2 Chronicles 8

KJV · Chapter 8/36

1And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,

2That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3And Solomon went to Hamath–zobah, and prevailed against it.

4And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

5Also he built Beth–horon the upper, and Beth–horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

6And 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.

7As 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,

8But 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.

9But 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.

10And these were the chief of king Solomon’s officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

11And 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.

12Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,

13Even 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.

14And 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.

15And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

16Now 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.

17Then went Solomon to Ezion–geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

18And 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Solomon completes several building projects beyond the temple, including his palace and fortified cities, organizes the forced labor system using the remaining non-Israelite peoples, and establishes the regular routine of sacrifices and priestly divisions as instructed by David.

Explanation

This chapter shows Solomon as a capable administrator, expanding the kingdom's infrastructure well beyond the temple, including strategic fortifications and storage systems. An ethically complex detail is the use of remaining Canaanite peoples as forced laborers, a common practice in ancient times though viewed with discomfort today — the text is careful to clarify that Israelites themselves were not subjected to this kind of compulsory labor. The faithful maintenance of priestly divisions and the sacrificial routine, specifically following what David had established, shows organizational continuity between father and son in the religious administration of the kingdom.

Fun facts

  • Solomon builds a separate house for his Egyptian wife, the Pharaoh's daughter, explaining that she should not live in the former house of David because the ark had been there, a sign of religious sensitivity regarding the holiness of certain spaces.
  • The mention of Solomon sailing to Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea, with the help of experienced sailors from Tyre to bring gold from Ophir, shows the maritime commercial reach of the Israelite kingdom during his reign.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Chronicles 8:1After twenty years devoted to building the temple and his own palace, the text moves on to tell what Solomon did during the rest of his reign.
  2. 2 Chronicles 8:2Solomon rebuilds and resettles with Israelites some cities that Huram of Tyre had given him — part of the commercial arrangement between the two kings.
  3. 2 Chronicles 8:3Solomon also expands the territory northward, conquering Hamath-zobah, a Syrian region.
  4. 2 Chronicles 8:4In the wilderness, Solomon builds Tadmor (later known as Palmyra) and other fortified cities in the region of Hamath — strategic posts for trade and defense.
  5. 2 Chronicles 8:5Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon are rebuilt as fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars — part of the kingdom’s defensive network.
  6. 2 Chronicles 8:6The list of building projects continues with Baalath and other storage cities, along with cities set aside for chariots and cavalry, spread across Jerusalem, Lebanon, and the whole territory.
  7. 2 Chronicles 8:7The text turns again to the peoples still living in the land from before the Israelite conquest — Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — who were not counted as part of Israel.
  8. 2 Chronicles 8:8The descendants of these peoples left in the land, because the Israelites had not driven them out completely, became forced labor for Solomon, a situation that still held at the time the book was written.
  9. 2 Chronicles 8:9Solomon uses as forced labor only the descendants of the peoples already in the land before the Israelite conquest — native-born Israelites serve as soldiers and officers, not as slave labor. It’s a distinction the text makes a point of stating clearly.
  10. 2 Chronicles 8:10Two hundred fifty officers head this forced labor force, supervising the work on the king’s behalf.
  11. 2 Chronicles 8:11Solomon builds a separate house for his Egyptian wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, because he considers the spaces where the ark has been too sacred for her to go on living there.
  12. 2 Chronicles 8:12After settling this domestic matter, Solomon goes back to offering burnt offerings to God, on the altar he himself built in front of the temple.
  13. 2 Chronicles 8:13These sacrifices follow the calendar set by Moses: daily, on sabbaths, on new moons, and at the three great annual feasts — Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles.
  14. 2 Chronicles 8:14Solomon organizes the priests and Levites into service divisions, following the system David had already set up before, also including the gatekeepers responsible for each entrance of the temple.
  15. 2 Chronicles 8:15The text assures that no one departed from these orders of David, either regarding religious service or regarding the temple’s treasures.
  16. 2 Chronicles 8:16With that, the whole work of the temple is recorded as complete, from the foundation to the final finishing — a formal close to the great building project.
  17. 2 Chronicles 8:17Solomon travels to Ezion-geber and Eloth, ports on the coast of Edom, launching the kingdom’s maritime expansion told in the verses that follow.
  18. 2 Chronicles 8:18Solomon’s fleet only manages to reach Ophir, a land famous for gold, because Huram of Tyre lends experienced sailors — the Israelites had no seafaring tradition of their own. It’s a trade partnership, not a conquest.

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