BSB · Scripture
2 Chronicles 8
Berean Standard Bible
Section headings and translator notes come from the publisher; they are reading aids, distinct from the Bible text.
Solomon’s Additional Achievements
Verse1Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own palace,
Verse2Solomon rebuilt the cities Hiram had given him and settled Israelites there.
Verse3Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.
Verse4He built Tadmor in the wilderness, in addition to all the store cities that he had built in Hamath.
Verse5He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon as fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
Verse6as well as Baalath, all the store cities that belonged to Solomon, and all the cities for his chariots and horses —whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout the land of his dominion.
Verse7As for all the people who remained of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (these people were not Israelites)—
Verse8their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
Verse9But Solomon did not consign any of the Israelites to slave labor, because they were his men of war, the leaders of his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and cavalry.
Verse10They were also the chief officers for King Solomon: 250 supervisors.
Verse11Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her. For he said, “My wife must not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy.”
Verse12At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico.
Verse13He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Verse14In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.
Verse15They did not turn aside from the king’s command regarding the priests or the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
Verse16Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out, from the day the foundation was laid for the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.
Verse17Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of Edom.
Verse18So Hiram sent him ships captained by his servants, along with crews of experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and acquired from there 450 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
Translator notes (8)
- Verse 2: Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verse 18
- Verse 6: Or horsemen or charioteers
- Verse 13: That is, the seven-day period after the Passover during which no leaven may be eaten; see Exodus 12:14–20.
- Verse 13: That is, Shavuot, the late spring feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; it is also known as the Feast of Harvest (see Exodus 23:16) or the Feast of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1).
- Verse 13: That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; also translated as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Shelters and originally called the Feast of Ingathering (see Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22).
- Verse 17: Eloth is a variant of Elath; see LXX, 2 Kings 14:22, and 2 Kings 16:6.
- Verse 17: That is, along the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom
- Verse 18: 450 talents is approximately 17 tons or 15.4 metric tons of gold.