A E¹ 1,2. Appearance. E² 3. Acceptance. E³ 4-9. Admonition.
897 B.C.
9)
1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord (Yehovah) (i.e. the Temple), and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
2 That the Lord (Yehovah) appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon (see 3:5).
3 And the Lord (Yehovah) said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me: I have hallowed this house, which you have built, to put My name there for ever; and My eyes and My mind shall be there perpetually.
E³ g 4. Obedience. h 5. Establishment. g 6. Disobediece. h 7-9. Rejection.
4 And if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of mind, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, [and] will keep My statutes and My judgments:
5 Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Israel for ever, according as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Israel.’
6 [But] if you all shall at all turn from following Me, all you or your sons, and will not keep My commandments [and] My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for My name, will I cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples:
8 And this house will become conspicuous; every passer by will be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, ‘Why has the Lord (Yehovah) done thus to this land, and to this house?’
9 And they shall answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord (Yehovah) their God (Elohim), Who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore has the Lord (Yehovah) brought upon them all this evil’ ” (or tumolt).
10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years (cp. 7:1), when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord (Yehovah), and the king's house,
11 {[Now] Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir (or cyprus) trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,} that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.
13 And he said, “What cities [are] these which you have given me, my brother?” And he called them the land of Cabul to this day (= limitation. The point of the sarcasm is not apparent to us on account of our not knowing the meaning of the word. It has been variously suggested as meaning "worthless", "not to my taste" [Josephus]. Galilee always despised. Sept. reads "frontier"; others "recieved as a pledge"; others "good for nothing").
14 And Hiram sent to the king (referring to v.11. perhaps this was an advance for which the cities of v.11 were the security) sixscore talents of gold (*aprox. 24,000 lbs.).
F i 15. Levy for buildings. k 16. Pharaoh's daughter. City given. l 17-19. Buildings. Gezer, &c. i 20-23. Levy for buildings. k 24-. Pharaoh's daughter. House built. l -24. Building. Milo.
987 to 880 B.C.
15 And this [is] the account (or schedule) of the levy which king Solomon raised (i.e. tribute of men. Same word as 5:13-18; not the sme word as v.21.); for to build the house of the Lord (Yehovah), and his own house, and the Millo (= a rampart, mount. Part of Jebusite city, or the filling up between Jebus and Moriah. Hezekiah strengthened it. Schechem had a "millo" [Judg.9:6]. Cp. v.24; 11:27. 2 Sam.5:9. 1 Chron.11:8. 2 Chron.32:54), and the wall of Jerusalem (begun by David [2 Sam.5:9. 1 Chron.11:8]. Solomon closed the breaches [11:27]), and Hazor (= castle. An old Canaanitish town [Josh.11:1]), and Megiddo (= place of crowds. See Josh.12:21. Judg.1:27; 5:19 and 1 Kings 4:12), and Gezer (= a precipice. Gezer was formerly under the suzerainty of Egypt. Correspondence of the time of Amen-hotep III and IV, about 1450 B.C., has been found at Tel-el-Amarnah explorations, which entions Yapakhi as "king" of Gezer. Letters from Abdkhiba, king of Jerusalem, complain of the Gezerites. First mention in Josh.10:33. Conquest only partial [Jos.16:10. Judg.1:29]. Alloted to Levites [Josh.21:21]. In excavation by Palestine Exploration Fund a contract was found, dated 649 B.C. [in Assyrian]. Gezer still then under an Egyptian Governor. Another contract, dated 647 B.C., was found, showing an Assyrian occupation in the time of Manasseh. This may explain the "captains" of 2 Chron.33:11).
16 [For] Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it [for] a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 And Solomon rebuilt and fortified Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,
18 And Baalath, and Tadmor (called, later, Palmyra [from its palms]) in the wilderness, in the land,
19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 [And] all the people [that were] left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which [were] not of the sons of Israel,
21 Their sons that were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice to this day (see v.22).
22 But of the sons of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen (according to Lev.25:39. The levy, of 5:13; 11:28, was a levy for free service. This was for bondservice [v.21]): but they [were] men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 These [were] the chief of the officers that [were] over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the People that wrought in the work.
24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which [Solomon] had built for her:
then did he build Millo.
25 And three times in a year did Solomon offer up (cp. Ex.23:14-17. Deut.16:16. 2 Chron.8:13) burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built to Yehovah, and he burnt incense upon the altar that [was] before Yehovah. So he finished the house.
C G¹ 9:26-28. Riches. Navy. H¹ 10:1-10. Wisdom. Queen of Sheba. G² 10:11,12. Riches. Navy. H² 10:13. Wisdom. Queen of Sheba. G³ 10:14-29. Riches. Possessions.
