13 Even after a certain rate H1697 every day, H3117 offering H5927 according to the commandment H4687 of Moses, H4872 on the sabbaths, H7676 and on the new moons, H2320 and on the solemn feasts, H4150 three H7969 times H6471 in the year, H8141 even in the feast H2282 of unleavened bread, H4682 and in the feast H2282 of weeks, H7620 and in the feast H2282 of tabernacles. H5521
14 And he appointed, H5975 according to the order H4941 of David H1732 his father, H1 the courses H4256 of the priests H3548 to their service, H5656 and the Levites H3881 to their charges, H4931 to praise H1984 and minister H8334 before the priests, H3548 as the duty H1697 of every day H3117 required: H3117 the porters H7778 also by their courses H4256 at every gate: H8179 for so had David H1732 the man H376 of God H430 commanded. H4687
15 And they departed H5493 not from the commandment H4687 of the king H4428 unto the priests H3548 and Levites H3881 concerning any matter, H1697 or concerning the treasures. H214
16 Now all the work H4399 of Solomon H8010 was prepared H3559 unto the day H3117 of the foundation H4143 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and until it was finished. H3615 So the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 was perfected. H8003
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 8
2Ch 8:1-6. Solomon's Buildings.
2. cities which Huram had restored … Solomon built them, &c.—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.
3-6. And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah—Hamath was on the Orontes, in Cœle-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 1:14; 1Ki 9:15).
2Ch 8:7-11. The Canaanites Made Tributaries.
7. 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" (2Ch 2:18), while the Israelites were employed in no works but such as were of an honorable character.
10. 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.
11. 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 (So 3:4; 8:2).
2Ch 8:15-18. Solomon's Festival Sacrifices.
15. 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.
17. 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.
18. Huram sent him … ships—either sent him ship-men, able seamen, 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, 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.