Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/233



And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. And Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' houses. So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the had made in the wilderness. But the

I. 1—6.&emsp;

Vv. 1—5 are the composition of the Chronicler; for ver. 6 compare 1 Kin. iii. 4.

1. was strengthened] or, strengthened himself, a favourite expression of the Chronicler; cp. xii. 13, xiii. 21 (waxed mighty), xvii. 1, xxiii. 1, etc.

magnified] Cp. 1 Chr. xxix. 25.

2. unto all Israel] The impression, conveyed in the preceding chapter, that Solomon's accession was marred by no internal discord in the nation, is again emphasised.

3. the high place at Gibeon] Cp. 1 Chr. xvi. 39, xxi. 29; 1 Kin. iii. 4. The passage in Kings naïvely states that Solomon offered his sacrifice at Gibeon (6 miles N.W. of Jerusalem) because that was the great high place. The Chronicler regarded the worship of the high-places as an illegal act, and sought to justify Solomon's action in this undeniable instance by the theory that the tent of meeting and the brasen altar (ver. 5) were at the high-place of Gibeon (see the head-note to 1 Chr. xiii.). Without doubt the high-place at Gibeon had been used by the Canaanites for worship from a very early date.

in the wilderness] See Ex. xxv. 1 ff., xxxv. 4 ff.