II Chronicles 8:5

Solomon's City-Building, Statute Labour, Arrangement of Public Worship, and Nautical Undertakings - 2 Chronicles 8 The building of the temple was the most important work of Solomon's reign, as compared with which all the other undertakings of the king fall into the background; and these are consequently only summarily enumerated both in the book of Kings and in the Chronicle. In our chapter, in the first place, we have, (a) the building or completion of various cities, which were of importance partly as strongholds, partly as magazines, for the maintenance of the army necessary for the defence of the kingdom against hostile attacks (Ch2 8:1-6); (b) the arrangement of the statute labour for the execution of all his building works (Ch2 8:7-11); (c) the regulation of the sacrificial service and the public worship (Ch2 8:12-16); and (d) the voyage to Ophir (Ch2 8:17, Ch2 8:18). All these undertakings are recounted in the same order and in the same aphoristic way in 1 Kings 9:10-28, but with the addition of various notes, which are not found in our narrative; while the Chronicle, again, mentions several not unimportant though subordinate circumstances, which are not found in the book of Kings; whence it is clear that in the two narratives we have merely short and mutually supplementary extracts from a more elaborate description of these matters.

In this chapter we are told, I. What cities Solomon built (Ch2 8:1-6). II. What workmen Solomon employed (Ch2 8:7-10). III. What care he took about a proper settlement for his wife (Ch2 8:11). IV. What a good method he put the temple-service into (Ch2 8:12-16). V. What trading he had with foreign countries (Ch2 8:17, Ch2 8:18).

8:5 Upper and Lower Beth-horon sit astride a ridge rising from the Valley of Aijalon to the plateau north of Jerusalem. Fortifications protected the route connecting Jerusalem to the major coastal trade route.