Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 8:1-11
This we had Kg1 9:10-24, and therefore shall only observe here,
I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study, but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business as it is in summer to provide food for winter.
II. As he was a man of business himself, and did not consult his own ease, so he employed a great many hands, kept abundance of people to work. It is the interest of a state by all means possible to promote and encourage industry, and to keep its subjects from idleness. A great many strangers there were in…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 8:11
Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her--On his marriage with the Egyptian princess at the beginning of his reign, he assigned her a temporary abode in the city of David, that is, Jerusalem, until a suitable palace for his wife had been erected. While that palace was in progress, he himself lodged in the palace of David, but he did not allow her to occupy it, because he felt that she being a heathen proselyte, and having brought from her own country an establishment of heathen maid-servants, there would have been an impropriety in her being domiciled in a mansion which was or had been hallowed by the reception of the ark. I…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 8:11
The daughter of Pharaoh - "And Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Solomon brought up from the city of David to the palace which he had built for her." - T.
Because the places are holy - Is not this a proof that he considered his wife to be a heathen, and not proper to dwell in a place which had been sanctified? Solomon had not yet departed from the true God.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 8:6