2 Chronicles 8: 1 – 18
Achievements
8 It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath. 5 He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. 10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people. 11 Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.” 12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries. 16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed. 17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon.
Have you ever been called upon to write a speech or eulogy for someone? If so, what were your thoughts. I am sure you wanted to make a list of the person in question, accomplishments.
To help you in future speeches here is a step by step guide;
Action verbs:
Good writers find it helpful to turn to lists when they write, either because they find the word they’re looking for on the list or because the act inspires them to think in relation to a class of words they’re looking for. In fact, as writers become more specialized within a field, they turn again and again to mental or physical word lists to write effectively. Read a good weather forecast and you’ll find the weather patterns described with such active verbs as “hammered,” “trounced,” “sliced,” and “eased.” Read a good sportscast and you’ll find gleeful discussions of how a losing team was “throttled,” “bashed,” “whipped,” or “humiliated.”
Active verbs are useful tools for writers of personal essays, because they help you to (1) efficiently summarize achievements, and (2) describe relevant phenomena, which may be in the form of research that you’ve completed.
Here are some action verbs that deal with achievements; Achieved, Determined, Observed, Empowered, Managed, Inspired, Encouraged, Implemented, Improvised, Effected, Mediated, Supervised, Taught, and founded.
Relevant Topic:
What do you think your target group cares about? What do you know about the role this person had in the lives of others? With a solid knowledge of your likely audience, you can focus on the right areas to highlight.
Impact:
You need a word here that clearly states what the person did or causes. Make sure the positive impact this person had is clearly stated.
Key Metric:
What was impacted? Make sure that metric is also relevant and measurable in the way that others will understand its significance. For example, Mr. Smith went on 10 mission trips to help those in need.
Benefit:
An accomplishment statement needs numbers. Something tangible like a % increase/decrease, $ revenue up or $ cost down. And you can strengthen the benefit by adding a second short sentence to answer the “so what” question. In this case, you could add: “BENEFIT: Delivered new revenues 6 months sooner than expected.” That’s a nice surprise.
So, if you charted out the key accomplishments like this you will greatly impress your listeners. Sound like a lot of work? I’ll bet if you do it for a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.
In today’s study we will go over such a list of achievements of Solomon which are given to us in writing by our Precious Holy Spirit
The account of Solomon’s reign closes with a full description of his accomplishments as revealed in his activities, his establishment of the worship of YHWH, his relationship with foreign powers, his earthly splendor and his widespread sovereignty.
We now learn of a flurry of splendid building work carried out by Solomon as he established his kingdom. And this included building work in Hamath-zobah which he had first to conquer. He was only relatively a king of peace. Outwardly it was all very splendid, revealing the power and might of Solomon, yet in each case it contained the doubtful element of disobedience to God’s requirements under the Law, including the sufferings of those involved.
8 It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house,
This verse brings out what Solomon had accomplished by the twenty fourth year of his reign (he commenced the building of the Temple in the fourth year of his reign). In the twenty years following the fourth year of his reign he built the Temple and he built his own palace, taking twice as long over the latter. It is noteworthy that the book of Chronicles, while not otherwise mentioning the building of his palace, regularly mentions it alongside his mention of the building of the Temple. It is as though he wants to bring out that Solomon not only sought the glory of YHWH, but also his own glory. This building activity neatly divides Solomon’s reign into two sections, first his building of the Temple and his palace, and then his continual building activity thereafter, and his continued building up of his own glory.
2 that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there.
There is no reason to doubt that Huram gave cities to Solomon. His country would need large supplies of wheat, barley, wine and olive oil, and Solomon himself had initiated the idea of giving cities in payment for necessities (1 Kings 9.11). They would presumably be on the border between Tyre and Israel. These Solomon fortified (‘built’ often signified ‘fortified an already existing city’) and transferred into them some of his own people. They would help to guard his borders.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it.
Solomon also engaged in expansion projects. He invaded Hamath-zobah, (a combined empire of Hamath and Zobah, a region whose chief cities guarded the main trade route from the north. Zobah had previously been a serious opponent of David (1 Kings 18.3, 9;19.16). And Solomon ‘prevailed against it,’ no doubt resulting in much bloodshed. This is the only example given of Solomon’s active expansion by military force. This was partly because most of the work had already been done by David, but that he did it affected his reputation as a king of peace. The incursion is not mentioned in 1 Kings.
4 He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath.
Tadmor was probably seized at the same time as Solomon’s expansion into Hamath-zobah. It was situated 125 miles north east of Damascus and was in the Syrian desert. It was a famous trading center and caught those who tried to avoid the main trade routes by using a route though the Syrian desert. Its seizure was an example of Solomon’s growing greed. YHWH had promised him riches, but Solomon was determined to help YHWH out by making himself rich. His fortifying of it was to ensure that he could hold on to it against any opposition. The store cities built in Hamath were also no doubt aimed at assisting in his trading ventures. He was seeking to gain an even greater monopoly in the land bridge between Egypt and the north by expanding his trade opportunities. He was getting richer and richer.
