Other events during Solomon's rule

The LORD appears to Solomon again

(2 Chronicles 7.11-22)

1The LORD's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished, and Solomon had built everything he wanted. 2Some time later the LORD appeared to him again in a dream, just as he had done at Gibeon.9.2: 1 K 3.5; 2 Ch 1.7. 3The LORD said:

I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. This temple you have built is where I will be worshipped for ever. It belongs to me, and I will never stop watching over it.

4You must obey me, as your father David did, and be honest and fair. Obey my laws and teachings, 5and I will keep my promise to David that someone from your family will always be king of Israel.9.5: 1 K 2.4.

6But if you or any of your descendants disobey my commands or start worshipping foreign gods, 7I will no longer let my people Israel live in this land I gave them. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshipped. Then people everywhere will think this nation is only a joke and will make fun of it. 8This temple will become a pile of rocks!9.8 a pile of rocks: Some ancient translations; Hebrew “high”. Everyone who walks by will be shocked, and they will ask, “Why did the LORD do such a terrible thing to his people and to this temple?”9.8: 2 K 25.9; 2 Ch 36.19. 9Then they will answer, “We know why the LORD did this. The people of Israel rejected the LORD their God, who rescued their ancestors from Egypt, and they started worshipping other gods.”

Other things Solomon did

(2 Chronicles 8.1-18)

10It took twenty years for the LORD's temple and Solomon's palace to be built. 11Later, Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in the region of Galilee to repay him for the cedar, pine, and gold he had given Solomon.

12When Hiram went to see the towns, he did not like them. 13He said, “Solomon, my friend, are these the kind of towns you want to give me?” So Hiram called the region Cabul because he thought it was worthless.9.13 Cabul…worthless: Cabul sounds like the Hebrew word for “worthless”. 14He sent Solomon only five thousand kilogrammes of gold in return.

15After Solomon's workers had finished the temple and the palace, he ordered them to fill in the land on the east side of Jerusalem,9.15 fill…Jerusalem: The Hebrew text has “build the Millo”, which probably refers to a landfill to strengthen and extend the hill where the city was built. to build a wall around the city, and to rebuild the towns of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16Earlier, the king of Egypt had captured the town of Gezer; he burnt it to the ground and killed the Canaanite people living there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present when she married Solomon. 17So Solomon had the town rebuilt.

Solomon made his workers rebuild Lower Beth-Horon, 18Baalath, and Tamar in the desert of Judah. 19They also built towns where he could keep his supplies and his chariots and horses. Solomon made them build whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and anywhere in his kingdom.

20-22Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. They were his soldiers, officials, leaders, commanders, chariot captains, and chariot drivers. But he did make slaves of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites could not destroy, and they remained Israel's slaves.

23Solomon appointed five hundred and fifty officers to be in charge of his workers and to watch over his building projects.

24Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the older part of Jerusalem9.24 the older…Jerusalem: See the note at 3.1. to her new palace. Then Solomon had the land on the east side of Jerusalem filled in.9.24 the land…filled in: See the note at 9.15.

25Three times a year, Solomon burnt incense and offered sacrifices to the LORD on the altar he had built.9.25: Ex 23.17; 34.23; Dt 16.16.

Solomon had now finished building the LORD's temple.

26He also had a lot of ships at Ezion-Geber, a town in Edom near Eloth on the Red Sea.9.26 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the north-eastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.11). 27-28King Hiram let some of his experienced sailors go to the country of Ophir9.27,28 Ophir: The location of this place is not known. with Solomon's own sailors, and they brought back about fourteen thousand kilogrammes of gold for Solomon.