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 8:7
THE CANAANITES MADE TRIBUTARIES. (Ch2 8:7-11)
all the people that were left, &c.--The descendants of the Canaanites who remained in the country were treated as war prisoners, being obliged to "pay tribute or to serve as galley slaves" (Ch2 2:18), while the Israelites were employed in no works but such as were of an honorable character.
Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 8:9
But of the children of Israel - See the note on Kg1 9:21.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 8:6
And Baalath,.... See 1 Kings 9:18. From hence, to the end of 2 Chronicles 8:11, it is the same with 1 Kings 9:19. See Gill on 1 Kings 9:19. 1 Kings 9:20. 1 Kings 9:21. 1 Kings 9:22. 1 Kings 9:23. 1 Kings 9:24.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Chronicles 8:9-10
שׁלישׁיו ושׁרי should be altered into ושׁלישׁיו שׂריו as in Kg1 9:22, for שׁלישׁים are not chariot combatants, but royal adjutants; see on Exo 14:7 and Sa2 23:8. Over the statute labourers 250 upper overseers were placed. נציבים שׂרי, chief of the superiors, i.e., chief overseer. The Keth. נציבים, praefecti, is the true reading; cf. Ch1 18:13; Ch2 17:2. The Keri has arisen out of Kg1 9:23. These overseers were Israelites, while in the number 550 (Kg1 9:23) the Israelite and Canaanite upper overseers are both included; see on Ch2 2:17. בּעם refers to כּל־העם, Ch2 8:7, and denotes the Canaanite people who remained.
