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._ Huram sent him ... ships. Either sent him ship-men, able seamen, overland; or, taking the word "sent" in a looser sense, supplied him i:e., built him ships-namely, in docks at Eloth (cf. 1 Kings 9:26). This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, because Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions. The Hebrew fishermen, whose boats plied on the Sea of the Tiberias, or coasted the shores of the Mediterranean, were not equal to the conducting of large vessels laden with valuable cargoes on long voyages, and through the wide and unfrequented ocean. FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY TALENTS OF GOLD - (cf....

Verse 2 Chronicles 8:18. _KNOWLEDGE OF THE SEA_] Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea....

It has been supposed that these ships were conveyed from Tyre to Ezion-geber, either (1) round the continent of Africa, or (2) across the isthmus of Suez. But the writer probably only means that ships were given by Hiram to Solomon at this time, and in connection with the Ophir enterprise. These vessels may have been delivered at Joppa, and have been there carefully studied by the Jewish shipwrights, who then preceeded to Ezion-geber, and, assisted by Phoenicians, constructed ships after their pattern. FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY TALENTS - “Four hundred and twenty talents” in Kings 1 Kings 9:28. One or other of the two texts has suffered from that corruption to which numbers are so especially liable....

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 8:17....

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

BY THE HANDS OF. Figure of speech _Pleonasm._ SHIPS. From Tyre, in the Mediterranean, to the Red Sea. To show that this was not insuperable (as some have imagined) the next clause is added. THAT HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE SEA. This is the explanation of the possibility of such voyages being possible. And why not? OPHIR. First occurrence Genesis 10:29, where Ophir, the son of Joktan, was the ancestor of several Arabian tribes. Rhodesia is probably the land indicated. About five hundred ruins are scattered over. large area. There are evidences' of gold-smelting in the great Zimbawe buildings, where the ancient ruins resemble the ruins in Syria, temple and fortress being combined. Tharshish ships for Ezion-geber sailed thither to Fast Africa, as well as to Arabia and India. The Queen of Sheba being mentioned in close connection with Ophir ...

_sent him by the hand of his servants ships_ The natural interpretation of these words is that Huram had ships transported overland from the Phœnician coast to the Gulf of Akaba, a difficult but not impossible task. In 1 Kin. however it is merely said that Solomon built ships in Ezion-geber probably with the help of Huram and that Huram helped to man them. Probably the text of Chron. should be corrected here from the text of Kings. _Ophir_ The situation of this oft-mentioned place is not known. It has been identified with some part of the coast (_a_) of India, (_b_) of Africa, (_c_) of Arabia. The last identification is most probable; Ophir appears as the name of an Arabian tribe (Genesis 10:29). The name is variously written in the LXX. but usually with an initial "S," _Sophir_(_a_). This form may one day help to identify the place. four hundred a

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