2. Chronik 9:25 Kommentar

Solomon here continues to appear great both at home and abroad. We had this account of his grandeur, 1 Kings 10. Nothing is here added; but his defection towards his latter end, which we have there (ch. 11), is here omitted, and the close of this chapter brings him to the grave with an unstained reputation. Perhaps none of the chapters in the Chronicles agree so much with a chapter in the Kings as this does with 1 Kings 10 verse for verse, only that the first two verses there are put into one here, and Ch2 9:25 here is taken from Kg1 4:26, and the last three verses here from Kg1 11:41-43. Here is, I. The honour which the queen of Sheba did to Solomon, in the visit she made him to hear his wisdom (Ch2 9:1-12). II. Many instances given of the riches and splendour of Solomon's court (v. 13-28). III. The conclusion of his reign (Ch2 9:29-31).

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 9 The ninth chapter is the same with Kg1 10:1 excepting Ch2 9:26, which agrees with Kg1 4:21, the same with Kg1 11:41, only in Ch2 9:29 it is more largely expressed that the acts of Solomon's reign were written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nebat; or rather "concerning Jeroboam", as the Septuagint and some other versions (b), in which Iddo is called Joel; and by Theodoret said to be the same that prophesied of Jeroboam and his altar, See Gill on Kg1 13:1; the books mentioned are since lost. (b) Sept. de, Junius & Tremellias, Piscator.

The queen of Sheba visits Solomon, and is sumptuously entertained by him, Ch2 9:1-12. His great riches, Ch2 9:13, Ch2 9:14. He makes targets and shields of beaten gold, and a magnificent ivory throne, and various utensils of gold, Ch2 9:15-20. His navigation to Tarshish, and the commodities brought thence, Ch2 9:21. His magnificence and political connections, Ch2 9:22-28. The writers of his life, Ch2 9:29. He reigns forty years, and is succeeded by his son Rehoboam, Ch2 9:30, Ch2 9:31.

Four thousand stalls for horses - See the note on Kg1 4:26, where the different numbers in these two books are considered. The Targum, instead of four thousand, has ארבע מאה arba meah, four hundred.

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON; SHE ADMIRES HIS WISDOM AND MAGNIFICENCE. (Ch2 9:1-12) when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon--(See on Kg1 10:1-13). It is said that among the things in Jerusalem which drew forth the admiration of Solomon's royal visitor was "his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord." This was the arched viaduct that crossed the valley from Mount Zion to the opposite hill. In the commentary on the passage quoted above, allusion was made to the recent discovery of its remains. Here we give a full account of what, for boldness of conceptions for structure and magnificence, was one of the greatest wonders in Jerusalem. "During our first visit to the southwest corner of the area of the mosque, we observed several of the large stones jutting out from the western wall, which at first seemed to be the effect of a bursting of the wall from some mighty shock or earthquake. We paid little regard to this at the moment; but on mentioning the fact not long after to a circle of our friends, the remark was incidentally dropped that the stones had the appearance of having once belonged to a large arch. At this remark, a train of thought flashed across my mind, which I hardly dared to follow out until I had again repaired to the spot, in order to satisfy myself with my own eyes as to the truth or falsehood of the suggestion. I found it even so. The courses of these immense stones occupy their original position; their external surface is hewn to a regular curve; and, being fitted one upon another, they form the commencement or foot of an immense arch which once sprung out from this western wall in a direction towards Mount Zion, across the Tyropœon valley. This arch could only have belonged to the bridge, which, according to JOSEPHUS, led from this part of the temple to the Xystus (covered colonnade) on Zion; and it proves incontestably the antiquity of that portion from which it springs" [ROBINSON]. The distance from this point to the steep rock of Zion ROBINSON calculates to be about three hundred and fifty feet, the probable length of this ancient viaduct. Another writer adds, that "the arch of this bridge, if its curve be calculated with an approximation to the truth, would measure sixty feet, and must have been one of five sustaining the viaduct (allowing for the abutments on either side), and that the piers supporting the center arch of this bridge must have been of great altitude--not less, perhaps, than one hundred and thirty feet. The whole structure, when seen from the southern extremity of the Tyropœon, must have had an aspect of grandeur, especially as connected with the lofty and sumptuous edifices of the temple, and of Zion to the right and to the left" [ISAAC TAYLOR'S EDITION OF TRAILL'S JOSEPHUS].

Solomon had four thousand stalls--It has been conjectured [GESENIUS, Hebrew Lexicon] that the original term may signify not only stall or stable, but a number of horses occupying the same number of stalls. Supposing that ten were put together in one part, this would make forty thousand. According to this theory of explanation, the historian in Kings refers to horses [see Kg1 10:26]; while the historian in Chronicles speaks of the stalls in which they were kept. But more recent critics reject this mode of solving the difficulty, and, regarding the four thousand stalls as in keeping with the general magnificence of Solomon's establishments, are agreed in considering the text in Kings as corrupt, through the error of some copyist.

The visit of the queen of Sheba. Cf. Kg1 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 Kg1 10:1-13.

Ch2 9:25 does not correspond to the passage Kg1 10:26, but in contents and language agrees with Kg1 5:6, and Ch2 9:26 with Kg1 5:1. Only the general estimate of Solomon's riches in gold and silver, in Ch2 9:27, repeated from Ch2 1:15, corresponds to Kg1 10:27. Finally, in Ch2 9:28 the whole description is rounded off; all that has already been said in Ch2 1:16, Ch2 1:17 as to the trade in horses with Egypt (Kg1 10:28-29) being drawn together into one general statement.