26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber (= giants backbone. Cp. Num.33:35. Deut.2:8. Position lost when Edom revolted [2 Kings 8:20]. restored by Uzziah [2 Kings 14:22]. Finally lost by Ahaz [2 Kings 16:6]), which [is] beside Eloth (= a grove), on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom (= red).
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir (= abundance. See 2 Chron.8:18), and fetched from that gold, four hundred and twenty talents (*84,000 lbs.), and brought [it] to king Solomon.
10)
1 And when the queen of Sheba (cp. 2 Chron.9:1. Sheba = seven, or an oath. A grandson of Cush, settled in Ethiopia [Gen.10:70]: i.e. Nubia and North Abyssinia, where female sovereigns were not unusual. Cp. Acts 8:27) kept hearing of the report of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord (Yehovah) (by the comercial intercourse of 9:26-28. Cp. 2 Chron.8:17; 9:1. Note her 7 steps [#7 = spiritual perfection, completeness]: heard [here in v.1]; came [v.2]; communed [v.2]; saw [v.4]; said [v.6]; gave [v.10]; returned [v.13]), she came to prove him with abstruse (or difficult) questions.
2 And she came to Jerusalem (note the use of this made by the Lord Jesus in Matt.12:42. Luke 11:31) with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to king Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart (beter translated "mind").
3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not [any] thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the seated assembly of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent (the covered stairway connecting Mount Zion [Jebus] with Mount Moriah. Cp. 2 Kings 16:18. Ascent is the word for burnt or "ascending offering", by the merits of which we ascend now) by which he went up to the house of the Lord (Yehovah) (i.e. the Temple); there was no more spirit in her.
6 And she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom.
7 However I believed not the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen [it]: and, behold, the half was not told me: your wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard.
8 Happy [are] your men, happy [are] these your servants, which stand continually before you, [and] that hear your wisdom.
9 Blessed be the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), Which delights in you (see Num.14:8. 2 Sam.15:26), to set you on the throne of Israel: because the Lord (Yehovah) loved Israel for ever, therefore made He you king, to do judgment and righteousness.”
10 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold (*aprox. 24,000 lbs), and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11 And the navy also of Hiram (joined with Solomon [v.22;9:27,28), that brought gold from Ophir (see 2 Chron.8:18), brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees (not sandalwood, because found, too, in Lebanon [2 Chron.2:8]. Cuneiform, giz-ku = precious wood; and Accadian, giz-dan = strong wood), and precious stones.
12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord (Yehovah), and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen to this day.
13 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside [that] which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty (Heb. according to the hand of king Solomon). So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
G² m p 14. Gold. Material. q 15. Means. Merchandice. n r 16-21. Manufactures. Armour, &c. s 22. Means. Navy. o 23,24. Pre-eminence. n s 25. Means. Presents. r 26. Manufactures. Chariots, &c. m p 27,28-. Silver, cedars, &c. q -28,29. Mean. Merchandice.14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon (probably in tariffs) in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold (= 666. Symbolical of the height or essence of man's desire, but all vanity. Cp. Ecc.2:8,11. 1 Tim.6:10. *Aprox. 133,200 lbs. By todays standards aprox. 40 million dollars(in 2000) ),
U t 1-8. Sins. Committed. u 9-. Yehovah's anger. t -9,10. Sins. Charged. u 11-40. Yehovah's punishment.
11)
1 But king Solomon loved many foreign women (note the frequent reference to these in the Book of Proverbs. Note the 3 steps in Solomon's fall: wealth, weapons, and women. Cp. Deut.17:16-17, where note the items in which Solomon failed), together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites;
2 Of the nations [concerning] which the Lord (Yehovah) said to the sons of Israel (see Ex.34:16), “You all shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods:” Solomon clove to these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart (or better translated "mind").
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his mind after other gods: and his mind was not perfect with the Lord (Yehovah) his God (Elohim) (see 8:61), according to as [was] the mind of David his father (David was faultless as to idolatry).
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians (cp. Judg.2:13. 1 Sam.7:3; 12:10; 31:10), and after Milcom (same as Malcham, the Aramaic pronunciation of Molech [v.7]. See Zeph.1:5. Translated "their king" [Jer.49:1. Amos 1:15]) the abomination of the Ammonites (the word used for an idol by Fig., because of Yehovah's hatred which is produced. Cp. 2 Kings 23:13. Dan.9:27).
