3 And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where he appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build on the second of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. And this was Solomon's foundation for the construction of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. And the porch which was in front was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and the height was a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah. And the house that king Solomon built for Jehovah was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, and thirty cubits in height. And the porch, in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, [and] ten cubits was its breadth, in front of the house. And for the house he made closed windows with fixed lattices. And against the wall of the house he built floors round about, [against] the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about. The lowest floor was five cubits broad, and the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for in the [thickness of the wall of] the house he made resets round about outside, that nothing should be fastened in the walls of the house. And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone entirely made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The visit of the queen of Sheba . Cf. 1 Kings 10:1-13. - This event is narrated as a practical proof of Solomon's extraordinary wisdom. The narrative agrees so exactly in both texts, with the exception of some few quite unimportant differences, that we must regard them as literal extracts from an original document which they have used in common. For the commentary on this section, see on 1 Kings 10:1-13.
Solomon's revenue in gold, and the use he made of it. Cf. 1 Kings 10:14-22, and the commentary there on this section, which is identical in both narratives, with the exception of some trifling differences. Before מביאים והסּחרים the relative pronoun is to be supplied: “and what the merchants brought.” As to the derivation of the word פּחות , which comes from the Aramaic form פּחה , governor (2 Chronicles 9:14), see on Haggai 1:1. - תּרשׁישׁ הלכות אניּות , in 2 Chronicles 9:21, ships going to Tarshish, is an erroneous paraphrase of תּרשׁישׁ אניּות , Tarshish-ships, i.e., ships built for long sea voyages; for the fleet did not go to Tartessus in Spain, but to Ophir in Southern Arabia (see on 1 Kings 9:26.). All the rest has been explained in the commentary on 1 Kings 10.
In 2 Chronicles 9:22-28, all that remained to be said of Solomon's royal glory, his riches, his wisdom, and his revenues, is in conclusion briefly summed up, as in 1 Kings 10:23-29. From 2 Chronicles 9:25 onwards, the account given in the Chronicle diverges from that in 1 Kings 10:26., in so far that what is narrated in 1 Kings 10:26-28 concerning Solomon's chariots and horses, and his trade with Egypt in horses, is here partly replaced by statements similar in import to those in 1 Kings 5, because the former matters had been already treated of in Chr. 2 Chronicles 1:14-17.
2 Chronicles 9:25 does not correspond to the passage 1 Kings 10:26, but in contents and language agrees with 1 Kings 5:6, and 2 Chronicles 9:26 with 1 Kings 5:1. Only the general estimate of Solomon's riches in gold and silver, in 2 Chronicles 9:27, repeated from 2 Chronicles 1:15, corresponds to 1 Kings 10:27. Finally, in 2 Chronicles 9:28 the whole description is rounded off; all that has already been said in 2 Chronicles 1:16, 2 Chronicles 1:17 as to the trade in horses with Egypt (1 Kings 10:28-29) being drawn together into one general statement.
Conclusion of Solomon's history. - 2 Chronicles 9:29. Sources; see the introduction .
2 Chronicles 9:30-31
The length of his reign, his death and burial, and his successor, as in 1 Kings 11:42.