t Both the Levy of Men ; of which, Chap: 5: 13: and the Levy of Money upon his People and SubjeQs, which is ſufficiently evi- dent from many Scriptures. And this Sentence may look both backward and forward. He raiſed this Levy, both ro pay what he owed to Hiram,which is mentioned before ; and to Build the Works here following. « It ſeems to have been an eminent, and large, :and ſtrong Fort or Caſtle in Jeruſalem ; as may be gathered from 1 Kings 11; 27. 2 Chrone 32: 5« x In Naphtali, See 7ojb. 11: 10: and 19: 36. y In that part of the Tribe of Manaſeh within Jordan : of which ſee Joſh. 17: 15. » In Ephraim, Joſh: 21: 21. It now was and long had been in the poſſeſſion of the Canaanites, Joſh. 16; 10. Judg. 1+ 29- and permitted ſo to be by David, and: Solomon ; either by negle&, or becauſe they were buſted in greater and more necei- ſary Employments: ;
; 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and = Gezer a, and burnt it with fire, and {lain the
anaanites that dwelt in the City, and given it for a preſent unto his daughter, Solomons wife.
# Not now, but long before this time, and preſently after the Marriage of his Daughrter,as is moſt probable ; and it is here men= tioned only as the occaſion of Solomon's Building it. Poſſibly the Canaanites of this place had been guilty of ſome hainous Crime ; and becauſe Solemon thought not tit to deſtroy them himſelf, he defired Pharaoh to do it for him,or Pharaeh might offer his Service therein for his Daughter's advantage.
17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the
nether b,
b In Benjamin, Joſ. is. 13, 14+ and Bethoron the upper, which is added 2Chron.$. 5 a City of the Tribe of Ephraim, Joſh. 16. 5. poſ- ſiblie bordering upon Benjamin, and nigh unto the lower Bechoron ; which alone may be here mentioned, either, becauſe it was rhe more famous place : or, becauſe it needed more reparations.
18 And Baalath c, and Tadmor 42, in the wilder-
neſs, in the land e,
c In the time of Dan, Joſ. 19. 40, 44. 4 Suppoſed to be called Tamar, Ezek. 47. 19- e This clauſe may belong either firſt, to all the places above-mentioned, which are here declared to be in the Land of Caxaan. Bur ſo that Clauſe may ſeem ſuperfluous ; for none would eaiily think that he would Build much out of his own Land Or rather, Secondly, To Tadmer, which otherwiſe being in thar Wilderneſs which was the border of the Land, might have been preſumed to have been our of the Land.
19 And all the cities of ſtore f that Solomon had, and cities for' his chariots, and cities for his horſemen,
and tf that which Solomon defired to build in Jeruſa-
zhe defre lem, and in Lebanon g, and in all the land of his do-
minion.
f To lay up Arms and Ammonition for War,and Corn,or other Proviſions, againſt a time of ſcarcity, See Exod. 1: 11. 2 Either in the Mountain of Lebanon, which being the Border of his Land, he might Build ſome Forts, or a Frontier City in it. Or, in the Houſe of the Foreſt of Lebanon : of which ſee Chap. 7. 2.
20 And all the people that were left of the Amorites Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebuſites, which ere not of the children of Iſrael,
21 Their children * that were left after them in the land whom the children of Iſrael alſo were not able utterly to deſtroy, upon thoſe did Solomon levy a tri- bute of bond-ſervice b unto this day.
h He uſed them as Bond-men, and impoſed Burdens and Bodily Labours upon them. See 2 Chron: 2: 18. Hence ſome think they are called Solomon's ſervants, Eara 2: 55, 58. Queſt, Why did not Solomon deſtroy them, as God had commanded, when now it was fully in his power to do ſo ? Anſ. Firſt, The command of deſtroy- ing them,Devr: 7. 2. did chiefly, if not only, concern that Genera- tion of Canaanites, who lived in or near the time of the Iſraelites en- tring into Canaan. Secondly, That Command ſeems not to be Ab- ſolure and Univerſal, but Conditional, and with ſome Exception for thoſe who ſhould ſubmir to them, and embrace the True Re- wg may be gathered both from Fo. r 1:19. and from the Hiſtory of the Gibeonites, Jo 9. whom Jeſbua did not fin in ſparing, when he had ſworn to do 1o ; and Sau! did fin in endeavouring to de- ftroy them- Bur if God's Command had been Abſolute,the Oaths of Jeſbus, and of the Princes, could not have obliged them, nor diſpenſed with ſuch a Command.
22 But of the children of Iſrael did Solomon * make no bond-man : but chey were men of war, and his {rrants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horſemen,
23 Theſe 2 rechs chick of the officers that were over
Solomons work, five hundred and fifty :, which bare
rule over the people that wrought in the work.
# Obj. They were only 250 in 2 C%r0n; 8: 10. Av. Firſt, Thoſe might be Officers of another ſort ; for they are not ſaid to be over the work, as theſe are, but only over the people. Secondly, The 250 were Iſraelites, who are therefore diſtin&tly mentioned in thar Book, where many things are more exaftly noted than in the former ; and the orher zoo were ſtrangers, who therefore are neg. le&ed in that more accurate account. Or, Thirdly, There was bur 250 at one time, which is noted there, and 250 at another time, ( for itis apparent they did their work by turns ) and the other 50 either were Superior to all the reſt ; or rather, were a reſerve to ſupply the place of any of the 500 when there was occafion, which might frequently happen. And ſo this was an a& not unbecom- ing Solomon's Witdom, to make proviſion for Emergencies.
24 C Bur * Pharaohs daughter came up out of the *2 Chr
city of David, unto * her houſe which Solomon had * built for her : then did he build Millo.
25 T And three times in a year & did Solemon offer burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings, upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incenſe f upon the altar that was before the LORD : ſo he tini- + Heb;, ſhed the houſe 7. | "pon i,