HENRY, "He kept up the holy songs there, according to the law of David, who is here called the man of God, as Moses was, because he was both instructed and authorised of God to make these establishments; and Solomon took care to see them observed as the duty of every day required, 2Ch_8:14. Solomon, though a wise and great man and the builder of the temple, did not attempt to amend, alter, or add to what the man of God had, in God's name, commanded, but closely adhered to that, and used his authority to have that duly observed; and then none departed from the commandment of the king concerning any matter, 2Ch_8:15.

K&D, "2Ch_8:14He ordered the temple service, also, entirely according to the arrangement introduced

by David as to the service of the priests and Levites. He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, i.e., according to the ordinance established by David, the classes of the priests (see on 1 Chron 24) to that service, and the Levites to their stations ת) משמר as in 2Ch_7:6), to praise (cf. 1 Chron 25), and to serve before the priests (1Ch_23:28.), according to that which was appointed for every day, and the doorkeepers according to their courses, etc. (see 1 Chron 27:1-19). With the last words cf. Neh_12:24.

BENSON, "2 Chronicles 8:14. So had David the man of God commanded — David is here called the man of God, as Moses had been, because he was a prophet divinely inspired, and was both instructed and authorized of God to make these establishments. Hence his commands are represented as being the commands of God. And Solomon, though a wise and great man, and the builder of the temple, did not attempt to amend, alter, or add to, what the man of God had commanded in God’s name, but closely adhered to it, and used his authority to have it duly observed.

COFFMAN, "There are some uncertainties here. There seems to be an implied disapproval of Solomon's actions in offering all these sacrifices, which certainly were offered upon an unauthorized altar; and the word even in 2 Chronicles 8:13 most certainly suggests that what Solomon did here was sinful in usurping ritualistic functions that pertained to the priests. Francisco, however, insists that, "Solomon was directing the activities and was not personally involved."[2] We accept this opinion as accurate, because we cannot possibly imagine that this pleasure-mad monarch would have had the self-discipline required for doing what is stated in these verses.

Of course, the specific mention of all these sacrifices which are elaborately spelled out in the Pentateuch is further proof of its Mosaic authorship, and of king Solomon's thorough acquaintance with it a full half millennium before modern radical critics would date it if they could.

ELLICOTT, " (14) And he appointed.—Caused to stand. (1 Chronicles 6:16; 1

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Chronicles 15:16.)

According to the order of David his father.—Order, i.e., ordinance or institution.

The courses of the priests.—See 1 Chronicles 24.

Charges.—Watches, wards, stations.

To praise.—See 1 Chronicles 25:3.

And minister before the priests.—1 Chronicles 23:28.

As the duty of every day required.—For a day’s matter (i.e., prescribed work) on its day. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 8:13.)

The porters also.—See 1 Chronicles 26:1-19. The construction is, and he appointed, or stationed, the warders.

For so had David . . .—See margin. A similar phrase occurs in Nehemiah 12:24.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

Ver. 14. According to the order of David.] See 1 Chronicles 24:1.

PARKER, "14. And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests [comp1Chronicles24] to their service, and the Levites to their charges [see 1 Chronicles 25:1-6], to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters [see 1 Chronicles 26:1-19] also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God [this phrase, so common in Kings, is rare in Chronicles, and is applied only to Moses ( 1 Chronicles 23:14), David, and one other prophet ( 2 Chronicles 25:7-9)] commanded.

BI, "As the duty of every day required.

Duty

To some Christians “the sense of duty” and kindred phrases sound unattractive and suspicious. Yet it is dangerous even to minimise the sense of duty. A man who makes no terms with conscience, but does what God commands, will find his love grow stronger. A Christian’s sense of duty is not the same as the sense of duty of one who has no faith. Natural religion would teach a man to be honest, sober, and industrious, but Christ’s

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teaching goes far beyond this. Religious duties; purity of heart; forgiveness of others, etc. But it is in the realm of supernatural help, prayer, and the sacraments that the greatest divergence is seen. “As the duty of every day required.” Words such as these suggest that unless we are living a life of prayer, unless we are partaking of the life of Christ in the means He left for us to use, we are undutiful. What we claim for our religion is this—

1. The personal love of Christ will make us more severe with ourselves in performing “hard, unwelcome” duties of every day.

2. It will also claim from us earnest prayer, belief in the grace of the Holy Spirit, etc. (W. R. Hutton, M. A.).

15 They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.

CLARKE, "The commandment of the king - The institutions of David.

