12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
13 Even 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.
14 And 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.
15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
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. So the house of the LORD was perfected.
12 Then Solomon H8010 offered H5927 burnt offerings H5930 unto the LORD H3068 on the altar H4196 of the LORD, H3068 which he had built H1129 before H6440 the porch, H197
13 Even after a certain rate H1697 every day, H3117 offering H5927 according to the commandment H4687 of Moses, H4872 on the sabbaths, H7676 and on the new moons, H2320 and on the solemn feasts, H4150 three H7969 times H6471 in the year, H8141 even in the feast H2282 of unleavened bread, H4682 and in the feast H2282 of weeks, H7620 and in the feast H2282 of tabernacles. H5521
14 And he appointed, H5975 according to the order H4941 of David H1732 his father, H1 the courses H4256 of the priests H3548 to their service, H5656 and the Levites H3881 to their charges, H4931 to praise H1984 and minister H8334 before the priests, H3548 as the duty H1697 of every day H3117 required: H3117 the porters H7778 also by their courses H4256 at every gate: H8179 for so had David H1732 the man H376 of God H430 commanded. H4687
15 And they departed H5493 not from the commandment H4687 of the king H4428 unto the priests H3548 and Levites H3881 concerning any matter, H1697 or concerning the treasures. H214
16 Now all the work H4399 of Solomon H8010 was prepared H3559 unto the day H3117 of the foundation H4143 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and until it was finished. H3615 So the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 was perfected. H8003
12 Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings unto Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah, which he had built before the porch,
13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set 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.
14 And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah, and until it was finished. `So' the house of Jehovah was completed.
12 Then hath Solomon caused to ascend burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah that he built before the porch,
13 even by the matter of a day in its day, to cause to ascend according to the command of Moses, on sabbaths, and on new moons, and on appointed seasons, three times in a year -- in the feast of unleavened things, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths.
14 And he establisheth, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests over their service, and of the Levites over their charges, to praise and to minister over-against the priests, according to the matter of a day in its day, and the gatekeepers in their courses at gate and gate, for so `is' the command of David the man of God.
15 And they have not turned aside `from' the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites, in reference to any matter, and to the treasures.
16 And all the work of Solomon is prepared till the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah, and till its completion; perfect is the house of Jehovah.
12 Then Solomon offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah, which he had built before the porch;
13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts, three times in the year, -- at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles.
14 And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their charges, to praise and serve before the priests, as the duty of every day required; and the doorkeepers by their divisions at every gate: for such was the commandment of David the man of God;
15 and they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, nor concerning the treasures.
16 And all the work of Solomon was prepared, to the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah and to its completion. [So] the house of Jehovah was finished.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh, which he had built before the porch,
13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, [even] in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents.
14 He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 They didn't depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared to the day of the foundation of the house of Yahweh, and until it was finished. [So] the house of Yahweh was completed.
12 Then Solomon made burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had put up in front of the covered way,
13 Offering every day what had been ordered by Moses, on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and at the regular feasts three times a year, that is at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents.
14 And he gave the divisions of the priests their places for their work, as ordered by his father David, and to the Levites he gave their work of praise and waiting on the priests, to do what was needed day by day; and he gave the door-keepers their places in turn at every door; for so David, the man of God, had given orders.
15 All the orders given by the king to the priests and Levites, in connection with any business or stores, were done with care.
16 And all the work of Solomon was complete, from the day when he put the base of the Lord's house in position, till Solomon had come to the end of building the Lord's house.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Solomon's City-Building, Statute Labour, Arrangement of Public Worship, and Nautical Undertakings - 2 Chronicles 8
The building of the temple was the most important work of Solomon's reign, as compared with which all the other undertakings of the king fall into the background; and these are consequently only summarily enumerated both in the book of Kings and in the Chronicle. In our chapter, in the first place, we have, ( a ) the building or completion of various cities, which were of importance partly as strongholds, partly as magazines, for the maintenance of the army necessary for the defence of the kingdom against hostile attacks (2 Chronicles 8:1-6); ( b ) the arrangement of the statute labour for the execution of all his building works (2 Chronicles 8:7-11); ( c ) the regulation of the sacrificial service and the public worship (2 Chronicles 8:12-16); and ( d ) the voyage to Ophir (2 Chronicles 8:17, 2 Chronicles 8:18). All these undertakings are recounted in the same order and in the same aphoristic way in 1 Kings 9:10-28, but with the addition of various notes, which are not found in our narrative; while the Chronicle, again, mentions several not unimportant though subordinate circumstances, which are not found in the book of Kings; whence it is clear that in the two narratives we have merely short and mutually supplementary extracts from a more elaborate description of these matters.
