And all the cities of store that Solomon had,.... In which were his magazines of corn, arms, and ammunition; and these were built in Hamath, 2 Chronicles 8:4 and cities for his chariots; chariots of war, iron chariots, which were kept in times of peace, in case of necessity, of which Solomon had 1400, 1 Kings 10:26, and cities for his horsemen; of...
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,.... Who were not destroyed in the times of Joshua, or since, but dwelt in several cities of the land of Israel from those times; see Jude 1:1, which were not of the children of Israel; not natives of the land of Israel, though they might be proselytes,...
Their children that were left after them in the land,.... The posterity of those left unsubdued in the times of Joshua: whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy; in later times, though now it is thought by some it was not for want of power, but because they had made a covenant with them, as the Gibeonites did, and...
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen,.... For that was contrary to the law; they might be hired servants, but not bond servants, Leviticus 25:39 but they were men of war; which he kept in pay, a standing army, maintained even in time of peace, in case of necessity, should an enemy attempt to invade or surprise them: and his...
These were the chief of the officers over Solomon's work,.... In building the above houses and cities: five hundred and fifty which bore rule over the people that wrought in the work; in 2 Chronicles 8:10 they are said to be but two hundred and fifty; now it may be observed, as is by the Jewish writers, that there were three sorts of those rulers;...
But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David,.... Where he placed her when he first married her, until he had finished his buildings, 1 Kings 3:1, which being done he brought her from thence unto her house, which Solomon had built for her; the reason of which is given, not only because it was the house of David, but because it was holy...
And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord,.... The brasen altar, the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the priests, and by whom he offered. The three times were the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, as explained in 2 Chronicles 8:13,...
And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber,.... Which was one of the stations of the Israelites, near the wilderness of Sin, or Paran, Numbers 33:35, it signifies the backbone of a man; and it is said (w) the ridge of rocks before this port were in that form, covered by the sea at high water, and sticking up with various points in a line...
And Hiram sent in his navy his servants,.... And, according to 2 Chronicles 8:18, ships also but how he could send them from Tyre, which lay in the Mediterranean sea, to the above ports in the Red sea, without going a great way round, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps, as Gussetins conjectures (c), Hiram had a port in the Red sea for building and...
And they came to Ophir,.... About which place there are various opinions; some take it to be the little island of Zocatora, on the eastern coast of Africa, at a small distance from the straits of Babelmandel; others the island of Ceylon; others Sofala in Africa; some (k) Peru in America; Vatablus the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies,...