5 He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
Solomon also fortified Upper and Lower Beth-horon. These controlled the Valley of Aijalon from which a road led towards Jerusalem. He also built or refurbished Baalath and many store cities and military strongpoints, as well as many pleasure palaces and parks in Jerusalem and throughout his large empire. He simply went on and on building, at a great cost to human lives. The store cities would be for his enhanced trading operations, as well as to hold the produce from the royal estates, much of which would be sold on. The pleasure palaces and parks were for the amusement of himself and his wives. And for this huge amount of activity he used slave labor (verses 7-8).
As already mentioned Beth-horon controlled the valley of Aijalon. It was on an important trade route between the maritime plain and the hill country. It was a route later taken by many armies. which invaded Israel. Thus, its fortification by Solomon guarded the trade routes, ensured toll collection and helped to ensure the security of Israel. It was divided into Upper and Lower Beth-horon. Upper Beth-horon was 10 miles north west of Jerusalem and was at a height of 2000 feet above sea level. Lower Beth-horon was 11 miles north west of Jerusalem and was 1300 feet above sea level. Their description as fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars demonstrates their military strength.
Baalath was probably the town of that name on the border of Dan (Joshua 19.44) which was associated with Eltekeh and Gibbethon. It was clearly at the time an important store city.
‘Lebanon.’ It may be that Solomon built a summer house in Lebanon, or it may be that the buildings related to iron mines in Lebanon. Alternately ‘Lebanon’ is a name sometimes applied to sections of northern Canaan (southern Lebanon) which would be ‘within Israel’, and it may be building work there that was in mind here.
7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day.
We learned in chapter 2.2, 17-18 of ‘strangers’ who were levied by Solomon for his building work, including the building of the Temple. Now we learn that these levies were permanent and continued to be used for building work, and included among them the Canaanites (Amorites), although ‘strangers’ in 2.2 would include all non-Israelites).
Strictly speaking these Canaanites should have been slaughtered or driven from the land. They had been ‘devoted’ to YHWH as being unfit to live amongst His people because of their evil and perverted ways (Genesis 15.16). Had Solomon driven them out, removing their pernicious influence from among his people, he might have been justified. But he had no justification for enslaving them (the Gibeonites were enslaved because they had obtained a treaty deceitfully). By allowing them to live in the land he was treating them as ‘strangers’, and as such they had the right to the protection that the Law gave to ‘strangers’, a right that Solomon ignored.
‘Amorites’ was a term that could signify all the pre-conquest inhabitants of the land or could alternatively signify the hill-dwellers in the hill country. The Hittites would possibly be groups which had wandered into Canaan centuries before and were possibly related in some way to the Hittite empire to the north. The Perizzites (‘villagers’) who dwelt in the hills were probably native primitive peoples. The Hivites were principally in the Lebanon hills and the Carmel range. The Jebusites were the ancient inhabitants of the hills around Jerusalem. The population of Canaan as a land which was open to settlers had previously been a very mixed one.
9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry.
While Solomon did not enslave the Israelites, he had made levies on them and forced them to assist in the building of the Temple even though it was only for one month out of three (1 Kings 5.13-14). That being so then the use of Israelites was restricted to their being soldiers, commanders, charioteers, and horsemen. It was they who would utilize the fortresses and chariot cities that Solomon had built.
It should be remembered that the children of Israel were ‘free-men’ and according to the Law could not be turned into bond-slaves, except when it was for debt or by personal choice in order to ensure a livelihood, even by such a tyrant as Solomon’s had become. They were thus called into service as soldiers, officers, commanders, captains, chariot shield-bearers and drivers. This was in fact what Samuel had warned the people would be the result of having a king (1 Samuel 8.12).
10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
In 1 Kings 9.23 we had described the chief officers who were in control of those who did the building (were over Solomon’s work -- the people who wrought the work), which may well have included both Israelite and Canaanites, while here we have described the chief officers who were ‘over the people’ and were Israelites. The fact that the numbers differ suggests that the descriptions are not parallel.
11 Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”
This is the first mention in the book of Chronicles of the daughter of Pharaoh as Solomon’s wife. The verse indicates disapproval of Solomon marrying her.
The Pharaoh in view here was probably not Shishak, but the preceding Pharaoh, Siamun, a Pharaoh of the weak twenty first dynasty, who ruled around 978-959 BC. The weakness of the twenty first dynasty is known from external sources but is apparent here in that Egypt were making no claims on ‘Canaan’, an area which, in their strongest periods, they had looked on as containing vassal city states. They did, however, continue to conduct local actions against the Philistines in protecting their borders from supposed incursions, during which they ‘smote Gezer’ (1 Kings 9.16), so that they were not totally quiet. He did, however, hand Gezer over to Solomon as a wedding present.
