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.
6 And Baalath, H1191 and all the store H4543 cities H5892 that Solomon H8010 had, and all the chariot H7393 cities, H5892 and the cities H5892 of the horsemen, H6571 and all that Solomon H8010 desired H2836 H2837 to build H1129 in Jerusalem, H3389 and in Lebanon, H3844 and throughout all the land H776 of his dominion. H4475
6 and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
6 and Baalath, and all the cities of store that Solomon had, and all the cities of the chariot, and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
6 and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for chariots, and the cities for the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
6 and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
6 And of Baalath, and all the store-towns which Solomon had, and the towns where he kept his war-carriages and his horse men, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule.
He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store.
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Solomon's City-Building, Statute Labour, Arrangement of Public Worship, and Nautical Undertakings - 2 Chronicles 8
The building of the temple was the most important work of Solomon's reign, as compared with which all the other undertakings of the king fall into the background; and these are consequently only summarily enumerated both in the book of Kings and in the Chronicle. In our chapter, in the first place, we have, ( a ) the building or completion of various cities, which were of importance partly as strongholds, partly as magazines, for the maintenance of the army necessary for the defence of the kingdom against hostile attacks (2 Chronicles 8:1-6); ( b ) the arrangement of the statute labour for the execution of all his building works (2 Chronicles 8:7-11); ( c ) the regulation of the sacrificial service and the public worship (2 Chronicles 8:12-16); and ( d ) the voyage to Ophir (2 Chronicles 8:17, 2 Chronicles 8:18). All these undertakings are recounted in the same order and in the same aphoristic way in 1 Kings 9:10-28, but with the addition of various notes, which are not found in our narrative; while the Chronicle, again, mentions several not unimportant though subordinate circumstances, which are not found in the book of Kings; whence it is clear that in the two narratives we have merely short and mutually supplementary extracts from a more elaborate description of these matters.
The city-building . - 2 Chronicles 8:1. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1 Kings 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 (1 Kings 6:38; 1 Kings 7:1).
2 Chronicles 8:2-4
2 Chronicles 8:2 must be regarded as the apodosis of 2 Chronicles 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 1 Kings 9:10-13, see the discussion on that passage. בּנה , 2 Chronicles 8:2, is not to be understood of the fortification of these cities, but of their completion, for, according to 1 Kings 9:10, 1 Kings 9:13, they were in very bad condition. ויּושׁב , he caused to dwell there, i.e., transplanted Israelites thither, cf. 2 Kings 17:6. The account of the cities which Solomon built, i.e., fortified, is introduced (2 Chronicles 8:3) by the important statement, omitted in 1 Kings 9: “Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.” על חזק , to be strong upon, that is, prevail against, conquer; cf. 2 Chronicles 27:5. Hamath-zobah is not the city Hamath in Zobah, but, as we learn from 2 Chronicles 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. 1 Chronicles 18:3; and as to the position of Zobah, see the Commentary on 2 Samuel 8:3. In David's time Hamath and Zobah had their own kings; and David conquered them, and made their kingdoms tributary (1 Chronicles 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 1 Kings 9:18.); for, according to 1 Kings 11:23., he had Rezon of Zobah as an enemy during his whole reign; see on that passage.
2 Chronicles 8:5-6
Besides these, he made Upper and Nether Beth-horon (see on 1 Chronicles 7:24) into fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars. מצור ערי is the second object of ויּבן , and וגו חומות is in apposition to that. Further, he fortified Baalah, in the tribe of Dan, to defend the kingdom against the Philistines, and, according to 1 Kings 9:15-17, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer also, - which are omitted here, while in 1 Kings 9:17 Upper Beth-horon is omitted, - and store cities, chariot cities, and cavalry cities; see on 1 Kings 9:15-19.
On the arrangement of the statute labour, see on 1 Kings 9:20-23. - This note is in Chr. abruptly introduced immediately after the preceding. 2 Chronicles 8:7 is an absolute clause: “as regards the whole people, those.” מן־בּניהם (2 Chronicles 8:8) is not partitive: some of their sons; but is only placed before the אשׁר : 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 אשׁר after שׂראל מן־בּני , 2 Chronicles 8:9, which is likewise not found in 1 Kings, since the following verb נתן לא is not to be taken relatively, but contains the predicate of the subject contained in the words ישׂ מן־בּני . This אשׁר cannot be otherwise justified than by supposing that it is placed after ישׂ בני מן , as in Psalms 69:27 it is placed after the subject of the relative clause, and so stands for ישׂ בני מן בן אשׂר : those who were of the sons of Israel (i.e., Israelites) Solomon did not make ... The preplacing of בּניהם מן in 2 Chronicles 8:8 would naturally suggest that ישׂ בני מן should also precede, in order to bring out sharply the contrast between the sons of the Canaanites and the sons of Israel.
שׁלישׁיו ושׁרי should be altered into ושׁלישׁיו שׂריו as in 1 Kings 9:22, for שׁלישׁים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exodus 14:7 and 2 Samuel 23:8. Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים שׂרי , chief of the superiors, i.e., chief overseer. The Keth. נציבים , praefecti , is the true reading; cf. 1 Chronicles 18:13; 2 Chronicles 17:2. The Keri has arisen out of 1 Kings 9:23. These overseers were Israelites, while in the number 550 (1 Kings 9:23) the Israelite and Canaanite upper overseers are both included; see on 2 Chronicles 2:17. בּעם refers to כּל־העם , 2 Chronicles 8:7, and denotes the Canaanite people who remained.
The remark that Solomon caused Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married (1 Kings 3:1), to remove from the city of David into the house which he had built her, i.e., into that part of his newly-built palace which was appointed for the queen, is introduced here, as in 1 Kings 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 (1 Kings 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. המּה is, as neuter, used instead of the singular; cf. Ew. §318, b . See also on 1 Kings 3:1 and 1 Kings 9:24.
The sacrificial service in the new temple . Cf. 1 Kings 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. 2 Chronicles 8:1), Solomon offered burnt-offerings upon the altar which he had built before the porch of the temple. He no longer now sacrifices upon the altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon, as in the beginning of his reign (2 Chronicles 1:3.).
2 Chronicles 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 לשּׁבּתות belong to the principal sentence (2 Chronicles 8:12): he offered sacrifices ... on the sabbaths, the new moons, etc. The ו before בּדבר is explicative, and that = viz.; and the infin. להעלות , according to the later usage, instead of infin. absol.; cf. Ew. §280, d . The preposition בּ (before דּבר ) 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. Leviticus 23:37. למּועדות is further explained by the succeeding clause: on the three chief festivals of the year.
2 Chronicles 8:14
He 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 ( משׁמרות as in 2 Chronicles 7:6), to praise (cf. 1 Chron 25), and to serve before the priests (1 Chronicles 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. Nehemiah 12:24.
2 Chronicles 8:15-16
This arrangement was faithfully observed by the priests and Levites. The verb סוּר 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 ממּצות . על־הכּהנים depends upon מצות : the king's command concerning the priests and the Levites, i.e., that which David commanded them. וגו לכל־דּבר , in regard to all things, and especially also in regard to the treasures; cf. 1 Chronicles 26:20-28. - With 2 Chronicles 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 מוּסד . היּום 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 שׁלם , integer , perfect in all its parts, as it should be. The last clause, בית י שׁלם , is connected rhetorically 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 2 Chronicles 2:1” (Berth.); for שׁלם does not signify “ended,” or to be at an end, but to be set thoroughly (perfectly) in order.
Voyage to Ophir . Cf. 1 Kings 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.