Chapter Eight

The administrative activity of Solomon

(Cf. 1 Kgs 9:10-27)

1–6. Building and construction of cities. 7–9. State taxes and obligations. 10–11. Solomon’s chief officers; settlement of the Pharaoh’s daughter in a special palace. 12–16. Organization of the worship personnel. 17–18. Solomon’s fleet and voyage to Ophir.

2 Chronicles 8:2. Solomon built the cities that Huram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them. While according to (1 Kgs 9:11) Solomon gave Huram twenty cities in northern Palestine or the land of Galilee, in payment for works and materials for the construction of the temple, 2 Chronicles here says, on the contrary, that Huram gave Solomon twenty cities. In explanation of this, some commentators (for example, Calmet, Philippson) believed that this refers precisely to the return of the cities by Huram, which were ceded to him by Solomon, but did not please him (“Kabul” – (1 Kgs 9:10-12)). But the biblical text speaks of a gift, a giving of cities, not a return, and therefore it is more natural to see here (in 2 Chronicles) a completely different event. “Although it can be noted that in the Book of Chronicles in general all the statements appear to the benefit and glory of the Jews, it is hardly fair to presume here any deliberately false statement. Could not the two discrepant accounts in the Books of Kings and Chronicles be accepted as two parts of a whole? Could not the giving of certain cities have been a mutual exchange on both sides, as a new pledge of friendship?” – Prof. M. S. Gulyaev, “Historical Books of the Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament”, p. 509.

2 Chronicles 8:3. And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. In this verse 2 Chronicles reports a fact unknown from the Third Book of Kings – Solomon’s campaign against Hamath-zobah, Hebrew: Hamat-Tsova, Vulgate: Emath Suba, LXX according to the Alexandrian manuscript: Αιμιὰθ Σωβά, Slavonic: “Hamath-Zobah”. Only here is Hamath-zobah identified with the known Syrian city of Hamath (cf. (Num 13:22; 1 Kgs 8:65); Onomasticon 52, 424, 425, 425; See “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, p. 407), later known to the Greeks as Epiphania. Generally, Zobah (or Zoba, Tsoba) (1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:3) and other places are conjecturally considered a state in Syria between the Orontes and the Euphrates (Onomasticon, 889; “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, pp. 404 and 317). By mentioning the conquest of Hamath, finally conquered only by Jeroboam II (2 Kgs 14:23), the sacred writer of 2 Chronicles intended to designate the northern frontier of Solomon’s possessions (cf. 1 Kgs 4:21).

2 Chronicles 8:4. And he built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store-cities that he built in Hamath. 2 Chronicles 8:5. He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars, 2 Chronicles 8:6. and Baalath and all the store-cities that belonged to Solomon, and all the chariot-cities and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the territory of his dominion. Regarding the cities mentioned here, see (1 Kgs 9:17-19) and the “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, pp. 410–411.

2 Chronicles 8:7. All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel, – 2 Chronicles 8:8. their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed – Solomon made them liable for forced labor to this day. 2 Chronicles 8:9. But Solomon did not make the people of Israel slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, and commanders of his chariots and cavalry. Cf. (1 Kgs 9:20-22).

2 Chronicles 8:10. And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred fifty of them, who had charge of the people. See (1 Kgs 9:23) and the commentaries on (2 Chr 2:1-2).

2 Chronicles 8:11. Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said: “A woman shall not live in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy. Cf. (1 Kgs 9:24). In 2 Chronicles the fact of the settlement of the Pharaoh’s daughter is conveyed, in contrast to 3 Kings, with an indication of the religious motives of Solomon that prompted this decision. Cf. at Olesnitsky, “The Old Testament Temple”, pp. 646–647.

2 Chronicles 8:12. Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the vestibule, 2 Chronicles 8:13. as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the three appointed festivals – at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8:14. And he appointed, according to the order of his father David, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry alongside the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for the several gates, for so David the man of God had commanded. 2 Chronicles 8:15. And they did not depart from the commandment of the king regarding the priests and Levites in any matter, including the treasuries. 2 Chronicles 8:16. Thus all the work of Solomon was accomplished from the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished – the house of the Lord. The brief account in (1 Kgs 9:25) is here considerably expanded and supplemented with new details: instead of the general indication in 3 Kings of Solomon’s three annual sacrificial offerings, here are definitely named the three great annual festivals: Unleavened Bread (Passover), Weeks (Pentecost) and Tabernacles, and, besides, there is also mention of the sabbaths and new moons (cf. Lev 23; Num 28-29), and it is noted that the sacrificial practice here corresponds strictly to the law of Moses (verse 13); on the other hand, there is shown the same exact fulfillment by Solomon of David’s regulation regarding the service of priests and Levites (verse 14, cf. 1 Chron. chapters 24–27).

2 Chronicles 8:17. Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 2 Chronicles 8:18. And Huram sent him, by the hand of his servants, ships and servants experienced in the sea. And they went to Ophir, together with the servants of Solomon, and imported from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon. Cf. (1 Kgs 9:26-28) and the commentaries in the “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, p. 412.