GILL, "And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites,.... The priests and Levites departed not from it, not from the commandment of Solomon, according to the order of David, but in all things obeyed it:

concerning any matter; which related to the office of either of them, sacrificers, singers, or porters:

or concerning the treasures; such of the Levites as had the care of them were faithful to their trust, see 1Ch_26:20, &c.

JAMISON, "2Ch_8:15-18. Solomon’s festival sacrifices.

they departed not from the commandment of the king — that is, David, in any of his ordinances, which by divine authority he established.

unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures — either in regulating the courses of the priests and Levites, or in the destination of his accumulated treasures to the construction and adornment of the temple.

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K&D, "2Ch_8:15-16

This arrangement was faithfully observed by the priests and Levites. The verb סור is here construed c. accus. in the signification to transgress a command (cf. Ew. §282, a), and it is therefore not necessary to alter מצות into על־הכהנים .ממצות depends upon

the king's command concerning the priests and the Levites, i.e., that which David :מצות

commanded them. וגו in regard to all things, and especially also in regard to ,לכל־דברthe treasures; cf. 1Ch_26:20-28. - With 2Ch_8:16 the account of what Solomon did for the public worship is concluded: “Now all the work of Solomon was prepared until the (this) day, the foundation of the house of Jahve until its completion; the house of Jahve was finished.” מלאכת is explained by ם .מוסד הי is the day on which, after the consecration of the completed temple, the regular public worship was commenced in it, which doubtless was done immediately after the dedication of the temple. Only when the regular worship according to the law of Moses, and with the arrangements as to the service of the priests and Levites established by David, had been commenced, was Solomon's work in connection with the temple completed, and the house of God שלם,

integer, perfect in all its parts, as it should be. The last clause, בית י is connected ,שלםrhetorically with what precedes without the conjunction, and is not to be regarded as a subscription, “with which the historian concludes the whole narrative commencing with 2Ch_2:1” (Berth.); for שלם does not signify “ended,” or to be at an end, but to be set thoroughly (perfectly) in order.

BENSON, "2 Chronicles 8:15-16. They departed not from the commandment of the king — He obeyed God’s commands enjoined by David, in God’s name, and by inspiration of God’s Spirit, and therefore all obeyed his orders. Now all the work of Solomon was prepared — All the materials were procured, and in all points fitted and completed beforehand. So the house of God was perfected — This is now said, because the service of the temple was now put into this good order. The work was the main matter, not the place: the temple was unfinished till all this was done.

ELLICOTT, " (15) And they departed not from the commandment of the king.—From has fallen out of the Heb. text, and must be restored. So three MSS. and the versions.

The king=David.

Unto.—Concerning; literally, upon.

Concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.—With reference to any matter and (especially) with reference to the treasures. (See 1 Chronicles 26:20-28.) 2 Chronicles 8:14-15 assure us that the arrangements of David, as described in 1 Chronicles 24-26, were faithfully observed by his successor.

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16 All Solomon’s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.

GILL, "Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished,.... The materials were prepared, and the money for the expenses; and even the very stones and timber were made fit for the building, so that there was nothing to retard the completion of it:

so the house of God was perfected; in the space of seven years, in all the parts, and according to the form and pattern of it, see 1Ki_6:38.

ELLICOTT, " (16) Now.—And, here equivalent to so.

Prepared = completed. (2 Chronicles 29:35; 2 Chronicles 35:10; 2 Chronicles 35:16; a late use of the word nâkôn.)

Unto the day of the foundation . . . until it was finished.—Solomon’s activity is apparently divided into two periods, viz., the preparations which he made before and up to the foundation of the Temple (2 Chronicles 2), and secondly, the prosecution of the work to its completion (2 Chronicles 3:1 to 2 Chronicles 5:1). (The Heb. Is, unto that day of the foundation,” i.e., that memorable day, see 2 Chronicles 3:1-3.) All the versions, however, understand from the day of the foundation unto the completion of the Temple, and perhaps ‘ad ha-yôm is, in the chronicler’s Hebrew equivalent to lĕmin ha-yôm, expressing the terminus a quo.

So the house of the Lord was perfected.—Omit so, and comp. 1 Kings 9:25, “and he finished [same root as perfected] the house.” The verse thus closes the entire account of the building and inauguration of the Temple.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. [So] the

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house of the LORD was perfected.

