2 Chronicles 2

This is the second telling of the building of the temple by Solomon. An interesting tidbit is that Solomon waited until his fourth year to start. It took a while to establish his kingdom but also to begin to amass wealth.

I am reading these books about cities that were at their time the political and military centers of the world. Almost by default they also became the richest cities in the world. I am reading books about London and Rome specifically but also some about New York (or maybe Washington) as the present center of power in the world. Now for a time the center of power, certainly in this region is Jerusalem.

Some archaeologists/pre-historians claim that this never happened. It is hard to find corroborations in the extant writings of the neighboring countries. But accuracy was not a goal for these writings, usually royal records extolling the successes of their kings and armies. They are not likely to tell of the times when their power was in eclipse. So a time when Jerusalem and its king were powerful, more powerful even than the neighboring countries, well it is certainly possibly.

Hiram of Lebanon is again spoken of. I'd like to think Hiram was paid for his lumber, paid fairly. But we are not told that. We are told that his workers are paid for their labor. But it looks like Hiram sent the lumber as tribute. He is the vassal and he sends this precious resource to Solomon certainly because Solomon is his protector. But he also does seem to genuinely have respect for Solomon and his father David. And Hiram speaks well of Israel's God. Perhaps he does admire Solomon's desire to build a permanent temple in Israel's relatively new capitol city.

Hiram sent what he has in abundance and Solomon sends what he needs, food. Tyre seems to be a coastal city-state with little land for producing crops. Tyre is a net importer of food, probably. So it is a fair trade though what Hiram has is a rare commodity in this region, a forest of tall hardwood trees.

In chapter three we learn that the gold Solomon uses in the temple comes from a place called Parvaim. I do not know where this is. Anyone know. Perhaps it comes from lower Africa. I seem to remember in first kings there is mention of ships heading down the Red Sea to Ophir and trading with people there. With power comes control of trading. Solomon also sent traders in the Mediterranean as well. That brought lots of resources and increased the wealth of the people.

Here it is mentioned (1:17-18) that the conscripted workers were aliens. This probably made some redactor happy but in 1 Kings the conscripted workers seem to be Israelites. Also it seems that when Rehoboam becomes king and the people ask for less conscription this is a big issue for the people. So it seems that Solomon did find use for a lot of conscripted labor by Israelites during his reign. That is what absolute rulers do and it was in the best interest of people. These workers built walled cities and forts throughout the land. We look back and think it unfair that they were not paid and that they were not able to volunteer. There certainly were people hurt and killed in this dangerous work. But it must have been normal practice in this day and time.

In this chapter we are seeing practical ways in which Solomon's wisdom was used and some details of his wealth.