2 Chronicles Chapter 8
1 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the LORD's house and his own house,
2 Solomon built the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3 Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and prevailed against it.
4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath.
5 Also he built Beth Horon the upper and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
6 and 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.
7 As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel;
8 of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel didn't consume, of them Solomon conscripted forced labour to this day.
9 But 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.
10 These were the chief officers of king Solomon, even two-hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
11 Solomon 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 the LORD's ark has come are holy."
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the LORD's altar, which he had built before the porch,
13 even 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.
14 He 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.
15 They didn't depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day of the foundation of the LORD's house until it was finished. So the LORD's house was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom.
18 Huram 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 and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
Footnotes
- Verse 13 (Feast of Booths)
- or, feast of tents (Sukkot)
- Verse 18 (Talent)
- A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 450 talents is about 13.5 metric tonnes
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2 Chronicles Chapter 8 Guide
Here are recorded some of the doings of the king. He consolidated the internal strength of the nation by building cities. He organized the labour of the conquered peoples in his dominions. He set the Temple worship in order.
He enlarged his commercial activities.
It was during this period that he took Pharaoh's daughter to the house he had built for her and gave his reason for doing so. "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the Ark of Jehovah hath come." These were the words of compromise. Solomon's marriage with the daughter of the king of Egypt was a purely political act, arising out of the affinity he had with her father (1 Kings 3:1-28 :l). There can be no question that this affinity was wrong. God had delivered His people from Egypt, and there was never the slightest need, either military or economic, for it. It was a political seduction which persistently threatened the nation, and which more than once cost them dear. Having made the blunder and become affianced to this woman, Solomon sought to safeguard against the possible religious danger by building her house away from the city of David.
This compromise was a failure, as compromise invariably is. In 1 Kings 11:1-8 we read that presently Solomon built places of idol worship in Jerusalem for "all his foreign wives." Compromise is pathetic in that it always witnesses a conviction of what is the high and the true, and attempts to ensure its realization while yielding to the low and the false. It is evil, for its invariable issue is that the low and the false ultimately gain the ascendancy and the high and the true are abandoned. To build a house for Pharaoh's daughter outside the Holy City is to open its gates sooner or later to Pharaoh's gods.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
2 Chronicles Chapter 8 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Solomon's buildings and trade.
Verses 1-18
It sometimes requires more wisdom and resolution to govern a family in the fear of God, than to govern a kingdom with reputation. The difficulty is increased, when a man has a hinderance instead of a help meet in the wife of his bosom. Solomon kept up the holy sacrifices, according to the law of Moses. In vain had the altar been built, in vain had fire come down from heaven, if sacrifices had not been constantly brought. Spiritual sacrifices are required of us, which we are to bring daily and weekly; it is good to be in a settled method of devotion. When the service of the temple was put into good order, it is said, The house of the Lord was perfected. The work was the main matter, not the place; the temple was unfinished till all this was done. Canaan was a rich country, and yet must send to Ophir for gold The Israelites were a wise people, but must be beholden to the king of Tyre for men that had knowledge of the seas. Grace, and not gold, is the best riches, and acquaintance with God and his law, the best knowledge. Leaving the children of this world to scramble for the toys of this world, may we, as the children of God, lay up our treasure in heaven, that where our treasure is, our hearts also may be.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.