Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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S E C O N D   C H R O N I C L E S

CHAP. VIII.

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In this chapter we are told,

I. What cities Solomon built,

ver. 1-6.

II. What workmen Solomon employed,

ver. 7-10.

III. What care he took about a proper settlement for his wife,

ver. 11.

IV. What a good method he put the temple-service into,

ver. 12-16.

V. What trading he had with foreign countries,

ver. 17, 18.

Solomon’s Buildings.	B. C. 992.

     

1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein

Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

  2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon

built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

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

  4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store

cities, which he built in Hamath.

  5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether,

fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

  6 And 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.

  7 As 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,

  8 But 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.

  9 But 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.

  10 And these were the chief of king Solomon’s officers,

even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

  11 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.

     

This we had

1 Kings ix. 10-24,

and therefore shall only observe here,

     

I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he

spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study,

but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time

of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man’s business

as it is in summer to provide food for winter.

     

II. As he was a man of business himself, and did not consult his own

ease, so he employed a great many hands, kept abundance of people to

work. It is the interest of a state by all means possible to promote

and encourage industry, and to keep its subjects from idleness. A great

many strangers there were in Israel, many that remained of the

Canaanites; and they were welcome to live there, but not to live and do

nothing. The men of Laish, who had no business, were an easy prey to

the invaders,

Judg. xviii. 7.

     

III. When Solomon had begun with building the house of God, and made

good work and quick work of that, he prospered in all his undertakings,

so that he built all that he desired to build,
v. 6.

Those who have a genius for building find that one project draws on

another, and the latter must amend and improve the former. Now observe,

1. 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.

2. Solomon knew how to set bounds to his desires. He was not one of

those that enlarge them endlessly, and can never be satisfied, but knew

when to draw in; for he finished all he desired, and then he desired no

more. He did not sit down and fret that he had not more cities to

build, as Alexander did that he had not more worlds to conquer,

Hab. ii. 5.

     

IV. That one reason why Solomon built a palace on purpose for the

queen, and removed her and her court to it, was because he thought it

by no means proper that she should dwell in the house of David

(v. 11),

considering that that had been a place of great piety, and perhaps her

house was a place of great vanity. She was proselyted, it is likely, to

the Jewish religion; but it is a question whether all her servants

were. Perhaps they had among them the idols of Egypt, and a great deal

of profaneness and debauchery. Now, though Solomon had not zeal and

courage enough to suppress and punish what was amiss there, yet he so

far consulted the honour of his father’s memory that he would not

suffer that place to be thus profaned where the ark of God had been and

where holy David had prayed many a good prayer and sung many a sweet

psalm. Not that all the places where the ark had been were so holy as

never to be put to a common use; for then the houses of Abinadab and

Obed-edom must have been so. But the place where it had been so long,

and had been so publicly attended on, was so venerable that it was not

fit to be the place of so much gaiety, not to say iniquity, as was to

be found, I fear, in the court that Pharaoh’s daughter kept. Note,

Between things sacred and things common the ancient landmarks ought to

be kept up. It was an outer-court of the temple that was the court

of the women.

Solomon’s Devotion.	B. C. 992.

     

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.

  17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea

side in the land of Edom.

  18 And 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.

     

Here is,

I. Solomon’s devotion. 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. Assisting the devotion of

others will not atone for our own neglects. When Solomon had built the

temple,

1. He kept up the holy sacrifices there, according to the law of Moses,

v. 12, 13.

In vain had the altar been built, and in vain had fire come down from

heaven, if sacrifices had not been constantly brought as the food of

the altar and the fuel of that fire. There were daily sacrifices, a

certain rate every day, as duly as the day came, weekly sacrifices

on the sabbath, double to what was offered on other days, monthly

sacrifices on the new moons, and yearly sacrifices at the three

solemn feasts. Those are spiritual sacrifices that are now required of

us, which we are to bring daily and weekly; and it is good to be in a

settled method of devotion.

2. He kept up the holy songs there, according to the law of

David, who is here called the man of God, as Moses was,

because he was both instructed and authorised of God to make these

establishments; and Solomon took care to see them observed as the

duty of every day required,
v. 14.

Solomon, though a wise and great man and the builder of the temple, did

not attempt to amend, alter, or add to what the man of God had, in

God’s name, commanded, but closely adhered to that, and used his

authority to have that duly observed; and then none departed from

the commandment of the king concerning any matter,
v. 15.

He observed God’s laws, and then all obeyed his orders. When the

service of the temple was put into this good order, then it is said,

The house of the Lord was perfected,
v. 16.

The work was the main matter, not the place; the temple was unfinished

till all this was done.

     

II. Solomon’s merchandise. He did himself in person visit the sea-port

towns of Eloth and Ezion-geber; for those that deal much in the world

will find it their interest, as far as they can, to inspect their

affairs themselves and to see with their own eyes,

v. 17.

Canaan was a rich country, and yet must send to Ophir for gold; the

Israelites were a wise and understanding people, and yet must be

beholden to the king of Tyre for men that had knowledge of the

seas,
v. 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.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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