2 Chronicles 8
Cambridge2 Chronicles 8:1
Ch. 2 Chronicles 8:1-6 (cp. 1 Kings 9:10-11; 1 Kings 9:17-19). Solomon’s Cities
- twenty years] Cp. 1 Kings 6:38; 1 Kings 7:1.
2 Chronicles 8:2
- the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon,] R.V. the cities which Huram had given to Solomon. According to 1 Kings 9:12-13 it was Solomon who gave Huram cities. Huram however was not pleased with them (ibid.), and from this fact the English translators of 1611 concluded that Huram rejected them and “restored” them. Probably however Kin. and Chron. follow different traditions with regard to these border cities, and no reconciliation is possible. built them] i.e. fortified them.
2 Chronicles 8:3
- Hamath-zobah] The two kingdoms of Hamath and Zobah are distinguished from one another (1 Chronicles 18:3; 1 Chronicles 18:9 = 1 Samuel 8:3; 1 Samuel 8:9), Hamath apparently being north of Zobah. It is probable however that Hamath as the name of a city belonged to more than one place, and Hamath-Zobah may be a southern namesake of the well-known Hamath the great (Amos 6:2). Though Solomon was a “man of rest” (1 Chronicles 22:9) his reign was not wholly free from war (cp. 1 Kings 11:14; 1 Kings 11:13).
2 Chronicles 8:4
- Tadmor in the wilderness] Palmyra (Bädeker, p. 364) is meant, a city on an oasis N.E. of Damascus half way between Damascus and the Euphrates. Apart from this passage of Chron. it first appears in history in b.c. 34, when it was threatened with attack by Mark Antony. This silence of history for a thousand years casts a doubt on the belief that Tadmor (Palmyra) is as old as the time of Solomon, and the doubt is strengthened by a reference to the parallel passage (1 Kings 9:18), for there (1) the text (C’thib) has “Tamar,” with “Tadmor” as marginal reading (K’ri), and (2) Tamar (Tadmor) is associated with Gezer, Bethhoron, and Baalath, cities either in Judah or on its borders. Probably therefore the marginal reading Tadmor in 1 Kin. is due to the influence of 2 Chr., and the text of 1 Kin. (“Tamar”) is correct. The city built by Solomon was probably a Tamar in the south of Judah.
2 Chronicles 8:5
- Beth-horon the upper] Not mentioned in the parallel passage (1 Kings 9:17).
2 Chronicles 8:6
- Baalath] A city in the tribe of Dan not far from Gezer and Beth-horon (1 Kings 9:18). chariot cities] See note on 2 Chronicles 1:14.
2 Chronicles 8:7
7–10 (= 1 Kings 9:20-23). Solomon’s Task-workers 7. Hittites … Jebusites] See notes on 1 Chronicles 1:13-15.
2 Chronicles 8:8
- but of their children] R.V. of their Children. them did Solomon make to pay tribute] R.V. of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants. The word “tribute” (A.V.) suggests payment in money, but, as may be seen from 2 Chronicles 2:17-18, the subject peoples acknowledged their subjection otherwise, viz., by submitting to do task-work for Solomon.
2 Chronicles 8:9
- and chief of his captains] Read (with 1 Kings 9:22) and his princes and his captains. The statements of this verse must be read in connexion with 1 Kings 5:13 ff; 1 Kings 12:4 ff., whence it appears that though Solomon did not actually reduce any Israelite to permanent slavery, yet he imposed upon his own people a corvée which was felt to be very burdensome.
2 Chronicles 8:10
- And these were the chief] After this preface (cp. 1 Kings 9:23) we expect both here and in 1 Kin. a list of these persons; cp. 1 Chronicles 11:10 ff; 1 Chronicles 12:1 ff. Possibly the text of 1 Kin. suffered at an early date, and the list was missing when the Chronicler wrote. two hundred and fifty] According to 1 Kings 9:23, five hundred and fifty. On the other hand the under-overseers are reckoned at three thousand six hundred in 2 Chronicles 2:18 as against three thousand three hundred in 1 Kings 5:16. The total number therefore of overseers of all kinds is given both in 1 Kin. and 2 Chr. as 3850.
2 Chronicles 8:11
11 (= 1 Kings 9:24). The House of Pharaoh’s Daughter 11. for he said, My wife, etc.] These words are an addition of the Chronicler. In 1 Kings 3:1 it is said simply that Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter into the city of David until his own house was finished. My wife shall not dwell] Render, No wife of mine shall dwell.
2 Chronicles 8:12
12–16 (cp. 1 Kings 9:25). Solomon’s arrangements for the Temple Worship This paragraph is in the main an expansion of 1 Kings 9:25. 12. on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch] This refers to the great brasen altar of burnt-offering (2 Chronicles 4:1). In 1 Kin. the statement is that Solomon burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord (referring to the altar of incense; cp. Exodus 30:1-10). Such an act, according to the Chronicler, was of the nature of trespass, being punished in the case of Uzziah with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16), and was therefore not to be attributed to such a king as Solomon.
2 Chronicles 8:14
- according to the order] R.V. according to the ordinance. of David] Cp. 1 Chronicles 24-26. to praise and minister before the priests] R.V. to praise, and to minister before the priests; cp. 1 Chronicles 23:28. the porters] R.V. the door-keepers. David the man of God] Targ. David the prophet of the Lord (a correct paraphrase). Cp. Nehemiah 12:36.
2 Chronicles 8:16
- Now all the work of Solomon was prepared] Reader, So all the work of Solomon was established. unto the day … was perfected] LXX offers a much shorter and smoother text, from the day on which it was founded until Solomon perfected the house of the Lord. This reading is probably right.
2 Chronicles 8:17
17, 18 (= 1 Kings 9:26-28). Solomon’s Fleet 17. to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth] In 1 Kin. Ezion-geber which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea. Strictly speaking it was at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Cp. 2 Chronicles 20:36 (R.V.) and Deuteronomy 2:8.
2 Chronicles 8:18
- Ophir] The situation of this oft-mentioned place is not known. It has been identified with some part of the coast (a) of India, (b) of Africa, (c) of Arabia. The last identification is most probable; Ophir appears as the name of an Arabian tribe (Genesis 10:29). The name is variously written in the LXX. but usually with an initial “S,” Sophir(a). This form may one day help to identify the place. four hundred and fifty talents] So LXX., but in 1 Kin. “four hundred and twenty” (so Heb., in LXX. B “a hundred and twenty”).