For a daughter of Pharaoh to marry a foreign king was almost unheard of, which demonstrates how powerful Solomon’s kingdom was. One of the obvious benefits of this treaty to Solomon was seen in the multiplicity of horses that he later possessed, for Egypt was a well-known source of such horses.
1 King 3.1b informs us that Solomon did not make this move ‘until he had made an end of building his own house’, in other words until he had been on the throne for twenty-four years. He had thus put up with her idolatry in the city of David for a considerable length of time after the Ark had been brought into that city. It had clearly taken a long time for his conscience to become sensitive on the matter.,
We must remember that Pharaoh’s daughter would not have been living alone. She would have had with her a large retinue of Egyptian servants, her own idolatrous priests, and her own idol sanctuary. Solomon would hardly have dared to refuse this. It would have been an insult to the Pharaoh. Thus, idolatrous worship was being carried on in David’s house for over twenty years. It appears to have taken Solomon this length of time to recognize that an idol sanctuary and the Ark of YHWH were not compatible, which explains how he had been willing to use idolaters in building the Temple. Prior to this he had glided over the issue.
So here Solomon’s downward slide is depicted as progressing. First, he traded in horses with Egypt contrary to Deuteronomy 17.16 (1.14-17). Then he used an idolatrous architect and idolatrous labor in building the Temple (2.1-18). Then he allowed standing pillars as used in idolatrous temples (3.17). Then he allowed to be introduced into the Temple graven images such as the standing Cherubim and the bulls holding up the brazen sea (3.10; 4.3-4). Then he replaced the ‘original’ golden table of showbread and the ‘original’ golden seven branched lampstand with his architect’s own inventions (4.7-8). Then he enslaved large numbers of ‘strangers’ contrary to Leviticus 19.34 for his building work (8.7-8). Now he admits to having married an idolatrous Egyptian princess of whose spiritual status he disapproved. By this he demonstrated that even according to his own conscience his flirtations with idolatry were unjustifiable.
The establishment in the Temple of true worship in accordance with the Law and in accordance with the commands of the prophet David is now described, indicating Solomon’s desire for the glory of YHWH, and concluding with the fact that everything was set thoroughly in order.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Temple being completed as far as was necessary the round of worship established by the Law of Moses was set in motion, the morning and evening burnt-offerings, the sabbath offerings, the new moon offerings, and the offerings at the three annual feasts, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of sevens, and the feast of Tabernacles, all offered on the altar of YHWH which was in the court before the doors of the Temple (before YHWH Leviticus 23.1-37; Numbers 28-29).
14 And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded.
Solomon also ensured the establishment in their courses of the priests, the Levites (including the musicians), and the gatekeepers (security men) in accordance with what David had commanded, so that they might fulfil their duties as every day required (1 Chronicles 23-26).
Please note the ascription to David of the title ‘man of God’ a term which indicates a prophet. His work was the consequence of divine inspiration.
Thus, the priests ministered in the Sanctuary and in the inner court in accordance with their priestly responsibilities; the Levites led the praise and performed the offices for which they were responsible as regards the priests; and the gatekeepers (the security men) watched the gates and kept their eyes on the treasuries.
15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.
All was done in accordance with David’s commandment to the priests and Levites (which, of course, included the gatekeepers) with regards to everything, especially the treasuries, the value of which would have been almost beyond assessing.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD until it was finished. So, the house of the LORD was completed.
This was the day at which all Solomon’s activities had been aiming, from the foundation of the Temple to its conclusion. And so, the house of YHWH and its ministry was set thoroughly in order. The true worship and honoring of YHWH was ensured.
In this passage we have the Huram still active in Solomon’s kingdom. Andwich. Huram’s gives assistance, selling ships to Solomon and hiring seamen to him (such trading was regularly by means of two-way ‘gifts’), and ends with the ships returning with exotic cargoes. They enabled Solomon to gather large amounts of gold from Ophir together with other precious things.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon.
Because of David’s conquest of Edom Solomon had control of the port of Ezion-Geber on the Red Sea. It was an important maritime trade route for Arabia and East Africa. Eloth (Elath) also was on the Gulf of Aqabah and is mentioned for identification purposes. These facilities would provide Solomon with huge revenues, as well as enabling his own trading ventures.
Taking advantage of his treaty friendship with Hiram Solomon set up his own fleet, first buying ships, and then probably constructing them, with his own people receiving expert guidance and help from the experienced Tyrian sailors and shipbuilders. And they regularly set sail for Ophir and returned bringing back large consignments of gold.
