In this chapter we are told,
I. What cities Solomon built,
2 Chronicles 8:1-6.
II. What workmen Solomon employed,
2 Chronicles 8:7-10.
III. What care he took about a proper settlement for his wife,
2 Chronicles 8:11.
IV. What a good method he put the temple-service into,
2 Chronicles 8:12-16.
V. What trading he had with foreign countries,
2 Chronicles 8:17,18.
Solomon's Buildings.
B. C. 992.
1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein
Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,
2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon
built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.
4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store
cities, which he built in Hamath.
5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether,
fenced cities, with walls, gates, 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 children, who were left after them in the
land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon
make to pay tribute until this day.
9 But of the children 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 out of the
city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he
said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of
Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the
LORD hath come.
This we had
1 Kings 9:10-24,
and therefore shall only observe here,
I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he
spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study,
but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time
of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business
as it is in summer to provide food for winter.
II. As he was a man of business himself, and did not consult his own
ease, so he employed a great many hands, kept abundance of people to
work. It is the interest of a state by all means possible to promote
and encourage industry, and to keep its subjects from idleness. A great
many strangers there were in Israel, many that remained of the
Canaanites; and they were welcome to live there, but not to live and do
nothing. The men of Laish, who had no business, were an easy prey to
the invaders,
Judges 18:7.
III. When Solomon had begun with building the house of God, and made
good work and quick work of that, he prospered in all his undertakings,
so that he built all that he desired to build,
2 Chronicles 8:6.
Those who have a genius for building find that one project draws on
another, and the latter must amend and improve the former. Now observe,
1. How the divine providence gratified even Solomon's humour, and gave
him success, not only in all that he needed to build and that it was
for his advantage to build, but in all that he had a mind to build. So
indulgent a Father God is sometimes to the innocent desires of his
children that serve him. Thus he pleased Jacob with that promise,
Joseph shall put his hand on thy eyes.
2. Solomon knew how to set bounds to his desires. He was not one of
those that enlarge them endlessly, and can never be satisfied, but knew
when to draw in; for he finished all he desired, and then he desired no
more. He did not sit down and fret that he had not more cities to
build, as Alexander did that he had not more worlds to conquer,
Habakkuk 2:5.
IV. That one reason why Solomon built a palace on purpose for the
queen, and removed her and her court to it, was because he thought it
by no means proper that she should dwell in the house of David
(2 Chronicles 8:11),
considering that that had been a place of great piety, and perhaps her
house was a place of great vanity. She was proselyted, it is likely, to
the Jewish religion; but it is a question whether all her servants
were. Perhaps they had among them the idols of Egypt, and a great deal
of profaneness and debauchery. Now, though Solomon had not zeal and
courage enough to suppress and punish what was amiss there, yet he so
far consulted the honour of his father's memory that he would not
suffer that place to be thus profaned where the ark of God had been and
where holy David had prayed many a good prayer and sung many a sweet
psalm. Not that all the places where the ark had been were so holy as
never to be put to a common use; for then the houses of Abinadab and
Obed-edom must have been so. But the place where it had been so long,
and had been so publicly attended on, was so venerable that it was not
fit to be the place of so much gaiety, not to say iniquity, as was to
be found, I fear, in the court that Pharaoh's daughter kept. Note,
Between things sacred and things common the ancient landmarks ought to
be kept up. It was an outer-court of the temple that was the court
of the women.
Solomon's Devotion.
B. C. 992.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto 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, 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, and the
Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the
priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by
their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God
commanded.
15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto
the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the
treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto 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 Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea
side in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and
servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the
servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and
fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
Here is,
I. Solomon's devotion. The building of the temple was in order to the
service of the temple. Whatever cost he was at in rearing the
structure, if he had neglected the worship that was to be performed
there, it would all have been to no purpose. Assisting the devotion of
others will not atone for our own neglects. When Solomon had built the
temple,
1. He kept up the holy sacrifices there, according to the law of Moses,
2 Chronicles 8:12,13.
In vain had the altar been built, and in vain had fire come down from
heaven, if sacrifices had not been constantly brought as the food of
the altar and the fuel of that fire. There were daily sacrifices, a
certain rate every day, as duly as the day came, weekly sacrifices
on the sabbath, double to what was offered on other days, monthly
sacrifices on the new moons, and yearly sacrifices at the three
solemn feasts. Those are spiritual sacrifices that are now required of
us, which we are to bring daily and weekly; and it is good to be in a
settled method of devotion.
2. He kept up the holy songs there, according to the law of
David, who is here called the man of God, as Moses was,
because he was both instructed and authorised of God to make these
establishments; and Solomon took care to see them observed as the
duty of every day required,
2 Chronicles 8:14.
Solomon, though a wise and great man and the builder of the temple, did
not attempt to amend, alter, or add to what the man of God had, in
God's name, commanded, but closely adhered to that, and used his
authority to have that duly observed; and then none departed from
the commandment of the king concerning any matter,
2 Chronicles 8:15.
He observed God's laws, and then all obeyed his orders. When the
service of the temple was put into this good order, then it is said,
The house of the Lord was perfected,
2 Chronicles 8:16.
The work was the main matter, not the place; the temple was unfinished
till all this was done.
II. Solomon's merchandise. He did himself in person visit the sea-port
towns of Eloth and Ezion-geber; for those that deal much in the world
will find it their interest, as far as they can, to inspect their
affairs themselves and to see with their own eyes,
2 Chronicles 8:17.
Canaan was a rich country, and yet must send to Ophir for gold; the
Israelites were a wise and understanding people, and yet must be
beholden to the king of Tyre for men that had knowledge of the
seas,
2 Chronicles 8:18.
Yet Canaan was God's peculiar land, and Israel God's peculiar people.
This teaches us that grace, and not gold, is the best riches, and
acquaintance with God and his law, not with arts and sciences, the best
knowledge.
Matthew Henry "Verse by Verse Commentary for '2 Chronicles' Matthew Henry Bible Commentary".
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