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2 Crônicas 1

ARC · Chapter 1/36

1E Salomão, filho de David, se esforçou no seu reino; e o Senhor seu Deus era com elle, e o magnificou grandemente.

2E fallou Salomão a todo o Israel, aos capitães de milhares e das centenas, e aos juizes, e a todos os principes em todo o Israel, chefes dos paes.

3E foram Salomão e toda a congregação com elle ao alto que estava em Gibeon; porque ali estava a tenda da congregação de Deus, que Moysés, servo do Senhor, tinha feito no deserto.

4Mas David tinha feito subir a arca de Deus de Kiriath-jearim ao logar que David lhe tinha preparado; porque lhe tinha armado uma tenda em Jerusalem.

5Tambem o altar de cobre que tinha feito Besaleel, filho d'Uri, filho d'Hur, estava ali diante do tabernaculo do Senhor: e Salomão e a congregação o visitavam.

6E Salomão offereceu ali sacrificios perante o Senhor, sobre o altar de cobre que estava na tenda da congregação, e offereceu sobre elle mil holocaustos.

7N'aquella mesma noite Deus appareceu a Salomão, e disse-lhe: Pede o que quizeres que eu te dê.

8E Salomão disse a Deus: Tu usaste de grande beneficencia com meu pae David: e a mim me fizeste rei em seu logar.

9Agora pois, ó Senhor Deus, confirme-se a tua palavra, dada a meu pae David; porque tu me fizeste reinar sobre um povo numeroso como o pó da terra.

10Dá-me pois agora sabedoria e conhecimento, para que possa sair e entrar perante este povo: porque quem poderia julgar a este teu tão grande povo?

11Então Deus disse a Salomão: Porquanto houve isto no teu coração, e não pediste riquezas, fazenda, ou honra, nem a morte dos que te aborrecem, nem tão pouco pediste muitos dias de vida, mas pediste para ti sabedoria e conhecimento, para poderes julgar a meu povo, sobre o qual te puz rei,

12Sabedoria e conhecimento te são dados: e te darei riquezas, e fazenda, e honra, qual nenhuns reis antes de ti tiveram: e depois de ti taes não haverá.

13Assim Salomão veiu a Jerusalem, do alto que está em Gibeon, de diante da tenda da congregação: e reinou sobre Israel.

14E Salomão ajuntou carros e cavalleiros, e teve mil e quatrocentos carros, e doze mil cavalleiros: e pôl-os nas cidades dos carros, e junto ao rei em Jerusalem.

15E fez o rei que houvesse oiro e prata em Jerusalem como pedras: e cedros em tanta abundancia como figueiras bravas que ha pelas campinas.

16E os cavallos, que tinha Salomão, se traziam do Egypto, e, quanto ao fio de linho os mercadores do rei tomavam o fio de linho por um certo preço.

17E faziam subir e sair do Egypto cada carro por seiscentos siclos de prata, e cada cavallo por cento e cincoenta: e assim por meio d'elles os tiravam para todos os reis dos hetheos, e para os reis da Syria.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Solomon establishes himself as king and goes to worship before the tabernacle at Gibeon. God appears to him at night and offers to grant whatever he asks; Solomon asks for wisdom to govern, and God also gives him abundant riches and honor.

Explanation

Solomon's request is remarkable because, given the chance to ask for anything — wealth, long life, victory over enemies — he chooses wisdom to serve well the people entrusted to him. This selfless request pleases God so much that he grants not only what was asked, but also everything Solomon did not ask for. This is a recurring spiritual principle in the Bible: seeking first what serves God's purpose, rather than merely personal benefits, tends to result in even greater blessings than one would have asked for alone. This beginning marks the height of Israel's united monarchy, before the divisions and crises that would come later in the book.

Fun facts

  • The tabernacle at Gibeon was the same portable sanctuary built by Moses in the wilderness, still in use alongside the ark of the covenant, which was already in Jerusalem — showing a phase of religious transition before the permanent temple was built.
  • The trade in horses and chariots mentioned at the end of the chapter, between Egypt and the Hittite and Syrian kingdoms, shows Solomon acting as an international trade intermediary, a sophisticated economic practice for the time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 1:1As soon as he takes the throne, Solomon is “strengthened in his kingdom” with God at his side — the Chronicler opens the book making it clear right away where his success comes from.
  2. 2 Crônicas 1:2Solomon summons everyone who holds authority in Israel — military commanders, judges, family leaders — to go with him to Gibeon. It is a national pilgrimage, not just a trip for the king.
  3. 2 Crônicas 1:3The “tabernacle of the congregation” was the tent Moses had built in the wilderness, still in use at Gibeon centuries later. Solomon goes there because it is the official sanctuary of that moment, before the temple exists.
  4. 2 Crônicas 1:4The ark of the covenant was already in Jerusalem, in a tent David had prepared, separate from the tabernacle at Gibeon. In other words, before the temple, Israel’s worship was split between two places.
  5. 2 Crônicas 1:5The bronze altar used for sacrifices remained at Gibeon, next to the old tabernacle — it is there, not in Jerusalem, that Solomon goes to offer his sacrifices in the next verse.
  6. 2 Crônicas 1:6A thousand burnt offerings at once is a gigantic offering — a way for Solomon to open his reign with a gesture of devotion whose scale no one could ignore.
  7. 2 Crônicas 1:7That same night after this enormous sacrifice, God appears to Solomon and makes an open invitation: ask for whatever he wants. That invitation draws out the famous response in the next verse.
  8. 2 Crônicas 1:8Before asking for anything, Solomon starts by thanking God for what He has already done for David, his father, and for himself in setting him on the throne.
  9. 2 Crônicas 1:9Solomon asks God to fulfill the promise made to David, noting that he now rules over an enormous people — this is the backdrop that justifies the request for wisdom that follows.
  10. 2 Crônicas 1:10Solomon defines what “wisdom” means to him: not abstract knowledge, but the practical ability to judge such a large people well.
  11. 2 Crônicas 1:11God gives Solomon the chance to ask for anything, and he chooses wisdom to judge the people instead of riches, fame, or revenge against enemies. Precisely because he does not ask for those things, God guarantees he will gain them anyway, as a bonus.
  12. 2 Crônicas 1:12God not only grants what Solomon asked for, He also throws in riches and honor on a scale no other king would have before or after him.
  13. 2 Crônicas 1:13Solomon returns from Gibeon to Jerusalem after this encounter with God, and from this point on the text begins describing his reign in full swing.
  14. 2 Crônicas 1:14Fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen show the military strength Solomon builds up — but Deuteronomy had already warned the king of Israel not to accumulate that kind of army.
  15. 2 Crônicas 1:15Gold and silver become as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar as common as wild fig trees — the text exaggerates on purpose to show the kingdom’s wealth at its peak.
  16. 2 Crônicas 1:16Solomon imports horses from Egypt and resells chariots to neighboring kings, a quite profitable middleman business. It’s worth noting that the law of Moses, in Deuteronomy, had already warned the king of Israel not to accumulate horses from Egypt of all places — a detail this text doesn’t comment on, only records.
  17. 2 Crônicas 1:17The price of importing each chariot from Egypt was high, but Solomon profits by reselling them to Hittite and Syrian kings — the same middleman trade scheme as the previous verse.

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