2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 8
1At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built Yahweh’s house and his own house, 2Solomon built the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and prevailed against it. 4He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath. 5Also he built Beth Horon the upper and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
7As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel; 8of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel didn’t consume, of them Solomon conscripted forced labor to this day. 9But of the children of Israel, Solomon made no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. 10These were the chief officers of king Solomon, even two-hundred fifty, who ruled over the people.
11Solomon brought up Pharaoh’s daughter out of David’s city to 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 where Yahweh’s ark has come are holy.”
12Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar, which he had built before the porch, 13even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times per year, during the feast of unleavened bread, during the feast of weeks, and during the feast of booths.
14He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate, for David the man of God had so commanded. 15They didn’t depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16Now all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day of the foundation of Yahweh’s house until it was finished. So Yahweh’s house was completed.
17Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18Huram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea by the hands of his servants; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and brought from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 38 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
This we had Kg1 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…
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…
John Gill12
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
And it came to pass at the end of twenty years,.... See Gill on 1 Kings 9:10.
That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon,.... Which Solomon first gave to him, but he not liking them, returned them to him, 1 Kings 9:12, Solomon built them; or rebuilt them, being very much out of repair, which might be one reason of Huram's not…
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…
Adam Clarke11
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
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 Kg1 7:1.
The cities which Huram had restored - See the note on Kg1 9:11.
Hamath-zobah - "Emessa, on the river Orontes." - Calmet.
Keil & Delitzsch6
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The city-building. - Ch2 8:1. The date, "at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built," agrees with that in Kg1 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…
On the arrangement of the statute labour, see on Kg1 9:20-23. - This note is in Chr. abruptly introduced immediately after the preceding. Ch2 8:7 is an absolute clause: "as regards the whole people, those." מן־בּניהם (Ch2 8:8) is not partitive: some of their…
שׁלישׁיו ושׁרי should be altered into ושׁלישׁיו שׂריו as in Kg1 9:22, for שׁלישׁים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exo 14:7 and Sa2 23:8. Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים שׂרי, chief of the superiors…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown7
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah--Hamath was on the Orontes, in CÅ“le-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…
THE CANAANITES MADE TRIBUTARIES. (Ch2 8:7-11) all the people that were left, &c.--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" (Ch2 2:18), while the…
two hundred and fifty that bare rule--(Compare Kg1 9:23). It is generally agreed that the text of one of these passages is corrupt.
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