6 And Solomon did the evil in the sight of the Lord (Yehovah), and went not fully after Yehovah, according to as [did] David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh (= subdoer. Cp. Num.21:29. Jer.48:7,13,46. 2 Kings 23:13), the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before Jerusalem (= Mount of Olives! Hence called "the Mount of Corruption" [2 Kings23:13]), and for Molech (= king. Generally has the article and denotes the king-idol. [Lev.18:21; 20:2,3,4,5. 1 Kings 11:7. 2 Kings 23:10. Jer.32:35]. Isa.30:33 and 57:9 may be Molech, the idol, and not Melek, "king"), the abomination of the sons of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his foreign wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 And the Lord (Yehovah) was angry with Solomon (Fig. Heb. ’ãnaph. Used only of Divine anger. Occurs 14 times in the Hithpael = to force one's self to be angry [as with one loved]. See the 6: Deut.1:37; 4:21; 9:8,20. 1 Kings 11:9. 2 Kings 17:18),
because his mind was turned from the Lord God (Yehovah Elohim) of Israel, Which had appeared to him twice (cp. 3:5; 9:2),
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing (cp. 6:12), that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which Yehovah commanded him.
u J¹ 11-13. Threatening (diminution). J² 14-40. Execution (adversaries).
11 Wherefore the Lord (Yehovah) said to Solomon, “Forasmuch as this is done of you, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it for David your father's sake: [but] I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However I will not tear away all the kingdom; [but] will give one tribe (Benjamin reckoned as part of Judah. Cp. vv.30-32) to your son for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.”
J² v x 14. Hadad. y 15-22. Cause. w 23-25. Rezon. v x 26. Jeroboam. y 27-40. Cause.
14 And the Lord (Yehovah) stirred up an adversary (= a Satan) to Solomon, Hadad (= mighty) the Edomite: he [was] of the king's seed in Edom (= red).
15 For it came to pass (cp. 2 Sam.8:3-13), when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain (cp. Ps.60 title, and see note on 2 Sam.8:13), after he had smitten every male [whom he found] in Edom (i.e. who did not flee, as Hadad did);
16 {For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel (see 2 Sam.8:13), until he had cut off every male in Edom:}
17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad [being] yet a little child.
18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.
19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers (cp. Deut.31:16), and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that, behold, you seek to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing: however let me go in any wise.”
23 And God (Elohim) stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon (= prince) the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:
24 And he gathered men to him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them [of Zobah]: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.
25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad [did]: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria (David has subdued Syria [2 Sam.8:3,6; 10:8,18]. Now Solomon, weakened by sin, loses Syria.).
26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zereda (as in 1 Sam.1:1. Not a Bethlehemite, as in Ruth 1:2. Zealous therefore for his tribe as against Judah), Solomon's servant, whose mother's name [was] Zeruah, a widow woman (1 of 9 mentioned in Scripture. See Gen.38:19), even he lifted up [his] hand against the king.
27 And this [was] the cause that he lifted up [his] hand against the king: Solomon built the Millo, [and] repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.
28 And the man Jeroboam [was] a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he gave him oversight over all the charge of the house of Joseph (which gave him opportunity to oppress and create disaffection).
29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah (= friend of Yehovah. He afterwards rebuked Jeroboam [14:6-16]) the Shilonite (= a native of Shiloh, where the Tabernacle and Ark had bee placed [Josh.18:1]. Cp. 1 Sam.4:3) found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two [were] alone in the field:
30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that [was] on him, and tore it [in] twelve pieces (symbolic act. Cp.22:11. Isa.20:2, &c. Jer.19:1-13. Ezek.12:1-20. Zech.11:7,10,14. #12= governmental completeness):
31 And he said to Jeroboam (= whose people are many), “Take you ten pieces: for thus says Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you (Levi not reckoned):
32 {But he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake (put for, and including, Simeon, Benjamin, and Levi, and others who joined later. Cp. 12:23. 2 Chron.11:13; 15:9. All included in 12:20 by Fig. of speech), and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:}
33 Because that they have forsaken Me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon (see vv.5,7), and have not walked in My ways, to do [that which is] right in My eyes, and [to keep] My statutes and My judgments, as [did] David his father.
34 However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes:
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand (fulfilled in 12:16-20), and will give it to you, [even] ten tribes.
36 And to his son will I give one tribe, that David My servant may have a lamp alway before Me in Jerusalem (cp. the "furnice" of 8:51, and see Gen.15:17. Cp. 2 Kings 8:19. Ps.18:28. Jer.25:1: implying the continued existence of the Divine purpose), the city which I have chosen Me to put My name there.
37 And I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel.
38 And it shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you (same conditions as in 9:4), and will walk in My ways, and do [that is] right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and build you a sure house (i.e. a long and unbroken line of descendants), as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever’ ” (thus confirming the prophecy of Gen.49:10, which refers to the tribal pre-eminence of Judah [not national existence], which was preserved till fulfilled in Christ, when David's line ended in Him).
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt (this explains much. He must have thought of Joseph's exaltation, and the blessing pronounced on Ephraim [Gen.48:13-20; 49:22-26]; and by Moses [Deut.33:13-17]. It expains also the origin of the "golden calves" [12:28]), to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, [are] they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? (see Ex.17:14)
920 to 880 B.C.
42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [was] forty years (#40 = probation).
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.