2 Chronicleschapter 8
18 verses · Ezra, by tradition · 450 to 400 BC · History
Key verse
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.
It stands in Cities built, labor levied, Pharaoh's daughter moved out, verses 1 to 11.
The chapter
Chapter summary
A summary of twenty years of building after the temple. Solomon fortifies the cities Huram gave back, builds Tadmor in the wilderness, store cities and cities for chariots and horsemen, and Baalath, 'and all that Solomon desired to build.' The remnant of the Canaanite peoples is set to bonded labor while the Israelites serve as soldiers and officers. Pharaoh's daughter is moved out of the city of David because 'the places are holy, whereunto the ark of Jehovah hath come.' The offerings are kept according to the commandment of Moses, and the courses of priests and Levites appointed 'according to the ordinance of David his father.' Ships go from Ezion-geber to Ophir and return with gold.
Context
History · Ezra · 2 Chronicles overview
The world behind this chapter
2 Chronicles 8The history
The chapter belongs to Solomon as an administrator, in the years after the twenty years of building closed.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The places are the frontier and the trade routes. A store city was a fortified depot with granaries, oil and wine stores and stabling, placed on a trade route or a border. Chariot cities held the horses and vehicles, which needed flat approaches and large stables. Tadmor, out in the desert to the north east, was a caravan oasis on the route toward the Euphrates, and holding it meant holding a trade corridor.
The occasion is a register of works rather than a single event.
A first hearer knew the terms of the Tyrian account. This chapter has Huram giving cities to Solomon and 1 Kings 9:11 to 13 has Solomon giving cities to Huram. The common explanation is that they were pledged against the Tyrian loan and handed back once the account was settled, which is the transaction 1 Kings records Huram being unhappy about.
The labour policy is stated carefully. The remaining Canaanite peoples were levied for the heavy work, and Solomon made no Israelite a servant for his work, since the Israelites were his soldiers, officers and commanders. The distinction mattered in Israelite law, and it became the flashpoint of the next generation at 10:4.
The fleet is the most striking item. Israel had no seafaring tradition and no natural harbour on the Mediterranean, so Solomon built ships at Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqaba, and Huram sent Phoenician crews who knew the sea. They sailed to Ophir and brought back gold.
Pharaoh's daughter is moved out of the house of David to a palace built for her, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy. The marriage was a political alliance and the housing arrangement was a religious ruling on it.
What it meant to them
The chapter shows a nation at the height of its ordinary competence. Depots stocked, borders garrisoned, ships trading, and the festival calendar of Moses kept without interruption at the new altar.
For a province whose ports, roads and taxes belonged to Persia, it was a memory of self government.
The closing verses insist that the whole arrangement was ordered around the daily and yearly offerings, with the priests in their divisions and the gatekeepers at every gate.
Sources cited
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Where the chapter sits
2 Chronicles 8 falls in Solomon's reign (chapters 1–9). Wisdom at Gibeon; temple construction and dedication; the Queen of Sheba; Solomon's riches and death. Parallels 1 Kgs 1–11 with temple emphasis.
After it: Kings of Judah: Rehoboam to Ahaz, chapters 10–28.
The whole shape of 2 Chronicles→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. Cities built, labor levied, Pharaoh's daughter moved out
1. (vv. 1-6)
2 Chronicles 8:1
“At the end of twenty years - He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve and a half, or thirteen, in building his own house. - Compare this with 1Ki 7:1.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Chronicles 8:2
“That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon,.... Which Solomon first gave to him, but he not liking them, returned them to him, 1Ki 9:12, Solomon built them; or rebuilt them, being very much out of repair, which might be one reason of Huram's not accepting them: and caused the children of Israel to dwell there; they being inhabited by others, the remains of the Canaanitcs perhaps; see 2Ch 8:7.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 8:2
“The cities which Huram had restored to Solomon - These cities had not been mentioned previously by the writer of Chronicles, who, however, seems to assume that the fact of their having been given by Hiram to Solomon is known to his readers. See 1Ki 9:11-13.”
2 Chronicles 8:3
“Its king, Toi, had been the ally of David; but from the combination, Hamath and Zobah, it would appear that some revolution had taken place which led to the union of these two petty kingdoms of Syria into one. For what cause the resentment of Solomon was provoked against it, we are not informed, but he sent an armed force which reduced it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 8:3
“Hamath-zobah - Usually identified with the “great Hamath” Amo 6:2; the capital of Coele-Syria; but probably a town of Zobah otherwise unknown, which revolted from Solomon, and was reduced to subjection.”
2 Chronicles 8:4
“And built Tadmor in the wilderness,.... Of which See Gill on 1Ki 9:18. and all the storehouses which he built in Hamath; a country in Syria, which he made himself master of, and where he laid up store of provision and ammunition to keep it, should any attempt be made to rescue it out of his hands. According to an Arabic writer (a), Solomon in the twenty fourth year of his reign having demolished Antioch, built seven cities, of which Tadmor was one. (a) Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. dyn. 3. p. 53.”
2 Chronicles 8:5
“Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether,.... Only mention is made of the latter in 1Ki 9:17, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; fortified cities in the tribe of Ephraim.”