The city-building . - 2 Chronicles 8:1. The date, “at the end of twenty years, when Solomon ... had built,” agrees with that in 1 Kings 9:10. The twenty years are to be reckoned from the commencement of the building of the temple, for he had spent seven years in the building of the temple, and thirteen years in that of his palace (1 Kings 6:38; 1 Kings 7:1).
2 Chronicles 8:2-4
2 Chronicles 8:2 must be regarded as the apodosis of 2 Chronicles 8:1, notwithstanding that the object, the cities which ... precedes. The unusual position of the words is the result of the aphoristic character of the notice. As to its relation to the statement 1 Kings 9:10-13, see the discussion on that passage. בּנה , 2 Chronicles 8:2, is not to be understood of the fortification of these cities, but of their completion, for, according to 1 Kings 9:10, 1 Kings 9:13, they were in very bad condition. ויּושׁב , he caused to dwell there, i.e., transplanted Israelites thither, cf. 2 Kings 17:6. The account of the cities which Solomon built, i.e., fortified, is introduced (2 Chronicles 8:3) by the important statement, omitted in 1 Kings 9: “Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.” על חזק , to be strong upon, that is, prevail against, conquer; cf. 2 Chronicles 27:5. Hamath-zobah is not the city Hamath in Zobah, but, as we learn from 2 Chronicles 8:4, the land or kingdom of Hamath. This did not lie, any more than the city Hamath, in Zobah, but bordered on the kingdom of Zobah: cf. 1 Chronicles 18:3; and as to the position of Zobah, see the Commentary on 2 Samuel 8:3. In David's time Hamath and Zobah had their own kings; and David conquered them, and made their kingdoms tributary (1 Chronicles 18:3-10). Because they bordered on each other, Hamath and Zobah are here bound together as a nomen compos . עליה יחזק signifies at least this, that these tributary kingdoms had either rebelled against Solomon, or at least had made attempts to do so; which Solomon suppressed, and in order to establish his dominion over them fortified Tadmor, i.e., Palmyra, and all the store cities in the land of Hamath (see on 1 Kings 9:18.); for, according to 1 Kings 11:23., he had Rezon of Zobah as an enemy during his whole reign; see on that passage.
2 Chronicles 8:5-6
Besides these, he made Upper and Nether Beth-horon (see on 1 Chronicles 7:24) into fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars. מצור ערי is the second object of ויּבן , and וגו חומות is in apposition to that. Further, he fortified Baalah, in the tribe of Dan, to defend the kingdom against the Philistines, and, according to 1 Kings 9:15-17, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer also, - which are omitted here, while in 1 Kings 9:17 Upper Beth-horon is omitted, - and store cities, chariot cities, and cavalry cities; see on 1 Kings 9:15-19.
On the arrangement of the statute labour, see on 1 Kings 9:20-23. - This note is in Chr. abruptly introduced immediately after the preceding. 2 Chronicles 8:7 is an absolute clause: “as regards the whole people, those.” מן־בּניהם (2 Chronicles 8:8) is not partitive: some of their sons; but is only placed before the אשׁר : those of their sons (i.e., of the descendants of the whole Canaanite people) who had remained in the land, whom the Israelites had not exterminated; Solomon made a levy of these for statute labourers. The מן is wanting in 1 Kings, but is not to be struck out here on that account. Much more surprising is the אשׁר after שׂראל מן־בּני , 2 Chronicles 8:9, which is likewise not found in 1 Kings, since the following verb נתן לא is not to be taken relatively, but contains the predicate of the subject contained in the words ישׂ מן־בּני . This אשׁר cannot be otherwise justified than by supposing that it is placed after ישׂ בני מן , as in Psalms 69:27 it is placed after the subject of the relative clause, and so stands for ישׂ בני מן בן אשׂר : those who were of the sons of Israel (i.e., Israelites) Solomon did not make ... The preplacing of בּניהם מן in 2 Chronicles 8:8 would naturally suggest that ישׂ בני מן should also precede, in order to bring out sharply the contrast between the sons of the Canaanites and the sons of Israel.
שׁלישׁיו ושׁרי should be altered into ושׁלישׁיו שׂריו as in 1 Kings 9:22, for שׁלישׁים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exodus 14:7 and 2 Samuel 23:8. Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים שׂרי , chief of the superiors, i.e., chief overseer. The Keth. נציבים , praefecti , is the true reading; cf. 1 Chronicles 18:13; 2 Chronicles 17:2. The Keri has arisen out of 1 Kings 9:23. These overseers were Israelites, while in the number 550 (1 Kings 9:23) the Israelite and Canaanite upper overseers are both included; see on 2 Chronicles 2:17. בּעם refers to כּל־העם , 2 Chronicles 8:7, and denotes the Canaanite people who remained.
