That the cities. 2 Chronicles 8:1-6 Solomon's military enterprises J. Wolfendale. Chiefly in acquiring cities rebuilt and taken from the enemy. I. Cities for STORES ( 1 Kings 9:19 ). II. Cities for COLONISATION. III. Cities for PLEASURE. IV. Cities for DEFENCE. Lessons: 1. That those who attend to the spiritual will not neglect the temporal interests of a nation. 2. That amidst the temporal interests of a nation great risks exist. Hence — (1) Lessons of prudence. (2) The danger of prosperity. ( J. Wolfendale. ) And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh. 2 Chronicles 8:11 Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter J. Parker, D. D. We are to see in Solomon's action the working of a tender conscience; even though he may be appeasing his conscience by some trick or ceremony, yet he is showing us the working of the moral nature within the kingly breast. Yet there is a point to be noted here which is common to human experience: why should Solomon have married the daughter of Pharaoh? Why should he have, in the first instance, placed himself in so vital a relation to heathenism? Are there not men who first plunge into great mistakes, and then seek to rectify their position by zealous care about comparatively trifling details? Do not men make money by base means, and then zealously betake themselves to book-keeping, as if they would not spend money except in approved directions? Are there not those who have steeped their hearts in iniquity, and yet have washed their hands with soap and nitre? We are to beware of the creation of a false or a partial conscience, that makes up for sins of a larger kind by ostentatious devotion at the altar of detail and ceremony and petty ritual. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Solomon's marriage J. Wolfendale. Consider Solomon's marriage with an Egyptian princess — I. AS A MATTER OF POLICY. It sprang from — 1. A desire to counteract the influence of Hadad ( 1 Kings 11:14-20 ). 2. The wish to obtain support for his new dynasty and recognition from one of older fame and greater power. 3. Anxiety to strengthen himself by foreign alliances. II. AS A SOURCE OF MORAL PERPLEXITY. What must be done with her? Solomon felt that a broad distinction must be made between the worship of Jehovah and idolatry. III. AS THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE. The policy advantageous at first, but ultimately proved hollow and impolitic. The reign which began so gloriously ended in gross darkness and fetish worship. ( J. Wolfendale. ) Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord. 2 Chronicles 8:12, 18 Solomon's burnt offerings J. Parker, D. D. Solomon was great in burnt offerings. Do not men sometimes make up in burnt offerings what they lack in moral consistency? Is not an ostentatious religion sometimes the best proof of internal decay? It ought not to be so. The outward and inward should correspond. The action should be the incarnation of the thought. It is beautiful to look upon the Church engaged in much church-building and in strenuous endeavours against public sin; yet we must never forget that all this may possibly coexist with internal loss, decay, corruption. All action does not spring from life. Sometimes we try to make up by complex mechanism what is wanting in real vitality. It is often easier to offer burnt offering than to do some deed of moral heroism. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) As the duty of every day required. 2 Chronicles 8:14 Duty W. R. Hutton, M. A. To some Christians "the sense of duty" and kindred phrases sound unattractive and suspicious. Yet it is dangerous even to minimise the sense of duty. A man who makes no terms with conscience, but does what God commands, will find his love grow stronger. A Christian's sense of duty is not the same as the sense of duty of one who has no faith. Natural religion would teach a man to be honest, sober, and industrious, but Christ's teaching goes far beyond this. Religious duties; purity of heart; forgiveness of others, etc . But it is in the realm of supernatural help, prayer, and the sacraments that the greatest divergence is seen. "As the duty of every day required." Words such as these suggest that unless we are living a life of prayer, unless we are partaking of the life of Christ in the means He left for us to use, we are undutiful. What we claim for our religion is this — 1. The personal love of Christ will make us more severe with ourselves in performing "hard, unwelcome" duties of every day. 2. It will also claim from us earnest prayer, belief in the grace of the Holy Spirit, etc . ( W. R. Hutton, M. A. ).

Benson Commentary 2 Chronicles 8:1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, A.M. 3012. — B.C. 992. Solomon’s buildings, 2 Chronicles 8:1-6 . His workmen and officers, 2 Chronicles 8:7-10 . He settles his wife, 2 Chronicles 8:11 . Fixes the method of the temple-service, 2 Chronicles 8:12-16 . His trade, 2 Chronicles 8:17 , 2 Chronicles 8:18 . 2 Chronicles 8:2 . The cities which Huram had restored — Which Solomon gave to Hiram, but which, not being pleased with them, he restored to him again, 1 Kings 9:12 . Solomon built them — That is, rebuilt them, and placed his own subjects in them. 2 Chronicles 8:4 . He built Tadmor — For the explanation of this and the following verses, see notes on 1 Kings 9:17-18 , &c. 2 Chronicles 8:11 . Unto the house which he had built — This house he had built for her, because the ark was now in the house of David, which therefore ought to be kept pure and free from every danger and appearance of pollution. For though Pharaoh’s daughter was proselyted to the Jewish religion, and had renounced idolatry, it is not likely that both she and all her servants had embraced the whole law of Moses; and therefore they might many ways defile a place made sacred by that symbol of the divine presence. 2 Chronicles 8:14 . So had David the man of God commanded — David is here called the man of God, as Moses had been, because he was a prophet divinely inspired, and was both instructed and authorized of God to make these establishments. Hence his commands are represented as being the commands of God. And 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 commanded in God’s name, but closely adhered to it, and used his authority to have it duly observed. 2 Chronicles 8:15-16 . They departed not from the commandment of the king — He obeyed God’s commands enjoined by David, in God’s name, and by inspiration of God’s Spirit, and therefore all obeyed his orders. Now all the work of Solomon was prepared — All the materials were procured, and in all points fitted and completed beforehand. So the house of God was perfected — This is now said, because the service of the temple was now put into this good order. The work was the main matter, not the place: the temple was unfinished till all this was done. 2 Chronicles 8:2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 2 Chronicles 8:3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it. 2 Chronicles 8:4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. 2 Chronicles 8:5 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 2 Chronicles 8:6 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. 2 Chronicles 8:7 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, 2 Chronicles 8:8 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. 2 Chronicles 8:9 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. 2 Chronicles 8:10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people. 2 Chronicles 8:11 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. 2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch, 2 Chronicles 8:13 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. 2 Chronicles 8:14 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. 2 Chronicles 8:15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures. 2 Chronicles 8:16 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. 2 Chronicles 8:17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom. 2 Chronicles 8:18 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. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Chronicles 8:1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.