2 Chronicles 8:6
“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.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
at the end of twenty years: The twenty years join the temple's seven and the king's own house's thirteen into one span, then Chronicles lists what filled it: cities restored from Huram, a campaign against Hamath-zobah, and store, chariot and garrison cities across the land. Hamath-zobah is the one recorded military campaign of Solomon's reign in either book, a break from the peace that otherwise defines him. Tadmor in the wilderness is the same site later ages knew as the caravan city Palmyra. The list runs close to 1 Kings 9:15-19; Chronicles gathers the scattered building notices of Kings into one register of everything Solomon desired to build.
2. (vv. 7-10)
2 Chronicles 8:9
“But of the children of Israel - See the note on 1Ki 9:21.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites: The surviving Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, the peoples Israel did not drive out, are set to forced labor and tribute that the Chronicler says continues to his own day. Solomon makes no Israelite a servant for the work; the sons of Israel serve instead as his men of war, captains, and commanders of chariots and horsemen. Two hundred and fifty officers, drawn from Israel, rule over the whole labor force. Chronicles states this division plainly where 1 Kings 9:20-23 gives it in the same terms, keeping Israel a free people even inside a great building program.
3. (v. 11)
2 Chronicles 8:11
“The house - He built this house for her; because the ark was now in the house of David, which therefore ought to be kept pure and free from the very danger and appearance of pollution.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 8:11
“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.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David: Solomon moves Pharaoh's daughter out of the city of David into a house built for her, and Chronicles alone records the reason he gives: the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come. The ark had stood in the city of David since David's own procession in 1 Chronicles 15, and even after its move to the temple, Solomon judges no foreign wife fit to dwell there. Wesley reads the concern as guarding against the very appearance of pollution rather than any specific fault charged against her. 1 Kings 9:24 records the same move without stating the reason; the motive here is the Chronicler's own addition.
B. Worship by the ordinance of Moses, and ships sent to Ophir
1. (vv. 12-16)
2 Chronicles 8:12
“Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord,.... Meaning not barely at the time he rebuilt the above cities, for it was his constant practice: on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch; the brasen altar, which was at the entrance into the temple, within the court; of which see 2Ch 4:1.”
2 Chronicles 8:13
“Even after a certain rate every day, according to the commandment of Moses,.... The daily sacrifice, morning and evening, Exo 29:38, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons; when there were additional sacrifices, Num 28:9, &c. 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; which serves to explain the three times in 1Ki 9:25.”
2 Chronicles 8:14
“The man of God - This phrase, so common in Kings (see the introduction to Kings, 4th note), is rare in Chronicles, and is applied only to Moses 1Ch 23:14, David, and one other prophet 2Ch 25:7, 2Ch 25:9.”
2 Chronicles 8:15
“And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites,.... The priests and Levites departed not from it, not from the commandment of Solomon, according to the order of David, but in all things obeyed it: concerning any matter; which related to the office of either of them, sacrificers, singers, or porters: or concerning the treasures; such of the Levites as had the care of them were faithful to their trust, see 1Ch 26:20, &c.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Chronicles 8:15
“The commandment of the king - The institutions of David.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Chronicles 8:16
“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,.... The materials were prepared, and the money for the expenses; and even the very stones and timber were made fit for the building, so that there was nothing to retard the completion of it: so the house of God was perfected; in the space of seven years, in all the parts, and according to the form and pattern of it, see 1Ki 6:38.”
burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar: Solomon offers the burnt offerings at the daily rate, and on the sabbaths, new moons and the three annual feasts of unleavened bread, weeks and tabernacles, exactly as the commandment of Moses required. He sets the priests in their courses and the Levites in their charges to praise and to minister, and the porters at every gate, following the order David had already established in 1 Chronicles 23-26. Verse 14 calls David the man of God, a title Chronicles gives sparingly, elsewhere only to Moses and to one later prophet. Because the priests and Levites departed not from that commandment in any matter, the chapter can close by saying the house of the LORD was perfected, worship carried out in order rather than stone alone finishing the temple.
2. (vv. 17-18)
2 Chronicles 8:17
“Solomon, determined to cultivate the arts of peace, was sagacious enough to perceive that his kingdom could become great and glorious only by encouraging a spirit of commercial enterprise among his subjects; and, accordingly, with that in mind he made a contract with Huram for ships and seamen to instruct his people in navigation.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Chronicles 8:18
“Knowledge of the sea - Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
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· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Chronicles 8:18
“Huram sent him . . . ships--either sent him ship-men, able seamen, overland; or, taking the word "sent" in a looser sense, supplied him, that is, built him ships--namely, in docks at Eloth (compare 1Ki 9:26, 27). This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, for Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
at the sea side in the land of Edom: Solomon goes down to Ezion-geber and Eloth on the shore of Edom, ports that give Israel access to the Red Sea trade. Huram sends ships and sailors who know the sea, since the Tyrians had the maritime skill Israel never developed, and Israelite crews sail out under Tyrian direction. The voyage to Ophir returns four hundred and fifty talents of gold to Solomon, a fortune the text records without further comment. Chronicles closes its account where 1 Kings 9:26-28 closes its own telling of the same voyage, the wealth flowing from a partnership rather than from any skill of Israel's own at sea.
This page carries no textual note on 2 Chronicles 8. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.