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| 1 And it came to pass when Solomon had completed the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, |
Finished the building – He began the building in the fourth year of his reign. Its construction occupied seven years. R2059:3
The king's house – Solomon's own palace took 13 years to build. R2059:3
All Solomon's desire – Reached the period where he was "in all his glory," (Matt. 6:29) the critical point of dan R2059:3
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| 2 that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. |
Appeared ... second time – Occurred 24 years after he had become king, when he had reached 44 years of age. R2059:2
As he had appeared – As before at Gibeon, in a dream. R2059:6
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| 3 And Jehovah said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. |
Shall be there perpetually – Implying his approval of Solomon's course up to this time. R2059:6
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| 4 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; |
In integrity of heart – Not absolute perfection, but heart intentions. R2059:6
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| 5 then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. |
Promised to David – Not merely to the immediate descendants of Solomon and David, but his particular reference is to Christ. R2059:6
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| 6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments, my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; |
Turn from following me – Solomon chose the wrong path. R2060:1
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| 7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and the house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by word among all peoples; |
Cut off Israel – The Lord's rejection for a time was the result of their rejection of him, in part induced by Solomon's choice. R2060:1
Byword – The house which Solomon built unto the Lord was later robbed, profaned, and did become a byword. R2060:1
Among all people – When noting the fulfillment of these prophecies against Israel we must not forget the equally strong testimonies of God that he will gather them again. OV76:1
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| 8 and this house, which is high, every one that passes by it shall be astonished at, and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house? |
High – Notable in the eyes of the world. R2060:1
Hiss – It was robbed of its treasures and profaned. R2060:1
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| 9 And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore has Jehovah brought upon them all this evil. |
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| 10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house, |
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| 11 Hiram the king of Tyre having furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and cypress-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire, --that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. |
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| 12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him; and they did not please him. |
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| 13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day. |
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| 14 And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold. |
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| 15 And this is the account of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. |
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| 16 --Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burned it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife. |
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| 17 --And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon, |
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| 18 and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, |
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| 19 and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and cities for chariots, and cities for the horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. |
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| 20 All the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, |
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| 21 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until this day. |
Their children – 150,000 laborers, probably Canaanites. R3282:3
A tribute of bondservice – Typical of the fact that strangers and enemies of truth have the larger share of preparing the antitypical temple by their hammering and chiseling of the living stones. R3282:6
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| 22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen; but they were men of war, and his servants, and his chiefs, and his captains, and captains of his chariots, and his horsemen. |
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| 23 These were the chief superintendents that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people that wrought in the work. |
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| 24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which he had built for her: then he built Millo. |
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| 25 And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house. |
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| 26 And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. |
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| 27 And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon; |
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| 28 and they went to Ophir, and fetched thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. |
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