The remark that Solomon caused Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married (1 Kings 3:1), to remove from the city of David into the house which he had built her, i.e., into that part of his newly-built palace which was appointed for the queen, is introduced here, as in 1 Kings 9:24, because it belongs to the history of Solomon's buildings, although in the Chronicle it comes in very abruptly, the author not having mentioned Solomon's marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1). The reason given for this change of residence on the part of the Egyptian princess is, that Solomon could not allow her, an Egyptian, to dwell in the palace of King David, which had been sanctified by the reception of the ark, and consequently assigned to her a dwelling in the city of David until he should have finished the building of his palace, in which she might dwell along with him. המּה is, as neuter, used instead of the singular; cf. Ew. §318, b . See also on 1 Kings 3:1 and 1 Kings 9:24.
The sacrificial service in the new temple . Cf. 1 Kings 9:25, where it is merely briefly recorded that Solomon offered sacrifices three times a year on the altar built by him to the Lord. In our verses we have a detailed account of it. אז , at that time, scil. when the temple building had been finished and the temple dedicated (cf. 2 Chronicles 8:1), Solomon offered burnt-offerings upon the altar which he had built before the porch of the temple. He no longer now sacrifices upon the altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon, as in the beginning of his reign (2 Chronicles 1:3.).
2 Chronicles 8:13
“Even sacrificing at the daily rate, according to the direction of Moses.” These words give a supplementary and closer definition of the sacrificing in the form of an explanatory subordinate clause, which is interpolated in the principal sentence. For the following words וגו לשּׁבּתות belong to the principal sentence (2 Chronicles 8:12): he offered sacrifices ... on the sabbaths, the new moons, etc. The ו before בּדבר is explicative, and that = viz.; and the infin. להעלות , according to the later usage, instead of infin. absol.; cf. Ew. §280, d . The preposition בּ (before דּבר ) is the so-called b essentiae: consisting in the daily (rate) to sacrifice (this); cf. Ew. §299, b . The daily rate, i.e., that which was prescribed in the law of Moses for each day, cf. Leviticus 23:37. למּועדות is further explained by the succeeding clause: on the three chief festivals of the year.
2 Chronicles 8:14
He ordered the temple service, also, entirely according to the arrangement introduced by David as to the service of the priests and Levites. He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, i.e., according to the ordinance established by David, the classes of the priests (see on 1 Chron 24) to that service, and the Levites to their stations ( משׁמרות as in 2 Chronicles 7:6), to praise (cf. 1 Chron 25), and to serve before the priests (1 Chronicles 23:28.), according to that which was appointed for every day, and the doorkeepers according to their courses, etc. (see 1 Chron 27:1-19). With the last words cf. Nehemiah 12:24.
2 Chronicles 8:15-16
This arrangement was faithfully observed by the priests and Levites. The verb סוּר is here construed c. accus . in the signification to transgress a command (cf. Ew. §282, a ), and it is therefore not necessary to alter מצות into ממּצות . על־הכּהנים depends upon מצות : the king's command concerning the priests and the Levites, i.e., that which David commanded them. וגו לכל־דּבר , in regard to all things, and especially also in regard to the treasures; cf. 1 Chronicles 26:20-28. - With 2 Chronicles 8:16 the account of what Solomon did for the public worship is concluded: “Now all the work of Solomon was prepared until the (this) day, the foundation of the house of Jahve until its completion; the house of Jahve was finished.” מלאכת is explained by מוּסד . היּום is the day on which, after the consecration of the completed temple, the regular public worship was commenced in it, which doubtless was done immediately after the dedication of the temple. Only when the regular worship according to the law of Moses, and with the arrangements as to the service of the priests and Levites established by David, had been commenced, was Solomon's work in connection with the temple completed, and the house of God שׁלם , integer , perfect in all its parts, as it should be. The last clause, בית י שׁלם , is connected rhetorically with what precedes without the conjunction, and is not to be regarded as a subscription, “with which the historian concludes the whole narrative commencing with 2 Chronicles 2:1” (Berth.); for שׁלם does not signify “ended,” or to be at an end, but to be set thoroughly (perfectly) in order.
Voyage to Ophir . Cf. 1 Kings 9:26-28, and the commentary on that passage, where we have discussed the divergences of our narrative, and have also come to the conclusion that Ophir is not to be sought in India, but in Southern Arabia. By אז the date of this voyage is made to fall in the period after the building of the temple and the palace, i.e., in the second half of Solomon's reign.