2 Chronicles 8 Study Notes

8:1 The building of the temple took seven years, and Solomon’s palace took another thirteen, making a total of twenty years (see 1Kg 6:38-7:1).

8:2 A partial payment from Solomon to Hiram for the building materials he provided consisted of twenty cities (villages by modern standards) to add to Hiram’s kingdom (1Kg 9:10-14). These locations would have been of use to Hiram only if they were affluent enough to pay taxes or could serve as military defenses. When Hiram went to visit his new acquisitions, he discovered they were worthless little hamlets, so he gave them back to the king of Judah. Solomon was willing to invest in these locations by having them rebuilt and resettled.

8:3 In contrast to his father David, Solomon undertook few military campaigns. One exception was his seizure of Hamath-zobah. In David’s time Tou, king of Hamath, had surrendered to David and paid a tribute (1Ch 18:9-10). Apparently a new government of that city had rebelled against Israel, so Solomon took it over and erected storage facilities there. This city was on the edge of Palestine, a natural destination for caravans crossing the desert between Mesopotamia and Lebanon.

8:4 Now all Solomon needed to do to take control of the trade across the Aramean Desert was to claim an oasis located halfway along the caravan route. Tadmor was such a location. By establishing it along with Hamath, Solomon dominated all the trade to and from Mesopotamia.

8:5-6 Solomon continued with his nationwide building program by fortifying the route leading up to Jerusalem. The cities of Lower and Upper Beth-horon were garrisons intended to keep invaders from reaching the capital city.

8:7-9 God’s strict command to Joshua years before was that all Canaanites were to be eliminated (Jos 6:21), but the Israelites had not completely followed through on capturing all the territory until David conquered Jerusalem, the last bit of Canaanite-owned soil. There were still survivors, and these people now made up Solomon’s slave force (forced labor) for his construction projects. Israelites were not supposed to become slaves. However, they did have to work for Solomon, and his requirements grew increasingly strenuous.

8:10 Israelites served as supervisors of the labor force.

8:11 In contrast to the record of 1 Kings, the Chronicler does not dwell on Solomon’s shortcomings or his many marriages. He does mention Solomon’s wife who was the daughter of Pharaoh, though only to emphasize that, out of respect for the holiness of the ark and the facilities that David had erected, Solomon moved his Egyptian wife to quarters outside Jerusalem. Although the Chronicler does not condemn Solomon at this point, it is still impossible not to realize that Solomon, while observing every part of the ceremonial law by never missing a daily sacrifice, simultaneously undercut the law by importing idolatry right into his marriage bed. In 1Kg 11:6 we learn that Solomon even went so far as to participate in pagan sacrifices in order to please his wives.

8:12-16 Solomon fulfilled all the requirements associated with the temple to the letter, including the daily . . . offerings and all the various mandatory celebrations. He strictly maintained the division of labor and the shifts that had been ordered by his father, King David, before him.

8:17-18 The cities of Ezion-geber and Eloth were located at the southernmost end of Israel on the shore of the Red Sea. These locations made it possible for Solomon to carry on trade with the people on the Arabian Peninsula and possibly beyond. But Solomon had no ships, and the Israelites knew nothing about sailing. On the other hand, King Hiram was the ruler of a seafaring people who were busy carrying on trade throughout the Mediterranean Sea, but if the Phoenicians wanted to establish trade relations with Arabia, they had to sail all the way through the Mediterranean down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and back up north all the way along the east coast of Africa to Arabia. In short, Solomon had convenient harbors but no ships, while Hiram had ships but no convenient harbor. They were able to work together and haul in huge amounts of gold. The location of Ophir is unknown. Solomon considered the gold his personal property, so it was stored in his palace (9:15). The people eventually revolted against the king’s practices when they declared, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse” (10:16). The hard labor imposed by Solomon might have been more acceptable if it had resulted in nationwide economic benefits.