D Y1 8:1-18. Acquired. Riches.
Z1 9:1-12. Admired. Riches and wisdom.
Y2 9:13-22. Acquired. Riches.
Z2 9:23,24. Admired. Riches and wisdom.
Y3 9:25-28. Acquired. Riches.
Y1 i 1-6. Hiram. Cities given and rebuilt.
k 7-10. Service. Civil.
l 11. House of Pharaoh's daughter.
k 12-16. Service. Sacred.
i 17,18. Hiram. Navy built.
1897-880 B.C.
2 Chronicles 8)
1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, (20, the number of Expectancy and Waiting, 21-1. Divine completeness [21] minus 1. Cp. Gen. 31:38,41. Judg. 4:3; 15:20; 16:31. 1 Sam. 7:2) wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,
2 That the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, (evidently these had been previously given by Solomon as pedges or "security" [1 Kings 9:10-14) Solomon built them, and caused the sons of Israel to dwell there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, (not identified. Perhaps = Hama, in the valley of Orontes N. of Damascus) and prevailed against it.
4 And he built Tadmor (= Palmyra, 150 miles n.e. of Damascus) in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
5 Also he re-built Bethhoron the upper, (cp. Josh. 16:5,5. 1 Chron. 7:22-24) and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, double-doors, and bars;
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.
7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,
8 But of their sons, who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel destroyed not, them did Solomon raise a levy on bondmen until this day.
9 But of the sons 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.
10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh (taking it for granted that we know she was Solomon's wife) out of the city of David to the house that he had built for her: for he said, (the reason is complimentary to 1 Kings 9:24) "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, where-unto the ark of the Lord has come."
12 Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,
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,(cp. Ex. 23:14. Deut. 25:22. So should we: Passover [April 3rd], Pentecost [May 24th], and Feast of Tabernacles, Christ's actual birthday, Sept. 29th. Each event same day every year. According to Solar calendar, not the "moon" calendar.) even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, (cp. 1 Chron. 24:1) and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the gate-keepers also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 And they departed not from the commandments of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasuries.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.
17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, (from Tyre, in the Mediterranean, to the Red Sea. To show that this was not insuperable [as some have imagined] the next clause is added) and servants that had knowledge of the sea; (this is the explanation of the possibility of such voyages being possible. And why not?) and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon. (1st occ. Gen. 10:29, where Ophir, the son of Joktan, was the ancestor of several Arabian tribes. Rhodesia is probably the land indicated. About 500 ruins were scattered over a large area. There are evidences of gold-smelting in the great Zimbawe buildings, where the ancient ruins resemble the ruins in Syria, temple and fortress being combined. Afur, on the Zambesi, may also be connected with the ancient name. Tharshish ships for Ezion-geber sailed there from to East Africa, as well as Arabia and India. The Queen of Sheba being mentioned in close connection with Ophir [v.10], as hearing about Solomon, furnishes further evidence. Cp. 1 Kings 9:28)