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._ These were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people. The number of chief officers is stated, 1 Kings 5:16, to have been 3,300; in 2 Chronicles 2:18, they are declared to have been 3,600; whereas here they are reckoned at the small number of 250. There is no way of reconciling these discrepancies, except by supposing there is an error in the numerical letters, which copyists were extremely liable to commit; or to imagine, with Poole, that 250 of these officers were all that were on actual duty at one time....

On the number compare 1 Kings 5:16 note....

EXPOSITION This interesting historical chapter may very well be described as by Professor Dr. James G. Murphy, in his 'Bible-Class Handbook,' "The Acts of Solomon," or at any rate, some of the miscellaneous acts, for which time was found now that the "two houses" were out of hand. 2 CHRONICLES 8:1 (parallel, 1 Kings 9:10).—TwEnty YEARS, WHEREIN SOLOMON HAD BUILT THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND HIS OWN HOUSE. The description is intended to be, what it is, chronologically exact. Four years of Solomon had passed when he began the Lord's house, seven were spent in building it, thirteen in finishing and furnishing it, and in building, finishing, and furnishing the king's house—in all twenty-four years....

2 Chronicles 8:6....

5. SOLOMON'S PROSPERITY AND ACTIVITIES CHAPTER 8 _ 1. The fortifications of cities (2 Chronicles 8:1)_ 2. The subjection of the strangers (2 Chronicles 8:7) 3. The removal of the daughter of Pharaoh (2 Chronicles 8:11) 4. The perfected service (2 Chronicles 8:12) 5. The expedition to Ophir (2 Chronicles 8:17) The activities of the King included the fortification of certain cities. (See...

SOLOMON'S VARIOUS RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR UNDERTAKINGS (see notes on 1 Kings 9:10). A striking difference occurs between 2 and 1 Kings 9:11; here Hiram gives Solomon an unspecified number of cities, whereas in the historical account Solomon gives Hiram twenty cities. The discrepancy is not difficult to account for; in the Chronicler's days when, with the lapse of time, the popular conception had greatly increased the wealth and power of Solomon, it was not thought credible that such a monarch could really have ceded Israelite cities to a heathen in lieu of payment. This is not to say that the Chronicler deliberately falsified history; the sources from which he compiled his record were various, and upon these the influence of tradition is not likely to have been without effect; moreover, the authority of the

_And these_were _the chief_ After this preface (cp. 1 Kings 9:23) we expect both here and in 1 Kin. a list of these persons; cp. 1Ch 11:10 ff; 1 Chronicles 12:1 ff. Possibly the text of 1 Kin. suffered at an early date, and the list was missing when the Chronicler wrote. _two hundred and fifty_ According to 1 Kings 9:23, _five hundred and fifty_. On the other hand the _under_-overseers are reckoned at three thousand six hundred in 2 Chronicles 2:18 as against three thousand three hundred in 1 Kings 5:16. The total n

AND THESE WERE THE CHIEF OF KING SOLOMON'S OFFICERS, &C.— _But those chief officers who presided over the works of Solomon, were two hundred and fifty._ See 1 Kings 9:23 where they are said to be _five hundred and fifty._ Other inferior officers were included perhaps in the former account. REFLECTIONS.—1st, The only warlike expedition that Solomon was engaged in, we have in 2 Chronicles 8:3 reducing to his obedience Hamath-zobah, which seems to have revolted. His buildings, to which his genius led him, still went forward; and the old inhabitants of the land, now brought under tribute and proselyted, afforded him a number of workmen, without employing the nobler freeborn Israelites. Having built a palace for his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, he removed her from the city of D

5. BUILDING, LABORERS AND SHIPS (2 Chronicles 8:1-18) TEXT 2 Chronicles 8:1. And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of Jehovah, and his own house, 2. that the cities which Huram had given 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 Bethhoron the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6. and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusale

SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS. HIS TRADE WITH OPHIR This chapter reproduces the substance of 1 Kings 9:10; 1 Kings 9:28 but describes some additional buildings....