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Building Projects and Commercial Efforts

After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, Solomon rebuilt the cities that Huram[a] had given him and settled Israelites there. Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath. He made upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon fortified cities with walls and barred gates,[b] and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him,[c] and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept.[d] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.[e]

Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.[f] Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.[g] Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;[h] the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.[i] 10 These men worked for King Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.[j]

11 Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David[k] to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

12 Then Solomon offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the temple’s porch.[l] 13 He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters.[m] 14 As his father David had decreed, Solomon[n] appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks,[o] and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates.[p] This was what David the man of God had ordered.[q] 15 They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries.[r]

16 All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord’s temple was completed.

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Elat on the coast in the land of Edom. 18 Huram sent him ships and some of his sailors, men who were well acquainted with the sea. They sailed with Solomon’s men to Ophir[s] and took from there 450 talents[t] of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 8:2 tn Heb “Huram” (also in v. 18). Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.
  2. 2 Chronicles 8:5 tn Heb “and he built…[as] cities of fortification, [with] walls, doors, and a bar.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “Solomon.” The recurrence of the proper name is unexpected in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.
  4. 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horses.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “and all the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 8:7 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from Israel.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 8:8 tn Heb “from their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel did not wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a work crew to this day.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 8:9 tn Heb “and from the sons of Israel whom Solomon did not assign to the laborers for his work.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 8:9 tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 8:10 tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who belonged to the king, Solomon, 250, the ones ruling over the people.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 8:11 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  12. 2 Chronicles 8:12 tn Heb “the porch.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 8:13 tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] (khag hassukkot, “[Feast of] shelters” [or “huts”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “shelters” is more appropriate.
  14. 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  15. 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “and the Levites, according to their posts, to praise and to serve opposite the priests according to the matter of a day in its day.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “and the gatekeepers by their divisions for a gate and a gate.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “for so [was] the command of David the man of God.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 8:15 tn Heb “and they did not turn aside from the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to any matter and with regard to the treasuries.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 8:18 tn Heb “and Huram sent to him by the hand of his servants, ships, and servants [who] know the sea, and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 8:18 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold was 30,285 lbs. (13,770 kg).

Solomon’s Many Achievements

It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram[a] had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.

Solomon also fought against the town of Hamath-zobah and conquered it. He rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in the region of Hamath as supply centers. He fortified the towns of Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and installing barred gates. He also rebuilt Baalath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[b] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for his labor force. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, officers in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 10 King Solomon appointed 250 of them to supervise the people.

11 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife must not live in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the Lord has been there, and it is holy ground.”

12 Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built for him in front of the entry room of the Temple. 13 He offered the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the new moon festivals, and the three annual festivals—the Passover celebration, the Festival of Harvest,[c] and the Festival of Shelters—as Moses had commanded.

14 In assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon followed the regulations of his father, David. He also assigned the Levites to lead the people in praise and to assist the priests in their daily duties. And he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates by their divisions, following the commands of David, the man of God. 15 Solomon did not deviate in any way from David’s commands concerning the priests and Levites and the treasuries.

16 So Solomon made sure that all the work related to building the Temple of the Lord was carried out, from the day its foundation was laid to the day of its completion.

17 Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath,[d] ports along the shore of the Red Sea[e] in the land of Edom. 18 Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and manned by experienced crews of sailors. These ships sailed to Ophir with Solomon’s men and brought back to Solomon almost seventeen tons[f] of gold.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram; also in 8:18.
  2. 8:6 Or and charioteers.
  3. 8:13 Or Festival of Weeks.
  4. 8:17a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
  5. 8:17b As in parallel text at 1 Kgs 9:26; Hebrew reads the sea.
  6. 8:18 Hebrew 450 talents [15.3 metric tons].