Ver. 16. So the house of God was perfected.] See 1 Kings 9:25.

PARKER, "16. Now all the work of Solomon was prepared [rather, "thus was all the work of Solomon completed," or "set in order," as the same word is translated in 2 Chronicles 29:35] unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.

[The Speaker"s Commentary points out that this verse sums up in brief the whole previous narrative on the subject of the temple, which began with chap2. Solomon"s word "unto the day of the foundation" was the subject of that chapter; his work subsequently has been related in chapters3-8.]

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom.

CLARKE, "Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber - See the notes on 1Ki_9:26-28(note), for conjectures concerning Ezion-geber and Ophir.

GILL 17-18, "Then went Solomon to Eziongeber,.... Being now at leisure to look after his navy, to carry on merchandise; and of this, and the following verse, and the reconciliation of them with 1Ki_9:26; see Gill on 1Ki_9:26, 1Ki_9:27, 1Ki_9:28.

HENRY 17-18, "II. Solomon's merchandise. He did himself in person visit the sea-port towns of Eloth and Ezion-geber; for those that deal much in the world will find it their interest, as far as they can, to inspect their affairs themselves and to see with their own eyes, 2Ch_8:17. Canaan was a rich country, and yet must send to Ophir for gold; the Israelites were a wise and understanding people, and yet must be beholden to the king of Tyre for men that had knowledge of the seas, 2Ch_8:18. Yet Canaan was God's peculiar land, and Israel God's peculiar people. This teaches us that grace, and not gold, is the best riches, and acquaintance with God and his law, not with arts and sciences, the best knowledge.

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JAMISON, "Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth — These two maritime ports were situated at the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, now called the Gulf of Akaba. Eloth is seen in the modern Akaba, Ezion-geber in El Gudyan [Robinson]. Solomon, determined to cultivate the arts of peace, was sagacious enough to perceive that his kingdom could become great and glorious only by encouraging a spirit of commercial enterprise among his subjects; and, accordingly, with that in mind he made a contract with Huram for ships and seamen to instruct his people in navigation.

K&D17-18, "Voyage to Ophir. Cf. 1Ki_9:26-28, and the commentary on that passage, where we have discussed the divergences of our narrative, and have also come to the conclusion that Ophir is not to be sought in India, but in Southern Arabia. By אז the date of this voyage is made to fall in the period after the building of the temple and the palace, i.e., in the second half of Solomon's reign.

COFFMAN, ""Ezion-geber, and Eloth" (2 Chronicles 8:17). "These two places were near each other at the northern extremity of the Gulf of Aqabah."[3]

"Four hundred and fifty talents of gold" (2 Chronicles 8:18). One can always count on the nit-pickers to contrast this with the statement in Kings that the amount was four hundred and twenty talents. Maybe sea-port taxes, sailors' wages, and other expenses were deducted in the King's account! Such variations are unimportant.

ELLICOTT, " (d) THE VOYAGE TO OPHIR (2 Chronicles 8:17-18).Comp. 1 Kings 9:26-28.

(17) Then (’âz).—After the completion of the Temple.

Went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth.—Syr., “Ezion-geber, a city which is over against Eloth.” 1 Kings 9:26 reads, “And a fleet did king Solomon make at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth.”

The sea.—Kings, the Red Sea. So Vulg. The words of our text do not necessarily imply a personal visit on the part of Solomon. He sent his shipwrights to the Idumean port.

TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 8:17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

Ver. 17. To Eziongeber.] A haven of the Red Sea, called by Josephus Berenice, by

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Jerome Essia; Eloth is also called Elath, [Deuteronomy 2:8] and at this day Elana, unde sinus Elaniticus.

Four hundred and fifty talents.] Thirty of them seem to go for the charges of the voyage. Compare 1 Kings 9:28.

PARKER, "17. Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

18. And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they [the servants, not the ships] went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty [in Kings "twenty," one or other of the two texts has suffered from that corruption to which numbers are liable] talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

GUZIK, "3. (2 Chronicles 8:17-18) Solomon’s sea trading.

Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

a. Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast: This was unusual for an Israelite king, because the people of Israel were not known for their accomplishments at sea. Solomon boldly led the people of Israel into new ventures.

i. “ ‘Ezion Geber and Elath’ were ports at the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba that provided a strategic commercial access southward into the Red Sea and beyond.” (Payne)

ii. “Solomon probably bore the expenses, and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill.” (Clarke)

b. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there: It is hard to say with certainty where the land of Ophir was. Some suggest it was in southern Arabia or the eastern coast of Africa. This shows the great enterprise and industriousness of Solomon’s administration.

i. “No man knows certainly, to this day, where this Ophir was situated. There were two places of this name; one somewhere in India, beyond the Ganges, and another in Arabia, near the country of the Sabaeans, mentioned by Job 22:24.” (Clarke)

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18 And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with Solomon’s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents[c] of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

BARNES, "It has been supposed that these ships were conveyed from Tyre to Ezion-geber, either

(1) round the continent of Africa, or(2) across the isthmus of Suez.But the writer probably only means that ships were given by Hiram to Solomon at this

time, and in connection with the Ophir enterprise. These vessels may have been delivered at Joppa, and have been there carefully studied by the Jewish shipwrights, who then preceeded to Ezion-geber, and, assisted by Phoenicians, constructed ships after their pattern.

Four hundred and fifty talents - “Four hundred and twenty talents” in Kings 1Ki_9:28. One or other of the two texts has suffered from that corruption to which numbers are so especially liable.

CLARKE, "Knowledge of the sea - Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea.

GILL, "Then went Solomon to Eziongeber,.... Being now at leisure to look after his navy, to carry on merchandise; and of this, and the following verse, and the reconciliation of them with 1Ki_9:26; see Gill on 1Ki_9:26, 1Ki_9:27, 1Ki_9:28.

JAMISON, "Huram sent him ... ships — either sent him ship-men, able seamen,

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overland; or, taking the word “sent” in a looser sense, supplied him, that is, built him ships - namely, in docks at Eloth (compare 1Ki_9:26, 1Ki_9:27). This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, for Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions. The Hebrew fishermen, whose boats plied on the Sea of Tiberias or coasted the shores of the Mediterranean, were not equal to the conducting of large vessels laden with valuable cargoes on long voyages and through the wide and unfrequented ocean.

four hundred and fifty talents of gold — (Compare 1Ki_9:28). The text in one of these passages is corrupt.

ELLICOTT, " (18) And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships.—When Solomon began to evince an interest in maritime affairs, his Tyrian ally presented him with a number of vessels and their crews of trained seamen. To what port the vessels were sent is not expressly stated. Probably they put in at Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16). Others assume the meaning to be that the ships were sent from Tyre to Ezion-geber, and then ask whether they were dragged across the desert which divides the Mediterranean from the gulf of Akaba, or whether they circumnavigated Africa. The dilemma is only apparent. The Greek historians of later times often speak of the transport of ships overland; and the galleys of Solomon’s age were probably small. Even the circumnavigation of Africa was achieved by a Phœnician expedition sent out by Necho about four centuries later (Herod, iv. 42). But neither alternative seems necessary. If Huram provided Solomon with skilled mariners, they would naturally sail from Tyre to Joppa in their own ships. The Tyrian vessels may have been left at Joppa, while a portion of their crews proceeded, by Solomon’s order, to Ezion-geber. In short, “ships and servants” means “ships with servants,” or “ships conveying servants.”

And they went.—Huram’s mariners. Comp. 1 Kings 9:27 : “And Huram sent in the fleet (which Solomon had built) his servants, men of ships that had knowledge of the sea.” So the Syr. and Arab. here.

To Ophir.—See 1 Kings 9:28. LXX., Sophira.

Fifty.—Kings, twenty. The difference may be due to a scribe’s error, the letter kaf being confused with

BI, "Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord.

Solomon’s burnt offerings

Solomon was great in burnt offerings. Do not men sometimes make up in burnt offerings what they lack in moral consistency? Is not an ostentatious religion sometimes the best proof of internal decay? It ought not to be so. The outward and inward should correspond. The action should be the incarnation of the thought. It is beautiful to look upon the Church engaged in much church-building and in strenuous endeavours against public sin; yet we must never forget that all this may possibly coexist with internal loss, decay, corruption. All action does not spring from life. Sometimes we try to make up by

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complex mechanism what is wanting in real vitality. It is often easier to offer burnt offering than to do some deed of moral heroism. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Footnotes:

2 Chronicles 8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verse 182 Chronicles 8:6 Or charioteers2 Chronicles 8:18 That is, about 17 tons or about 15 metric tons

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