Chapter I

=1‒6.=
SOLOMON’S GREAT SACRIFICE AT GIBEON.

Verses 1‒5 are the composition of the Chronicler; for verse 6 compare 1 Kings iii. 4.

¹AND Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom,
and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

=1.= _was strengthened_] or, _strengthened himself_, a favourite expression of the Chronicler; compare xii. 13, xiii. 21 (_waxed mighty_), xvii. 1, xxiii. 1, etc.

_magnified_] compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 25.

²And Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands
and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all
Israel, the heads of the fathers’ _houses_.

=2.= _unto all Israel_] The impression, conveyed in the preceding chapter, that Solomon’s accession was marred by no internal discord in the nation, is again emphasised.

³So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the
high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting
of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the
wilderness.

=3.= _the high place ... at Gibeon_] Compare 1 Chronicles xvi. 39, xxi. 29; 1 Kings iii. 4. The passage in Kings naïvely states that Solomon offered his sacrifice at Gibeon (6 miles north-west of Jerusalem) _because that was the great high place_. The Chronicler regarded the worship of the high-places as an illegal act, and sought to justify Solomon’s action in this undeniable instance by the theory that the tent of meeting and the brasen altar (verse 5) were at the high-place of Gibeon (see the head-note to 1 Chronicles xiii.). Without doubt the high-place at Gibeon had been used by the Canaanites for worship from a very early date.

_in the wilderness_] See Exodus xxv. 1 ff., xxxv. 4 ff.

⁴But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim to
_the place_ that David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a
tent for it at Jerusalem.

=4.= =Kiriath-jearim=] Compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 5.

_pitched a tent_] compare 1 Chronicles xv. 1.

⁵Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son
of Hur, had made, was there¹ before the tabernacle of the LORD:
and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

¹ Or, as otherwise read, _he had put_.

=5.= _Bezalel_] See Exodus xxxi. 2, xxxviii. 1‒7, and compare 1 Chronicles ii. 20.

_was there_] margin _he had put_. In the Hebrew the position of a point makes the difference between these two translations.

_sought unto it_] See 1 Chronicles xxviii. 8, note.

⁶And Solomon went¹ up thither to the brasen altar before the
LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand
burnt offerings upon it.

¹ Or, _offered there, upon ... yea, he offered_.

=6.= _went up thither_] or, as margin, _offered there, upon_. It is to be noted that the Chronicler does not ignore the exercise of priestly functions by Solomon, although such exercise must have seemed wrong in his eyes, but follows his authority (1 Kings iii. 4) without adding any explanation.

=7‒13= (= 1 Kings iii. 5‒15).
SOLOMON’S VISION, AND RETURN TO JERUSALEM.

⁷In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him,
Ask what I shall give thee. ⁸And Solomon said unto God, Thou
hast shewed great kindness unto David my father, and hast made
me king in his stead.

=7.= _did God appear_] In Kings, _the LORD appeared in a dream_.

⁹Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be
established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the
dust of the earth in multitude.

=9.= _thy promise_] i.e. that Solomon would be king after David, that he would build the Temple, and that his house would reign over Israel for ever (1 Chronicles xxii. 9 ff.). Part of this promise had come true, and Solomon now prays for the fulfilment of the remainder. It is, however, possible that the particular reference is to the first words of 1 Chronicles xxii. 12, which may be translated as a promise, _Surely the LORD will give thee wisdom and understanding_.

¹⁰Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come
in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that
is so great? ¹¹And God said to Solomon, Because this was in
thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour,
nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long
life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou
mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

=10.= _go out and come in_] The phrase denotes the transaction of business of all kinds.

_judge_] Although every village by its headmen dispensed its own justice to its inhabitants, yet enough cases too hard for local decision remained over to make the king’s judicial functions of very great importance; compare 2 Samuel xiv. 4 ff., xv. 2‒4.

¹²wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give
thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings
have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any
after thee have the like.

=12.= _wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee_] The incident illustrates the truth that _To him that hath shall be given_; Solomon had wisdom enough to offer a wise prayer; increase of wisdom followed as the answer to the prayer.

¹³So Solomon came _from his journey_¹ to the high place that was
at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, unto Jerusalem; and
he reigned over Israel.

¹ The Septuagint and Vulgate have, _came from the high place_.

=13.= from his journey _to the high place that was at Gibeon_] This clause yields no sense in the Hebrew and is probably a misplaced gloss. Read simply, =Then Solomon came to Jerusalem= (compare 1 Kings iii. 15), or, as margin following LXX., =came from the high place=....

=14‒17= (= 1 Kings x. 26‒29).
SOLOMON’S HORSES AND CHARIOTS.

¹⁴And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a
thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen,
which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at
Jerusalem.

=14.= _a thousand and four hundred chariots_] See note on ix. 25.

_the chariot cities_] The greater part of Palestine is unsuitable for the evolutions of chariots, but flat country is found along the coast of the Mediterranean, in the plain of Esdraelon, and east of Jordan, and in these three districts the chariot cities were probably situated. Compare G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, p. 667, Appendix v.

¹⁵And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones,
and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the
lowland, for abundance.

=15.= _to be in Jerusalem as stones_] In Kings this is asserted of silver only. Jerusalem is one of the stoniest places in the world. See Kelman, _Holy Land_, pp. 9‒11.

_the sycomore trees_] See 1 Chronicles xxvii. 28, note.

_lowland_] Literally _the Shephelah_; i.e. essentially the stretch of low hills separating the maritime plain from the hill country of Judah, yet perhaps also including the Philistine plain. See Hastings, _Dictionary of the Bible_ III. 893‒894.

¹⁶And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt;
the king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a
price.

=16.= _And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt_] Egypt is an agricultural not a pastoral country; it lacks the broad plains suitable for the rearing of large numbers of horses. But the Arabs of the Sinai peninsula stood in close political and mercantile relations with Egypt, and it may be that though the horses were raised in Arabia and Central Asia they passed through Egyptian hands (Barnes on 1 Kings x. 28). It is possible, however, that the reading _Egypt_ is a mistake――see the following note.

_in droves, each drove at a price_] The word “droves” is incorrectly translated “linen yarn” in the Authorized Version The rendering _droves_ is just possible; but it is probable that, on the basis of some versions, we should read =from Ku‘i= (_or_ =Kuë=) =at a price=. _Kuë_ is a district mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions and generally identified with Cilicia. It is further proposed that, instead of _Egypt_ (Hebrew _Miṣraim_), we should read _Muṣri_, a name applied (1) to Egypt, and (2) extended beyond it to the area south of Palestine, and (3) also denoting a district in north Syria, south of the Taurus, and named in Assyrian inscriptions. In this case, in connection with _Kuë_, we should identify it with the last mentioned.

¹⁷And they fetched up, and brought out of Egypt a chariot for
six hundred _shekels_ of silver, and an horse for an hundred and
fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings
of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

=17.= _out of Egypt_] Hebrew _Miṣraim_. If the suggestion mentioned in the previous note be adopted, then here also read _Muṣri_, the north Syrian district.

_and so ... by their means_] i.e. by means of Solomon’s merchants horses were exported for the kings of the Hittites and of Syria.

_Hittites_] Settlements of Hittites seem to have existed here and there in Canaan, but in the regions north-east of Syria they formed a powerful state, able for many centuries to contend on equal terms with the Assyrians and Egyptians. Their chief cities were Carchemish on the Euphrates and Kadesh on the Orontes. They were subdued in the eighth century by the Assyrians.